The internet and the WWW are some of the most fascinating places on the earth that you can visit but yet, not travel. They offer the technology hungry population of this planet the opportunity to intergrate and mingle with people and places that have, in the past, been out of reach for John Q. Citizen. This meeting of minds and destinations is all made possible by the people who choose to use the "net" and all its' resources; the more it is used the more usable it becomes.

Everyone is taking advantage of this wonderful tool for varying reasons. Some use it strictly for research, professional and academic. Some use it for entertainment. Finally there are those enlightened individuals that divide their time spent on the net in a happy joy joy medium; constantly doing research and cursing themselves for playing those games when they should have been doing research. The net, its' resources, and the people that use it are diverse and have a world of knowledge to impart, literally. Since the paths to follow on the net are different and, not to forget, numerous, they should be dealt with that way with some intergration.

Conversing with others on the net. The WWW section of the internet is the most famous and popular place that "chat forums" can be found. Chat forums are gifts from the gods to folks who never seem to be able to break away from their computer. They offer the user an enviroment that can be used to talk about anything to anyone anytime. Pretty cool, huh? The forums are usually designed around some type of topic of conversation that is expected to take place in that area by the creator of the forum. This proves to be useful and helps the road weary driver on the information super highway pseudo road signs to lessen the pain of travel. Topics in the forums can vary from Star Trek to CyberSex. Baseball cards can even be traded in some forums! Some of the newest forums offer the user the ability to incorporate HTML programing commands with the normal conversation. This feature offers the budding web user the ability to talk to someone about web design, and then actually try some things of the things learned to test them as they are being absorbed. Talk about interactive!

Well, here I sit some months later. I said when I originally wrote this that I would write more soon. I seem to have lost all track of time and have neglected this page sorely. So to make it up, here I am. As I sit here writing this reflecting on what was said before, I come to the conclusion that I was right. The internet is still a fascinating place filled with wonderful people and places. One only has to take the time to absorb what is found to experience the discovery fully and come away with some feeling the shapes the soul and the person as a whole. Eventually I will get around to writing about the technical aspects of the Net. I plan on doing this soon, so stay tuned. I have written some other light reading over the years and I thought I would share it. Okay, finally! I wrote a paper about the Internet, networks, and the equipment assciated with them. This is not the answer or the technical manual to Internet Nirvana, but I did enjoy writing it and I think you will find it a nice read. Enjoy.

The individual's right to free speech. It is so easy to say, and yet so easy to forget. Free speech is one of the most important rights Americans have ever had the privilege to exercise.

The right to free speech is guaranteed to each and every citizen of the United States by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. It is part of the original twelve amendments first proposed to the Constitution. Out of those twelve amendments proposed, ten were ratified. They are commonly known as the Bill of Rights. Ratified in 1791, these were included to protect the individual and his or her rights from being trampled upon by the government. The fact that it is the first amendment speaks of its great importance and necessity. It states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

This established right to free speech is one of the most prevalent reasons this democracy flourishes. However, with such a grand right comes a great responsibility. The Blue Ribbon Campaign, which is an internet organization dedicated to the rights of on-line free speech, said well what free speech is not. "The voice of reason knows that free speech doesn't equate to sexual harassment, abuse of children, or the breeding of hatred or intolerance." The individual has the responsibility to be vigilant in the expression of free speech, but also to be vigilant in monitoring the way in which it is practiced. The right should be practiced so long as other's individual rights are not suppressed or violated. That is the reason for laws that prohibit individuals from yelling "fire" in a crowded theater.

Free speech is threatened everyday by self-appointed guardians of us all. The most obvious and relevant threat present today is the telecommunications law passed last February, it limits the individual's right to free speech on the internet, one of the newest and most fascinating forms of mass communication between individuals ever devised. The outrage of citizens of the United States at this blatant violation of a constitutional amendment can be felt by just logging onto the internet and visiting individual's homepages. People do feel their right is being threatened and are speaking out. The responsibility of whether this law is constitutional or not belongs to the Supreme Court. Between June 1990 and June 1996, the court handed down twenty-three decisions for cases brought before them dealing with free speech.