Computing pioneer and author Howard Rheingold has jumped on the buzzword bandwagon with a vlog, and the two most recent entries are a peek back into the pre-Web days when "geek" was still a term of scorn. Possibly because of some astounding fashion choices — Rheingold's taste in vibrant colors and eye-splitting patterns pictured here seem to have influenced Marissa Mayer's taste in couture. That said, as an early BBS dialer myself, I find this footage of a party at the Sausalito offices of The Well in 1989 fascinating. For a list of the people in the videos, the comment thread on BoingBoing's post gives the details. Watch and learn, you kids, after the jump.

I find early Well systems administrator Elaine "Booter" Richards' comment at 1:23 to be strikingly prophetic: "If it's lunch time at the office and I don't feel like going out, I'll log into the Well and go into the pets conference and talk about my cats." So, so little has changed.

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