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What Happened to the Braintalk Communities?

By John M. Grohol, PsyD
Founder & Editor-in-Chief

On July 20, 2006, Braintalk.org seems to have gone offline and hasn’t been seen since. The message announcing its hardware/software failure hasn’t been updated.

Anybody have any word or update as to its status? With a …

36 Comments to
What Happened to the Braintalk Communities?

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  1. I was an active member of BrainTalk on the Gluten Sensitivity board, and keep in touch with some other active members. Nobody seems to know anything, and most believe BrainTalk will not be back. I’d like to be proven wrong on that.

    Cara (jcc)

  2. This scares me, too! I am a long-time member of BT (over 4 years) and active participant on several forums. I check the “progress page” several times a day, and there has been no new news in a month. We were trying to put a book together on the hydrocephalus site when BT went down. I am so afraid it’s gone forever. Someone please tell me I’m wrong! :(

    LIZARD :(

  3. I am totally bummed about this, have
    been an active member on the hydro board
    since 2004, and BT was very important
    to me and thousands!

  4. I am worried too!! I was with BT for over 2 yrs and if it wasn’t for that board I don’t know where I would be today. I fear the worst, but pray that things will work out. Someone must know something, its all so mysterious. Patricia

  5. My understanding is that Brain Talk was created and kept up by John Lester. His website describes this:

    http://zero.hastypastry.net/pathfinder

    He is no longer with the hospital that he first founded Brain Talk Communities under. This makes me wonder if he needs financial assistance in getting Brain Talk back up. The e-mail addresses I have found for John Lester include:

    braintalk@gmail.com
    john.e.lester@gmail.com
    pathfinder@lindenlab.com

    I have tried e-mailing him letting him know how great the website was, and asking about updates, with no replies. Perhaps if more fans wrote positive e-mails to him, he might finally respond.

    Claire

  6. Mr. Lester had/has a pretty packed last half of July and most of August.
    He told me via email a week or so before the crash that he would be
    traveling alot.

    I have created a temporary Flash Chat (same software BT was using for it’s chatrooms for those BrainTalkers that are
    interested.

    Please use your BrainTalk name when you register (just so other BTers
    know who you are).

    If you have any questions or problems email me at asahigo at yahoo. com

    The address is http://www.thunder65.com/bt_temp_chat/chat/flashchat.php

  7. I have set up a temporary flash chat on my site for any and all BrainTalkers
    to use :) It’s the same software BrainTalk was using.

    http://www.thunder65.com/bt_temp_chat/chat/flashchat.php

  8. I too really miss the BT boards. Have been keeping up with them for several years. Where are they posting the updates? Would someone please let me know if they hear anything? cheryl_rose48@yahoo.com

  9. I have set up a temporary flash chat in lieu of BrainTalks.
    Since Mr. Lester is supposed to be traveling most of August I think it’s
    going to be a couple of more weeks before BT comes back.

    You can get to the chats by going to this url
    http://www.thunder65.com/bt_temp_chat/chat/flashchat.php

    ZS

  10. I have set up temporary flash chats in lieu of BrainTalk being down.
    Mr. Lester is going to be traveling most of the next two weeks or so.

    http://www.thunder65.com/bt_temp_chat/chat/flashchat.php

    The chat software is the same that BrainTalk was using.

    If you have any questions or problems with it just email me at
    asahigo at yahoo. com

    ZS

  11. Yikes! :o Sorry for the multiple posts/replies. They never showed up as
    being posted.

    ZS

  12. Are there any other web sites that the braintalk members are posting on?
    I really miss the boards!
    Carolynms

  13. Some people from the Peripheral Neuropathy board are posting here, but it is only for PN:
    http://www.npnc.org/main/

    People from the Gluten Sensitivity/Celiac Disease board have scattered around at other celiac boards~ links can be found here~ but many have just vanished:
    http://jccglutenfree.googlepages.com/favoritelinks

    I know a couple people tossing around the idea of beginning a new forum if BT doesn’t revive by October. With no updates, it is hard to believe it will be back.

    Cara (jcc)

  14. I also found the Healing Well forum the other day…not sure how many BTers are there or not, but several conditions are covered here.
    http://www.healingwell.com/community/

  15. there is a temp chatromm site being set up

  16. I have also been a member of BT for many years, and am upset to have it be down for such a long period
    of time with no updates. If JL would at least update the message, then we could all know what is needed
    to get BT back online…. I’m close enough to Boston that I’m tempted to drive there and personally
    go to the hastypasry server den to see if I can find out what the problem is.

  17. You would do all of us a service if you visited the BT home and found out what is happening. I emailed John Lester at his listed email address and never received a reply. Not a good sign.

  18. I am a member of the Multiple Sclerosis group.
    I miss the site terribly. I wonder how
    everyone is doing? This site saved my
    sanity when I was first diagnosed.

