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Happy 10 year forum anniversary!

Started by hotdogPi, January 15, 2019, 10:23:29 AM

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Hurricane Rex

Quote from: adventurernumber1 on January 15, 2019, 10:35:57 PM
Quote from: kphoger on January 15, 2019, 09:52:47 PM
Quote from: webny99 on January 15, 2019, 08:51:43 PM

Quote from: kphoger on January 15, 2019, 06:56:32 PM
There have been a couple of times that the ungentlemanly atmosphere on this forum led me to take months off from the forum at a time, instead either frequenting other forums or just not doing the whole forum thing at all.  Since the last time I was away, I've noticed that the atmosphere on here has become a lot more gentlemanly.  I think it has some to do with certain members leaving and also an increased willingness by the mods to lock a thread that has gone off the rails.

Hofty shpoof!

It's kind of a known thing that you tend to disappear for months at a time, but I had no idea your absences were actually caused by the ungentlemanly conduct of fellow AAroadsters! I apologize for whatever my involvement in this may have been --- I have certainly done my best to improve in this regard.

Out of curiosity, I reviewed the members list, and I can't think of anyone who was a forum regular that has dropped off the map recently (except for Roadgeekteen, but he's back, and you're still here).  :hmmm:

Sometimes more important things in life take the place of this forum, and it takes me a long time to work my way back around to it.  Other times, I just get turned off by the flames and drop out for a while.

In answer to your curiosity...  One example is that DZ's absence is a welcome relief.  Not sure if that was before your time or not.  And the whole post-count puffing having died down is a good thing too–same with the gruesome debate about moderation.  I think there was a glut of newcomers poking the bear for a while, and that got old really fast.  Some of them have fallen away, while others have settled into the routine around here and become valuable contributors to the conversation.

Also, Marf (or "Linda"  :sombrero: ) went away quite a while ago, although he did put up a fight at the end for a while with the fake accounts and all that.

So thankfully many of those conflicts have been eased (or removed, as in the case of Marf) recently, so that is good.

In response to @Kphoger I am pretty sure I'm guilty of that, as when I started, I had a goal to get to 10,000 posts in 3 years. Once I realized that I was just spewingout content, and only 30% of my posts were meaningful (I'm pretty sure one of my posts was "I agree" and left it at that), I cut back, went on a break as well, and starting to ramp back up activity, but I want it to be quality (most of the time, maybe some things aren't), and posting will be under the 16 a day for 3 months like I had before.

In response to @adventurenumber1 I don't think I fully know what happened with Marf. It is my understanding he got the coveted 10,000 year ban, and got IP banned, but I could be wrong. If this is inappropriate to talk about here, I apologize mods.
ODOT, raise the speed limit and fix our traffic problems.

Road and weather geek for life.

Running till I die.


slorydn1

I dabbled about on MTR back in the late 90's-early noughties, reading way more than posting as I had nothing of importance to add.


I stumbled across the forum in 2012 while I was researching some things and I registered on 3/26/12 because I wanted so see things only registered members could see. I never did post during that time frame, and in fact I had forgotten about the forum's existence until 2015 when I was....researching some things (see a pattern?)

I made my first post on 2/3/15 and I have enjoyed my time here. Apparently I have spent too much time here as I lost my position as moderator of 2 different unrelated forums because I wasn't spending enough time there.  :/

In any event, Happy 10th AARoads and here is to 10 more!  :cheers:
Please Note: All posts represent my personal opinions and do not represent those of any governmental agency, non-governmental agency, quasi-governmental agency or wanna be governmental agency

Counties: Counties Visited

Jim

It looks like I registered a few months into this forum's existence.  I only occasionally looked in at MTR, but was an active reader and occasional contributor on the "Roadgeek" Yahoo group at the time.  I knew about aaroads.com's content previously, but I am pretty sure it was through the Roadgeek group that I discovered that there was a Forum here.

I was happy to see a lot of great information and discussion here and recognized names from other places like the Roadgeek group.  I was hooked.

The membership and activity here has grown to the point where following it all would be a full-time job or more.  I check in several times a day but I bet I only ever look at <10% of the threads.  Anyone who sees where I post most frequently knows that one of the attractions for me is in the photos threads, but the main thing that keeps me coming back is that I can hear a lot about interesting history as well as current projects and future plans, and maybe even contribute something useful once in a while.  I'm sure I'm like many of you in that I know whose posts are likely must-read and whose are likely to be a waste of my time, and pick what I read accordingly.

