SEE YOU IN CYBERSPACE

Live sound-and-image Internet connections are poised to take the cyber-masses by storm, thanks to software dubbed "CU-SeeMe" from Cornell University. Today, for example, a few hundred intrepid Net users skipped CNN to watch the space shuttle Endeavor take off via live NASA transmissions -- on their computer screens. Last month Chicago scientists made history's first video link to the South Pole, where a resident trudged through a kilometer of minus 60-degree C weather to reach a Macintosh. For average users, the innovation means the personal-communications revolution is getting a lot more personal, promising low-cost video conferences for students, journalists or even computer users looking for a date. CU-SeeMe's performance is a little sluggish on most Net links, but the capabilities are improving fast, owing to the increasing number of "reflector" sites. The sites act as hosts, reflecting video feeds from different locations and individual users. David Farber, an Internet founding f