Hello everyone.

I realize Scott is probably waiting for a reply from me, and so is Michael
¨Yadron -- and with things the way they are, I'm not sure if I'd be able to
find ¨their messages anymore to dig up the original context.  FWIW, I'm no
longer ¨using a DOS/Windows based PC and have adopted a Powerbook as my
only computer ¨-- but some of my mail has yet to be converted from my old
PC and as message ¨formats age, finding conversion tools is getting harder
and harder.

So, hello everyone.  I don't anticipate that I'll be a regular here, but I
¨thought I would drop in while I could and leave a message, before life
gets ¨hectic again (tomorrow).

I know of the many questions that have come and gone (and off the top of my
¨head Scott, this is about what I remember from our brief email exchange)
-- 
1) What happened to Tim? 
2) What happened to Telegard? 
3) What happened to Forbidden Knights (my BBS)? 
4) What does the future hold for Telegard?

I'm fairly certain that none of the answers that I could provide would be
¨sufficient for other people to either necessarily understand, nor do I
think ¨they would provide any specific closure.  So I'll answer them
briefly, and ¨understand that I will probably raise other questions, etc.

#1) For the last couple of years, probably since you last heard from me,
I've ¨been working for various startup companies in Toronto and Montreal,
primarily ¨during the boom and post-bust of the technology sector.  After
tiring of the ¨ups-and-downs related to those (expanding and firing 75% of
your staff (going ¨from 5 to 20 to 45 to 11 to 0), taking no salary for 9
months, getting bought ¨out, watching it all fall apart a second time (from
100 this time!), etc.) I ¨decided to become an independent consultant.  I
now work with various small and ¨large companies in Canada, the US and
abroad primarily in strategic technology ¨projects in the advertising or
marketing verticals.  I still work too hard, but ¨life moves forward and at
least I control my environment a little better now.  ¨I'm no longer a
developer as I just don't enjoy the challenge anymore.

#2) Somewhere in all these transitions, I lost access to Fidonet and with
it ¨the primary conduit to Telegard.  In addition, the time that I had
access to ¨the Internet severely diminished and I was left without the
communication ¨channels that I had started to foster while the Internet was
starting to take ¨hold (email, web, IIRC, etc.).  This unfortunately left
me without the touch ¨points that had became so familiar over the years,
and this led to a gradual ¨withdrawal that was more subconscious than
conscious.  I was overwhelmed with ¨responsibilities that I'd both created
and adopted, and I had difficulty ¨juggling all the balls.  The next thing
that I knew, I'd disappeared from ¨Telegard -- and I knew exactly where I
was.  I think that regrets kept me away ¨after that, as I felt that I had
let many of you down by disappearing and for ¨not completing things that I
had obviously intended to finish -- and perhaps ¨for not recognizing what
was happening and not finding a way to exit gracefully ¨and determine a
transition strategy.  Telegard as a result limbered in no mans ¨land -- and
for that I can only apologize, utmost sincere.

#3) Forbidden Knights suffered the same fate; it limped into non-existence
and ¨was shut down to my recollection without much feedback from me -- the
next ¨thing I had known it was down, and had been for a few months.  It
wasn't going ¨to be recovered.  R.I.P Forbidden Knights, 1991-2000.  The
days of rushing home ¨3 hours in the middle of the night to get it back up
and running seemed to end ¨with the same withdrawal of its' daily
interaction.  Forbidden Knights came to ¨a end with thanks to all its users
and those who kept it running for the 9 ¨years that it did -- even if it
was left unsaid.

Before I answer #4, let me tell you that my days as the author of Telegard,
¨working with its many users and most especially the alpha and beta sites
that ¨made up a fabulous team, were some of the most rewarding days of my
early ¨career.  I also know that I sacrificed a lot for Telegard but
hindsight only ¨gives you the privilege of making virtual changes without
knowing what the ¨final outcome would be -- and so I've long since made
peace that I made the ¨best decisions at the time that I made them, with
the best information and ¨guidance that I had.  I don't regret anything
that we all accomplished with ¨each other, and I don't think I'd trade the
experiences for anything else ¨either.  Everything I learned in those days
has fashioned my principles, moral ¨guides and habits that I still rely on
today.  As a foundation, Telegard and ¨all that it brought to me was
unparalleled.

#4) I'm not sure where Telegard can go from here -- I'm not sure that the
PC ¨that has all the source code can boot, nor am I sure that I have all
the ¨compilers and tool chains that would be required to revitalize the
project.  I ¨also know that I don't have the time, or the will, to continue
the project ¨myself.  I don't remember what state it was left in, as time
and age have not ¨likely been kind to the project.  Off the top of my head,
I don't know what ¨code can be open-sourced, and wouldn't move the project
that way without the ¨consent of the other authors of the project (and yes,
as much as I rewrote ¨there are still contributions and copyrights that are
owned by other ¨individuals).  I realize this leaves it open ended, and I
suspect for the next ¨little while that's where it'll have to stay with my
apologies -- and with your ¨understanding.

Thank you everyone for the kind words you've said over the years, and I
wish ¨all of you the best.  My email address tstrike{at}telegard.net is still
active -- ¨I promise that I'll read your email, and I'll do my utmost best
to respond as ¨well but with volume and other considerations it may not be
possible that each ¨of you get a personalized response.

Please do not write me asking for the source code, for new fixes, etc.
since if ¨you've read this far, the answers are already buried in the text.

Tim Strike
tstrike{at}telegard.net

--- Telegard/2 v3.09.g2-sp4/mL