Thanks to all who make this an interesting, informative, and often entertaining place to discuss our common interests.  Yes, there's a lot of noise, some horses have been beaten beyond recognition, and there are occasional flare-ups and other distractions, but in general I find that the moderators do an incredibly good job finding a balance between an unmanageable free-for-all and discussion-quashing restrictions.  Thanks to them and especially to those who pay the bills to keep it running.
Photos I post are my own unless otherwise noted.
Signs: https://www.teresco.org/pics/signs/
Travel Mapping: https://travelmapping.net/user/?u=terescoj
Counties: http://www.mob-rule.com/user/terescoj
Twitter @JimTeresco (roads, travel, skiing, weather, sports)

Eth

I can no longer remember exactly how I found this forum way back in 2010, but it was presumably via one of the various roadgeek websites I frequented throughout the 2000s. I lurked at m.t.r for a good while (probably around 2000 to 2006 or so?), but I think I only ever posted there once or twice.

At any rate, almost nine years of being here nearly every day must mean that I like the place pretty well.

webny99

Quote from: kphoger on January 15, 2019, 09:52:47 PM
In answer to your curiosity...  One example is that DZ's absence is a welcome relief.  Not sure if that was before your time or not.

Yes, definitely before my time.
I can't remember the exact date I joined - see below - except I know it was in 2017.

One little detail I had actually forgotten about, which is the reason I can't look up my start-date: I originally joined using a different username, then decided I wanted my current one, but didn't know how to change it. So I created a new account --- to this day I have no idea how it got past the mods. I had two accounts for at least several months, and not a soul knew about it. So when webny99 got in trouble and became a controversial figure, I simply let him be and went back to posting from my old account. Eventually, the whole thing came crashing down, and I somehow revealed my double-identity (I'll link to the thread if I can find it). At that time, I had to give up one of the accounts and I chose the original. The posts were merged to this account, but none of them exist anymore (except for maybe a  few OP's) since, later, as part of separate incident, I was so mad (can't even remember about what!  :-D) that I deleted every post I had ever made, even going so far as to put all my OP's inside a quote (some may remember this bout of complete craziness).

Quote from: Hurricane Rex on January 16, 2019, 02:18:43 AM
In response to @adventurenumber1 I don't think I fully know what happened with Marf. It is my understanding he got the coveted 10,000 year ban, and got IP banned, but I could be wrong. If this is inappropriate to talk about here, I apologize mods.

I deserved Marf. In many ways, he was the best thing that ever happened in my forum experiences.
The end of Marf marks the beginning of me just being "normal" (as much as possible) and making reasonable contributions to the forum.

But yes, he is gone for good. He tried to come back many times (in fact, he may still be trying), but to no avail, thanks to the mods staying on top of the situation.

Roadgeekteen

Quote from: webny99 on January 16, 2019, 10:20:32 AM
Quote from: kphoger on January 15, 2019, 09:52:47 PM
In answer to your curiosity...  One example is that DZ's absence is a welcome relief.  Not sure if that was before your time or not.

Yes, definitely before my time.
I can't remember the exact date I joined - see below - except I know it was in 2017.

One little detail I had actually forgotten about, which is the reason I can't look up my start-date: I originally joined using a different username, then decided I wanted my current one, but didn't know how to change it. So I created a new account --- to this day I have no idea how it got past the mods. I had two accounts for at least several months, and not a soul knew about it. So when webny99 got in trouble and became a controversial figure, I simply let him be and went back to posting from my old account. Eventually, the whole thing came crashing down, and I somehow revealed my double-identity (I'll link to the thread if I can find it). At that time, I had to give up one of the accounts and I chose the original. The posts were merged to this account, but none of them exist anymore (except for maybe a  few OP's) since, later, as part of separate incident, I was so mad (can't even remember about what!  :-D) that I deleted every post I had ever made, even going so far as to put all my OP's inside a quote (some may remember this bout of complete craziness).

Quote from: Hurricane Rex on January 16, 2019, 02:18:43 AM
In response to @adventurenumber1 I don't think I fully know what happened with Marf. It is my understanding he got the coveted 10,000 year ban, and got IP banned, but I could be wrong. If this is inappropriate to talk about here, I apologize mods.

I deserved Marf. In many ways, he was the best thing that ever happened in my forum experiences.
The end of Marf marks the beginning of me just being "normal" (as much as possible) and making reasonable contributions to the forum.

