After a fierce word-fight against both my father and the magazine-seller I finally got what I wanted. It was an issue of a greek monthly magazine with diverse subjects on and around technology issues focusing in DIY home-built projects. Both my father and the seller tried to deter me from buying that particular magazine on the grounds that I was way too young to even try to read it. Well, I fought well.

When I opened it and started to read, a whole universe popped out! Incredible machines, gadgets, info, 3 unknown words in every sentence and yet! Photographs, pictures, sketches, diagrams and schematics fuelled my mind. Indelible from memory is an article about a fantastic (for my then age) task "Build your own pool table" Oh, the amount of detail about preparing, marking, cutting and assembling the wooden parts. It is there! I see it! This is beauty! Then the next issue was out.

Now, fasten your seatbelts and keep your hands inside at all times. One of the main articles inside had the unbelievable extra magical hyper-fantastic title "Build your own Medium Wave transmitter". I thought: Can this be possible? Can this be done? Can I do it? And the answer was there. Tucked warm and cosy inside that magazine. You had to buy some electronic parts (Wow! Now, what was that?) and assemble them according to the article's instructions and schematics.

The job needed the aid of a screw-driver, a cutter and a never before heard tool by the name "soldering gun"-The greek term is "Electrogluer" Now, with all components gathered and armed to the techno-teeth I started to bend, cut and solder miniature colored "things" How, exciting! Most of them had just 2 leads. Some more mysterious objects had 3. The instructions insisted that you had to pay attention in the assembly orientation EVEN for those with only 2 leads. Incorrect oriented components were certain to bring total failure. OK, OK I got it, now!

The whole construction was fitted on a board roughly the size of a modern cell-phone. A 9 volt battery was used and I started to seek some sign of activity on our family's radio. Ieeeek! What was that? A powerful microphone feedback! This is horrible! What have I done wrong! No, wait, I can control both devices. I can tune this thing! This thing works! Hurrah!!! My voice, wireless, on the radio! It was Love! It was love at first sound! In later years I progressed to the level of broadcasting in a radius of 12 miles - Immense success! I had a call sign, an ID - Magic Christian (after the movie) - A Pirate? -- Radio transmissions were legal only for state purposes and from state stations - All others beware!

That magic, that power, that joy of transmitting your favourite songs, to become a radio-station. That feeling, this love, never left me. Years pass, decades left behind. The passion is strong. The peremptory of the state and all this illegality worked exactly the opposite. Don't you know our love is true?

I salute you cybercitizens of Earth -- I raise my glass of red wine in your health -- May you see a far better world than we did -- Riders of the Internet may you roam the globe with speeds unheard of -- Bring the good news all over this hurt planet -- I was a little kid and I was right! I had to fight! I won! We will win! -- There is no other side -- There is no spoon -- We have won already!

Thank you for your attention
*eyes watering*