In an increasingly remote region of cyberspace called USENET, a highly committed group of volunteers works to help people they've never met with computer problems. These problems might be simple; some are quite complex. Yet these volunteers spend many hours helping lost cyber-souls find digital salvation. In this particular space, there are more than two million contributors a year, with more than forty thousand making more than 36 annual contributions, and about eight hundred making contributions just about all the time.

LRB 18 August 2005 | PDF Download