You know, John, now that you mention it, he does overdramatize, but I think that’s a necessary consequence of geek memory. What I take most issue with is his reference to BBSes as havens for the oppressed — suppressed is more likely; people with a computer and a modem had a leap on others, and the understanding of how it worked even more so. I don’t recall too much of a scintillating underground, such as the , but I was raised in Stamford. No doubt, Julian and his hax0r (hacker) friends were clearly into more interesting boards.

I never had that Damascus experience Julian’s talking about — I doubt others did. When we first started dialing into these things, we were poking around thinking we were really smart for getting those kinds of sounds out of our computer. Sure, John, you may have created your own, but did you suddenly feel as though God had struck you dumb, your metanoia allowed you a new identity?