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How Old Is The Forum & Who Were The Earliest Members?

Well, I'm "old", but I joined in 2003. I still remember it was because a relative mentioned the Streetlight Interference Thread and I had just mentioned to them that that seemed to be happening to me (before it was a "thing").

I'm very happy to have continued to be a part of this wonderful place.

EDIT: Grammar; I has it!
 
MercuryCrest said:
Well, I'm "old", but I joined in 2003. I still remember it was because a relative mentioned the Streetlight Interference Thread and I had just mentioned to them that that seemed to be happening to me (before it was a "thing").

I'm very happy to have continued to be a part of this wonderful place.

EDIT: Grammar; I has it!
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haha good post you old sod!
 
Despite what it says on my profile (2006, my arse!!) I've been around since more or less lift off - although I was plain old Spook back then.

Beyond that, I dont think I really want any precise details as it would probably scare the living shit out of me; even with all the extended leaves of absence (leave of absences? absence of leaves...bollocks, it's nearly autumn already) it's certainly been more than enough keyboard time to have written all those novels that never materialised.
 
According to my profile, I joined in 2005 which makes me old too. But I seem to think that I posted before that. I remember readin threads here and posting back in 2003/4 but maybe under a different name. Hmmm...
 
Just digging in the dust here - have we had any returnees of late. I recall that MamaKitty and Beakboo dropped in this year for flying visits - that was this year, right?
 
I can trace my roots back to Sept 2003, so nothing but a callow youth compared to others.
 
I joined Aug 24, 2001. The name was just escargot back then.
 
Naughty_Felid said:
It is fascinating when a long dead thread gets reaninmated and you see some of the long gone posters still haunting it.
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I was always a bit cross at myself for not realising that Emps had slipped away, thing was, he was such a prolific poster that it created a sort of afterimage, threads he'd posted on one or two posts back kept getting bumped up so it looked like he was still active. :(
 
Yup, I dunno what happened to Emps. I met him at the 2004 Uncon and we chatted on the train on way back up north. I think he was going Liverpool way.
 
escargot1 said:
Yup, I dunno what happened to Emps. I met him at the 2004 Uncon and we chatted on the train on way back up north. I think he was going Liverpool way.
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Maybe he started a message board of his own?
 
No, he started a blog that he updated parallel to his FTMB contributions. I occasionally contributed UFO related articles to it. I think he recruited a couple of other board members to write for it too. I forget who they were but perhaps they're still here.

He used to update it literally every day with Fortean news stories from around the world. Then one day he didn't. Or the next day. Or ever. After a while his hosting fee must have run out because the blog vanished.

I think that must have been around 2011-12. I'd started a new job then that took up huge amounts of my time so I was mostly out of the Fortean loop myself, otherwise I'd have tried to get in touch with him.
 
graylien said:
No, he started a blog that he updated parallel to his FTMB contributions. I occasionally contributed UFO related articles to it. I think he recruited a couple of other board members to write for it too. I forget who they were but perhaps they're still here.

He used to update it literally every day with Fortean news stories from around the world. Then one day he didn't. Or the next day. Or ever. After a while his hosting fee must have run out because the blog vanished.

I think that must have been around 2011-12. I'd started a new job then that took up huge amounts of my time so I was mostly out of the Fortean loop myself, otherwise I'd have tried to get in touch with him.
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Oh dear, that doesn't sound good. Is he still alive?
 
I don't know, but my guess would be that he passed or was incapacitated. Oddly no-one on the board seemed to notice at the time. It was a lot busier in those days, though. I think if a regular poster vanished now, people would notice. I think he was a mod too.
 
I asked a mod where Emps'd gone and was told he was busy with something. Had the impression it was none of my business, y'know, so I didn't ask again. If he had another site running he didn't want me near it!
 
The last post Mighty_Emperor made was in 2010, and he mentioned the Heimlich Manoeuvre. By odd coincidence, Heimlich has been in the news recently.
 
OTR, Emps, and Leaferne are some of the (former) posters whose contributions I miss the most.

In fact, in one thread talking about that very subject, I had learned the Leaferne and a couple of others were "active on KoL" which lead me to look it up and I found myself rather entranced by the game. (Kingdom of Loathing...it's fun for a while.)
 
I last saw Emps on the comic site that he contributed to. That was a couple of years ago and well after the late lamented Cabinet of Wonders. I hope he is okay, I really liked him.
 
My understanding is that Emps had a major life/lifestyle change but is still alive and well. This is second-hand information.

The real mystery among former mods is Schnor, who vanished practically overnight along with his website.

I'd like to see a return from Ted Maul.
 
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Yithian said:
My understanding is that Emps had a major life/lifestyle change but is still alive and well. This is second-hand information.

The real mystery among former mods is Schnor, who vanished practically overnight along with his website.

I'd like to see a return from Ted Maul.
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I want Ted Maul back!
 
min_bannister said:
the late lamented Cabinet of Wonders.
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At least we can still go back and enjoy old posts :)

https://web.archive.org/web/20110206152717/http://www.wunderkabinett.co.uk/emporium/

15730851_10154080693491994_1360983863_n.jpg


This is how I access lost stuff from the FT forums for my fortean research. Loads of brilliant stuff, especially direct links in old posts to IHTM articles on the site were lost after the site's design changeover. If we try and click them now it just redirects you straight back to the homepage. Just pump the URL into Wayback Machine and you're away!
 
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I was a lurker from the very (very) earliest days. From back when the original proto-hosting of the first FT magazine website was 'launched'.

I never, ever, intended to be a contributor, or to be as interactive with the MB as I am. And probably shouldn't be, now.

But: it is an invaluable place...well-done FTMB, for continuing to exist, in exactly the way it does.
 
FrKadash said:
At least we can still go back and enjoy old posts :)

https://web.archive.org/web/20110206152717/http://www.wunderkabinett.co.uk/emporium/

15730851_10154080693491994_1360983863_n.jpg


This is how I access lost stuff from the FT forums for my fortean research. Loads of brilliant stuff, especially direct links in old posts to IHTM articles on the site were lost after the site's design changeover. If we try and click them now it just redirects you straight back to the homepage. Just pump the URL into Wayback Machine and you're away!
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Awesome sauce. :).
 
MercuryCrest said:
OTR, Emps, and Leaferne are some of the (former) posters whose contributions I miss the most.

In fact, in one thread talking about that very subject, I had learned the Leaferne and a couple of others were "active on KoL" which lead me to look it up and I found myself rather entranced by the game. (Kingdom of Loathing...it's fun for a while.)
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I don't think OTR and I ever coincided on here, but his contributions stood, nay, stand out to me in my incessant perusal of threads of an earlier vintage. I seem to recall he popped up briefly earlier in the year, to some rejoicing, but for whatever reason it was a fleeting and as-yet-unrepeated visit, much to our collective loss.
 
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