Origin of Eunuch Archive

[Charrett]

I've also been here since the very start. Bboy (Brian) used to run the site on his home PC hooked up to a modem on Netcom. I guess that makes me the "Old Lady" of the site. At first it was just a directory of stories, and we used to chat on the efnet IRC server or on AOL chat.

[Paolo]

I think that Talula once did a podcast of the origins of the Archive, but not sure what's happened to the audio file. I thought I had a copy of it, and it looks like I don't.

[Arab Nights (imported)]

Good to see you, Charrett.

[JesusA (imported)]

I've also been here since the very start. Bboy (Brian) used to run the site on his home PC hooked up to a modem on Netcom. I guess that makes me the "Old Lady" of the site. At first it was just a directory of stories, and we used to chat on the efnet IRC server or on AOL chat.

Sometime toward the end of 2000, with the number of members approaching 400, Bboy decided to keep track of everyone by assigning them a serial number. Of those first 400, or so, only five are still active members: Charrett, Kristoff, Paolo, Quillman, and Talula. By the end of 2001, there were over 1500 members of the Eunuch Archive. Only 15 of them are still active -- those original five, plus A-1, Bella, Colin, Dave, EunuchSF, Gerslave, me, kkks, Littledick, and Losethem. The most recent new member, as I write this, is Onlooker, number 120,801.

[rogerwpbfl (imported)]

Sometime toward the end of 2000, with the number of members approaching 400, Bboy decided to keep track of everyone by assigning them a serial number. Of those first 400, or so, only five are still active members: Charrett, Kristoff, Paolo, Quillman, and Talula. By the end of 2001, there were over 1500 members of the Eunuch Archive. Only 15 of them are still active -- those original five, plus A-1, Bella, Colin, Dave, EunuchSF, Gerslave, me, kkks, Littledick, and Losethem. The most recent new member, as I write this, is Onlooker, number 120,801.

That’s so cool! What’s my number??

[Paolo]

You know, I just realized that I have no idea how to look that up. Sorry!

But, I do have an anecdotal story about the origins of the very first version of VBulletin. Used to be, we had one horrible forum that was just a constant string of posts. I forget the name of the software. But Talula once called it something like "a rotting pile of dog shit". I'd been chatting with Bboy over the ancient ICQ messaging system, and we decided to try out the first incarnation of VB.

Downloading the trial was easy. It wasn't expensive for the full version, either. Back then. But it was a nightmare to install and configure. So we cracked open the PDF file of directions.

They were only in German. Bad German. As my German was still fresh, I translated them into English. They made no sense. This was before the days of good online translators, too. So I had to confer with Cassell's dictionary. A lot.

"Make sure not to toss your cherries out the window." Literally. This was key to rebooting it after installation. That much I remember. "Without the proper set of cherries in your church..." For the record, the words for "church" and "cherry" in German differ only by one letter! What it meant was to make sure that you had the proper cookies for the VB system to use, and not to delete them from 'some' Windows Server directory.

So the two of us pulled an all-nighter in installing it and getting it running.

I was member #2.

Then it promptly crashed.

So we started all over.

Ah, the good old days.

[talula]

I don't remember what it was called but it was just like "a rotting pile of dog shit". God we have gone over so much.

[Arab Nights (imported)]

"Old Lady" of the site

I think of you more as the grand dame.

[rogerwpbfl (imported)]

You know, I just realized that I have no idea how to look that up. Sorry!

But, I do have an anecdotal story about the origins of the very first version of VBulletin. Used to be, we had one horrible forum that was just a constant string of posts. I forget the name of the software. But Talula once called it something like "a rotting pile of dog shit". I'd been chatting with Bboy over the ancient ICQ messaging system, and we decided to try out the first incarnation of VB.

Downloading the trial was easy. It wasn't expensive for the full version, either. Back then. But it was a nightmare to install and configure. So we cracked open the PDF file of directions.

They were only in German. Bad German. As my German was still fresh, I translated them into English. They made no sense. This was before the days of good online translators, too. So I had to confer with Cassell's dictionary. A lot.

"Make sure not to toss your cherries out the window." Literally. This was key to rebooting it after installation. That much I remember. "Without the proper set of cherries in your church..." For the record, the words for "church" and "cherry" in German differ only by one letter! What it meant was to make sure that you had the proper cookies for the VB system to use, and not to delete them from 'some' Windows Server directory.

So the two of us pulled an all-nighter in installing it and getting it running.

I was member #2.

Then it promptly crashed.

So we started all over.

Ah, the good old days.

Much respect for the patience and dedication to build and maintain the forum @Paolo. Hearing that history of the early days gives a whole new appreciation to where the forum is today!

[JesusA (imported)]

That’s so cool! What’s my number??

You're a relative newby at member number 94,210.