# Happy 40th to the Internet!



## ToeClaws (Sep 3, 2009)

Well mostly.  The birth of the Internet can be traced back to early September, 1969, when work and tests began on what was then known as ARPANET:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/08/090831-internet-40th-video-ap.html

Even though the "Internet" in the more modern form that we know it as today didn't really take hold until the 1990s, it was the humble beginnings and notion of networked systems across the globe that lead to what we have now. 

So, when did you first get on the Internet in some way and what was it?

For me, I first used it sort of indirectly in 1992 when I started using E-mail via BBS's.  I got on directly for the first time in 1995 via a 14,400K modem (which made me promptly  upgrade the thing to a 33.6K modem).


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## CAThulu (Sep 3, 2009)

*tosses streamers and confetti*

Alright...first time I was on the internet I was in Highschool, about fifteen years ago    We were learning about how to use the thing...I think we were using Netscape *L*.



> For me, I first used it sort of indirectly in 1992 when I started using E-mail via BBS's. I got on directly for the first time in 1995 via a 14,400K modem (which made me promptly upgrade the thing to a 33.6K modem).


Oh good lord, that takes me back!   *laughs*  Ah, the nineties...*G*


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## Ibuuyk (Sep 3, 2009)

Happy b'day Internet, you're now as old as my mom!  Neway, I learned about Internet when I was 8.. yea.. took a long time xD


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## Grimfang (Sep 3, 2009)

Oh, happy birthday, Internet.

I can't recall when I first got internet, but I do remember my parents trying to set us up with it. Our modem didn't meet the minimum baud rate requirement. I guess school and library were the first places of internet for me, heh.


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## Irreverent (Sep 3, 2009)

Oh dear...... 

I was accessing the Internet via a school-to-university portal and dial up 30, 150 and 300 baud modems as early as 1982; either on SuperPets or Dec Terminals.

By 1986 I had a dedicated email address on the @rose.com (long, long gone) PCBoard bbs implementation.  Not quite a true email address, it was still a UUCP bang-path at that time.  Accesed via a C64 and 300baud PocketModem(tm).  The Terminal emulation software already had rudimentary implementations of telnet, ftp and gopher, but most file transfer was still Y-modem-G.  Most of the Ontario portals were connected to ONet or MapleNet; a loose ring of University and Corporate timeshare mainframes.

By 1990, I was running the precursor of SLIP over Berkly sockets (Distinct was the implementation as I recall) on a 1,200baud RacalVadic modem, but upgraded to Winsock 1.1 (Trumpet rocked!) and a blistering Hayes 2400 by late 1992; on Windows 2.2 and 3.0.  About the same time I got my own email address on Irg, running SLIP and screen.   Usenet was accessed by either RN, tRN or Pine.  Later, QWK-packets and SLiMER made it possible to make usenet access portable and browse able offline.  Lynx and sLynx were the text based browsers of the day.

My old Irg and ROSEMedia bang path postings are still grep-able in the Usenet rec.* and alt.* archives. :shock:  Be careful what you say on the internet, its going to be available for a very, very long time.

By 1993, I was working for a full-channel master distributor and also a reseller of Cisco gear.  It was my first corporation that was on the Internet (no firewall by the way! ) and I could ping my workstations from dial-up at home.  Gawd we rode the net bareback back then.

"What a long, strange trip its been......"


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## net-cat (Sep 3, 2009)

Heh. 1996 with a 14.4Kbaud modem with service from Internet Xpress. (Still in business, oddly.)

Good times...


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## ToeClaws (Sep 3, 2009)

Heh - I knew your tale would be a long one Irre - that's awesome.   When I first accessed the Net, it was via SLIP.  

As for UWO, our class B was registered in 1987.  It remained largely unused by anyone but a few staff until the mid 1990s as the web began a huge interest and expansion in the use of the Net.  We now have over 44K active users.


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## Irreverent (Sep 3, 2009)

Yeah, I have a tale or two to tell. 



ToeClaws said:


> As for UWO, our class B was registered in 1987.  It remained largely unused by anyone but a few staff until the mid 1990s as the web began a huge interest and expansion in the use of the Net.  We now have over 44K active users.



Ironically, it was the introduction of Win95 and DUN with a winsock 1.1 stack that was probably the tipping point for critical end user access to the Internet.  

