Mike Wallach - November 2002
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Preface |
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Chapter 4 |
Eyeballs |
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Chapter 5 |
On the Merits of Eating Your Children |
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Chapter 6 |
Under Construction |
Joseph Henderson - Man and his Symbols
" . . . the snake represented the power in the earth that supports life and the transformation of life on its surface. The snake was recognized as the actual force behind the creation..."
An Encyclopedia of Archetypal Symbolism
"The snake was a symbol of energy - spontaneous, creative energy - and of immortality."
Geoffrey Ashe, The Ancient Wisdom
Transformation . . . transcendence . . . spontaneous creative energy . . . a mediator between one life and another. There is no better description of the Net and the changes being forged there. A Newsweek cover story (12/95) carried the headline “This Changes Everything” a sentiment echoed by every pundit in every article and every speech. As absolutely certain as change is inevitable in how we communicate, how we play, how we trade, and how we work, it is as absolutely uncertain what form that change will take. We can be certain of only two things, the metamorphous has already begun, and most of today's predictions will be wrong.
NetSnake is a personal chronicle of my fascination with, and desire to participate in those changes. The clues of what we are to become can be found in the Net today. While hunting for those clues I find things that intrigue me, excite me, amuse me. Writing about my observances and insights help me to organize and understand what I find. The result is this collection of essays, observations, and rants on and about the Net. It begins in a cave in Africa, and I do not know where or when it ends.
Of all that is magical about the changes brought on by the Net, the most magical of all is this: Simply because I want to share these thoughts, I can. For thirty dollars a month I can write and publish, and potentially reach an audience counted in millions, across every continent on the planet. The magic is not diminished at all by the reality that lost amount the exploding millions of pages on the web, only a handful of readers will ever find this page and even less be interested enough to read it. The fact is, some will. In fact, you have. Magic.
Much of the subject matter in the NetSnake Chronicles is about commerce. There are two reasons for this. The first, is that I believe the most dramatic and far-reaching impact of the Net will be the changes in how we conduct commerce and trade. Throughout history, seemingly mundane commercial endeavors have had profound and lasting impact on society and history. Trade routes drove exploration, conquest and wars. The public appetite for goods was the economic fuel to build ever faster means of transportation and more ubiquitous transportation infrastructure. Commerce drives invention and industry, which in turn changes society. The second reason for the pervasiveness of this theme is that I just can't help it. My profession is sales, and my thoughts just naturally gravitate along those lines. An occupational hazard.
To date (10/96), all NetSnake Chronicle contributions have been from my brother Harlan and me, but I hope it will not stay that way for long. I would like to see the snake slither out of the server in which it resides today and begin to wander around the Net. I look forward to adding chapters from other contributors on other webservers, perhaps you. Each chapter will link to the next, link back to this Contents page, link to each other by stylistic convention, the spark of ideas, and by the loose theme of topics on the Net. I will maintain editorial control of chapters selected to be included, and retain all rights to the NetSnake name and the shared graphical elements. If you would like to contribute, have an idea for another chapter of NetSnake, or would just like to comment on what you have found here, please drop me a line.
Mike Wallach oldsnake@netsnake.com
Continue to NetSnake Chapter 1: Content is King