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Yanno it would be a neat social experiment abound with technological irony if someone built a self contained, interactive mockup of 1999 internet accessible to anyone & their old machine. Not like WBM which imo is more like a snapshot or photo album but a “living” ecosystem of old everything. Obviously no real world usability like banking etc. but an interesting way to revisit nostalgia. i wonder how many ppl would use it?
 
Yanno it would be a neat social experiment abound with technological irony if someone built a self contained, interactive mockup of 1999 internet accessible to anyone & their old machine. Not like WBM which imo is more like a snapshot or photo album but a “living” ecosystem of old everything. Obviously no real world usability like banking etc. but an interesting way to revisit nostalgia. i wonder how many ppl would use it?
GeoCities access? ;)

Also, there is something a bit like that here: http://home.macintosh.garden/
My page is in the User Directory under the name "Europa" if you wanna take a look :3
 
GeoCities access? ;)

Also, there is something a bit like that here: http://home.macintosh.garden/
My page is in the User Directory under the name "Europa" if you wanna take a look :3

Hah geocities. Blast from the past. I had quite a few sites hosted there in the late 90s. That’s a cool implementation of the idea. I am totally going to check that out this weekend. Thanks for the link :D
 
Hey that’s a cool implementation of the idea. I am totally going to check that out this weekend. Thanks for the link :D
No problem! I agree! :D
A lot of people who have sites there (including me) made their sites on actual vintage Mac hardware, which is a neat touch to the entire experience. I personally made mine initially on my Power Mac G4 but have pushed most changes using my iBook, both using Dreamweaver MX. :)
 
Just had a look at it - nice :) I enjoyed your write-ups about how you acquired and upgraded your machines, as well as the anime naming scheme.
Thank you! I'm glad you liked it! There will be another page added soon and also the X61s page will get a large update once I reinstall the OS on it. The anime naming scheme has a funny story - when I was acquiring my iBook G3, a friend and I were talking and we came up with that idea just sort of spontaneously. :)
 
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If someone can tell me a good proxy server program, then maybe there is a chance.
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The good old days are never coming back, man. We can't go back. Look for positive things happening in the here and now.

There is nothing positive anymore with the stupid internet.. not this one at least. If i had my way, I would re-write the whole thing.
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Now, someone told me if I want to continue to use the web with old browsers, I need to set up a proxy server - please point me in the direction of such an app.. for the mac. Sadly, I have to go this route because of those giants which we can all take out.. but everyone is a afraid.
 
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please point me in the direction of such an app.. for the mac

As far as I know, the only one for macs is no longer available, it was updated and is no longer compatible - you'll need a PC or Raspberry Pi or similar.
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Although you could try this:

 
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As the title says the best times of one’s life can never come back like it was. I feel like I have been asleep for close to 18 years and all that time I just let every hour and second fly when OS 9 between 2002-maybe 2011 was working and nostalgia could be relived.

With the current situation now grim and Covid-19 here, I feel this trip down OS 9 lane has been a very very PAINFUL and DEPRESSING experience. Top that on the fact, that I just recently ordered all sorts of things to be happy with while using my G4 Pismo. Brand new msata M2 board and 44-pin to M2 so I can have a faster experience with the Pismo - who knows maybe Tiger and TenFourFox will be usable.

In addition, bought Office 2001, X, soundjam MP Plus with all updates on my Mac pro ready to be used. I can see one issue after another - internet is no longer working properly, iTunes doesn’t work, though dronecatcher told me a way to do it.

Guys, I am at my wits end as I have fallen into a severe depression hoping this nostalgic reliving of OS 9 would help me, however I see it as destructive. Please advise how I can make my OS 9 nostalgia be like it was that day when in 2000 I bought my 1st Power Mac G4 sawtooth 350 where I was happy only to lose it all in late 2001-2002 because of financial issues.

Please keep me in your prayers, as I don’t know what to do anymore about this. I have 2 other PPC machines left - the DLSD G4 which just works (no issues with web), and a mighty G5 Quad - but something about OS 9 and me are linked.

I fully haven’t decided to retire the Pismo yet until I get feedback from you all. I am so sorry I bothered a lot of you about OS 9, but nostalgia and wanting this all to work like it did 15-20 years ago has made me regret it dearly.

Can someone tell me when was the last time OS 9 was fully functional - internet browsing and everything ? What damage did I do to miss the opportunity ??? Was it 2010 ? Was it 2007 ? I really hate my life and what has happened to me over the many years. I don’t know even how to get back to a normal life.

