So what did I miss in the last JESUS CHRIST SEVEN YEARS

[Q99]

The funny thing about people calling N&P a left wing echo chamber is that the fairly tough rules about evidence make it hard to defend common US right wing positions.

For US politics, the options are pretty much 'rightwing echo chamber,' 'continual war where not much productive happens,' or 'everything including any reasonable position debating reasonably, thanks to notable right wing positions being banned.'

[The_Saint]

Is it just me or has the non-USA/Canada/UK news and discussion reduced form some years ago? I wonder if this a reflection on the reduced board patronage or just a reflection of the days news.

[loomer]

Is it just me or has the non-USA/Canada/UK news and discussion reduced form some years ago? I wonder if this a reflection on the reduced board patronage or just a reflection of the days news.

It certainly seems to have. It's part of why I try and put up a few non-US articles up when I poke my head in.

[The Romulan Republic]

A lot of that is Donald Trump dominating the news cycle.

There's been a fair bit of discussion of North Korea, Russia, and the Middle East, but a lot of that is of course tied in with America's conflicts in those areas.

[The_Saint]

True, on reflection and review of News & Politics it's not quite as skewed as I thought, just the barrage of Trump and related news kinda drowns out the rest.

[His Divine Shadow]

Several people who used to be regular posters here seem to have left, and message boards are slowly going the way of the flip-phone so this place isn't nearly as active as it used to be.

I don't know why, they are the best form of group communication and one of the best ways to organize communal data that can be beneficial for all. All the others suck (FB, instagram, reddit, etc).

I'm a member of several forums still quite active because there are no alternatives to the kind of discussion and sharing they provide.

Also personally:

-Built a house

-Got kids (twins)
--Got to spend Christmas 2013 in Helsinki as one of them got open heart surgery, that will always stick with me.

-Almost 20 years at the same job

-Oh another one, got diabetes, but not type 1, and not type 2 through insulin resistance, just lost half my insulin production for some reason.

-Got my gall bladder removed due to the above, also my tonsils and I got one eye operated on. Gone under the knife a lot.

[The Romulan Republic]

Yeah, for actual discussion as a group, Facebook is a far inferior format, and Tumblr (the only other social media site I use) is even worse (its more for posting images than text, and badly organized at that). There's really no good reason for the death of forums, except that Facebook and Twitter have more money behind them. Its not like they were out-competed by a superior platform.

[TimothyC]

Yeah, for actual discussion as a group, Facebook is a far inferior format, and Tumblr (the only other social media site I use) is even worse (its more for posting images than text, and badly organized at that). There's really no good reason for the death of forums, except that Facebook and Twitter have more money behind them. Its not like they were out-competed by a superior platform.

Reddit and facebook ate their lunch. Seriously. Most people don't want real discussion, they want confirmation, and facebook filled that void better than a thousand internet forums for lots of people. Lots of people already had a facebook account, and once you make one account for reddit, you can join sub-reddits at will, lowering the cost barrier of entry.

[Ubiquitous]

Yeah, for actual discussion as a group, Facebook is a far inferior format, and Tumblr (the only other social media site I use) is even worse (its more for posting images than text, and badly organized at that). There's really no good reason for the death of forums, except that Facebook and Twitter have more money behind them. Its not like they were out-competed by a superior platform.

Spacebattles seems to be doing well still. I've just logged on to there (and here) for the first time in about a year, and its noticeable how they have prospered far in excess to when I was active there 2000-2006.

Does anyone know how Mike is? Did an event on here stop him posting, or did he just quietly drift offline? I hope he's ok, and that you're all doing well.

[Mr Bean]

Does anyone know how Mike is? Did an event on here stop him posting, or did he just quietly drift offline? I hope he's ok, and that you're all doing well.

Mike is on Facebook, possibly discord, possibly twitter and checks but does not post here.

Damn seven years ago I was traveling 20 days out of every thirty doing server setups and build outs while learning about Xray machines
Six years ago my grandmother who did more more good in one year then my mother did in sixteen died and I was negotiating for vaccination time to visit her in the hospital only to find out she had passed over the weekend
Five years ago I went back to college till my mother had her freakout that pulled me out handling her issues
Four years ago my brain decided now was good for a depression spiral
Three years ago I started pulling myself out
Two years ago I was out but still having the odd bad weekend
A year ago I stabilized climb as a high as I could go up the ladder at my ISP job
This year I moved jobs to a different ISP to do far less work for the same money, got laid off three months after starting and got three months severance which was nice.

