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Public area => The Pub => Off-topic => Topic started by: godboko71 on July 28th, 2011, 06:21 PM

Title: Dial Up BBS
Post by: godboko71 on July 28th, 2011, 06:21 PM
Anyone remember them?
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Nao on July 28th, 2011, 06:25 PM
I remember very well the French equivalent -- Minitel. They were way better than BBS, apparently. Been around since 1980 or so. They're going to plug the plug next year -- sob. Well, the Internet is starting to be a worthy competitor :lol:
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Norodo on July 28th, 2011, 06:57 PM
Oh you France. Always having your own variations. At least you're not USA. Long live the metric system!
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Arantor on July 28th, 2011, 07:34 PM
What, that system that Napoleon reportedly claimed on his deathbed to have been the one thing he regretted in his life, forcing it on people...?

Could be worse, here we can't make our minds up!
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Pete on July 28th, 2011, 10:36 PM
I ran a TriBBS site.  :ph34r:
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Drunken Clam on July 29th, 2011, 12:18 PM
I ran a 'Wildcat' BBS.  :ph34r:
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: YogiBear on July 29th, 2011, 03:48 PM
Metric is easier though I think Imperial will still be around in the UK for some time to come.

The fun starts when people from the UK visit the USA (or vica-versa) and find the UK gallon isn't the same as the American gallon.
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: ARG on July 29th, 2011, 05:19 PM
I have been using the metric system regularly in the US ever since the 1/2 liter bottle of Mountain Dew arrived in the early 80's. It just seems less complicated to me.

 ;)
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: pgordemer on July 29th, 2011, 06:07 PM
I remember them well - I should, I ran one of the largest on the East Coast of the United States - COMPU-DATA.

I was one of the first 10 in the country to get a US Robotics 9600 Baud modem after flying down to Atlanta to pick it up. I ran 48 Nodes of PCBoard using Alloy Slave Cards and a Lantastic Network. Later it became 8 port serial controllers on AT computers running Double-DOS and Novell Network.

Fido-Net, Echo Mail, Doors, Tradewars, etc...
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Nao on July 29th, 2011, 08:27 PM
New slogan.
"Wedge - where all of the Net dinosaurs meet up."
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Rustybarnacle on July 29th, 2011, 09:39 PM
Not dinosaurs, just something very long lived and wise.  Like Methuselah.  :)
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: godboko71 on July 30th, 2011, 04:25 AM
haha I am only 27, I have just been on the net since I was 9. I didn't get to run a BBS, but where I lived we had tons, so that way fun.
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: tfs on July 31st, 2011, 08:23 PM
I miss the BBS days.  I ran "The Learning Curve BBS" out of Torrance, CA... Fidonet (1:102/332).  I ran it for 10 years, from 1990 to 2000.  One public and one private node for a few friends.  FrontDoor, FMail, RemoteAccess, x00, Blue Wave, JCQuick, THDProscan, and about 20-30 doors.  I carried tons of echomail areas, and of course netmail and even internet email via a good friend who ran Salata BBS and could convert between netmail and email.  The BBS multitasked under Desqview/QEMM and sat on a Novell 3.12 server.

My favorite part was that I gave computers to several of my users.  I've always been a hardware geek, and everyone I know gives me their old junk machines, which I use to build Frankensteins.  I'd give those old Frankensteins to users, which really blew a few minds, and made for some devoted users.

I was greatly saddened after the progression of Windows OS through 3.1/95/98/2000/XP made it so that you couldn't just give an old computer to anyone, because they all expected to be able to run the latest and greatest OS... because all they knew how to do is click on something and hope something good happens.

The first half of the 1990's was a heck of a good time in computing.  Now you've got me waxing nostalgic.  I'm looking at the batch file that ran the BBS.  It's 8k of fun.

Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Nao on July 31st, 2011, 10:54 PM
And that's your first post... Not bad for a Friend who's been registered for months :niark:
Welcome eheh.
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: tfs on August 1st, 2011, 08:20 PM
Thanks Nao.  I appreciate the welcome and kind words.  Yeah, I've been an occasional lurker.  I'm looking forward to seeing what Wedge will look like, though thus far I'd avoided putting another iron in the fire.   :whistle: 

I just couldn't help posting on a BBS thread though, as I was completely addicted to BBSing for over a decade.  I still vividly recall the first time I saw a friend log into a BBS, which would have been around 1989.  It was the coolest thing I'd ever seen on a computer, and I just had to know what was on the other end of that phone line, so I started a BBS and went for it hook, line and sinker.  I made some good friends doing that.

I see that Googling "The learning curve BBS" still brings up a few hits on some old archived nodelists, as well as apparently a newer BBS using that name in Houston, Texas.
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Nao on August 1st, 2011, 08:28 PM
I'd be curious to know the average age of future Wedge users. I'd bet it'll be higher than Smf's Eheh. Even Dragooon can't change that!
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Road Rash Jr. on August 2nd, 2011, 12:35 AM
Quote from Nao/Gilles on August 1st, 2011, 08:28 PM
I'd be curious to know the average age of future Wedge users. I'd bet it'll be higher than Smf's Eheh. Even Dragooon can't change that!
There will be at least one old fart that will throw the average off  :whistle:  probably both ends of the diaper scale eh? :eheh:
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: tfs on August 2nd, 2011, 12:56 AM
Rather than say my age, let's just say that on my birth certificate it indicates that I was born in the "Hawaiian Territories."  :)
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Arantor on August 2nd, 2011, 01:22 AM
All we need is a Time Lord to throw the scales off anyway ;)
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Dramber on August 2nd, 2011, 02:07 AM
Hee!
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Nao on August 2nd, 2011, 07:06 AM
Rory is older post DW5.
And Jack Harkness post TW2.
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Drunken Clam on August 2nd, 2011, 07:34 AM
Quote from tfs on August 1st, 2011, 08:20 PM
....... as I was completely addicted to BBSing for over a decade.
Me too!

I remember as if it was yesterday, waiting, waiting so very long, for stuff to download using my 'state-of-the-art' 1200/75[1] modem. I eventually persuaded the company I worked for at the time to buy me the just released Dowty Quattro V22 bis 2400 modem[2] for 'research' purposes!

My favourite BBS back then was called 'The Midnight Express BBS' out of CA, or AZ maybe??
That was what got me hooked. I, along with my boss, started our own called 'The Index Linked BBS' (FIDONet 2:254/94), in 1986/7 running Wildcat BBS software by Mustang.

Happy days!  :eheh:

I'm guessing that I am a similar age to tfs. When I was born, there were no Motorways in the UK, not even a road of Motorway standard such as the 'Preston by-pass'. (I wonder how many of you will now Google that!  :niark: )
 1. for the youngsters, that's 1200bps download and 75bps upload! Compare that to today's speeds eh!
 2. £700, or $1400 at the time!
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: (Ha)² on August 2nd, 2011, 08:26 AM
Quote from Nao/Gilles on August 1st, 2011, 08:28 PM
I'd be curious to know the average age of future Wedge users. I'd bet it'll be higher than Smf's Eheh. Even Dragooon can't change that!
How old's Dragooon?

I bet I'm one of the youngest: 16. I was always the second youngest teamie when I was on the SMF team (or maybe the youngest? Anyone know how old Nas is? :P).
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Arantor on August 2nd, 2011, 09:02 AM
Nas is 15 or 16 now, Dragooon's about the same IIRC...

