In all seriousness, as I get old I find myself more and more nostalgic, and as someone on the autism spectrum I hate change, so I'm already inclined towards nostalgia. I really do look forward to bumping and reading this thread every year. It really does give me a warm fuzzy feeling when I see Kitty and Jethro and the rest of you post. Something I can rely on. I wish it could go on forever. (Obviously I know this is also just a general "remember the old days!" thread for a lot of people and that's cool too! I also feel lucky that Jethro saved this thread from deletion nineteen years ago or whenever it was, as I know not everyone gets a special thread they bump every year. So thanks to T'Bonz and whoever else makes decisions around here for that. I do appreciate it Anyway here is the Cardassian smiley which I always think looks like a Frankenstein's Monster to undercut this uncharacteristic display of modesty:
It's my 21st anniversary! (actually yesterday) Finally I can legally drink And boy do I need it after some of the shit I've seen
Heh. A lot of that stuff is just blurry memories. But generally all the fun with the TK lot back in the day would feature on the highlights reel. The period around when The Briefing Room got hacked and the subsequent fallout was spicy. Some of the out and out troll attacks we had on the board, and had to clear up after, when we were using the ancient software with no good mod tools wasn't as fun. And just after that, we went that period when everyone and their dog was setting up a splinter board. I'm not sure it's considered bad form to mention their names around here these days, but I see a few of them are still going here and there. But those heady days really felt like a war at times, so many cabals arguing the merits of their corner of the 'verse, and some actually going into battle. Felt very important at the time, seems all very juvenile now, but the net was built different back then, before the rise of Facebook and Reddit, those communities were so much smaller and closer knit. I suppose it's not surprising that we fought for our friends. I remember spending hours talking to people from TBBS and other places on MSN and ICQ and the IRC server. Plotting. Gossiping. Sometimes just saying hi. A strange and fun era. I do miss it from time to time.
@Gingerbread Demon: How about trying to find that sound on the net and then installing it to your cell as a ringtone? #1 would be posting here...
A hearty amen, my friend. The Internet was like a new frontier back then, before social media made online discussion passé. It was the purview of a select few; building worlds without corporate oversight and with no idea where they might lead. I miss it. I miss it being an unknown. None of us really knew where this new technology would go. And now it's very run-of-the-mill and has a much more sinister edge. If I could wind back time...!
before groups like this I was on IRC channels that was like the wild west in comparison with doxxing and stuff going on in some groups. For want of a word it was toxic. I got doxxed a couple of times. Not fun