God bless you all and please help me.

Roman

Trying to make OS9 work in 2020 is a lost cause. However, using a Linux machine and tunnelling into these older machines is not. That's how I do it with my PowerMac G5, Powerbook G4 DSLD and Powerbook G3 Wallstreet. I just tunnel into these machines for the things I want to do using a Linux Mint converted Macbook Pro. A modern system, but is easy enough to VNC and network with the older machines to maintain all legacy support. When I was still working at the non-profit organisation supporting people who are still using old PPC machines for some important work, I helped them configure their machines as proxies for the more modern Linux machines we sell, because most of the time, the security certificates and the web browsers available are way more and better supported on the latest Linux distro. However, if I need to run OS9 apps, then I just tunnel into my PowerMac G5. It is doing a fantastic job as a file server and print server for both my Linux machine and all my macs that tunnelling to it via Remmina is a no-brainer. Microsoft Word, Pagemaker for retrieving legacy stuff and I had set up for clients with their Powerbook G4 to act as a firewire slide scanner station and they just tunnel into the G4, scan and then use the scans for their more modern machines. Obviously, making the PPC work faster as a proxy server help improve the overall experience. I think I use the PowerMac G5 a lot more now than I thought I would with the Powerbook G3 wallstreet sitting most of the time. Probably more so now since I won't be returning to my former job, which would motivate me to use the Wallstreet more. My Powerbook G4 is now setup as a landline fax server. I may use it more when I get more jobs after COVID is gone that require faxing.

While I was working for the non-profit organisation, I did not realise how many people are out there still using the PPC and OS9. Some actually went back and use OS9 for the writing software because it was much simpler times. But the major complaint was the internet and how to bridge older machines to the modern internet and I had found that using a Linux client machine is the best approach to link to various PPC macs and use them or even use them directly and then email/fax the files using more modern machines.

You do not have to do everything on the Pismo; rather make the Pismo as OS9 proxy machine for more modern machines. I think you will have the best of both worlds; live the life using OS9 while being present in the now. I know I enjoy using Tiger X, OS9, Windows 10, Mojave, High Sierra and El-Capitan all through my Linux machine.
 
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Roman, I've spent a good chunk of my life wishing I could go back. To experience what was when I wasn't present, to make different decisions, to do better in the heat of the moment... I wished I could take it all back. What ails you now is old hat to me.

I've spent so long researching, thinking, and dreaming of events prior... It's taken me a long time of serious reflection to realize that based off of everything I've since dug up and found... there is nothing there for me. After years of accumulative attempt to effectively, artificially reverse my entire perception of time, I've only learned that the world was just as troubled then as it is now. People behaved the same way. Culture worked largely to the same degree. Nothing was truly purer.

The inconvenient truth for me is that if I was picked up and plopped right back into what had already happened through the course of time, my life wouldn't improve. Because that's not up to my environment, that's up to me. And that ability in you doesn't change when given time, it changes when you decide it so.

Which is something I could have said back then, but didn't.

My best guess as to what's going on in people like you and I is that there are inadequacies in our current lives that no matter where we turn, we cannot find a solution for. Thus we are left with no other choices but to simply try to revert back to a point in time where said insurmountable issues simply didn't yet exist. Forever in vain.

That's one of the definitions of "the good old days" after all. Call it cherry-picking, but when people don't remember facing the personal tragedies they're pained with now, their past life naturally finds itself branded as something it's not.

Sparing you the rest, my findings ended up cementing for me when I found the following:

"I know now that we can't escape the past. Nor can we rewrite it, hoping to lessen our pain. The best we can hope for is to continue to learn, to take from the past only that which is good, and move on. Perhaps, in the process, we will build a brighter future."

I learned that therein lies a lesson in everything, and that origin, in fact, need not define one's legacy.

Indeed, I hope all of us can come away from all this with something in hand.

 
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Roman, I've spent a good chunk of my life wishing I could go back. To experience what was when I wasn't present, to make different decisions, to do better in the heat of the moment... I wished I could take it all back. What ails you now is old hat to me.

I've spent so long researching, thinking, and dreaming of events prior... It's taken me a long time of serious, serious reflection to realize that based off of everything I've since dug up and found... there is nothing there for me. After years of accumulative attempt to effectively, artificially reverse my entire perception of time, I've only learned that the world was just as troubled then as it is now. People behaved the same way. Culture worked largely to the same degree. Nothing was truly purer, and nothing was purely truer.

