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May 31, 2002, 12:22am

According to a chat log that I received two weeks ago, two things of
importance are supposed to occur today. While the release of 3.3 is
probably no longer on schedule, I doubt that the other event has changed.
For those of you who are unaware, Roland Vilett, AW's lead programmer, will
be reporting for his last day of work at Activeworlds this morning.

For those of you who don't realize the impact of this event on the
community, Roland has contributed too much to Activeworlds to recount. If
anyone had a technical problem, Roland was THE source on AW - period.
Having been around at least since the COF takeover of AW if not before (in
other words, a LONG time), Roland single-handedly programmed almost all of
the current browser, world, and universe software that we all use every day.

Putting aside some minor disagreements some might have, Roland has been
actively involved in the community since day one - holding TechTalks,
visiting worlds, and talking to people using his software. At times, he was
even moreso a representative of the company than his superiors. During the
days when corporate partners set the development order, Roland was at the
forefront, continually arguing to include more features aimed to improve
normal citizens' experiences.

I'm sure that everyone remembers an instance where Roland helped him or her
solve a problem. For myself, I still remember Roland's nonstop commitment
last Fall when AWTeen was continually being attacked by hackers and password
stealers. He must have been asked to resolve these problems at least a
half dozen times if not more, but he didn't complain once. Even when it was
past 10:00pm and he had to be off the clock, he was still working late into
the night restoring property, looking up world logs, and taking care of
vandals.

I titled this post "the end of an era" because Roland's leaving really is
just that, and cross-posted it to all these newsgroups because if there's
one topic that's of interest to all AW citizens, this is it. I hope that
I'm not alone in saying that Roland has left MrGrimm some very large shoes
to fill.

If you're reading this, Roland, I wish you luck in your future endeavors :)

May 31, 2002, 12:27am

Here here. I agree whole-heartedly. He will be sadly missed.

May 31, 2002, 12:33am

I am gonna miss Roland. I wish there would be a Going away party in AWGate.

[View Quote]

May 31, 2002, 12:46am

Well, although I've said my good-byes here, I have 20 something days
left and I couldn't help but second your remarks. Roland may well have
contributed more to the AW technology that anyone else in its short
history. As is all too often the case such people sneak out with
hardly a good-bye from all those they have benefited.

Let's all wish him a bright and prosperous future that he deserves.

[View Quote]

May 31, 2002, 1:09am

Indeed, Roland's passing will leave a huge hole in the AW community, as
well as in the future development of AW (if there is any). While I don't
doubt MrGrimm's skills as a programmer, Roland's countless years of
service to this product and its inhabitants will forever be unmatched.
He was one of the many level-headed AWC staffers who have since departed
AW's halls and is now the last of his kind (with the possible exceptions
of Flagg and Gand). May he find even more success and enjoyment in his
future endeavors.

But hey, we can't let him get away without saying goodbye! Whoever's on
the beta team (*cough*Agent1*cough*), post Lara's idea on the beta NG so
Roland will see it! :)

[View Quote] > According to a chat log that I received two weeks ago, two things of
> importance are supposed to occur today. While the release of 3.3 is
> probably no longer on schedule, I doubt that the other event has changed.
> For those of you who are unaware, Roland Vilett, AW's lead programmer, will
> be reporting for his last day of work at Activeworlds this morning.
>
> For those of you who don't realize the impact of this event on the
> community, Roland has contributed too much to Activeworlds to recount. If
> anyone had a technical problem, Roland was THE source on AW - period.
> Having been around at least since the COF takeover of AW if not before (in
> other words, a LONG time), Roland single-handedly programmed almost all of
> the current browser, world, and universe software that we all use every day.
>
> Putting aside some minor disagreements some might have, Roland has been
> actively involved in the community since day one - holding TechTalks,
> visiting worlds, and talking to people using his software. At times, he was
> even moreso a representative of the company than his superiors. During the
> days when corporate partners set the development order, Roland was at the
> forefront, continually arguing to include more features aimed to improve
> normal citizens' experiences.
>
> I'm sure that everyone remembers an instance where Roland helped him or her
> solve a problem. For myself, I still remember Roland's nonstop commitment
> last Fall when AWTeen was continually being attacked by hackers and password
> stealers. He must have been asked to resolve these problems at least a
> half dozen times if not more, but he didn't complain once. Even when it was
> past 10:00pm and he had to be off the clock, he was still working late into
> the night restoring property, looking up world logs, and taking care of
> vandals.
>
> I titled this post "the end of an era" because Roland's leaving really is
> just that, and cross-posted it to all these newsgroups because if there's
> one topic that's of interest to all AW citizens, this is it. I hope that
> I'm not alone in saying that Roland has left MrGrimm some very large shoes
> to fill.
>
> If you're reading this, Roland, I wish you luck in your future endeavors :)
>
>
>


