Guest LilBambi Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 Happy 5th Anniversary!Scot's Newsletter Forums!Back in 2003, in the windy month of March, on the 8th day of the year, in a home far away in the North East of the United States, Scot Finnie got this brainstorm of an idea....Start a forum community ... a place where great members could help each other, grow with each other, support each other and talk about things, all kinds of things, but mainly a place to help computer users and we, along with our fellow Highlanders, could learn, share, and help others.And after a lot of work, and thinking, and talking among those who were involved during the first month to get this great place started (of course later we realized it was actually the 8th not the 18th but who's counting?),Scot's Newsletter Forums were born...Six months later, Jeber posted the following in a thread about these forums on this forum's 6th MONTH Anniversary: It was a dark and stormy night.Somewhere in the Northeastern part of the United States, a child was being born into the cozy Finnie family...a child not of flesh and blood, but instead composed of words, punctuation marks and smiley faces. It was a difficult birth, in part because the mother of this child was the father of the family. For days, Scot had been in labor...sweating, screaming, cursing. This child was not going to enter the world easily. It wasn't that the child was overly large, or malformed, though it's color left something to be desired. This was a difficult birth because there is no anesthetic for a man giving birth to a forum.March 18th, early in the day. A new child enters the web. It has been given the massively awkward name Scot Finnie's Newsletter Forum. It's nickname, not much better, is SFNL forum. The forum is still too young to understand why it's been thrust out into the cold, confusing World Wide Web. It's too young yet to appreciate it's own convoluted URL. All it knows is it's hungry...hungry for members, hungry for attention, hungry for content. Scot soon realizes that this creation of his has to be released, and so with announcements of it's birth posted in his newsletter, he allows his monster to begin it's new life in cyberspace.Immediately, this newborn forum seeks out it's first victim. First one, then two...almost willingly, people enter the monster, allowing it to drain them of their best ideas, their questions, their free time. It feeds and feeds. In it's first day of life it has eaten well, growing to a size usually only seen in forums months, if not years, old. Day after day people enter the forum, dazed and confused, almost as if summoned by some unseen psychic force. The people seem oblivious to the obvious danger. They register...they respond to their email...they cease to have lives of their own. They are quickly consumed by the monster. Soon, they begin to see the monster as a benign beast, almost friendly. They've been blinded to the hazards ahead.By the time the forum is six months old, it has reached an unpredicted mass. It has fed on thousands of souls, extracted the essence of hundreds of willing beings. It has even begun to grow massive appendages. A huge penguin grows out of it's left side, an active, weaving, bobbing penguin in sunglasses. Out of it's right side grows a water cooler, though it serves no apparent purpose. It now has windows springing out of it's head, and security issues grow tentacle-like from it's legs. Still, it's hideous form is hidden from those who see it. It appears so non-threatening, so friendly, so welcoming. People continue to flock into it's grasp, unaware that all hope has just disappeared and they are now a part of the forum, inseparable from the beast.Scot watches his child in stunned amazement. He's not sure how he feels about this creature he's released on the world. As a proud father, he's heartened to see it eating so well and growing so large. But to be safe, he's recruited a cadre of misfits to help him control his child. Yet despite all their efforts, the beast continues to consume and grow. It seems as if the forum intends to consume the entire web. The forum barely takes time out of it's feeding binge to celebrate it's own 6 month birthday. If Scot and his faithful band of proto-geeks can't gain control soon, the entire electronic world is at risk of being assimilated, added to the mighty beast's expansive body.Is there any hope? Will Scot and crew ever be able to control the monster?Will the World Wide Web ever be made safe from this expanding threat?No. Sorry. Will there ever be an end to this story?Yes. Well, it's here again! Another Anniversary, our 5th in fact! We Highlanders (see the following threads on this: Highlanders (answer to the question by Tushman), We Need a Name (the original thread January 1, 2005 start by Jeber), The Name Game also started by Jeber where we voted, and Highlanders was chosen as the name for members of SNL Forums by fellow Highlanders back as we were approaching our First Scot's Newsletter Forums Anniversary!And here we are celebrating the beginning of our 6th year as a forum!Congratulations everyone!Thank you Scot for making this great place for us to hang out!Come join us for a party!Happy 5th Anniversary to all of us!Happy 5th Anniversary to Scot's Newsletter Forums and all of us Highlander members (that means you and me!)Thank you all for making Scot's Newsletter Forums a great place to hang our hats!Congrats to us all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 There was so much great info on Scot's Newsletter Forum's history in last's year's posting, I thought it would be great to just customize for the year.It is REALLY hard to believe that it has been FIVE years already, and on the other hand, it's like Scot's Newslettter Forum has always been here ... like familiar and favored sweaters, hats, shoes or shirts. (I have one of those favored sweaters that I continue to wear after more than 20 years ... it just feels right!)We are very blessed here at the forums to have such a great group of Highlanders here!This forum wouldn't be what it is without Scot's initial and continued direction, and if it weren't for such a great group of Highlanders now and over the years for breathing life into it and being here!Happy Anniversary!