It was my 35th USENET anniversary last February.
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

On 5/11/22 09:36, James Nicoll wrote:
> It was my 35th USENET anniversary last February.

And you've just remembered now?

On 11/4/2022 3:36 PM, James Nicoll wrote:
> It was my 35th USENET anniversary last February.

After that long I'm just going to skip getting you a card.

On 11/4/2022 3:36 PM, James Nicoll wrote:
> It was my 35th USENET anniversary last February.

I can remember being on Compuserve back in 1993 or sometime around that.

I did not get on Usenet until 1995 or so. Tough to remember when.

Lynn

On 11/4/2022 3:07 PM, Titus G wrote:
> On 5/11/22 09:36, James Nicoll wrote:
>> It was my 35th USENET anniversary last February.
>
> And you've just remembered now?
>
"There are three signs of advancing age. The first is loss of memory, I
can't remember what the other two are."

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

On 05/11/2022 11:25, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> On 11/4/2022 3:36 PM, James Nicoll wrote:
>> It was my 35th USENET anniversary last February.
>
> I can remember being on Compuserve back in 1993 or sometime around that.
>
> I did not get on Usenet until 1995 or so.  Tough to remember when.
>

And a warm welcome to the newbies. ;-)

No real idea as to when I started, possibly 1982/1983, but definitely
1984. Before The Great Reorganisation, anyway.

And then a hiatus 'til 1989 or so.

Cheers,
Gary B-)

In article <hkug3j-dvs.ln1@paranoia.mcleod-schmidt.id.au>,
Gary R. Schmidt <grschmidt@acm.org> wrote:
>On 05/11/2022 11:25, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>> On 11/4/2022 3:36 PM, James Nicoll wrote:
>>> It was my 35th USENET anniversary last February.
>>
>> I can remember being on Compuserve back in 1993 or sometime
>around that.
>>
>> I did not get on Usenet until 1995 or so.  Tough to remember when.
>>
>
>And a warm welcome to the newbies. ;-)
>
>No real idea as to when I started, possibly 1982/1983, but definitely
>1984. Before The Great Reorganisation, anyway.
>
>And then a hiatus 'til 1989 or so.

I was thinking about early 1990s renaming, administered by Kent
Paul Dolen...

--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

In article <tk4idv$t4f$1@reader2.panix.com>,
James Nicoll <jdnicoll@panix.com> wrote:
>In article <hkug3j-dvs.ln1@paranoia.mcleod-schmidt.id.au>,
>Gary R. Schmidt <grschmidt@acm.org> wrote:
>>On 05/11/2022 11:25, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>> On 11/4/2022 3:36 PM, James Nicoll wrote:
>>>> It was my 35th USENET anniversary last February.
>>>
>>> I can remember being on Compuserve back in 1993 or sometime
>>around that.
>>>
>>> I did not get on Usenet until 1995 or so.  Tough to remember when.
>>>
>>
>>And a warm welcome to the newbies. ;-)
>>
>>No real idea as to when I started, possibly 1982/1983, but definitely
>>1984. Before The Great Reorganisation, anyway.
>>
>>And then a hiatus 'til 1989 or so.
>
>I was thinking about early 1990s renaming, administered by Kent
>Paul Dolen...

Dolan, I think. And the whole HEY NET PUNKS thing over on rec.games.*

--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

In article <tk3t3o$knf$1@panix3.panix.com>,
jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) wrote:

> It was my 35th USENET anniversary last February.

I think my 30th USENET anniversary will be next year (though I just
checked and I can't find any saved text files older than 1994).

