Freedomlist - So long and thanks for all the fish!

[CaptainTripps]

It took me a while to get through all 85 pages of the membership list, but here are a few other former Freedomlist people who at least have registered at Landzdown:

captaintripps
eln lou
ghost (?)
gopher john.

But most of these have nearly no activity and have not been heard from in years.

Time passes. . . .   (Sigh!)

v_v

Hey v_v  -- Don't pay the ransom, I've escaped!!   :) 

I know it's been over 2 years (maybe 3?) since I've posted here.  I've visited the forum a few times but couldn't log in because I forgot the password and the one to my recovery email.  I knew I had a text file somewhere with a list of passwords but it was nowhere to be found until...today (27th) so now I should be around from time to time. 

Here's to Freedomlist as Barbra Streisand said long ago:

"The Way We Were"
Mem'ries,
Light the corners of my mind
Misty water-colored memories
Of the way we were
Scattered pictures,
Of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another
For the way we were...

[Corrine]

Good to see you back, CaptainTripps!  Now don't lose that password again.  :D

[v_v]

Hey v_v  -- Don't pay the ransom, I've escaped!!

Darn it!  I will try to put a stop payment on that check!!

Ahhh yes, "what a long strange trip it has been!"  (Smile)  I am glad that you escaped, hopefully fully intact and none the worse for wear.

As with Corrine welcome back kind sir, even if only from time to time!

[Corrine]

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the beginning of FL.  From the first post in this thread:

The official launch of Freedomlist was March 1, 2000.  At that time it was merely a message board with the forum software added later and registration after that.

Hard to get over that many of us have been virtual friends for the past 20 years (although I didn't join FL until April of 2000).

[Pete!]

I came to FreedomList a bit later, because there was another site about free ISPs.
The forum is gone.
The email is gone.
The content is so out of date, it could be nostalgia.

But it's still there ... http://www.addlebrain.com/ 

[v_v]

Yes, nearly 20 years is a very long time!  In the "virtual life" of the internet it seems like forever, and highly unlikely to happen for a group of people.  Maybe one or two or three or so, but for a group of people mostly anonymous to keep up their virtual relationships for nearly two decades . . . well just how often does that happen?!!

It has been a blessed run!

May the spirit live on!!

[Boz]

I came to FreedomList a bit later, because there was another site about free ISPs.
The forum is gone.
The email is gone.
The content is so out of date, it could be nostalgia.

But it's still there ... http://www.addlebrain.com/

Ah, yes!  Another blast from the past!  I made a few posts there many years ago.

[Pete!]

Has anyone been curious enough to visit freedomlist recently?

Today one of their advertisers was openly marketing heroin, cocaine, and "pills".
I thought that was pretty much limited to the darknet markets.

Yes, it's occurred to me that it could be a sting.

[Corrine]

Wow!  Good find, Pete.  I hadn't thought to see if the domain name had been taken over by someone else.

Interesting copyright seeing as how DomainTools shows 2016-08-06 as the registration date for that Chinese business hosted in California.  It is was taken over ~two months after Al didn't renew hosting:  (c)2015-2016 freedomlist.com All Rights Reserved

[Pete!]

I've looked in on the site before.
It looked pretty much like it looks now, and seemed to be marketing the unlikely combination of cosmetics and bearings. It made me wonder what kind if company it was.
After the additions I saw today, I'm wondering if they're just hosting ads, and aren't particularly careful about  what's being advertised.

[Corrine]

I almost forgot to bump this old thread.  Hard to believe that it has been 22 years since the official launch of Freedomlist on March 1, 2000. Aside from being where I got my start helping on forums, what is special about FL is the many people I met there and still stop in here from time to time. 

[Boz]

I still find myself fondly thinking back to my Freedomlist days. Somehow it seems like it was a better time, but then again, I've always been a sentimental idiot! :-)

[Corrine]

We did have a great group there, Boz.  It will always hold a special place in my heart.

[v_v]

So Corrine wrote,

what is special about FL is the many people I met there and still stop in here from time to time

and as if on cue Boz shows up with some 'fond' thoughts!  (Smile)

I'm with both Boz and Corrine, those days were and are fondly and warmly remembered---and they will always hold a special place for many of us.

Boz, yes those early days DO seem and feel like they were a better time.  Maybe there was more 'freshness' and 'innocence'.  I guess that I am not just speaking so much of Freedomlist in particular with those words as also probably more of the internet in general.  Maybe an appropriate contrast and analogy would be like those were the carefree days of 'elementary' school; nowadays everything feels like the pressing and pressurized days of adulthood!  Maybe that is a bit overstated but it definitely is the 'trend' of my feelings!

Whenever a Freedomlister chimes in here at Landzdown for me there is always a special feeling of 'remembrance' and 'shared times'.  Brief moments and small things, perhaps, but they do count for something!

v_v

[Corrine]

Maybe an appropriate contrast and analogy would be like those were the carefree days of 'elementary' school; nowadays everything feels like the pressing and pressurized days of adulthood!  Maybe that is a bit overstated but it definitely is the 'trend' of my feelings!

Definitely not overstated, v_v.
As to remembrance, note that I still "wear" the  that Curt made for me when we could add avatars after a forum update.