the inspiration for buddystumbler

i was admitted to the university at around the same time that a ubiquitous, global computer network began to surface into mainstream consciousness. this network, which we all know as the internet, ushered in a new era of electronic communication. removed from our family and friends, students soon discovered that they could communicate with their loved ones via email - a vastly superior technology when compared to the old pen and paper method.

in order to check and compose email at u.c. berkeley, my alma mater, students had to login through a command-line based terminal. curiously, the school administrators soon discovered that they needed more servers, not because the students were online writing copious amounts of email, but instead students were using the UNIX program 'talk' to initiate 1-1 conversations with other users logged into the system.

it wasn't before long that students began to modify their 'finger' information to describe themselves. using the 'finger' information, students were able to cherry pick which students they might find interesting and talk request them.

i remember those early days as a young student fondly. through chat, i made real friends that i wouldn't normally meet through my normal meanderings.

in this context, buddystumbler is an attempt to recreate this forum. a place where like-minded people can meet and chat online and hopefully have a good time.