perlmeditation
eyepopslikeamosquito
<P>
Perl Monks has become a big part of my life, so I thought it would be fun
to discover how it came into existence in the first place.
In particular, I was eager to learn about its earliest users.
</P>
<P>
Please note that I only joined Perl Monks in 2002 and have not met any of the major
players from the early days. The content of this node therefore is derived only
from independent research and speculation, not first-hand knowledge.
So, if any folks who actually witnessed these early historic events are listening,
please respond away.
</P>
<P><B>Perl Monks Origins</B></P>
<P>
After some random googling on the history of Perl Monks, I hit upon
this nugget from <a href="http://oostendorp.net/">oostendorp.net</a>,
the home page of [nate] aka [wp://Nathan Oostendorp]
(co-founder of the technology news website and community Slashdot and founder of the online community Everything2):
<blockquote>
Everything2.com was my own creation after Slashdot was acquired by Andover.net.
It and its sister site, PerlMonks were developed in a CMS I designed called The Everything Engine.
The Everything Development Company ran from 1999-2001, and consisted of
Ryan "dem bones" Postma, Darrick Brown, Tim Vroom, Chromatic, and Robo.
</blockquote>
Apart from using the incorrect case of [chromatic], [nate]
may have forgotten some other Everything developers, or at least interlopers,
who appear to be among the first ten registered PerlMonks users, as we shall see later.
</P>
<P>
After finding that gem, googling for Slashdot uncovered
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Malda">Rob Malda</a>:
<blockquote>
Rob Malda (born May 10, 1976), also known as CmdrTaco, is an American Internet content author,
and former editor-in-chief of the website Slashdot.
Malda is an alumnus of Hope College and Holland Christian High School.
In 1997, Malda and Jeff Bates created Slashdot while undergraduates of Hope College.
After running the site for two years "on a shoestring", they sold the site to Andover.net,
which was later acquired by VA Linux Systems.
Malda ran the site out of the SourceForge, Inc. office in Dexter, Michigan.
</blockquote>
</P>
<P>
and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Bates_(technologist)">Jeff Bates</a>:
<blockquote>
Jeff Bates, also known as hemos, is the co-founder of Slashdot along with Rob Malda ("CmdrTaco").
Bates graduated from Holland Christian High School in 1994 and received a Bachelor's degree in
History from Hope College in 1998.
</blockquote>
</P>
<P>
and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot">more</a>, including
<a href="http://news-beta.slashdot.org/story/01/02/12/1617256/ask-the-man-behind-the-legend---cowboy-neal">Jonathan "CowboyNeal" Pater</a>.
</P>
<P><B>Holland Michigan</B></P>
<P>
<blockquote>
<P>
<I>
Holland is a coastal city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan.
It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa.
Holland was settled in 1847 by Dutch Calvinist separatists, under the leadership of Dr. Albertus van Raalte.
Dire economic conditions in the Netherlands compelled them to emigrate, while their desire for religious
freedom led them to unite and settle together as a group.
</I>
</P>
<P align="right">
<small>
-- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland,_Michigan">Holland Michigan</a> (wikipedia)
</small>
</P>
</blockquote>
</P>
<P>
It seems that most of the major players in the formation of Perl Monks hail from
this picturesque and charming city,
an outpost of Dutch culture and tradition in the American mid-west, with a population of just 33,000!
</P>
<P>
<blockquote>
<P>
<I>
Hope College is a private, residential liberal arts college located in downtown Holland, Michigan, United States,
a few miles from Lake Michigan. It was opened in 1851 as the Pioneer School by Dutch immigrants four years after
the community was first settled.
</I>
</P>
<P align="right">
<small>
-- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_College">Hope College</a> (wikipedia)
</small>
</P>
</blockquote>
</P>
<P>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot">Slashdot</a>,
and the Everything Engine,
were the brainchild of a bunch of creative <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_College">Hope College</a>
students.
