Pagans and the "Net" By Donald Michael Kraig You would have to be living in the middle of nowhere and have no form of communications with the outside world not to have heard about the amazing tool known as "the infobahn," the "information superhighway," the "net" or simply its given name, the internet. And yet, few people whom I've talked with actually have any idea what it is and how it can be used. Right now, the main forms of communications in the U.S. are either by wire (generally copper or fiber optics), radio/TV waves or satellite. Unfortunately, in the instance of an attack, these systems are easy to disrupt. Satellite receiving stations could be easily destroyed as could the large switching stations needed for our wired system. Radio/TV waves are frequently disturbed by atmospheric problems and larger transmission towers could be easily destroyed. The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) realized back in the `60's that something else was needed in order to communicate in case of an attack or even a large-scale disaster. What they did was create a series of computer sites which spoke the same communications language and did not connect linearly (from A to B to C). Each site would have an address and you could connect to that address by whatever means was open. For example, in order to get from site A to B you could go directly from A to B, or from A to C to B, from A to D to B, from A to C to D to E to B, from A to R to L to P to X to Z to N to Y to B. In short, in one or more of the interconnected areas were destroyed, communications would be able to continue, and for a military force, this was a necessity. Having bases around the world, the DOD built this interconnected, international network of computers. But they quickly realized that this could be of even greater value. They could hook up to research sites and universities to get the latest information available. And that, eventually, would lead to the need for another military communication system. You see, anybody could easily communicate with anyone on this network. At first it was professors contacting the military, then each other. The DOD was handling the expense, so why use the phone or the mail? Documents could be sent in a few minutes around the world without telephone costs or the days that the mail or delivery service might take. Students found out about it and started to communicate with each other. Eventually the network grew so large the DOD found it no longer met their needs. They simply abandoned it. But the various sites found it so useful that they each took the responsibility of paying for their connection and obeying certain rules. Thus was born the internet. It continues to grow today. There are several main sections to the internet. One section is known as an area for "newsgroups." These are areas where people can post short messages in a particular area of interest. Other people have access to these areas and can comment, argue, answer questions, or insult (have a "flame war" with) one of the people who sent the message. There are newsgroups dedicated to just about any topic, including several on Paganism and magick. Another section is called "IRC" which stands for Internet Relay Chat. In this section you can write back and forth and "talk" to people who are on line. This, in turn, is separated into various topics; and if you wish, you can limit the people talking or even have a private chat. Another area which is becoming popular is called the "World Wide Web," "WWW" or simply, "The Web." To use the Web you need a special piece of software called a "browser" (there are several different types). The advantage of the Web is that it can quickly load to your computer complex graphics and sounds. It is point-and-click in its simplicity, and with nothing more than your computer mouse you can investigate sites in Brazil, England and Sweden in seconds! Another use of the internet is for electronic mail. Any person who has access to the internet is given an address by their service provider. If you know the address of a friend, you can send a letter (and attached to that letter can be a document, entire books or sounds) which will arrive in a few minutes. My address, for example, is DMKraig1995, Donald Michael Kraig | 
