Woke up this morning, got XP on my mind,
A flood of nostalgia, those computing days behind.

I was born in 1990, and my first exposure to computers didn’t come until the mid-2000s. Before that, my tech world revolved around the Nokia 1100 and 8-bit video game consoles. We didn’t have internet at home, so technology felt distant and mysterious.

That changed in 2006 when my dad, a photographer, brought home a new PC. It was a game-changer -- literally and figuratively. Equipped with an Nvidia graphics card for his work, the PC became the centerpiece of our home. When I casually mentioned it to my friends, their eyes lit up: "You can play games on that!"

While my gaming time was limited, this PC opened up a whole new world for me. My friends shared pirated game installation discs, and soon, I was fumbling through the process of installing cracked games. I had no idea what I was doing at first, but a tech-savvy classmate stepped in as our unofficial guide. He patiently taught us how to install games, apply cracks, and troubleshoot errors. It felt like unlocking secret doors to an exciting new universe.

Another defining moment came in 2008 during my first train ride to college. I met a fellow student heading to a different college in the same city. We bonded over our shared love of gaming and music, and by the end of the journey, he’d taught me something that stuck with me for years: how to change icons in Windows XP. I still remember scribbling down his instructions in my notepad, desperate to capture every detail. When I returned home for vacation and successfully customized my game icons, it felt like pure magic.

Around 2009, when I finally got a Nokia 3110c with 2G access, another friend introduced me to something more thrilling: a network hack that allowed me to use unlimited GPRS. With this newfound access, I spent countless nights reading Wikipedia articles about anything that piqued my curiosity. It felt like the entire world was at my fingertips, even on the small, slow screen of a basic phone.

Reflecting on these experiences, I realize how crucial those "cool people" were to my journey - whether it was a generous friend or a random stranger on a train. In those early years, their willingness to share knowledge and guide me made all the difference. For that, I’ll always be grateful.