In particular,
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Malda">Rob "Commander Taco" Malda</a>,
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Bates_(technologist)">Jeff "Hemos" Bates</a>,
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Oostendorp">Nathan Oostendorp</a> aka [nate], Everything Engine architect Darrick Brown,
and [vroom|Tim Vroom] all attended Hope College in the late 1990s.
I'm pretty sure they also attended
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_Christian_High_School">Holland Christian High School</a>.
</P>
<P>
I gleaned this information only from browsing the internet, so if anyone knows
different -- or knows of other influential players from the early days who also hail
from Holland Michigan -- please let us know.
</P>
<P><B>Blockstackers Inc</B></P>
<P>
In particular, I don't know where early PerlMonks developer [chromatic]
resided in the late 1990s; though he lives in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillsboro,_Oregon">Hillsboro, Oregon</a>
nowadays, he <I>may</I> have lived in Holland Michigan back then [id://754203|while working for BlockStackers], joining "late summer 2000".
</P>
<P>
BTW, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Oostendorp">nate</a> refers to this company not as BlockStackers,
but as "Blockstackers Intergalactic (BSI)".
[id://44082|This node] indicates that the perlmonks.org domain was owned
by "Blockstackers Inc, 116 E.18th Holland MI 49423".
Curiously, <a href="http://www.holland.mi.phonepagesinc.com/Block%20Stackers%20Inc">Block Stackers Inc</a> still
seems to be in business in Holland today, filing Tax Returns. No idea if this is the same BlockStackers Inc
that founded PerlMonks however.
</P>
<P>
<blockquote>
<P>
<I>
When I was moving to Amsterdam, [pschoonveld] advised me to demand a certain clause
in my contract that translates to "pants not required"
</I>
</P>
<P align="right">
<small>
-- [Ovid] from [id://66465]
</small>
</P>
</blockquote>
</P>
<P>
Back in the heady <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot-com_bubble">Dot-com bubble</a> era,
Blockstackers Intergalactic (BSI) certainly seemed like a cool company to work for,
located in a beautiful and historic city,
with a name derived from
<a href="http://everything2.com/title/block+stacking+theory">Block Stacking Theory</a>,
and where <a href="http://everything2.com/title/Pants+are+optional">wearing pants was optional</a>.
</P>
<P><B>Top Ten Countdown</B></P>
<P>
For fun, and using the background information above,
let's try to identify the first ten Perl Monks, counting down from ten to one.
</P>
<P><B>No 10: [cinder_bdt]</B></P>
<P>
Node id: 1336; user since: Dec 23 1999 at 22:49 UTC; last here: Jun 15 2005; Experience: 8; 1 post.
</P>
<P>
I noticed a <a href="http://use.perl.org/use.perl.org/_cinder_bdt/index.html">cinder_bdt use.perl.org account</a>.
This tenth PM user could be Bryan D Thomas based on this <a href="https://twitter.com/cinderbdt">twitter account</a>.
If anyone knows more, please let us know.
</P>
<P><B>No 9: [yiango]</B></P>
<P>
Node id: 1335; user since: Dec 23 1999 at 22:29 UTC; last here: Mar 01 2000; Experience: 27; 6 posts.
</P>
<P>
I suspect [yiango] is an early Slashdot or Holland Michigan person because
in [id://1996] he says "Hey Tim" in response to [vroom], indicating he may know [vroom] personally (update: nope, just a random Linux geek from Cyprus).
Moreover, <a href="http://slasholic.sourceforge.net/">slasholic</a> is a Perl script written by "yiango" to query slashdot for new articles.
I found a circa 1999 <a href="http://everything2.com/user/yiango">yiango everything2 account</a>, <a href="http://sourceforge.net/u/yiango/profile/">yiango sourceforge account</a> and a <a href="https://twitter.com/yiango">yiango twitter account</a>.
The name "yiango" is obscure to me, but may be related to Cyprus, based on random googling.
</P>
<P>
[yiango] is the [id://417004|first "non-insider" Perl Monk],
beating [cinder_bdt] to that honour by just twenty minutes.
