Dilip

Dilip
<[email protected]> 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