A thread that was supposed to have been closed by David B in January was revived a few days ago: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=22165&pagenumber=15
A thread that was supposed to have been closed in July by Arnold Winkelried was revived today: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=1
David B mentioned something abou the switch from UBB to vBulletin. But wasn’t that in April or May? That shouldn’t affect the July thread, should it?
Perhaps the thread Arnold said he was closing never got really closed. (Since he was new on the job and all). In GQ, going back at least to May first, closed threads are still closed.
The first one you mention appears to be closed.
The second one seems destined for MPSIMS, not closure.
The second thread was closed before Noodles noticed the historical significance of it, and I believe that once he realized that, he re-opened it. It would belong in MPSIMS, had that forum existed at the time that it was posted, but it didn’t, so it wasn’t.
MPSIMS has been around since the board opened.
Not all old threads are closed. Most are left to pass away on their own.
We did not have a MPSIMS forum on the AOL board; we did have a MPSIMS topic that gathered a lot of posts. I should also mention the AOL board threaded and read differently from our current set up.
A few old threads have been resurrected, mostly, I suspect, for harassment purposes. We close 'em as we find 'em.
your humble TubaDiva
Administrator
Notice that it’s NOT the first thread. Zebbmx joined in July 2000. No way he’s the first poster. It’s the first thread created after the switch to vB most likely. July 12 is the date it happened, right?
–Tim
Since many people have been referring to threadid 1, I will state the facts as I remember them:
When it popped up in the «Comments on Cecil’s Columns» forum on 12 July 2000, I seem to remember that there was another post in the thread preceding zebbmx’s post. Then I remember closing the thread before I noticed that the reason it had been revived was that it was thread id 1.
But my recollection may very well be at fault since
[list=a]
[li]There is no post before zebbmx’s post, and[/li][li]the thread wasn’t closed.[/li][/list]
It may be board “weirdness”, or it may simply be that I’m getting old.
P.S. In case some of you were wondering to whom Chronos was referring when he mentioned “Noodles”, my fellow moderators know that at one point in my life I has adopted “Noodles” as my new nickname, but it never caught on (except obviously with my good friend Chronos).
On my page, the buttons read:
Admin Options:
Open / Close Thread
Move Thread
Delete Thread
Edit Thread
It looks like a toggle. So maybe you hit the button twice, or did a refresh when it didn’t come back soon enough.
That’s how most double posts happen.
Of course, getting old is more likely 
We had a minor bobble on the board this morning, a technical error. That’s probably what caused the rash of double posts.
The problem was quickly discovered, the error was fixed.
Sorry for any inconvenience y’all may have had during that brief time.
your humble TubaDiva
Administrator
Arnold Winkelried said:
There goes yourrep.
My rep is very safe on this board, thank you very much. The denizens of the SDMB walk in fear and terror when they hear my footsteps.
Whatever you say, Noodles. Now c’mere and lemme give ya a Dutch rub.
I believe the term is not “harassment” but “nostalgia”.
I saw a discussion and link to good thread #1, which said it was going to be locked, and simply posted this simple plea:
" Actually, maybe this thread, since it’s the first one, could just stay open, and rise to the surface every year or so, to make people smile 
"
I hardly think that’s harassment.
You say yourself “Most are left to pass away on their own.” So why can’t a body request just that?
You lock way too many threads for no reason, it seems.
I, too, remember seeing the First Thread on its first resurrection, and it most assuredly did have a post that is there no longer: Something along the lines of “So, this is the new board. Cool!”.
The reason that it was locked is that it was in the wrong forum: It wasn’t commenting on any specific column.
OK, this may sound silly, me asking this. But WTF is a Dutch Rub?
I’m sure it’s not a common practice in our Red Light District. I mean, I know what goes on down there. I’ve heard it all, my uhm… friend, yeah, my FRIEND told me.
So what is it? Are there any farm animals involved?
Clogboy: Grab someone’s arm with both hands side by side, and twist in opposite directions.
–Tim
Ah, I see! Thanks Tim. That is indeed a common practise amongst young kids here. We call it “prikkeldraad”, Dutch for “barb wire”. You perform the move, and yell “Prikkeldraad!”. It must have been well over 15 years ago that I last did this 
No, no, no, Homer. That’s an Indian burn. A Dutch rub is when you lock one of your arms around your victim’s neck and rub the top of his head with the knuckles of your other hand after making a fist. At least that’s the way I understood it as a kid.
I agree with UncleBeer on this one (and no, it’s not because he’s a fellow moderator.) The dutch rub is rubbing your knuckles on the top of someone’s head. I also call it a noogie.
Of course, I personally prefer to resort to my razor-sharp wit to disarm my adversaries.