Cornerstone of the Web -- Content
	The Internet is clearly different from previous mass communications media because when we are online, we are only a few clicks away from buying something. That critical capability has created a few very successful consumer e-commerce sites -- Amazon.com and eBay come to mind -- but widespread reluctance to shop online has been the downfall of hundreds of others. Credible, useful content could spell the difference between success and failure for companies looking for online customers. Amazon and eBay both emphasize information. Potential customers not only know that it is for sale, but do these companies understand how much consumers are willing to pay for it? E-commerce companies could take note of the Pew Research Center survey of the national news audience, which showed the Internet becoming a popular news source as well as a drop in viewing of traditional broadcast TV news. More than 30% of Americans look for news online at least weekly, 15% get daily reports from the Web and network news viewing has fallen from 38% to 30% over a two-year period. More good news for content-providing e-commerce companies is that many more college graduates under 50 check the Internet every day rather than watch a nightly news show. In fact, the survey indicates people who are online and interested in news watch less network TV news. Content has become so important, it has its own industry conference, the Content Networking Event, attracting content providers, ISPs and enterprise executives to learn why, "…new, content-based network services are the cornerstones of success for business."
	The Internet is like a Bow Tie
	On June 1, 2001, a computer in Murray Hill, New Jersey sent test messages to the Internet's 168,000 registered networks. The results, plotted on a graph, show almost every network in the world, with lines branching every time they reach a switch or a router. Looking at the 'map', http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/fun-stuff/573c.shtml, it is easy to see why some people think of the Internet as a fog, with every point on this global network connected, however tenuously, with all of the others. That misty if not mystical image might not be accurate. Scientists from Compaq, AltaVista and IBM studied more than 500 million pages on the Web and concluded it is shaped like a bow tie. The 'knot' of the bow tie is the "strongly-connected core" with about one-third of all Web sites. Surfing between these sites using hyperlinks is easy. On one side of the bow are "origination" pages, which connect users to the core, but cannot be reached from there. These make up about one-quarter of the Web. On the other side of the knot are "termination" pages, making up about another quarter of the Web. These pages can be reached from the core, but they aren't linked back. "Disconnected" pages, about one fifth of the Web, can connect to origination, termination pages, or both, but they aren't connected to the core. The final 10% of the Web does not connect to the bow tie at all. Now that's cleared up, the new insights will allow more comprehensive indexing of the Web, more effective e-commerce strategies and better models of the growing Internet.
	Are These Games Really for Kids?
	Computer games are not just for kids any more. Online multiplayer games like Diablo II, Anarchy and EverQuest have proven so addictive that players are spending as much as US$1,000 on shortcuts to become more competitive. Rather than spend hours online fighting to acquire new powers and advance through the game levels, some players are buying 'characters' and their attributes on special Web site. (After Sony, EverQuest's maker, protested sales on eBay because they allow an unfair advantage, the online auction site banned EverQuest-related transactions.) Multiplayer online games, with their emphasis on communication and teamwork, have always attracted adult players. For years, thousands of vintage airplane buffs paid US$2.00 an hour to play WarBirds, and many exceeded 100 hours a month online. The price only came down when competitors like Aces High and WW2 Online entered the market with lower prices. In these games, players usually band together in squadrons, planning their scheduled 'squad nights' by email and using two-way voice communication to coordinate their attacks while "flying" together online. Some online multiplayer games, like motorcycle or automobile racing, have a beginning and an end, and players maintain their own identities, but 'fantasy' games like EverQuest require participants to create entire personalities for themselves. For some people, the lure of another world proves too strong. Despite the obvious pleasure they bring to thousands of people, these games can cost more than the investment in top-quality computers, high-speed Internet access and hourly fees. There are stories of players losing their jobs, and even their marriages, because they cannot tear themselves away from their online 'lives' of endless battle against electronic opponents around the world.
	Internet after the Attacks
	The tragic events of September 11, 2001 cast the strengths and weaknesses of the Internet and wireless communications into high relief. Despite terrorists wreaking havoc aboard aircraft and the post-crash collapse of the wired telecommunications system in lower Manhattan, people managed to communicate with cellular telephones and BlackBerry two-way text messaging devices. Survivors were able to communicate instantly with loved ones and colleagues to reassure them, while rescue workers could coordinate their efforts more easily. One-to-one communications over the Internet worked best in the hours after the tragedy unfolded. However, under a huge, if not unprecedented volume of 'hits', and despite alert ISP's setting up a number of 'mirror' sites to ease the load, news sites like CNN and MSNBC slowed to a crawl and remained hours behind their televised counterparts. In the days and weeks following, however, the real power of the Internet began to emerge as groups and organizations of every kind began to collect donations; as survivors, their families and people simply touched by the scale of the event used Web sites and chat boards to express their feelings; as thoughtful news, debate and analysis began to united the world against terrorism. Now, Internet service providers and telecommunications companies around the world are cooperating with law enforcement agencies to follow the electronic communications trail the terrorists may have left with email and telephone messages in the weeks and months before September 11.