Dear readers,

It is difficult to decide whether this is a triumphant or sad moment. I guess it is a bit of both. It is triumphant because some of our staff are graduating to new challenges and their hard work and abilities have been recognized. It is sad because we are sad to see them go.

This issue of the digest marks the departure of Debbie Lim, who has guided the last couple of issues through to completion. Debbie is off to Quito, Ecuador to further her career and take up a journalism job. We wish her all the best and regret that we won't have her to carry the ball so ably in the coming months.

This issue also marks the end of the careful, creative, and constant care and attention that have been lavished on the Digest by Angie Hsieh and Dan Schick. Both Dan and Angie were present for the birth of the digest and their departure is particularly poignant for me, as they are also my graduate students and I will miss them greatly. They are, however, both taking on new challenges and their skills and talents were immediately recognized by their new employers. Those employers are very lucky, I think.

Dan is leaving us with a parting essay, called Finding Cyworld, which is an exploration of that fantasy role playing game/world based on an interview with a long-time player. The article provides wonderful insight into a part of life, electronic virtual socializing, that is growing in importance all around the world.

Flo Chee's article, on Jungian archetypes in massively multiplayer role-playing games (MMORPGs), is a superb introduction to how psychoanalytic perspective can lend insight into the lives of gamers, and her suggestion, that we might glean new insight into humanity by understanding game roles, is a challenge for scholars in the years to come.

Kayo Chang's article, on the Chinese virtual family, is based on a close reading of some of Marshall McLuhan's work and provides keen insight into the workings of family dynamics and remote parenting through electronic media of communication. Kayo makes use of the tetrad, pioneered by McLuhan, to assist in her analysis. It makes for fascinating reading.

This issue is rounded out by a research proposal on surveillance robots and family dynamics, by Rasoul Salehi. It will be very interesting to see if Ross is able to get this study underway and I, for one, am dying to hear how it turns out!

I hope you enjoy this issue as much as I have, and I look forward to future issues of this same caliber. It is truly remarkable what we have produced over the past couple of years, and I look forward to better things in the years to come. Farewell to Angie, Dan, and Debbie - have fun out there!

....r