While I'm no longer certain of the exact date I joined the BBS (due to my original account being lost in the Great Purge), I do know it was sometime in June or July of 2000, thus I consider June 1st to be my "anniversary." Thus, that means I'm now at (more or less) the ten year mark. So, here's a bit of a then and now: - I joined when I was thirteen; now I'm obviously 23. - I joined in the summer before I started high school; I'm now just finishing university. - I joined when I lived with my parents in my hometown of Peterborough, Ontario; I now live with my girlfriend in much-bigger Ottawa. - I had never attended a proper concert when I joined; now I always go see my favourite bands, even though I usually can't afford it. - I wanted to become a computer programmer when I joined; now I have a BA in geography with a minor in geomatics, and am not entirely certain what I want to do with my life. - When I joined, I hadn't written a small-novel's worth of posts on a Star Trek message board; now I have.
Wow, congratulations! I joined my first Star Trek messageboard when I was 13, too (the AOL Star Trek Bulletin Boards... I think that's what they were called, I can't remember, it was in 1995). I remember that Ron D. Moore actually used to come into this thread called "Ask Ron Moore" and actually answer questions once in a while. Pretty effing awesome. Happy 10, man!!!
Congrats, Canadave. You've been here nearly half your life. I was on there for a couple of years starting in 1993. Do you remember AMG001?
I don't remember when I joined. I know I mostly lurked until something I don't remember compelled me to actually make an account. It does say July, 2000 for me, which actually seems late... was this board around when DS9 was still on the air? If you ask me, anyone who registered after 9/11 is a noob, and your account says 2002
Hmm, no.... do you remember khan11? (I used to always sign off as Zhausara, though, or -Z). I remember so few screen names. Bocatsmom is one. Then there was a Kira Nerys, a mod who used to hate me and a few other girls because we were Dukat's Women (a real club, we even got a newsletter!) and she was a Kira/Odo shipper (that was before that particular relationship panned out...damn her ). EDIT: For those who are wondering if Dukat's Women were a real phenomenon, take a look at this chat with Ron Moore. God, he hated us. He named Dukat "Elmo" just to effing spite us. Here's a link which mentions the old Dukat's Women Social Club What I wouldn't give to see archives of that old Message Board --- I had so many good friends and acquaintances there. And it really got me through ages 13 - 15
I'm not sure, honestly. If it was, it would have started only just before it ended. Someone other than me might know. As I said, Great Purge. I was mencc1701 up until then, then was mencc1701A up until I changed to this name a few years back.
Not offhand, but I might remember if I could review the Threads. The only names I remember now are Data1701D, who was a Mod, and AMG001, who was a huge Troll. He was sort of the prototype for the anti-Enterprise Posters we got in later years, except that he was an anomaly and his objects of hatred were TNG and DS9. He was actually fun to play with. He once started a Thread wondering what that ridiculous object flying past was in the DS9 opening credits, and I got to explain the "dirty snowball" description of comets to him. He wasn't too bright. I'd love to see archives, too. Of Star Trek and of the Kung Fu: The Legend Continues Forum. I had a lot of fun there. And, to a lesser extent, the Time Trax Forum.
I remember Data1701D, I kept trying to crack his password... I'm not sure why... did I want super mod power? Did I think access to account would give me insider information on DS9? Who the hell knows. I did crack an account for a random pay for porn BBS though. I kept guessing associated words as user/pass and struck gold on an an account of frog/toad... or maybe toad/frog. As a 12 year old I thought I was a pretty badass hacker at that point I don't recall if I really posted on the AOL boards... I know I did on Prodigy around the same time. I remember getting in trouble for responding to a topic about what race in Trek was supposed to represent what country on Earth (Klingons -> Soviets, etc) saying "Ferengis are the Jews of the galaxy!" Once again, sue me, I was 12 with a wannabe neo-nazi older brother, but yeah, the Prodigy mods didn't like that post at all, I'm pretty sure that was the first time I got banned from anything online!