THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE

I saw a phrase I hadn't seen before the other day. It was 'ghost site'. It refers to a dormant website on the net. I had seen the phrase 'ghost sign' before and indeed I live across the road from one, an old Hovis Bread sign fading slowly on an old shop wall.

Ghost site sums up perfectly that strange thing you find online, a site that hasn't been updated for years and despite still existing on the net its been more or less abandoned.

Dormancy like this can be for many reasons. There maybe nothing new to say. There maybe nothing new to find. There maybe be personal reasons on the part of the author not least of which could be getting on with other parts of their life.

The first ghost site I came across was the much-missed Stingray Museum. It was alive and swimming when I first hooked up to the net. I even corresponded with the site creator back in the 1990's. After some time though it became dormant and even worse disappeared altogether. Fortunately its ratemaster was still whirring and it resurfaced on that portal to lost worlds, The Wayback Machine.

I have met with many ghost sites since then and lament the passing of many others into the ether. The Gerry Anderson Complete Comics History or GACCH was such a work. Comprehensive and monumental, it vanished completely only to again fortunately rise in some form on the Wayback Machine, fast becoming the web's official ghost town.

Ghost sites worry me. I know that one day Moonbase Central will be such a one. OK, its rather maudlin' to think like that I know but as we fast approach the tenth anniversary this Autumn I do wonder how much longer it can run. I suppose what is most on my mind is whether I still have anything new to say. My co-authors still do but personally my own collecting days are largely over and without new stuff to play with its hard to stay fresh.

Yes, I do still have a large space toy collection, especially Project SWORD, but how many more times can I talk about these? Virtually all the research that is possible has been done into this line with new material few and far between these days. Being a blog Moonbase Central relies on newness. Readers have been brilliant these last couple of years, providing many articles and titbits to bolster the effort of the three of us at MC, for which I am eternally grateful as it has indeed helped keep the blog fresh and relevant to its audience.

I dunno. Those ghost sites are on my mind. Any advice on what to do with ghosts?