Dilip 29 Nov 2020 ======================================================================== Memories of an old internet. The earliest memory I have of the internet is our first dial-up internet connection. Our provider was BSNL, a government owned internet service provider in India. I remember my Dad setting up a sleek dial-up modem with green LEDs showing a variety of statuses. I didn't understand what the various statuses were back then. This was around 1997.. The next memory of the internet I have has to do with my uncle. He was one of those people who loved tinkering with new things. He was in his 70s when he discovered the internet - and he was the first person in our family to fully embrace it. In 1998 he told me about a way to find things on the internet called "Google". I was 9 years old. I thought it was a funny name. My uncle died before I started working at Google 20 years later. His son and grandson were in California to tour universities (the grandson was about to graduate from high school) - they visited me at Mountain View and I gave them a tour of the Google campus. I didn't realize the significance of them being the first people to visit me at Google at that time. I don't have clear memories for the next few years. I remember downloading music over Limewire. I also recall a Kazaa (or something like that) and warez. I remember discovering internet porn. I was probably 14. I clicked on the button that said I'm 18. My first email account was with Yahoo. When I was 15, I sent an email to CERN asking them what I could study so that I could go work on the LHC when I was older. The LHC was still under construction back then, the Higgs Boson discovery was several years away. I received a response - I don't remember what it said, but I told everyone I knew that CERN had responded to me. In 2004, it was still a big deal to receive an email from anyone outside my immediate circle. Part of it was because I was 14, but I suspect that a lot of it was because the internet was still new in Bangalore. We were still learning to live with it. The most recent memory I have that I would still consider as a memory of the "old internet" are two blogs. I still remember them by their URLs[1] [2]. I was a teenager living in Bangalore. To me, the bloggers were complete strangers. I read their blog every week for several years. Once, Darwinfish2 wrote that people were reading his blog all over the world. I was happy to be one of them - it was a small acknowledgment in an era when the internet was still a place of hope and wonder. There were other blogs that captured my interest for brief periods over the years. I don't remember any of them today. I also read a few webcomics[3][4] back then. One ended, I lost interest in the other one. Today, I start my new phlog in the last corner of the internet untainted by invasive product managers. I want to remind myself that the internet I grew up with could evoke wonder, curiosity and joy. This little trip down the memory lane is meant to show you (dear reader) a little of who I am, where I come from, and to remind myself what I want to accomplish with my phlog. Notes: ------ 1. https://sallyuncut.blogspot.com 2. https://darwinfish2.blogspot.com 3. Girls with slingshots 4. Questionable Content