I first got email in 1994, with an address at the RULimburg, the University of Limburg. In those days we typed in our instructions in DOS code, which appeared in white courier type on a blue screen, and the modem burbled like R2-D2 as the postings came through the wires. There was no spam, but also no ‘delete’ button. The instruction > del *.* would either delete all the mail in the folder in one swipe, or clean up the hard disk in a really radical fashion.
I got connected just in time to sign up as one of the first participants in the Talisman discussion list, devoted to the scholarly discussion of Baha'i history, doctrines, and current affairs. At that stage I was just making my second attempt to learn Arabic, this time at night classes, and was beginning to realise that there were entire dimensions of Bahai history and teachings that could not be found in English books, but could be studied with the humble and generous souls who inhabited the early Talisman world.
I have stayed with Talisman through all its ups and downs, to its present incarnation as Talisman9
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/talisman9
and my life and knowledge are both immensely richer, thanks to the Talisman community. Leaving aside some incidents and firefights, Talisman has also contributed a great deal to the Bahai community. Among the ideas and initiatives discussed were typing (and later scanning) and proof-reading electronic versions of Bahai Writings, forming an on-line library to house them, and forming special interest groups for Bahai Studies in the academic associations for Middle-Eastern Studies.
My “Leiden List” of the tablets of Baha’u’llah began with a talisman discussion, and a first list that was put up by another member there.
Since those early days I’ve joined many other Bahai discussion lists:
Tarjuman for the discussion of translation issues,
Tarikh for Babi and Bahai history,
H-Bahai for Shaykhi-Babi-Bahai scholarship,
Bahai_discuss as a community chat-room,
Mashriq for discussions of Bahai worship and mysticism and the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar.
In all of them, I’ve received far more than I have given. On this site I have made a retrospective sampling of my postings to these lists. I have removed my various email addresses, and anything that would identify the particular person I was responding to, and I have selected from the postings so that only one topic is covered in each pdf document.