also, i'm reading a novel by eric s. nylund right now, suggested by shabbydee. it's really amazing. his vision of the future is pretty cool. i have some questions about how the gateway device works, however. like how you can keep from jumping into solid matter or something? (wake, any help here?) but that's not what i really wanted to talk about. what i think is really cool is that in this book, set waaaaay waaaaay in the future, like contact with alien races, spray-on space suits, and the ability to leap around universes in a single step, ... human beings are still using Velcro.