As Watchman in the Tower it is my duty to warn all of you any upcoming dangers that may affect any of you directly. Some of the information I have for you this time, you may not understand. But, I will try to keep you informed of the world around you.

Last time I wrote you there was an apparent scare about Y-2K. There were all kinds of stories about disasters that were almost sure to happen. When the New Year arrived I did expect a lot more problems than actually occurred. Those that were well prepared and had a big supply of food and water were, for the most part, disappointed. All that time and money for nothing. I have heard of one person buying one thousand 55-gallon drums just to store water. You can be sure this person spent thousands of dollars for an event that simply did not occur. For the most part Y-2K ended up to be a marketing ploy to get people to spend their money. Actually I think it is a good idea to store some food for any disaster that may happen at any time. Several events could happen like a major earthquake, volcano, major hurricane, or even an asteroid might hit the earth. Power to our homes is the most vulnerable. For example what would you do if the power would go out for at least a week and there was no way to buy anything? Without power all the stores would be closed as well.

We live in very interesting times right now. We are entering into a world of specialized electronics. Most everyone has a cell telephone, or a pager, or sometimes both. If you have been watching the stock market lately, you can tell that it is going up and down rapidly. Basically the investors are very interested in the electronic stocks. However, these are one of the most volatile. Some of the latest advancements in electronics have been the Internet. Very fast growing and is still growing very rapidly. Mobil telephones have grown by leaps and bounds. Communications have rapidly grown in the last 10 years or so. Not to forget the Global positioning satellite which can pinpoint your location on earth in a matter of seconds. We will see more and more cable TV coming through the telephone lines. For example 3 to 5 hundred channels of cable television on one simple fiber optics telephone line. Fiber optics cables are being installed all over the world for broad band communications.

Computers are going faster and faster and in most cases are getting cheaper all the time. You can buy an Internet ready computer for about $500. About 10 years ago computers would cost you well over a thousand dollars and simply would not compare with the computers of today. Our world is being surrounded with many orbiting satellites. Many of them are harmless, giving us satellite TV, and global service for our pagers and mobile telephones. The new wave of electronics are making our lives more informed and designed to get our needed tasks done quicker since, we are always short on time.

Let me focus in on one large segment of the new age of electronics. The Internet. This is a whole New World of adventure, knowledge, & entertainment. You can virtually access sites all over the world. First you'll need an Internet Provider. Many of them cost around $20 per month. However, many sites are now free. A standard telephone line is needed to get on the Internet. Also, a computer with a modem with at least 28K speed is needed, preferable 56K is better. You also can access the Internet with a Web TV unit that sells for about $100 to $200. However, Web TV does not have as many capabilities that a Computer would have. The Internet fascinates my young children. Just like a new toy. Parents should watch their young children because of the nasty Adult Sites that are very easy to find. There are a number of software products that you can buy to help prevent your children from entering these kinds of sites.

One of the biggest problems with the Internet is the lack of privacy. You may as well tell the whole world who you are, where you live, your telephone number, what type of computer you have, and so on. If someone wanted to track any of the messages you sent or what sites you have visited. You can be tracked right to your front door. I have heard of one teenager made a threat to a site in another state. And he was tracked to his front door in a very short time, even though he used a different name.

Cookies are very common when browsing the Internet. Cookies generate data about your use of the Internet. When you connect to a host computer through the Internet, that computer will send a small data file (or cookie) back to your computer. As your computer communicates with the site, some data---everything from your password to your informational preferences as you click through the various Web pages on the site-is then stored on the cookie. When you disconnect, the cookie remains on your hard drive for a certain period of time, anywhere from a few seconds to several years. Later when you visit other sites more cookies are added to your hard drive. Soon advertisers will soon know what interest you have. The bottom line: creation of an advertising profile based on which Web sites you visit, and how frequently. Cookies in their most innocent form, are a convenience, allowing Web hosts to check your so called ID card, recognize your password and customize a screen to your liking each time you return.

How do you stop the cookies to be preserving your privacy? Most Internet providers have a place where you can shut off the cookies or at least let you know when a cookie is going to be put on your hard drive. There are some disadvantages of this practice because you may not be able to see all the information on a certain site since they may rely on the cookies stored in your computer.

Many experts agree that the Internet will grow and grow so that most everyone will be able to get on the Internet. Purchasing merchandise on the Internet has only started but is expected to increase rapidly. Searching for rare items is certainly made a lot easier buy using the Internet. If buying antiques is what you want, it's much easier now using the Internet. Have fun using the Internet, but know you are being watched.

God has made all this possible. Trust in him for protection.

God bless everyone,

Larry Cwach
The Watchman in the Tower

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