I read this today and just about had a panic attack. The days of corpses in the alley missing all of the fingers are at hand! Oops. Was that me talking? Raving like a lunatic? Nah. Couldn't be. At any rate, check it out and get your cheap thrills about the next chill techno gadget to walk up the infobahn.

I am continuously amazed by the wealth and breadth of new advances which the computer industry and the mad-scientists in the labs keep coming up to entertain us with. Some of those science-fiction, possible-future scenarios are not all that far off. I don't know whether to be excited or scared. I admit that my pulse starts racing when I see things like fully integrated wearable interactive computer systems, bits and pieces which react to your body chemistry and rumors of retinal scanners. However it's also incredibly frightening to see the world moving so fast and furiously towards increased computerization.

I often find myself wondering, where is the soul in all of this?

Of course I can find blossoms of people's souls all over the 'net in journals, in fictional writings, in personal narratives, digital and non-digital art exhibits and streaming audio compostions which bring all different corners of the world together in an easily accessible common space.

Such is my faith in the 'net. Yes I still think that it has more positives to offer than negatives. However, I am all too keenly aware of the dangers of the techno-society, the "cyberpunk" culture if you will. Because I am young, I do not often see the reactions of older people to the 'net, to "netculture", to all of the technological advances of the past few decades.

I have never asked my grandmother, for example, if she is even aware of or knows what the Internet is. For her, writing a letter is still the preferred means of communication and at her job everything is still typed on a typewriter or word processor rather than a computer. I don't think they even have computers in the secretarial department. Grandma has trouble figuring out the digital answering machine which we bought her, so somehow, I think she might have a problem with a PC.

Not because she is stupid, but simply because her perception of the world is not the same as mine. She was not raised with an Apple IIe on the desk and bits and bytes floating through her head. In her youth, boats were still the main means of crossing the Atlantic, the telephone was still becoming mainstream, television was still a dream as were computers and life proceeded at a much slower pace, by all accounts, than it does today.

My world is a wired world. A world in which I can share any thought which crosses my mind with users across the world in seconds (well, depending on how many people find my pages ;}), with the click of a button. I monitor events around the world on a running basis, key in to other people's lives in different states and countries and can send vast amounts of information in the blink of an eye. I don't even NEED to cross the Atlantic to get a taste of Europe anymore, it's all there in vivid color on the Web (though the real thing is still an unbeatable experience).

I wonder what this all seems like to her. Her life is a very simple one, she works from 9 to 5, she comes home, makes dinner, sometimes goes out to the pond where my uncle's memorial stone sits and gardens. She visits with my other uncle who still lives in the area, attends church, sews and bakes much as her mother did before her.

I often find myself longing for that life too. I walk the razor's edge trying to balance my wired world with the real world. I too like to sew, read, walk and garden, but it's sometimes hard to keep up with those things when there are so many other events going on on-line to draw my attention as well. There's a choice here you see. How much are you willing to give to the 'net? How far are willing to go into the machine?

My own answer, amazingly enough, is not that far.

I'm willing to use it to share dreams and hopes and good writing. But I refuse to step through the envelope and make it my entire world.

At the end of the day, I always click the off switch, and this world becomes nothing more than a dream of bytes on a flickering screen.