From Excitement to Horror: Columbia's Last Flight Online (New York Times)

New York Times and Free Republic.Com | 9 Feb 03 | Tom Kuntz

[don-o]

From don-o to leadpenny at 9:20:
Folks, I fear the worst has happened.

I am vey pleased that he corrected the syntax in my original. My fingers were shaking, and I belive my pulse was 300.

[weegee]

Yeah I had Usenet through my university and later held it as an alumni and had some at an early "cyber cafe". I didn't get much use with the early websites though (not until 1995).

[dennisw]

Yeah I had Usenet through my university and later held it as an alumni and had some at an early "cyber cafe". I didn't get much use with the early websites though (not until 1995).

May I ask how that worked? Did you dial into your university at any time from miles away? To be connected? Or did you have to go to the campus?

[dennisw]

First time I ever saw the internet was January 1997. First thing I made my friend show me was websites for Miles Davis and crop circles. He had a 14.4 external modem on his wife's Gateway w/ a Pentium 90mhz computer.

[weegee]

I had a 300 baud modem that I used to dial into a VMS server. Generally I would go to the computer lab (open 24 hours) which offered no graphics support, just green (or orange) monitors, email, newsgroups, ftp, "chat", and compiliers (Fortran, Pascal, C...).

I could dial in at faster rates in later years but it was a long distance call and eventually that account expired from lack of use. A small server was set up at a coffee/bar nightclub in town in the early 1990s and it offered a simple monitor/keyboard setup (one user at a time, no charge).

I haven't done much world travelling but am surprised by how few people in other countries have tried to open free email accounts (many countries have cyber storefronts that allow websurfing for as low at 50cents an hour). When I went to Europe, I went to a few US sites to get a rundown on recent events/headlines.

[weegee]

I've plugged my name into google and yahoo and am surprised at some of the documents (or text) that remains on the ethernet. Someone used one of my old usenet posts as an "example" of the internet.

I think that there may be some text signalling that you can type into a Usenet post to prevent it from being archived (never tried it myself). Retention of Usenet posts varies by server.

I think that much of the SPAM I receive came originally from Usenet posting and eBay bidding.

It'll be surprising to see what future researchers find out there lingering on the internet.

The "American" Taliban's conversion from hiphop loving musician to Islamist revolutionary can be traced in his Usenet posts (some of which he adopted a "black" persona for). One of the early details I located on the 3 students who were stopped in Florida (after being accused of making terrorist threats in Georgia) was a university blog where one of them encouraged fellow muslims to bias an MSNBC poll as to who was the most influential philosopher (they ran Mohammed's name to number one).

There is some anonymity on the internet just as there is some anonymity behind the wheel of a car but always be mindful of what you say. These electronic bits stay around longer than regular conversations (and they don't always portray the image of us we would like others to see).

I generally hold to my posts and will confess that I've eliminated some phrasing before posting (typing something has been enough to get it out of my system on occassion).

[dennisw]

Thanks for telling me the way it was way back when dinosaurs ruled the earth

I haven't done much world travelling but am surprised by how few people in other countries have tried to open free email accounts (many countries have cyber storefronts that allow websurfing for as low at 50cents an hour). When I went to Europe, I went to a few US sites to get a rundown on recent events/headlines.

This is reflected by more liberal yahoo email policies in Europe. I just set up a yahoo France e-mail account since it allows 6mb storage (4 in USA) and allows POP access via your e-mail program. (Yahoo now charges for this in the USA)

[dennisw]

I think that there may be some text signalling that you can type into a Usenet post to prevent it from being archived (never tried it myself). Retention of Usenet posts varies by server.
______________________

x-no-archive at top of your post.

[Jael]

Afternoon bump.

[leadpenny]

Thanks for setting the record straight on the Houston Freep.

[leadpenny]

LOL. Tom Kuntz quietly made a number of corrections that I could see. Descent instead of decent was the most notable.

I tell you it's vanity, all vanity. I don't know how many gas stations, 7-11's, bookstores, super-markets, etc., I have visited in the last couple of hours looking for a copy of the NYT. Finally found the last copy they had at a Starbucks nearby.

[don-o]

Yes.

I go belive for believe.

Can we possibly get a spellcheck installed here?

[GOPJ]

WOW bump

[leadpenny]

I check the member #'s of many here on FR, and when I see FReepers like you two, with four digits or less, I think about all of the things you have seen since the early days. The place is an institution, I tell ya.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

You're welcome. Thank YOU for your comments that fateful day.

bump

[McGruff]

get a spellcheck installed here

Here's what I do when I'm not in a hurry. I copy the text I'm gonna post into a blank Microsoft Word document and let that do my speel checkin.

Should work with other word processors too.

[TLBSHOW]

You have mail!

[Dec31,1999]

Thanks for being there and doing what you do (watching the shuttles). This is your 15 minutes of fame. Are you coming to the rally in NYC on Friday?

[leadpenny]

I've have a FReep mail from our DC warlord and need to check my work schedule. I hope I can make it.

[BalancedRock]

Congratulations on the thread of February 1, 2003. You and the rest of the contributors on that day have intersected on the course of a still unfolding historic event. Tragically, this event was one of deep sadness to an entire nation. But I think the real story today, one week later, and written about in the New York Times, is more about the medium, as opposed to the message.
Your actions taken that day, and the resulting thread gives Free Republic a certain patina of viability, and certainly credibility as more than just a conservative forum. Free Republic can now be seen as a one-stop shopping arena for late breaking news, without filters, as well as conservative opinion and philosophy.
I would think accepting congratulations after such a tragedy would be uncomfortable, to say the least. Understand that the accolades are for bringing to light just one of the many factors that puts Free Republic on the leading edge of the new standard in journalism.