- NOT an information highway for cruising

- NOT a library for reading

- NOT a game board for playing

- NOT a resort beach for surfing

- NOT a medium for chatting

- NOT a shopping center for buying

The Internet is nothing like a newspaper, magazine, radio, CD, movie or TV. It can not be compared to anything we know from previous experience. It is a dynamic, thriving, chaotic, growing, learning organism. It has:

- A Skeleton

- A Circulatory System

- A Nervous System

- Organs

The whole system may be called:

- A Global Society

THE SKELETON The skeleton, which supports Internet, does not consist of physical "backbones," wires, cables modems, computers and other high-tech components. It is broad overall system for communication of ideas. The skeleton is mental.

Upon this skeleton is placed a circulatory system to give system life, a nervous system to control its life, and various organs to make it a useful, living, expansive, global creature.

* The Internet is alive! It's all mental.

THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM Like humans, Internet has pumps to keep it alive. But Internet differs from humans in 2 ways:

Humans have 1 pump - heart. The Internet has millions of pumps: Each Internet site is a pump.

The human pump PUSHES blood to bring oxygen to organs of body. Each Internet pump PULLS people to it with ideas

* The Internet is alive! Ideas are its lifeblood.

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM The nervous system of Internet is remarkably similar to human nervous system, except that it works with people rather than neurons. The human nervous system consists of billions of neurons, each receiving signals from other neurons. When sum of signals at a neuron exceeds a certain threshold, it "votes" in favor of some action. It's like a town-hall meeting: majority rules.

The nervous system of Internet is composed of people instead of neurons, each making choices with their browsers and other software. Here too, majority rules: user actions determine what happens on Internet.

* The Internet is alive! People are its masters.

THE ORGANS Internet organs are intellectual, of course. Because Internet is so young, it does not yet have a fully developed set of organs. Organ development is occurring in phases:

1 - Technological:-

This first phase started in '60s when ARPANET, forerunner of Internet, was developed by ARPA (Advanced Research Project Agency) in Defense Department. This organ was a means for defense contractors, universities, laboratories and others involved in defense work to exchange ideas via a network that was secure. Because it was decentralized and did not have a central control point, parts of network could be bombed without affecting rest of network. Research

In '80s, ARPANET expanded into a full-blown research network connecting our universities and industrial laboratories. It was renamed Internet. This research organ is still powerful today - though you may not realize it because of excessive hype of business boosters.

2 - Business:

You bet!

Message boards, AKA, discussion forums.

A message board is a place on web that allows for reader participation and interaction.

Here, you can ask questions and become part of what is known as a "thread."

A "thread" is just an ongoing set of comments, discussions, and questions that starts off with one member's post. A "post" is simply someone's comment or question that is "posted," or sent to board.

So, essentially a message board is similar to a "bulletin board in cyber space." There are certain guidelines of etiquette on most forums. They are usually posted at beginning of site. Here are some general guidelines:

(1) Watch your language! ~Common sense, really. Don't swear! Be courteous! Otherwise, your message could be deleted.

(2) Advertising ~Read rules of any board that you participate on. If they allow ads, go for it! That's why they exist! But... If they don't allow ads, and you post one, chances are your post will be deleted and, you could get kicked off board.

Note: ~Most forums will allow you to include your site URL and/or a signature file. You might even get to include a text "link caption" to spark curiosity. (3) Recruiting ~Most boards don't allow recruiting. It's pretty much akin to advertising.

There are 2 types of discussion boards--moderated and unmoderated.

Moderated boards usually have someone who reads each new message before it's posted. Then a decision is made about it's contents, if it meets board regulations, or if it's just an ad.

If it's decided that it is an ad, then chances are it will get deleted. Some moderators will even send some type of "tsk,tsk" message to poster. You might get an even nastier email from members of board.