Update: and, [id://1108142|hailing from Cyprus], the first international Perl monk.
</P>
<P><B>Update: No 8a: [dem bones]</B></P>
<P>
Node id: 1329; user since: Dec 23 1999 at 21:49 UTC; last here: Dec 12 2000; Experience: none; 0 posts.
</P>
<P>
Ryan "dem bones" Postma, one of the early Everything developers.
Very little is known about him (see <a href="https://www.everything2.org/?node=The%20E2%20Backstory">The E2 Backstory</a> and [id://11139327|here]).
</P>
<P><B>No 8: [nate]</B></P>
<P>
Node id: 1316; user since: Dec 23 1999 at 03:36 UTC; last here: Jan 24 2009; Experience: 572; 24 posts.
</P>
<P>
Too easy.
This is obviously the father of the Everything Engine, Holland Christian High School and Hope College alumnus,
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Oostendorp">Nathan Oostendorp</a>.
</P>
<P><B>No 7: [pschoonveld]</B></P>
<P>
Node id: 1027; user since: Dec 02 1999 at 11:56 UTC; last here: Oct 01 2010; Experience: 695; 29 posts.
</P>
<P>
His home node says he is from "Utrecht, The Netherlands".
This may well be Patrick Schoonveld, who's linked-in account spookily lists his education as Hope College, Holland Michigan.
His CV further lists a stint at SourceForge/Slashdot and indicates he has worked in the Netherlands.
Finally, his "pants not required" advice to [Ovid] above
suggests he was part of the Blockstackers (BSI) culture.
</P>
<P><B>No 6: [sgtbaker]</B></P>
<P>
Node id: 1012; user since: Nov 19 1999 at 02:42 UTC; last here: Feb 18 2000; Experience: 4; 1 post.
</P>
<P>
This one is quite a mystery.
I found this <a href="http://www.librarything.com/profile/sgtbaker">library link</a> where user "sgtbaker" recommends a couple of Perl books.
Apart from that, nothing, nada, zilch.
If anyone knows, please let us know.
</P>
<P>
Update: Found a <a href="http://everything2.com/user/sgtbaker">sgtbaker</a>
user on everything2.com where his school is listed as Hope College
and his company as Everything Development Company.
It seems he worked closely with [nate], so closely that his nickname
was "the hands of nate"
(a pun on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manos:_The_Hands_of_Fate">the hands of fate</a>, one of the worst movies ever made) ... so
it remains a mystery
why he was not listed as an Everything employee by [nate] above.
</P>
<P>
Update: Heartbreakingly, it seems that [sgtbaker] was not a real person, [id://1196714|just a vroom (or perhaps nate) test account].
Still, the mystery remains, why sgtbaker?
Was [vroom] a keen fisherman, naming his test account after
the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latropiscis_purpurissatus">Sergeant Baker</a> fish?
</P>
<P><B>No 5: [vroom]</B></P>
<P>
Node id: 979; user since: Nov 12 1999 at 05:53 UTC; last here: Jul 04 2013; Experience: 1007430; 607 posts.
</P>
<P>
This is obviously Tim Vroom, primary founder of the PerlMonks web site.
Kudos for that, but how on earth did he manage to accumulate over a million experience points?
</P>
<P><B>Update: No 4a: [DiBona]</B></P>
<P>
Node id: 942; user since: Nov 03 1999 at 05:05 UTC; last here: Never; Experience: 0; 0 posts.
</P>
<P>
When interviewed by [jdporter] (see below) about his early involvement at PM, Chris DiBona replied: <I>"My interaction was limited to a teeny bit of stuff and a photo for the monk pictures"</I>.
</P>
<P><B>No 4: [dbrown]</B></P>
<P>
Node id: 859; user since: Oct 28 1999 at 07:37 UTC; last here: Oct 18 2001; Experience: 15; 2 posts.
</P>
<P>
This is almost certainly Darrick Brown, Hope College alumnus, outed as an early Everything Developer above by [nate].
