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Post by samalex on Jan 30, 2006 11:33:03 GMT -5
Hi everyone,
I'd love to hear some stories or recollections about folks experiences during the BBS era. I got my first computer in around 1987 but didn't get into BBSes until closer to 1989, and that changed my life! Through BBSes I met most of the friends I still run around with today, and it's a part of my life I'd not give up for anything. It was also SO fun...
I ran a board off and on with friends over the years, and even just recently I ran a board using Synchronet for a short time. I'd love to get another one up and going, but it seems moot since the BBS Sysop to BBS User is virtually 1 to 1 now.
Just curious what others think of this.
Sam
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Post by Jeff Ledger on Jan 30, 2006 15:55:31 GMT -5
Welcome! I remember being at the house of a friend back in the early 80's and he was showing me how he could dialup from his computer to another computer miles away. I was blown away. The idea that you could connect one machine to another computer anywhere in the world and explore that machine is the "hook" that got me into computing! (and still does) I ran several BBSes myself in the 80's and early 90's. Most of these were hosted on a Commodore 64 or CBM variant. I remember sitting down around 7pm at the computer, (taking my own BBS offline at the disgust of my members) and dialing out to the twelve local boards that were in our community. Remember the great computer flame wars? I should put a plug in for my website while I'm at it. telbbs.petscii.com -- While mostly Commodore related, any early micro could use the same techniques for connecting a BBS over the Internet. Jeff
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Post by thurstan on Jan 31, 2006 4:39:36 GMT -5
When I was younger I dreamed of connecting to a BBS with my first computer, but the cost of phone calls in the UK at the time was very expensive and my parents would never have let me do it. I only knew of a few BBS's in the UK ( Prestel and Telecom Gold ). I had to wait until I went to university in '93 before I could get online and telnet in to a BBS. I wasnt impressed with them to be honest (I suppose by then they were rapidly being replaced by web pages etc). But I found the Monochrome BBS (earl linked to this in a previous show) and I have been posting on that BBS ever since, my account was created feb 20 1995! made some great friends on there.
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Post by miner2049er on Jan 31, 2006 8:55:04 GMT -5
My dad brought home a Prestel box once and we had no clue what is was for at the time.
He showed us though and we used it for a couple of weeks before he confiscated it.
There were these games you could play like interactive adventures where you pick your route through the game and each page showed you how much it cost to view it. Most were 1p or 2p, but some were as much as 10p.
Doesn't sound much but for 1 page in an adventure!
I guess dad got the bill and that's why we never saw it again.
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Post by Leif Bloomquist on Jan 31, 2006 12:24:18 GMT -5
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dilbert
Full Member
Registered Linux User #306113
Posts: 223
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Post by dilbert on Feb 5, 2006 22:49:02 GMT -5
YUP: still around and kicking! I Have a CD ROM Put out by Arsenal Computer, Titled: By Popular Request 2.0 Fully BBS Ready! Ham Radio Genealogy & More. MORE: equate to 6 AMIGA folders , LOADED with zipped. (LHA) files. This is Circa 1995 collection. I was more interested in the other two sections. What to do??
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Post by kg6vqe on Mar 2, 2006 18:28:13 GMT -5
I ran a RBBS system from my parents house, and put all the Commodore-64 library that we had up on it. I remember that I had 1200 baud modems (back in the mid 1980') on that. I had to connect with my Commodore and upload the files (no direct upload). Once on the IBM-PC clone, I was able to manipulate the files, and put them on the download menu.
I remember my funnist story. So here I was, at the twilight of my C-64/C-128 days, purchasing my own PC, Hard Drive, Modem, Phone-Line, Software, etc. We had several members of the Club that lived out of the area. They were really excited about having the BBS system for the Club, but wanted me to install an 800 number so they would not have to pay toll charges. I still remember that. What I do remember is it was like having my own little satellite that I could control. I could see who logged in, what they did, and how much they downloaded. I toyed with the idea of download controls, but never really had that large of audience to do that. One of the main things is that running equipment 24 hours a day/7 days a week plays havoc with equipment. I went through at least 2 modems, and 1 CGA card. It was a bummer when it went out, since I was living 30 miles away, and had to schlep under the house, and diagnose the problem.
All in all, it was a real learning experience. I remember that people did this because it was cool Very few people undersand that amount of time, effort and money it costs to maintain that...not to mention putting up with whiney users.
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telengard
Junior Member
Stuck in the 80s
Posts: 51
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Post by telengard on Mar 3, 2006 16:28:47 GMT -5
^{+Kxò2\u0161Oÿ:þãb NO CARRIER ~telengard
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Post by Golan Klinger on Mar 3, 2006 16:45:47 GMT -5
What happened? Did your mom pick-up the phone?
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Post by cloistermaximus on Mar 3, 2006 18:44:55 GMT -5
Call waiting.
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Post by bschiess on Mar 6, 2006 23:54:23 GMT -5
Hi everyone,
I operated Bloom County BBS in El Segundo, California from 1987 until 1990. It started out very briefly as a PCBoard, but I switched over to the NoChange BBS software within the first couple months of operation. To my knowledge, I am the only Sysop to have ever offered many of the old Infocom text based games such as Zork online. My wife and I used to live in a 1-bedroom apartment, and the BBS computer hummed away on a desk about 5-feet from my head. Believe it or not, if anyone ever "paged the sysop," we would both crawl out of bed, chat with the end user, laugh about how cool it was that we could chat with someone in the middle of the night, and go back to sleep. Later on, one of the other local NoChange sysops figured out a way to port Wayne Bell's WWIV to run UNDER NoChange, so a few of us actually operated dual NoChange/WWIV boards just for the heck of it. Our most loyal user was a 14-year old kid -- Norm from Redondo Beach, CA, and we still talk to him from time-to-time. He was a great kid and went on to get his masters degree in finance and is now a controller at some large company. It was truly an awesome experience to run a board for 3 years.
Brody
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Post by mrfixit2k on Mar 12, 2006 10:06:46 GMT -5
As a kid with few dollars back in the day it took quite a while to get my system up and running. I ran dark lands bbs out of tacoma washignton for a few years then moved and had it up and running out in Gigharbour. I managed to keep it up on a part time basis through the night and had a fair amount of callers. I managed to work part time for a friend of mine's parents which gave me free access to a Major bbs system that they were running. I ran tech support while going through high school. I of coarse upgraded to an amiga and my 64 bbs went on the back burner. I still spent many a night and weekend online dialing away. The tight nit comunity we had was great. Many a Bash was had and friend was made. I unfortunatly lost contact with most of my old bbs friend . With some luck maby they will feel nastalgic and i will end up crossing their paths again.
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