On the other end of the scales, I'm 27 and Nao's a few years older than me...
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Nao on August 2nd, 2011, 09:08 AM
Quote from Arantor on August 2nd, 2011, 09:02 AM
On the other end of the scales, I'm 27 and Nao's a few years older than me...
9 is not a few, unfortunately :p
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Arantor on August 2nd, 2011, 09:25 AM
It is a few... depends on your definition of few vs several vs some vs many, really, but the definitions are flexible :)
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: live627 on August 2nd, 2011, 09:41 AM
How about just a couple? eheh
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Arantor on August 2nd, 2011, 09:43 AM
I know people who regularly use the term 'couple' to mean 3 or 4.
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: tfs on August 2nd, 2011, 06:01 PM
Quote from Drunken Clam on August 2nd, 2011, 07:34 AM
My favourite BBS back then was called 'The Midnight Express BBS' out of CA, or AZ maybe??
That was what got me hooked. I, along with my boss, started our own called 'The Index Linked BBS' (FIDONet 2:254/94), in 1986/7 running Wildcat BBS software by Mustang.
Yikes!  You were calling international?  That must have cost a mint!  The BBS that killed my phone bill was in Kansas, USA.  I lived about 1500 miles away in California, and called every day after work to see if there was any new updates for FrontDoor or RemoteAccess.  When there was an update to download, it was a little over 600k in size, and yet might take close to an hour to download on my 2400 baud "High Speed" modem.  I remember getting those $300 phone bills and nearly fainting.

I wonder if any of the old timers here might have had the honor of Violet Stymacks making you an ASCII art screen?  I never had, but always wished I did.
Posted: August 2nd, 2011, 05:57 PM
Quote from Arantor on August 2nd, 2011, 09:43 AM
I know people who regularly use the term 'couple' to mean 3 or 4.
It all depends on motivation.  When I was a kid, if I asked a sibling for a "couple of those M&M's" I could always expect exactly two.  A "few" got you three, and a "bunch" would get you four.

Now if you were asking for punches in the arm instead of candy, the exchange rate was different.  :)
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Rustybarnacle on August 2nd, 2011, 08:29 PM
Sounds like Nao has me beat by a few months.  I'll be 36 soon.

I used a 1200 baud modem and a 2400 to BBS a little but I didn't have my own so if you weren't fast enough getting to the one computer that had it in computer class you were SOL.  Thus I didn't BBS very much.
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: pgordemer on August 3rd, 2011, 03:38 AM
54 here and damn proud of it. Scuba Instructor, Flight Instructor, Head computer geek, its all good.

Let just say there is a bit of "code" in PCBoard, RBBS and Wildcat that has my name in it. (I wrote a common class routine that does the low level open of a serial port direct to hardware that most of the BBS software used to get modem status).
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Nao on August 3rd, 2011, 07:55 AM
:cool:
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: tfs on August 3rd, 2011, 08:07 AM
Quote from pgordemer on August 3rd, 2011, 03:38 AM
54 here and damn proud of it.
Hail to the elder.  You've got me by a couple of years.  :)
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Drunken Clam on August 3rd, 2011, 08:55 AM
Shit! Please someone, tell me I'm not the eldest here at 55.5!  :o :sob:
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Drunken Clam on August 3rd, 2011, 09:01 AM
Quote from tfs on August 2nd, 2011, 06:01 PM
Yikes!  You were calling international?  That must have cost a mint!
It did yes, but at the time I was working for an international stockbroking company with offices all over the US/Far East and, with no effective call logging around, my calls were 'lost' amongst all the rest of the calls.  :ph34r:
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: billy2 on August 3rd, 2011, 09:06 AM
I think we over 50s should have a special badge - like a zimmer frame or a pair of slippers
 :lol:
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Nao on August 3rd, 2011, 09:30 AM
Quote from Drunken Clam on August 3rd, 2011, 08:55 AM
Shit! Please someone, tell me I'm not the eldest here at 55.5!  :o :sob:
I believe K@ and Road Rash at least beat you on that count ;)
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Drunken Clam on August 3rd, 2011, 01:10 PM
Quote from Nao/Gilles on August 3rd, 2011, 09:30 AM
Quote from Drunken Clam on August 3rd, 2011, 08:55 AM
Shit! Please someone, tell me I'm not the eldest here at 55.5!  :o :sob:
I believe K@ and Road Rash at least beat you on that count ;)
Great! I'm so pleased about that, now, where are my slippers....... :eheh:
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: tfs on August 3rd, 2011, 07:24 PM
Suggested new badge for us Geezers.
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Road Rash Jr. on August 3rd, 2011, 10:16 PM
Quote from Nao/Gilles on August 3rd, 2011, 09:30 AM
Quote from Drunken Clam on August 3rd, 2011, 08:55 AM
Shit! Please someone, tell me I'm not the eldest here at 55.5!  :o :sob:
I believe K@ and Road Rash at least beat you on that count ;)
I'm only 4 days older than dirt  -_-
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Nao on August 3rd, 2011, 10:23 PM
Okay, so I'm adding DirtRider to the list, don't be jealous guys :P
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Arantor on August 3rd, 2011, 11:35 PM
You guys know how to make me feel like a young kid again :P
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: dazed on August 4th, 2011, 01:32 AM
Quote from Drunken Clam on August 3rd, 2011, 08:55 AM
Shit! Please someone, tell me I'm not the eldest here at 55.5!  :o :sob:
Got you by more than 10.  :o

