Can you do anything without the Internet anymore?

For me, that has never been a question worth considering. I bank online. I buy online. I read news online.

While I worked as a newspaper editor for three years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and worked for other newspapers since I was 15, I have always turned first to the Internet for news.

That's where the news is constant, where -- as the old maxim goes -- the news truly doesn't sleep.

I'm the sort of person who knows the day's headlines before I go to bed at night, because I've already read the next day's issue of all my favorite newspapers.

With a computer in tow, I'm a joy rider of the information superhighway.

Yet, my chosen industry has not harnessed the awesome power of the Web to anywhere close to its fullest potential, especially community newspapers. They are just dipping their toes into the Internet waters. Ever the ambitious one, I wanted to dive right in.

After interning last summer at The Pilot, I heard of at least one newspaper that was beginning to move in the right direction.

Although little in the way of resources had been devoted to ThePilot.com at that point, there were smart people with cutting-edge ideas who were committed, once the resources came, to really making our Web site the information portal that it could be.

During my final year at UNC, I kept track of The Pilot's progress as committees worked for months on a design for the new site, grappled with how to improve content, and arrived at a strategy for re-energizing our online operations.

I was like the kid who gets the last whack at the pi�ata and is able to spill all the goodies.

Tomorrow, I will help usher in a new era for online storytelling in Moore County with an enhanced redesign of ThePilot.com.

With this new site, we hope to redefine how Moore County accesses information.

Rest assured, the newspaper will remain the newspaper. You will still see the three award-winning editions that you've come to expect every week, but you won't have to spend so much time wandering without information on nonpublication days.

Now there is a place with answers to every burning question. ThePilot.com will become the portal to every nook and cranny of Moore County.

Weather updates, information on a bad traffic accident, a big police bust or just what happened at last night's meeting? -- Just open ThePilot.com for the answers to those nagging "Did you hear what happened �" questions at any time of day.

With a new, more user-friendly site and a re-energized outlook on our Web operations, we will become an around-the-clock news source -- a regenerative information font that should leave few people thirsty for more.

Stories are rarely finished once the ink hits the newspaper. We'll keep up with the evolving beast that is news with constant updates at ThePilot.com.

Also online you will be able to dig deeper into the information in each issue, whether that's with more photos, links to other information or audio and video complements.

On nonpublication days, we will offer "tastes" of the stories we're developing for the next issue. Pick up the paper and you'll get the rest.

The new site also will open the door to a new way of interacting with the news of the area. Through Web logs, podcasts and video, we will put a new spin on covering the news and provide more dynamic, interactive coverage.

With blogs you can debate the stories that appear in the paper and make suggestions for improved coverage to Pilot reporters and editors.

With podcasts, you can listen and experience the news of this area. Go to the Podcast Corner to hear Writer-in-Residence Jim Dodson read a taste of each week's column and talk with me about the stories behind the column. Come to the Web site on nonpublication days for a podcast of the day's headlines. We'll be trying out other podcasts at events such as the Sunrise Blues Crawl next weekend.

While tomorrow ushers in a new era for our Web site, more innovations will be coming in the weeks and months ahead.

Check back soon for video footage of local sporting events, breaking news and, possibly, of your newspaper at work.

The possibilities are endless with the Web, and we're busting at the seams to explore them.

Along with nonstop news, the new Web site will boast numerous ways to find information on the community.

You'll see an enhanced job bank and real estate section. You can place and manage classifieds with our new site. And we're continuing to brainstorm ways to better serve your needs.

Online Director Lynne Peterson, who has managed the Web site for five years and spearheaded the redesign effort, said the changes tomorrow are just the first of a new class of services the Web site will be introducing.

"We expect there will be some growing pains," she said. "But I believe our readers will be as happy as we are with our greatly improved and expanded product."

A revamped photo gallery system (with photo purchasing coming soon), a help page to address any problems you might encounter and click-of-the-button subscription management -- all can be found at The Pilot's revitalized Web site.

Better search and archive mechanisms are among other improvements.

Kit McKinley, who manages all of our online sales and marketing activities, noted that there also will be more advertisement and sponsorship opportunities on the new site.

"That's the beauty of the Internet: There's so much more visually there than what we can have in the paper," she said.

There's so much more to tell, and there will be so much more to come. In the meantime, contact us with any questions or suggestions for how to improve our services.

And come along for the ride as we prove that ThePilot.com is the place to go for information on Moore County.

When we find out something, you'll be the first to know.