Jarntorget

"Iron Square."

There's this place in Sweden that's kind of like a hybrid between London's Speaker's Corner and internet chatrooms. The basic idea is that it's a forum where any old schmuck can air his grievances and say whatever is one his mind. This used to be a forum for communists - hence the iron.

The way it works is that you write what you want to say on a piece of paper and tack it onto a board. If someone reads what you've written and wants to respond, she can write back, tack it up, and thereby start a thread. In essence, it's hand-written internet, without hyperlinks. Just like the internet, wouldn't you know what's one of the first and most prevalent uses for this extraordinary forum with all kinds of postivie potential? That's right, mating and dating! I'm told that that's what it's come to: "Hey, I like what you wrote. Let's meet..." yada yada yada.

Somehow, humanity always has a way of showing off its finest.