--
Goober King
The end of an era, and the beginning of the end...
rar1 at acsu.buffalo.edu

May 31, 2002, 1:12am

allthough i am not his best friend , i hope he is going to have a great
future , and thx for all the effort he put in AW , i hope he drops by in AW
someday to check on us :)

"brant" <awteen at shoemakervillage.org> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:3cf6de56$1 at server1.Activeworlds.com...
> According to a chat log that I received two weeks ago, two things of
> importance are supposed to occur today. While the release of 3.3 is
> probably no longer on schedule, I doubt that the other event has changed.
> For those of you who are unaware, Roland Vilett, AW's lead programmer,
will
> be reporting for his last day of work at Activeworlds this morning.
>
> For those of you who don't realize the impact of this event on the
> community, Roland has contributed too much to Activeworlds to recount. If
> anyone had a technical problem, Roland was THE source on AW - period.
> Having been around at least since the COF takeover of AW if not before (in
> other words, a LONG time), Roland single-handedly programmed almost all of
> the current browser, world, and universe software that we all use every
day.
>
> Putting aside some minor disagreements some might have, Roland has been
> actively involved in the community since day one - holding TechTalks,
> visiting worlds, and talking to people using his software. At times, he
was
> even moreso a representative of the company than his superiors. During
the
> days when corporate partners set the development order, Roland was at the
> forefront, continually arguing to include more features aimed to improve
> normal citizens' experiences.
>
> I'm sure that everyone remembers an instance where Roland helped him or
her
> solve a problem. For myself, I still remember Roland's nonstop commitment
> last Fall when AWTeen was continually being attacked by hackers and
password
> stealers. He must have been asked to resolve these problems at least a
> half dozen times if not more, but he didn't complain once. Even when it
was
> past 10:00pm and he had to be off the clock, he was still working late
into
> the night restoring property, looking up world logs, and taking care of
> vandals.
>
> I titled this post "the end of an era" because Roland's leaving really is
> just that, and cross-posted it to all these newsgroups because if there's
> one topic that's of interest to all AW citizens, this is it. I hope that
> I'm not alone in saying that Roland has left MrGrimm some very large shoes
> to fill.
>
> If you're reading this, Roland, I wish you luck in your future endeavors
:)
>
>

May 31, 2002, 1:13am

Better yet, look at my idea - we shouldn't make him throw the party :)

[View Quote]

May 31, 2002, 4:38am

Roland, thank you for all the brilliant work, patience, attitude towards
users and for being such a great friend of the mixed bag of people using
this software :)

Whatever you do now, I wish you luck with your next job or project!

HenrikG


[View Quote]

May 31, 2002, 10:14am

Even though I almost went to prison thanks to Roland. I agree, he has almost
solely kept Active Worlds alive. Maintaining contact between AWCorp and the
Users as well listning to us whenever he could to improve the software.

You will be missed Roland, do come back and see us when you can :)

-Robbie

[View Quote]

May 31, 2002, 10:37am

Roland will be missed greatly, what we have as our AW now, is a very large
part of because he worked so hard to help everyone that asked him, to keep
things running smoothly and to make our experience the best it could be. Id
like to thank him for everything, thanks Roland, you'll be missed greatly,

- Maka

May 31, 2002, 11:22am

Roland was a great person. At Tech Talks he explained everything and if you
had questions he answered them. He also made AW the way it is today. I will
miss you roland.

-CarLBanks

P.S. Hey Roland could release 3.3 after Ceremony if The powers that be let
him.

May 31, 2002, 11:34am

Well, that chat log said that 3.3 is to be released within a few hours (i.e.
before the ceremony). I doubt that AW would release it after business
hours, and besides, release dates for any kind of software, no matter what
company, are always inevitably delayed, so don't be surprised if the log is
no longer accurate :)

[View Quote]

May 31, 2002, 11:58am

Couple hours? Cool!

[View Quote]

May 31, 2002, 1:29pm

which chat log is this? I must has missed it...

-Computerizer

"brant" <awteen at shoemakervillage.org> wrote in
news:3cf77be0$1 at server1.Activeworlds.com:

> Well, that chat log said that 3.3 is to be released within a few hours
> (i.e. before the ceremony). I doubt that AW would release it after
> business hours, and besides, release dates for any kind of software,
> no matter what company, are always inevitably delayed, so don't be
> surprised if the log is no longer accurate :)
>

May 31, 2002, 2:32pm

I agree, Roland will be sorely missed by us all! I hope he'll have as much
success with his future projects as he has with AW! Bye Roland, I hope
you'll drop by AW sometimes :-))

KAH

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