  19. Someone (I forget who) set up this site a long time ago and I saved it in my bookmarks – it doesn’t seem
    to be very active now, but it’s still there and it does seem to cover most of the topics that BT did,
    so maybe it can be used by BT members until BT comes back online.

    http://nydreamseeker.proboards42.com/index.cgi

  20. Hi folks…

    With little updates, we’ve gone ahead and setup a new temporary set of Brain Talk forums called BrainTalk2 at:

    http://braintalk2.org/

    You’ll have to register for your username again, as we don’t have access to the old database or anything. We’ll continue to setup the forums as we have time…

    But in the meantime, enjoy and spread the word!

  21. Hi again :)

    I had to do a reset on the chats to fix a security hole. Everyone will
    need to re-register however. Also you will need to use a password, no it
    doesn’t have to be your BrainTalk password.

    Here’s the url to re-register with.

    http://www.thunder65.com/bt_temp_chat/chat/

    Sorry for any inconviences this may have caused.

    ZS

  22. Isn’t it interesting that the original braintalk is broken, but the other parts of the hastypastry server are running just fine?

    I just thought that was interesting….

    Thanks DocJohn for creating the new braintalk2 for all of us.

  23. MND/ALS patients can come to http://www.patientslikeme.com internationally or http://www.build-uk.net in the UK or
    Europe in the meantime…

  24. I just wanted to let everyone know that BrainTalk is back up and
    running. The new address for the board is:

    http://forums.braintalk2.org/forumdisplay.php?f=22

    See you at the new board!

    GJZH

  25. I just want to let everyone know that I have formed a board for
    the Tarlov cyst and another board for the Spine…

    The addresses for both boards are:

    http://spinetalk.conforums.com/index.cgi

    http://tarlovcspine.conforums.com/index.cgi

    I do not know if I am allowed to post the website addresses,
    but I am trying to let everyone know they are welcome to post
    there as well…You will find great information on the spine
    and Tarlov cyst. The spine board is still a work in
    progress, but I am getting there…

    GJZH

  26. Please delete Message 23 please….If you can….

  27. I used Brain Talk years ago to learn about my new child’s disability – and to learn from other parents. I too feel the loss. I hope it is effectively recreated at Brain Talk 2. Please let me know if you find a good place with knowledgeable parents to talk about CP!
    jc

  28. There’s a great crew of kind hearted people answering ALS questions here: http://www.alsforums.com

  29. Hi,
    this is a really nice and friendly forum that I found:
    http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/index.php

    Check it out. It doesn’t seem as ban-happy was BT was.

    ConsiderThis

  30. http://braintalk2.org/

    HERE’S BRAIN TALK 2!!! A GREAT SITE WHERE A LOT OF BRAIN TALK MEMBERS CAN BE FOUND. IT LOOKS JUST LIKE BRAIN TALK WITH THE SAME FORUMS. THANKS JOHN!

    http://braintalk2.org/

    —————–
    MESSAGE 20 ABOVE:
    John M. Grohol, Psy.D. Says:
    August 21st, 2006 at 9:26 pm
    Hi folks…

    With little updates, we’ve gone ahead and setup a new temporary set of Brain Talk forums called BrainTalk2 at:

    http://braintalk2.org/

    You’ll have to register for your username again, as we don’t have access to the old database or anything. We’ll continue to setup the forums as we have time…

    But in the meantime, enjoy and spread the word!

  31. Dear John M. Grohol,

    Thank you so much for giving us the gift of Braintalk 2. Many are missing Braintalk 1, since Braintalk 1 went down, and having a temporary (if just temporary?) substitute forum, is wonderful.

    I hope John Lester (creator of BT 1, formerly at Mass. Gen’l Hospital) will post here, &/or on Braintalk 2, to give an update.

    I’m glad to see that on google.com that Braintalk 2 is now being listed, and that people are finding their way to BT 2 now!

    I hope all the old info on BT 1 won’t be entirely lost!

    See messages 20 & 30 above.

    Carol
    http://cantbreathesuspectvcd.com

  32. the new braintalks 2 is a lifesaver.
    Many of he old braintalkers are there.

    It’s so good to have a place to come again.

    Whatever did happen to John Lester?

    melody

  33. braintalk is back…there is a braintalk 2…(neuro talk)…and there is a regular braintalk….just like it was before…just do a search for Braintalk…….both sites have a lot of the old members. I visit the Epilepsy room and it is like a reunion!!!

    Lamac

  34. They are back up again.

  35. Just an FYI, since this thread is still indexed in Google, BrainTalk again appears to have been offline since yesterday and the server is showing the default Mac OS X page at the root URL, suggesting something not good.

    NeuroTalk communities is the alternative support and information-sharing community we setup to support members who need more reliable, secure access to their friends. I encourage you to check it out and see if it meets your needs. Unlike BrainTalk, our volunteer community team of isn’t anonymous either.

  36. Braintalk is alive and well. My gut feeling is that John Lester moved on or was forced out.; He did a heck of a good job while there and I was a member long before the crash of the server. I don’t underwastand why everyone wants to down a good community.
    Alex

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