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?