People are going online to find things they may not have found IRL (in real life). It is a virtual community bringing together people of like minds who were formerly separated by geography. Stories range from an AIDS quilt cybermemorial and a quiet community step toward peace in the Middle East to a blind woman who sees the world through the Net.

The Internet is revolutionizing commerce and shaking boardrooms from New York to New Delhi. The democratic world of the Web allows small businesses with limited budgets to target customers looking for their products anywhere on the planet. This section contains stories of mom-and-pop startups, of blue-chip corporations, and of intrepid individuals from every nation who have stepped through the door of opportunity opened by the Net.

From satellite cameras to undersea sensors, technologies originally designed to fight the Cold War -- including the Internet itself -- are now being put to uses that their original inventors could scarcely have imagined. Stories in this section include researchers studying the rainforest, children around the world simulating space missions, and students monitoring a dig in Egypt (in real time) via the Internet.

Education, religion, and culture will never be the same. With the advent of the Internet, students now communicate freely with individuals involved in the subjects they are studying. Religious orders are no longer dependent on the location of their brethren. And artists and performers have instant global audiences that respond in real time. Stories range from Singapore's cybergraffiti artists to online Buddhist monks, from wired home schools to an electronic Talmudic study group.

The Net is saving lives and connecting doctors, patients, and loved ones around the globe. For people with a disability or for individuals living in remote locales, the Internet can be the only link to information, medical care, or emotional support. Stories include advances in telemedicine, a remarkable case of virtual surgery, as well as a father's touching account of his son's battle with bone marrow cancer.

Crime, censorship, and hate; online love, dating, and sex; and a host of virtual worlds that cater to every taste can all be found on the Net. Human relationships of all sorts are being transformed via the online world. Visit a clubhouse for hackers, see a couple chained to each other for life, and peek at some enterprising online strippers.