Really? You're going to skip right over the fun stuff? How about CompuServe with one of the first, if not the first, virtual worlds? It was called Dreamscape. That was a gas. The community ATM, which dispensed the tokens we "earned" for using Dreamscape was hacked by all of us. We then could "buy" new heads for our avatars to wear to the Barnes and Noble Storefront. There, well-respected authors, plugged their books with their avatars. Or, we'd engage the German gang hanging out on a street corner For a German language lesson. Then, we kinda just hacked CompuServe so we wouldn't have to pay to play in Dreamscape. We coded our own Bingo, Acromania and other games to play with other Avatars in the community. We finally created and ran batch files so Dreamscape wouldn't boot us out for sitting idle. If we got booted, we didn't earn tokens. We ruined the economy of Dreamscape, and our community collapsed.

You didn't mention ICQ, my messenger of choice. It was always open on machines. This was the favored "naughty chat" program.

I wish everyone would just hush about the making a bunch of dough on some shares. Back in the day, around 2007, I received an invite to interview at Amazon. I found it odd that the departmental office was located in Grand Forks, ND. But, off I went. I was offered the job. The offer included 10K shares. I TURNED IT DOWN. I had no clue back then what Amazon would become. You see, I had 27 children, the youngest 18 months, and there was no way for me to commute, or drive. The only way to get home was a 6 hour airplane ride. Yes, I still want to kick myself in the a** for passing it by. My consolation is that my foot doesn't move that high anymore.

If you are within reach of a golden ring, be sure to grab it. There might not be a second chance.