MetaFilter

What's the deal with your nickname? How did you get it? If your nickname is self-explanatory, then tell everyone when you first started using the internet, and what was the first thing that made you say "wow, this isn't just a place for freaks after all?" Was it a website? Was it an email from a long-lost friend? Go on, spill it.

I first heard of the net in 1988, when a friend of a friend (flatline!jet) ran a UUCP host and told me about Usenet. I got online for real in 1989 - bitnet first, then Internet. I've been participating in online community since I was about 10 years old and logging into BBSes.