A simple way of finding old gem threads during the ATS summertime kiddie takeover conspiracy

This is meant to be lighthearted and tongue in cheek. I do not assume this is a new idea to many of you, but to some it just may be something you haven't thought of as a search method, so here it is.

The Conspiracy:

If you're the average ATS member, you really enjoy reading a variety of things on ATS. But are you ready for it? What do you do when school is out for the summer and before long it will become quite obvious that there seems to be a serious kiddie attempt to take over ATS with thread after thread full of silliness that will try your patience and tolerance?

In summer even sitting outside in the shade with a WIFI connection and a cool drink, hoping that you'll be able to catch a wisp of a breeze should one ever happen to come along, you long for a great thread to add that 'je ne sais quoi' to your moment but see nothing on the board that tempts you? Wouldn't finding an old gem be great at such a time?

So, was there a conspiracy really? Aw, c'mon. Kids are so connected to each other. Now I don' t see the need to go into great detail, but to this member it seemed like an obvious attempted takeover of ATS by the summer silliness kiddie crowd last year, no question about it, threads about how ugly or fat a certain someone is, and on and on it went, some days more so than others, but every day a challenge for the ATS seriously addicted crowd.

I'm hoping that some of you will be able to get through summer and still appreciate our young. However it happened, and if you doubt it, well maybe you just have to wait and see for yourself, because it surely will be repeated when the weather or their moms keep them indoors. The mods kept a very professional stance throughout it all, but I can only hope the evidence is kept in a database somewhere in the very very deep underground, perhaps all the way down to middle earth.

Three Coping Options
Since some conspiracies just can't be detected or defeated right way, we must find coping options, especially during the intense attack wave when even weary members try to give the mods a helping hand by clicking on the Alert button, but they too sometimes gave up in exasperation and posted about it.

I thus found three options. The first obvious one for me was to surf elsewhere, and I did find a lot of articles to satiate my hunger for variety such as this journalism treasure trove However as wonderful as an article might be, it too often can maddeningly only present one perspective. I need balance and I thrive on the clash of well moderated opinions and opposing ideas to educate me, entertain me and yes, give me a few 'ah-ha!' moments.

The second option was to return to ATS. I did, but I simply just could not bring myself to click on many of the new threads during that same period. To add to that frustration, I found my brain almost fried from the day's heat. I searched through each forum and found a few interesting posts. But that got a little boring because my brain called for the stimulus of subject variety. Through that serious summer heat wave I tried to come up with some magic search terms to fire up that ATS search mega-machine in the hope it might yield a great old thread of particular interest to me at that moment. That met with some limited success, but at day's end I still wanted something more.

The third option was to find a way to get into the back door of ATS and find some gems. Okay, okay, relax, not THE back door, you sensitive tech types but definitely a great peek through the ATS window. One solution I came up with is so simple and uncomplicated. It's not revolutionary or anything like that, but you may just not have thought of doing it yourself yet as a search option. Thus I created this thread in the spirit of sharing a really simple idea. And who knows? When the next serious ATS summer kiddie takeover attempt happens, as it surely will, it just might save someone's ATS addicted sanity as it did mine. (what oxymoron?)

The simple Aboutface method
So here's how I found some other gem threads: I went to Google and clicked on images, then typed “site:Abovetopsecret.com” (omit the quotes)
and voilà! Pages, and pages upon pages of captured images through which I could browse, and when tempted, link right back to the post and thread hosting the picture. How simple is that? I enjoyed the peek and could quickly get an idea of the nature of the thread. I asked myself why I had not thought of doing this before, but the reply came quickly: There was no need for it before.

I really enjoy doing this. In no time at all, I just found two threads I want to investigate:
One pic of an alien peeking through a window will bring you to this 2007 thread Compilation: The Evidence For EBEs

An impressive picture made me click back to The Baalbeck foundation stones from 2009

If you haven't tried this yet and want to do so, I recommend you add the photo page to your browser favorites. I have the link on my favorites toolbar and have spent hours happily rummaging through old, valuable threads and quite like to do this every so often. I progressively update the link on my favorites bar as I browse through the photos because I don't want to keep the same starting point. I know it's not a perfect method, because new photos keep being added to the database, but I quite like it.

So there you have it. If you've come across some old gems that way what they are?

Oh, and happy summer ATS!

S&F for that journalism link alone, much appreciated!

I like going to the recent posts tab and at the top right,you can choose a year and month all the back to 2003.

