|
|
|
Archive:
KIDLINK
|
Sat, 21 Mar 1998 22:52:56 +0100From: Robbert Uittenbroek parwanto@WXS.NL Subject: Something from me :) Dear KIDLINKERS! It's been a while since I send something to this list. I really enjoyed reading Lara's letter; Maybe you should write a book? ;) I've been with KIDLINK for a long time.. If I'm right, KIDLINK started in 1990, when I was just a 12 year old boy.. I didn't have internet yet then, and didn't know anything about it either. In 1994, the DDS project was started in the Netherlands, it was the beginning of the internet revolution in the Netherlands. Before DDS (De Digitale Stad meaning The Digital City) only universities had access to the internet. DDS was the first public internet provider in the Netherlands. I found out about DDS via my dad. He doesn't really know much about computers, but saw an advertisement in the newspaper about DDS. Me, having a modem, decided to check it out.. It was very new to me all and I wasn't sure what to expect. It seemed that I was one of the few "younger" people checking out this new service; I remember being welcomed by the "youth department" of DDS. The DDS had a link to the KIDLINK website/gopher and I decided to check it out. Eventhough I only had a telnet connection those days (meaning: only text), I thought KIDLINK was pretty neat. I wanted to sign p and one of the persons at DDS helped me do this. The areas I joined in KIDLINK were KidCAFE and the IRC. I liked KidCAFE alot because I was able to find kids of my age from all around the world. I found quite some penpals and have a drawer filled with letters and postcards I received from people all over the world. I loved the IRC. It was just so awesome to be able to talk to people in real time. I remember Mark Hunnibel, who was running the IRC all by himself. I remember meeting Patti and Andraz. Patti sortoff made Andraz (from Slovenia) and me participate in the IRC chats. I remember feeling affraid because my English wasn't too good; I remember having loads of fun chatting with people.. I remember being online forever!
I joined KIDLINK in 1994 (according to my RESPONSE file). I was around 14/15
then, which was pretty old already (according to KL terms). Nevertheless
I have been a (happy) KIDLINK IRC user for about 2 years. I remember the
group of people who used to be online almost everyday; I remember playing
games and having chats (KidCAFE), I remember meeting great people. I remember
falling in love onetime
It now seems a long time ago. I am older and no longer a KL IRC user. Ever
since I joined KIDLINK (and especially KL IRC) I felt like "something was
missing". The IRC had alot more restrictions
those days than it has now. I was banned from the IRC 2 times because of
having inappropriate chats. I had the urge of becomming a part of KIDLINK.
I wanted to change things; Make a difference, be there, mean something..
Maybe I wanted to be able to have fun
without being watched all the time, I don't know. I do remember Mark starting
to make a team to help him run the IRC. I remember me not being a part of it.
When I think back now, I know why Mark didn't chose me to be part of the IRC
team, I was too young and reckless.. I was too immature. So, I turned 16 and
had to leave KIDLINK. I was too old :(
I've been away from KIDLINK for quite some time. About 6 months after my last
chat on the IRC, I received a letter from Hannah Sivan. She had become the
manager of the IRC, together with David (Lloyd) and she/they wanted me to
be on the team. Ofcourse I decided to say yes, and became part of the
KIDLINK organisation.
I was happy to be there, but became unhappy after a while. I felt new,
not knowing anyone, lonely.. All my friends had left, they had turned 16
too.. I was
back, but it was only me. This was quite difficult, and almost I had left
the team again.. There was no fun, I was alone :/ I wrote Hannah about how
I felt and why. I don't remember what she answered, but it must have been
a very nice letter because I'm still here.
I wanted to be part of KIDLINK again. No just the organisation, but also
just chatting (be an user). This is what I did.. I got back to the IRC and
started to meet new people. They were younger than me, and I realized things
wouldn't be the same way anymore as they used to be.. But, then I
remembered something.. I wanted to make a difference.. I wanted to be there.
Soo.. I started to work :) I started out as an IRC helper, meaning help new
users online and monitor the chats... I made new friends and it became lots
of fun again to be online. After a while, I started to do registrations.
Laurie
explained this to me and sent me the IRC manual.. I learned how to register
people, how to reply.. and lots more.
After becomming Registration Assistant, I wanted to know more about... alot :)
I started to explore the IRC homedir, and checked out the scripts used for
many different purposes.. I decided to learn Perl, the script language used
for almost all KIDLINK scripts (like, for handling registrations, web pages
stuff, the IRC helpbot.. so many things!). Thanks to a little help from my
perl friends (Tryggvi and Ingimar) I learned perl... Step by step, day by
day.. Slowly I started to understand it, and now I'm capapble of writing
pretty complex scripts... After the scripts came the webpages... I started
to learn
HTML, and at a certain moment, I redid most of the IRC web pages.
Hannah then decided to leave as manager for IRC. David had already left
quite some time ago; I think he's active in another part of KIDLINK now
(KIDLINK Hewbrew?). Well, we got a new manager... The new manager was
Bonnie Thurber.. someone I did not really know, except from knowing her
daughter, Bev, whom I chatted with quite alot on the IRC.
I think for the IRC team, having a new manager was quite an adjustment.. A new
way of organising things.. A new person to ask, post and receive tasks from..
Happily, this "new manager" feeling didn't last too long. Bonnie knew what
she was expected to do, and she's grown to be a good manager of the IRC.
This goes with
ups and downs ofcourse, but overall I think she did and is doing a great job.
A while ago, I became the assistant manager of KIDLINK IRC. I feel
a little proud of because it gave me the feeling Bonnie (and the IRC
organisation) knows what I am capable of and trusts me to a certain level.
It's now around 4/5 years ago since I joined KIDLINK. I saw, I watched,
I enjoyed and joined.. I started out as "just another person", and now
I make a difference.. I reached (one of many) goals!!
After reading this all, I'm sure you all wonder why I posted this
message.. The idea is that I didn't do this alone. KIDLINK gave me an
opportinity
to grow! To become more, to do more, to make a difference,
to be someone, to mean something. The cool thing is, I didn't do this alone!!
Hannah got me back to KIDLINK, Tryggvi and Ingimar helped me with perl,
Bonnie made me feel valuabled (sp?) and.. all the other people, they kept
me going!
KIDLINK is a place to mean something.. to make a difference.. To be able
to chat to so many people, different cultures, visions, ways of life. The
ammount
of information you can find on the net is huge.. Same goes for KIDLINK.
There is
*so much* you can learn from eachother.. not only the kids, also
adults can learn here. One of my goals is making this a better world..
there are many (impossible) ways to do this.. KIDLINK gives you the
opportunity to
do this in a good, possible way. Learning from eachother is where it all
starts.
Being able to understand, reason, help and learn from eachother will
make a step forward and making this a better world.. nicer to live in, more
fun!
KIDLINK is a word.. YOU make it real! YOU make it mean something. Being here,
wanting to learn.. want to see.. it makes the difference.. KIDLINK is not just
another organisation.. Our goal is not to make money.. Our goal is not to
gain power
or something like it.. It's to make a difference.. To give people the
opportunity
to chat.. to communicate.. to change the world.
I know there are many people, kids and adults, out there who are subscribed
to the KIDLINK
lists but don't know where to start. KIDLINK is big, and it may
be difficult to find your way around.. I had the same problem, and I can
tell you.. the best way to get around here is ASK. The people who work for the
KIDLINK organisation will be happy to help you to find the right place(s)
here..
It's *us* who make this all work. I hope you all will ask yourself what you
would want
to use KIDLINK for and then *do it*. It doesn't start here, it starts in
your heart..
I guess this was a long letter.. but I just had alot to say :) I hope
you had some fun reading it all and understand the true meaning of this
long letter.. The bottom line is: we make it work! we make the difference!
So.. go make it! :)
Kind Regards, |
 Back
For more information about the Kidlink organization
please write to kidlink-info@kidlink.org.
Web version maintained by Patricia A. Weeg
patti@globalclassroom.org - Updated June13, 1998.
Copyright ® 1997 Kidlink . All rights reserved. |