The inconvenient reality for me is that if I was picked up and plopped right back into what had already happened through the course of time, my life wouldn't improve. Because that's not up to my environment, that's up to me. And that ability in you doesn't change when given time, it changes when you decide it so.

My best guess as to what's going on in people like you and I is that there are inadequacies in our current lives that no matter where we turn, we cannot find a solution for. Thus we are left with no other choices but to simply try to revert back to a point in time where said insurmountable issues simply didn't yet exist.

That's one of the definitions of "the good old days" after all, when people didn't remember facing the personal tragedies they do now. Naturally, the mind then leads itself to put memories and historical knowledge in a place they don't deserve.

Sparing you the rest, my findings ended up cementing for me when I found the following:

"I know now that we can't escape the past. Nor can we rewrite it, hoping to lessen our pain. The best we can hope for is to continue to learn, to take from the past only that which is good, and move on. Perhaps, in the process, we will build a brighter future."

Indeed, I hope we can come away from all this with something in hand.

I think the best solution is trying to do something new, which is what you hint at with that quote. You can never recreate the past and you can only visit it so long before it becomes detrimental to forward progress.

The lure of the past is what we were experiencing when going through those pleasant times - what made us feel good then. In the doing of something new that we like, we regain that because the new experience provides the same feeling.

At least, for myself, that's something I've learned.
 
Idk, I think there's still a fair amount of activity, but I do know what you mean.

There is.. plenty of it. I am on there all the time. I am trying to knock sense into them that OS 9 will one day be able to browse the web again and according to Cameron Kaiser classila is not abandoned, just on hold and he stated as soon as he has free time he can then work on it, However he personally told me he wanted me to find those who are interested in keeping OS 9 alive for internet.
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Well, this subforum still exists. If you want the feel of the old decentralized web, there are still active forums such as this one, vogons, MSFN, 4chan, etc..

The whole web should be decentralized like it was in 2000’s.
 
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As the title says the best times of one’s life can never come back like it was. I feel like I have been asleep for close to 18 years and all that time I just let every hour and second fly when OS 9 between 2002-maybe 2011 was working and nostalgia could be relived.

With the current situation now grim and Covid-19 here, I feel this trip down OS 9 lane has been a very very PAINFUL and DEPRESSING experience. Top that on the fact, that I just recently ordered all sorts of things to be happy with while using my G4 Pismo. Brand new msata M2 board and 44-pin to M2 so I can have a faster experience with the Pismo - who knows maybe Tiger and TenFourFox will be usable.

In addition, bought Office 2001, X, soundjam MP Plus with all updates on my Mac pro ready to be used. I can see one issue after another - internet is no longer working properly, iTunes doesn’t work, though dronecatcher told me a way to do it.

Guys, I am at my wits end as I have fallen into a severe depression hoping this nostalgic reliving of OS 9 would help me, however I see it as destructive. Please advise how I can make my OS 9 nostalgia be like it was that day when in 2000 I bought my 1st Power Mac G4 sawtooth 350 where I was happy only to lose it all in late 2001-2002 because of financial issues.

Please keep me in your prayers, as I don’t know what to do anymore about this. I have 2 other PPC machines left - the DLSD G4 which just works (no issues with web), and a mighty G5 Quad - but something about OS 9 and me are linked.

I fully haven’t decided to retire the Pismo yet until I get feedback from you all. I am so sorry I bothered a lot of you about OS 9, but nostalgia and wanting this all to work like it did 15-20 years ago has made me regret it dearly.

Can someone tell me when was the last time OS 9 was fully functional - internet browsing and everything ? What damage did I do to miss the opportunity ??? Was it 2010 ? Was it 2007 ? I really hate my life and what has happened to me over the many years. I don’t know even how to get back to a normal life.

God bless you all and please help me.

Roman

I am sorry to be "offtopic", but What can I say is that in this time, I don't think a computer will be your best help fighting for a depression.
As most people here, I am a huge fan of computers and powerpcs, but on this confinment I observed that being on the computer depresses me more than it helps.
I found that being on the nature and reading helped me much more than fidling with computers.
Enjoy the present, with what it has given to you. Past is nice, and you can always watch some old movies or play some old games of that era, but that won't heal the present.
It's you that must "wake" up and start not worrying about what was and what you lost but on what you can still enjoy and earn.
About the computer part...doing modern stuff on old stuff can be either challenging and fun, or depressing, if it is the second one that you are experiencing just leave it and do other stuff.
Hope to have helped you. One blog that helped me, and that maybe you can surf on the pismo is zen habits.
 
