Hatrack River Forum: Over 12 years on the internet

This is topic Over 12 years on the internet - google found my first post in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

Warning: mostly meaningless rambling follows...

A few weeks ago, someone suggested doing a google search on your screen name. I did an exhaustive one today on google groups and found a copy of the first post I ever sent to a discussion group.

For anyone curious, it was on February 4, 1993. The source for the post is bit.listserv.autism. I was subscribed to the group, receiving it through email, but it was also put out as a usenet newsgroup, apparently (but it was "read-only" from usenet at the time).

It hurts to read it. It's a much more energetic and eager me that I seem to read in that first introductory message.

By the end of that year, I'd be up to my kneck fielding questions and attacks related to facilitated communication. Then came the pissing matches with parents of kids who sent their kids to programs that use pain and deprivation (they call it "treatment" or "aversive therapy").
(It would be another year or two before I got hot about "mercy killings," euthanasia, etc - but the trail of how that interest and passion developed is mostly there. Amazing.)

But still, a lot of the threads have to do with things like the snoring, dolphins, and science fiction.

So maybe nothing really has changed all that much. [Wink]

The strange thing is, it really does feel like a long time ago...

Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :

Wow! I had no idea you could find stuff that old!

Cool.

Posted by Avadaru (Member # 3026) on :

Random, but this reminded me and I'm too lazy to find the other thread: when I did a google image search of my username it came up with 3 pages of pictures from my foobonic album, and one picture of Beverly and Porter. [Dont Know]

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

quote:
Wow! I had no idea you could find stuff that old!

(This remark might sting from someone younger than Bob)

It only works if you posted on groups that fed to usenet or on usenet newsgroups directly. And you have to go to google groups to do your search.

In my case it's easy. I've only had 3 primary email addresses in those years. And every one of them used "sndrake" as the screen name part. So the search works for posts for all three email addresses.

Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Avadaru:
Random, but this reminded me and I'm too lazy to find the other thread: when I did a google image search of my username it came up with 3 pages of pictures from my foobonic album, and one picture of Beverly and Porter.

When I do an image search on my real name, it comes up with two pictures -- both of boys from my children's choir. o_O

Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :

And when I do one for "Raia," I get lots of under-the-sea photographs. Interesting.

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

quote:
Originally posted by sndrake:

quote:
Wow! I had no idea you could find stuff that old!

(This remark might sting from someone younger than Bob)

Err. Except that if I had said it, I would have been talking about stuff I had written. I have had online access (with a few year-long interruptions) for almost 20 years. Web access (and a listserv isn't really web, neh?) for 13.

I'm just out of luck because when Prodigy and GEnie went poof, no one bothered to save all that content. Even the boards I posted to 10-13 years ago have all disappeared (or at least no longer have posts that old).

But it's just as well. I find it excruciating enough to read my contributions from 15 years ago to a printed interactive 'zine-type thing (but cannot bear to get rid of the issues I still have copies of).

Posted by Zamphyr (Member # 6213) on :

Weird. and scary. Found some of my posts from '93, in misc.forsale.computers, rec.arts.tv, alt.rock-n-roll, and alt.fan.tolkien.

Some things are better left forgotten....

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

quote:
Err. Except that if I had said it, I would have been talking about stuff I had written.

Good attempt at a save, Bob. Try it on someone who is younger and less jaded. [Razz]

It's dumb luck my very first post is preserved. The autism group that was my main forum cancelled its usenet feed a couple times and went back again, as there were debates over whether the list should be "closed" or not. So there are big gaps in my posting record (I could still get them all if I resubscribed, though. [Smile]

)

It looks like things haven't changed for me all that much, given this sampling of thread titles I either started or pretty much dominated:

Jim and Steve's snoring discussion (parts of that were edited into a published article I no longer have a copy of) (five month thread beginning in Sept./1993)

Dateline "educates" the public on hydrocephalus (9/1993)

SD on the unavoidable profession (9/1994 - probably one of my favorite thread titles)

Killing Innocents(11/1994 - this might mark the beginning of my interest in euthanasia issues)

Autism in cartoons??? (1/1996)

Well, you get the idea. I kinda did what I do now, except you'd see a level of verbal aggression in some of these posts I have never engaged in on Hatrack.

And won't. Promise. [Smile]

Posted by unicornwhisperer (Member # 294) on :

Wow.. mostly found only hatrack posts when I entered my name. For the photos it was only one of me and the hatrackers at the book signing at BYUin 2000 and then one of my cute son.

Then I found a certain post I had never read that mentioned me...

http://www.hatrack.com/cgi-bin/ubbmain/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=print_topic;f=3;t=000244

It's scottneb's landmark made in April of 2005. I am honored that I am even mentioned in the post. But hope it was in a good way. [Dont Know]

Scott that is so awesome that you donated your kidney to your father. [The Wave]

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

[Eek!]

::That's me realizing I have given everyone on Hatrack complete, comprehensive instructions on how to track down every post that's been archived for the past 12+ years - from the meanest to the silliest to the most potentially embarrassing::

[Eek!]

(I'm still not over it)

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

quote:
Originally posted by sndrake:
Good attempt at a save, Bob. Try it on someone who is younger and less jaded.

<-- not Bob [Wink]

Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :

[Embarrassed]

Make that old and faded - especially my eyesight and attention.