I was born in 1963, had my formative years in the late 60’s and into the 70’s and finished my teenage years in the early 80’s. If anyone had said the date 2006 to me at any of those times, I would have imagined flying cars, holographic screens, talking computers and rocket packs. It’s so interesting to look back at each generation’s idea of what a ‘SCI-FI’ vision of the future would/will be. And the reality that we’re finding out is that it’s not really our transportation technology that’s growing and evolving in leaps and bounds (in fact, we’re stuck in the PAST as far as that’s concerned), but the way we connect with and communicate with each other that’s changing so quickly. My computer comes with iChat, and I purchased an iSight– a video camera that mounts on the top of the monitor, and I occasionally have video chats with some comics buddies….. and that’s something that’s done over the internet…. something that was fodder for science fiction tales not all that long ago. Internet telephony is revolutionizing the telecommunications industry. SKYPE, a free internet telephone software company, allows others with the software and headsets to speak to each other over the internet… and the sound quality is fantastic. My phone service here in my home is provided by TIME WARNER CABLE now over my high speed cable internet service. They charge a flat fee for unlimited local and long distance calling in the continental U.S. and Canada. In entertainment, Multi-Player-Online gaming has become huge business. Games like WORLD OF WARCRAFT, STAR WARS GALAXIES, and BATTLEFIELD are massively popular on PC (and Mac)… and X-BOX LIVE and PLAYSTATION ONLINE are also giants with gamers these days. This is all not to even mention the fascinating strides that cell phone technology is making with TV on your phone…. music on your phone… games in your phone… and text messaging (which is really actually OLD tech by now). But I’m not so much into that stuff…. I’m a home body, so it’s the internet and the way it has brought us all so much closer together is what really blows my mind. And this is all in just the past decade! It’s truly amazing, when you really think about it.

I often think back to the science fiction magazine published by WARREN PUBLISHING ‘back in the day’ called 1984. When it first began publication, that date was in vogue (and some ways off) thanks to the George Orwell futurist novel. But then it became the year 1984 in actuality, and they had to change the name to 1994. Then it eventually became the year 1994…. and they stopped publishing it not long afterward. It’s quite an illustration that we’re ALWAYS moving into the future… it keeps moving inexorably (and ever quicker) in our direction.

I hope 2006 is an amazing year for us all as we meet that future head-on.

This is Entry 179.

Mike