# Mantid Forum History?



## ScienceGirl (Jul 23, 2013)

I'd love if we could hear about the history of Mantid Forum.

Who came up with the idea? When did it launch? How has it evolved? Is there a specific owner of it? What's the difference between a "Root Admin" and an "Administrator?" etc...

Give us all the details! Spare nothing! :smarty: :clap:


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## sally (Jul 23, 2013)

Great idea ScienceGirl. Inquiring minds want to know lol


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## Termite48 (Jul 23, 2013)

Peter is the man. He has some accomplices also such as Orin M.. Rick has been very much involved and now Tammy Wolfe. The core is Peter. He will be glad to fill in the blanks.


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## agent A (Jul 23, 2013)

the forum started when 2 large supernovas, energized by the collapse of a black hole, collided and sent 75 tons of hydrogen gas soaring through space

when the hydrogen met the nitrogen and ozone in earth's atmosphere, it reflected a greenish color

an Oregon man named Peter Clauson saw the spectacle and hopped on the internet

while surfing the web, a giant mantis landed on his head and defecated

the fecal matter fell from his thinning hair (I hope I don't get a warn point for that  ) onto the keyboard, hitting a few keys and bringing up a web builder site, and thus the mantidforum was born

ok I TOTALLY made all that up but I think it started in 2004 and stuff?? not sure exactly but it's awesome now!!!


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## angelofdeathzz (Jul 23, 2013)

Orin started it up long ago, then Peter took the reigns and evolved it into what you see now with some help from other mods, but I believe Peter is footing the bill.

So in short we owe both Orin and Peter for what this has turned into, well plus a few more people that helped out with ideas and input along the way(Rick-Tammy to name a few).

Enjoy, and be thankful for all their goodwill and generosity!


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## Rick (Jul 23, 2013)

Orin started the original board. I was there from very early on and became a mod along with a guy named Ian. Peter purchased the board at some point and the board was updated to new software around that time. I looked at purchasing the original board from Orin but didn't do so.


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## agent A (Jul 23, 2013)

why isnt ian an admin anymore??


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## Termite48 (Jul 23, 2013)

I believe Ian was in the UK and is possibly active there at this point. He was quite present when I first stuck my nose into the forum over six years ago. There have been a lot of names come and go over the years, but the ones that have stayed on like Rick, Yen Saw, and Rebecca are few and far between.


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## hibiscusmile (Jul 23, 2013)

Ian had a lot going on as he was still in what we call highschool when I came on board, I was an administrator on his site, but he was on tv for a few bug shows and busy with his life, so I think his site is still up, but lot of spam was going on so I don't think it is used anymore.


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## ScienceGirl (Jul 23, 2013)

agent A said:


> the forum started when 2 large supernovas, energized by the collapse of a black hole, collided and sent 75 tons of hydrogen gas soaring through space
> 
> when the hydrogen met the nitrogen and ozone in earth's atmosphere, it reflected a greenish color
> 
> ...


Oh! So then... And afterwards... Agent A, that explains everything!!!


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## ScienceGirl (Jul 23, 2013)

angelofdeathzz said:


> Orin started it up long ago, then Peter took the reigns and evolved it into what you see now with some help from other mods, but I believe Peter is footing the bill.
> 
> So in short we owe both Orin and Peter for what this has turned into, well plus a few more people that helped out with ideas and input along the way(Rick-Tammy to name a few).
> 
> Enjoy, and be thankful for all their goodwill and generosity!





Rich S said:


> Peter is the man. He has some accomplices also such as Orin M.. Rick has been very much involved and now Tammy Wolfe. The core is Peter. He will be glad to fill in the blanks.





Rick said:


> Orin started the original board. I was there from very early on and became a mod along with a guy named Ian. Peter purchased the board at some point and the board was updated to new software around that time. I looked at purchasing the original board from Orin but didn't do so.


Thank you all!

Now we're all anxiously awaiting an appearance from Peter Clausen... Excited to hear what he has to say!


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## ScienceGirl (Jul 23, 2013)

Peter Clausen is a Root Admin... But there's another... BidaBug? I've never seen that name in the forum. Anyone have any info?


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## agent A (Jul 23, 2013)

ScienceGirl said:


> Peter Clausen is a Root Admin... But there's another... BidaBug? I've never seen that name in the forum. Anyone have any info?


i think that's peter's old site?? idk


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## Peter Clausen (Jul 24, 2013)

Ha, fun topic!

Most of the blanks have been filled in.

