# Oldest extant thread? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [September 12, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-extant-thread/321298 "2005-09-12T19:11:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-extant-thread/321298/1 "2005-09-12T19:11:11Z")
What is the oldest thread that can still be viewed on the SDMB? Logically, I’d think it would be this one: > **[New Guy In Town](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=1)** > > cool but that doesn’t seem like a likely candidate. How about the oldest thread that’s still active? (i.e. people posting to it) ---
**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-extant-thread/321298/2 "2005-09-12T19:13:28Z")
Ah, on reflection I see the thread I linked to was only the oldest _since the switch to vBulletin_. ---
**Author:** ![Feydeau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Feydeau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feydeau)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-extant-thread/321298/3 "2005-09-12T19:27:08Z")
Although the following link shows a much older thread: > **[Cecil's Lousy Call Letter Answer (repost)](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=2)** > > MODERATOR COMMENT: Please note that this thread is from 1999, revived in 2000, 2001, 2004 and a couple of other times. Please don’t bother to post anything that was already posted, and please don’t expect answers from people who may have posted... Odd. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-extant-thread/321298/4 "2005-09-12T22:40:53Z")
I’ll bet 10 bucks it’s this one: > **[Welcome](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=491)** > > Hi, and welcome to the “About This Message Board” forum. Post here if you have comments or questions about how this message board works. But please, read the FAQ first, this will answer (we hope) the most commonly asked questions. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-extant-thread/321298/5 "2005-09-12T22:42:16Z")
OK I lose 10 bucks to myself, this one is a few minutes older 😉 > **[Welcome!](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=7)** > > Hi, folks, and welcome to the “Comment on Cecil’s Columns” folder. Though the Boss is still far from comfortable with this computer thing, we’ve persuaded him to check in periodically to read your comments about his columns, and respond if the spirit... ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-extant-thread/321298/6 "2005-09-12T22:45:42Z")
And in a totally unintentional triple post, you’ll note that someone there actually refers to it as “The oldest extant thread” on the board, so there ya go 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Feydeau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Feydeau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feydeau)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-extant-thread/321298/7 "2005-09-12T22:46:41Z")
So, why the wild disparity in thread numbering? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-extant-thread/321298/8 "2005-09-12T22:48:01Z")
Maybe the older threads didn’t get moved over to vB until some time after the switch? That’s just my guess. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-extant-thread/321298/9 "2005-09-13T13:39:17Z")
We didn’t start out on vB, we were a UBB board for the first couple of years. When we converted the old board to the vB bulleting board software, the old posts transferred as you see them . . . not perfectly, as the systems are not the same and the way they handle information is different. Mostly it’s best to just let old threads stay right where they are. Start a new one. your humble TubaDiva ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-extant-thread/321298/10 "2005-09-13T14:22:54Z")
> [@](#): > > When we converted the old board to the vB bulleting board software, the old posts transferred as you see them . . . not perfectly, as the systems are not the same and the way they handle information is different. Additionally, even within a single thread, the individual posts in some cases were not recreated chronologically. ---
**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-extant-thread/321298/11 "2005-09-13T19:01:20Z")
That about sums it up - thanks for the info. Is any of the content archived from the AOL days? I’d be interested in seeing how the ‘zeitgeist’ of the SD has evolved over the years. If we had access to the source for vBulletin, it’d be fun to have a dynamic thread containing current stats - number of open threads, most active thread, most viewed thread etc. I think I’ve seen that on other BBs. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-extant-thread/321298/12 "2005-09-13T19:29:06Z")
As someone who has been here since the first day the doors opened (on both AOL and here as well), while the community has evolved over time, it’s still essentially as has been described . . . “the smartest, hippest people on the planet, plus a few total dipsticks.” AOL content? I have approximately 50 Zip disks worth of AOL message board material. And I suspect I am your only source for this; it’s not on AOL, that’s for sure. If I remember correctly, Jerry did try to convert some of the files from AOL . . . and it didn’t work. One of these days I hope to figure out a good way to transfer this material to pages here . … and put them up on a regular basis. Maybe on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the days I don’t do Threadspotting/Weird Earl. This might be a good project to get Dopers involved in, those of you with some technical expertise. The content was saved as straight text files, I think; I just opened a thread and copied 'em over through the AOL download manager. Any good ideas as to how to best present this material? I don’t want to put it in vB, the system is overloaded enough as it is; in fact, we need to find some way to archive older material and get it off the current database . . . but that’s another project altogether. Jenny your humble TubaDiva ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-extant-thread/321298/13 "2005-09-13T19:34:12Z")
> [@DarrenS](#): > > If we had access to the source for vBulletin, it’d be fun to have a dynamic thread containing current stats - number of open threads, most active thread, most viewed thread etc. I think I’ve seen that on other BBs. There’s some stats on the front page of the message board, towards the bottom. Threads: 321,705, Posts: 6,469,132, Members: 54,732 Welcome to our newest member, blackgust17 Hope that helps. your humble TubaDiva ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-extant-thread/321298/14 "2005-09-14T04:42:22Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > As someone who has been here since the first day the doors opened (on both AOL and here as well), while the community has evolved over time, it’s still essentially as has been described . . . “the smartest, hippest people on the planet, plus a few total dipsticks.” > > AOL content? I have approximately 50 Zip disks worth of AOL message board material. And I suspect I am your only source for this; it’s not on AOL, that’s for sure. > > If I remember correctly, Jerry did try to convert some of the files from AOL . . . and it didn’t work. > > One of these days I hope to figure out a good way to transfer this material to pages here . … and put them up on a regular basis. Maybe on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the days I don’t do Threadspotting/Weird Earl. Holy carp that would be awesome. And here I thought my days of staying up until 4 in the morning reading archived SD/SDMB material were all long behind me. Happy ---
**Author:** ![Etherman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@Etherman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Etherman)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-extant-thread/321298/15 "2005-09-14T09:26:17Z")
Tuba, Can you maybe post a bit of that data so we can get a look at it? Mostly of interest would be several consecutive posts, and especially the stuff between posts, to find delimiters and structure, and if there is anything to parse against. That is assuming you have a bunch of flat text files, if they are encrypted or encoded, can you upload one of the entire files? If need be let me know, and I will see if I can host one so other dopers can look while we figure it out. It shouldn’t be too hard given the brains we have here. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-extant-thread/321298/16 "2005-09-14T12:53:35Z")
I’m in the middle of an outside project right now, but should have some time next week. I also need to clear this with the Reader first, as this entails putting more content on the Reader server. (Not on the board, not through vB.) I think these files are text, though I’ll have to dig up the box of disks and look at them to be sure. Might be some wacky AOL thing. These graphics were on the old site and could possibly be used again: [Former throbbing brain in a jar](http://www.straightdope.com/oldpics/aolbrain1.gif) [Original archive page](http://www.straightdope.com/oldpics/aolbrain2.gif) your humble TubaDiva PS Speaking of extra content, y’all are aware [teemings](http://www.pursam.org/teemings/index.html) is back, no? If you wanted Euty to start again, you could talk to him about going forward and see what he has to say about it.