That simple inclusion into win95 may be their single biggest accomplishment since GWBasic and PCDOS 2.1.


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## ToeClaws (Sep 3, 2009)

Irreverent said:


> Yeah, I have a tale or two to tell.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Agreed.  Though the first Win95 A was horrid, it did have that advantage.  At the time, I was using Win 3.11 with v1.3 of the win32s extensions, but adding stuff like that was beyond a normal users abilities then.  OS/2 Warp 3 was out, but unless you had the "Connect" version, it wasn't designed for the Net.

Making the Net easier to get to, along with the creation of the World Wide Web a few years earlier definitely lead to the current popularity explosion of the Net.


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## Aurali (Sep 3, 2009)

What's this new fangled internet everyone is talking about?


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## ToeClaws (Sep 3, 2009)

Eli said:


> What's this new fangled internet everyone is talking about?



Nothing - just a fad.  It'll pass.


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## Shino (Sep 3, 2009)

ToeClaws said:


> Nothing - just a fad. It'll pass.


 Oh, like furbies?

Anywho, I was not around for the birth of the webs, but I was certainly around when the bad eye-melting neon color and flash riddles webpages were the norm. I'm amazed those frightening sites didn't end up turning people off the internet completely. Oh, and usenets and newsgroups, back before we had our Napsters and Kazaas and BitTorrents...

Hehe, thank you internet for turning me into another indoctrinated geek. Without you, I would be a hell of a lot more bored.


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## ToeClaws (Sep 3, 2009)

Shino said:


> Oh, like furbies?



Ahhhhhhh... gods, those things were scary. :shock:


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## blackfuredfox (Sep 3, 2009)

HAPPY BITHDAY INTERNET. *fires 2 SAA revolvers into the air wildly*


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## LizardKing (Sep 3, 2009)

but didn't al gore invent the internet in '92? :conf:


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## Irreverent (Sep 3, 2009)

LizardKing said:


> but didn't al gore invent the internet in '92? :conf:



Nah.  Like most Dimocrats, he just tried to take credit for someone else's work.


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## hitokage (Sep 4, 2009)

Shino said:


> Oh, like furbies?


Wait, aren't those what you get when two furs reproduce?

On topic:
I first used the internet back in 1993/94 sometime. I had access with Windows 3.1 (maybe WFW 3.11 - don't remember if my home network was set-up yet) and Trumpet Winsock to get TCP/IP and PPP connection.


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## LizardKing (Sep 4, 2009)

Irreverent said:


> Nah.  Like most Dimocrats, he just tried to take credit for someone else's work.



no its true i heard it on the internets

al be praised!!


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## Shino (Sep 4, 2009)

*adopts gruff voice*

Ahem... the internet is a series of tubes... and they get clogged... because the internet is for porn.


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## Ragnarok-Cookies (Sep 4, 2009)

We shall now bake the Internet birthday cookies.


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## blackfuredfox (Sep 4, 2009)

Shino said:


> *adopts gruff voice*
> 
> Ahem... the internet is a series of tubes... and they get clogged... because the internet is for porn.



okay, HAPPY BIRTHDAY PLACE OF PORN. *cough*and lots of arguing*cough*


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## JMAA (Sep 4, 2009)

One more year near to being obsolete.


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## Hir (Sep 4, 2009)

The day when people abandoned their lives for the internet.

Actually that didn't happen until some time after that.


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## buttjuice joe (Sep 4, 2009)

wow
the internets are MIDDLE AGED
this is madness!


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## Irreverent (Sep 4, 2009)

buttjuice joe said:


> wow
> the internets are MIDDLE AGED



Not unlike this old otter.  

Its due for an overhaul.  Rip and BGP4 are gone, RFC1918 gave it a much needed shot in the arm, and BGP6 and IPv6 is coming on strong.


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## ToeClaws (Sep 4, 2009)

Irreverent said:


> Not unlike this old otter.



Only adds to sexy wit and charm. 



Irreverent said:


> Its due for an overhaul.  Rip and BGP4 are gone, RFC1918 gave it a much needed shot in the arm, and BGP6 and IPv6 is coming on strong.



Meh... I would have loved to see IPv6 not take hold until I retired, unfortunately, I'm going to have to deal with that festering pile of crap sooner than later.


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