The Community Standard is no longer producing issues. The January/February 1997 issue was the last. All subscribers have been either issued refunds for the balance of their subscriptions or else asked for information needed to issue such refunds. The personal ads system is still active, but ad listings are now only available through this website.
The site itself is undergoing some changes too. We've gotten rid of most of the sections that were perpetually "Under construction" because it's become clear they're not getting off the ground in their current form. Unrestrained Resources is slowly being brought up to date, only to be replaced soon (cross your fingers) with an interactive link database that will be updatable by site visitors and webmasters of the listed sites. In the long run, I hope to make it possible for visitors to review websites and enter non-web resources as well.
Similar interactive systems for event listings, personal ads, etc., are also in the works. I'd also like to create discussion forums (maybe even chat rooms) for special interests and topics, including edgeplay, self-bondage, TPE, breath control, and other subjects controversial within the BDSM community. Mailing lists, "member profiles" (i.e. free home pages of a sort), and other goodies are also on the list.
This is all being made possible by my in-progress career shift to developing "virtual community" systems for websites: this site will be my "guinea pig" for testing new technologies. This career shift is part of why I have terminated publication of The Standard: it will allow me to put more of my resources into this site and my career shift in general.
Below is (most of) the old TCS homepage - there is still some useful information to be found there, primarily local organization contact info in the 1996 event calendar, and some local store addresses in the "How to Get The Standard" section. I hope you find it useful.
If you've been a contributor (of money, labor, or writing), a subscriber, or an advertiser, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for supporting The Standard's mission. I couldn't have done it for so long without you.
![[Picture of sample front page]](tcspage.gif)
About The Community StandardThe Community Standard is a FREE, bimonthly, news-oriented publication serving the "kinky" communities in Dallas, Ft. Worth, and surrounding cities. Its principal function is to provide a calendar of events for those organizations and events which can serve as a point of "first contact" for people entering the "scene." Secondarily, it provides a voice and a forum for the local kinky community, and finally, it is a vehicle for providing basic play & relationship how-to's of as broad an interest as possible.
We're ALWAYS looking for good material to publish. We don't do fiction or poetry, however. We prefer material that does one or more of the following:
If you would enjoy contributing material, regardless of what part of the Net you're located in, please send your queries or suggestions to the editor, webmaster@unrestrained.com. (Note: we currently pay in contributors' copies only.)