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeber Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 (Just a clarification: That's "breathing life into it" as in inspiration...not as in CPR.) :DHappy anniversary Highlanders! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 Happy Anniversary Scot's Newsletter Forums !!!!!!!!!!! Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corrine Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 This celebration calls for champagne! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozgeek Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 Happy anniversary to everyone at Scot's Forums - especially Scot It' been a fantastic five years and I must admit this is the only forum I visit every day - usually several times a day.To all the people on this forum who make visiting enjoyable, valuable and very worthwhile I say thanks for another wonderful year.To Scot I say a BIG thank-you for making it happen.Let's celebrate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveydoom Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 Happy anniversary to Scot's Newsletter Forums.Congrats Scot . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elf Wizard Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 Happy anniversary!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quint Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 Happy Anniversary !!SFNLF's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urmas Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 Here, here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted March 10, 2008 Share Posted March 10, 2008 Well, I've only been here for about two of those five years, but I sure have learned a lot, met some great folks, and really enjoyed myself. Thanks to Scot and everyone who makes this such a wonderful place! Happy Birthday! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peachy Posted March 10, 2008 Share Posted March 10, 2008 5 years!!!!?? Where has the time gone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlim Posted March 10, 2008 Share Posted March 10, 2008 Why do I have this sudden craving for cake? Neat cake Eric.WOW, 5 years! I didn't join immediately but I've been hanging here for more than 4 years. I sure learned a lot from all the great people here. Now if I could just retain 50% of what I've learned <sigh>. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 (edited) Why do I have this sudden craving for cake? Neat cake Eric.Amazing what you can find with Google, huh? Now if I could just retain 50% of what I've learned . Sheeeesh! I know EXACTLY what you mean here. Edited March 11, 2008 by V.T. Eric Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scot Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 Thanks, everyone for noticing. For coming. For making this a great community.The Internet is an amazing thing. When people talk about Web 2.0, and user-generated content, and blogs, and "engagement" I sometimes have to laugh. It's hard to imagine a higher engagement -- a term bandied about in online media circles that roughly translates to time spent on site -- than what we find right here on these forums and hundreds of thousands of others like them.I love the other stuff too. I love Facebook and blogs and programmatic stuff that I can use. But after five years, many of you are more than just people with whom I swap product recommendations on Amazon.com or something. It's a lot more valuable than that; it's five years of friendship.My thanks to everyone who has helped to make this place a great place to be -- and especially our admins and mods who are truly special people I've come to thoroughly admire.Over the last year or so I've had far less personal time to spend here at the forums. But my commitment to them has not diminished a bit. So long as you want them to be, they will be.And, really, they aren't my forums, they're your forums.-- Scot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cluttermagnet Posted March 16, 2008 Share Posted March 16, 2008 Wow- what a great ride!Congratulations, Scot. Congratulations to us all.It's a good thing we've done here. Thanks. everyone... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teacher Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 Congrats to all on a wonderful five years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wawadave Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Well congratulations for 5 years of service!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manny Carvalho Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Congratulations on your fifth birthday! Many more.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urmas Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Holy... it's Manny! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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