But yes, he is gone for good. He tried to come back many times (in fact, he may still be trying), but to no avail, thanks to the mods staying on top of the situation.
DZ got banned about a month after I joined. I got involved with him near the end and I sent him a pm telling him that he was a troll. That did not go well.
God-emperor of Alanland, king of all the goats and goat-like creatures

Current Interstate map I am making:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&mid=1PEDVyNb1skhnkPkgXi8JMaaudM2zI-Y&ll=29.05778059819179%2C-82.48856825&z=5

Beltway

Joined September 2011
Hiatus December 2012 to May 2017
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http://www.capital-beltway.com

Baloney is a reserved word on the Internet
    (Robert Coté, 2002)

ipeters61

I remember joining the forum when I was in my last year of my undergrad degree (2016), but then kind of forgot about it until I was a few months into my current job and wanted an outlet to talk about roads whenever I felt like it.  I'm glad you guys exist so we can argue about things that matter, like signs and roadway striping.  :)
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed on my posts on the AARoads Forum are my own and do not represent official positions of my employer.
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Henry

Happy 10th from someone who's been a proud member since 1/25/11!
Go Cubs Go! Go Cubs Go! Hey Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs are gonna win today!

Roadgeekteen

Quote from: Beltway on January 16, 2019, 12:46:14 PM
Joined September 2011
Hiatus December 2012 to May 2017
Why such a long hiatus?
God-emperor of Alanland, king of all the goats and goat-like creatures

Current Interstate map I am making:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&mid=1PEDVyNb1skhnkPkgXi8JMaaudM2zI-Y&ll=29.05778059819179%2C-82.48856825&z=5

hbelkins

Am I the only one here who still has an active Usenet provider account? You just about have to have one these days if you really want to take advantage of everything that's on Usenet, since so many ISPs don't offer Usenet feeds anymore, and Google Groups doesn't allow access to binaries. I'm a member of Newsguy, although I took a hiatus of a couple of years and may end up being forced to do so again when my current subscription runs out in July. But I've noticed a significance decrease in traffic on the binary (mostly MP3) groups I frequent in the last year, so I just wonder how much longer Usenet as a platform has.

But even when I didn't have an active Usenet account, I checked in on MTR via Google Groups, occasionally posting. Activity has slowed to a crawl there. Only two posts since the first of the year, and one's a troll. Calrog even seems to have disappeared.

The Yahoo "roadgeek" group has also pretty much evaporated. I haven't had a new member request in months, and there are only one or two posts a month there.

I'll be honest. I do miss MTR. I've said that often. I miss the freewheeling nature and lack of moderation. Just as there has been a revival of vinyl as a source of music, perhaps there will someday be a revival of Usenet as a discussion zone.

Anyone here who want to check out MTR can visit https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/misc.transport.road. Unfortunately, a lot of past posts are not visible. Google took over DejaNews, and there was a "no archive" header that could be used in posts to thwart DejaNews. I can think of one particularly active MTR poster (who is not here, because he has some sort of dislike of PHP-based forums, yet he's all over Facebook) who used it.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

froggie

^ On that note, I can't remember the last time I logged into the Yahoo groups.

Roadgeekteen

Quote from: hbelkins on January 16, 2019, 07:35:23 PM
Am I the only one here who still has an active Usenet provider account? You just about have to have one these days if you really want to take advantage of everything that's on Usenet, since so many ISPs don't offer Usenet feeds anymore, and Google Groups doesn't allow access to binaries. I'm a member of Newsguy, although I took a hiatus of a couple of years and may end up being forced to do so again when my current subscription runs out in July. But I've noticed a significance decrease in traffic on the binary (mostly MP3) groups I frequent in the last year, so I just wonder how much longer Usenet as a platform has.

But even when I didn't have an active Usenet account, I checked in on MTR via Google Groups, occasionally posting. Activity has slowed to a crawl there. Only two posts since the first of the year, and one's a troll. Calrog even seems to have disappeared.

The Yahoo "roadgeek" group has also pretty much evaporated. I haven't had a new member request in months, and there are only one or two posts a month there.

I'll be honest. I do miss MTR. I've said that often. I miss the freewheeling nature and lack of moderation. Just as there has been a revival of vinyl as a source of music, perhaps there will someday be a revival of Usenet as a discussion zone.

