WAKE FOREST — You can bet a lot of people are getting cabin fever. But there is one cure that many of us did not have as little as six or seven years ago -- the Internet.

People are certainly still talking on phones, but the Internet offers even more. You can communicate, chat, read news, keep up with the forecast, play games and basically escape the storm.

Chuck Grimm worked from home Wednesday, managing a computer network for a Raleigh electronic parts company.

"I dialed in, made sure that all the people were able to access our headquarters computer. I used the Internet a little bit to converse with my boss out in California," he says.

Grimm used a small camera mounted to his monitor to send video mail.

Like many others, Laura Ellington is snowed in and is using her computer to check out what is going on in the world outside.

"I keep checking on the weather. Right now I'm doing some work for my church," she says.

Computers and the Internet free us from cabin fever and allow us to share thoughts, feelings and information.

"I think when you have an emergency like this you can appreciate the access it gives you to the world and communication," Grimm says.

After a query on a Triangle newsgroup Wednesday morning asking how people were using their computers, WRAL received lots of responses.

Most people say they are working from home, many are sending and receiving e-mail from relatives.

One person pointed out that many people employed by companies in the Research Triangle Park are well equipped to work at home and do it even in good weather.