I'm absent for the entire middle of the year as well, hiding from the professional crisis of confidence that tends to hit grad students when they've been in school for a while and can't quite see the way to their theses. In fact, I'm spending much of that time hanging out with Kibo, watching bad movies. Late in the year I get several swift kicks in the butt and begin to recover. The Summer and Fall of Love. In early 1996, Kibo suddenly comes back.
Volume increases again.
The newsgroup appears to have gained magical powers as a love machine. The reason may be that the female population is increasing, and some women who had mostly lurked in the past are posting more often, thereby attracting lots of geekly men like flies to syrup. The subject is also less of a taboo than it used to be, largely because of the efforts of long-time a.r.k regular Ellen Holmes, who's willing to talk about it. I meet Samantha Wilkinson . The Age of Flamewars.