# What happens to straightdope.com on 12-22-2016? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 22, 2014, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-straightdope-com-on-12-22-2016/688983 "2014-05-22T03:31:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-straightdope-com-on-12-22-2016/688983/1 "2014-05-22T03:31:57Z")
Not ATMB…why? Teach me about this mysterious last line here. Re-registration, obviously. But such a long time since its birthday in 1995 till its first update, and now why such a quickie? Where/what was [straightdope.com](http://straightdope.com) before its domain registration? [Hijack by Zen koan] What was your face before you were born? [/Hijack by Zen koan] ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-straightdope-com-on-12-22-2016/688983/2 "2014-05-22T03:37:06Z")
What happens is that the domain expires, unless it’s renewed. I don’t really understand your other questions. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-straightdope-com-on-12-22-2016/688983/3 "2014-05-22T04:35:02Z")
What makes you think there was a long time between its “birthday” and its first update? Where do you see its first update? Looks like it’s on a 3-year renewal cycle. Someone last paid the $30 to renew it for 3 years in 2013, and someone will pay the $30 to renew it for 3 more years before December 22 2016. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-straightdope-com-on-12-22-2016/688983/4 "2014-05-22T06:06:56Z")
I think the Straight Dope, and an accompanying message board, was on AOL before it was on the WWW. I’m not old enough to remember that. But several of the posters here are. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-straightdope-com-on-12-22-2016/688983/5 "2014-05-22T06:44:01Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Not ATMB…why? Teach me about this mysterious last line here. > > Re-registration, obviously. But such a long time since its birthday in 1995 till its first update, and now why such a quickie? It never said “First update”, and it only said “Last Update”. It does only show the date of the LAST update. It doesn’t even show a count of HOW MANY updates. Not that it means anything, except help someone who was trying to match a change recognize if it already happened or not. ---
**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:** [May 22, 2014, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-straightdope-com-on-12-22-2016/688983/6 "2014-05-22T14:08:06Z")
Moved to ATMB. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-straightdope-com-on-12-22-2016/688983/7 "2014-05-22T14:15:21Z")
That is the date of the invasion. Every post on the straightdope is being transmitted directly back to them so they can learn about humans. Haven’t you ever wondered about the delay between searches? Their communication technology is not instant over such a vast distance. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-straightdope-com-on-12-22-2016/688983/8 "2014-05-22T14:54:06Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > Every post on the straightdope is being transmitted directly back to them so they can learn about humans. Boy, are they going to be in for a surprise…especially the ones disguised as sexy sheep. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-straightdope-com-on-12-22-2016/688983/9 "2014-05-22T15:20:21Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > I think the Straight Dope, and an accompanying message board, was on AOL before it was on the WWW. I’m not old enough to remember that. But several of the posters here are. There was also a discussion area on Usenet - alt.fan.cecil-adams if I remember correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-straightdope-com-on-12-22-2016/688983/10 "2014-05-22T19:21:34Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Someone last paid the $30 to renew it for 3 years in 2013, and someone will pay the $30 to renew it for 3 more years before December 22 2016. And if they don’t, the board will lose its Charter Member status. ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-straightdope-com-on-12-22-2016/688983/11 "2014-05-23T01:42:47Z")
> [@jimbuff314](#): > > There was also a discussion area on Usenet - alt.fan.cecil-adams if I remember correctly. Yes, that’s where most of the usenet discussions took place. When the AOL area was going away, a more “official” usenet group, misc.facts.straight-dope, was created. However, people used to AOL never really warmed up to moving to a usenet group, and people already using the existing alt.fan.cecil-adams group didn’t see much reason to move if nobody else was coming in, so it never really got much use. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-straightdope-com-on-12-22-2016/688983/12 "2014-05-23T02:47:16Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Not ATMB…why? Teach me about this mysterious last line here. > > Re-registration, obviously. But such a long time since its birthday in 1995 till its first update, and now why such a quickie? > > Where/what was [straightdope.com](http://straightdope.com) before its domain registration? > > [Hijack by Zen koan] > What was your face before you were born? > [/Hijack by Zen koan] 2013 wasn’t the first update, it was the most recent one. All websites do that, we’re not special that way. If you check back in 2016 it’ll say it expires 12/22/2019 and the last update was 12/22/2016. Assuming they renew it for another 3 years of course. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-straightdope-com-on-12-22-2016/688983/13 "2014-05-23T12:38:32Z")
Just an observation - according to that same site, [microsoft.com](http://microsoft.com) expires on 03-May-2021. I guess everyone will have switched to Linux by then! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-straightdope-com-on-12-22-2016/688983/14 "2014-05-23T15:00:14Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > Just an observation - according to that same site, [microsoft.com](http://microsoft.com) expires on 03-May-2021. I guess everyone will have switched to Linux by then! 😃 Well no, it just means that Bill Gates could afford to splash out on the 10-year package, while the lowly Dope can only scrape together the cash for three. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-straightdope-com-on-12-22-2016/688983/15 "2014-05-23T22:23:51Z")
It melts in your hand. ---
**Author:** ![Noel\_Prosequi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b19c9b/32.png) [@Noel\_Prosequi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noel_Prosequi)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-straightdope-com-on-12-22-2016/688983/16 "2014-05-25T00:27:31Z")
On a related topic, what caused the apparent recent very brief crash and recovery in Alexa popularity revealed in the graph on the OP’s link? Dropped from around the 4000s into free fall, then almost instantly recovered. Maybe I missed it, but I haven’t noticed any access issues. ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-straightdope-com-on-12-22-2016/688983/17 "2014-05-25T02:02:58Z")
I’m guessing that would be the malware warnings/problems. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-straightdope-com-on-12-22-2016/688983/18 "2014-05-25T04:05:28Z")
I thought that’s when **Colibri** and **Ed Zotti** were projected to add a new upgrade, and the board would inadvertently become sentient–the birth of SkyCECIL. Tripler . . . and the initial batch machines would all look like they were drawn by Slug Signorino. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-straightdope-com-on-12-22-2016/688983/19 "2014-05-25T18:47:06Z")
Imagine. An entire army of üuber-machines wearing mortar boards and 1948-era funnel bras. :o ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2014, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-straightdope-com-on-12-22-2016/688983/20 "2014-05-26T03:42:52Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > Imagine. An entire army of üuber-machines wearing mortar boards and 1948-era funnel bras. :o I may have seen a bar like that in Tokyo. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-straightdope-com-on-12-22-2016/688983.md?page=2)