https://preview.redd.it/n4ctazhzbrjf1.png?width=990&format=png&auto=webp&s=882ce36fe517b55ffc49ad22913e7d5ad7274175
https://preview.redd.it/9cxdjha0crjf1.png?width=1037&format=png&auto=webp&s=ab4daf79f6b2a2ae95b3b6c98b2fc8c150b0968b
Back in the 80s, before the web, before anyone knew what an "online community" was, I was dialing into a homegrown system called SysLink. It was written in Z80 assembly on a TRS-80 Model III by a guy named Don Lambert, who also happened to work at Radio Shack. Don was one of those guys who could pull miracles out of 48K of RAM and twin floppies. He made that machine talk to the world when nobody thought it could.
Most of us were just wide-eyed kids, sysops, or hobbyists trading messages and files - and almost all of us were guys. Women were unicorns in that space. That's why I'll never forget her.
She was a computer science student at URI, and not just a user, but the runner of their MUD gaming system. While the rest of us were slogging through BASIC and batch files, she was building virtual worlds and wiring up adventures that dozens of us could log into at once. She was sharp, confident, and way ahead of the curve.
We met through SysLink, and one night we decided to take it offline. Meeting someone from a BBS back then felt like stepping through a wormhole - you'd gone from green-screen scrolls to flesh and blood. Our first date was a shock to my system. Let's just say she was every bit as intense offline as she was online. She even told me I was better at certain things than her lesbian friend. That was the kind of compliment that stuck with me longer than any high score on a MUD.
Looking back, it was raw, wild, and a little surreal. We were proto-cyberpunks before the word even meant anything - sysops, coders, and a rare few women who weren't just in the scene, but running it. The connection was electric, messy, and unforgettable.
That was SysLink. That was the 80s. And those were the nights when a TRS-80 and a phone line could change your whole world. submitted by /u/Steve-2112 [link] [comments]