There is (if it's still working) a way to download all your posts as .txt. But the forum itself is definitely moribund now.

Let's buy it back on the cheap.

How much would you be willing to pay?

Things move on.

I was with the biggest Canal forum in the UK. Then it started to become overmoderated to the point they banned any discussion of politics or religion.

So someone started a new breakaway forum with minimal moderation

Darwin would be proud.

Hiya bassplayer, what kind of music do you like?

If anyone has content they put a lot of work into on the old forum, what you can do to try and recover it for saving or for re-posting is to log into your account and visit the "options" page, which should give you a list of the threads you have started. — VagabondSpectre

There is (if it's still working) a way to download all your posts as .txt. — Wayfarer

Nah. My almost twelve thousand posts can go down with the sinking ship for all I care.

I like Modbot's HAL 9000 reference in the Shoutbox. Seems apt.

It makes me sad. :-*

Math metal but I was brought up on Rachmaninoff, Procofiev and alike.

Love Djent. Shattered Skies, Hactivist at the moment.

Porat always struck me as being kind of like the Martin Shkreli of the internet.

Someone should erect a PF funerary/memorial/eulogy thread where we can say our piece, reminisce and rant about the good old days.

I think you're looking at it.

Or we could make these the good new days.

Actually the whole thing really pisses me off, I can't even think about it because it upsets me. Paul did so much work, spent so much time building and caring for the site, then this happens. Sure he got some money for it, but I think it's nothing compared to the work he put into it, and money just cannot cover having something you care about destroyed. Imagine working years to create a masterful work of art, having someone convince you that they really love, and want it, so you sell it, then they take it out in front of you and smash it with a sledge hammer. It's the worst insult, because not only are they destroying the thing you care so much for, but they're doing it right in front of you, in public, making a spectacle out of how they got you to let go of this thing so that they could destroy it.

Sure he got some money for it... — Metaphysician Undercover

He got like $20,000! If I recall correctly, Paul made comments along the lines that he cares more about his business than the forum, which he set up as a side-project using his software. And this alternative was quickly and easily set up, and it's better. Well, I prefer it anyway. If Paul wants to discuss philosophy on an online forum, he can come here, as can others. There was nothing particularly unique and beneficial to the old forum that has been lost, and hasn't been recreated here. He gets something in the region of $20,000, we get a better forum. Win-win. (Except for Porat. >:O)

He got like $20,000! If I recall correctly, Paul made comments along the lines that he cares more about his business than the forum, which he set up as a side-project using his software. — Sapientia

I think it's more that he cared more about feeding himself than the forum.

From a business perspective, neither Paul nor Porat ever made any sense, so I never thought of it as a business at all. To work decades for a $20,000 pay off makes no sense except as a desperate act when in need of a quick payout. Paying $20,000 for a site that was being hung together by donations of money and server space and then trying to pay people to run it also made no sense. Anyone could do the math and realize that the ads wouldn't cover the cost of labor or server space, much less lead to recovery of the initial investment. And, let's be honest, anyone who sees philosophy as a way to make money probably knows little about business or philosophy.

But to those disappointed with the whole episode and who expected a better outcome, I offer you a little hyperbole with this holocaust saying: The pessimists went to America, the optimists to the gas chamber.

There is a time and a place for pessimism, and a time and a place for optimism. Then and there was that for pessimism; now and here that for optimism.

I would add as a time for pessimism any ménage à trois involving you, me and Banno.

What I don't get is why someone would pay $20k for a site and then just let it completely go down the tubes. There are a lot better/more fun ways to burn through $20k if you've got that much surplus money sitting around to waste.

I would add as a time for pessimism any ménage à trois involving you, me and Banno. — Baden

I anticipated sleeping. I'm not sure what you had in mind, although your interpretation is very telling.

What I don't get is why someone would pay $20k for a site and then just let it completely go down the tubes. There are a lot better/more fun ways to burn through $20k if you've got that much surplus money sitting around to waste. — Terrapin Station

There are some benefits to purchasing an investment that then later fails. If you make enough money in your overall investments, having an investment go belly up is a great way to reduce your taxable income.

Ah--that would make sense. That might explain why he paid the amount he did for the site, too., which seemed to be more than was expected. Maybe it was a calculated amount to contribute sufficiently to losses to enable a reduced tax burden.

Math metal but I was brought up on Rachmaninoff, Procofiev and alike.

Love Djent. Shattered Skies, Hactivist at the moment. — bassplayer

I don't play but boy do I sing! Especially in the shower! When the neighbors are away! :D But truly I am a blues baby. B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Etta James, Clapton, Hendrix ect.

"Alpine Valley, middle of the night, six strings down, on a Heaven bound flight..."

It sure worked out that way for
Trump.

Most millionaires I have met have experienced their fair share of failures on their way to the success they enjoy today. It's not uncommon for millionaires to have made their first, lost a chunk of cash and are on their way back up to the Millionaire's Club.

This must be what it feels like to be that dwarf in Game of Thrones when going through that old city that looks like Angkor Wat.

It pissed down with rain when I was at Angkor Wat. Thankfully it was at the end of the day and I'd already visited the other big temples around there.

Gamers are stupid.

Most millionaires I have met have experienced their fair share of failures on their way to the success they enjoy today. — ArguingWAristotleTiff

Excellent! I've gotten my failures out of the way and now I'm primed for my millions.

Gamers are stupid. — Hanover

Oh shush, Gerald.

Excellent! I've gotten my failures out of the way and now I'm primed for my millions. — Hanover

Well if you weren't such a noob you could have made millions as well.