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LordOfTheBorg

A STF.net History...

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I thought I'd say something, too, since I've been a member of this site for quite some time now...

 

When I joined STfans.net, I was surprised because everyone welcomed me in a very friendly way. I knew that this was gonna be the place in which I wanted to stay, and so I did.

I remember laughing about RikerChick's wedding pics (I still have the one she made for me on my desk in my room, believe it or not) and about other stuff that was posted here which I found very, very entertaining. I also remember a video someone (I think it was Takara Soong) made for Pat's birthday two years ago and it was absolutely beautiful, it caused me to cry - which is not easy, mind you.

 

I'm here every day and I couldn't imagine not taking a look at this site when I'm online. I'm somewhat proud to be a small part of STfans.net's history. :rolleyes:

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Man, i got lots of quotes from people here..

 

Click For Spoiler
~Star Trek Fans.net~

A History

Written and compiled by Wally (LordOftheBorg)

 

What do you think of when you think of a trekkie/trekker? Do you think of a little fat/skinny kid with glasses, sitting on his computer? If so, your right… for most star trek fan sites… but not for startrekfans.net… no, at STF.net, we come in all shapes and sizes. We’ve got the Americans, we’ve got the English, we’ve got people from all over! We’ve even got… Canadians! We’ve got the regular people, who’ve seen a few episodes of star trek, and like it enough to find a fan site, then we’ve got the nerds, who’ve seen the entire first season of The Next Generation and love it… then we’ve got the geeks, who’ve seen every episode of every series… then… after all of those people, we’ve got Kevin(VBG)… he’s in a class all by himself! He sleeps six hours a day, works insane hours(4pm to 12 am, I think) and I he comes online at all hours of the night, just to make sure everyones happy! I think that he is the ultimate “133t”..

 

How STF.net Started: On that fateful day, sometime in March, 2003. Kevin transferred over from his Alabama fans board, to STF.net, and after that, people started joining left and right… Kevin designed STF.net, made STF.net, and runs STF.net.

 

A Little About Kevin: Kevin as a Credit Card Fraud investigator/analyst for Bank of America. He’s been involved with something or someone famous twice… first it was the sniper case in Washington… they asked to put a large sum of money into a credit card account. The FBI phoned Kevin and he helped them out… He also helped the producer of the show COPS… He pays for this site with his own money… he puts no banners, ads, or other money-making pop-ups on the site… He says that he doesn’t like to get pop-ups when he’s surfing the net, so why make people who come to STF.net get them… Does he sleep? According to him.. Yes! 6 hours a day! The secret of STF.net’s success? Kevin says.. The great members! Kevin was in the military… joined when he was 19. He was born in Maryland…He started watching Star Trek pretty much since he was born… star trek was his fathers favorite TV show of the time… so he would watch it with him. Other stuff that Kevin is a fan of is… Elvis Presley, Kenney Chesney, Brooks and Dunn, Tim Mcgraw, and many other country singers… Also, he likes classic music, from the 60’s and 70’s. How often does he wear his cowboy hat? Not a lot… And, he still maintains that nothing happens when 5 or 6 moderators are online… but I think otherwise.

 

Some Input From The Great Members Of STF.net:

 

Jack Bauer-“

Well, in my experience the site has always been run fairly but I had no negative contact with administration before I was a mod (not that any exists now), which is likely why I became a mod.

I have always loved this site and what it stands for. I once compared VaBeachGuy to Zefram Cochrane because this site was sort of a utopia away from all the pointless arguments that took place on other boards. I really enjoy this site.”

 

Data had a lot to say-

“I started here about a month after VBG created this forum. This was not his first forum. As I found out a few weeks into my membership. I found out about this place from the forums on startrek.com. I only lurked there. I never posted. To be honest. I lurked here a couple weeks before I finally joined. So I was reading threads on here from the beginning.

 

I have not posted a lot here. But have been a regular on the trivia. I probably had more contact with master q and spacetigger than I have had with the other mods. They both have done a superb job.

 

As for VBG, he has always tried to make this place the best Star Trek site around. AE is a good backup for him. As for the other mods, they are always around to keep the troll problem to a minimum. Also, have been a good support group.

