#Israel was the very first IRC channel that both Daniel ben Sefer-Dabas Sydney and Helen Webberley-Heloise Melbourne had been involved in. We met many fine people who remained close friends, especially Muet, Mer, Academy, Winky, Andygee and Peteyc. The experience in early 1993 was novel, challenging and fun. But eventually the fun palled. The problems were twofold:
RACISM was by far the nastiest problem Dabas and Heloise had ever dealt with. The channel became open slather for every lunatic fringe element who had a gripe against Jews:
1. Nazis planning to rebuild Hitler's gas chambers.
2. Christian fundamentalists raided the channel less often, concerned with allocating blame for the death of Christ.
3. Islamic militants intent on destroying the Jewish state.
JUVENILITY Given that the average age of #Israel was 19.2 years, and that 80% was male, their favourite topics were army life, university subjects and finding a weekend date.
As with any testosterone-charged channel, kicking, banning and op wars were common. Part of this frenetic activity was a survival strategy to do with the constant invasion of Neo Nazis and militant Islamists. But part of it was just machismo. Suggestions were made about opening up the discussion topics to things ADULTS were interested in eg literature or music. But this ended in uproar every time.
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The channel name started to appear in computer magazines and on radio as an interesting and non violent place to be. We were both interviewed by journalists in Australia and elsewhere, and people popped in saying "I saw you in Article X in New Zealand (or wherever)". Lisabee, nutnhoney, daisee, rossma, birdbrain, prism, belladona, annette and others joined by late 1993.
Where did the first organised meetings of #30plus members take place? The channel was Australian based, but as can be discovered from the early photos, the first reunion was in Boston (Jan 1994) and the next was in Canberra (Apr 1994).
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Three significant events in late 2018 changed #30plus. Firstly the Australian Trade Mark Registration ended in Aug 2018 and was not extended so #30plus had no more intellectual property protection. Then #30plus started in Oct 1993 and was thus celebrating its 25th birthday. While this was a huge achievement in the MIRC world, a new generation of channel members was moving in; the older members spent their spare time looking for retirement villages. Thirdly I retired from lecturing when Covid started and no longer benefited from tax deductibility and printing costs.
The channel of course continued strongly. But I have repeated this post because in late 2023 a long-time U.S channel member called on-line for all Jews to be exterminated. The Australian police couldn’t help us and my most beloved US friends, Fluffy and Oldbear, died some time ago.
RACISM was by far the nastiest problem Dabas and Heloise had ever dealt with. The channel became open slather for every lunatic fringe element who had a gripe against Jews:
1. Nazis planning to rebuild Hitler's gas chambers.
2. Christian fundamentalists raided the channel less often, concerned with allocating blame for the death of Christ.
3. Islamic militants intent on destroying the Jewish state.
JUVENILITY Given that the average age of #Israel was 19.2 years, and that 80% was male, their favourite topics were army life, university subjects and finding a weekend date.
As with any testosterone-charged channel, kicking, banning and op wars were common. Part of this frenetic activity was a survival strategy to do with the constant invasion of Neo Nazis and militant Islamists. But part of it was just machismo. Suggestions were made about opening up the discussion topics to things ADULTS were interested in eg literature or music. But this ended in uproar every time.
Dabas, Heloise and Skeve met to start the channel
Sydney Harbour Bridge
22nd Oct 1993.
Helen was going to Sydney one weekend in Oct 1993, and so Dabas (beard) and his friend Skeve (cap) arranged to meet up for lunch along the Sydney Harbour foreshore. It was a hot day, and by the end of the second icy beer, Heloise was telling them about irc problems. Dabas asked why we did not start our own channel, and patiently explained that he could do the technical stuff if I could establish the ground rules for new members, no racism, anti Semitism, sexism or adolescents; a channel that would maintain the beloved Israeli connections and Australian values.
As we had hoped in #Israel, the discussions would be expanded to topics mature adults were interested in eg travel, music, literature, philosophy, world politics, careers, family relationships and sport. Op wars and kick bans would become a bad memory from the past.
Both we believed that all the Anglo Saxon, academic, middle aged friends from #Israel would want to join us. Dabas, Winky, Academy, Muet and Heloise were all: over 40, Jewish and academics, so the channel could be #40academic or #40married or #40Jewish.
When I logged on the first night in the Sydney hotel room, Dabas quickly messaged: "Come into #30plus: I HAVE CAPTURED A REAL LIVE CHANNEL MEMBER". This was poor man called Runaway whose wife had left home and had taken their children with her. He just wanted supportive adult company during the crisis. And so #30plus was born, the name being suggested by Skeve as more inclusive and less exclusive than #40academic. But neither of us knew what we were doing. We did not even know how to keep the channel open 24 hours a day, so took it in 8 hour shifts to be there, around the clock!
