Soon, Very Soon, I'll Be Moving! 

Thoughts On Internet Travel And Who We Are!

This is one of the most fascinating studies I believe I have ever been into. The habits of the internet travelers. I E back and forth with a circle of folks that I really enjoy sharing thoughts and feelings, concerns and prayers with. We also share the required amount of funnies per day and when chatting have come up with interesting comments to brighten one another's days. My 'puters and I have a hot and cold relationship. One of them sits here by my desk, doing his job, day in, day out, has not been shut down in several(maybe five)months. He requires very little attention and only asks that I keep him supplied with juice and work that he can do. I realize that the relationship cannot continue on this basis forever, but it is enjoyable while it lasts. We've spent a lot of hours working diligently on the new book together. When all the rest of my 'puter friends strike for more online time or fewer work hours I threaten to send them to 'puter heaven with a hammer. It seems that would be a fitting end to a stubborn and sometimes contrary existence. Enough about the friends I work with, though, what about the others out on their screens? Most of them I have never personally met, even fewer have sent pictures so I can add a visual in my memory to their tappings, and now I find that many are resorting to anonymity as their final battleground for space in cyberspace. It seems there are persons who really enjoy "putting a bone in somebody else's icecream." This goes way beyond spamming, I guess. I'm not the seasoned veteran that some are, only a novice, but I have now heard horror stories of virus infections and burn downs and insidious little programs designed to interrupt the flow of someone's, otherwise enjoyable, travel on the net. Reminds me of the insurgency in Iraq in a lot of ways. Think about it, folks going about there business of shopping in the marketplace or having lunch with a friend when one of these, demented by some sort of religious fervor, insurgents drives up in a car filled with explosives and pushes a button. Now there is a "bone in the icecream!" On the net we have insurgents who, it seems, have as their one goal in life, the desire to drive or walk a bomb into my system. My response has not been to hide myself from others, thus I'm probably an easy target. How about the rest of us, are we going to go underground and hide from the threat? This is one of those thoughts that could go on and on. My suggestion would be to own a large hammer, and be prepared, very prepared to use it, unless you have insulated, barred your doors and windows(especially windows)and created firewalls enough to keep you safe from the insurgency. Finally, if they would just do this stuff openly instead of anonymously, we could do honest, forthright battle with them on a clear playing field. Then we could really put that hammer to use! In Christ's Love, Preacher.