TEOTWAWKI ATS Watch Party Thread

originally posted by: theshadowknows
a reply to: Encia22

It was mostly the original website which were pages about different topics written by Simon himself. Not so much the forum.

tinyurl.com...

I just clicked on your link and read some of the stuff there.

Pretty good info actually...I'm glad it's saved somewhere.

I'd never read it before.

So, I'll just drop a couple things here...

1. I'm pretty sure that a corporate entity can only retain rights to something as long as it is a corporate entity. Yes, there can be some legacy rights tracing back to founders, but post legal incorporation, those founders would have to be motivated to retain those legacy rights, and would need to actively pursue any perceived violation of those rights on a case by case basis.

2. As another noted, the T&C's say..."grant all third parties the right to copy, distribute, display, reproduces, and publicly perform the materials...". Again..."grant all third parties the right to...". It doesn't say 'designated', or 'approved', or 'related'...it says "...all..."

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Exactly, anyone can repost any content from ATS, but they have the obligation of following the conditions mentioned on the Creative Commons licence, like identifying the original creator and the source. If the source doesn't exist any more I don't think it's a problem of the person that is reposting the content.

At worst they have to prove that the linked source was the original source, something I had to do several years ago with a NASA video that I reposted on YouTube and some company was claiming I had taken it from their DVD.

originally posted by: WeMustCare
The domain will have a new expiration date the moment the payment is made to the host.

I have two domains that I pay for yearly. When I make the payment the expiration date automatically jumps forward. I never wait till the last week to make the payments, in case something goes wrong.

If ATS were to expire there will be a war amongst companies to buy it first.

There is one company in China that buys domains within 5 seconds of their expiring.. and then sells them to the highest bidder.

I tend to agree. Because of the traffic, the domain name will be a somewhat hot property. It'll eventually turn into a sort of black hole, with google ads on it, not a lot of traffic, but the name locked up for a long time. My neighbor lost his own domain name some 30 years ago and it's still in the hands of raiders (perfectdomain.com... -- and it's not like the name is a a hot property.)

You can see that the ATS traffic has declined around 70% since October (down from 10 million) but there's still a lot of hits: www.semrush.com...

originally posted by: TheMichiganSwampBuck
I just had a thought (amazing right?).

Imagine an ancient civilization from thousands of years ago that archeologists have only basic research information about. Then a discovery is made. They find a complex messaging system containing thousands of messages, a primitive message board. They would then know the minutia of every detail of that civilization after such a discovery.

No so for our digital system that will vanish in the blink of an eye. So if we want to really preserve ATS, it will have to be inscribed on stone or clay tablets and buried in the desert someplace.

Does anyone feel up to the task?

A tiny piece of it will exist as long as the written word does because it's mentioned in a paper on systems of justice that was written for an academic journal on gaming studies. I know this because I wrote the paper.

This feels like putting your pet to sleep , you know it's coming but the old mutt just pulls at your heart strings

a reply to: FlyersFan

" ALL WITHIN T&C OF COURSE. "


You Lost Me there ..................Long Live the Return of the Blessed " MUD PIT " here on ATS . Political Correctness is to stifling to Hold Back Ones Personal Professed Truths Anymore ! ..............

a reply to: Byrd

ATS traffic has declined around 70% since October

With every peasant joining in to let us know their account was hacked, those were the days!

April numbers are down by a lot, looks like the rats are leaving the sinking ship in droves already.

a reply to: FlyersFan

What a walk on memory lane with the mods, I wonder what Rant these days is up, he was quite a regular here.

I use to love his comments, we had a fair share of mods, some just left others decided no be mods anymore, we have some that passed away, sad, then we still have many left, but no as active,

I joined ATS for the UFO content, actually that was the original purpose of the site if my memory does not fail me.

I spend almost a year reading without posting, then on my first post I made the mistake to do so on back then the original mod pit, I got my butt handle to me and also got a flag.

has been soo long been in ATS and I will hate see it go away forever. But for those that hate freedom of speech is a wet dream come true.

a reply to: marg6043

But for those that hate freedom of speech is a wet dream come true.

Makes you wonder if state violence in reaction to protesting faculty members in universities all over the Wild West might have anything to do with it.

a reply to: Zanti Misfit

I actually loved the Mud Pit also. I know that place was a lot of work for the moderators because the temperature was always about 500 degrees F in there, but what I found great about the place was how it forced people to tread right along the razor's edge of the T&C's if they wanted to have their posts remain. It took practice to hone those debate and rejoinder skills to deal with that environment. Despite all the heated arguments I got into in the Mud Pit, I never actually held a grudge against anyone (okay, well, there was one guy, but that's another story).

