Ok, so I'll kick off this new section with the most amazing thing that happened to me with WinMX... and almost the most amazing in general online. (I hope that others will follow suit and create more topics.)
Back when I was on WinMX daily, among other things I distributed artwork created by friends and family. I didn't go into chat rooms, so for someone to actually find me, assuming it wasn't in reply to a download from me to that person, was a bit unusual. Concerning the 20-30 pieces of artwork specifically, I might get one unique user per month who would download only one or two files each. Until...
Suddenly, within a two-and-a-half to three month period, a single file was being downloaded on a regular basis... around 30 times more or less I estimated at the time. It was an oil painting created by a niece who at the time was building her reputation. Why this file (and no others at the same, steady rate) was being downloaded I still have no idea. Then, just as suddenly as the increase of downloads began, they stopped dead, again with no idea why.
Several months later, I was asking my niece about her most-recent gallery showings, and she was happy to tell me that she had sold a couple of paintings (which always leads into, "Oh yea? Which ones?" "When is your next showing?" "Any other work projects lately?" and the rest of the whole nine yards). She mentioned she had sold her first overseas painting. A man contacted her asking for a new painting in a particular style as one of her other works. So I asked which painting, and I believe you can guess the rest.
Whether or not the file being downloaded from me on WinMX had anything to do with it, I don't actually know. The image files had her website watermarked on them, but still it could be a complete coincidence given the fact that she was receiving support from many other artistic friends as well as on art boards online and even her name and picture in the behind-the-scenes of a tv show. However, I like holding on to the idea that I may have unexpectedly played a part in helping her out.
