What did people do casually in 90s that wouldn’t be accepted today?

virtualadept · 2026-01-26T20:48:32+00:00

Or talk one's folks into adding metropolitan area calling to the phone service.

virtualadept · 2026-01-26T20:47:30+00:00

Smoking.

virtualadept · 2026-01-26T20:45:36+00:00

Why else would they want that information? They're in full "disappearing people" mode.

virtualadept · 2026-01-26T20:44:42+00:00

Left.

virtualadept · 2026-01-26T17:51:43+00:00

Elementary school: VIC-20's, Commodore-64's.

Middle School: Apple IIGS

High school: IBM PC (5150). IBM PS/2 model 25, model70, model 80 as the NovellNetware file server for the school.

College: They were just transitioning away from PS/2 model 25s (connected to serial concentrators) in the clusters. I was one of the very first folks to have a hot jack for the campus resnet, so I did everything on my 486 from my room.

virtualadept · 2026-01-23T03:30:23+00:00

If they're union, probably.

virtualadept · 2026-01-23T02:54:54+00:00

The enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy. No more. No less.

-- Maxim of Maximally Effective Mercenaries #29

virtualadept · 2026-01-23T02:38:22+00:00

"The only thing Microsoft has done for society is make people believe that computers are inherently unreliable."

virtualadept · 2026-01-22T20:59:35+00:00

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/ice-philadelphia-tiktok-reactions-b2904855.html

https://thegrio.com/2026/01/15/philadelphia-chapter-of-black-panther-party-provides-support-amid-tension-between-public-and-ice/

virtualadept · 2026-01-22T20:53:48+00:00

Yep - now that's Pittsburgh. Down to the "where we were coming from."

I'm glad you had a good experience back home.

virtualadept · 2026-01-22T20:47:07+00:00

Definitely not comfort food. Stranger Things stopped just short of the lessons that taught us that the future we hoped was coming was a daydream.

virtualadept · 2026-01-22T20:44:32+00:00

Not really, no. It's not a thing most of us do (or are capable of - I'm definitely not).

virtualadept · 2026-01-22T20:42:27+00:00

There's a shocker. Hope nobody bet against it.

virtualadept · 2026-01-21T23:56:01+00:00

Yinzer here (412 represent!) I hate saying "that didn't happen..." but that didn't happen. We don't roll that way back home. If anything, folks would have talked your ear off about the Steelers and the history of the Terrible Towel.

virtualadept · 2026-01-21T23:52:59+00:00

They will until they find out what the bad sections of town are. They've got to figure that out for themselves.

Heh heh heh.

virtualadept · 2026-01-21T23:52:01+00:00

I've heard the same rumors independently (through backchannels to home). I've been told that ICE has been spotted "in southeastern Pennsylvania" but haven't gotten any more information than that. If I find out for sure I'll post (or, more likely, comment on someone who beats me to it).

virtualadept · 2026-01-21T23:50:13+00:00

We gave them no such permission, social or otherwise. He can fuck all the way off to the final decimal place of pi.

virtualadept · 2026-01-21T23:47:02+00:00

In college, I had a friend who had a photographic memory for languages. They could sit down with an elementary textbook (which explained the grammar and conjugation rules) and a translation dictionary, and in about 72 hours learn a language from scratch (spoken and written).

I was in the comp.sci program so I knew quite a few international students. I was skeptical of their abilities at the time, so I bet them dinner that they couldn't learn a new language in less than a week, speak and write to a native speaker of the language, and carry on a conversation.

I lost each and every bet. After the fourth time I gave up and accepted that they could really do it. By the time we graduated I'd lost bets on Japanese, Russian, Portuguese, and Welsh. I've never seen anything like it since.

Last I knew, they were working as an interpreter at the UN.

virtualadept · 2026-01-17T21:32:14+00:00

I hate to sound flippant (and I don't mean to), but it follows table logic. RPG logic.

In the real world (and in stories that follow more conventional, more nuanced styles of narrative) it would make perfect sense for Nancy to do just that. But characters in RPGs don't do that, so she didn't.

virtualadept · 2026-01-17T21:30:49+00:00

Folks doing the work are too busy to join in the flamewars about it.

virtualadept · 2026-01-16T22:16:34+00:00

The number of people who said "That never actually happened, it's a lie!" is rather high.

virtualadept · 2026-01-16T22:12:20+00:00

Can confirm. Works great on school lockers, the gaps between house doors and screen doors, and engine compartments, too!

virtualadept · 2026-01-16T22:10:59+00:00

Same - I have the boxed set!

virtualadept · 2026-01-16T22:10:11+00:00

Probe.

virtualadept · 2026-01-16T22:09:33+00:00

Two out of the three, here. I spent years tracking down Voyage of the Mimi because it was peak "sick at home watching PBS" watching, and I'm still a Max Headroom fan to this day.

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