--
"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_.
�-----------------------------------------------------
Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com

On Friday, November 4, 2022 at 10:43:42 PM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
> In article <tk4idv$t4f$1...@reader2.panix.com>,
> James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
> >In article <hkug3j-...@paranoia.mcleod-schmidt.id.au>,
> >Gary R. Schmidt <grsc...@acm.org> wrote:
> >>On 05/11/2022 11:25, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> >>> On 11/4/2022 3:36 PM, James Nicoll wrote:
> >>>> It was my 35th USENET anniversary last February.
> >>>
> >>> I can remember being on Compuserve back in 1993 or sometime
> >>around that.
> >>>
> >>> I did not get on Usenet until 1995 or so. Tough to remember when.
> >>>
> >>
> >>And a warm welcome to the newbies. ;-)
> >>
> >>No real idea as to when I started, possibly 1982/1983, but definitely
> >>1984. Before The Great Reorganisation, anyway.
> >>
> >>And then a hiatus 'til 1989 or so.
> >
> >I was thinking about early 1990s renaming, administered by Kent
> >Paul Dolen...
> Dolan, I think. And the whole HEY NET PUNKS thing over on rec.games.*
> --

I can remember visiting a fellow fan back in 1979. He showed us the
Compuserve forums he accessed using his schoolteacher-mother's
Apple II (might have been a IIc, IMS.) He wound up working for a local
computer store that sold Apple products.

I started using USENET in .....2000?...... via a PC at work and the
PCs at an internet cafe/bagel shop, within walking distance of my
apartment. Shortly after that I bought my first generic PC.

The shop actually made a nice bagel.

I had the unpleasant experience of being quoted
on USENET in early 1999, by a troll having a flamewar.
I had found some info in Books-In-Print [CD-Rom
version] that was supposed to prove his point about
whether a person had written all or part of a book.
I was able to email the clown asking him to leave me out
of his feud, and the store as well. I never gave out my last
name to him. That was not quite a quarter century ago.

Previously, our contact with self-publishing cranks was strictly
analog: snail mail & face-to-face pleas by flat-earthers and
worse who wanted the shops to carry their books, pamphlets,
magazines at lousy discounts on a prepaid, non-returnable basis.
No, thanks, for 99.9....% of the offerings.

--
Kevin R

On 4 Nov 2022 20:36:08 -0000, jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) wrote:

>It was my 35th USENET anniversary last February.

I acquired Agent 1.0 in late 1996, but Netscape Navigator 2 ("Internet
in a Box!" IIRC) a year earlier.

Since Free Agent was, well, /free/, I have no record of when I started
using it. But it would have been late 95 to pre-Agent-1.0 in late 96.

So, about 26 or 27 years.

I may have messed around with other BBS systems before then. I bought
OS/2 2.0 in mid-1992 and was, IIRC, on FIDO discussing it at some
point thereafter.

That's a long time, but I was not a pioneer.
--
"In this connexion, unquestionably the most significant
development was the disintegration, under Christian
influence, of classical conceptions of the family and
of family right."

On Friday, November 4, 2022 at 4:36:12 PM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
> It was my 35th USENET anniversary last February.

You were ahead of me. My first post was to talk.origins in 1989.

It is (I hope) lost to history, but I recall the date and month as I had just
started work at the grandiloquently named "Applied Research
Corporation Technologies", a good place to work but I
never figured out what technologies had to do with it.

William Hyde

On 11/4/22 13:36, James Nicoll wrote:
> It was my 35th USENET anniversary last February.
This inspired me to go back and search Google Groups. The earliest I
could find for me was 2/12/1993 over on misc.emerg-services and
2/22/1993 in this group.

There may be a better way, but I already spent too much time going down
THIS rabbit hole.

--
Dave Scruggs
Captain, Boulder Creek Fire (Retired)
Sr. Software Engineer - Stellar Solutions (Definitely Retired)

On Friday, November 4, 2022 at 4:36:12 PM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
> It was my 35th USENET anniversary last February.

I got on Usenet in late 1983 or early 1984. However, I'd already
been on the Internet since late 1978. I was active on the SF-Lovers
mailing list from the start.

Keith Lynch, who hangs out on r.a.sf.fandom, got on SFL
a couple months earlier than me.

As far as I know, he and I are the fans who have been continuously
active on the net for the longest time.

pt

James Nicoll <jdnicoll@panix.com> wrote:
> It was my 35th USENET anniversary last February.

