Well, it's been a good ride. I never realized that in 1996 I would create a page that would put me in touch with so many great people. However, things snowballed out of control, and a few became many and suddenly my pages gained a fame that I never felt they really deserved. I thank you all for the wonderful years. I never hoped to be able to help someone with my own knowledge, because it's just not there, but I did hope to provide a resource where people could seek help from the community. In this I feel I succeeded.
You have no idea how tough a decision this has been for me. I have debated it over the last year, but actually taking this final step has torn a big hole inside of me. I'm just another webpage surrounded by billions of other pages out there, but to me it was my creation and my gift to you all. I put a few things on the page that made me a couple of hundred bucks over the years, but I never did it for the cash. No matter what I added, I always did it with the intent to provide resources to help you guys. It was often suggested I charge for the site. Not only did I not want to get into that hassle, but I didn't want to preclude anyone from visiting, even if they were a 12yr old with a few dreams. Some of you even sent me gifts or found me parts. I never felt I deserved them, but I can tell you that they were much appreciated and I'm honored that you thought of me.
Yes, there were some bad eggs that seemed to want to spoil the fun for the rest of us. However, I just don't have the enthusiasm I once had for the Internet or I would have put up with them like I always have. Bad eggs come and go, but the Internet culture has gotten callous and nasty. People say and do things they'd never dream of doing in real life. The Internet has become one of the greatest tools we can use for information, but it has also brought out a level of cruelty, apathy, and often hatred in seemingly normal people. I have just had enough. I rarely surf anymore and I'm finding myself a happier person because of it.
Will I ever come back? Who knows... I won't rule out anything. If I do, it will be a much different site, and many of you might not even want to come back. My scripts are old and hard to use and when I tried to upgrade to more secure boards, I met such opposition that I bowed to the pressure and gave up trying to make things better. I currently have no easy ways of banning people, unless I ban an entire domain. That means if I ban AOL.COM because of one loser, I ban all AOL users. That's hardly fair, but it's my only available method.
The last straw was when I found that it appeared someone had hacked my wwwboard or found a backdoor and they replaced a message link with a link going directly to a porn site. I don't want to even begin dealing with hackers now, so it's time to call it to an end.
What can I say about how much your support has meant to me? Nothing, except that I sit here with misty eyes and feel rather empty right now. Most of all, I can say "Thank you.."
--Jeff, 7/18/2002