# When was "The winter of missed content"? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 11, 2017, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-winter-of-missed-content/790991 "2017-07-11T11:03:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-winter-of-missed-content/790991/21 "2017-07-15T21:58:25Z")
I thought it was **matt\_mcl**. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-winter-of-missed-content/790991/22 "2017-07-15T21:59:41Z")
**Sampiro** joined August 2002, so I don’t think it was him. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-winter-of-missed-content/790991/23 "2017-07-15T22:51:05Z")
The earliest reference I could find for it was from TubaDiva in this thread on 4-12-2002 (about a month after the event). > **[SDMB Archived On Another Site](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=109034)** > > Many of you may already be aware of this site, but for those of you who aren’t: http://www.boardreader.com/ This site archives many different message boards, and the Straight Dope is one of them. I prefer their archive to some others because they... Further along in the thread, TwistofFate comments on the name as if it’s the first they’ve seen it. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-winter-of-missed-content/790991/24 "2017-07-15T23:07:21Z")
Upon further digging, I found this post by Rilchiam on 04-10-2002, a couple of days before TubaDiva’s post. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=1983725#post1983725](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=1983725#post1983725) I have to wonder if the term was coined on the alternate board that many of us were temporarily using during the outage. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-winter-of-missed-content/790991/25 "2017-07-15T23:46:47Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Upon further digging, I found this post by Rilchiam on 04-10-2002, a couple of days before TubaDiva’s post. > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=1983725#post1983725](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=1983725#post1983725) > > I have to wonder if the term was coined on the alternate board that many of us were temporarily using during the outage. It was definitely coined on the alternate board but all I can tell you was that it wasn’t me who did it. By the way, if you think that our language restrictions here are bad, we had to be downright saintly in terms of language and topic discussion to follow the rules of the place that hosted the temp board. As I recall, **TubaDiva** paid for the temp place out of her own pocket. The cause of the shutdown was a deliberate hack by a disgruntled person. The cause of the missing posts was very poor backup protocol. This was explicitly told to us by Management at the time. There was pretty clear speculation on who it was but no definitive proof of which I am aware so it’s inappropriate to mention any names. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-winter-of-missed-content/790991/26 "2017-07-16T00:49:15Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Aw, yeah, there were some wonderful threads in Great Debates. “A Blueprint for a Comprehensive Peace in the Middle East”–that one was very contentious for the first dozen pages, but then by about page 13 or 14, everything just sort of _clicked_. Someone said we should e-mail Ariel Sharon and Yasser Arafat, but then… > > And “Reconciling Special and General Relativity With Quantum Mechanics” and its brilliant follow up “The SDMB Grand Unified Field Theory!” Man, a bunch of people collaborated on those! They were all set to send that one off to Stockholm, but then… > > All those posts lost, like tears in rain. Also answered who put the bomp in the bomp bah bomp bah bomp. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-winter-of-missed-content/790991/27 "2017-07-16T01:05:58Z")
This thread is like a visit to the Old Folks Home. 🙂 Not a join date past 2003 to be seen! ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-winter-of-missed-content/790991/28 "2017-07-16T01:42:49Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > This thread is like a visit to the Old Folks Home. 🙂 Not a join date past 2003 to be seen! Including a few '99ers. I wonder how many of us are left on the Board? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-winter-of-missed-content/790991/29 "2017-07-16T02:33:22Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > My life-altering thread, **Qadgop’s going to prison** was lost forever in that disaster! Personally, I would have thought that you would want your disreputable past obliterated by a computer hack. I can think of a few on 5th Avenue in New York who would envy you. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-winter-of-missed-content/790991/30 "2017-07-16T02:48:18Z")