 

As for the rest of the members, I have only made friends with one, Yillara Soong. We became friendly mainly because of my username. She is a big fan of Data. But eventually our friendship became more well rounded than our interest in Data.

 

I found other interesting people here, from all around the world. This is truly an international site. Which goes to show you how well Star Trek has been received everywhere..”

 

Sea_trooper had this to say-

“Well, the site is great. It's an ordered place with barely any restrictions, and alot of good people. Now I'd like to see a stereotypical person come here and read all the drama that goes on here and then judge every single Star Trek fan . The moderators are good too. They are dedicated and loose, the kind of people you would want as a moderator, you know, not arrogant and tight-assed, only shoving their modliness around. Now VaBeachGuy, he is a magnificent person. Friendly, always willing to help, plus "the maker". His dream in creating the ultimate Trekker hangout has changed many lives, and helped those Trekkers who don't feel so 'trekkish'. He is indeed up there, in the number with Roddenberry.”

 

Unadopted Angelic wrote a little bit of a reflection about STF.net… Long winded, but nice..

My STF and Star trek.com experiences began in October ’03 I had just hooked up to the internet. I loved trek from age three, so I went to the heart of the beast, startrek com I found their chat room and enjoyed it

 

Fast forward to New Years Eve and I was the saddo who was there at midnight GMT, another member mentioned Startrekfans, was a cooler place and like semi-educated lemmings we made a trip over there to get a looksie. I liked, but felt intimidated. It would be only a week before the doom of the startrek.com chat room would be announced and my meanderings the week previous would come into play.

 

I had logged on as usual that morning and was told within 3 seconds that it was closing down permanently. everyone was bemoaning its demise and what were they going to do. I rememberd the chat room at stf, which seemed empty the four times I had been there, so suggested a change of site. NO ONE listened. So I kept on haranguing until people did, and after a while the great exodus occurred.

 

About 2 weeks in I had problems and whilst I can’t say what they were, I was severely freaked out. I couldn’t eat or sleep or anything. I ended up talking to Lee, (Bones88) and Dill (ddillard) they calmed me down and helped me through, they then became two really good friends. These days I chat with Dill and Lee hosts my website and helps with any technical questions.

 

I then in rapid order met the inimitable Rikerchick, who became in my eyes a big sister a great photographer, someone who had a great humour and was someone most if not all respected. I met Kevin, who is not only a website owner, but someone whose inbox is always open to those in need. Following that I met Alterego, and whilst I can’t say we have always seen eye to eye, I can say he is usually if not always coming from a place of good for all, and not a small minority

 

There have been interesting times, the time Rikerchick and Takara manipulated pictures, I mean wow VBG has definitely gotten around some, and Data/Lore have definitely been committing bigamy.

 

Who couldn’t in the early days remember Ro and Alex, which in the end died a death according to her live journal, me and my love life, some of the creepy people and the changes in the chat room, then the exodus part two to the boards, hangon on and Luthien, who gave way to a great relationship with DutchDebbie, who are still wonderful members and who had our first STF offspring Beautiful Mandy, Named after Rikerchick

 

I remember Jeanway and her inexhaustible posting and Q Stole My Bike who had a wonderful talent and a load of Australians who would inhabit the chat room in the early morning.

 

I remember when Enterprise was cancelled there was a huge outcry about it and pleanty of campaigns to save it, in the third season it was to be and worked, in the fourth, Paramount no longer saw the financial viability of a show that appeared on paper to have no fans.

 

I also remember the inflammatory remarks made by Kill enterprise people, that saddened me, that fans couldn’t get a long they had to be cruel and malicious, they had to bait each other and be cruel, it was nasty and there are still echoes of it all.

 

There have been a few good discussions, but lack of respect and civility towards others have led to the Kronos being shut down for a temporary break.

 

It’s a small thing to say that STF has changed a lot from the innocent days, we have all grown, and this was the first place I went when my mum died. It was the only place that kept me sane. It’s strange, the old thing of physical places holding memories, is now internet places holding memories.