</P>
<P><B>No 3: [CmdrTaco]</B></P>
<P>
Node id: 857; user since: Oct 27 1999 at 04:21 UTC; last here: Nov 03 1999; Experience: 9; 0 posts.
</P>
<P>
Though hardly a prolific Perl Monks user,
the nickname indicates this is the famous <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Malda">Rob "Commander Taco" Malda</a>,
co-founder of Slashdot.
</P>
<P>
Update: [id://485], posted by [id://114|gods] on Sep 08 1999,
was probably authored by [CmdrTaco].
Strangely, [CmdrTaco]'s home node says "Writeups: None" yet if
you click on "None" you find the one node authored by [CmdrTaco] namely [id://858] -
curiously, this node was created on Oct 27 1999, two months before
Perl Monks opened its doors to the public!
</P>
<P><B>No 2: [CowboyNeal]</B></P>
<P>
Node id: 850; user since: Oct 27 1999 at 02:31 UTC; last here: Jun 28 2000; Experience: 8; 0 posts.
</P>
<P>
This is indeed <a href="http://news-beta.slashdot.org/story/01/02/12/1617256/ask-the-man-behind-the-legend---cowboy-neal">Jonathan "CowboyNeal" Pater</a>
of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot">Slashdot</a> fame.
</P>
<P><B>No 1: [paco]</B></P>
<P>
Node id: 846; user since: Oct 27 1999 at 01:12 UTC; last here: Oct 27 1999 at 02:16 UTC; Experience: 754; 1 post.
</P>
<P>
We have saved the best for last!
754 experience points from just one post! Amazing!
The [id://847|highest rated node] of all time!
(Update: oops, only 2nd highest after [id://45213], thanks [tye] ... but it is the most upvoted node in Perl Monks history).
</P>
<P>
The mysterious [paco] spent a total of just sixty four minutes at this site,
incomprehensibly vanishing fifteen minutes before the second user arrived.
[paco] achieved more in sixty four minutes
than most of us do in a lifetime.
A living legend.
Like many others, I patiently await his return.
During my research, there were indications from some that [paco] may not be a real user.
Don't listen to those heretics.
[paco] will return!
</P>
<P><B>References</B></P>
<P>
<ul>
<li> [id://754085]
<li> [id://753626]
<li> [id://50833]
<li> [id://1024751]
<li> [id://523120]
<li> [id://44082]
<li> [id://885141]
<li> [id://230617]
<li> [id://421673]
<li> [id://243870]
<li> [id://574858]
<li> [id://485]
<li> [id://978296]
<li> [id://27596]
<li> [id://524312] by [chromatic] (mentions that XP wasn't part of PerlMonks from the start, when was it introduced?)
<li> [id://5943] by [vroom] (answer: March 23 2000)
<li> [id://6358]
<li> [id://29702] by [chromatic] (mentions [vroom] 1 million XP gift)
<li> [id://547050]
<li> [id://700062]
<li> [id://69991] by [footpad] (mentions [CmdrTaco])
<li> [id://1200761] by [1nickt] (update: external post by [CmdrTaco] about his feelings on Slashdot turning 20)
<li> [id://52722] by [ailie] (knows [vroom], [CowboyNeal] and [CmdrTaco] in real life)
<li> [id://145441] by [vroom] (were [vroom] and [ailie] romantically attached?)
<li> [id://292807] by [ailie] (ditto)
<li> [id://295032] by [thelenm] (mentions [CmdrTaco])
</ul>
</P>
<P>
<ul>
<li> [id://111170] by [antipaco] (links [paco] to [CmdrTaco]?)
