Your name was given to us by a spouse or family member who is concerned about your internet addiction. At Internetaholics Anonymous, we can help.

Yes, you--we're talking to you. You, looking at this screen for hours on end, online. You, bleary eyed. You, an addict. Have you looked in the mirror lately? Been outside? Know what day of the week it is? Have you

checked downstairs to see if your family still lives with you?

We're a non-profit society of recovering addicts like yourself that provides support and counselling through weekly (off-line) meetings designed to help you cope with your problem.

We feature a twelve-step recovery program and in extreme cases, interventions. Although it is our firm belief that you are never "cured," you most certainly can recover.

We have designed a brief checklist to determine if you are an addict. Do

you:

1) Have twitches of the hand when you walk by your terminal?

2) Check e-mail more than five times a day?

3) Spend more time chatting than eating or sleeping?

4) Surf aimlessly with no direction, if only to be online?

5) Leave your name and information at countless sites if only to hope you'll receive a reply one day from a company you'll never do business with anyway?

6) Log on before important personal habits, such as meal preparation, hygiene or bodily functions?

7) Have red, swollen eyes that hang halfway out of your head?

8) Spend hours online on a holiday from work, where you'd usually be griping about your carpal tunnel syndrome?

9) See smoke arising from your computer or WebTV box?

10) All of the above?

If you answered yes to four or more questions (or chose #10), you have a

problem. Please call us at Internetaholics Anonymous at:

1-800-LOGOFFNOWFORPETE'SSAKE

We're here, we're free, and we're confidential. The first step to recovery is admission that you have a problem. Call us today. That is, if you can power off to free up your phone line.

Unfortunately, this is no longer a joke. According to Wikipedia, Internet addiction disorder (IAD) is a theorized disorder. Internet Addiction is treated by Counsellors and Psychologists in Sydney (Australia). A few days ago, the American Journal of Psychiatry classified Internet addiction as a mental disorder.

Phew! Amazing what you can find on the Internet. I love my broadband connection - but sometimes I do miss the squeal of a dial-up modem ...

Peter

The sound from my knees reminds me of a dial-up modem!

anyone else remember the early days? 2400bps modems? text only internet? monochrome monitors?

hands up! I'm an addict, no point fighting it! 16 hours a day isnt enough.