TOTSE (Template:IPA2, commonly mispronounced as Template:IPA2 and Template:IPA2) is a San Francisco Bay Area website and former BBS. The name is an acronym for "Temple of the Screaming Electron".

TOTSE was started by Jeff Hunter (a founding member of NIRVANAnet) in 1989 as a dial-up BBS originally named "& the Temple of the Screaming Electron". The original &TOTSE specialized in small text files. (Hunter had an old 8088 PC XT clone with limited hard drive space; small text files were the only data he could store in reasonable quantity.)

TOTSE became available on the Internet in 1997, and the dial-up BBS system was discontinued in spring 1998 after a particularly vicious flame war between two then-prominent users was allowed to rage out of control for weeks while the sysop was absent. Upon returning, Jeff Hunter/Taipan Enigma promptly closed the system to new users. Anyone attempting to sign on as a new user during that period would be greeted by a message from Taipan/Jeff which laid the blame for the system's troubles squarely at the feet of the users. Although the persons involved certainly share part of the blame, long-time users were quick to note that this would not have happened had the situation not been ignored for so long.^[1]

The absenteeism of the sysop, normally a boon when the system was home to a thriving population of self-policing users, became the system's bane. Not long after this notice to new users was posted, &TOTSE's dial-up incarnation was shut down. It has been noted that the same problem that lead to the demise of &TOTSE's dial-up incarnation have contributed directly to the poor signal-to-noise ratio of its present incarnation on the web.^{[citation needed]}

Recently, Totse's most popular forum, Spurious Generalities, was booted from it's Hot Topics spot due to massive spam attacks. This has signifigcantly decreased traffic to that forum, but increased traffic to the other forums, which now regularly appear in a rotational cycle through Hot Topics. Some mods disagree with this move, as SG has always been somewhat of an "idiot-trap" for Totse, in conjunction with B&M and HB, but now the less intelligent masses of Totse have mildly spammed some usually thoughtful and serious forums.

TOTSE has been featured in the media, usually for members committing crimes or for its controversial text files. The site is also appears on an Australian anti-terrorrism poster ^[2][3] and a television advertisement.

The most recent attention is due to the "hacking" of an electronic car park sign in Crawley, England, designed to display the number of spaces left for each car park. The top two displays were replaced with profanity while the lower display read "totse".^[4][5]

The community of TOTSE is an Internet forum. Some users of the community refer to themselves as "totseans".^{[citation needed]} Members engage in discussion about a wide variety of topics including religion, politics, weapons, explosives, drugs, illegal activities, music, the environment, mechanics, food, sex, and do it yourself projects. Although TOTSE's creator Jeff Hunter has an account he rarely posts on the TOTSE forums. Many "noobs" think the site holds nothing but illegal criminal activities, as well as the media, but this is indeed incorrect information that has been broadcasted from people who know nothing about the forum itself. ^[6]

Totse's long used and heavily modified version of the UBB (Ultimate Bulliten Board) system will finally be replaced with a newer, up-to-date version of vBulletin. Totse's members are divided in thoughts over this change, some fearing that the new system will take away the nostalga of the original Totse, others noting that a change is long overdue. Although Jeff has promised that the new Totse will share many similarities witht the old, not everyone is sure that it will be well recieved. The new system should be running by very early January of 2007. Also, starting immediately, user names with non-ASCII non-UTF-8 characters are going to get deleted. Users with those names will have to re-register. ^[7]

News of the Temple(NotT) is &T's forum where all the current happenings of the Temple are listed. Moderator(s)-Jeff Hunter

Spurious Generalities(SG) is a forum where almost anything can be posted and discussed. Moderator(s)-sybil, MomentaryLapseOfReason, XiPPiLLi, Kai

I Found It On The Web(IFIOTW) is a forum where members can post links to anything they've found interesting on the internet. Moderator(s)-xenosss, SpaceFalcon2001, TheAtomiser, XiPPiLLi

Bitch and Moan(B&M) is a forum where anyone can complain about anything. Moderators-Zok, Bongman

Half Baked(HB) is a forum for posting any idea that is not quite complete. Modarator(s)-Mr.Happy, Euda, MandatorySuicide

Bad Ideas(BI) is a forum that is self-explanitory. Moderator(s)-Vizzini, Fate, Tokolosh

Better Living Through Chemistry(BLTC) is a forum for discussing anything and everything to do with chemestry and drugs. Moderator(s)-Metaphysicist, Social Junker, robinhoody, panthrax

