The WELL

We love our n00bs

How the Grateful Dead built the internet Before the internet took over the world, psychedelic rock band The Grateful Dead were among the first – and most influential – forces at the dawn of online communication.

Hey! The BBC has something to say about our history with Deadheads in the early online years. www.bbc.com/future/artic...

And today at 4 PT!

Whoah, wait, I overslept. It's 2025? CRAP. Can anyone summarize what happened this month?

What if I had all your sends from 1997?

Is there a TUMS equivalent for aging online communities? I keep burping up boomers.

Mark O'Brien lying in his iron lung, head protruding, breathing tube dangling near his mouth.

Mark O'Brien was a journalist and poet. He was a member of my internet home, The Well. He used a wand to type his work.

Why not his hands? He was in an iron lung. From 1955 til he died in 1999. Attended UC Berkeley in it.

Because: polio.

Fuck you, RFK Jr.

pic: Poetry Foundation

I've had Deadheads in my belly for 38-39 years now.

My grep is itchy.

ALtered list of menu commands for using The WELL in Picospan, with actual prompts and also prompts to sell ones soul and hire an exorcist.

Snapshot of early menus in the picospan system, STILL IN USE in 2024! It's history! It's alive!

I meant it hurts my picospan whenever I descend stairs, not that it "hurts downstairs" when I go.

Should I use ice or heat? A compression sleeve or a brace? My picospan clicks every time I bend it and it hurts when I go downstairs.

Thanks, Larry! It gives me tingles right in the picospan.

Any other online communities who have already turned 40 have any words of advice?

Hello. I'm an online community. I'll be turning 40 next year and tbh, I'm kind of freaking out about it.