Roger Ebert and The Boulder Pledge

Yesterday Roger Ebert died after a long battle with cancer, and he will most definitely be missed.  I remember fondly watching he and Gene Siskel every week growing up.  We didn't go and see a lot of movies in our family, but I have a great love of cinema and some of that definitely comes from the two of them.

I knew some of Ebert's background, such as the fact that he was the one who recommended to Oprah that she syndicate her show, and thus made Oprah who she is today.  I did not know that he was an early adopter and promoter of the Internet, including being an early investor in Google.  Nor did I know about his Boulder pledge to save us from spam emails, and more importantly to save us from ourselves.  The Boulder Pledge says:

"Under no circumstances will I ever purchase anything offered to me as the result of an unsolicited e-mail message. Nor will I forward chain letters, petitions, mass mailings, or virus warnings to large numbers of others. This is my contribution to the survival of the online community."

Consider me a signer, and may it be made so.  Amen and amen.