Walking uphill in snow both ways: Our September 30, 1996 issue featured the story “Choosing a web browser,” which talked about which browser might be best for your particular needs. And we even detailed the download times. You know how today when you download an app or update a browser it takes, I dunno, a few seconds? Well, in 1996, Netscape Navigator Gold, a 5,815 kb program, took 90 minutes to download and Internet Explorer (9,859 kb) took “close to three hours.”
That slope wasn’t slippery after all: There’s been no shortage of comparisons to seat belts when vaccines get debated these days, and people also throw around bike helmets for an analogy sometimes. This issue’s Speak Up featured the question “What do you think about the new law requiring bikers to wear helmets?” and, surprisingly, three of the five respondents did not agree with the law, dropping very 2021 phrases like “I strongly believe that you should be able to make the choice,” “I don’t think it should be mandatory,” and “I would be opposed to it.” Bike helmets!
Living their best lives: We sure loved to poke at the Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) in these old issues. This issue featured a story detailing a recent CCSS meeting, and after mentioning that it was resolved that a handful of people make up the By-law Committee, writer Hilton Ward added, “It was later resolved in a local bar late at night that these people all get lives.”