I thought Mud Pit really brought out the higher order debate skills in people. Oh sure, I had my share of posts deleted there, but overall I think I batted about 800 (or maybe a little better) there.

I'm glad it's gone now though. That's one forum I wouldn't want preserved for a whole variety of reasons.

Speaking of memories on ATS...

I can remember when there were so many people posting that you couldn't really even look at Firehose because it was moving so fast. Live kept pretty active also and was always (3) full columns, constantly refreshing. If you went to Recent to keep track of a thread you posted, it would only be there for about an hour, if that, before it dropped off the list.

Heh, I can remember looking up at my browser and having about (15) MyATS tabs open because it opens a new tab every time you click on it. If you had 4-5 OP's going, there would be so many comments coming in from all directions it was almost impossible to respond to all of them before 3-4 other people already responded.

I think my typing WPM count went way up in those days. Man, you had to be on your toes to keep up!

I can remember looking at ATS before I joined back in '13 and asking myself if I really wanted to sign up for such a crazy place. Everything was moving; it was just like constant motion. And, as I looked over the content of the actual posts going on I was shocked to see many of them were not short one word replies at all, but rather well thought out and well written replies. I wondered if I could hang with the group. But there was a rhythm to all the madness, and once you understood the flow it became easier.

Fun times for sure!

More memories...

I've never been a person to frequent a lot of different forums. Historically, I always just picked one and stuck with it. Prior to ATS I was a top contributor to a popular firearms forum (something I rarely discuss here). When I made the switch from the other forum to this one I remember how big of a step it was. Leaving so much history behind and stepping into a whole new world. It's somewhat ironic why I chose here to join, but part of the reason was any notion of a conspiracy was frowned upon at the other site; it was very stiff an inflexible. But ATS on the other hand was vastly different.

I think the biggest thing I'll miss about ATS is the fact that of all the websites I've seen, there was never one quite like ATS. I don't know if I can put my finger on exactly what it is about ATS which is so different. Lots of forum websites have variety, but the tone is just different. I attribute my love of ATS to several factors:

1. I think the moderators do a fantastic job in moderating discussions and debates without killing them

2. I think the membership has always had an IQ level far higher than most other forum websites, one where there is actual dialog back and forth and not just one person stating things and everyone else agreeing or giving some sort of a thumbs up.

3. And 3rd, you always knew that no matter what you said there would always be an opposing point of view, a counterpoint. I am a very objective person, and I love to hear opposing views. I don't want people to just always agree if they don't agree. I think this kind of dialog broadens one's horizons and helps you see another point of view. Anyone can go find countless echo chambers where people think in lockstep. Those places accomplish nothing but create tunnel vision. ATS was always different.

I've often wondered why ATS was so special, and if it could be replicated somewhere else. Candidly, I'm honestly not sure it can. Oh sure, another site might look similar, but I don't know if it could ever capture the depth ATS has. I could be mistaken, but that's my sense.

For much of its lifespan ATS was/is an exciting place. It always got your blood pumping, and sometimes your blood pressure up too. LOL! It was rarely ever boring, and maybe that's another thing...ATS was 24x7; it was worldwide. You could tune in at any time of day, or night, and someone would always be here banging away. I don't sleep well sometimes, and I'd get up in the middle of the night and there would be stuff happening. I always loved that ATS had a true international flavor to it. One of the other things I always liked about ATS was the contributors were not motivated by any point system; posts were things people believed in their heart. Stars and flags didn't really matter (at least to me and many others).

Looking back, I honestly can't say there was a member I truly disliked (well, okay, maybe one). We've all had our fair share of disagreements, but at the end of the day I'd buy anyone here a cup of coffee, tea, or a beer, and I'd love to talk with any of the ATS'ers in person. Maybe that's also part of the successful 'recipe' of ATS, it was part of us. We've all shared a bit of ourselves here, and there's a personal element to it. Beyond some kooky conspiracy mongers, we are all just people, and we all put our pants on pretty much the same way ('pants' may be pushing it a little, but you get the idea). Maybe I should have said tu-tu's, assless chaps, clown suits and hockey masks, but I digress.

One day in the not too distant future I will click on ATS and get a 404 (or some other error). Then it will be over. For my part, I've loved my time here, and I will truly miss ATS. I wish it wasn't so, but the handwriting seems to be on the wall. If I don't get the chance to say "So Long" to some of you, well, please know my thoughts and wishes are with you.

