Where do they go?

[Mike Page]

Over the years there have been a number of bonsai websites that I enjoy visiting that seem to flourish, and then vanish. Sometime back there was bonsaiTALK that did very well, and then quit.
Very recently the site Art of Bonsai seems to have gone to cyber heaven.
How are you doing, "Nut"? Hang in there!!

Mike

 

[reddog]

I'm curious what happens to the content of these sites. There was a lot of good info and pics on BTalk.

 

[John Romano]

Are both AOB and KOB DOA ?

 

[Mike Page]

Are both AOB and KOB DOA ?

John
Don't know what happened. Can't access either one. I emailed Will Heath to no avail. Maybe the AoB server crashed. Lot of good content there. Hope they can save it.
\
Mike

 

[John Romano]

AOB was back up today. Still couldn't access KOB?
john

 

[buddhamonk]

I gotta say one of my favorite ones back in the day (5 years ago maybe) was Bonsai Enthusiast - now that was a very good website but then they decided they'd charge people for visiting an online magazine, and that was the end of it...

 

[Mike Page]

AOB was back up today. Still couldn't access KOB?
john

AOB still isn't working properly. They haven't solved all the problems. For instance, I'm not allowed to view any images even though I logged in. But, they are working on it and I'm sure it will be fixed eventually.

 

[Mike Page]

I'm happy to say that AOB seems to be up and running normally. I was able to post a message and image. No problem.

 

[Mike Page]

AOB is gone again

 

[irene_b]

They are updating the sites....
http://www.artofbonsai.org/index.php
http://knowledgeofbonsai.org/
working fine...

 

[sfhellwig]

They go to that place just beyond your reach, taunting you as if they may come back.

I actually ended up here when BonsaiTALK went down. I spent a lot of time waiting for BT to come back up. I see it as a blessing in disguise as this place has ended up quite helpful with a range of relate-able people. I guess it was around that time that every site was having arguing and people personally attacking each other, but I think I landed at the place that handled it best.

Always be glad that we have what we do here. My "local" group that was still trying to get going is losing our established site because of hosting issues. If anything ever happened to BNut, I think I would just give up on the internet bonsai thing.

 

[Anonymous User]

AoB is fine, couldn't let all that content just vanish....although a good web manager with css knowledge would be a great help....

 

[ovation22]

Will, what are you looking for with CSS knowledge? Redoing the site?

 

[Bill S]

"Will Heath Disappeared with Robert Steven's Pot
Robert Steven "

This post elsewhere on the site may cause a no answer, but I think he needs to respond to it first - you might want to contact Paul Stokes at the AoB site, he is listed as the one doing maintanance an upkeep there.. Although the site problems may be the reason for the nasty gram from Mr Stevens.

 

[ovation22]

Thanks Bill. I'll try to remember to send Paul an email this evening. Though, I'm not sure if I'll have the time to commit to another project. I was more curious than anything as I would have thought Andy Rutledge would have been the logical choice. Didn't he make the initial design? Oh well, I'm sure he's busy with other projects.

 

[Bill S]

I think you are correct re. andy.

 

[ovation22]

That's too bad. I miss Andy. I enjoyed his writing and contributions

 

[buddhamonk]

AoB is fine, couldn't let all that content just vanish....although a good web manager with css knowledge would be a great help....

looks like Mr Will was here just three days ago...I wonder if he really disappeared

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Fortunately for you all, this site does not make any money

Because it does not depend on commercial backing, I can spend a lot of time on it when I'm in the mood, and step away from it when I need a break. As long as the site does not blow up or crash, it requires little maintenance. Even in the event of a total wipe-out, I keep archives of all content so data lost would be minimal.

It is more difficult emotionally than technically to keep a site up for year after year. People's lives are not static - they move, they take new jobs, they get into or drop away from hobbies, they get married or have kids. Any of these changes can impact their ability to create and maintain a site. Eventually, it would be wise of me to add moderators - not so much to control the site content, as to help maintain and grow the site. If you aren't careful, it becomes a bit of a grind day after day; especially dealing with the spam (which hopefully you all never see - or see very little of)

 

[Smoke]

If you aren't careful, it becomes a bit of a grind day after day; especially dealing with the spam (which hopefully you all never see - or see very little of)

....and this is why I don't mass produce stands. When something becomes a grind it loses it's fun luster.


As far as I'm concearned, a lot of the mystique about bonsai has been lost to the internet. While there has been lots to see and learn, there has also been a certain amount of dumbing down about bonsai. Kimura trees, Kobayashi trees etc. etc. are every day trees after a while. We grow so familer with their form that after a while even a Kimura tree or a Kobayashi tree looks cookie cutter and thats a bad thing.

Right now I am reading several books on the California Gold Rush in 1849. I have been traveling to the ghost towns and becoming re aquainted with them. The one thing I am always struck with was each arrgonaut's desire to keep his new strike a secret. The secret did not last long since those wishing to seek the easy path would hang out around the Wells Fargo depot and follow those back to their claim only to ambush it and take the diggings.

I wonder sometimes about bonsai and the secretive nature of technique. Have the Japanese given us the entire picture or do we not know half yet. The internet has done wonders into reveling secrets about how to do bonsai, but can all this exposure cause harm too?

Al