Times change ... Situations change.

When they do, action is needed. Immediate and definite. These are the crossroads where I find myself standing - where it's time to step back. I'll stop in from time to time, but for all intents and purposes it's goodbye. This has been creeping up for a long time ... and it's finally here ;)

I've made some good friends along the way ... people that I can be proud to say that I've known. I can only hope that I've managed to give as much back to this community as I've taken from it ... after all, that's the only way for a community to flourish - by the people that it consists of. But anyway, this is my story, my opinion and my views on how things are and how they should be. There are so many people around both old and new, so many memories and thoughts. I'll miss out a lot, that's pretty much certain, but as it's my farewell speech just let me ramble for a while and hopefully you'll find something in here that you can relate to. Find it frank and honest, find it accurate ... or just find it pretentious crap. Those are the options given to you by free will. Failing everything else, just treat it as another Rhino rant and move along :)

I'm posting this same thing at a few different places that I've come to call home .... not them all as I hadn't realised just how many there were ;)

I've been thinking. What's it all about? When you get down to it ... why are you here? For me it's been a journey ... about the quest for learning. About the want ... the need to figure out why? how? and then set about doing it all better. People settle for second best every day ... I see it and I can't believe it. That's something that I've just never understood - I don't think I ever will. Strive for perfection - it's the only way. When you get close you'll realise that it's forever a journey ... one that you can never reach the end of ... and then you'll move on and up some more. Never look back. No regrets.

I can still remember the time ... the time of how things used to be. Back when there was still some drive left in this community. As I said, the times they are a changing ... and not always for the better.

I see the people coming through nowadays ... and only the odd person with the enthusiasm, the want and the desire to learn ... but that's sadly lacking from the whole as of late. Everyone it seems wants to have the here-and-now-which-button-do-I-press-next attitude ... no intention to learn anything ... no desire to figure things out for themselves. As the saying goes:

"He who asks a question may be a fool for a few minutes
He who does not ask may be a fool forever"

... but he who takes the question ... who has the want to find out for himself ... the reasoning behind ... and not just the answer. Those are the sort of people that will learn ... will form the next generation. Will go on and form the future of this or any community. Forget cracking / hacking ... that's the only way to live life. Too many people sit back and take the easy route, but I guess that's something that not too many believe in these days.

Yes, we've all been lazy at some point (asking SSS what a socks proxy was) or stupid at some point (getting GM's help programming a simple progress bar ;)) ... yes ... I did both of those at one point and remember them well ... but the never ending need to know more ... when everything you've learned just isn't enough ... to figure out why things are the way they are ... why things work like they do ... why people don't do them better ... and then to go out and do them better ... that's what's missing these days. Passion.

"Programming is a race between people making better and faster programs and the universe making bigger and dumber people. So far the universe is winning"

For me this pretty much sums it up. The days of the open communities are drawing to a close ... the last few bastions that form the core ... the hungry ... will huddle to their own groups. Webmasters are becoming smarter then they used to be ... that's for sure ... but it's mainly due to them having to because of people that run a half a million wordlist against a site ... no doubt completely the wrong format ... but that's what it said in the button pushing tutorial.

It seems like every program nowadays comes with a built in exploiter. The best exploiter is Netscape Gold 3.0 and your brain. If you can't use that then no amount of button pushing is going to help. And yes, I do see the irony in having made several of the button pushing programs myself ;).

That being said, I can see people willing to learn ... wanting to take the next step and that's where these places still serve their purpose. It'll take the collective efforts to pull through ... to progress to the next levels. A few here will know of where I speak ... some others dream of such a place ... but for me there are no limits. There are no boundaries. Whatever someone wants to achieve they can. It all comes back to the hunger. There can be no 'too hard' or 'just show me' mentality if there is to be any hope of a future. Put the spoons away. Learn. Onwards and upwards ... the only way to go. Be that in this cracking world or even more so in real life. The same mentality can be applied wherever.

Well ... that's the way I see things as I now stand back and take a look around. It's been a while since I did that ... and I'd recommend others to do the same. Just take a look at yourself. Is that where you want to be ... where you think you should be? The answer is no ... whether you admit it to yourself or not. You're better than that ... you can do better. All you need is the the self drive to make it happen ... the confidence to put things in motion ... everything else will follow in due course, but you need the belief and the desire for yourself.

But, alas, I fear that the majority will find that too much effort. Will look for the simpler way. There will be a few that do this ... those few who will go on to better and greater things ... and those that choose to push for this will always have my respect and admiration. If you won't take steps to better yourself then nobody will be willing to help you do it. Those willing to take the extra step ... to put in that little bit more effort ... you are the sort of people that I can aspire to be like. People who can hold their heads high ... who I will have been proud to have known.

Well, as time passes, people move on. This is the juncture I now find myself at... and all good things must come to an end. This part of my life has been good - and it now reaches its logical conclusion. All that remains for me to say are a few personal words. Mostly thanks. To everyone. Whether you loved any of my programs or despised them. Whether I helped you or you helped me in some way. Whether you respected me or just hated me (there were more than a few, I know ;)) Ultimately it's you, the people of the community that make the community ... even if we've never met you've been the inspiration to move forward. The drive for self learning is pretty fundamental ... helping others to realise they should follow that path even more so. I'll fire out a few personal thanks to people. I know I won't be able to fit in everyone that I've spoken with ... that has contributed to who 'Rhino' is or was ... but there are too many to be sure to include them all. For that I apologise and hope you realise that I appreciate the part the everyone has played. Who I will always remember and who mean that I will be all the more enriched for it.

Generally, to everyone I've known ... everyone that I haven't ... you've all played a role. Whether you realised it or not. You're all the inspiration ... the drive ... the fuel to satisfy the insatiable hunger that is life. That was life. The things that might once again be around some time far in the future ... stranger things have happened ... I can certainly testify to that ;)

Rhino might be gone, but the memories that live with me as a person will not be forgotten. You all have my respect and admiration. The only thing I ask in return is for you to drive on. To move forwards and upwards. You can all do it. Want it ;)

You have my thanks.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Rhino has left the building....