Remembering the Choices of Old Sites

[abecox]

Oh wow I remember the old SmokersForums I think that was the first place that I hung out with talking pipes with like-minded folks. I lowkey miss that place but I remember it getting hacked and they tried to start over but it never quite bounced back. Now it's gone like tears in the rain...

 

[anotherbob]

I posted a bar of soap with a hole in it today and it got removed. So I kinda know how you feel.

wait!? The whole post or just the hole?

 

[Tbaggins]

wait!? The whole post or just the hole?

My reply to a comment on a thread about soap . Probably wouldn’t be hard to find the comment I was responding to lol

 

[woodsroad]

One missing was the political pipe. It allowed political talk and well that's why it's not around anymore. As far as forums goes it was a hot mess.

The site owner was certifiable. He was here on PM for a short time, until he got sent to the cornfield.

 

[georged]

Oh wow I remember the old SmokersForums I think that was the first place that I hung out with talking pipes with like-minded folks. I lowkey miss that place but I remember it getting hacked and they tried to start over but it never quite bounced back. Now it's gone like tears in the rain...

After some hacker trouble, the owner-backer guy tried to upgrade two releases-worth of site software at once. Like from 5.0 to 7.0 without getting things squared away at 6.0 first.

Without a backup.

After something finally got up and running---sans all history---few people wanted to go to the effort they had previously to put articles & extensive posts together (the site had been the gold standard for that) knowing it would probably happen again. (The owner-backer guy wasn't a tech type, and couldn't afford to hire one)

InstantGramophone, FacialBook, and so forth did the rest.

 

[woodsroad]

Sadly, all things digital will fade to black. Our entire recorded history from about 1990 to the present will vanish without a trace. It will stay around long enough to bite you on the butt, then be gone with the wind.

 

[jpberg]

It doesn't help that 3/4 of the population is actively looking to be offended and is primed accordingly.

Yeah, but sometimes forums simply shut off shit content, and people start practicing martyrdom.

 

[anotherbob]

It doesn't help that 3/4 of the population is actively looking to be offended and is primed accordingly.

That's just so true. I feel like someone has spread this idea that if you fight over something you're doing the important work. Also think that is just an extension of drama making up for a lack of meaning in ones life. And that type seems evenly spread out among any group you can think of in my opinion.
Also feel like a lot of people could benefit from the mind your own business and try to remember this world is more grey then black or white. I see things that are silly or stupid but not evil and people acting like once your on the other side of the line you might as well be on the extreme side from that line.
Then again that seems like people have always been like that, but now they can tell you about any time they want. It's not that people have changed as much as privacy is at a premium these days.

 

[anotherbob]

It’s not that hard to get banned. Just suggesting you want to create a home blend that will taste like Penzance will prep the way apparently. Or taking a photo with the pipe on the cover of the local paper. Its easy to see that just like the waves on the ocean, not all boats are ever bounced around the same, meaning you never know why someone will take offense. Or why what seemed fine one day is verboten the next. It is what it is.

I am going to be honest. When I offend people sometimes I feel bad or at least like a cad and sometimes I feel like "that's a you problem". All depends. The one that really gets me though is when the offense taken is blatantly hypocritical. That's when it really bothers me.

 

[telescopes]

I am going to be honest. When I offend people sometimes I feel bad or at least like a cad and sometimes I feel like "that's a you problem". All depends. The one that really gets me though is when the offense taken is blatantly hypocritical. That's when it really bothers me.

I feel bad if the offense was one based on indifference or arrogance on my part. But when the offense is simply based on an expectation of others that one does not hold themselves to, screw the offended. Most, if not all people, are subject to blunders. Let it go and keep corrective comments checked to the level of politeness. High hat corrections from anyone will get spit from me in return. Want to show they are a dick or an ass- all they need to is open their mouth and move their lips. There is a way to correct people who blunder across the lines. Unfortunately, it is a skill not learned or practiced much of the time.

