Improbable Conversions

First, geophysicist Russell Seitz, extrapolating from the electrical power required to run the servers which constitute the interwebs, concludes by a "straightforward calculation... that some 50 grams of electrons in motion make up the Internet." 50g of electrons ain't much - about an ounce and a quarter, or 14/100ths of an ounce more than the weight of a golf ball.

Second, IT pundit Nick Carr finds that - based on the electrical power needed to sustain all the avatars in the Second Life online world - "your average [incorporeal] Second Life avatar consumes about as much electricity as your average [real] Brazilian."

I have no idea what these improbable conversions mean, except that Mssrs. Seitz and Carr may have too much time on their hands. But then so do I.