New forums, old faces?

[Terry Penrod]

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Was just cruising by 3DG for a quick, informational overview of StarWars: Jedi Academy from LucasArts / Raven to see how it related to SW Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and noticed the new forum link. Was surprised to see so many familiar screen names from cyber haunts past and particularly delighted to see that the boards are being run by a few old friends.

Judging by the administrative announcements and handful of member posts to date, I assume that this is a brand new community but have no idea what the official or unofficial connection is to the old forum - the one that established together when a block of regular members left a certain larger community due to rapid over-commercialization, uneven paid vs non-paid member benefits, iffy to non-existent moderating and severely declining management quality.

Does the old place still even exist? Is this an offshoot of it? Can anyone enlighten me about this?

Oh, and congratulations on the new boards. They are clean, well organized, offer some nice features and the user agreement is concise, fair and easy to understand.

Cheers, Terry

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[Mara]

We're the same group that left Gamespot. We've set down here, we hope for good. You'll see most of the old members, but, we do keep changing names. It's sometimes hard to keep track of. I'm Paula (Mara) and you'll see a lot of familiar names(personas) here. Today is our first day on this board.

[RangerRick]

Welcome Terry!

Yes, we are the nomads who have been wondering the desert. WE have been looking for someplace to settle down as a place to call home.
Glad to have you back with us.

Take off your shoes, kick up your feet, and have some fun!

Cheers!

Rich

[Bruenor]

Hey Terry, good to see you (and to know that you are still around, people were wondering what happened to you at Avault).

I'm a member of the old group (GSpot, PCGO and GMV) too with a name change of course. The old group basically merged here, Gaim became the admin of the new boards here and 3DG owns them. Basically, it was a perfect opportunity for us to stick together and have a major website providing a constant influx of new members. In other words, the old boards were going stale. The old group was fine, but sometimes a little fresh blood is more than needed and very much welcomed.

[Dan Speziale]

.the one that established together when a block of regular members left a certain larger community due to rapid over-commercialization, uneven paid vs non-paid member benefits, iffy to non-existent moderating and severely declining management quality.

Whew, Terry! That's a mouthful! :lol:

But yeah, that describes it.

Welcome to the new forums!

P.S. I recommend Jedi Academy. It was one of my favorite games of last year.

[Rafal Dudek]

hey Terry check yer email :wink:

[Nova]

I'm also from GSpot, though I was far from the most prominent poster. I used to be Alex Leclerc back then. Anyways, welcome to 3DG, hope you stick around.

[Gaim Mastr]

I'm a member of the old group (GSpot, PCGO and GMV) too with a name change of course.

Yeah. Think "harrassing phone calls from another GSpot member back in mid-2001"


Poor guy. His plight almost scared me off of the old GSpot boards back then......... almost. :wink:

[DanTheManPR]

Does the old place still even exist? Is this an offshoot of it? Can anyone enlighten me about this?
The old forums just closed down today, so this isn't an offshoot, but another miration. Gaim can explain the specifics.

BTW, I've been around since the Gspot days, I think under the same name (though I forgot if I was using this name or the Octavine name I used to use).

[Gaim Mastr]

I'm also from GSpot, though I was far from the most prominent poster. I used to be Alex Leclerc back then. Anyways, welcome to 3DG, hope you stick around.

No kidding !!

HA !!

I've spent the last year and a half wondering whatever happened to that Leclerc guy. :wtf:

You crazy people and your name changing. :p:

[Rafal Dudek]

I'm also from gamespot in case ya didnt know... used to go by name of Rafal D. =P The cool old days where we used to use our real names :p:

[Nova]

I've spent the last year and a half wondering whatever happened to that Leclerc guy.

:lol2:

Hmm, I thought I let everybody know, I think I'll put it in my sig :wink:

[Rafal Dudek]

now if only Jason Hellman could find us, the party would be all here =]

[Terry Penrod]

.

Well then it seems as if there are even more familiar faces here than I first thought.

Anyone lost their virginity, become engaged, gotten married or divorced, had kids, gone to war, graduated from school, started a new career, invented something extra special, made a gaziliion dollars, been to outer space, discovered God and the true nature of man and the universe or...

played any REALLY good PC games since we last spoke?

Cheers, Terry

.

[Terry Penrod]

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now if only Jason Hellman could find us, the party would be all here =]

I still think that Jason drowned in his "new" hot tub lo these many years ago.

