Away From Keyboard: Recent Episodes
Liam & Louise
Terminally online? Join hosts Liam and Louise as they unearth the forgotten histories of the early internet.
Away From Keyboard is an archaeology of the internet, an affectionate retelling of the heady days of web 1.0. Each week, one host powers up the wayback machine for a heavy dose of nostalgia and exploration. Published alternate Mondays.
Louise walks through the history of internet porn, including the commercial structure of erotica throughout history and the impacts of modern legislation.
Liam guides Louise through the storied history of Neopets in part 1 of a very special series on the virtual world that taught us to code, care, and collect currency. Join us to hear how Neopets evolved from a side-project, tried new forms of online advertisement, and – through a series of acquisitions and the death of Flash Player – became what it is today.
Links from the episode:
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Check out izzzyzzz on YouTube
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Original pets
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Macy Gray was a Neopet with her own house
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Neopets short on Nickelodeon's Nick Extra
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JumpStart made licensed Mario games
Louise guides us through the history of Craigslist, including stops at the Whole Earth Catalog, the Merzbau, Tom Cruise impersonators, and the phenomenon of “Craigslist Killers,” before arriving at the beautiful, glittering tide pool that is Craigslist's poetry section where a thriving community still creates haikus just for fun.
Discover for yourself: https://forums.craigslist.org/?forumID=575
Liam dives into the enigmatic world of intentionally absurd animation that adopts the aesthetic of low-quality, from Colin's Bear Animation to bowling alley strike screens, lovingly dissecting what makes "shitty" animation so good.
Links:
Jimmy Neutron Happy Family Happy Hour by Seinfeldspitstain
Potato Knishes by ratboygenius
Shrekophone by anonymoose
Dog of Wisdom by joe
Colin’s Bear Animation
Daz3D test footage
Realistic 3D Sonic
The bowling alley strike screen
Louise continues on the history of the Dollz, the mix-and-match style icons of the early internet.
In part two, Louise gives Liam a tour of The Palace, explains the ettiquette of dolling, and sums up Dollz Mania.
Louise tells Liam about the history of the Dollz, the mix-and-match style icons of the early internet. You probably remember the bratz-like characters from forum signatures or avatars, but do you know where they came from?
In part one, Louise gives a short history of the internet in five men, we listen to the first band of the world wide web, and we talk about the rise of chat platforms.
Liam delves into an obscure, mysterious website, the now-defunct Yvette’s Bridal Formal. While on the surface an early online store, there’s a lot more to this strange site than meets the eye, as we’ll discover.
In this episode we delve into conspiracies, ecommerce, and the sometimes extravagant mystique of the early internet.