Yeah, did the BBS, Fido thing in the late 80's early 90's. Still have my 14.4 external somewhere.

Good times.
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Rustybarnacle on August 4th, 2011, 01:34 AM
Do you use it as a paper weight or a hammer?  :)
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: dazed on August 4th, 2011, 01:55 AM
Quote from Rustybarnacle on August 4th, 2011, 01:34 AM
Do you use it as a paper weight or a hammer?  :)
Doorstop. :o

I also have a table top that I layer out a bunch of 386 and 486 chips IDE controller cards, memory chips, etc. in 1 inch thick layer of epoxy.

Still have a copy of DrDOS v5 in shrink wrap, never opened it.

Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: b4pjoe on August 4th, 2011, 03:22 AM
56 here and have a copy of Windows 2 on 5.25" floppies. It sucked.
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Drunken Clam on August 9th, 2013, 07:08 PM
Ha, sorry to drag this up again, but, I love this topic, soooo many memories!!! :eheh: :wow:  (How we've moved on eh!)
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Dragooon on August 9th, 2013, 07:10 PM
I was born around this time :D
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Arantor on August 9th, 2013, 07:11 PM
I once had a set of OS/2 Warp 3 floppies... yeah, those were the days.
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Norodo on August 10th, 2013, 03:06 AM
I once had 14.4 kbps modem. That counts right?

I spent most of my time on WinMX.
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Auk on August 10th, 2013, 04:23 AM
Dial up BBS? Nope. I do remember Webtv and WinMX though. Dat program to get free songs. xD. I hated it because whenever I used the computer (not owned by me), the owner would pop open that program and it only ate up my dial up connection. Once the music finished downloading, they were rarely played anyway. So happy I finally saved up and got my own machine.
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Kindred on August 10th, 2013, 09:58 PM
that's where I started....

DR-DOS
10 MB HD
360K floppy drive (5 1/4")
Amber monitor
8Mhz TURBO, 8088 machine.


I ran a WWIV BBS for years on a 1200 baud modem

upgraded to Win31. on a 286 with a 9600 baud and 3 1/2" cunchy drives
then to a 386SX, and finally to a pentium (586) with a 14.4 modem.

Started WWIV in Turbo PASCAL, converted to C and then C++.
Was part of an international network of WWIV systems...  my computer auto-dialed Califonia once a night to pick up packets and then acted as the local area hub from 1-5 am as everyone else auto-dialed to grab their packets and so on...
It wa a remarkable piece of logic to handle the routing of that stuff.
Title: Re: Dial Up BBS
Post by: Powerbob on August 11th, 2013, 06:13 AM
Amstrad 64,
64 KB Ram, Floppy drive, Tape Drive, programmed in "Basic"
Then the same hard ware route as Kindred
 :cool:
Now showing my age :whistle: