The Spacebar - by Nick

A link to the Spacebar [web-page] and [telnet server].

The Spacebar is an all-text chat area. It now can be accessed via an IRC (Internet Relay Chat) client, but when I first began hanging out at the Spacebar it used only a proprietary telnet interface, which is still available, and which I still use.

The Web page for Spacebar proclaims:

"You are not alone. The Internet shuttles millions of electronic personalities just like you. Here is a forum for quiet talks and raucous banter. No matter where your body is, plug your brain into the space bar, and you're part of an ongoing salon. If you're an old hand at online chat, you'll find a familiar place. Maybe even some old friends. If you've never done this before, just take a deep breath, relax, and we'll take it nice and slow......"

Most of the denizens of Spacebar live in San Francisco and work in the multimedia industry. Many of the people I chat with on Spacebar are friends I met in San Francisco in person ("in the meat," as John Perry Barlow would say), although some of them I had talked to on Spacebar prior to "meating" them. Several of the people I talk to on Spacebar I have never met in person, and many live in other places across the country. Today I spoke with three people at some length on Spacebar: My friend Jen, aka "napkin," who goes to college in Illinois and who I haven't even met in person; a journalism student from Perdue who I also haven't met in person, and whoose name I don't know, but who goes by the handle "buffythevamp"; and Brendan, aka "erase," who I know from San Francisco. Spacebar has its regulars (of which I am one) and is a comfortable conversational place for those regulars, at least.

In the wee hours, I have heard, a group of Spacebar regulars from Australia logs on and chats.

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Cyborganic Thursday Night Dinners - by Nick
Romona St., San Francisco, CA
Dispatches at http://www.cyborganic.com/cafe/tnd.html

The idea of the Thursday Night Dinners, events which have been featured in Rolling Stone and 24 Hours in Cyberspace, is described by Cyborganic thusly:

"Every Thursday night our community of friends gathers at the Cyborganic homestead to share delicious food, good company, and fine conversation. These regular dinners, better known as TND (Thursday Night Dinner), have been playing to rave reviews for about two years now. They are the seed from which we will sprout a full-time, offline community space. Once described as "an IRL chat with vittles," Thursday Night Dinners are potluck affairs where everyone brings a little something (be it wine or dishwashing muscle), and the regulars take turns at Guest Cheffing, providing the main dish. They also serve to remind us that there's still something about face-to-face interaction we can't duplicate online. The warmth of a crowded room, the electric thrill of eye contact with a stranger, the smell of food cooking... these things bring people together in a basic, human way." Although a bit unusual for newcomers, TNDs were very sociable events for those acclimated to the setup and introduced to the partying geeks. People often chatted with each other (even others who were there, present at the party, in a nearby room) via the Spacebar, although there was plenty of ordinary verbal conversation, too. Often, people met at TND who had first met online.

In many ways TND reminded me of a trendier, more effective version of the pizza lunches the San Antonio Modem Users Group had when I was in high school and an active BBS user. The TNDs brought people together who were united by profession or interests more strongly than those in SAMUG, and the people were all around the same age. TNDs still occur, but now at Cyborganic's new office space, a retail area they are planning to make into a cafe. I haven't really attended, virtually or physically, since leaving San Francisco in June, although I have dropped by the Spacebar when TNDs were going on once or twice.