 

Mrs. Picard –

‘When I joined STfans.net, I was surprised because everyone welcomed me in a very friendly way. I knew that this was gonna be the place in which I wanted to stay, and so I did.

I remember laughing about RikerChick's wedding pics (I still have the one she made for me on my desk in my room, believe it or not) and about other stuff that was posted here which I found very, very entertaining. I also remember a video someone (I think it was Takara Soong) made for Pat's birthday two years ago and it was absolutely beautiful, it caused me to cry - which is not easy, mind you.

 

I'm here every day and I couldn't imagine not taking a look at this site when I'm online. I'm somewhat proud to be a small part of STfans.net's history.”

 

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I'd agree with you there Mrs. Picard. I think that the history of the site is made by changes in the look, debates, polls, interviews but most importantly by the people. When I think of the site I moreso think of it as a community of people like Mrs. Picard, ddillard, Rikerchick, Alterego, Indy and Spacetigger, people whom I maybe don't interact with as much as I'd like to but people with similar interests discussing and enjoying themselves, good people with good minds and good hearts that's what keeps me coming back. Just a shame the chat room isn't used more often.

Edited by Matt

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actually, you can call me waldo.. I don't care! Sounds kinda cool! :o :rolleyes:(kings only one allowed to call me that, just so everyone knows! :))

Edited by LordOfTheBorg

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On the British comedy show "The League Of Gentlemen", there is a character called Papa Lazarou who calls EVERYONE "Dave", regardless of what they are actually called.

 

Frickin hilarious. :rolleyes:

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King quit going off topic

 

LOTB- My question to you is what of the future of STFANs? Is there a history of the future of the board? Maybe its downfall? or its rise in fame?

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:rolleyes: i look foward to readin it- just to let you know. Remeber to cover all bases..past present and future

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Yep! I don't know when i'll be able to have a chat with VBG, but if anyone wants to come give me their own opinions... come join me in the chat! (i'll be in there for aboot an hour)

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No, sadly... His comp won't let him into the chat room, or something.. so we're having it on a special forum... If you want me to ask him any questions, post em here within the next 15-20 minutes or so...

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Alright, I'm done! For all those who want to download it, go ~here~

 

For those who are really lazy, read it online:

 

Click For Spoiler

~Star Trek Fans.net~

A History

Written and compiled by Wally (LordOftheBorg)

 

What do you think of when you think of a trekkie/trekker? Do you think of a little fat/skinny kid with glasses, sitting on his computer? If so, your right… for most star trek fan sites… but not for startrekfans.net… no, at STF.net, we come in all shapes and sizes. We’ve got the Americans, we’ve got the English, and we’ve got people from all over! We’ve even got… Canadians! We’ve got the regular people, who’ve seen a few episodes of star trek, and like it enough to find a fan site, then we’ve got the nerds, who’ve seen the entire first season of The Next Generation and love it… then we’ve got the geeks, who’ve seen every episode of every series… then… after all of those people, we’ve got Kevin (VBG)… he’s in a class all by himself! He sleeps six hours a day, works insane hours (4pm to 12 am, I think) and I he comes online at all hours of the night, just to make sure everyone’s happy! I think that he is the ultimate “133t”...

 

How STF.net Started: On that fateful day, sometime in March, 2003. Kevin transferred over from his Alabama fans board, to STF.net, and after that, people started joining left and right… Kevin designed STF.net, made STF.net, and runs STF.net.

 

A Little about Kevin: Kevin as a Credit Card Fraud investigator/analyst for Bank of America. He’s been involved with something or someone famous twice… first it was the sniper case in Washington… they asked to put a large sum of money into a credit card account. The FBI phoned Kevin and he helped them out… He also helped the producer of the show COPS… He pays for this site with his own money… he puts no banners, ads, or other money-making pop-ups on the site… He says that he doesn’t like to get pop-ups when he’s surfing the net, so why make people who come to STF.net get them… Does he sleep? According to him... Yes! 6 hours a day! The secret of STF.net’s success? Kevin says... The great members! Kevin was in the military… joined when he was 19. He was born in Maryland…He started watching Star Trek pretty much since he was born… star trek was his fathers favorite TV show of the time… so he would watch it with him. Other stuff that Kevin is a fan of is… Elvis Presley, Kenney Chesney, Brooks and Dunn, Tim McGraw, and many other country singers… Also, he likes classic music, from the 60’s and 70’s. How often does he wear his cowboy hat? Not a lot… And, he still maintains that nothing happens when 5 or 6 moderators are online… but I think otherwise.