Cheers, Terry

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[Impresario]

Welcome Terry. Good to see you stop on by on the inaugural day of this forum.

[Terry Penrod]

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Welcome Terry. Good to see you stop on by on the inaugural day of this forum.


That was sheer coincidence I assure you. Odd though huh?

Cheers, Terry

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[Logan]

Terry, welcome back! Great to see that you've stumbled upon us again, and that you find the policies to your liking. I'm very psyched to see you back.

[NotSoFast]

I'm here now too. I used to be Glenn71. Good to see everyone again.

[Impresario]

I still think that Jason drowned in his "new" hot tub lo these many years ago.

Heh, I remember when Jason posted a picture of that monster hot tub. I think he single handedly lowered the water table in California by filling it up.:yes:

[Terry Penrod]

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Then maybe we'll see a new Hollywood blockbuster Jason vs. Arnold: The Terminator Meets His Match.

Then again, that would be a little like Bambi Meets Godzilla, which was just sad.

Cheers, Terry

.

[Bruenor]

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Well then it seems as if there are even more familiar faces here than I first thought.

Anyone lost their virginity, become engaged, gotten married or divorced, had kids, gone to war, graduated from school, started a new career, invented something extra special, made a gaziliion dollars, been to outer space, discovered God and the true nature of man and the universe or...

played any REALLY good PC games since we last spoke?

Cheers, Terry

.

I had one beautiful baby girl (well, technically the wife "had" her) just shortly after you parted ways. Heh, funny how time passes. You've been away for so long, she two months shy of her second birthday now.

John U. also had another baby shortly after me as well. Sadly, he hasn't been around as much.

[SupaTroopa]

Hey Terry! It's Brad Rubin from Gamespot as well, glad to see people made it over here. Good to see you around.

Just took a break from some Painkiller and Far Cry, and saw GMV had finally moved here.

Glad we're all back on a public site.

[Ojnod]

John Donmoyer from gamespot days, you answered my first post ever! But I can't remember what it was... I didn't post much back then. I posted for a few weeks, got addicted to diablo 2, then came back 9 months later and the crowd was gone! But Tim quickly pointed the way.... man that was a long time ago.

[Torsion]

Hi Terry, its good to hear from you. I used to be Zach R back in the day. See you around!

[Impresario]

Hey Terry! It's Brad Rubin from Gamespotl
Hey Brad - it's like a reunion. I think I met you quite some time ago when Anarchy Online was spanking new. If I'm remembering correctly I gave you some creds and showed you some hunting grounds. I was Brixyl in AO. No time for mmorphs anymore for me with two little one's at home.

[Terry Penrod]

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I had one beautiful baby girl (well, technically the wife "had" her) just shortly after you parted ways. Heh, funny how time passes. You've been away for so long, she two months shy of her second birthday now.

John U. also had another baby shortly after me as well. Sadly, he hasn't been around as much.


Belated congratulations Bruenor, good to see you again too. And yes, John U. sent me an announcement and some pics of his new pride and joy back then.

I of course also remember Mara / Paula, Rick, Dan S., ZZZ / Rafal, GM, Logan, NotSoFast / Glen, Brad, John D., and Zach. Tim I assume will be along shortly or is he also using a new moniker?

To Nova, DanThe ManPR and Impresario: Your screen names sound familiar but did you ever post under different names at either PCGO or Gspot?

Cheers, Terry

.

[Nova]

To Nova, DanThe ManPR and Impresario: Your screen names sound familiar but did you ever post under different names at either PCGO or Gspot?

I used Alex Leclerc until we moved to GMv. Been using Nova ever since. I'm not surprised you don't remember me much as I used to post pretty rarely.

[Cloudw4lker]

tim = mr.n :p:

wish I had joined the forums earlier so I could've known all these people.

cool I can type without looking now completely, that'll come in handy during english.

Ack my calander is still at January!

[Terry Penrod]

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I used Alex Leclerc until we moved to GMv. Been using Nova ever since. I'm not surprised you don't remember me much as I used to post pretty rarely.

Actually I remember you quite clearly too Alex and must have missed the explanation of your new screen name name - sorry.

Cheers, Terry

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[Terry Penrod]

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tim = mr.n :p:


Oh, I know that but he has not posted in this thread yet... or has he?

