  Alice Travels

  PARIS

  Paris, France
  December 1 or thereabouts

                                              WindoWatch Is There

  When we got a card in the mail  from the new on-line Windows magazine
  WindoWatch, we were not surprised as it disappeared into thin air.

  WindoWatch had organized the luncheon at the Louvre the day that we
  attended. A very dapper young man took our coat, and we sat down
  gratefully to witness a staggering feat of computer wizardry that was
  performed by our old friend Alice A.

  "I'm so glad you came," said Ms. A., smiling profusely and wearing an
  irradiated Paris gown. "You don't know how long I've worked on this
  feat." As we did not know, we sat back and watched.

  "Imagine," she said, turning to the gathered press, "that this picture
  is actually a three dimensional illusion. Then she pushed a button,
  and there was no more picture.

  The crowd was amazed, as were we. "And now imagine that this wall is
  computer generated." We tried to imagine this as she pushed the button
  again, and now there was not a wall there at all.

  "Now imagine, if you will," shouted Ms A., "that this museum, the Louvre
  is entirely fake." We did, and she pushed the button. We were now
  standing on the grass, with no Louvre in sight.

  "Now,  imagine, if you will," she slyly whispered, "that you are really
  back in the real Louvre." And we were back in the Louvre. Except, much
  to our surprise, a maze of wires and transistors was in view...as when a
  trampoline appears at the circus.

  "This is the part I like the best," as she winked at us. "Now imagine
  that this picture is an illusion." We were no longer sure where we
  were at all.

  With apologies to The New Yorker.

  Peter Neuendorffer (c) 1994

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  Peter Neuendorffer is a programmer with a growing client list here and
  abroad. He is the author of a transit program for the Boston
  transportation system (MBTA125A.ZIP) which assists riders in finding
  their train route.  Most recently he has developed Ibid List Maker 2.0
  for Windows which predictably creates lists or a browsing multi-linking
  data base. (IBID20.ZIP)

  Peter can be reached at petern@channel1.com

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