The Cellar - View Single Post

xoxoxoBruce · 03-29-2016, 02:23 PM

In between the net happenings, in March-April 1995 I have a few conversations with Avi Freedman about possibly moving the Cellar to Net Access. The Cellar and Net Access share some common ground as early net systems. When starting Net Access, Avi attended a Cellar get-together at Joy Tsin Lau to try to talk up his new system. (For two years thereafter, all of Net Access's get-togethers were at Joy Tsin Lau.) Many of NA's first callers come from the Cellar, or were personally referred by me. After some discussion, however, it becomes apparent that there are too many impasses, and that any "merger" will not be possible.

Soon thereafter I have conversations with Peter Sardella at Fishnet. He remembers the Cellar as the first place he went looking for a public Internet connection. By late 1995 we start discussing what it would take to move the Cellar to Fishnet or to network the Cellar through Fishnet. It never happens.

Mid '95... Dan Reed and Suzy Freeman get married, and credit the Cellar to bringing them together. The program for their wedding includes the congratulatory remarks that Cellar users made when the two of them announced their engagement.

At some point in late '95 I get disgusted with the fact that once in a while someone is afraid to debate me or speak openly with me because I'm the owner and sysop. So, in a staged move, I "sell" the system to the mythical J. R. "Bob" Dobbs, disguising at least for new users the fact that I'm really the owner. Several people think I've actually sold the system -- which is fine...

On June 1, 1998, The Cellar finally goes Internet-telnettable.

Approximately 4500 Cellar accounts have been opened since its inception. (Probably 30% of these are "duplicate" accounts, opened by people who forgot their original account information or whose original account was deleted over time.) Of these, only approximately 100 remain that have not been purged due to inactivity.

After some time, though, it becomes clear that telnet is too hard or too forgettable for the general userbase. Some don't have or can't find teir telnet access. The system lives on during this time, though.

But by January 2000 the interest in a telnettable BBS system becomes too low to remain palatable. During this time Thomas Anthony and I, who have been working together on various web sites, work together to develop a web forums system using Javascript and frames, help together by a database. We finally implement everything needed to get this forum system off the ground and it becomes the Cellar Mk. 4 -- the WEB-based Cellar.

The forum system is a little buggy, but the Cellar lives on during this period... but with a still-dwindling number of visitors. The system just doesn't encourage people to post. The Cellar almost dies during this period.

In January 2001 the Cellar is reincarnated as Cellar mk V using the vBulletin messaging system. This is the incarnation in which it lives today. Those previous users that could be located are located, and then the word is spread.

03-29-2016, 02:23 PM	#2
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	In between the net happenings, in March-April 1995 I have a few conversations with Avi Freedman about possibly moving the Cellar to Net Access. The Cellar and Net Access share some common ground as early net systems. When starting Net Access, Avi attended a Cellar get-together at Joy Tsin Lau to try to talk up his new system. (For two years thereafter, all of Net Access's get-togethers were at Joy Tsin Lau.) Many of NA's first callers come from the Cellar, or were personally referred by me. After some discussion, however, it becomes apparent that there are too many impasses, and that any "merger" will not be possible. Soon thereafter I have conversations with Peter Sardella at Fishnet. He remembers the Cellar as the first place he went looking for a public Internet connection. By late 1995 we start discussing what it would take to move the Cellar to Fishnet or to network the Cellar through Fishnet. It never happens. Mid '95... Dan Reed and Suzy Freeman get married, and credit the Cellar to bringing them together. The program for their wedding includes the congratulatory remarks that Cellar users made when the two of them announced their engagement. At some point in late '95 I get disgusted with the fact that once in a while someone is afraid to debate me or speak openly with me because I'm the owner and sysop. So, in a staged move, I "sell" the system to the mythical J. R. "Bob" Dobbs, disguising at least for new users the fact that I'm really the owner. Several people think I've actually sold the system -- which is fine... On June 1, 1998, The Cellar finally goes Internet-telnettable. Approximately 4500 Cellar accounts have been opened since its inception. (Probably 30% of these are "duplicate" accounts, opened by people who forgot their original account information or whose original account was deleted over time.) Of these, only approximately 100 remain that have not been purged due to inactivity. After some time, though, it becomes clear that telnet is too hard or too forgettable for the general userbase. Some don't have or can't find teir telnet access. The system lives on during this time, though. But by January 2000 the interest in a telnettable BBS system becomes too low to remain palatable. During this time Thomas Anthony and I, who have been working together on various web sites, work together to develop a web forums system using Javascript and frames, help together by a database. We finally implement everything needed to get this forum system off the ground and it becomes the Cellar Mk. 4 -- the WEB-based Cellar. The forum system is a little buggy, but the Cellar lives on during this period... but with a still-dwindling number of visitors. The system just doesn't encourage people to post. The Cellar almost dies during this period. In January 2001 the Cellar is reincarnated as Cellar mk V using the vBulletin messaging system. This is the incarnation in which it lives today. Those previous users that could be located are located, and then the word is spread. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.