Cheers, Terry

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[Rafal Dudek]

I wonder if Terry remembers the fact that long long long before I used Rafal D. name I was under a false one Peter John =P

[Mr. Natural]

Terry P!.....Dude!.....Excellent!
Welcome aboard old friend! I've been tied up a bit with the initial launch. but I'll certainly be around. Look forward to seeing you about. :thumbup:

[Bruenor]

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Belated congratulations Bruenor, good to see you again too. And yes, John U. sent me an announcement and some pics of his new pride and joy back then.

I of course also remember Mara / Paula, Rick, Dan S., ZZZ / Rafal, GM, Logan, NotSoFast / Glen, Brad, John D., and Zach. Tim I assume will be along shortly or is he also using a new moniker?

To Nova, DanThe ManPR and Impresario: Your screen names sound familiar but did you ever post under different names at either PCGO or Gspot?

Cheers, Terry

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I don't know if you remember me or not, but I was Dave Nawrocki on the GSpot forums and the original PCGO, I changed to Bruenor on the new version of PCGO, and kept that name through here and at Avault.

[Gary V.]

Awesome! I am real glad you're here Terry. I was also at Gspot. Your presence will make the boards much more interesting. I hope you are very active here. And if I ever make you mad take it easy on a fellow Texan.

[MasterChief]

Hi Terry! :D:

I know you remember me, though I don't blame you if you don't want to admit it :p:

[Terry Penrod]

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Howdy Mr. N / Tim, Gary and MC. Much thanks for the warm welcome.

And now that you mention it Bruenor / Dave I do recall your name change but had since forgotten the connection to the old Gspot forums.

Speaking of old mainstays from that place, anyone seen our old pal Chai Lim around the web?

Cheers, Terry

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[RangerRick]

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Howdy Mr. N / Tim, Gary and MC. Much thanks for the warm welcome.

And now that you mention it Bruenor / Dave I do recall your name change but had since forgotten the connection to the old Gspot forums.

Speaking of old mainstays from that place, anyone seen our old pal Chai Lim around the web?

Cheers, Terry

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He was at Gmv, and I suspect he'll show up here soon!

Cheers!
Rich

[Chylde Roland]

Chai's already here. Call him Kalbrecht now.

[Gaim Mastr]

Chai's been busy with taking a vacation every couple of weeks (or so it seemed :wink: ) and with his new fiance.

Yup.... ol' Chai is gettin' hitched. He should here pretty soon. Unless he actually is on another vacation. :lol:



EDIT: Welcome aboard, Terry !!

Kalbrecht ??

Ack !! Another devious name-changer. :hide:

[Chylde Roland]

lol. Actually, I figured it out when I read his custom title, location, and sig.

[Shaolin K]

.

Well then it seems as if there are even more familiar faces here than I first thought.

Anyone lost their virginity, become engaged, gotten married or divorced, had kids, gone to war, graduated from school, started a new career, invented something extra special, made a gaziliion dollars, been to outer space, discovered God and the true nature of man and the universe or...

played any REALLY good PC games since we last spoke?

Cheers, Terry

.

Hey Terry haven't seen or heard from you in a long, long time. I don't know if you remember me from the Gamespot days, but I've been around since then as well. To answer your question(s) I did find the woman of my dreams and am now engaged to her, and I am about to start a new career this summer. As for the rest of the stuff you mentioned, I'm still working on it :)

[Terry Penrod]

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Chai's been busy with taking a vacation every couple of weeks (or so it seemed :wink: ) and with his new fiance.

Yup.... ol' Chai is gettin' hitched. He should here pretty soon. Unless he actually is on another vacation. :lol:



EDIT: Welcome aboard, Terry !!

Kalbrecht ??

Ack !! Another devious name-changer. :hide:


Much thanks GM.

FYI: Kalbrecht was the name that Chai chose for his mythical son who had tragically lost his mother during childbirth in our ongoing, RPG-style personal profile stories at the old Glenfraggle web site that we created together. Chai played the role of the sly, savvy local innkeeper and friend to one and all. His boisterous character (named Chai Lim) was from a strange land in the clouds across The Great Cyber Sea and if I recall, he offered some very interesting fare in a private dining hall tucked away upstairs - one that was actually fashioned after a real life establishment in a quaint, historical bayside town where I once lived, attended school, learned to sail, published my first editorial cartoon strip, started my first design studio, worked for my first ad agency, played a lot of chess, played a lot of music and met an huge assortment of interesting folks including my wife. That town was Annapolis, Maryland, home of Samuel Chase on The Chesapeake Bay.

