His name was Vasilis Antoniades- alias Babylon. He lived in Athens, Greece and he was:
a) Possibly the greatest computer analyst in Greece.
b) A friend indeed !
He was the only person in this immense cyber world who helped me with ....silly machines such as computers ! I had serious computer problems . Hardly any RAM ....on Windows 98. I was desperate ! Then I told Vasilis. On the chat . Late at night ... I kept IMing him ...inconherent sentences .. I was so overwhelmed with all these PC problems. My computer was playing up and I was at a loss what to do.
He asked me to click remote help...but windows 98 did not have such a luxury!
" Have you got a webcam ? " he asked. Needless to say that I felt like being ...very nasty ! But then he added:
" Can you open your cam and show me your ....monitor ?"
Taken by surprise ... I said " Yes , of course ! "
And so I did ..open the cam ...showing him ....the mess on my monitor ! Fortunately enough ... he didn't tell me off ! He gave me ...simple instructions how to deal with all that mess ! And this is only one example ... He also helped for free thousands of people from all over the world solve their computer problems.
On April 8th 2006 at about this time - it was 11:00 pm in my area - I saw he was online on the chat. I IMed him teasing away as I usually did. Then I got this reply:
"Vasilis passed away. I'm his brother" Just for one split second, I thought it was a belated April Fool's Day prank. But it wasn't. His brother sent me a link ... It was the longest list of comments I had ever seen. More than one thousand people bidding their last farewell to Vasilis.
Vasilis had a heart of gold. I never met him in person, yet he will always be a very special friend. I know that Vasilis will live out in the hearts of everyone who loved him.
This post is dedicated to Vasilis' family and to all his online friends who really loved him. For love will always remain a part of him.
Vasilis must have been a great man and a great personality. You are lucky to have met him even if you never met him in person. Just hold the good memories deep in your heart and be sure that he rests in peace.
Posted by: Lakis Ioannou | April 09, 2010 at 12:45 AM
Vasilis was, indeed,a great man and yes, I feel blessed to have met him online. Most importantly, he was a true friend. I still remember him telling me jokingly "Hey! You are promoted to Primary School Grade 2!" when I proudly announced him that I knew how to post a profile photo on my blog! I still miss him, though.
Posted by: Anastasia | April 09, 2010 at 03:01 PM
A beautiful post, Anastasia.
R.I.P. Vasilis
Posted by: Agnes | April 10, 2010 at 12:29 AM
I can imagine your shock, Anastasia, when you learned the bad news. In the photos, Vasilis looks so young and full of life that makes you wonder what life is all about - too short and unpredictable!
Posted by: Stefania | April 10, 2010 at 12:29 PM
I am sorry about the loss of your friend! How shocking to learn about his passing.
I often think of this--how can we know if something bad happens to an online/blogg friend? At least Vasilis's brother was able to contact all of his world wide friends, in this case.
Posted by: Tina | April 17, 2010 at 03:19 PM