Leah and DeShawn (mantiskingdom.com) began the forum (help me out here, Orin). There's some gossipy stuff from that first year or so that I wonder if Rick privately recalls. I was in the hobby before this forum, but dabbled mostly in phasmids (some 100 species), but was branching out into other groups. In 2000-2001 I ran a business called Mysterious Creatures with a friend, Lowell Brodersen, and that's when we brought in Phyllocrania paradoxa and coined the term "ghost mantis" for them. Orin tells me we weren't the first to have them in the US, but I imported them legally from Germany and I do suspect I was the only one bringing them in "legally" and that we were the most mainstream source offering them. A few years later, I actually became a member of mantisforum, but, being the bug generalist I am, the single-insect theme of this forum was a little slow moving for me so my attention span prevented participation. It just seemed like a neat place with a devoted following for one of my favorite insect groups, so I thought I should be a member. Besides, some pretty big names in the hobby frequented the site including my friends, Orin and DeShawn, and later, Yen.

Orin bought the site from the previous owner(s). (mantidforum.com)

A few years(?) after that, the forum's software platform was outdated and it was plagued with spam. Orin and I had worked together to move the Allpets Roach Forum over to a new software set at roachforum.com and he asked me if I wanted to buy mantidforum. I think I probably gave him twice as much as he was expecting (and he still has a good laugh to himself each month when I pay the $80 or whatever bill, I'm sure).

On an interesting side note, I bought mantidforum.com from Orin but he was not able to get the person he bought it from to release that name to me. So, we actually migrated the site over to mantidforum.net (which still kind of irks me when I think about it every two years or so ;-). At least I got all the old content of the forum.

Rick has been the power-moderator on this forum since further back than I can remember. I'd love to hear, actually, how you became a moderator Rick, and whether it was when Orin was owner or the other two.

So, yeah, aside from the growing number of Forum Supporters who help us out with their yearly contributions, my two sites BugsInCyberspace.com and DeadInsects.net foot the bill for this forum. More than the money it costs though, the commitment that Rick and Orin show, and now Tammy for this past year, is more valuable to me than every dollar I dump into this place. And the costs for running this is just my way of giving back to a community of people that do two things I really appreciate. Love bugs and buy them from me for many, many years now!

So, there's a snapshot of my version of MF history. I'm off to photograph some moths for National Moth week. Caught a very nice _Arctia caja_ tiger moth, last night:

http://bugguide.net/node/view/810545

And on Thursday I'm off to the Bugguide.Net Annual Gathering! http://www.ent.iastate.edu/2013gathering/ and may drop in at the American Tarantula Society Conference that is being held nearby, simultaneously. Orin and I went in 2009 and it was a hoot! http://atshq.org/conference.php

Never a dull moment when you like everything that crawls!


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## Peter Clausen (Jul 24, 2013)

Oh, and BidaBug was an auction site I began a number of years back to help raise money for the American Tarantula Society and other non-profits. I had hoped that hobbyists would support the Ebay-like auction style format for a good cause, but it became tiresome really fast and that, combined with a lack of the hobby embracing it, caused me to shut it down after six months or so. Long story there. I've had a good handful of sites over the years. I'm a bug freak and just can't wait to get back out to my UV light to see what's flying around  But my backyard is never like Arizona. It's my second trip down on Thursday and I'll be picking bugs out of my teeth in less than 48 hours (blacklighting in AZ is cuh-razy!)!


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## Rick (Jul 24, 2013)

Yeah Peter really filled in some gaps in my memory. My wife says my memory stinks, guess she is right! I remember working with DeShawn and Leah. I cannot remember how I got the mod job back then. Don't recall if it was Orin or the other two. But we did have a heck of a time with the spam on that old board. I constantly promote this place at Bugfest and at any time the opportunity arises. It excites me to see how much it has grown.


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## hibiscusmile (Jul 24, 2013)

It has grown a lot, I just wish our hobbiest would all stay, now that would be a hoot! A lot of the people that made a lot of post have moved on, they also had a lot of good information for raising their breed. Aw well, memories!


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## ScienceGirl (Jul 24, 2013)

Thanks, Peter Clausen!

Website history can be very interesting!


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## Rick (Jul 24, 2013)

hibiscusmile said:


> It has grown a lot, I just wish our hobbiest would all stay, now that would be a hoot! A lot of the people that made a lot of post have moved on, they also had a lot of good information for raising their breed. Aw well, memories!


We have lost a lot of good, knowledgeable members.


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## agent A (Jul 24, 2013)

Rick said:


> We have lost a lot of good, knowledgeable members.


and gained a few annoying, teenage, CT based ones :tt2:


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## hibiscusmile (Jul 25, 2013)

naw, u were here when they were. :tt2:


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