Quick flashback to 1998:

• Google looked really, really goofy. And so did CNN.
• Small trading cards were worth hundreds of dollars, just because of a holographic glow.
• AOL all but trademarked that deathly dial-up ring.
• Pre-teen instant messengers caught onto the LOL / LMAO / WTF / ROTFL / BRB craze.

Quick reflection on 2008:

• AOL is all but dead
• Joe Torre has finally caught onto the LOL / LMAO / WTF / ROTFL / BRB craze:

Oh, he said it himself:

First up, though, I’ll be figuring out this blogging thing since I’m a little behind the times. For example, I saw one of those little candy Valentine’s hearts printed with “LOL” and thought it was a typo right up until I started reading about blogs and Web acronyms. I mean, WTF(udge), right? Then there are “web smileys” like and which frankly make me a bit >:-P (I just made that one up). But live and learn.