During those first days, me3, pdq, joshtree, bigjoe, toots, gazza, sirlunar, dugip, zurbaran, amarin, sna, tinytim, ruach, edu, drKB, kimba, shor, beamer, fluffy, fuzed, friskykid, capt-peril, oldbear, panache, nurse, redgum, sulu, kate, lone, bish, hotsailor, flaccus, thalia, mfp, melsy, cty, fauna, wabbit and peppr came into the channel, and stayed. Joshtree in Finland set up the twin bots, Castor and Pollux, so the founders could finally get some sleep.
Sydney Harbour Bridge
22nd Oct 1993.
Helen was going to Sydney one weekend in Oct 1993, and so Dabas (beard) and his friend Skeve (cap) arranged to meet up for lunch along the Sydney Harbour foreshore. It was a hot day, and by the end of the second icy beer, Heloise was telling them about irc problems. Dabas asked why we did not start our own channel, and patiently explained that he could do the technical stuff if I could establish the ground rules for new members, no racism, anti Semitism, sexism or adolescents; a channel that would maintain the beloved Israeli connections and Australian values.
As we had hoped in #Israel, the discussions would be expanded to topics mature adults were interested in eg travel, music, literature, philosophy, world politics, careers, family relationships and sport. Op wars and kick bans would become a bad memory from the past.
Both we believed that all the Anglo Saxon, academic, middle aged friends from #Israel would want to join us. Dabas, Winky, Academy, Muet and Heloise were all: over 40, Jewish and academics, so the channel could be #40academic or #40married or #40Jewish.
When I logged on the first night in the Sydney hotel room, Dabas quickly messaged: "Come into #30plus: I HAVE CAPTURED A REAL LIVE CHANNEL MEMBER". This was poor man called Runaway whose wife had left home and had taken their children with her. He just wanted supportive adult company during the crisis. And so #30plus was born, the name being suggested by Skeve as more inclusive and less exclusive than #40academic. But neither of us knew what we were doing. We did not even know how to keep the channel open 24 hours a day, so took it in 8 hour shifts to be there, around the clock!
During those first days, me3, pdq, joshtree, bigjoe, toots, gazza, sirlunar, dugip, zurbaran, amarin, sna, tinytim, ruach, edu, drKB, kimba, shor, beamer, fluffy, fuzed, friskykid, capt-peril, oldbear, panache, nurse, redgum, sulu, kate, lone, bish, hotsailor, flaccus, thalia, mfp, melsy, cty, fauna, wabbit and peppr came into the channel, and stayed. Joshtree in Finland set up the twin bots, Castor and Pollux, so the founders could finally get some sleep.
The channel name started to appear in computer magazines and on radio as an interesting and non violent place to be. We were both interviewed by journalists in Australia and elsewhere, and people popped in saying "I saw you in Article X in New Zealand (or wherever)". Lisabee, nutnhoney, daisee, rossma, birdbrain, prism, belladona, annette and others joined by late 1993.
Where did the first organised meetings of #30plus members take place? The channel was Australian based, but as can be discovered from the early photos, the first reunion was in Boston (Jan 1994) and the next was in Canberra (Apr 1994).
Boston reunion, Jan 1994
It was thought from the beginning that the channel was really easiest for Anglophones or people who could type and read English in a very busy channel. In fact two thirds of the channel regulars lived in the USA, while the others were mainly Australasian, British, South African and Canadian. Channel members were full of admiration for the Israelis and Europeans who added a breadth to the channel, using English as their second language.
An early collective tasks of this new, adult-friendly channel was to collect lists of peoples' favourite books. People took hours, going along their library shelves, reminding themselves of books they had not read since the 1960s. The lists were diverse, but always fascinating. The level of conversation and of email letters was very high.
An early collective tasks of this new, adult-friendly channel was to collect lists of peoples' favourite books. People took hours, going along their library shelves, reminding themselves of books they had not read since the 1960s. The lists were diverse, but always fascinating. The level of conversation and of email letters was very high.
A San Francisco reunion weekend, July 1994
Life was never going to be quite the same again. Pdq suggested nominating Dabas and myself for the Nobel Peace Prize, given that they had revolutionised IRC and made it a pleasant place for adults to be. Australia had produced yet another really worthwhile contribution.
**
Three significant events in late 2018 changed #30plus. Firstly the Australian Trade Mark Registration ended in Aug 2018 and was not extended so #30plus had no more intellectual property protection. Then #30plus started in Oct 1993 and was thus celebrating its 25th birthday. While this was a huge achievement in the MIRC world, a new generation of channel members was moving in; the older members spent their spare time looking for retirement villages. Thirdly I retired from lecturing when Covid started and no longer benefited from tax deductibility and printing costs.
The channel of course continued strongly. But I have repeated this post because in late 2023 a long-time U.S channel member called on-line for all Jews to be exterminated. The Australian police couldn’t help us and my most beloved US friends, Fluffy and Oldbear, died some time ago.