Dear LPG,

I find it worrying that so many things that we, as children and younger people, assumed would always be there, have disappeared over the years.  We take them for granted and without realising the threat to them, even though they warn us, they just vanish. 

Some of our Hospitals, Libraries and shops can be included as perfect examples of what I mean.  All these resources that we expected to always be there have undergone serious changes which keep leaving us fewer life-alternatives, and the saddest thing is that there will always be a few people that really notice their absence while the vast majority of us just adapt.

This is now a phenomenon that is even finding itself on the internet and I find it worrying that one of the best resources (Arguably) to be found there is offering warning signs.   It is often said that the virtual world of the internet is just an electronic version of real life and therefore the one will always imitate the other.

When I read articles on this site, I am one of those who click on the hyperlinks below, and doing that has taught me that one of the most common ways to start looking up any subject is to check what Wikipedia has to say about it.  It is written by anyone who wants to add to it and, like any other electronic information to be found there is a need to check what else is to be said, but it is truly the Encyclopaedia Britannica of the world wide web and one of the few places where the information offered is not obviously overshadowed by an attempt to sell something.

I recently wrote a little information on a computer based subject (although it is post-dated) and the first place I went to check my facts was Wikipedia, but, when I got to the page I wanted, I found the disclaimer that I have asked LPG to post as a picture to go with my message.  

But then, with a little further googling, I found many articles which assure us that they have adequate funds.  Perhaps this is one example of the many mixed messages that the internet offers us but the real question is; do they really need our money or is their message another demonstration of how we can be manipulated both on and off line?

In spite of what is said about it I, for one, would hate to see it disappear.

NS, Beckenham

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