Washington City Paper: Contents for Apr. 6

Deus ex Machina
The District is emerging from the digital dark ages. But can high technology really spark a citywide renaissance?

Cover Story

The great myths furnish any number of metaphors for the sway of high technology. The fallen dot-commer with the melted wings--that's Icarus. The Internet as a portal to beguiling knowledge, wealth, and power--that would have dazzled Dr. Faustus. When considering the influence of technology in the District, however, Archie Prioleau, founder of a high-tech training center in Southwest D.C., finds relevance in the story of Prometheus.

After the gods deprived man of fire, it was Prometheus who boldly lit his torch at the sun and returned the flame to Earth. As Prioleau sees it, the story is a heroic tale of the effort to close the gap between the strong and the weak, the haves and have-nots. Which is more or less the way Prioleau sees the story of high technology in D.C.

"Prometheus supplied mankind with the power that the gods didn't want them to have," says Prioleau. "Today, we have the situation in which technology resources are rich in places like Northern Virginia, but meanwhile, our own 'gods' in the District haven't fully allowed for people in the city to have the same kind of access to that power. So today, Prometheus would be the engine by which we can share that power with everyone."... Continued

Issue of Apr. 6 - 12, 2001

News and Features

Deus ex Machina
The District is emerging from the digital dark ages. But can high technology really spark a citywide renaissance?
Cover Story By Eric Hoover
Switch Blade
D.C.'s landmark gay and lesbian weekly lands on the cutting edge of media conglomeration.
The City By Richard Byrne
Breakin' a Sweat
D.C.'s hashers pound the pavement. Then they pound a few beers.
The City By Felix Gillette
The Education of Little Trees
Day by day, twig by twig, National Bonsai and Penjing Museum curator Warren Hill trains a remarkable collection of tiny timber.
The City By Felix Gillette
Bad Brains, Bad Memory
The Mail By Michael Hudgins
Glass Houses
The Mail By Jason Ziedenberg
Ill Regard
The Mail By Fania Fleissig
Moving the Class Outside
The Mail By William Glew
Em Dash
The Mail By Ken Romanowski
Rosebuds Are Read
The Mail By Michael Labman