Here is one .....

www.abovetopsecret.com...

or two...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I remember last year and it was tough but it does not seem as bad as it was this time last year. Maybe its just the calm before the storm. A thread was posted Yesterday as a collection of some of the great threads of times gone by here ATS THREAD THREAD!! basically a thread full of links to threads worth seeing! I think it could be a great go to thread as well. The more people that go there to pick up threads for their reading enjoyment, the more threads may be remembered and posted. Just a thought.

blah blah blah blame the kids blah blah blah
just click on threads that interest you if they dont
then move along old timer and stop breathing my air

I like cruising though the RESENT POSTS section and deleting the sillier threads as I go. If the title hints towards stupidity, I'll just hit the (-) minus button and it's gone from list (until I run CCleaner at least) so I wont have to look at them each time I visit. The downside is every time you click the minus button it refreshes the screen and you are back to the top of the page. That in itself sucks, but I'll endure to get rid of those threads. Those zombie threads a couple of weeks ago were awful, so I just got rid of them all. I guess this is a good reason to spend time on a decent thread title if you want attention. The gimmick titles get the boot every time.

reply to post by kdog1982


Hey thanks for that useful info. I've never used it much, but will give it another go. The links are appreciated too.

reply to post by Agarta


I missed that thread, Agarta, so thanks for the link!

reply to post by reclaimed

Haha. Lots of people were standing in line at the Rant forum, thus the post.

reply to post by shadow watcher


Hey shadow watcher, maybe you could bring it to the attention of the ATS bosses by explaining that annoyance in the Board Business forum?

reply to post by Amadeo

My pleasure, Amadeo.

I like to use the DATE function on "Recent Posts".

Sometimes I'll just put in a Random date, sometimes I like to look to a specific date.

I like to go back a bit and find breaking news or new conspiracies (then) and see how people felt about it then.

For example: We now know about Operation Fast and Furious, but if you go back a couple of years you will find all kinds of threads pertaining to the Mexican border and the US's excuses for the cartels and massive deaths. We obviously didn't know about Fast and Furious in 2005, so keeping what we know now in mind, those threads actually hold alot of knowledge and insight.

I just really like looking into the "change" in mentality over the years and the ATS archives can really give you a view of that.

reply to post by aboutface


Thank you aboutface. for your very encouraging and enlightening post. I was beginning to wonder myself why I joined ATS. Recently finding new threads that have merit have been few and far between. It makes me wonder.......what are these young persons being taught at school? Doesn't our youth of today do their own research ? Do they believe everything they read or see on TV or in the movies? Were WE that naive when we were that age?
I have "time" to browse the new threads but honestly, I would rather not be wasting my time.
Thanks for your tongue in cheek review of the summer threads. I will use your techniques for finding quality posts.
grandma

reply to post by Chickensalad


Impressive how you observe, analyze and compare. I have to confess that I'm interested in too many things so I don't focus on a particular forum or subject.

reply to post by grandmatruthseeker

Hang in there, Grandma. Welcome to ATS, btw. On this site there are dud and gem threads, both. I'll even admit to a few duds of my own. Overall though, I hope my suggestion helps you to find some of the fine things on here, because there are some for every taste. As a truthseeker, you must enjoy reading the clash of ideas and opinions, even conflicting so-called facts. It's all in here somewhere.

Whenever I find a good thread and I see that the author worked to make his thread nice, I always check out his profile, looking if I can find more good things.
The other ways provided from you and other posters already, are great, especially the google tip is awesome

Maybe some more can chime in an post some hidden gems here?
Sadly I lost all my bookmarks after xMark screwed the encryption.
I really think this might be the thread of the summer in terms of a good source for unseen things.
I already found some amazing things with the links in this thread.

The third option was to find a way to get into the back door of ATS and find some gems. Okay, okay, relax,

You really got me with this

SF

Hey OP! Thanks...you said best....

"...before long it will become quite obvious that there seems to be a serious kiddie attempt to take over ATS with thread after thread full of silliness..."

Its not the same anymore. What was once not-proven, is now accepted as fact...Wikipedia and YouTube are absolutel...UFos and ALiens mean only 1 thing...and life in video games is accepted as real possibilites...

and no one searches for anything 1st anymore...its gotten silly...even if you do only read threads that interest you and move on...

When ATS is having a slow, crappy day, I just click on top topics, then visit all time best threads, or top contributing members, last scroll through there last week kept me busy for about 3 hours.

I found all sorts of gems always good to brush up on ATS history to

Originally posted by verschickter
Whenever I find a good thread and I see that the author worked to make his thread nice, I always check out his profile, looking if I can find more good things.

Thank you for your post. The suggestion to check out someone's profile is an excellent one and something I have started to do. Sometimes I will bump an older thread of theirs.

I also add someone to my friends list just so I can study their stuff more. The reason I made them friends in the first place was usually because I found something in their writing that pleased me and on a slow day I will delve into their stuff. That is a good way to discover old gems, although it can be time consuming.

Originally posted by mysterioustranger
Hey OP! Thanks...you said best....

"...before long it will become quite obvious that there seems to be a serious kiddie attempt to take over ATS with thread after thread full of silliness..."

Its not the same anymore. What was once not-proven, is now accepted as fact...Wikipedia and YouTube are absolutel...UFos and ALiens mean only 1 thing...and life in video games is accepted as real possibilites...

and no one searches for anything 1st anymore...its gotten silly...even if you do only read threads that interest you and move on...

Haha, okay. If Wikipedia and YT are absolute, heaven help us all. UFOs and Aliens are things I am curious about as a social phenomena, but I don't know if I can accept it. The more I casually investigate, the more I believe the UFOs are manmade but just not identified as to country of origin. As for aliens, I remain skeptical but not altogether close-minded about them.