Matter of fact, if you had taken a template of our growing Glenfraggle town map (and planned interactive web portal nav system), then positioned it over a real map of that city, you would have immediately recognized the similarities right down to the placement of the public docks, the U.S Naval Academy, the oldest college in America St. Johns, Church Circle, the state house, governor's mansion, many shops and an inn, which was actually the temporary seat of the newly formed U.S government where General George Washington briefly set-up offices and residences prior to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the eventual building of the White House 30 miles west near the banks of the Potomac River. Chai's place was about three blocks east down on the city docks exactly where The Middleton Tavern (the oldest ongoing restaurant and bar in America) is located to this day.

Kalbrecht however was never fully fleshed-out as we decided to stop writing new material about the time that he would have begun to play a more significant role in the overarching story and in the little, faux newspaper (The Glenfraggle Gazette) we also ran. But the young lad was already working in his father's ever-popular downstairs pub and making lots of interesting new friends - while learning the trade...

and some deep, dark secrets that to this day have yet to be fully revealed.

Cheers, Terry

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[Terry Penrod]

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Hey Terry haven't seen or heard from you in a long, long time. I don't know if you remember me from the Gamespot days, but I've been around since then as well. To answer your question(s) I did find the woman of my dreams and am now engaged to her, and I am about to start a new career this summer. As for the rest of the stuff you mentioned, I'm still working on it :)


Howdy S K and congratulations on the happiness and success you have achieved thus far.

As for the rest, we are all still working on those little details.

Cheers, Terry

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[Nyghtfall]

Yo, Terry! Nice to see you again! I'm Matthew Hutchinson.

:)

[Terry Penrod]

.

Hey Matthew, good to see you again too. What have you been up to lately?

Cheers, Terry

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[Kalbrecht]

lol. Actually, I figured it out when I read his custom title, location, and sig.

Mental note: put Chylde high on the list for experimental brainwashing device. He's on to me...

Did I just say that out loud? D'oh!

HEY TERRY!

Heh. Gotta make it a BIG hello, here in these much larger digs. Nice to see you again, y'old dog! Good to see you remember who Kalbrecht is/was!

I'm engaged, and so life has taken a few turns. I've been taking a few vacations every now and then with the l'il lady, and between that been hellishly busy with work and all sorts of other things.

Manage to pop into the forums every so often, which was a good thing. Sometimes I'll actually be there in time to host a party!

As for gaming and other things - not much. I'm currently playing Lionheart and that's about it. I'm waaay behind the ball in gaming.

*sigh*

[Terry Penrod]

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Glad to see you're still alive and kicking Kalbrecht / Chai / Mr. Busy.

P.S. Congrats on the engagement!

Cheers, Terry

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[Nyghtfall]

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Hey Matthew, good to see you again too. What have you been up to lately?

Check out the link in my real name in my sig for the most significant addition to my life.

:D:

Beyond that, not much, to tell you the truth. Just living life, staying employed, and avoiding trouble. Oh, I've also become an armchair activist for educating home movie lovers about why widescreen is better than full screen when selecting titles to add to their collection.

:thumbup:

[Terry Penrod]

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Hi Matthew -

I listened to two of the MP3 recordings you have linked to your web site and have a question.

Are you sight reading those compositions from the sheet music while recording them?

The reason I ask is that there seems to be a little hesitation - as if you are not always precisely sure where the piece is going next - as you play the individual notes.

I found in years past that learning a guitar solo so well that you never had to think about the mechanics helped a lot because you are then free to essentially play along with the melody that is "pre-recorded" in your head. Genuinely "knowing" the piece makes the commands from your head to your hands much more seamless / intuitive / natural and in turn allows you to be more freely expressive, as if you were playing along with a master and simply adding your own unique voice, one that is truly attuned to what that music makes you feel personally and what you individually want to share with the ears and hearts of others.

Just a stray thought from an artistic perspective...

Cheers, Terry

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[Circlebreaker]

Hey Terry, great to see you back! You might remember me from Gamespot and PCGO as Geert Van Look, though I used to be much more of a lurker back then. :):

[Tom Servo]

Hey Terry, remember me? It's Mike Rotch, no further explaination needed. I've kind of "grown up" (but hasn't everybody ;)) and I am largely the same.

[SupaTroopa]

Hey Brad - it's like a reunion. I think I met you quite some time ago when Anarchy Online was spanking new. If I'm remembering correctly I gave you some creds and showed you some hunting grounds. I was Brixyl in AO. No time for mmorphs anymore for me with two little one's at home.

