Long before Twitter, Facebook, and all the other online platforms we know today, there was Usenet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet.
I volunteered to run the San Diego State University (SDSU) Usenet news server—an adventure, considering I had no prior experience with server management or the Linux/Unix systems it ran on. I am a very strong believer in that saying, there is nothing you (anyone) can’t do, if they put their mind to it and give it time.
Through a combination of hard work and a bit of luck, I managed to keep our server ranked among the top 50 on The Official TOP1000 Usenet Servers. It’s a shame that once platforms like Twitter and Facebook gained popularity, SDSU decided there was no longer a reason to maintain the news server.
In 1994, before online dating became mainstream, I created a local, computer-based singles group through a Usenet newsgroup I started. The group brought people together for social events like biking, movies, and lunches—and even led to several lasting marriages.
When I retired in 2020, I started looking for ways to stay engaged with computer-related projects that could benefit both myself and the community. It took a while to figure out the right direction. In late 2023, I began exploring the idea of running an online forum—something along the lines of Nextdoor or Facebook.
I experimented with a free platform at Forumotion. I didn’t promote it, though. I did let a few people test it out, mainly a couple people I know from Nextdoor. Instead, I let it sit while I carefully considered whether it was the right fit. Eventually, I realized it was more than I wanted to take on.
In the meantime, I began learning how to build WordPress websites—something that turned out to be incredibly flexible and opened a lot of new doors for me. Building websites was not new to me but WordPress was new. I built and still maintain my former works website Dr. Sanford Bernstein Lab Personnel Home Page and I still have my own website at SDSU William Kronert’s Home Page. These websites are built on hardcoding html, which is so much harder than using WordPress.
And here it is, A Voice Within — and here we are.
