So where am I now? Well, I'm working on an Intel Pentium Pro 200 computer loaded with everything I can afford. I bought it a year and half ago, and while I believe the new Pentium-II chips are today's powerhouse, my computer still has more than enough power. Instead of browsing the Internet at a measly 2400 baud, or even the 14,400 baud I had for awhile, I'm now up to 56K modem speed. I'll be ecstatic when cable-modems or ADSL technology comes about and I have the wait for nothing.

Across the world people can now read some personal information about me on my website: http://www.autobahn.org/~ke6qnl. Like most people, there is more than anybody really cares to know unless he or she is a friend, but it is there and I'm not going to remove it. With the Internet of today, any average Joe can leave his imprint on the world. What about me in particular? Well, my website is about 20 pages deep, including a couple projects for classes. It contains audio and graphics that I made myself. I have about five e-mail addresses, two Internet Phone addresses for voice on the Internet, several telnet accessible accounts to give me in depth access to the net, and the several utilities that keep me updated on the best and latest of the online world.

Call me a hypocrite, but I believe the Internet, and oftentimes computers in general, are a complete waste to the world. They have already made us more productive, but at what cost. Is a fancy report really more valuable if it requires twice the creation time? The Internet itself has allowed companies to produce and sell buggy software, require you to go online and download a patch for the program to fix their mistakes, and then figure out for yourself how to install this work of terror.

I recently read today that Microsoft is working out a way to release upgrades and new versions of software across the Internet. The advantage is that you can buy programs piece by piece and leave out the extra parts that you don't need. This might cost you less money, but the article's author pointed out that bundled software would still be cheaper under the current plan being considered. As an example, a person buying the MS Office package (including Word, Excel and PowerPoint and a toolbar) would have to buy each part separately and only with the desired components. This seems great, but it allows Microsoft to nickel-and-dime customers for every update that was previously free. I feel like it's turning into a McDonald's drive thru: "Welcome to the Internet, may I take your money?"