12:37 a.m. Members of the On Display collaborative group have been asked to pick something from their lives that might suitably go into a time capsule to mark the end of this particular era.

In just two days, we'll be leaving behind a thousand years, and most recently, all those with the number "19" in front of them. The latter are the only years most of us have known. They are familiar years. They are cozy years, illumined by hissing gaslight and humming neon and faulty, expensive electricity.

I've been thinking about Edith Wharton a lot. It was her era. And Virginia Woolf's; and of course, H.G. Wells. But now that musty time is ending and something fresh and new is taking its place. Something not a single science fiction writer, no matter how prescient, ever predicted.

And so, to commemorate and to illustrate, I offer as my contribution to the time capsule, on the eve of the new year, this mottled lime-green apple. Look at it closely. It is no ordinary green apple from the supermarket. Do you see the little label? The little red and white sticker?

Do you know what it says? What it's advertising? This not-so-innocent snack product, the original first cause of all our earthly woe, fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil ...

Come a little closer, why don't you? I won't bite. I just want to read the words on the label to you: "How do you make homemade applesauce?" it asks. And then: Ask.com.

It's the 21st Century and we have tamed our snake and he is called Jeeves. He will tell you anything, within reason, that you might want to know. Nothing is forbidden in the ephemeral garden of the World Wide Web. We don't like to make distinctions between good and evil here, because everything (and everyone) is relative.

Knowledge is power and you can be master of your own domain. Just ask. And what are people asking at the end of this century, this thousand years? Glad you asked:

• Where can I learn about the TV show Angel?
• Where can I find the Web site for Shoshanna?
• Where can I buy albums from Virgin Megastore online?
• Where can I find fan pages for Ann-Margret?
• Where can I find the official Web site for Teletubbies?
• Where can I see pictures of the female celebrity Angelina Jolie?
• What does my name mean?
• Where can I buy clothing from Nike online?
• How can I find someone?

Well, we humans at this particular turning point probably don't seem all that different to the weary snake ... we're still asking questions about angels and virgins and the lesser gods. But isn't it a shame? Now that the answers are so much easier to get, you'd think we'd ask better questions.

All this fabulous knowledge, here at our command-keys. Enough information to choke a mongoose; a growing tower of Babel that's open all night, every night. A billion customers served. A brave new wide world, free for the advertising.

That has such people in't.

I think we're beginning to see the wisdom in the old restrictions. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, but a lot of knowledge? Should we really have grabbed for that fruit with such gusto? Are we doomed to choke on what we can't digest?

The little green apple, still hard to digest, hasn't fallen far from the tree.