Recent searches
Search options
I'm really loving how Mastodon has become a refuge for all the grizzled seafarers on the ocean of the internet. They pop up in my feed and their bios all say something like
"I've been online for longer than the internet. I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. 56k modems on fire in the light of Usenet. I watched IRC forks glitter in the dark near the Gateway 3000. All those moments will be lost in slop, like tears in rain. Time to deshittify."
@ApostateEnglishman@mastodon.world@Janeishly I saw someone say something like "Facebook is where all the boomers and Gen Xers who need help with their computers live. The fedi is where all the boomers and Gen Xers who *designed and built* the damn computers live".
@ApostateEnglishman Aint that the truth. I just wish we'd weeded out the tossers who turned it all into this *gestures* back when we could.
@Janeishly An ex partner of mine once said you could explain the whole of life in three words "coulda woulda shoulda". We were on our third date.
It was in that precise moment that I fell in love with her. 
@ApostateEnglishman Seems perfectly reasonable!
@Janeishly @ApostateEnglishman The darkness is ever present. It is the job of those who choose it to strengthen the light.
@ApostateEnglishman @Janeishly this particular boomer is here because he helped build the networks that the internet and these applications relied on.
@leighc2 @Janeishly Late Gen Xer here (still in my 40s). I can't make such an impressive claim, but I was writing my own games in BASIC before I even hit my teens. I rewrote my version of Boulderdash in GFA for the Atari ST, then rewrote it again in QBasic on MS Dos.
The Atari version worked the best, because the language had specific commands (such as BMOVE) for directly manipulating screen memory. Even uncompiled, it was playable.
I also worked in IT for some years. Hated it, though...
@ApostateEnglishman @Janeishly
I used to build computers for fun. I could tell a modem's connection speed by listening to it. I used to host regular LAN parties because I had networking equipment at home and the know-how to make it work.
I gave up on Facebook 13 years ago.
These things happen. It's not a big deal. 
@ApostateEnglishman @Perrin42 @Janeishly he is working too, wow.. you don't have to sit on your ass if you can fly
@ApostateEnglishman @Janeishly
I am supposedly "Gen X" and I never felt ANY love for BookFace, and I certainly never had any need for help with my computer.
Yes we designed and built the computers, long before the "tech bros" with their "design patterns" "CI/CD" "Agile" and "Sprints" came along
@ApostateEnglishman @Janeishly & on Bluesky, the people who disdain both groups
@ApostateEnglishman @Janeishly and maybe it's time we resurrect some of the original ideas and ideals. I remember saying to a colleague of mine back in the 90s that having companies on the internet was going to destroy it for everyone, because that's what capitalism leads to, and enshitification of everything.
@Janeishly @ApostateEnglishman There's something USENETy about the combination of deep expertise, stellar humor, and dysfunction
@ericg @Janeishly I feel seen.
@Janeishly @ApostateEnglishman I'll take this moment to proudly present a 'grizzled seafarer' cred. It is in the 'programmer' list in the sidebar
@ericg @ApostateEnglishman That's a good one! Sounds like a game I'd have enjoyed.