Post your stories about the Barrow-Downs here - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

***Mithadan*** · 01-14-2023, 05:11 PM

I posted my version of a History of the Borrow-Downs Forums, over the space of multiple posts, a while back. http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=19548 In this thread, I invite you to post discrete stories, funny, poignant, nostalgic, about your experience here. I'll lead off.

During the early years of the Forums, Barrow-Wight reached out to me about a message he received. A parent of a younger member logged into his daughter's account and sent him a PM. It seems that his daughter had received some inappropriate communications from another member that may have bordered upon stalking and the parent became alarmed. After an exchange of several emails with the parent, I learned that a bit of an on-line romance had commenced, with initial communications between the parties done via PM. The communications had graduated to email and the parent had come across a racy message between the two. After the parent attempted to shut down the romance, the young man may have suggested something of an elopement. Hence the stalking concern.

This raised multiple issues. I advised the parent that: (1) while we police the forums, we do not police PMs; (2) we respect our members' privacy and had never peeked at anyone's PMs and were not inclined to start; and (3) once the matter moved on to email, it was certainly none of our business. Nonetheless, there were things we could do, and as an initial matter, we agreed to quietly investigate.

You may never have thought about this, but every time you log onto the Downs, the Administrators, if they happen to be on the site and paying attention, can see what members are on the Forums. Yes, this is even if you are set on "ghost" mode. In addition, we can see other information, such as your IP address. Not that we use it for anything, but it is available information. An IP address can, generally, be looked up to provide a general physical location, not a specific address and often not even a specific city or town. This is less reliable in this age of remote work. But 15 or 20 years ago, this was enough for me to tell the concerned parent that a rather large "Pond" separated the two young people. This was coupled with a brief "lecture" about who was responsible for keeping an eye on his daughter's internet use, and a suggestion that he communicate directly with the young man. This was, apparently, effective...

Galadriel55 · 01-16-2023, 05:46 PM

If there is something the Downs has no lack of, it's stories of how it's affected people's lives. Anyone can enter (spammers excluded, thank Eru

), but not everyone will leave the same man as they came in, etc etc. I've pretty much grown up on this site. You know how people talk about teens nowadays being idiots on Facebook? Well, I never had Facebook, so I was an idiot on the Downs instead - an even bigger idiot than I am now, if that can be believed, and you can find the evidence in the virtual archaeological digs of the early 2010's. But a fact that may be as much of a surprise to some people as the lack of FB for someone of my generation is that when I joined the Downs I didn't know how to type. All kids nowadays know how to type, right? Not me. Well, I've typed before, I knew how to press the buttons... But I was still doing the snail-pace one-finger technique that makes you cringe when you see it done. Hence, among other teenage quirks, you might find among my early posts little shortcuts like "Gandy" for "Gandalf" - because back then shortening a word by two letters actually made a difference. I would have learned to type sooner or later regardless; I was starting high school, where assignments were increasingly required to be typed rather than handwritten, it would have happened at some point. But I am of the firm opinion that I became a fast typer in those first few months due to the practice of writing multiple posts a day on this site (yes, multiple - I was averaging 8 at one point and was a proud spammer of threads). It was certainly a much more pleasant (and voluntary) was of learning than the school forcing me to type up assignments. So that's another accidental merit that the Downs can add to its crown of virtues.

Bêthberry · 01-21-2023, 08:52 PM

Well, there was the "My Little Pony" RPG that involved Downers but it didn't take place here, so perhaps the less said of that the better. I believe, though, we had Mithadan to handle the fall out.

Snowdog · 01-23-2023, 02:49 AM

I don't know what more I could say that I haven't already said in the other thread about my history here on Barrow Downs.

I guess I can share a few instances when wearing my t-shirt that I got into a conversation with a Middle Earth fan who read the books. The thing I have always liked about The Barrow Downs is it wasn't in Peter Jackson's movies, so a lot of movie fans didn't show up here like other sites I frequented at the time. If anyone saw that short or coffee mug and knew what it was in relation to Middle Earth, it was a moment that brought a smile to my resting grump-face.

Another good memory of the downs is I first met that award-winning journalist Natalia Antonova (Lush) here in a book discussion thread back in the early '00's. We've stayed in touch more-or-less ever since.