 

Some Input from the Great Members of STF.net:

 

Jack Bauer-“

Well, in my experience the site has always been run fairly but I had no negative contact with administration before I was a mod (not that any exists now), which is likely why I became a mod.

I have always loved this site and what it stands for. I once compared VaBeachGuy to Zefram Cochrane because this site was sort of a utopia away from all the pointless arguments that took place on other boards. I really enjoy this site.”

 

Data had a lot to say-

“I started here about a month after VBG created this forum. This was not his first forum. As I found out a few weeks into my membership. I found out about this place from the forums on startrek.com. I only lurked there. I never posted. To be honest. I lurked here a couple weeks before I finally joined. So I was reading threads on here from the beginning.

 

I have not posted a lot here. But have been a regular on the trivia. I probably had more contact with master q and spacetigger than I have had with the other mods. They both have done a superb job.

 

As for VBG, he has always tried to make this place the best Star Trek site around. AE is a good backup for him. As for the other mods, they are always around to keep the troll problem to a minimum. Also, has been a good support group.

 

As for the rest of the members, I have only made friends with one, Yillara Soong. We became friendly mainly because of my username. She is a big fan of Data. But eventually our friendship became better rounded than our interest in Data.

 

I found other interesting people here, from all around the world. This is truly an international site. Which goes to show you how well Star Trek has been received everywhere...”

 

Sea trooper had this to say-

“Well, the site is great. It's an ordered place with barely any restrictions, and a lot of good people. Now I'd like to see a stereotypical person come here and read all the drama that goes on here and then judge every single Star Trek fan. The moderators are good too. They are dedicated and loose, the kind of people you would want as a moderator, you know, not arrogant and tight-assed, only shoving their modliness around. Now VaBeachGuy, he is a magnificent person. Friendly, always willing to help, plus "the maker". His dream in creating the ultimate Trekker hangout has changed many lives, and helped those Trekkers who don't feel so 'trekkish'. He is indeed up there, in the number with Roddenberry.”

 

Unadopted Angelic wrote a little bit of a reflection about STF.net… Long winded, but nice...

My STF and Star trek.com experiences began in October ’03 I had just hooked up to the internet. I loved trek from age three, so I went to the heart of the beast, startrek com I found their chat room and enjoyed it

 

Fast forward to New Years Eve and I was the saddo who was there at midnight GMT, another member mentioned Startrekfans, was a cooler place and like semi-educated lemmings we made a trip over there to get a look-see. I liked, but felt intimidated. It would be only a week before the doom of the startrek.com chat room would be announced and my meanderings the week previous would come into play.

 

I had logged on as usual that morning and was told within 3 seconds that it was closing down permanently. Everyone was bemoaning its demise and what were they going to do. I remembered the chat room at stf, which seemed empty the four times I had been there, so suggested a change of site. NO ONE listened. So I kept on haranguing until people did, and after a while the great exodus occurred.

 

About 2 weeks in I had problems and whilst I can’t say what they were, I was severely freaked out. I couldn’t eat or sleep or anything. I ended up talking to Lee, (Bones88) and Dill (ddillard) they calmed me down and helped me through, they then became two really good friends. These days I chat with Dill and Lee hosts my website and helps with any technical questions.

 

I then in rapid order met the inimitable Rikerchick, who became in my eyes a big sister a great photographer, someone who had a great humour and was someone most if not all respected. I met Kevin, who is not only a website owner, but someone whose inbox is always open to those in need. Following that I met Alterego, and whilst I can’t say we have always seen eye to eye, I can say he is usually if not always coming from a place of good for all, and not a small minority

 

There have been interesting times, the time Rikerchick and Takara manipulated pictures, I mean wow VBG has definitely gotten around some, and Data/Lore have definitely been committing bigamy.

