In <i>Silicon Snake Oil</i>, Clifford Stoll, the best-selling author of <i>The Cuckoo's Egg</i> and one of the pioneers of the Internet, turns his attention to the much-heralded information highway, revealing that it is not all it's cracked up to be.&#160;&#160;Yes, the Internet provides access to plenty of services, but useful information is virtually impossible to find and difficult to access. Is being on-line truly useful? &quot;Few aspects of daily life require computers...They're irrelevant to cooking, driving, visiting, negotiating, eating, hiking, dancing, speaking, and gossiping. You don't need a computer to...recite a poem or say a prayer.&quot; Computers can't, Stoll claims, provide a richer or better life.<br><br>A cautionary tale about today's media darling, <i>Silicon Snake Oil</i> has sparked intense debate across the country about the merits--and foibles--of what's been touted as the entranceway to our future.