01-14-2023, 05:11 PM	#1
*Mithadan* Spirit of Mist Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Tol Eressea Posts: 3,186	Post your stories about the Barrow-Downs here I posted my version of a History of the Borrow-Downs Forums, over the space of multiple posts, a while back. http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=19548 In this thread, I invite you to post discrete stories, funny, poignant, nostalgic, about your experience here. I'll lead off. During the early years of the Forums, Barrow-Wight reached out to me about a message he received. A parent of a younger member logged into his daughter's account and sent him a PM. It seems that his daughter had received some inappropriate communications from another member that may have bordered upon stalking and the parent became alarmed. After an exchange of several emails with the parent, I learned that a bit of an on-line romance had commenced, with initial communications between the parties done via PM. The communications had graduated to email and the parent had come across a racy message between the two. After the parent attempted to shut down the romance, the young man may have suggested something of an elopement. Hence the stalking concern. This raised multiple issues. I advised the parent that: (1) while we police the forums, we do not police PMs; (2) we respect our members' privacy and had never peeked at anyone's PMs and were not inclined to start; and (3) once the matter moved on to email, it was certainly none of our business. Nonetheless, there were things we could do, and as an initial matter, we agreed to quietly investigate. You may never have thought about this, but every time you log onto the Downs, the Administrators, if they happen to be on the site and paying attention, can see what members are on the Forums. Yes, this is even if you are set on "ghost" mode. In addition, we can see other information, such as your IP address. Not that we use it for anything, but it is available information. An IP address can, generally, be looked up to provide a general physical location, not a specific address and often not even a specific city or town. This is less reliable in this age of remote work. But 15 or 20 years ago, this was enough for me to tell the concerned parent that a rather large "Pond" separated the two young people. This was coupled with a brief "lecture" about who was responsible for keeping an eye on his daughter's internet use, and a suggestion that he communicate directly with the young man. This was, apparently, effective... __________________ Beleriand, Beleriand, the borders of the Elven-land.

01-16-2023, 05:46 PM	#2
Galadriel55 Blossom of Dwimordene Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: The realm of forgotten words Posts: 10,067	If there is something the Downs has no lack of, it's stories of how it's affected people's lives. Anyone can enter (spammers excluded, thank Eru ), but not everyone will leave the same man as they came in, etc etc. I've pretty much grown up on this site. You know how people talk about teens nowadays being idiots on Facebook? Well, I never had Facebook, so I was an idiot on the Downs instead - an even bigger idiot than I am now, if that can be believed, and you can find the evidence in the virtual archaeological digs of the early 2010's. But a fact that may be as much of a surprise to some people as the lack of FB for someone of my generation is that when I joined the Downs I didn't know how to type. All kids nowadays know how to type, right? Not me. Well, I've typed before, I knew how to press the buttons... But I was still doing the snail-pace one-finger technique that makes you cringe when you see it done. Hence, among other teenage quirks, you might find among my early posts little shortcuts like "Gandy" for "Gandalf" - because back then shortening a word by two letters actually made a difference. I would have learned to type sooner or later regardless; I was starting high school, where assignments were increasingly required to be typed rather than handwritten, it would have happened at some point. But I am of the firm opinion that I became a fast typer in those first few months due to the practice of writing multiple posts a day on this site (yes, multiple - I was averaging 8 at one point and was a proud spammer of threads). It was certainly a much more pleasant (and voluntary) was of learning than the school forcing me to type up assignments. So that's another accidental merit that the Downs can add to its crown of virtues. __________________ You passed from under darkened dome, you enter now the secret land. - Take me to Finrod's fabled home!... ~ Finrod: The Rock Opera

01-21-2023, 08:52 PM	#3
Bêthberry Cryptic Aura Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 6,118	Well, there was the "My Little Pony" RPG that involved Downers but it didn't take place here, so perhaps the less said of that the better. I believe, though, we had Mithadan to handle the fall out. __________________ I’ll sing his roots off. I’ll sing a wind up and blow leaf and branch away.

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01-23-2023, 02:49 AM	#4
Snowdog Emperor of the South Pole Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Somewhere in Eriador Posts: 578	I don't know what more I could say that I haven't already said in the other thread about my history here on Barrow Downs. I guess I can share a few instances when wearing my t-shirt that I got into a conversation with a Middle Earth fan who read the books. The thing I have always liked about The Barrow Downs is it wasn't in Peter Jackson's movies, so a lot of movie fans didn't show up here like other sites I frequented at the time. If anyone saw that short or coffee mug and knew what it was in relation to Middle Earth, it was a moment that brought a smile to my resting grump-face. Another good memory of the downs is I first met that award-winning journalist Natalia Antonova (Lush) here in a book discussion thread back in the early '00's. We've stayed in touch more-or-less ever since.