Don't Overdo the Caffeine

I'm awake. I don't want to be. A peevish post inspired by this follows.

The Old Gray Net Just Ain't What She Used to Be

I first got to borrow somebody's account in 1985 or earlier, and I did get a few moments on the Net while in college. But they wouldn't give you an account unless you were a prof or taking an advanced computer course, alas. So I first got online (by BBS and Fido) in the summer of 1993, which allows me to give myself airs and complain about how nowadays it's "forever September".

One sign this is so? The odd bit of whining about Nihil Obstat. If Gharlane of Eddore, peace be upon him, was still alive and posting (and btw, that post in the Titanic group isn't the real him; he died in real life soon after his last June post and was much mourned), he would show how gentle Nihil (or should that be Nemo?)'s corrections really are. Typos, misspellings and grammar errors are violations of truth, according to the old ways of the Net. To point out such errors is the work of a friend; and to joke about errors is not only inevitable but lends interest to the enterprise.

Then there is Mr. Rose's threat of legal action against Fr. Johansen. If Johansen's comments could draw forth his sort of whine, it's a pity he was never on Usenet, where he could have been repeatedly heard the sound *plonk* as he was filtered out (and no doubt sent copies of the famous Standardized Bonehead Reply Form by Joe Shaw, as well as the Ultimate Flame. O, for a muse of fire!

I miss the old Net. It was sometimes ruder and cruder, but it was gentler, too. Strange that college kids raging for days over simple questions could have more sense of proportion than a published, nationally-known author. But given that the published author in question even managed to look like a whiny git on Book TV, and that his book does a wonderful job of discrediting his own side, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.

For the record, Mr. Rose? *PLONK*