<li> [id://157140]
<li> [id://102593]
<li> [id://173591] - this node was approved and front-paged by [paco] in 2002 as [id://11102746|pointed out] by [footpad]
<li> [id://11102746]
</ul>
</P>
<P>
<ul>
<li> [id://1110291]
<li> [id://645599]
<li> [id://645272]
</ul>
</P>
<P>
<ul>
<li> [id://11848] by [vroom] (May 2000) (noted by [jdporter] in [id://11154800])
<li> [id://42980] by [vroom] (Nov 2000)
<li> [id://188642] (2002)
</ul>
</P>
<P>
<ul>
<li> [Robo] (Rob Oostendorp)
<li> [krikke] (Josh Krikke)
<li> [JayBonci] (Jay Bonci)
<li> [pudge] (Chris Nandor)
<li> [clampe] (Cliff Lampe)
<li> [kurt] (Kurt DeMaagd)
<li> [chrisd] aka [dibona] (Chris DiBona)
<li> [id://1329|dem bones] (Ryan Postma)
<li> [Swap] (Everything2 user)
</ul>
</P>
<P>
<ul>
<li> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everything2">Everything2 Engine</a> (wikipedia)
<li> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot">Slashdot</a> (wikipedia)
<li> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan">Michigan</a> (wikipedia)
<li> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland,_Michigan">Holland Michigan</a> (wikipedia)
<li> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_College">Hope College</a> (wikipedia)
<li> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_Christian_High_School">Holland Christian High School</a> (wikipedia)
<li> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Oostendorp">Nathan Oostendorp</a> (wikipedia)
<li> <a href="http://oostendorp.net/">oostendorp.net</a>
<li> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Malda">Rob Malda</a> (wikipedia)
<li> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Bates_(technologist)">Jeff Bates</a> (wikipedia)
<li> <a href="http://beta.slashdot.org/story/9162">Slashdot interview: Rob Malda and Jeff Bates</a>
<li> <a href="http://sourceforge.net/p/everydevel/mailman/everydevel-opers/?viewmonth=200901">Some Everything developers chatter re Blockstackers copyright</a>
</ul>
</P>
<P><B>Everything2 References</B></P>
<P>
<ul>
<li> <a href="http://everything2.com/user/paco">Paco</a>
<li> <a href="http://everything2.com/user/cowboyneal">CowboyNeal</a>
<li> <a href="http://everything2.com/user/cmdrtaco">CmdrTaco</a>
<li> <a href="http://everything2.com/user/dbrown">dbrown</a>
<li> <a href="http://everything2.com/user/sgtbaker">sgtbaker</a>
<li> <a href="http://everything2.com/user/pschoonveld">pschoonveld</a>
<li> <a href="http://everything2.com/user/nate">nate</a>
<li> <a href="http://everything2.com/user/yiango">yiango</a>
<li> <a href="http://everything2.com/user/cinder_bdt">cinder_bdt</a>
<li> <a href="http://everything2.com/user/robo">Robo</a>
<li> <a href="http://everything2.com/user/dem+bones">dem bones</a>
<li> <a href="http://everything2.com/user/N-Wing">N-Wing</a>
<li> <a href="http://everything2.com/title/Everything2+Decaversary+Interviews%253A+N-Wing">Interview with N-Wing</a>
<li> <a href="http://everything2.com/title/Everything+Engine">Everything Engine</a>
<li> <a href="http://everything2.com/title/Everything2+Media+LLC">Everything2 Media LLC</a>
<li> <a href="http://everything2.com/title/Block+Stackers">Block Stackers</a>
<li> <a href="http://everything2.com/title/block+stacking+theory">Block Stacking Theory</a>
<li> <a href="http://everything2.com/title/Pants+are+optional">Pants are optional</a>
</ul>
</P>
<P>
<ul>
<li> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Pacoworld">User:Pacoworld</a> (wikipedia)
<li> <a href="http://sourceforge.net/u/paco/profile/">SourceForge user paco</a>
<li> <a href="http://slashdot.org/~paco">Slashdot user paco</a> (uid 6802)
<li> <a href="http://slashdot.org/~cmdrtaco">Slashdot user cmdrtaco</a> (uid 1)
<li> <a href="http://slashdot.org/~CowboyNeal">Slashdot user CowboyNeal</a> (uid 4)
<li> <a href="http://slashdot.org/~dbrown">Slashdot user dbrown</a>
<li> <a href="http://slashdot.org/~sgtbaker">Slashdot user sgtbaker</a>
<li> <a href="http://slashdot.org/~pschoonveld">Slashdot user pschoonveld</a>
<li> <a href="http://slashdot.org/~nate">Slashdot user nate</a> (uid 592)
<li> <a href="http://slashdot.org/~yiango">Slashdot user yiango</a>
<li> <a href="http://slashdot.org/~cinder_bdt">Slashdot user cinder_bdt</a>
</ul>
</P>
<P><B>References Added Later</B></P>
<P>
<ul>
<li> [id://11132245] by [SiteDocClan] (May 2021) - a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prequel">prequel</a> to this node, describing the history of the origins of PerlMonks, 1997-2000.
