Monday, January 14, 2002		The world of  dot.com

This time we will look at the dotcom world through the eyes of Tanya Budhiraja, Rishma Gill, Mesha Singh Minhas and Kaveri Bedi, all Class XII students of Lawrence School, Sanawar, who went around to see what youth are actually doing on the Net. What they found out was interesting indeed. Read on to know what they have to say:

"JUST this one more time," you think to yourself as you stare hopefully at the dilapidated contraption that you call your PC – pretty much fit for the junkyard now. The cables entangled, criss-crossing each other, presenting a spider’s web for some naïve prey. The prey in this case being you, as you try and connect to the Net for the zillionth time that day. The machine creaks and whirrs into action. The hum of the dial tone fills the air. Exhausted, defeated and sighing you hope. Enough, it is time to give up. Just then your intuition causes you to whirl around and voila! The craving to hear the low rhythmic beats that connect to the Net is satisfied.

The Net is what can increasingly be termed as the lifeline that supports the very existence of most of the youth. More accurately, it’s an addiction. Once on the Web, there is no looking back, since it paves the smoothest way possible to an unlimited information superhighway.

Cyberspace is where imagination knows no boundaries and one can travel to dimensions unknown and unexplored. Here possibilities abound, offering a lot more than one can even begin to imagine. So strap up, sit back and be consumed with all that you desire. Here, of course, we very conveniently forget to mention how the Net acts as the ultimate laxative for our daddy’s bank account.

Need a break from your mundane, not so exciting existence? Get globe-trotting.... Get onto the Net and you’ll find all sorts of enticing packages that are a bargain. Whether it’s the ruins of the Aztec empire or the Parthenon in Athens that you long to explore. There is no end to the amount of information that can be acquired from cyberspace. If you know it’s out there somewhere, then you can find it on the Net. Accommodations are no longer a problem, once you’re online, you can book yourself into luxurious hotels around the world. After talks with online agents, we concluded that though flight bookings over the Net were on a rise before September 11, tourism as an industry has suffered to such an extent that big resorts are now offering mind-boggling discounts. The Internet is becoming a doorway to intriguing countries. Some most visited travel sites are:

Loneliness and solitude is pretty much history now. Log onto any chat site and you’ll have a wide array of like-minded persons to choose from and converse with. Exchanging views and opinions increases one’s awareness dramatically, especially sharing first-hand experiences. The fact, however, remains that chat addicts cease to find enough time for themselves. They are hooked and chatting to them has become a source to ease and relax. This form of entertainment, in some cases, comes at quite a cost. It is accompanied by terrifying incidents such as those of cyber stalking and online abuses. Cybersex is alarmingly common among teens as we found out. A few favourites are

We found that the teenagers are surfing the Net for music. Music sites are extensively sought after on the Net. Forget the powerhouse that adorns your living room. Now, the Net is the Mecca that caters to all your interests. Information about your favourite music group, album and video-ratings, interviews, latest-gigs and fan club mails are all exchanged. A few cyber regulars also told us the wave of indignation that had raged on when Napster.com was shut down. Some of the most visited music sites, are:

CABs — What’s that? Well, an acronym of Cyber Addicted Bookworms, a deadly combo that frequent the Net with a different purpose. They are the ones with a lot of grey matter and are fully aware that getting into universities these days is no laughing matter. Since they need to be a cut above the rest so they use the Net — all to surf college applications, SAT exams or even school projects. Online courses save loads of time and effort. Education doesn’t have to be confined to schools and colleges, there’s a whole lot more that comes under it. News bulletins are frequently updated to keep people abreast of current situations. For those who are spiritually inclined, countless sites on religion and philosophy are also accessible. Here’s what CABs frequent:

Grab the mouse and click on — these are new things waiting to be found every day.