Trying to make OS9 work in 2020 is a lost cause. However, using a Linux machine and tunnelling into these older machines is not. That's how I do it with my PowerMac G5, Powerbook G4 DSLD and Powerbook G3 Wallstreet. I just tunnel into these machines for the things I want to do using a Linux Mint converted Macbook Pro. A modern system, but is easy enough to VNC and network with the older machines to maintain all legacy support. When I was still working at the non-profit organisation supporting people who are still using old PPC machines for some important work, I helped them configure their machines as proxies for the more modern Linux machines we sell, because most of the time, the security certificates and the web browsers available are way more and better supported on the latest Linux distro. However, if I need to run OS9 apps, then I just tunnel into my PowerMac G5. It is doing a fantastic job as a file server and print server for both my Linux machine and all my macs that tunnelling to it via Remmina is a no-brainer. Microsoft Word, Pagemaker for retrieving legacy stuff and I had set up for clients with their Powerbook G4 to act as a firewire slide scanner station and they just tunnel into the G4, scan and then use the scans for their more modern machines. Obviously, making the PPC work faster as a proxy server help improve the overall experience. I think I use the PowerMac G5 a lot more now than I thought I would with the Powerbook G3 wallstreet sitting most of the time. Probably more so now since I won't be returning to my former job, which would motivate me to use the Wallstreet more. My Powerbook G4 is now setup as a landline fax server. I may use it more when I get more jobs after COVID is gone that require faxing.

While I was working for the non-profit organisation, I did not realise how many people are out there still using the PPC and OS9. Some actually went back and use OS9 for the writing software because it was much simpler times. But the major complaint was the internet and how to bridge older machines to the modern internet and I had found that using a Linux client machine is the best approach to link to various PPC macs and use them or even use them directly and then email/fax the files using more modern machines.

You do not have to do everything on the Pismo; rather make the Pismo as OS9 proxy machine for more modern machines. I think you will have the best of both worlds; live the life using OS9 while being present in the now. I know I enjoy using Tiger X, OS9, Windows 10, Mojave, High Sierra and El-Capitan all through my Linux machine.

Thank you, I have a Mac Pro5,1 but i need a good proxy server app, whuch will allow me to browse the internet on the Pismo. I do some video editing and light photography plus office 2001 for word processing and writing resumes. But all I need is a good proxy server application to browse the web - to vent my anger at those who want to end old browser use, I downloaded Netscape to my Mac Pro and started using it. I even accessed my bank account using it out if anger towards google and Mozilla for their TLS totalitarian tyranny - it felt good using a “insecure browser” and I didn’t care last night - just wanted to fight them. To free the web for the people. Netscape’s philosophy was just that. Sadly, they lost to Microsoft.

I get what you are saying, but I don’t have Linux and I have no room for it on my Mac Pro. Even used Netscape last night to buy something - yes, I went to eBay and bought something using a “non-secure” browser because I felt like it. I was thinking of setting my Comcast to WEP - again to vent my rage at those who are harming the web !!!

They took from us what belonged to them. I have a right to use Classila just as someone who runs windows 2000 can use IE6.
 
Yanno it would be a neat social experiment abound with technological irony if someone built a self contained, interactive mockup of 1999 internet accessible to anyone & their old machine. Not like WBM which imo is more like a snapshot or photo album but a “living” ecosystem of old everything. Obviously no real world usability like banking etc. but an interesting way to revisit nostalgia. i wonder how many ppl would use it?
I guess this is the closest we're going to get. It's just a snapshot, but it's about as good a snapshot as we're likely ever to get. Even if we can't really use it to be any more more than just tourists, it gives a better experience.
 
You want "old" Internet? The competing protocol to http is Gopher and it's alive and well. Both http and gopher were developed in 1991.

Gopher is all text-based and all one needs is a terminal and the Lynx browser, or cgo. One can find information from the 90's and even the 80's on there as well as current content from today. I setup my own gopher hole last month.

Edit: Also, there is the Overbite Project which makes an extension for Firefox (maybe it works on TenFourFox too - I dunno) which translates gopher to be readable in a 'web' browser.
 
I guess this is the closest we're going to get. It's just a snapshot, but it's about as good a snapshot as we're likely ever to get. Even if we can't really use it to be any more more than just tourists, it gives a better experience.

Wow just visiting the main url brings back some old memories, late night gaming sessions, cold pizza, goofy headsets, gamespy, Mplayer, MSNgamezone, public servers raging unending slaughter of helpless dialup players on the pubs and overheating beige boxes pushed to the brink. Good times. Thanks for sharing :)
 
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