I will never forget ATS.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

2. I think the membership has always had an IQ level far higher than most other forum websites, one where there is actual dialog back and forth and not just one person stating things and everyone else agreeing or giving some sort of a thumbs up.

Agreed 100%.

What's kept me here for 14 years is the intellect of the members and the quality of the posts.

I visited every now & then before joining but the thread "All Things Lead to Rome" by Protoplasmic Traveler really hooked me.

I was like - "Wow!" - are you kidding me with this level of information and writing skills?

And some of the posts made me laugh so much over the years.

This will place will always hold a special place in my heart and will be sorely missed.

Oh, I remembered another good memory about ATS too. This one is actually pretty amazing...shocking actually! It's may actually be worthy of a thread all its own, but I'll put it here for now.

Early on in my time here I wrote a story about my father and the story of a certain B-17 that he flew in during WWII in Europe. I don't recall the name of the thread (or I'd post a link to it). The story was about a Crew Chief they called "Frenchy". Following one of their missions their B-17, and aircraft nicknamed 'Big Mike' crash landed at their home base in England. They had limped back across the English Channel on 2 (of 4) engines, and the aircraft was shot full of holes. When they crashed, the aircraft slid off the runway and crashed into a big drainage ditch tearing off one of the wings. The aircraft was a total loss.

At that time during the war there was a severe shortage of aircraft and parts from all the losses the 8th USAAF was taking from Germany. This Crew Chief Frenchy was apparently pretty resourceful, and quite the schemer. He came up with a plan to marry the wing of a different model of B-17 (a wing from an 'F' model) onto the fuselage and remaining wing of their B-17G model, Big Mike. Now, this wasn't something you just went out and did without approval, and this was the craziest thing anyone had ever heard of. But, the idea started getting traction.

The proposal had to go all the way to Curtis LeMay (you can look him up, he led the USAF for many decades). The plan was approved, and Frenchy set about executing his plan. To make a long story shorter, I'll cut to the chase. The finished B-17 with two different wings was renamed as Frenchy's Folly. The aircraft was one of the few to survive the rest of the war and return back to the US (and this whole story is way, way, longer...so I won't bore you with it here). If all of this wasn't amazing enough, I haven't even gotten to the really 'amazing' part yet, or how ATS fits into all of this!!

Okay, so fasten your seatbelt here, because what follows is crazy cool for a whole variety of reasons!

One day about two years after writing this story I received a message from a member who had read the story and signed up for ATS for the sole reason of sending me a message here. It was from a girl who lived in New Orleans. Unbelievably, her grandfather was none other than "Frenchy", and she wrote me to tell me that he often told this story. Even more amazing, he had just turned 100 years old and was still alive! We exchanged several emails, and she even sent me some pictures of him (with her), and some other pictures of her grandfather with my father back during WWII, pictures I did not have. She never posted here as I recall, just the one DM to me, and only for that one purpose. Sadly, my father had recently passed away when all this occurred. I'm sure he would have loved to hear from old 'Frenchy' again had those stars aligned just a year earlier, but it was not to be. Still, the story of Frenchy's Folly is a famous one from WWII, and my father was the living embodiment of the heroics of so many who never got to come home.

That's a true story, folks! Happened right here on ATS!

originally posted by: whereisdagan
My name is to get the attention of who I'm looking for. My birthday is may 18th.
Ive lurked here forever.
There's a lot I want to say and a lot I can't and im running out of time.
If you read this Dagan you can message me on discord under agenttree. I need to come home.
Going to throw myself on big Byrd's mercy that the mods let this one stay. Just this once.

Whoa! This is very ATS-esque.

What does this mean, "come home" and 'running out of time'? Very mysterious for sure!

Lol, yeah it's a nice touch. I just purchased the book Jim Mars wrote about/with this site. A hard record, that's completely outdated. Ha. It's been a wild ride. We got close to sun but the wax melted and we came tumbling back down to earth.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

What does this mean, "come home" and 'running out of time'? Very mysterious for sure!

With all the main reports calling out an economic iceberg ahead for ATS, expect the crazy to get crazier on the way down.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
Early on in my time here I wrote a story about my father and the story of a certain B-17 that he flew in during WWII in Europe. I don't recall the name of the thread (or I'd post a link to it).

Here it is: I just read the most INCREDIBLE thing!!!! Absolutely unreal!!