Brixyl! That's great that you remember that! My first time in a MMORPG, was always appreciative of that, and remember you being a Gamespot peep at the time also.

I actually got back into AO once Shadowlands was released, haven't played it in a while due to other games and time constraints like yourself, much better game now though.

Good to hear from you again, certainly understand about the time spent with the lil' ones, luckily I'm not there quite yet (but friends are and I know what it's like).

[Terry Penrod]

.

Hey Terry, great to see you back! You might remember me from Gamespot and PCGO as Geert Van Look, though I used to be much more of a lurker back then. :):


Sure I remember you CB / Geert. Glad to see that you're no longer a lurker. It's much better out here in the warm, sunny light of day isn't it?

Cheers, Terry

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[Terry Penrod]

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Hey Terry, remember me? It's Mike Rotch, no further explaination needed. I've kind of "grown up" (but hasn't everybody ;)) and I am largely the same.


Heya TS good to see you again too. And yes, I remember you from way back. After all, who could forget your old screen name?

Cheers, Terry

.

[Lou Cypher]

Hi everyone!!


Lou

[RHooks]

Wassup, Lou!!

[DanTheManPR]

I found in years past that learning a guitar solo so well that you never had to think about the mechanics helped a lot because you are then free to essentially play along with the melody that is "pre-recorded" in your head.
When playing the song for a recording, this is always a good idea. But don't fall into the trap I did - where I memorized the songs right off the bat. Now I can't read music very well anymore :blush:

[DanTheManPR]

Hi everyone!!
Welcome back, again (and again, and again, it seems nowadays with all these board changes :crazy:)

Lets hope your greeting doesn't provoke the same reaction as on the old 3dg Board :gun6:

[Nyghtfall]

Are you sight reading those compositions from the sheet music while recording them?

Yes.

The reason I ask is that there seems to be a little hesitation - as if you are not always precisely sure where the piece is going next - as you play the individual notes.

That may have something to do with the fact that I'm a little tense when recording. I've never studied an instrument this long, nevermind recorded myself playing one.

Genuinely "knowing" the piece makes the commands from your head to your hands much more seamless / intuitive / natural and in turn allows you to be more freely expressive...

I agree. My brief experience has already taught me that, once I've memorized the patterns of notes that make up a particular piece of music, the more fluid my fingers dance about the fretboard when playing. It's a great feeling, and one I want to achieve, soon, with Minuet.

Just a stray thought from an artistic perspective...

Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it.

:)

[Tavo]

Hello Everybody!
Who! I've been absent for quite some time! I haven't had time to do much gaming or web surfing because of all the time I need for school. If it wasn't for Mara who notified me of the move, I wouldn't have known.

Also, I gotta say: HELLO TERRY! I'm queondatavo in past forums, I think I was going by my real name (Gustavo Verdugo) back in the days of Glenfraggle. It's good to hear from you again again, I had forgoten how long your posts can be :wink:

Well, it's good to hear from you all. I must leave now, I have a physics test on tuesday that I have to study for. One comment though: Electromagnetisms is cool, but damn, it's hard to learn everything in one semester.

[Terry Penrod]

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Nice to see you again too Tavo.

Chai is also a member of these new forums under his new screen name Kalbrecht (who you might recall as his mythical son in Glenfraggle). He did a very nice sketch of your unique race / species for our neverending RPGesque fantasy story if memory serves - a half man / half black panther with Incan overtones I think. Most likely, I still have a jpeg file of it somewhere on an old disk, since I saved most of the core content we created up to the time we shut it down. So if you ever want a copy, just say so and we can set-up an e-mail or a FTP upload.

Glad to hear you are working hard in school. Take it easy and drop by more often when time permits.

Oh and do you still keep in touch with Wendy? Several of us have long since lost track of her and have been wondering how she is.

Cheers, Terry

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[Tavo]

I did keep in touch with Wendy for some time. After the forums shut down, Wendi, Will (R8) and I kept in touch for a while. After she moved to Florida though, she had to get a job and rarely replied to my e-mails because she did not have enough time. The last time I heard from her was one year ago, I was finishing my first semester in the University, and her husband was being deployed in Irak (I think).

I remember the the fun we had with the stories in Glenfraggle. The race you guys created for me was awesome. I did keep a .jpeg on my hard drive, but nothanx to WESTERN DIGITAL I lost it due to a hard drive failure. (Which they failed to fix by the way, their warranty is cr@p).

