# A note from Cecil Adams about The Straight Dope
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope/816891
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [June 28, 2018, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope/816891 "2018-06-28T03:20:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 9
### Author:  [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope/816891/161 "2018-07-02T00:51:47Z")
So what can we do to draw in more younguns who wouldn’t get All Haig jokes?
---
### Author:  [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope/816891/162 "2018-07-02T01:05:07Z")
> [@dropzone](#):
>
> So what can we do to draw in more younguns who wouldn’t get All Haig jokes?
Definitely avatars.
---
### Author:  [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope/816891/163 "2018-07-02T01:26:42Z")
> [@hajario](#):
>
> Definitely avatars.
And emojis. Millions of emojis.
---
### Author:  [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope/816891/164 "2018-07-02T01:32:54Z")
Kids, I’m serious. As of midnight we lunatics inherited the asylum, and we need to think about how we can keep it going.
---
### Author:  [@nachtmusick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nachtmusick)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope/816891/165 "2018-07-02T01:41:34Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#):
>
> The ignorant have won.
I prefer to think that the fight has finally been won. It was clearly never meant to take forever. All the questions worth answering (and a staggering number that weren’t) have been answered. Now it’s just a matter of getting the ignorant to read the answers.
When I go to get my copy of the new book, I’m going to get an extra couple to send as gifts. Maybe I’ll send one to the White House; even the POTUS occasionally needs something special to throw in the fireplace on a cold night.
---
### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope/816891/166 "2018-07-02T05:22:12Z")
> [@dropzone](#):
>
> Kids, I’m serious. As of midnight we lunatics inherited the asylum, and we need to think about how we can keep it going.
Tell each other “fuck you” and “you’re a cunt” in the Pit? 😉 Slam the board with flashing gifs and sparkles? Turn everything bubblegum pink and lime green?
---
### Author:  [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope/816891/167 "2018-07-02T08:32:55Z")
I’m old, too, but I’m not too old to remember that Haig said “I am in control,” which sounded a bit worse than “in charge.”
Like a lot of people here, I discovered the Straight Dope in an alt-weekly paper (the _Isthmus_ in Madison, Wisconsin). The sly, witty writing style and the weird illustrations made it a perfect fit with the paper’s countercultural vibe. Well, alt-weeklies are in decline, and the ones that are still around don’t seem all that “alternative.”
I’m also pessimistic about this board’s future; it’s corporate-owned, and message boards are increasingly seen as passé and not worth the trouble. The IMDB boards were very popular, and Amazon nuked them anyway. I also have fond memories of the Discovery Channel boards, which were _huge_; the thread for the _Mythbusters_ plane-on-a-treadmill episode was something like 900 pages. All gone.
But I’ve been wrong about lots of stuff, and could be wrong about this too. I hope so.
---
### Author:  [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope/816891/168 "2018-07-02T11:51:53Z")
This begs a question: are the boards in toto archived somewhere?
Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
---
### Author:  [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope/816891/169 "2018-07-02T16:40:09Z")
Wait. Ed Zotti is _not_ the Master? The board continues nonetheless? Talk about crisis of faith…gosh this consubstantiation of Father Son and Holy Dope was always a toughie.
Never read The Master in print, besides the reprinted columns here and his guiding spirit, naturally. And it’s been a pleasure to meet His Gormlessness.
The faith endures.
---
### Author:  [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope/816891/170 "2018-07-02T16:42:50Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#):
>
> And how many of us here got _that_ reference, do you think?
Do you mean the one to **Shodan**? 🙂
---
### Author:  [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope/816891/171 "2018-07-02T18:50:24Z")
Are we all just posting trivia to see if/when posting becomes impossible and the SDMB returns a 404 error? I mostly lurk, and did so for years before something compelled me to sign up and post, so I’ll really miss this place!
Anybody have any suggestions on what we might do, where we might meet, or how we might salvage some of the tattered remains of this community should that bleak day arrive? I mean, I couldn’t host a replacement Board, but I’m sure somebody can. If that becomes the only alternative, how might it happen and how could it be communicated?
---
### Author:  [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope/816891/172 "2018-07-02T19:45:35Z")
I’d say keep posting here. More activity here shows the value of keeping the lights on.
