When I was about 12 1 had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings．Week by week her list grew: I was skinny, I wasnt a good student, I was boyish, I talked too loud, and so on．I put up with her as long as I could．At last, with great anger, I ran to my father in tears．
He listened to my outburst quietly．Then he asked, "Are the things she says true or not?"
True? I wanted to know how to strike back．What did truth have to do with it?
"Mary, didnt you ever wonder what you are really like? Well, you now have that girls opinion．Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true．Pay no attention to the other things she said．"
I did as he directed and discovered to my surprise that about half the things were true．Some of them I couldnt change (like being skinny), but a good number I could and suddenly wanted to change．
For the first time in my life I got a fairly clear picture of myself．
I brought the list back to Daddy．He refused to take it．
"Thats just for you," he said．"You know better than anybody else the truth about yourself, once you hear it．But youve got to learn to listen, not to close your ears in anger or hurt．When something said about you is true youll know it．Youll find that it will echo inside you．"
Daddys advice has returned to me at many important moments．
Also in the near future small wireless boxes will pick up information from satellites．In 5 years, computers wont need to be connected through wires．
All of this will be good for rural areas and countries that dont have cable or telephone now．
In 20 years you may only need to think about something and the computer will do it．
Constance Hale is the author of Sin and Syntax, "I believe that email has been an incredible boon to communication．People are writing today where they would have been telephoning yesterday．So people are engaging with words more than they have for the last
If people use email and the Internet more, it could make people better readers and writers．Some people think the most important part of communication is to make people understand each other better．Will technology make that easier? T
Bob Parks is an Associate Editor of Wired Magazine, "Bobs morning begins at about 6:45 am．and Bob is kind of mad, because Bob usually gets up at around 7:15 and likes to cut it close with his morning commute, but I look at my radio and it says that theres
Its fun to try to guess the future．Usually the predictions are wrong．The one thing we know for sure is that we cant imagine how technology will change．
How will wireless computers and Internet services help rural areas?________
A.One of the biggest barriers to Internet use is getting wires into rural areas．
我
