About this Issue

For the May/June issue of Interface, we have chosen to lighten up a bit, in accord with the traditional view of summer as a special, more leisurely time. It is true that American culture no longer really permits this distinction---certainly not for those involved in the publication of Interface, anyway--- but we are trying... There are plenty of problems that affect the Internet that merit real concern of course. But to begin listing them would be to fail to lighten up, so we will forego this dubious pleasure.

Our trusty feature writer Lenny Charnoff leads off with a truly pleasurable article to read, and one well in keeping with the halcyon view of summer. Imagine yourself in your backyard, perhaps in a hammock, and all the while working on your laptop or PDA; wirelessly, of course. To understand this paradigm change, see "Wi-fi: The Next Killer Application of the Internet" at http://bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2003/04/0403.php

Summer is also, in my humble opinion, a good time to upgrade not only one's computer, but also one's computing skills. Perhaps you have thought about having your own web site, permitting you to markedly improve the quality of discourse in that cacophonous environment, or even undertake doing e-business. If so, you should read first Jesse Snyder's "Getting Hosted" at http://bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2003/04/tech.php and then our legal feature editor, Leonard Duboff's piece, "What's in a Name?" which will acquaint you with trademark issues if you begin registering various aspects of your site or your products. See it at http://bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2003/04/duboff.php

Our medical feature editor, Kevin Kawamoto, both introduces a good book for summer reading for those with interest in this field, and discusses computer technology in the hospital environment at http://bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2003/04/kawamoto.php in his piece, "Computer Technology in Health Care Settings."

Doing my part, I review two summer books if there ever are such, David Kushner's Masters of Doom, and Karen Haber's Exploring the Matrix. If you read these two books, you will be an expert on the summer's big film, and on the video game industry. What could be more recreation oriented than that? In my editorial, "To E- or Not to E-" http://bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2003/04/edit.php I recount my recent experiences when my credit card number was hijacked at a web site. This is probably most interesting to those with a pronounced sense of schadenfrude, (enjoyment at the misfortunes of others), but there is also a gothic tale of the Internet here, and they are inevitably interesting.

As always, we hope that you find this issue of Internet, the electronic journal of the Berglund Center for Internet Studies, useful and enjoyable.

Jeffrey Barlow
Editor, Interface.