With the advances in computational power, Internet access and speed, and graphical 3D reproductions possible on an "ordinary" home computer, and with the development of new software products that place the ability to create new digital content in the hands of "ordinary" people, everyone is beginning to see in virtual worlds emergent behaviors that…

In this article, the author looks to the past for trends in hardware, software, networking, and education and attempt to extrapolate where they are going and what their broad implications might be. However, there are many different ways that trends can be interpreted, and it is easy to pick trends that support one's thesis and ignore ones that…

The last major overhaul of U.S. federal telecommunications laws occurred nine years ago, with the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Now Congress--along with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), state and local governments, and a cast of thousands representing the interests of the telecommunications industry, its customers, and many other…