Something Off Topic - Lost Information

[PharmrJohn]

Today I accessed 3Reef (a closed site) and poured through my posts. Of the roughly 4500 posts only 10 pages were available. None of my articles. But what I found interesting was my relative lack of knowledge due to what I presume to be non-use. I found a detailed how to on plumbing a sump. Lots of detail on what to use and how. Can't remember it. Now it may be age. I was sharp as a tack when I was in my 20s and 30s. But lately I find myself lacking in the fluidity of managing a learning curve. I don't know, maybe it's use it or lose it. Perhaps I was the same in my 40s. But I would suggest to EVERYONE, if you take a break from this hobby, DO NOT leave the forums. Keep the knowledge close to you, live and in living color.

A cautionary tale from a Boomer.

 

[KrisReef]

I liked this post a lot, but I don't remember why?

 

[taricha]

Yeah, I find myself searching through my gmail conversations and r2r as my external brain for stuff I researched or figured out at some earlier point.
More troublesome, some of Randy's old articles online don't load formatting correctly as they are on less-maintained sites. (he's reposted some here for that reason)
The internet isn't really permanent storage forever. You don't notice until you can't find a thing you considered found and sorted.

 

[GARRIGA]

Sometimes forgetting however not such a bad thing

 

[Gumbies R Us]

One pastime I have developed a love for over the years is perusing the old GeoCities websites. It's a neat piece of history to see where the internet was in the 1990s and what we have now. However, most sites are filled with broken links, missing images, or incorrect formatting due to being archived now. The internet houses a lot of information, and sites like Waybackmachine can only archive so much of it.

 

[Reefer Matt Verified Media Partner]

I quit for 13 years but was never on any forums. My old iguana website from 1998 is still up though. Lol!

 

[PharmrJohn]

One pastime I have developed a love for over the years is perusing the old GeoCities websites. It's a neat piece of history to see where the internet was in the 1990s and what we have now. However, most sites are filled with broken links, missing images, or incorrect formatting due to being archived now. The internet houses a lot of information, and sites like Waybackmachine can only archive so much of it.

Yeah, the 90s were the start. The first Webcam available to the internet (as far as I know) was a coffee pot at Cambridge University in 1993. In 1991 they had it in the Intraweb on campus only. The students would view the pot to see if it was worthwhile to go down and get some. That was up for about 10 years. Even I visited the coffee pot! It was sad when they took it down.....