Do you remember when you were a “newbie?” My first time on the Internet was at work in 1996. I first connected to the Internet through my own account in July of 1997.
My first Internet provider that worked was AOL. I still have that same account.
My first non-work-related e-mail was from my friend Pat.
The first “urban legend” type e-mail I ever got and fell for–and yes, passed to long-suffering Pat–was the one about the Neiman Marcus cookie recipe.
The first public chat room I ever went into was on my first day on AOL and no longer exists.
The first online friend I ever made was on that first day in that first chat room. She lives in L.A., and we are still friends. We also found out a long time into our friendship that a close friend of hers had been friends with a close friend of mine. Small world. Both of our friends died several years before I met her online. Later, we not only met in person, but she and her wife and my husband and I all liked one another.
The first of the three men who would become my writing partners that I met online was Tim, and I met him my first week on AOL. He’s the first of my three writing partners that I met in person. And his was the first photo I ever downloaded. It was this photo.
The first chat acronym I ever used was LOL. The first chat emoticon I ever used was =), and I used the equal sign instead of the colon for eyes because I was imitating Tim.
The first time I ever got my chat suspended for misbehaving was when I typed “pimp,” the acronym for “peeing in my pants” (from laughing so hard). The Guide realized after a moment that I hadn’t said anything wrong, but let me cool my jets for a couple more minutes before lifting the suspension.
My first experience with an online impostor was with a “roomie” from that same chat room: a straight man who had at least three separate lesbian identities and one gay male identity.
The first blog I ever read was The Rob Log, blog of Famous Author Rob Byrnes, which is currently on hiatus.
My first online friend that I talked to on the telephone was Jim, who is still my friend and writing partner. He gives good phone.
The first search engine I ever used was askjeeves.com. Thanks, James.
I don’t remember who my first Instant Message was with. I’m sure it was someone who said, “A/S/L?” and I had no clue what it meant.
The first non-work-related web site I ever visited was www.cdc.gov.
The first web site created for our work was timothyjamesbeck.com. It still exists. The first web site I ever created no longer exists.
I don’t remember what my first .wav file was. The first .wav file that was made specifically for me in the voice of an online friend was made by Tim.
I don’t remember the first time I accidentally sent e-mail to the wrong person. But I know I’ve done it.
This is the first personal photo I ever uploaded and sent to my “roomies.” When I sent it, it was sideways. I still remember who fixed it and re-sent it for me. Thanks, Bri. =)
Becky, your memory is astounding! (and the pics are great).
I remember doing a computer course sometime in early 2000 and then purchasing a computer soon after. We were connected to the internet sometime before the middle of that year (I think), and that’s about it for me!
Does your incredible memory recall run across the board or is it only for certain things? Is it inherent or have you trained yourself?
I could say that I have a writer’s mind, which always observes and records.
But I don’t know why I can remember all this stuff and yet can turn from my kitchen counter, take three steps, and totally have forgotten what I was planning to do next.
i don’t remember all those types of details.
i know i basically got online to keep up with prince..who was still O)+> at the time, and was pretty much intent on swearing off record companies completely so there was no other way to know what he was doing..
i used to use chatrooms a lot..i believe i was truly in love with one of the first people i talked to online..(after some time, not the first time we talked..we are still in touch by the way..)
it was 1998..i was starting my current job the same time i was learning the computer..so i was sorta learning it at home and at work..
jandy was already online, so she had to put up with a lotta my ‘discoveries’ and i remember sending her a lot of e-greeting cards…
it was a lotta fun at the time, since it was new to me..and since there are so many effed up ones out there..
i used to use instant messengers constantly..i pretty much don’t at all now.
and then i discovered prince related message boards and sorta got hung up on those for awhile..
til i decided that tho i love prince, i hate the majority of his die-hard fanbase..
i also remember being on dial-up, and everything taking forever to load..
if i didn’t end up disconnected before it did.
the above was me..i don’t know why i wasn’t logged in?!?
Dial-up… Tim, Jim, and I recently had a conversation about that. We can all remember the exact sequence of noises you’d hear as the attempt to connect was made… and that rush when you heard the little pinging that meant you’d made it, just before AOL boomed, “Welcome. You’ve got mail.”
yeah..and then getting cable internet access..i really did feel like the guy in the commercial where he says he’s reached ‘the end of the world wide web’ or whatever..
cos all the sites that used to take me forever to load, and navigate and the whole connection time…it was all just there..and i was like..
‘well, now what?’
Yes, I remember being a newbie, and indeed it was through being a cautious newbie and feeling my way through the web that I attracted the attention of a certain Californian whom I eventually ended up marrying. That was via usenet.
I first got online using an internal BBS via the Department of French Studies at Lancaster University (the one in England). My prof. there was into computers so he got any of us who wanted an account on the university mainframe to use the BBS. From there I discovered MUD, email, whatever stood for chat back then, and eventually irc, though I wasn’t on that very much as I found it very intimidating.
I have a distinct memory of being chat messaged when I was stuck: “Getafix, please stick your hand up in your air”. In this manner I met my friend Wolf, whom I had already met two years previously. We were in the same computer lab and it was possible to tell who was where.
I have many fond memories of my final year which were spent on the computer, with a bunch of people mostly in Comp. Science, eating one heck of a lot of pizza, which we would have delivered en masse to the computer lab.
My first user name was Getafix but I used Moonflower and Moonbeam(?) in the MUD games.
This was in 1990/1991 btw.
I also met my friend who dated the same jerk that I did, after I did, and we compared notes and then met and became best buddies.
When I left university I was offline for a while. I knew I would find it addictive and basically in the UK you paid local calls per minute, so the bills would rack up. I married my first husband and we got a computer and used Netscape 2.0.
I started work on my first web site in 1996 after my soon to be second husband sent me home from my first trip to the USA with an armfull of Dummies books.
But I had written my first programs in 1983 or so, using BBC Basic, just got left waaaay behind.
I haven’t looked back since.
Mine was your first blog? I feel so honored.
–Famous-But-On-Hiatus Author Rob Byrnes
Not only that, but I just checked the list of blogs I read regularly (excluding my LJ friends). Out of 21 blogs, 17 of them are either blogs you link to or I found because of blogs you link to. You have a sinister power.