What the dials were telling me when I took this snapshot of my computer screen:

• They were saying that it was taking eleven router 'hops' to get from my computer to the web host's machine (called '2600.com'). Although my ISP's computer is only a few miles from my home, the signal that I send to it may traverse hundreds of miles - sometimes, even, traveling out of state before it reaches its comparatively close destination.

• The red tower depicted in the illustration is the host machine on which the page I was trying to access is kept. The fact that it is red indicates that that computer, at the moment I took the snapshot, was failing to acknowledge my request. The fact that the tower is in red indicates an impassable breakdown - at that moment, at least [a minute or so later, I had no problem getting to the page].

• Although my modem is set to receive information at 28.8 kilobytes per second, the average rate of retrieval on this occassion was 39.8 kbps. Modems can, and do, operate at variable speeds.

• My computer's CPU was operating at 76 percent of its capacity at the time,

• Although there was negligible traffic on the internet as a whole, or at the site of the host (2600.com), my ISP was experiencing a lot of traffic and operating almost at 100 percent of its capacity. [If it were operating at 100 percent, I would not be able to 'get through' upon dialing it up].