We often hear and read about controversial issues in science and technology. For example, will radiation from electronic equipm

We often hear and read about controversial issues in science and technology.  For example, will radiation from electronic equipment negatively change or destroy the environment? Should the DNA samples of convicted criminals be put into a computer data base so investigators can compare it to the DNA of blood at murder scenes? Should medical scientists change gene structures to prevent genetic diseases or to create more perfect human beings? While people are arguing about these and other controversial subjects, technology continues to influence every aspect of everyday life—the home health and education, entertainment and communication, and so on.
   Some people carry on active social lives with computers—their own or the ones available at terminals in public places like cafes, social centers, libraries, and so on. Communicating with others on electric bulletin boards or in chat rooms, computer users can get to know people they might never meet in traditional ways. Some look for potential dates or mates by computer: they might place personal ads with photos on the screen or even produce digitized video segments for their Websites. With live online video connections, two people with cameras in their computers can see and talk to each other from separate places.
   With modern telephone technology, most people stopped writing letters—especially personal letters and notes. But now, writing to communicate has returned in electronic form, or email, which is a way of sending messages from one computer to another. When a computer is ready to mail a letter, it dials a server—that is, a central computer that collects and distributes electronic information. Delivery time from the sender to the receiver is no more than a few seconds, even from one country to another. For some computer users, the wish to communicate intelligently or creatively with others makes them want to write better.