 

[sablebrush52]

Sadly, all things digital will fade to black. Our entire recorded history from about 1990 to the present will vanish without a trace. It will stay around long enough to bite you on the butt, then be gone with the wind.

Consider that a blessing.

 

[sablebrush52]

I am going to be honest. When I offend people sometimes I feel bad or at least like a cad and sometimes I feel like "that's a you problem". All depends. The one that really gets me though is when the offense taken is blatantly hypocritical. That's when it really bothers me.

On those rare occasions that I actively decide to offend someone, I feel no remorse. It takes a lot of a lot to get me riled up like that.

 

[sablebrush52]

There was another pipe site called Rare Memories. They were a small site that dealt exclusively in estate pipes.

 

[anotherbob]

I feel bad if the offense was one based on indifference or arrogance on my part. But when the offense is simply based on an expectation of others that one does not hold themselves to, screw the offended. Most, if not all people, are subject to blunders.

Intention certainly carries a lot of weight. Though people are not always too honest about those.

Let it go and keep corrective comments checked to the level of politeness.

Which is one thing people forget a lot is the importance of context. It's way different to make off color jokes with your friends at a bar versus a daycare with the crumb snatchers running around.

High hat corrections from anyone will get spit from me in return. Want to show they are a dick or an ass- all they need to is open their mouth and move their lips. There is a way to correct people who blunder across the lines. Unfortunately, it is a skill not learned or practiced much of the time.

Totally. I don't mind if someone explains to me why they feel that way.
That said I do have this game I play where I like coming up with jokes that are funny enough that people who are offended by them give me a pass. It's a lot harder to lecture someone after you've laughed at their nonsense.
The thing is we're really in a weird time right now. Everyone has access to everyone and that means a lot of basic social issues that used to be relatively easy to learn are now all over the place. I think like a lot of these odd issues we'll figure out a better way to deal with it, but we get to live through the stop gap until then. Like how weird is it that I am chatting with people I have never met that are spread all over the world right now? Not really something most people have had to deal with through most of history.

 

[huntertrw]

Whatever became of Chris Keene's Pipe Pages? I loved to browse that site, looking (and sometimes drooling) at the many old catalogs that he had.

 

[9mmpuffer]

What ever happened to Michael Lindner at thepiperack? He was an incredibly talented artisan.

Also, what happened to Neil from apassionforpipes?

 

[Chasing Embers]

I feel bad if the offense was one based on indifference or arrogance on my part. But when the offense is simply based on an expectation of others that one does not hold themselves to, screw the offended. Most, if not all people, are subject to blunders. Let it go and keep corrective comments checked to the level of politeness. High hat corrections from anyone will get spit from me in return. Want to show they are a dick or an ass- all they need to is open their mouth and move their lips. There is a way to correct people who blunder across the lines. Unfortunately, it is a skill not learned or practiced much of the time.

Few things are more beautiful than lost irony.

 

[sablebrush52]

What ever happened to Michael Lindner at thepiperack? He was an incredibly talented artisan.

Also, what happened to Neil from apassionforpipes?

Neil's doing fine. He's on to other things. At one point he was considering a book containing the best content from A Passion For Pipes, but it didn't happen.
It's a shame that the site isn't available. There was a lot of great content, some of which I managed to copy down before the site went dark.

 

[sablebrush52]

Whatever became of Chris Keene's Pipe Pages? I loved to browse that site, looking (and sometimes drooling) at the many old catalogs that he had.

I haven't looked at it in years, but my suspicion is that it died of neglect. Links to pages were breaking and there were more and more things that didn't work properly as time went on.

It might have been preserved in some form on the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.

 

[sablebrush52]

The thing is we're really in a weird time right now. Everyone has access to everyone and that means a lot of basic social issues that used to be relatively easy to learn are now all over the place. I think like a lot of these odd issues we'll figure out a better way to deal with it, but we get to live through the stop gap until then.

After the mushroom clouds have dispersed and the background radiation has subsided, things might improve.