Anyone here who want to check out MTR can visit https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/misc.transport.road. Unfortunately, a lot of past posts are not visible. Google took over DejaNews, and there was a "no archive" header that could be used in posts to thwart DejaNews. I can think of one particularly active MTR poster (who is not here, because he has some sort of dislike of PHP-based forums, yet he's all over Facebook) who used it.
Imagine what the stock market thread would have become without moderation.
God-emperor of Alanland, king of all the goats and goat-like creatures

Current Interstate map I am making:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&mid=1PEDVyNb1skhnkPkgXi8JMaaudM2zI-Y&ll=29.05778059819179%2C-82.48856825&z=5

1995hoo

Marf–or, as someone once put it in referring to his sockpuppet accounts, "the Marves"–got banned for starting fights and attacking other users and then for creating a sockpuppet to circumvent the ban; he subsequently got an IP address ban for creating further sockpuppets, though he managed to get around that at least once more (and he got banned again within an hour or two that time).

His sockpuppets are usually easy to identify because he typically rips on webny99 using some form of the word "fuck" somewhere in his posts. Some of his sockpuppets have had really stupid names, too–I believe "ShoppingForFood" and "PatTheSplasher," among others, were both Marf sockpuppets.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

noelbotevera

I still have my registered date in my signature (May 14th, 2015; a few months shy of my fourth anniversary). Like many of the younger members, there I used to spout off useless posts, till I wised up. I joined back when I was 10, and actually put thought into my posts when I was 12, so there's two years of crap that I need to delete. Still haven't done it, so that tells you about my motivation.

I have no idea how people reacted to a kid joining the forum, but nonetheless I shocked everyone when I went to my first roadmeet. I've been pretty quiet for a while, only reading through threads and posting here and there.

I went through the whole dzlsabe and Marf affairs, and in my opinion, I had no idea (back then; I had a somewhat idealized view of adults) there were people older than me who could still be very immature.

adventurernumber1

Quote from: 1995hoo on January 16, 2019, 10:49:46 PM
Marf–or, as someone once put it in referring to his sockpuppet accounts, "the Marves"–got banned for starting fights and attacking other users and then for creating a sockpuppet to circumvent the ban; he subsequently got an IP address ban for creating further sockpuppets, though he managed to get around that at least once more (and he got banned again within an hour or two that time).

His sockpuppets are usually easy to identify because he typically rips on webny99 using some form of the word "fuck" somewhere in his posts. Some of his sockpuppets have had really stupid names, too–I believe "ShoppingForFood" and "PatTheSplasher," among others, were both Marf sockpuppets.

And one sockpuppet, IIRC, was called LindaOfGreenGables - which is why I like to alternatively refer to Marf as "Linda."  :D  :-D

But yeah, he'd always make it so obvious it was him, since he would create those provocative, vulgar threads that would have a malicious undertone to it, either constantly attacking webny99, exposing how he was the "mastermind troll" or whatever, or something else. The thread would be posted usually either in "Suggestions and Questions" or "Off-Topic," and then it would disappear (as well as the account) very shortly after due to prompt moderator action.
Now alternating between different highway shields for my avatar - my previous highway shield avatar for the last few years was US 76.

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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-vJ3qa8R-cc44Cv6ohio1g

Roadgeekteen

Quote from: noelbotevera on January 16, 2019, 11:00:22 PM
I still have my registered date in my signature (May 14th, 2015; a few months shy of my fourth anniversary). Like many of the younger members, there I used to spout off useless posts, till I wised up. I joined back when I was 10, and actually put thought into my posts when I was 12, so there's two years of crap that I need to delete. Still haven't done it, so that tells you about my motivation.

I have no idea how people reacted to a kid joining the forum, but nonetheless I shocked everyone when I went to my first roadmeet. I've been pretty quiet for a while, only reading through threads and posting here and there.

I went through the whole dzlsabe and Marf affairs, and in my opinion, I had no idea (back then; I had a somewhat idealized view of adults) there were people older than me who could still be very immature.
You are very mature for your age.
God-emperor of Alanland, king of all the goats and goat-like creatures

Current Interstate map I am making:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&mid=1PEDVyNb1skhnkPkgXi8JMaaudM2zI-Y&ll=29.05778059819179%2C-82.48856825&z=5

jeffandnicole

So apparently I started July 28, 2011.  I was a slight latecomer, being I had been with MTR for years prior. Guess I just never found out about the site (or was kept out of the loop!).

