Dogpile was the first search engine I ever used. My dad had a buddy who was into tech stuff, who showed us how to use it. Later I learned about AskJeeves from

Dogpile was the first search engine I ever used. My dad had a buddy who was into tech stuff, who showed us how to use it. Later I learned about AskJeeves from a cousin who showed me how to download emulators and ROMs (this would have been in the mid-late 90s). It's funny to think how much of my early tech experiences came from in person interactions. Dad's friend also built the first computer which I owned, which belonged to my grandma until she got a shinier Dell pre-built for a birthday. I was allowed to "purchase" that machine for the price of two free mows (so $40). This was a steal by any metric. It became the foundation for basically all my computer learning into my preteen and teen years and the centerpiece of my bedroom. I have many fond memories of kicking back in my bedroom with ZSNES or bootleg Family Guy episodes. Idk that I'd really connected until today how much of an influence that friend of my dad's had on my life, just through a few simple acts of thinking the net was cool and sharing with my family.