Now that I am attached to cyberworld via a high-speed hookup, I am having a blast looking at webcams. Two of my favorites du jour are streaming videocams aimed at the beaches at my old college summer haunt of Belmar N.J.; and a nice minute-by-minute stillcam of an intersection in the East Village in New York City. The City of Portland and surroundings don't look bad, either. Many more await exploration! Any hot tips out there will receive recognition here.

On the other hand, I was a bit taken aback when I stumbled across aerial photos of my home on a City of Portland site. You just enter an address, click on "Explorer," find "Aerial photos" in the little drop-down menu, then zoom in tight to see if anything was left out on the lawn that day. If this is the stuff that the city puts on the web for free, imagine what more can be seen if you are willing to pay for it.

Then you go down to the 7-Eleven to buy a beer, and the clerk (young enough to be your daughter) demands to see your driver's license, whose bar code she dutifully swipes before ringing up your cold one. Who knows who's looking over those records. Sheesh.