# What happened to some of the more prominent posters?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-some-of-the-more-prominent-posters/603518>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [November 20, 2011, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-some-of-the-more-prominent-posters/603518 "2011-11-20T04:30:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 6

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**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-some-of-the-more-prominent-posters/603518/101 "2011-11-22T15:29:11Z")

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> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> I’ll bet that every other message board in existence has a similar statement.

[IMDB’s Terms and Conditions](http://www.imdb.com/help/show_article?boardstc) grants them an exclusive right to anything you post there:

> [@](#):
>
> 1. Submissions
> 
> You agree that any materials, including but not limited to questions, comments, suggestions, ideas, plans, notes, drawings, original or creative materials or other information, provided by you in the form of e-mail or submissions to IMDb are non-confidential and shall become the sole property of IMDb. IMDb shall own exclusive rights, including all intellectual property rights, and shall be entitled to the unrestricted use of these materials for any purpose, commercial or otherwise, without acknowledgment or compensation to you. The submission of any materials to IMDb, including the posting of materials to any forum or interactive area, irrevocably waives any and all “moral rights” in such materials, including the rights of paternity and integrity.

So at least in theory if you post something on IMDB you don’t even retain non-exclusive rights to it.

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-some-of-the-more-prominent-posters/603518/102 "2011-11-22T15:37:20Z")

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> [@Cicero](#):
>
> Chowder went missing so abruptly and nothing was ever heard. He was approaching 70 so it seems the news was not going to be good.

I knew he was in his 60s, but I’d assumed he was closer to 60 than to 70. But since he posted about being a child during WWII I guess he was older. I don’t recall him mentioning any health problems.

If I have time later I might see if I can find the thread where he talks about finding his long-lost half-sister.

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-some-of-the-more-prominent-posters/603518/103 "2011-11-22T16:08:11Z")

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> [@runner pat](#):
>
> Maybe just taking a break.
> 
> Last Activity: 09-04-2011 07:30 AM

I’m concerned about her because her break happened right in the middle of the Annual Postcard Exchange, which she was running. That sould be enough to get you active unless RL really was a bitch.

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**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-some-of-the-more-prominent-posters/603518/104 "2011-11-22T16:12:56Z")

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> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> I knew he was in his 60s, but I’d assumed he was closer to 60 than to 70.

For some reason I recall 68. His beloved Manchester City are currently top of the English Premier League and recently beat the hated Manchester United (or Manure, as **chowder** called them) 6-1 on Man U’s own ground. I fear that **chowder** did not get to see and savor that.

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**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-some-of-the-more-prominent-posters/603518/105 "2011-11-22T16:35:35Z")

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Hey, whatever happened to **gonzomax**? He used to post here a lot, right?

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**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-some-of-the-more-prominent-posters/603518/106 "2011-11-22T16:58:57Z")

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> [@MeanOldLady](#):
>
> Hey, whatever happened to **gonzomax**? He used to post here a lot, right?

In case you didn’t see the announcement, [he won’t be back.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=632294)

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**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-some-of-the-more-prominent-posters/603518/107 "2011-11-22T17:05:22Z")

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> [@runner pat](#):
>
> In case you didn’t see the announcement, [he won’t be back.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=632294)

Considering he hasn’t slacked off at his posting at all, I think she knew that and was just getting a last dig in.

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**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-some-of-the-more-prominent-posters/603518/108 "2011-11-22T17:06:55Z")

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:eek: But who will bump FXM’s masterful nuclear rantage thread in the Pit now??

-XT

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**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-some-of-the-more-prominent-posters/603518/109 "2011-11-22T17:17:45Z")

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> [@MeanOldLady](#):
>
> Hey, whatever happened to **gonzomax**? He used to post here a lot, right?

> [@runner pat](#):
>
> In case you didn’t see the announcement, [he won’t be back.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=632294)

This exchange reminded me of one of my favorite scenes from The Office, during the first episode with the Dundies:

Michael: I was out on a very hot date last night with a girl from H.R., Dwight!  
Dwight: We don’t have any girls from H.R.  
Michael: No, that… for the sake of the story. And things were getting hot and heavy…  
Dwight: Yeah…  
Michael: and I was about to take her bra off…  
Dwight: Yeah…  
Michael: when she had me fill out six hours of paper work!  
Dwight: Like an AIDS test?

Good times.

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**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-some-of-the-more-prominent-posters/603518/110 "2011-11-22T17:38:04Z")

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> [@Giraffe](#):
>
> Michael: I was out on a very hot date last night with a girl from H.R., Dwight!  
> Dwight: We don’t have any girls from H.R.  
> Michael: No, that… for the sake of the story. And things were getting hot and heavy…  
> Dwight: Yeah…  
> Michael: and I was about to take her bra off…  
> Dwight: Yeah…  
> Michael: when she had me fill out six hours of paper work!  
> Dwight: Like an AIDS test?

How could you leave out Michael’s horrified, “God … no!”

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**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-some-of-the-more-prominent-posters/603518/111 "2011-11-22T17:53:37Z")

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I was thinking there was a “recent” thread that dealt with the OP’s concerns so I looked back in my “vanity search” as far back as [favorite handles](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=585532) which is on the oldest of the 30 pages I can see. The only things I could find that appear to deal with the topic are [Okay – so who _does_ have the most Posts and Threads?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=613056) and [The truly great threads in SDMB history](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=508687) which would require some poking around to provide a source for “Prominent Poster” identification.

