Do Little Kids Belong on the Net?
by John Laurence Miller

Do computers affect children in a positive or negative way? Let me suggest that there is something funny even about the question itself. Professor Seymour Papert of MIT, a pioneer in the field of computers and education, has argued that asking this kind of question is an example of what he calls "technocentric thinking." [...] It is more correct to ask whether teachers and/or parents are using computers in ways that are beneficial to their children or harmful to them. As well, it is reasonable to ask whether there may be better ways to use computers.

Il Progetto GNU - The GNU Project
by Richard Stallman

Stime recenti valutano in dieci milioni il numero di utenti di sistemi GNU/Linux quali Debian GNU/Linux e Red Hat Linux. Il software libero ha creato tali vantaggi pratici che gli utenti stanno approdando ad esso per pure ragioni pratiche. [...] L'interesse per il software, però, sta crescendo più in fretta della coscienza della filosofia su cui è basato, e questa disparità causa problemi.

[Estimates today are that there are ten million users of GNU/Linux systems such as Debian GNU/Linux and Red Hat Linux. Free software has developed such practical advantages that users are flocking to it for purely practical reasons. [...] But interest in the software is growing faster than awareness of the philosophy it is based on, and this leads to trouble.]

Cool Business: Etoy's toy wars
by Birgit Richard

etoy represents the "next generation" in artistic business: smart and web-based, elitist and creative. Net art, activism, traditional art and marketing strategies as well as youth culture subversion meet in the etoy corporation concept. etoy appropriate not art, but business visuals. In addition they make use of the anarchic impudence of the youth culture. What Felix Stalder in his Telepolis article called bad boy attitude is the typical dandy attitude of the aesthetically acting individual. Etoy bring the artist's boheme attitude and youth's provocational power together again.

Company image e company identity: due modelli per la comunicazione d'impresa in rete
di Mattia Miani

Anche un'impresa ha un'immagine e un'identità. Questa affermazione può sembrare scontata, ma ci pone comunque di fronte a degli interrogativi di una certa portata quando riflettiamo sulle implicazioni della comunicazione in rete (Internet e intrantet) nella costruzione e nel mantenimento dell'immagine e dell'identità di un'impresa (company image e company identity per usare i termini di uso corrente nella letteratura). Per esempio, è ancora possibile sfruttare il controllo dell'informazione per mantenere una struttura organizzativa gerarchica quando si può dare a tutti la possibilità di accedere a tutte le risorse e i dati della rete? È proprio indispensabile che la comunicazione in rete comporti la condivisione delle stesse informazioni?

"I am a communication artist"
Interview with Nam June Paik
by Tilman Baumgaertel

Nam June Paik has been labeled the "father of video art." What is much less known is that he was not only the creator of the much-abused term "telecommunication superhighway," but also among the first to use telecommunication satellites for artistic exchange. His satellite performances "Good Morning Mr Orwell," "Wrap around the world" and "Good- bye Kipling" brought together artists such as David Bowie, Laurie Anderson, John Cage, Joseph Beuys, Charlotte Moorman and others to perform together. These pieces can be seen as early examples of net art.