First post of mine in the Usenet Archives at https://www.usenetarchives.com/
is 09/14/1984.

Robert
--
Robert K. Shull Email: rkshull at rosettacon dot com

On 11/5/2022 5:47 PM, rkshullat@rosettacondot.com wrote:
> James Nicoll <jdnicoll@panix.com> wrote:
>> It was my 35th USENET anniversary last February.
>
> First post of mine in the Usenet Archives at https://www.usenetarchives.com/
> is 09/14/1984.
>
Hello Big Brother.

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

Kevrob <kevrob@my-deja.com> wrote:
> On Friday, November 4, 2022 at 10:43:42 PM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
>> In article <tk4idv$t4f$1...@reader2.panix.com>,
>> James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
>> >In article <hkug3j-...@paranoia.mcleod-schmidt.id.au>,
>> >Gary R. Schmidt <grsc...@acm.org> wrote:
>> >>On 05/11/2022 11:25, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>> >>> On 11/4/2022 3:36 PM, James Nicoll wrote:
>> >>>> It was my 35th USENET anniversary last February.
>> >>>
>> >>> I can remember being on Compuserve back in 1993 or sometime
>> >>around that.
>> >>>
>> >>> I did not get on Usenet until 1995 or so. Tough to remember when.
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >>And a warm welcome to the newbies. ;-)
>> >>
>> >>No real idea as to when I started, possibly 1982/1983, but definitely
>> >>1984. Before The Great Reorganisation, anyway.
>> >>
>> >>And then a hiatus 'til 1989 or so.
>> >
>> >I was thinking about early 1990s renaming, administered by Kent
>> >Paul Dolen...
>> Dolan, I think. And the whole HEY NET PUNKS thing over on rec.games.*
>> --
>
> I can remember visiting a fellow fan back in 1979. He showed us the
> Compuserve forums he accessed using his schoolteacher-mother's
> Apple II (might have been a IIc, IMS.) He wound up working for a local
> computer store that sold Apple products.

I started while the service was still marketed as MicroNET on a TRS-80 Model 1
with a 110/300 baud acoustic modem. I remember having to get my parents
to order an "old fashioned" cradle desk phone...variants of the "Trimline"
were nearly universal at the time.

Robert
--
Robert K. Shull Email: rkshull at rosettacon dot com

On Saturday, November 5, 2022 at 9:03:04 PM UTC-4, Dimensional Traveler wrote:
> On 11/5/2022 5:47 PM, rksh...@rosettacondot.com wrote:
> > James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
> >> It was my 35th USENET anniversary last February.
> >
> > First post of mine in the Usenet Archives at https://www.usenetarchives.com/
> > is 09/14/1984.
> >
> Hello Big Brother.

Cool site. My earliest seems to be from July 1983.

Pt

James Nicoll wrote:

>In article <tk3t3o$knf$1@panix3.panix.com>,
> jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) wrote:
>
>> It was my 35th USENET anniversary last February.
>
>I think my 30th USENET anniversary will be next year (though I just
>checked and I can't find any saved text files older than 1994).

I started using usenet when I was taking classes at WUSTL. My first
message was to alt.test:

Nov 28, 1994, 4:53:58 PM
[[[[ Test ]]]]
Test message.

Exciting. I didn't know at the time that you should include something
like "no reply" or "ignore" in the subject, otherwise you get some
auto-responder emails.

Brian

On 4 Nov 2022 20:36:08 -0000, jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) wrote:

>It was my 35th USENET anniversary last February.

I was one of those dreaded college kids that got an account through
school and immediately jumped in and started annoying people. It was
probably September 1988, or possibly 1989.

I was thinking my first post was to alt.fan.frank-zappa asking for
album recommendations because I had just gotten into FZ at the time,
but according to that usenetarchives.com site, a.f.f-z wasn't founded
until 1991, which was after I graduated. But I definitely remember
accessing newsgroups via a mainframe in college in the late 80s. Wish
I could find something that pinned it down better than that, but I
don't even remember what my college email address was any more.

-- Bob

--
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software.
www.avg.com