Sex and Affection(S&A) is for the discussion of anything on sex or relationships. Moderator(s)-MrMojoRisin, psycho_8b, jackketch, LostCause

Oral Indulgences(OI) is for discussing food, bevearge, and legal smokables. Moderator(s)-acidmelt, napoleon_complex

Money, Money, Money(MMM) is for discussing anything related to money. Moderator(s)-jebuonag, xenosss

Humanities(H) is for discussing philosophy, law, psychology, historical debate, and war. Moderator(s)-dagnabitt, Entheogenic

My God Can Beat The Shit Out Of Your God(MGCBTSOOYG)(nobody uses the acronym) is, despite the name, a forum filled with serious discussion of religion, with intolerance not being tolerated. Moderator(s)-LostCause

Politics Left, Right, and Center(PLR&C) is for the discussion of all aspects of politics. Moderator(s)-Sephiroth

Paranoid Delusions(PD) is for discussing the unexplainable. Moderator(s)-Rust, Nemisis, ArmsMerchant

Cunning Linguists(CL) is for the discussion of languages. Moderator(s)-Sephiroth

Weapons and Combat(W&C) is dedicated to weapons, martial arts, and their related technical, political and social issues. Moderator(s)-Cloaked Dagger, Random_Looney, Shotties, Faithless

Travellers Travails(TT) is dedicated to anything about travelling. Moderator(s)-sybil, Zinquaff

Green Planet(GP) is all about the enviornment and it's preservation. Moderator(s)-Trousersnake, Pirate Hippie

Noah's Ark(NA) is a forum all about animals. Moderator(s)-iSoape, firekitty751, kAtE-

The Great Outdoors(TGA) is all about the outdoors and nature. Moderator(s)-Neptune, Dr. Ol Raw, static_void

Network Security and Hacking(NS&H) is all about hacking and cracking. Moderator(s)-cense, jebuonag

Technophiliacs and Technophiles(T&T) is for discussing anything technical about any technology. Moderator(s)-lifejunkie, Toraton

Radio Free Amerika(RFA) is for discussing anything about radios and radio technology. Moderator(s)-Halvy101, MomentaryLapseOfReason

Gearheads(G) is for discussing cars and how to fix their problems. Moderator(s)-truckfixr

DIY(DIY) is where you can find out how to do anything yourself. Moderator(s)-Random_Looney, ArgonPlasma2000

Everything *NIX(E*NIX) is where you can talk about the *NIX OS. Moderator(s)-Toraton, BiOPSY

Eat Your Words(EYW) is a forum where you can post your own creative literature. Moderator(s)-LostCause, Hated One, stormy

Art and Design(A&D) is about anythign involving art, architecture, and design. Moderator(s)-kAtE-

Printed Matter(PM) is about books, magazines, and newspapers. Moderator(s)-fullcircle, Euda

Backyard Ballastics(BB) is for discussing anythign of a pyrotechnical nature. It IS NOT an how-to-make-a-bomb forum. Moderator(s)-Mokothar, K9, warweed12

Mad Scientists(MS) is about science and mathematics. Moderator(s)-Prometheus, xenosss

Laboratory Tips(LT) is about anything concerning working in or with a laboratory. Moderator(s)-BongTech101, studiousignorance, PyroHydroSmok, squeegee

Reinvent Yourself(RY) is where you can discuss anything about self improvement. Moderator(s)-Homerunbrad

... and Rock and Roll(ARAR) is where you can discuss anything musical. Moderator(s)-Infectedgoose, sambob

Moving Pictures(MP) is for discussing anything that you can find on your TV. Moderator(s)-Euda, kAtE-

Games People Play(GPP) is where you can discuss any eloctronic game there is. Moderator(s)-Kai, TheAtomiser, XiPPiLLi

Anime(A) is for discussing anime, hentai, manga, and other Japanese drawing arts. Moderator(s)-lethargic, Mahimaki

Go Team!(GT) is for discussing any and all types of sports. Moderator(s)-napoleon_complex

Admins-Jeff Hunter, J.C. Stanton, Zok, acidmelt

A number of TOTSE members planned and carried out a number of prank calls against Bill Keller's Live Prayer starting on November 21 2006. When another TOTSE member who was appalled by their actions reported them to Bill Keller via email, Bill threatened legal action against TOTSE, specifically charging that the prank calls amounted to "conspiracy to obstruct commerce". ^[8]

TOTSE also has an IRC channel, #totse, hosted on the SlashNET network. A Java IRC client is provided on the website.^[9]

• TOTSE

• Jeff Hunter