Gilster:Are we now in the age of digital frills? If so, I'm unimpressed. I'd rather see the cellular companies use their third-generation bandwidth to pump a better voice signal to my phone than a movie.

Gilster:Huge amounts of information are locked behind firewalls. You can't read the entire Wall Street Journal online unless you have a subscription, and the Encyclopedia Britannica site lets you see only partial article entries until you pay a monthly fee.

Gilster:The recent announcement of Linksys' new wireless gear puts the spotlight back on video, and the challenge of making it as easy to access on multiple devices as e-mail.

One of science fiction's best stories about robots was Jack Williamson's "With Folded Hands," later incorporated into his novel, "The Humanoids."

Want a glimpse of what bandwidth congestion is doing to to the Internet?

File fragmentation used to be more of a problem for Windows machines than it is now, but some PCs can use extra help.

Chapel Hill-based Near-Time (www.near-time.com) is an interesting mix of Web log and wiki technology, the latter allowing multiple users to edit and otherwise collaborate on the same content.

Bit by bit, everyday computing tasks are moving onto the Internet. Working on my wife's laptop the other day, I loved being able to get into my own browser bookmarks through Web-based del.icio.us. And how handy, too, that I can call up the free Clipm

Because I like small, gutsy companies that are willing to take on the big guys, a graphics outfit Xara caught my eye.

Looking for ways to control the influx of Web information? If so, you're not alone. We're surrounded by so many sources of news that knowing where to look for what is a huge challenge.

What to look for in the coming year? Here are some thoughts on current trends and where they may be leading.