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TOTSE

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Favicon for TOTSE Temple of the Screaming Electron
Type of site
Internet forum
OwnerJeff Hunter
Created byJeff Hunter
RevenueGraphical advertisements (AdBrite) est. $100,000/yearly
URLhttp://www.totse.com/
CommercialYes
RegistrationRequired to post but not to view postings

TOTSE (IPA: ['tɒt-si][1], commonly mispronounced as "tout-see," "toat-see," and "toats," IPA: ['tots]) was a San Francisco Bay Area website and former BBS dedicated to storing text files on a variety of subjects and viewpoints, many of which were unusual or controversial. The name is an acronym for "Temple of the Screaming Electron".

History

TOTSE was started by Jeff Hunter, real name unknown (a founding member of NIRVANAnet)[1] in 1989 as a dial-up BBS originally named "& the Temple of the Screaming Electron". The original &TOTSE specialized in small text files. (Hunter had an old 8088 PC XT clone with limited hard drive space; small text files were the only data he could store in reasonable quantity.)[1]

TOTSE became available on the Internet in 1997, and the dial-up BBS system was discontinued in the spring of 1998. TOTSE was closed on January 17, 2009, after a goodbye message was posted on the front page of the website by Jeff, thanking the users for the last 20 years[2]. Many former members moved to Zoklet.net and totse2.darkbb.com, the website of a TOTSE administrator named Zok. Many of the text files were archived by members and moved there. The TOTSE IRC chat channel remains open but the site is has closed.

Media attention

TOTSE has been featured in the media, usually for members committing crimes or for its controversial text files. The site also appears on a 2006 Australian anti-terrorism poster[3][4] and a television advertisement.

Recent attention is due to the "hacking" of an electronic car park sign in Crawley, England, designed to display the number of spaces left for each car park. The top two displays were replaced with "Fuck" and "Off", while the lower display read "totse".[5][6]

A number of TOTSE members placed prank telephone calls to Live Prayer with Bill Keller starting on November 21, 2006. When another TOTSE member reported them to Keller via email, he threatened legal action against TOTSE, specifically stating that the prank calls amounted to "conspiracy to obstruct commerce"[7]. The situation was later resolved when a TOTSE moderator ("Warweed") contacted Keller and apologized.

Recently, an alleged new "high" called Jenkem was documented by a user named "Pickwick", an American boy. This drug was originally used by children in third-world African countries, but Pickwick is believed to be one of the first members of the first-world to actually concentrate and inhale this noxious gas. In spite of creating and distributing his own photographic evidence of having used this gas (before his use came to the attention of American law enforcement and media), he has now asserted that this was a hoax.[8]

Community

The community of TOTSE was an Internet forum and IRC channel. Some users of the community refered to themselves as "Totseans". Members engaged in discussion about a wide variety of topics including but not limited to religion, sex, politics, humanities, weapons, explosives, drugs, illegal activities, technology, music, the environment, mechanics, food, and do it yourself projects. TOTSE is affectionately referred to by the users as &T, &TOTSE, and "The Temple". Although Hunter had an account[9] he rarely posted on the TOTSE forums as himself. In his announcement of TOTSE's closure, Hunter stated that when he started TOTSE his "idea was to have a place where all types of ideas could be spoken, traded, and exchanged, where no topic was off-limits or forbidden."[10] ; the TOTSE text file archive illustrates this.[11]

The forum software was running a highly modified version of UBB 5.47a, which has been heavily criticized by several readers due to its age. Hunter purchased a copy of vBulletin, with the eventual upgrade occurring on April 4, 2007.[12]


Official Closing

On 16 January 2009 Jeff Hunter decided to shut totse down after 20 years. On 17 January 2009 Totse finally closed, despite the complaints from the community and many people offering to buy totse. Jeff told the community that if they care they can move to zoklet.net or totse2.darkbb.com The massive newcomers from totse made zoklet undergo major changes (crash).

Totse Clones

http://totse2.darkbb.com

References

  1. ^ a b c TOTSE FAQ - Mythos
  2. ^ http://www.totse.com/community/showthread.php?t=2188554&page=1
  3. ^ Australian Government (2005-08-30). "HELP PROTECT AUSTRALIA FROM TERRORISM" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-01-22. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |description= ignored (help)
  4. ^ Help Protect Australia From Text Files
  5. ^ Acford, Louise (27 October 2006). "Rude awakening for dawn drivers". The Argus. Retrieved 2006-10-30.
  6. ^ Payne, Stewart (28 October 2006). "Rude road signs tell drivers where to go". Telegraph. Retrieved 2006-10-30.
  7. ^ Live Prayer show archives: November 28th 2006
  8. ^ Urban Legends Reference Pages: New Drug - Jenkem
  9. ^ Jeff Hunter's profile
  10. ^ Closing Announcement
  11. ^ totse.com | FAQ
  12. ^ Replacement for UBB announcement
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