---
### Author:  [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope/816891/173 "2018-07-02T19:57:26Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#):
>
> This begs a question: are the boards in toto archived somewhere?
No, because inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.
---
### Author:  [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope/816891/174 "2018-07-02T22:25:14Z")
> [@CannyDan](#):
>
> Are we all just posting trivia to see if/when posting becomes impossible and the SDMB returns a 404 error? I mostly lurk, and did so for years before something compelled me to sign up and post, so I’ll really miss this place!
>
> Anybody have any suggestions on what we might do, where we might meet, or how we might salvage some of the tattered remains of this community should that bleak day arrive? I mean, I couldn’t host a replacement Board, but I’m sure somebody can. If that becomes the only alternative, how might it happen and how could it be communicated?
I haven’t seen any indication that this is going to happen any time soon, but if it does you’re welcome to use my board as a temporary rallying point. Another option would be to make an SDMB subreddit to point people to a new space. Setting up a replacement board would be pretty easy and relatively cheap, I’d be happy to help with that as well, should the time ever come. I don’t need to be involved after that, I’d be glad to hand the keys over once it’s all set up.
The point is that it’s the people who make this site a success, not the servers or the owners or the software.
---
### Author:  [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2018, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope/816891/175 "2018-07-03T00:50:36Z")
> [@Giraffe](#):
>
> The point is that it’s the people who make this site a success, not the servers or the owners or the software.
That’s sweet but utterly silly. A message board has to draw people in and that doesn’t happen because a bunch of awesome people just randomly decide to start posting in it.
---
### Author:  [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2018, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope/816891/176 "2018-07-03T01:18:58Z")
> [@Ed\_Zotti](#):
>
> It is. The site still generates some revenue. The mods, Jah bless 'em, do their thing for free, and the hosting costs are modest. I make no promises; my association with TSD will end simultaneously with Cecil’s. But there is no imminent portent of doom.
I hope you’ll post here. Be a participant. We’d be honored.
Meanwhile, _if_ the unportended doom lands anyhow, can we all agree to _come back to this very thread_ and nominate a destination to relocate ourselves to, so as not to become a fragmented diaspora?
---
### Author:  [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2018, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope/816891/177 "2018-07-03T01:30:03Z")
How about Giraffe Boards?
---
### Author:  [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2018, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope/816891/178 "2018-07-03T01:57:55Z")
> [@Giraffe](#):
>
> I haven’t seen any indication that this is going to happen any time soon, but if it does you’re welcome to use my board as a temporary rallying point. Another option would be to make an SDMB subreddit to point people to a new space. Setting up a replacement board would be pretty easy and relatively cheap, I’d be happy to help with that as well, should the time ever come. I don’t need to be involved after that, I’d be glad to hand the keys over once it’s all set up.
>
> The point is that it’s the people who make this site a success, not the servers or the owners or the software.
Frankly, I was hoping you’d say that/make such an offer! I’ll be pleased to help with the “relatively cheap” cost, if it comes to that.
I’m a Charter Member on your board and there’s a lot of crossover of other people as well, but it would still grieve me to completely lose the - err - _special flavor_ of this place. So I thank you.
---
### Author:  [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2018, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope/816891/179 "2018-07-03T02:50:49Z")
> [@AHunter3](#):
>
> I hope you’ll post here. Be a participant. We’d be honored.
>
> Meanwhile, _if_ the unportended doom lands anyhow, can we all agree to _come back to this very thread_ and nominate a destination to relocate ourselves to, so as not to become a fragmented diaspora?
Am I being whooshed? Because um, you know…that would be very very difficult.
---
### Author:  [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2018, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope/816891/180 "2018-07-03T02:55:15Z")
> [@CannyDan](#):
>
> Frankly, I was hoping you’d say that/make such an offer! I’ll be pleased to help with the “relatively cheap” cost, if it comes to that.
>
> I’m a Charter Member on your board and there’s a lot of crossover of other people as well, but it would still grieve me to completely lose the - err - _special flavor_ of this place. So I thank you.
I also would help with “relatively cheap”. However, some of my relatives are cheaper than others.\*\* Giraffe\*\*, what is a rough estimate of start-up and yearly costs? Say for a board roughly like yours?
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope/816891.md?page=8)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope/816891.md?page=10)