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Since I'm older than dirt and no techie, my complaint may sound puerile to those familiar with the ins and outs of the internet. However, childish or otherwise, I've heard the whines from others, as well.

Today I tried a google search for "marshes, nile river deltas,' and no matter what I chose on the drop-down menu, I found myself on sites such as "area connect," monster, info.com, etc. Britannica was available (I have a disc) only when I typed the entire URL into my address box, then they offered a few lines about the river and gave me the chance to join the Britannic legion for a hefty price.

Today's experience is hardly my first clash with secondary search engines. And my library is extensive enough to provide me with at least some of the information I sought, but I could have had more except for the "shortstopping" (a dinner-table sin committed by diners who heard you ask for the gravy to be passed, but who help themselves to the contents of the boat before sending it along) by second-line search engines.

I may be wrong, but my feeling is that those shortstoppers will kill the internet as a source of information. Were it not for the few free crossword-puzzle sites, and the conspiracy sites that tell me that Lee Harvey Oswald killed Julius Caesar, not JFK, I''d let my PC go as dark and dusty as the rest of my apartment.

I don't dare use my .NET site -- I'll dump Hotmail if people get nasty.