20 Year Archive on Google Groups has 20 years of usenet postings. It is a quite impressive timeline of history including the first mention of AIDS, the fall of the Berlin wall, first mention of Britney Spears (in 1993!) and a couple that are near and dear to my heart.

First mention of the Commodore 64 in August of 1982

Any opinions on the new Commodore 64 computer. I've seen it and it looks pretty neat.

(i) it comes with 64K of memory standard

(ii) in highest graphics resolution it has 320 X 200 pixels. In lower resolutions you can display 16 colors simultaneously, but the number of simultaneous colors goes down with increased resolution.

(iii) it uses a version of sprite graphics

(iv) it has a cheap plug in telephone modem (only 40 characters per row)

(v) it uses 6510 (like 6502 but with extra I/O ports) and will have a plug-in Z80 option.

(vi) it has a synthesizer built in with three voices, each can play over 9 octaves in a variety of waveforms with different attacks, decays, etc.

(vii) it lists for $595 but can be bought for less (at American of Madison, for example!). Magazines were offering it for as little as $479 but are not coming thru. It seems that Commodore has forbidden mail order firms from dealing in the 64.

(viii) it uses the same Microsoft BASIC as the PET. They say they will have Pascal for it soon.

Doug Lerner d...@uwisc

Jeff Bezos has a new company (amazon.com) and is looking for employees in August 1994

Well-capitalized start-up seeks extremely talented C/C++/Unix
developers to help pioneer commerce on the Internet. You must have
experience designing and building large and complex (yet maintainable)
systems, and you should be able to do so in about one-third the time
that most competent people think possible. You should have a BS, MS,
or PhD in Computer Science or the equivalent. Top-notch communication
skills are essential. Familiarity with web servers and HTML would be
helpful but is not necessary.

Expect talented, motivated, intense, and interesting co-workers. Must
be willing to relocate to the Seattle area (we will help cover moving
costs).

Your compensation will include meaningful equity ownership.

Send resume and cover letter to Jeff Bezos:

mail:    b...@netcom.com
fax:     206/828-0951
US mail: Cadabra, Inc.
        10704 N.E. 28th St.
        Bellevue, WA  98004


We are an equal opportunity employer.

Go read more, including the first "money making opportunity", the first "Me Too!" post and the first dicussion on New Coke!