These days you may feel like you talk to more electronic circuits than to human beings. Even if you never "log on" you will still touch 500 micro-chips a day. Has all this technology made your life any easier? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the ups and downs of digital life. Also, what happens when technology bites back, and finding "soul" on the Internet.

Regis McKenna is a computer industry consultant and the author of "Real Time: Preparing for the Age of the Never Satisfied Customer." He tells Jim Fleming that as computer chips get faster, people are growing less patient: we want everything to happen in nanoseconds. Also, Edward Tenner tells Steve Paulson about some technological "revenge effects." He's a science historian and the author of "Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences."

Science writer Margaret Wertheim tells Judith Strasser why cyber-religion attracts some spiritual seekers. She says the new Internet Utopia has a lot in common with the old Christian heaven. Wertheim is the author of "The Pearly Gates of Cyberspace: A History of Space from Dante to the Internet." Also, Marc Seifer tells Jim Fleming about the life of eccentric Nikola Tesla - the father of modern electronics. Seifer's book is "Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla."

Henry Jenkins teaches literature and media studies at M.I.T. He's the co-author (with Justine Cassell) of "From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games." He tells Steve Paulson that many old fashioned play spaces have been lost so kids have moved the aggression they always acted out onto video screens. He talks about the differences in games developed for girls, and explains that kids still need to learn that their real-life actions have consequences.

Distribution dates:

• week of 05/02/99 - hour 2