Cyberspace is cool. It is large and it has all sorts of different environments one can explore. There are a lot of nice people out there, too, but, at the same time, there are an inordinate number of not nice people inhabiting this space. This is because, for the most part, one can be anonymous out here. Look at me, for example: I have no reason for this particular nom de computer other than not wanting to give a potential creep any sort of entré into my life. In personal emails with individuals, I would be happy to include my real name, but I don't leave it lying around out here.

Earlier this week, my primary email address, which ends with @ix.netcom.com was, along with everybody else who has that address to the right of the "@" sign, had problems with my email. (Couldn't receive or send: both POP and SMTP servers were experiencing "problems".) So, I send out an email from a secondary address to all my family and important contacts telling them to use this other address until the problem is corrected. Now, this secondary account is one of my "anonymous" accounts: begins with "ezv". So, my idiot nephew (who is 15) writes back "Do I know you?" ( he hadn't a clue that his old uncle actually had an alias out there.) What was he thinking? I reamed him a new asshole when I got his reply. Don't ever, I told him, reply to an email from somebody you don't know. If nothing else, they'll probably sell your email address to some slimy spam artis. and that is the best outcome you can expect (I sold his address--he should start getting the porn, mortgage refi ads, credit repair ads, work at home ads, that guy from Nigeria within a few days.) I told him that he didn't even want to imagine the worst possible outcome.