Volume 4 delves into our interconnected, networked society. The Internet is explored in detail, including its history, applications, and backbone. Molecular computing and artificial life are discussed, as are mobile computing and encryption technology. The reader will find articles on electronic banking, books, commerce, publishing, as well as information access and overload. Ethical matters pertaining to the electronic universe are also addressed. Volume 4 extends our aesthetic interest with articles on photography and the use of computers in art. Readers will learn more about how cybercafes keep friends and family connected as well as the type of social impact that computers have had on society. Data gathering, storage, and retrieval are investigated in topics such as data mining and data warehousing. Similarly, Java applets, JavaScript, agents, and Visual Basic are featured. Among the people highlighted in Volume 4 are Italian physicist Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937), inventor of wireless communications; American engineer Claude E. Shannong (1916-2001), a pioneer of information theory; and Sovier mathematician Victor M. Glushkov (1923-1982), who advanced the science of cybernetics.