I joined shortly after TWOOMC. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-winter-of-missed-content/790991/31 "2017-07-16T04:02:46Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > While I’m not saying that TWOOD was an intentional act, it seems suspicious that it occurred immediately after an incredibly astute poster painstakingly pieced together seemingly innocuous info from many different threads to prove that “Cecil Adams” is the pseudonym for the Ruling Council of the Illuminati. > > After all, the name “Cecil” comes from the Latin for blind or dim-sighted and “Adam” was the first man. Pluralizing Adam was a way to indicate “all of mankind”. The rather obvious meaning behind the name being that humans have been blind to the truth since the beginning of time. Why? BECAUSE YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH! The Illuminati exist to protect mankind from the ultimate truth by doling out, via their Cecil Adams cover, small chunks of truth that fool mankind into thinking we are fighting ignorance. It’s a clever scheme. > > Oh, crap. Nice knowing you. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-winter-of-missed-content/790991/32 "2017-07-16T15:50:19Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > I joined shortly after TWOOMC. Actually, your join date is shown as being before then. July 2001 to be specific. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-winter-of-missed-content/790991/33 "2017-07-16T18:02:23Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Personally, I would have thought that you would want your disreputable past obliterated by a computer hack. > > I can think of a few on 5th Avenue in New York who would envy you. 😃 The key to dealing with the skeletons in one’s closet is to bring them out and make them dance for everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-winter-of-missed-content/790991/34 "2017-07-16T18:06:28Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Actually, your join date is shown as being before then. July 2001 to be specific. 🙂 Now I remember. I lurked for over a year before I joined. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-winter-of-missed-content/790991/35 "2017-07-16T19:23:58Z")
There are thread I can’t find that may have been in that time period, but I don’t know for sure. If anyone can point me to “When deer take a stand” I’d sure appreciate it. ---
**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:** [July 16, 2017, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-winter-of-missed-content/790991/36 "2017-07-16T19:34:28Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > There are thread I can’t find that may have been in that time period, but I don’t know for sure. > > If anyone can point me to “When deer take a stand” I’d sure appreciate it. [Here you go](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=150992&highlight=deer+stand). ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-winter-of-missed-content/790991/37 "2017-07-17T17:03:44Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > It was definitely coined on the alternate board but all I can tell you was that it wasn’t me who did it. By the way, if you think that our language restrictions here are bad, we had to be downright saintly in terms of language and topic discussion to follow the rules of the place that hosted the temp board. As I recall, **TubaDiva** paid for the temp place out of her own pocket. > > The cause of the shutdown was a deliberate hack by a disgruntled person. The cause of the missing posts was very poor backup protocol. This was explicitly told to us by Management at the time. There was pretty clear speculation on who it was but no definitive proof of which I am aware so it’s inappropriate to mention any names. Which temp board were you on? I thought most people went to OpalCat’s board at Fathom, I know I did. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-winter-of-missed-content/790991/38 "2017-07-17T18:16:11Z")
there were a couple of boards we moved to and from because they couldn’t handle out traffic at the time …I remember at the last one tubadiva was paying for a corporate account out of her pocket because he crashed the free version … but once it was discovered that we weren’t on the actual sdmb a lot of banned fools came back to hassle people… the thread id like to get a link for was our biggest thread was the":lotr in the style of…" it was a thread where ya rewrote lord of the rings in youe fav authors style … ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-winter-of-missed-content/790991/39 "2017-07-17T18:48:05Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > Which temp board were you on? I thought most people went to OpalCat’s board at Fathom, I know I did. I didn’t go to Opal’s board. I went to the one that TubaDiva set up. > [@nightshadea](#): > > there were a couple of boards we moved to and from because they couldn’t handle out traffic at the time …I remember at the last one tubadiva was paying for a corporate account out of her pocket because he crashed the free version … > > but once it was discovered that we weren’t on the actual sdmb a lot of banned fools came back to hassle people… > > the thread id like to get a link for was our biggest thread was the":lotr in the style of…" it was a thread where ya rewrote lord of the rings in youe fav authors style … [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=138905](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=138905) ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-winter-of-missed-content/790991/40 "2017-07-18T12:21:47Z")
I remember when the board was yellow. I actually joined in September 1999, but changed my username from ALL CAPS to the lowercase version in October, once I was advised that all caps was rude. I remember a hacking type incident that screwed things up pretty badly. Someone (username rhymes with “moat silly”) discovered how to spoof other posters’ user IDs. This may or may not be the same incident referenced in this thread. There was actually lots of drama way back then, on a variety of fronts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-winter-of-missed-content/790991.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-winter-of-missed-content/790991.md?page=3)