The New New World

I use it every day. I rely upon it for my living and for keeping in contact with my friends. I have called it "my little square palantir". In many ways, my life revolves around it.

But the truth is, I really have no idea what the internet is, and so far, most of the explanations I have read, have been incomprehensible to me.

As of September 30, 2007, 1.244 billion people use the Internet according to Internet World Stats. Writing in the Harvard International Review, philosopher N.J. Slabbert, a writer on policy issues for the Washington, D.C.–based Urban Land Institute, has asserted that the Internet is fast becoming a basic feature of global civilization, so that what has traditionally been called "civil society" is now becoming identical with information technology society as defined by Internet use. Some suggest that as low as 2% of the world's population regularly access the Internet.