I'm sorry to do this, but I've been sitting here getting spammed by someone, and as much fun as it is to sit here and delete posts all night, I think that I am just going to delete the forum altogether.

I will say that the person spamming the forum is the one person online who has ever truly frightened me. (It wasn't Dave van, I guess. I'd apologize to Dave, but that wouldn't make such good reading on "The Truth About Rob"...) I simply don't have time to sit here and delete Mike Leung's posts as he makes them, and I'm not digging the fact that every time he does it, all the people who subscribe to the forum via email get another of his spam messages.

This was a fun experiment, and one that I grew to enjoy. If there were a way to block this person, I would. Perhaps I'll find another forum program that will allow me to do so. We'll see.

Thanks to everyone who has made this so much fun. I'll miss you all.

-- Anonymous, July 05, 2000

Answers

Rob, I'm sorry the forum came to this end. I hope it can be reincarnated at some future date, and not just because I need closure on the tattoo saga. It was fun to read, and often the strange jogs the posts took made for the best forums. I mourn it's passing, and I hope it to be temporary. Man do I not have a life or what?

-- Anonymous, July 06, 2000

June 16th came my approval to join the Book of Rob. Within the next couple of weeks I was reading messages from people brought together, from literally all over the world,to talk about quirky things, mundane things (but never uninteresting). I know the forum had gone on for sometime before I discovered ( my first experience with this format) it, and it is truly maddening that one person can destroy so much work. Rob, the ride, though brief, was a real party. Thanks.

-- Anonymous, July 06, 2000

Rob:

I know Delphi does offer a free forum service. You have to sign up and register to get access to the forum, but it does allow you to block people's accounts and other moderator type things and they don't spam or sell the email addresses. Try
-- Anonymous, July 06, 2000

Geez, this sucks. *sigh*

Thanks for the fun, Rob. You know we're still here, still reading the journal.

Julie, Cerebrations

-- Anonymous, July 06, 2000

Kate! Don't get that tattoo! Next thing you know, you'll be tooling around in that Mustang with a Camel hanging from your lips!

[To those of you who do not understand that this is a joke, (i) be assured that it is, and (ii) please accept my deepest condolences.]

-- Anonymous, July 06, 2000

You know, I had never read Dave Van's journal when I began hearing people talk about what a fuckwit he was, but I did wonder what the deal was when he apparently had such a huge readership for someone so unpopular. So I tried to read a few entries - and found him totally unremarkable and uninteresting, whereas I have never found a single entry of Rob's to be without interest and humor. It seems to me that the only way this guy can be a playa on the journaling scene at all is to be the maggot in everyone's apple, and that's so pathetic and puerile that I can't believe someone his age could find value in that.

It pisses me off that someone like that has the power to kill a fun, witty new forum populated mostly by good people. That kind of harrassment should be prosecutable. Would any of us put up with someone like that jamming hate mail in their real mailbox, or standing outside their window screaming obscenities? I value the freedom of the Web, but this guy's behavior reeks of harrassment, even assault. Van's a bully and an ass. I'm sorry the playground got closed down because he pissed on it.

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2000

I was talking to a co-worker/friend this afternoon. He likes to listen to Rush Limbaugh. I admitted that I very occasionally found his bombast and bluster entertaining. He then mentioned that Oliver North had a radio show. And I told my friend I would never listen to Oliver North because of the extreme dishonor he brought on himself and the reprehensible way that he tried to pass of his treason as somehow serving the good of our country.

I see these malicious acts in the exact same light. I almost pity this nobody for the smallness and blackness of his heart.

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2000

I've been limiting my online time lately, so I never read the spam in question. I'm just sorry that Van's pettiness caused this forum to be shut down. It's been fun to read and fun to post. Maybe you could start a forum at Delphi, as someone else has suggested. Should that day happen, I'll be back, reading and posting.

I'll still be enjoying the Book of Rob, though!

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2000

http://www.mikeleung.com/2000/satan.html. It was Mike, guys, not Dave.

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2000

Holy shit - some of these people need to step away from the computer and get a life.
It's one thing keeping a journal about what's going on in your life, or what's you thinking. But putting in that much time and energy for something so totally and utterly useless is both sad and scary.

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2000

I don't understand this at all. Is Mike the one doing it, or is he just chronicling the whole stupid thing for his own entertainment?

Jesus...

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2000

Mike is the one who was spamming the forum, which led you to shut it down. If you go to this entry, he confirms it. Per the other, who knows, but in terms of disrupting this forum, it was not Dave.

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2000

Wow, there it is. Thanks, Lynda. I guess Dave's been too busy with the Truth About Rob.

I'm going to shut this whole forum down later today, so perhaps it doesn't matter, but I'll make the appropriate changes to this thread...

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2000

Either he's benign or malignant.

Benign - he's doing this to get his ego stroked by the increase on his hit counter by those of us who drop that url into our browsers to see what sort of shit he's pulling.

Malignant - he really does hate Rob, in the full sense of the word. If this is indeed the case, then it's downright scary that someone would obsess and fixate so much on someone (I assume) he's never met and really knows nothing about, other than what's been put forth here and in The Book Of Rob.

Recently here in Toronto and the surrounding area, there's been a rash of murder-suicides of women & children by their estranged husbands/fathers, despite there being restraining orders and all. My wife and I sit and wonder what such person is thinking (if at all) when they do such horrible evil acts. Then I see all the shit that's going down here in this forum thanks to you-know-who and I begin to get a smidgen of insight into the working of such a warped mind that's in serious need of professional help.

Fingers and toes crossed here that it's the former that's pushing his buttons.

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2000

make it gone, man. have some pride and hold true to your word.

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2000

(This will obviously only get to those of you who get email notification...)

I'm shutting it down for good, I just want to be done with this and get on with my life.

Thanks for reading, and hopefully I'll see you in email or on my journal. (And not on my doorstep, wielding an axe...)

That was a joke...

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2000