 

Who couldn’t in the early days remember Ro and Alex, which in the end died a death according to her live journal, me and my love life, some of the creepy people and the changes in the chat room, then the exodus part two to the boards, hangon on and Luthien, who gave way to a great relationship with DutchDebbie, who are still wonderful members and who had our first STF offspring Beautiful Mandy, Named after Rikerchick

 

I remember Jeanway and her inexhaustible posting and Q Stole My Bike who had a wonderful talent and a load of Australians who would inhabit the chat room in the early morning.

 

I remember when Enterprise was cancelled there was a huge outcry about it and plenty of campaigns to save it, in the third season it was to be and worked, in the fourth, Paramount no longer saw the financial viability of a show that appeared on paper to have no fans.

 

I also remember the inflammatory remarks made by Kill enterprise people, that saddened me that fans couldn’t get a long they had to be cruel and malicious, they had to bait each other and be cruel, it was nasty and there are still echoes of it all.

 

There have been a few good discussions, but lack of respect and civility towards others has led to the Kronos being shut down for a temporary break.

 

It’s a small thing to say that STF has changed a lot from the innocent days, we have all grown, and this was the first place I went when my mum died. It was the only place that kept me sane. It’s strange, the old thing of physical places holding memories, is now internet places holding memories.

 

Mrs. Picard –

‘When I joined STfans.net, I was surprised because everyone welcomed me in a very friendly way. I knew that this was gonna be the place in which I wanted to stay, and so I did.

I remember laughing about RikerChick's wedding pics (I still have the one she made for me on my desk in my room, believe it or not) and about other stuff that was posted here which I found very, very entertaining. I also remember a video someone (I think it was Takara Soong) made for Pat's birthday two years ago and it was absolutely beautiful, it caused me to cry - which is not easy, mind you.

 

I'm here every day and I couldn't imagine not taking a look at this site when I'm online. I'm somewhat proud to be a small part of STfans.net's history.”

 

I finally had a chance to have an interview with Kevin… Here’s the transcript:

 

Wally-“So, Kevin, what do you think is in the future for STF.net?”

Kevin-“I believe we will continue to grow and eventually surpass 5,000 members on our way toward 10,000. That was one of my first goals when I decided to make this a Star Trek themed forum. I wanted to make this site as large or larger then TrekBBS.”

 

Wally - “I See, I See. Do you expect to have any big guests stars to the chat in the near future?”

Kevin- “Right now we don't have any scheduled but we may try to get a couple lined up in the coming months.”

 

Wally- “Cool. What did you expect when you first started up Alabama Fans?”

Kevin-“I expected maybe around 100 members, mostly from an Alabama Fans email ring I belong to. Many of the first 20 or so members came from that email ring in fact. As an interesting side note, the lead guitarist from the group Alabama (Jeff Cook) has visited this site on at least one occasion. He's a big Star Trek fan himself.

I never expected the site to grow as it has though.”

 

Wally- “So, some big stars do come here!

How did you meet alterego?”

Kevin-“Yes, we've had several "stars" on the site as well as directors, producers, talk show hosts and writers. It's pretty cool actually.

Alterego was one of the very first people to join the original forum, he's been on the forum almost from day 1 and possibly from the very first day. He could probably answer that better then I could. His participation in that original forum impressed me and I had a feeling that I would need help managing the forum so I asked him to be a Mod and here we are almost 3 years later.”

 

Wally- “Cool. What’s your favorite series?”

Kevin-“Deep Space Nine is my overall favorite of the 5 series but it's hard to rank them because I really like all 5 of the series. I've put them in order in the past and Voyager usually ends up at the bottom of that list but that shouldn't be taken to mean that I don't like Voyager. I like it very much, it has many good episodes, it just happens to be that DS9 is my over all favorite and Voyager is my least favorite. “

 

Wally-“DS9 is a good series.

There are, right now, three members of the fans.net family(STF.net, SGF.net, SWF.net). Are you planning on adding anymore?”

Kevin-“When time permits we may be adding a new forum for Smallville fans.”

