You stand under a massive portal, and the big gates of Linnéaville are open. Behind you, the daily life of thousands goes on as usual, and in front of you is Cyberspace with its almost limitless possibilities. Lots and lots of roads lead away from here to different places. At each road is a sign, and from the information you got in the town you know that these roads have been selected by their virtue of having a subject I found interesting. New roads are being added at uneven intervals.
Now this is a very well-trodden road indeed. Even as you stand here, four
or five people pass you by and hurry along this road. You read the words:
Arbetsförmedlingen, the Swedish job recruitment agency
A paved London street leads up to a brick building with a glass-windowed front. This is one of the campuses at Middlesex University in northern London, a place recently haunted by the author of this page.
Visit Middlesex University's home page!
A small road windles away between some very green hills. Cities, both small and old and million-sized, can be spotted in the distance. The sign is bilingual, and it tells you:
Éire: Cnuasach na hInternet
Ireland: The Internet Collection
You gasp as you catch a glimpse of the scenery visible from this road. Whatver can this be? The elaborately written sign tells you:
Guided
Tour of Grand Canyon
This path takes you into the woods. The sign is very difficult to read, and much of it is written in different alphabets that you never saw before. The part you understand reads:
Tengwar
and other beautiful "alphabets" of Tolkien's Middle-Earth. Pay us a visit if you are using a graphic browser!
The sign beside his small road is shaped like a large butterfly with closed wings. As you approach, its wings open and in a scrawl reminiscent of an ant crawling over a rough surface you read:
The wonderful world of insects
This path is straight and smooth. The sign next to it looks a little like a tourist brochure, with a picture of a red castle, a large, beautiful garden with elaborately cut trees, an aboundance of flowers, a fountain and a building with a line of fluted pillars in front. The sign says:
The Botanical Museum of Uppsala University
At the roadside, you see some people in colourful clothes sitting and playing together on fiddles, drums and several kinds of flutes. The path windles its way to
the Traditional Folk Song Database
This is one of the widest of all the roads. It looks as if at least two buses could drive side by side on it, and indeed, as you stand looking at it, a big tourist bus comes along and honks its horn at you before driving on. The sign is very elegant and business-like, and it tells you:
The Web Museum
Opening
hours: All days between 00.00 and 23.59.59 PST, GMT, CET and all other time zones.
Watch out! Don't step on that sweet little froggie! And not on the fat ugly one, either, please! Follow the damp path to the pond and see
the
Froggy Page (RIBIT)!
This path is _very_ difficult to walk. It's steep, its surface is greyish-black and very uneven, and it is littered with stoned of different sizes. Into the path itself are cut the words:
Come visit the Volcano World!
The next road is covered with ice and snow. A few penguins can be seen hobbling along it. Dress up in your warmest clothes if you want to enter
the Gateway to Antarctica.
No, I don't want to leave just yet...