Now... I must continue studying cuz tomorrow is the exam, or should I say, the masacre.

[OldsterHolster]

Hi Terry. What a pleasant surprise to see you here. Your access to information, or memory, or both; along with your quite impressive mastery of the written word make you a valued member of any forum. I'm still the token "Old Guy," although I did change my screen name; and nothing much exciting has happened with me. I'm still just trying to grow old, gracefully. Heh, heh, heh. I'll look forward to reading your posts, just like the old days; so stay involved. Edward.

[Terry Penrod]

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Heya Ed, great to see you again.

Growing old gracefully indeed - living on the beach with a gamer's mouse in one hand, a keyboard in the other and the latest, greatest 3D fragfest on screen as you mow down another huge horde of ferocious cyber demons and future tech bad guys...

Are you sure you're not a college kid posing as someone old enough to be my dad?

j/k

BTW, how is your sister (in Alabama?) doing? Is she also still into shooters? Do the two of you still get together from time to time for LAN parties or at least online in a mutual clan?

Cheers, Terry

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[OldsterHolster]

Heh, heh, heh. No, unfortunatly, Terry, my college diploma has a 1960's date on it. I wish I were posing, but; alas, I really am an old fart.

My sister, (in Georgia) and her husband have kinda shifted over to RTS games and are playing Generals, now, I believe. I'm still on dial-up, myself, so I don't play multiplayer, anyway; but I do stay in touch with them.

As I said, your memory, or information retrieval system, is awesome; so I'll be looking forward to your posts. Glad to have you back in our community. Edward.

[Terry Penrod]

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Heh, heh, heh. No, unfortunatly, Terry, my college diploma has a 1960's date on it. I wish I were posing, but; alas, I really am an old fart.

My sister, (in Georgia) and her husband have kinda shifted over to RTS games and are playing Generals, now, I believe. I'm still on dial-up, myself, so I don't play multiplayer, anyway; but I do stay in touch with them.

As I said, your memory, or information retrieval system, is awesome; so I'll be looking forward to your posts. Glad to have you back in our community. Edward.


Hey Ed -

If you also pay for a separate phone line for you PC modem and/or a higher than average monthly fee for your dial-up connection, run don't walk to sign-up for that special SBC Yahoo! DSL deal.

It is only $29.95 a month if you sign-up for a year and is renewable at the same rate. They also have a deep discount of the easy-to-install external 2Wire DSL modem which comes with all the special DSL phone wire and an alternate USB cable plus 4 incoming phone line filters / splitters so you can use a single phone line for your regular phone along with a fax machine, an answering machine and even a digital wireless cable TV signal without interference. That means you can be online at the same time you are using your phone, etc. and pay for a single phone number with no problems at all.

The initial one-time discounted cost for the equipment (which you then own outright) is only $49.95 plus a FedEx delvery fee. After that, you pay only $29.95 a month plus a single line phone bill to get super fast DSL connection speed and a huge amount of server storage space for e-mail, etc. There is also your choice of any one of several extra, free offers like expanded storage space for no charge and they give you a spamkiller, a pop-up blocker, a 3 month free trial for Norton AntiVirus and a firewall if you care to use them - all for free.

Lastly, they will also automatically forward your e-mail for a month for free and have a lot of other nice user options including a fully customizable web portal and multiple inbox / address e-mail client or you can simply keep using your current browser, e-mail client and settings. BTW, they also have an auto setting, bookmark and address book import feature that lets you transfer all that stuff in a few quick mouse clicks.

Once you pay the small, initial equipment cost and delivery fee (around $63 altogether), you can cancel an extra phone line if you have it and/or cancel your dial-up account, then apply that money to the $29.95 monthly DSL fee - which in many cases actually is cheaper than what many people are paying right now for premuim dial-up service.

Oh, and if you live near a major phone hub the connection speeds are very fast. If not, they are still a hundred times faster than most dial-ups. Either way, they automatically monitor and optimize your connection for the first ten days you are hooked-up - even if your PC is powered-down. Just as long as the DSL cable is plugged into the phone outlet and the external DSL modem is plugged into an electrical outlet.

The net result is that it makes downloading huge game demos and patches so fast it's almost funny. Plus it makes your online MP game sessions a LOT better and you can send / receive large, automatically virus scanned e-mail attachments in no time at all.

Think about it.

Cheers, Terry

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