 

Wally-“Ah, Smallville! Another good series.

 

How long were you in the army, and what rank(s) were you?”

Kevin-“I was in the army for almost 3 years, I started out as a Private (no rank at all) and was promoted 3 times to Spec4 (Specialist in today's Army) which is 1 step below Sgt.”

 

Wally-

“Nice! How many conventions have you been to, and when is the next planned STF.net convention?”

Kevin-“I've actually never been to a convention, if another one comes to Norfolk I'll go for sure though. I'd like to have one maybe next summer, but it would depend on how many people could attend.”

 

Wally- “I'd like to go to it if you have one!

Are you going to add any more things onto STF.net?”

Kevin-“If new ideas come up we may expand into other areas but for now there no set plans.”

 

Wally-“I see.. Do you live on a ranch? I'm just wondering because you like country and wear a cowboy hat”

Kevin-“LOL No, you could say I live in the country but I'm only 15 to 20 minutes away from the malls and major stores and I grew up just 5 miles away from the White House which is far from being in the country.

I've actually only worn that cowboy hat a couple times, when I wear a hat in general it's a Philadelphia Eagles hat.”

 

Wally-“lol!

So, which do you like better... Stargate or Star Wars?”

Kevin-“I would say Star Wars, I liked Star Gate the movie but have only seen 2 or 3 episodes of the TV show. The few shows that I did see were very good, I just haven't had time to watch much of the series.”

 

Wally-“Star wars eh? I would've said Stargate, lol.

Are you single, or is there a special lady out there for you?”

Kevin-“I'm single right now but who knows what the future holds.”

 

Wally-“Hear that girls, he's single! lol.

While i'm trying to think of another question to ask, is there anything you would like to say to everyone out there?”

Kevin-“Just thanks to everyone that makes this site what it is.”

 

Wally-“Are there any plans to start selling STF.net stuff? Such as jackets, t-shirts, mugs, etc?”

Kevin- “There's no plans in the near future to sell anything but there may be a section in the future for Star Trek items.”

 

Wally-“I heard you work as a Credit Card Fraud... um, detective? What exactly does that mean?”

Kevin-“I used to do that but because of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (due to all of the typing involved) I left that job.

Basically what I did was analyze credit card purchases and look for fraud trends, which after you do it for a while it's very easy to recognize fraudulent use of a card. In many cases we were able to detect a stolen credit card before the owner of the card even knew it was missing. On an average day I would talk to at least 100 people and at least 45 of those 100 had no idea that their wallet or purse was even missing. It was my call that alerted them of the problem.

During my time as a Fraud investigator for the bank the biggest case I worked on was the DC Sniper case. My role was fairly small but I did have a role in it. I was working on a Sunday morning when my phone rang, it was the FBI. They explained to me that they had gotten a demand for $40 Million (I think that was the amount) on a Bank of America card. They needed any information that we could give them. So throughout the course of the day I was on and off the phone with the Baltimore field office of the FBI. 3 days later the suspects were arrested. About 2 weeks later the Bank president was in town for a meeting and came to my office to meet me and shake my hand, so that was pretty cool.”

 

Wally-“Do you have any plans on opening a "Kevin Fan club"? I bet most of the people on this site would join!”

Kevin-“LOL No, no plans for that at this time.”

 

Wally-“Well, I think I'm about out of questions! I can't really think of anything else that I should ask!

Do you have anything else you'd like to say or a final statement?”

Kevin-“I think that about covers it, if anyone ever has any other questions they can feel free to post in my Hailing Frequencies thread.”

 

Wally-“Alright! Thanks for doing this interview with me! Have a fun time doing whatever Kevin does around here! lol. Have a good nite Kevin!”

Kevin-“You too.”

 

Well, there you have it. Everything you need to know about kevin! Well, I think that’s the end of my STF.net history. Thanks everyone for your quotes! And, a special big thanks to Kevin! Now, everyone get out there and start posting!

This is wally (lord of the borg) signing off!

[/spoiiler]

Edited by LordOfTheBorg

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That's awesome LOTB! :rolleyes: I'm honored that you chose me to be in it, not matter how crappy what I said was :o

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