• wowwoweowza@lemmy.world
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    4 hours ago

    Somehow you are making me feel more responsible for supporting this instance… how much are people donating?

    I realize that was not your intention… and I don’t really use this place that much… but I am heartened by the thoughtfulness and generosity of the people that will share an old thread like this… Like… I don’t know you but I like your thinking. I often feel that I have a lot to learn from the folks here.

    Do you go back to the system of interconnected BBS systems that allowed you to have a friend a thousand miles away and you could send emails back and forth? And play space trader? This is how far I go back. Pre-aol

    • ameancow@lemmy.world
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      2 hours ago

      While I got connected shortly after the force of nature known as AOL washed over the nation, and we all were ushered into a world of instant messages from long-lost relatives and “A/S/L?” from strangers, I did play around a lot with the older systems, I learned DOS, IRC and some of the later iterations of BBS’s that later evolved into message boards of various kinds where you had no idea what people were sharing until you actually open the file.

      As a result, I quickly learned how to reformat my drives and clear trojans, I got a crash-course in Windows and how networks and computers work out in a trailer deep in the desert, I wish I could say I capitalized on that and became a pioneer of technology or a wealthy entrepreneur, but I was a sheltered, homeschooled, Christian kid until I could escape and have a real life way too late in life.

      I am curious though, what brings a fellow old-timer to a place like this? I am here usually feeling like I am surrounded by kids, or at least very young and socially isolated people, the kind who often retreat to sites like Lemmy for the comfort of a community that largely won’t push back on them or make them feel threatened, which I understand fully, despite not believing it to be a healthy indulgence over long periods of time.

      The handful of “mature” people I’ve talked to have been… less than convincing. But like I said, I am not usually here to make friends so it hasn’t bothered me. You seem a curious soul and curiosity is a rare, rare bird lately. People come to the internet to speak the mind for attention, rarely to learn and even more rarely to learn about other users.