Very cool, if true

Actually, I'm a programmer originally, and I rather fancy giving .NET a go. I've got a project I want to work on (basically a chat server that does what I want), and I fancy being ahead of the crowd for change.

We don't have a TV, and unfortunately, I'm supposed to be working harder than I am. but the job is mindlessly dull (supporting untrained, stupid users), or I'd have CIV3 installed on this machine by now.

Debate does pass the time very well, and that's what I tend to use mailing lists for, but finding people to debate with can be tricky (most of my friends aren't that interested in the cut and thrust of debate).

And yeah, I've been using usenet intermittently since 1991. Google groups is a fantastic resource (if I have a problem, it inevitably turns out that at least 10 other people have had it before), and for sheer discussion and information there's nothing like being able to post a barely remembered description of a short story and have someone tell me that it's from the June 1957 issue of Amazing and which collections it can be found in.

I even managed to find some of my very early posts on the early google groups. And they weren't quite as embarassing as they thought they were going to be.