History

The origins of Papersation are two-fold: there were Physics lessons, and there was The Argument.

Origins

One day, back in 1999, three GCSE students with pens, paper from the middle of a book, and intense boredom, started a conversation on said paper. Initially it was a conversation, and the first issue was christened 'Papersation'. However, as with all things Papersation, it quickly descended into pointless acts of insanity, surrealism, and general comedy. The inaugral issue was quickly post-titled 'Papersation 1' the next day, as the second was started.

Progression through the Original Series

While most issues were successfully kept from other's eyes, a few did leave our possession, albeit temporarily: they were either handed back, or destroyed. Some people have no sense of humour. However, at least 95 of the 100-long series survive to this day, kept securely in an A4 folder somewhere in Loughborough. Sadly, the creator (me) decided that the 'risks' were too high, and killed it...

Papersation: The Next Generation

Yes, Papersation was reincarnated, and given a subtitle that takes the p*ss out of Star Trek. A run of 50, it survived much better than the first series, and helped during the second year of GCSEs. It couldn't last forever, and was killed off shortly before the exams.

The Lean Period

With exams, Papersation was left in a folder to collect dust. However, a few 'specials' appeared, including Academia, and 'The Return', an ill-fated series of around 3 or 4.

The Resurgence: Shallow Gap Pi (SG&pi)

Another run of about 50, all of these survived but for 1, which was hacked apart with a ruler. Given that the A-levels that were occupying our school time, it was thought that we could do without Papersation, so the run was rounded off at 50. This did not stop the bandwagon though...

The Online Era

The first online version was an MSN Group, just like the current one. However, it was not well designed, wasn't easy to maintain, and being the first group I was in overall charge of, fell into the 'over-zealous manager' trap. It was killed after quite a successful run of over 100 messages, and a second, very tedious run of over 200.
The, the new Group was started, not long ago. As a way to keep in contact with friends while at university, it is second only to MSN Messenger (? - Ed). This new group, while going slow at the moment, is already better than the previous, as there is no chance of the 'mad deleting sprees' that helped to kill the first.