Buck87

I stumbled across this site in October 2013 while googling some Ohio road project at the time, and immediately fell in love with the forum's style and subject matter. I had previously held the naive idea that my interest in roads was somewhat unique and strange, but upon finding this place I quickly became educated that there are a LOT of roadgeeks and that my meager interest level in roads in general had barely even scratched the surface of how deep one can dive into the details of this hobby.

corco

#44
I'm one of the O.G. forum members. It's been neat- I lurked on MTR for a couple years and even posted a few times pre-forum, but it wasn't really my jam so it was neat when something new came along.

The forum's been great- I've formed real relationships with some people in here and that's cool.

Ten years is a long time though, and at some point you've said everything there is to say, so I don't post as much anymore.

kphoger

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on January 16, 2019, 11:05:27 PM

Quote from: noelbotevera on January 16, 2019, 11:00:22 PM


You are very mature for your age.

Agreed.  I don't really interact with you much on the forum, noelbotevera, but the impression I get from other members is that they have high respect for you because you act quite mature for your age.  I only have the vaguest of memories from when you first joined, and I seem to recall it didn't take you very long to settle in.

I think the biggest hurdle some people have had to fitting in on here is that they just plain didn't care what anyone else thought.  It was their way or the highway.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

adventurernumber1

Quote from: kphoger on January 17, 2019, 01:56:08 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on January 16, 2019, 11:05:27 PM

Quote from: noelbotevera on January 16, 2019, 11:00:22 PM


You are very mature for your age.

Agreed.  I don't really interact with you much on the forum, noelbotevera, but the impression I get from other members is that they have high respect for you because you act quite mature for your age.  I only have the vaguest of memories from when you first joined, and I seem to recall it didn't take you very long to settle in.

I think the biggest hurdle some people have had to fitting in on here is that they just plain didn't care what anyone else thought.  It was their way or the highway.

I agree. You are incredibly mature, and I consider you to be a very valuable contributor to the forum, and a great guy. We all improve as forum-goers as time goes on - we become more experienced, and our contributions typically increase in quality. I started out (when I joined a few years ago) as a much more mediocre poster, but I have strived to improve myself as much as possible since then. You are now about the same age I was when I first joined the forum, but you are about a 10x better poster than I was when I started. I agree sometimes it can take a little time for new members to get used to the forum, but everyone will become accustomed to it and get better over time.
Now alternating between different highway shields for my avatar - my previous highway shield avatar for the last few years was US 76.

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127322363@N08/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-vJ3qa8R-cc44Cv6ohio1g

noelbotevera

I highly appreciate the sentiments you two have given me; I still believe that I can make improvements here and there.

For example, my parlance and vocabulary isn't as developed as I'd like, but that's what happens when you don't read enough books. I've also noted that I should try and research a bit more; to be honest I feel that my contributions tend to be a little lacking in terms of solid evidence or content.

1995hoo

#48
I knew of MTR but never posted there; in general, I avoided posting to USENET for a variety of reasons. I knew about the AARoads site for a long time but for whatever reason I didn't notice there was a forum until 2011, so I joined then when I discovered it. It's modem or less replaced a couple of other fora I used to frequent as my interests diverged from other forum members on those sites over time and as some of those other fora became too nasty in atmosphere due to political sniping.

(Edited to finish my thought after my wife interrupted me to ask me to reach up to a shelf that's too high for her)
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

TheStranger

#49
Happy anniversary to this place!

It's actually funny, I saw a 2010 post of mine in the thread of "how would you change your state's highway system" and it amuses me that the same exact issues I mentioned for California's signed routes (piecemeal relinquishments, approved future Interstates that still have state route shields) are there 9 years later.  :-D

I haven't read MTR in years though used to about 17-20 years ago.  Overall really like these forums, especially in following long-term project sagas as they evolve (i.e. the I-69 extension, I-95 completion in PA).  I guess for the California side of things we have a few of those (241, 710, and...Rice Avenue  :wave: ) too.  I probably decided to go on a bit of a drive on I-69 south of Bloomington back in 2016 thanks to seeing the updates here week after week for so long.

Seeing the progress of the Louisville East End Bridge project (from long-held idea to fully complete) both here and in person is fascinating.  And in the last 2 years tracking the progress of the elevated freeway project in Manila is equally as notable, especially in comparison to both how developed the US urban freeway networks are and how their projects are the antithesis of San Francisco's freeway revolt (and other cities' revolts for that matter).
Chris Sampang



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