Now I'm considering a move based on the climate and moving to something north of 41* latitude to offset the shit summers. Been interviewing in places like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Iowa ect. I see this board like twice a week? It's a long step down from 2011 when I spent 12 hour work shifts playing server jockey with SD.Net on an auto-refreshing window on my 3rd monitor.

[Silver Jedi]

Possibly still a bunch of lurkers like myself haunting the threads.

Did someone say lurkers

Looking back, it appears I made about half as many posts in the last 7 years as I did in the ~10 years before that, for a total just under 300 in 17 years.

If there's an official (or unofficial) discord server or other chat that folks have migrated to, I'd love to lurk there too!

[Elheru Aran]

Possibly still a bunch of lurkers like myself haunting the threads.

Did someone say lurkers

Looking back, it appears I made about half as many posts in the last 7 years as I did in the ~10 years before that, for a total just under 300 in 17 years.

If there's an official (or unofficial) discord server or other chat that folks have migrated to, I'd love to lurk there too!

There's never been anything official off site, even the Facebook page isn't official. PM Ace Pace for info on the Discord, he's the often-absent landlord of the chat.

[Kamakazie Sith]

Spacebattles seems to be doing well still. I've just logged on to there (and here) for the first time in about a year, and its noticeable how they have prospered far in excess to when I was active there 2000-2006.

A lot of SDN people went over there, or in my case went back, for their internet discussion fix. I've been a lot less active lately but for no bad reason.

Does anyone know how Mike is? Did an event on here stop him posting, or did he just quietly drift offline? I hope he's ok, and that you're all doing well.

Mike is actually very active on facebook.

[Ubiquitous]

Mike is actually very active on facebook.

That's good news. When I saw he hadn't posted in years I immediately thought the worst (stupid anxiety). Glad he's ok and thankful that he still maintains this website.

[Elheru Aran]

Mike is actually very active on facebook.

That's good news. When I saw he hadn't posted in years I immediately thought the worst (stupid anxiety). Glad he's ok and thankful that he still maintains this website.

He had to get his fix of calling people WTPF's somewhere, and Facebook is pretty fertile ground for that kind of thing...

[mr friendly guy]

Does anyone know how Mike is? Did an event on here stop him posting, or did he just quietly drift offline? I hope he's ok, and that you're all doing well.

Mike is still active on Facebook. I am not Facebook friends with him, but he pops up in my recommendation because we are both friends with Edi (one of the mods here). Mike is still as sarcastic as the old days. He comes up with a comment everyday lambasting Trump, Trump's supporters and Conservative ideology.

[Marko Dash]

and there you have why the board is dying out, it's become a hatebox echochamber

[The Romulan Republic]

and there you have why the board is dying out, it's become a hatebox echochamber

Yeah, I'm sure the board's overall quality would be improved if this was a more welcoming environment to Neo-Fascists.

[Gandalf]

and there you have why the board is dying out, it's become a hatebox echochamber

Yeah, I'm sure the board's overall quality would be improved if this was a more welcoming environment to Neo-Fascists.

Look at the old N&P from 2003 or so. They used to roam free.

[Marko Dash]

Yes but look at it this way, I live in the birthplace of the former Confederacy, and i never heard anything about Obama that's was anything near the level of vitriolic hatred that this board directs towards Trump.

The guy's an asshole but he's not the devil incarnate, he could personally cure cancer and I'd find a post in n&p the next day disparaging it.

[Gandalf]

How did the stuff you heard compare with the vitriol thrown at Obama here?

[Ritterin Sophia]

I came back after coming out as trans and changing my username. Also I'm a self-identified left-wing radical now.

[Dalton]

• Older
• Angrier

I still talk to Mike on FB seeing as I’m currently in charge of his baby

[Ubiquitous]

• Older
• Angrier

I still talk to Mike on FB seeing as I’m currently in charge of his baby

Thanks for helping maintain the website!

[Korgeta]

Seven years... Does that mean you missed The Salvation War?

I never really engaged much with other threads frequently but I have been meaning to ask about that for some time, what exactly did happen to that? Last I checked the status of that nearly everyone was on the hype train for it. I made a comment once that it wasn't great and had Slade took issue with it, and last I heard was some guy in Eastern Europe skewered the possible publication because it was leaked?

Also welcome Bounty, much like you I'm getting back onto this community.