I would hope the OP of this thread could provide some parameters for that distinction. My own are (as of a few moments ago):

Total Posts: 14,545  
Posts Per Day: 4.72  
Last Activity: Today 11:34 AM  
Join Date: 06-18-2003

And I’m pretty sure my “prominant poster” status is questionable. I’m not a Lurker, never have been, but the contributions I have made have been limited to trivia, movies, jazz, nonsense, college football, games and puzzles and a few regional interest things.

In short, what makes for a “prominent poster” on SDMB? And who are the best examples of that distinction?

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-some-of-the-more-prominent-posters/603518/112 "2011-11-22T17:57:30Z")

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I think, **Zeldar** , that if you want to discuss that topic you should open a thread in MPSIMS or IMHO. This thread seems to be about what happened to specific individuals.

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**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-some-of-the-more-prominent-posters/603518/113 "2011-11-22T18:01:50Z")

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> [@Marley23](#):
>
> I think, **Zeldar** , that if you want to discuss that topic you should open a thread in MPSIMS or IMHO.

Please let us know if you do.

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**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-some-of-the-more-prominent-posters/603518/114 "2011-11-22T18:06:07Z")

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> [@Marley23](#):
>
> I think, **Zeldar** , that if you want to discuss that topic you should open a thread in MPSIMS or IMHO. This thread seems to be about what happened to specific individuals.

> [@carnivorousplant](#):
>
> Please let us know if you do.

Additional posts in those threads I linked to would satisfy my own curiosity. Thanks. I was just trying to get to some specifics of who qualifies as a “prominent poster.”

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**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-some-of-the-more-prominent-posters/603518/115 "2011-11-22T19:49:46Z")

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But I’m still here. How 'bout that? 😃 😛

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**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-some-of-the-more-prominent-posters/603518/116 "2011-11-22T20:45:25Z")

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> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#):
>
> What does this mean exactly? At the bottom of this page I see “message board users retain the right to republish or repost their own work.”. How is it one-sided?

> [@Colibri](#):
>
> You’re worried that you are going to miss out on the big bucks when Creative Loafing publishes their vast compendium of board posts?
> 
> If you think your posts are that valuable, you could always just republish them yourself. You retain rights to your own posts.
> 
> I’ve given permission for some of my Staff Reports to be republished elsewhere. Trust me, even if I had asked for royalties (I contributed them gratis to a compilation edited by a friend) I wouldn’t have made enough for a cup of coffee (at least at Starbuck’s).

> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> IANAL, but that is a gross exaggeration. The text at the bottom of every page says, “By posting on this board you grant the Creative Loafing Media, Inc., and its successors and assigns a nonexclusive irrevocable right to re-use your posting in any manner it or they see fit without notice or compensation to you.” I’ll bet that every other message board in existence has a similar statement. Here, for instance, is the relevant clause from the Yahoo! Message Boards Terms of Service, “With respect to Content other than photos, graphics, audio or video you submit or make available for inclusion on publicly accessible areas of the Yahoo! Services other than Yahoo! Groups, the perpetual, irrevocable and fully sublicensable license to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform and publicly display such Content (in whole or in part) and to incorporate such Content into other works in any format or medium now known or later developed.”

Actually, I don’t care about the “creative” aspect of my posts or anything like that; I’d just like to have the right to remove them. I’d be happy to be able to just disappear myself.

BTW, Monkey With A Gun, I’m sorry for being snippy last night. I was having some insomnia and not in a good mood.

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-some-of-the-more-prominent-posters/603518/117 "2011-11-22T20:52:57Z")

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> [@An\_Arky](#):
>
> Actually, I don’t care about the “creative” aspect of my posts or anything like that; I’d just like to have the right to remove them. I’d be happy to be able to just disappear myself.

As far as I know, Creative Loafing only wants the right to republish your posts in case you ask a question that Cecil chooses to answer.

If there are posts you want to have removed, you can ask the mods to consider removing them. We’re very hestitant to grant requests like that, but the reasons don’t have anything to do with the disclaimer you’re quoting.

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**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-some-of-the-more-prominent-posters/603518/118 "2011-11-22T20:53:52Z")

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> [@An\_Arky](#):
>
> BTW, Monkey With A Gun, I’m sorry for being snippy last night. I was having some insomnia and not in a good mood.

Don’t sweat it.

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**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-some-of-the-more-prominent-posters/603518/119 "2011-11-22T20:54:49Z")

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> [@An\_Arky](#):
>
> Actually, I don’t care about the “creative” aspect of my posts or anything like that; I’d just like to have the right to remove them. I’d be happy to be able to just disappear myself.

You realize that would to a large extent defeat the purpose of maintaining a discussion board?

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**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-some-of-the-more-prominent-posters/603518/120 "2011-11-22T20:56:28Z")

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> [@xtisme](#):
>
> :eek: But who will bump FXM’s masterful nuclear rantage thread in the Pit now??
> 
> -XT

That’s what I was wondering.

Edit: Ah. [We have a replacement](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14490507&postcount=1427), it seems.

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