Internet adolescence

    
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                  THE ADOLESCENT ISSUE

 I've been thinking about my early experiences with computer networks.

 My first was Fidonet, where I had the address 2:5020/9966.44. 44 was me, an 11 year-old "point" in the network; 9966 was my brother, a 15 year-old "node"; 5020 meant Russia, Moscow; and 2 was the European zone. I suppose that argues for Russia indeed being a part of Europe.

 Fido was text-only, but I invented this little owl to use as a signature:

                           (\_/)
                           (o,o)
                           (/_\)
                            m m

 When I got access to the Internet, I started spending a lot of time in…