Well yes I'm a nerd.

A true nerd. Of that generation that he was lucky enough to be born with an 8bit computer next to the big bed in his bedroom. Of those nerds who have seen the web arriving like a high-speed train from afar. Always been proud of that definition that was mocked and reproached in those years for not living life, not playing sports and being totally awkward and awkward with girls. Stereotypes of those years all enclosed in a beautiful film, at least it was for me then, entitled la Revenge of the Nerds with robert carradine which somehow gave us vigor and consideration. We were the underground of those nineties, ready for the transition from analogue to digital that already in the mid-80s arrived in the lives of many. Today certainly reinvigorated in the collective imagination by more modern definitions such as geek and supported by television series such as "The Big Bang theory" or Mr. Robot. Reminding us that Musk, Gates and Bezos are among the most famous nerds in history. Jobs did not consider himself such or perhaps he had decided not to consider himself such, unlike his partner Wozniak. Someone wrote in unsuspecting times "Nerds conquering the world" and today our story continues, that world that we had thrown down with bytes, modems and floppy disks is now exploring incredible frontiers that make me proud like the Metaverse and NFTs .

I had also started writing a book, then stopped as often happens to me. Ideas come and fly away quickly and that of a book I still can't put it into practice. Yet even in this case I have everything ready, from the basic idea, to the characters, the central story and obviously the ending. Yes, the ending. My ideas related to writing always start with a basic idea and a name and then end up immediately at the grand finale.

Now that we talk about the Metaverse and many themes that re-propose that culture at least for nostalgics like me cyberpunk and underground by Gibson and Sterling, I thought I'd leave an imprint of my little world in my very modest blog by heart for the huge network. Below you will find the synopsis, the first chapter and the ending of a true story even if a little fictional of what I would have liked to write but it is said that one day I won't try again.

The ending tells what I felt that day when together with many of the comrades of the movement we had created ten years earlier we decided to go to the cinema to see MATRIX. Unlike today, films in the cinema were driven by a strong analogue word of mouth but on the net, in the forums and in Mirc's rooms there were some comments and everything that was said around the film was the premise for a story that would have left a lasting impression sign, at least in our community of nerds and techno humans digitized for passion. We wanted to indulge in memories and so it happened: “On the screen the word END. And we were done too! a new era was beginning and information technology would emerge from his ghettoised neighbourhood. The dot-com bubble was about to burst and we were in it armed with new dreams which, however, had nothing to do with those of us kids anymore. We felt new truths within us and saw everything running faster than we were able to perceive. We were already old. We were 25 and a new story was beginning to be written.”. And so be it.

SYNOPSIS

Two kids from a casual meeting give life to one of the best known groups of Italian Crackers and Hackers in the USA between the years '89 and '93. We were called DEAD MEMORY and we specialized in Shareware and Video Games. We were born on board the AMIGA and ATARI and the arrival of the first compatible Personal Computers had transported us to a new world made up of databases, BBSs, increasingly sophisticated protections and security systems. We read Zzap!, The Games Machine and K!. We combed through Wired in bookstores. Each of us had a different, distant destiny that was slowly writing.

THE MEETING

Not even a penny in his pocket.
Come to think of it I really didn't have any and they didn't interest me. More was enough for me to warm up the engine that fueled my dreams. And it was beautiful to do it with open eyes.
“The next stop is Gallarate…” – I double-checked the note. He had told me that he would arrive from Somma Lombardo by bicycle. We didn't know each other yet but a schoolmate had asked me to meet him. He was looking for some software. We were 15. We studied, but not too much. We were already cramped around the keys of our home computers. We only read video game magazines, Italian or imported like K, The Games Machine and every now and then we leafed through Zzap! the 8 bits. Wired already existed, it was pure science fiction for us.
I got off the train. I went through the tunnel and came out on the street. I took the same route every day and for this reason we decided on the phone to meet at the Gallarate station, in front of the bar where we bought the bus tickets.
It was a beautiful day with clear, fresh turquoise skies. The station was inhabited by all the most misfit characters of Gallarate, then drug dealers and students waiting to move. Opposite was a square used for parking and a little further on, at the end of the gallery was the bar. I walked across the parking lot and stopped at the end of the gallery looking at the clock. It was almost four in the afternoon, the time of the appointment. I made many and this was one of them. I traded software, sold it or even had original copies delivered to me to crack or duplicate with the systems that my father had built for me with the Elettronica Pratica kits. This appointment was like all the others, I didn't know then that it would be the beginning of many new adventures.
I didn't have much indication of her appearance. Short and dark. He had told me that he would arrive on a racing bike in shorts. The shirt would be blue. And looking hard down the street I saw it coming. “Hello” – he greeted me back as he got off the bike. While "I have everything here, I also arrived a few minutes ago by train from Busto" he tied the bike to the pole. “I prefer to get around by bike in the afternoon, the trains from Somma Lombardo are slow and few pass” – “did you bring me everything?”. "No. Unfortunately you will have to give me one more week for Autocad 3 while I found you Orcad with all the libraries you asked for. Together with Lotus 123 and Visicalc.”. “Wow. Optimal. I can wait for Autocad but I also need Orcad and Lotus at school. ”– He smiled as he spoke, I knew I made him happy. I handed him the package while we grabbed an ice cold Coke at the bar. “What do you study in Gallarate?”. “Computer accounting, what about you? are you in class with Domenico?”. “Yes, I'm at ITIS, biennium. Next year I'll do Telecommunications.”.
Natalino seemed strange to me. A bit private. He spoke little. But he seemed to know better. He tinkered and it was clear from what he told you and how he handled the disks.

FINE

Now only the end credits were passing on the cinema screen. We still looked for the columns of animated up and down bytes, alternating that recalled green phosphor monitors, looking around. Our eyes were still open and we were dreaming. "Come on let's go" Ricky had been repeating for a few minutes - "come on, it's over... I want to smoke a cigarette!". We didn't listen to him. Dave and I were hoping something was still up. But it had been many years. The group no longer existed and we had scattered the ashes with ourselves around the many roads that were dividing and driving us apart. Yet eventually a final writing appeared – MATRIX – and woke us up. "Dave let's go... let's look for the white bunny too... let's have a beer on it!". Dave looks hypnotized. I knew what he was thinking, they were the same thoughts that had glued my eyes to the past while looking at NEO I wondered why we had never gone further, we hadn't sought anything other than fame among a few hundred nerdy guys scattered around the computerized world. “Shit Luca… beautiful. He made me sad…”. None of us were thinking about the meaning of the film, the real world behind ours, the machines that will supplant man or some other crap like that. We were all saying goodbye, each in his own way, to the past that had kept us united in front of our screens, with modems on and hundreds of lines of code like military stars to show.
We were done! a new era was beginning and information technology would emerge from its ghettoized neighborhood. The dot-com bubble was about to burst and we were in it armed with new dreams which, however, had nothing to do with those of us kids anymore.
We felt new truths within us and saw everything running faster than we were able to perceive. We were already old. We were 25 and a new story was beginning to be written.