(OT)Wow. This IS great!

[Mike Burgundy]

Warning: old-times-rant (cough) ahead, though dotted frequently with modern praise:

In the WayHuge topic, Aron said:

Yes. Thanks to you, Jack,Justin,Jamie, Mark,tboy and many others that I have not mentioned that really helped me out in the beginning. It wasn't that long ago I tell you.

Discovering the information people freely gave was incredible.

I remember getting into this when aside from newsgroups  and/or alt.whatevers Jamie Heilman's was one of the few resources. I don't think I need to point out all contributions that already were there (you know who you are), but it *really* was all there was at that time - on the web (which we now take for granted. Remember when internet was NOT the W-W-Web, totally text based and extremely confusing when you forgot to write down a certain adress? Sheesh - I just realised this might very well narrow it down to University-at-the-time-people, and real nerds - nudgenudge, winkwink).
What a long way we have come since then - and how wonderfully little did we lose from the initial enthusiasm for what it was (and is) all about: electronic effects, sound and music, and the joy that lies in those things. Or at least, at this forum we didn't lose anything of it.
I remember being slightly shy about approaching him, an the excitement when Jamie's response was very enthusiastic and supportive. I immediately wanted to expand my knowledge and activities on *building my own sound* and general tinkering, and totally forgot about the risks of running around the room with a hot soldering iron (don't do this kids. Or parents. Or you. That means YOU).
Right now, this enthusiasm, exploration and motivation stuff is happening on a rather larger scale, and aside from the *very* occasional idiot (I blame statistics) it works wonderfully. No flaming, no nonsense (in annoying quantities), lots of sharing, support and ideas, including wonderful contributions from people making a living in this area (amongst others Z, MrH, not even getting started on JoeG ).
We have all of you (yes, including you) to thank for this.
Aron, RG, Jack, Zach, Mark, Joe, Joe, etc etc etc, all of us are all keeping this a very exciting place to be and learn for every level of knowledge, experience and ambition (sound-wise), and newer generations are standing up continuously.
This is a wonderful community.
 Don't forget your own part in this Aron  
I know I've asked a year or two before, but I can't think of the answer, so here goes again:
Anyone know what happened to Jamie? I'd like to think he comes around every once in a while - heh

If you got this far:
Keep on creating, and may the caps you choose forever be as pleasing a value as the notes you play through 'em

[R.G.]

Anyone know what happened to Jamie? I'd like to think he comes around every once in a while - heh

I still exchange email with him every now and then. He's OK, just not as into building effects as he was. He'll probably come back to it some day.

I believe that Jamie is off into the "sliding down the razor blade of life" phase.  He graduated, got a job, did well, and was laid off like so many other intelligent, talented people in the economic crunch we're so painfully crawling out of.

To those of you who haven't been there yet, life takes some decided S-curves when you graduate, get a job, stuff like that.

[MarkB]

What are you talking about, RG?

Me? life's been perfect since college...
I've never *cough* been laid off.. nope..
I didn't actually go through the *cough cough* dotcom boom and come out empty handed.. nope..
Never had a company go belly up while owing me money *gag cough*..

nope, just a bowl of cherries.

but hey, we've still got each other... and our soldering irons..  and this lamp - I've still got this lamp.
"-)

[niftydog]

but hey, we've still got each other... and our soldering irons.. and this lamp - I've still got this lamp.

...and this ashtray... this ashtray is mine...

[MarkB]

YEAH!

Glad someone got my 'jerk' reference... wasn't sure if anyone would catch it.
"-)

[Peter Snowberg]

The new phone book's here, the new phone book's here !!

I loved that movie.

[Doug H]

These oil cans are defective!

Doug

[RDV]

I'm SOMEBODY!!!

RDV

[AL]

http://blake.prohosting.com/bamzone/jerksc.txt  

AL

[Mark Hammer]

I spent 5 years at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, and was surprised as hell to find the Leper's Archive situated there.  I was into building stuff at the time but never had any sense of folks there being all that interested in anything more than the latest Roland had to offer.  Does anyone know how the heck U of A ever managed to be one of the first schematics archives?

[Doug H]

Does anyone know how the heck U of A ever managed to be one of the first schematics archives?

Sounds like one of those mysteries... Like how did Washington University become one of the first big image archives??

Back in the "rn/text" days of the internet, I didn't know about you guys. I was interested in other things. But I can say, in the 5 yrs since I've been involved in the web side of diy music electronics, there has been an explosion of available information on these topics. It has been pretty amazing, really.

But even more amazing has been the fantastic tone and high s/n ratio this community has maintained over that time period. On rare occasion I'll peruse an old newsgroup or two out of curiosity. What I usually find are burned out buildings and the smell of smoke, a once nice community essentially ruined by spam and trolls.  

I believe a little light moderation goes a long way. And of course, like anything else, having the right people involved in the care & feeding makes all the difference in the world. I think Aron's, and now Peter's, thoughtful, measured, and reasonable handling of this community has made this a nice place to hang out. And stay...

Doug