I am pleased to welcome Roger to America Online. His screen name, incidentally, is Bearbox. The Bear is a reference to the bears and bulls of the stock market, and the box is a reference to the cartons often confused with our family name. It makes for an odd but rather musical name.

We now have four Archipelago members online: Paul, Roger, Lee, and me. Both Paul and Lee transmitted their contributions this time through AOL. With 2400 baud fax modems selling for only $80, it would seem that the time is ripe for the rest of Archipelago to join the electronic global village.

Any takers?