CLASS ENTRY 1

1.  What was your first memory of the internet?

My first memory of the internet was when I was seven years old.  We had an old Gateway PC, running Windows 95.  My Dad was looking up a few things (e-mail mainly), and he showed me how to set up an AOL account.  He also signed me up for a few interesting newsletters, and introduced me to internet games.  It wasn't until much later that I used it for school research and video streaming (video streaming being a very new concept at the time).

2.  What is your favorite book, painting, story, movie, or otherwise about a high-tech future?

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.  It introduced the concept of the internet years before it was mainstream.  It introduced a world where the creation of this super-immersive cyber-world, or "Metaverse", caused the decline of the US, paving the way for corporations to take over.  It's a fun, hyper-active story that combines Science Fiction, Computer Programming, and Sumerian Mythology!

3.  What do you like about the internet?

I love how the internet enables you to obtain vast amounts of information from the comfort of your own home.  It brings the world closer.

4.  What do you not like about the internet?

I don't like how the internet seems to be in the process of being taken over my corporate interests.

5.  What is your favorite interaction that uses technology? 

 That would definitely be this laptop.  It's a notepad, a tv, a DVR, a typewriter, and a videophone all in one, and it is so simple to use.

6.  What is your favorite interaction that does not use technology?

Sound.  I mean general sound, the sound you hear every day when you walk down the street or tap your pencil on your desk.  As a percussionist (i.e., drummer), I seem to find a song take shape in nearly every sound I hear.

7.  What does the internet look like? 

This