HAPPY 1000 ARTICLES!!

Written by tinfoil on Thursday, 23 September 2004 16:29

Wow, what a milestone. We've been at this for a number of years now, though the articles published prior to the switch to phpnuke aren't included. Sure, 1000 articles over 2.5 years isn't a whole lot, really, especially compared to other sites that update on a more regular basis than I do, but damnit I'm pleased.

I opened this place up last century, back in the formative days of the web. It was ugly and horribly slow loading, full of animated gifs and horribly made MIDI files. Ick. After a short holiday in 99-00, it was opened back up in a more modern format using PHP scripting and a flat file database that made things a LITTLE easier for updating, but it was still a pain in the ass. In 2001, I finally laid down the cash to purchase the tinfoil.net domain and moved over to the phpNuke content management software system.

phpNuke has certainly revolutionized how this site is managed. With it, I was able to enlist the help of other volunteers to cover for me when I would take an unexpected, and sometimes lengthy, leave of absence. Right from the start I have had some good people helping me. Purple_Haze and AXioM to start, with Mangler coming on shortly after and RunOrDie filling in as my personal spellchecker.

Alas, all of my helper monkeys from the early years have moved on, finding real lives... damn them. For a long time I was on my own. That is until SkinnyDevil showed up in February 2003 with his Guitar Gods series of articles. From there he broadened his writings to include copyright and digital media. While he and I don't always agree on copyright laws (I suppose someone has to be wrong, better him than I!) he's been a valuable addition to Tinfoil.Music. Not only did he bring some legitimacy to the site, he also brought Tom777 into the family. Tom helped to focus Tinfoil.Music back on its music news roots and he also started up the Rock Vox series of interviews with rock vocalists. It was also around the time Tom joined that I finally recruited a new editor, someone who possessed the english-fu that I lack. Aptly named, the-editor, she does most of her work in the background, unheralded, but occasionally she will taunt yours truly with cruel jokes.

I can't stop with just those that have helped directly with the site. There's also a number of people/websites that have helped a little more indirectly by contributing content or linking to the site. First there was the 'fine people' at Bla-Bla, an ad serving company that promised me tonnes of cash. While I never did receive a cheque, they did hook me up with some much needed traffic. There's also Kyle and Steve over at [H]ardOCP.com who have contributed more traffic and have put up with my hit-whoring thinly disguised as story contributions. PhatAudio and Tinfoil.Music were also joined some time ago in a content sharing network, but over time both sites went their separate ways. CodeWarrior, wow, he helped me out more than he knows. Same with Thumbtack (where are you now?). Code and Thumbtack as well as John over at p2pnet.net all deserve a shout-out as well for publishing some of my crazier essays. They're good people, even if they were just doing it to shut me up. George Zimmerman has been absolutely instrumental for showing me the true lies of the music industry. One of the movement's most outspoken and outrageous spokespeople, no one can ignore this man, not even me. Kyodelee, Kneo from Anti_RIAA_Central for contributing content as well. Joel at Gizmodo for contributing content, traffic and for putting up with my hit-whoring. Mikee over at Winforums.org, HeadGeek over at GeekExtreme, you're good people. Last but most certainly not least I have to thank Jesse at Dsounds.com. Jesse contributes tonnes of content, traffic and opinions. Our two sites truly compliment each other and I hope to see the partnership grow further.

Of course, what would a speech like this be without thanking you, the reader? A pretty short speech I suppose. Thanks to each and every one of you! While I may write only to make myself feel important, you guys actually READ this stuff. I thank you and apologize at the same time. I'd even like to thank the person that hacked the site last year. Too bad I lost the screenshot. It made me feel important, that the site was actually getting noticed.. kinda twisted, I know. Of course, I also can't forget thanking Mrs. Tinfoil who has put up with my antiRIAA rants and lunatic ravings.

Well, I think it's time I wrapped up this speech. I know I've missed people and for that I am truly sorry. Here's to another 1000!

Oh ya, there's going to be beer and food at my place. You just gotta find it!

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