<li> [id://11132040] by [jdporter] (May 2021)
<li> [id://11153641] by [jdporter] (July 2023)
<li> [id://24491] - was designed to suck articles from news.perl.org and re-post them here, in the Perl News section (thanks [jdporter])
<li> <a href="https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/open-sources-20/0596008023/">Open Sources 2.0 book</a> by Chris DiBona, Mark Stone, Danese Cooper, O'Reilly 2005 (has a chapter on Slashdot by Rob Malda plus the whole Slashdot/Everything/Blockstackers/Andover/... backstory) - understanding this backstory helps understand PerlMonks, thanks [jdporter] for this reference
</ul>
</P>
<P>
<ul>
<li> [id://11153695] ([BBQ] finally achieves deserved Sainthood on Aug 4 2023)
</ul>
</P>
<P>
<ul>
<li> [id://11135952|Sorting References]
<li> [id://11156316] by me (2023) - early gold-star sorting nodes by significant PM historical figures, including [vroom], [merlyn], [chromatic]
</ul>
</P>
<P>
Thanks to [jdporter] for some extra historical info:
<ul>
<li> [id://11100028|List of Founding Perl Monks Users] : paco, CowboyNeal, CmdrTaco, dbrown, DiBona, vroom, pschoonveld, nate, dem_bones
<li> The first six meditations (ids:484-489): [id://484], [id://485], [id://486], [id://487], [id://488], [id://489]. All owned by [id://987], an alter ego of [nate] (the guy who wrote the Everything web system)
</ul>
</P>
<P>
<ul>
<li> [id://11144677] by [erzuuli] (June 2022)
</ul>
</P>
<P>
<ul>
<li> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot">Slashdot</a> (wikipedia)
<li> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_(software)">Slash</a> (wikipedia)
<li> <a href="https://soylentnews.org/">Soylent News</a> (web site forked from Slashdot)
<li> <a href="https://wiki.soylentnews.org/wiki/WhosWho">Whos Who</a> (who is behind Soylent news)
<li> <a href="https://wiki.soylentnews.org/wiki/TeamPages">Team Pages</a> (ditto)
<li> <a href="https://wiki.soylentnews.org/wiki/Development">Development</a> (ditto)
<li> <a href="https://www.everything2.org/?node=The%20E2%20Backstory">The E2 Backstory</a> (everything2.org)
</ul>
</P>
<P><B>Background References</B></P>
<P>
<ul>
<li> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvinism">Calvinism</a>
<li> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_College">Hope College</a> Holland Michigan
<li> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_College">Calvin College</a> Grand Rapids Michigan
<li> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland,_Michigan">Holland</a> Michigan
<li> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Rapids,_Michigan">Grand Rapids</a> Michigan
</ul>
</P>
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Updated Nov 17 2014: Minor corrections and wording changes; Nov 22 2014: Added Everything2 References plus minor update to "Blockstackers Inc" section (no pants required) and mystery sgtbaker user; Nov 23 2014: Added a bit more detail to top ten section, added more References; Nov 30 2014: Added more references; Aug 5 2017: Added Perl Monk No. 8a [dem bones], clarified Perl Monk No. 6 [sgtbaker]. May 2019: Added Background References. July 2019: added extra Paco reference from [footpad], added user 4a Chris DiBona unearthed by [jdporter].
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