It's 2017, but you can still experience the Internet of 1986 thanks to BBS enthusiasts.
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A 1986 bulletin board system has brought the old Web back to life in 2017
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The only problem I see here is that giant stick up your ass. You're actively ruining an entertaining conversation for the sake of your vapid posturing.
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GreenReaper
Ars Scholae Palatinae
All the great civilizations have featured technical marvels and advancements. But most also had an appreciation of culture, including people dedicated to preserving and enhancing that culture. That is why people spend time on, say, Samurai swords, even though they are essentially obsolete in modern warfare; and it's why people spend time on emulators and old BBS systems.
A civilization which spent all of its time on the pursuit of technological improvement wouldn't be a very fun place to live. You need to throw a few luxuries in there as well, to keep the citizens happy. Likewise, news does not have to be about serious matters, and may be a form of entertainment.
As for new paradigms and technologies: they aren't necessarily better. Sometimes they are, and in that case they are likely to be adopted, because those who fail to do so will be at a disadvantage. Indeed, the reason we're spending time on preservation and restoration of old technology is that their successors have been adopted they are no longer common.
But often it takes a while for a new technology to mature into a useful tool - and in some cases it may never happen, or comes with costs that outweigh the benefit, so most companies are wise to hold back for a bit. Anyone who's read long lists of CPU eratta can appreciate the risks.
A civilization which spent all of its time on the pursuit of technological improvement wouldn't be a very fun place to live. You need to throw a few luxuries in there as well, to keep the citizens happy. Likewise, news does not have to be about serious matters, and may be a form of entertainment.
As for new paradigms and technologies: they aren't necessarily better. Sometimes they are, and in that case they are likely to be adopted, because those who fail to do so will be at a disadvantage. Indeed, the reason we're spending time on preservation and restoration of old technology is that their successors have been adopted they are no longer common.
But often it takes a while for a new technology to mature into a useful tool - and in some cases it may never happen, or comes with costs that outweigh the benefit, so most companies are wise to hold back for a bit. Anyone who's read long lists of CPU eratta can appreciate the risks.
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Congratulations. You've now succeeded at becoming the piss on everyone's parade.
You want to know a secret, Speedr? Most everything discussed in this thread got its start before I was born, and hit its heyday when I was too young to appreciate it or even understand it. The BBS scene was a bit before my time, and barely has any real relevance to me.
So why am I here discussing it? Because it's an interesting topic, and I can understand the excitement of those who were able to experience it at its height. They were the pioneers of the modern era, at the forefront of something that played a part in changing the world in ways even those who were directly involved never thought possible. It was a great time to be alive, I'm sure, and I can empathize (goddamn autocorrect) with those there to experience it.
In short, I'm choosing to enjoy something alongside the people who most fondly remember it, even though I have no real stake in it myself. It's fun, it's interesting, I might even learn something. You? You're just being a dick. Looking down your nose at everyone just so you can...
...hell, I don't know. What exactly are you getting out of this?
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You don't need to read any further than that to reach the dipshit determination.
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You're confusing a FOSSIL driver with NetFossil. FOSSIL is Fido Opus Seadog Serial Interface Layer. It was developed with the cooperation of the authors of Fido (Tom Jennings), Opus (Wynn Waggoner(sp?) III), and SeaDog (Thom Henderson) in order to allow MS-DOS compatible computers of the day to run Fido, Opus, and SeaDog with serial port cards that used non-standard port addresses. Many other BBS and mailer authors implemented FOSSIL's INT14 interface in order to leverage that functionality. NetFossil presents both the INT14 interface as well as a modem emulator that interfaces with TCP/IP.
It scares me to know I still have that nonsense locked up in my skull, ready to spew forth at the first opportunity.
What's worse? I still run 1:138/142. \o/
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You're confusing a FOSSIL driver with NetFossil. FOSSIL is Fido Opus Seadog Serial Interface Layer. It was developed with the cooperation of the authors of Fido (Tom Jennings), Opus (Wynn Waggoner(sp?) III), and SeaDog (Thom Henderson) in order to allow MS-DOS compatible computers of the day to run Fido, Opus, and SeaDog with serial port cards that used non-standard port addresses. Many other BBS and mailer authors implemented FOSSIL's INT14 interface in order to leverage that functionality. NetFossil presents both the INT14 interface as well as a modem emulator that interfaces with TCP/IP.
It scares me to know I still have that nonsense locked up in my skull, ready to spew forth at the first opportunity.
You're right, I am. In any event, I don't think there's a version that would work on apple 2, is there? Unless you could run something like it on an intermediate machine (like a raspberry pi) that pretended to be a modem so you could just plug in.
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So cool to see everyones bbs memories from the 80s. Most peeps don't understand when I tell them that I was 'online' and ran a 'website' before there was the internet...lol
My uncle was a programmer (coder) in basic and ML back then. We had 2 extra phone lines. He ran a commodore based programming forum and my cousin and I ran a game trading bbs. We used 'The Keep' bbs software and one called C-Net (I think...was written by Ivory Jones anyway). My uncle specialized in The Keep...we always had the most customized Keep bbs around. Started back when most people were running 300 baud...unless u had money. Upgrading to 1200 was like an epic event...lol Made trading cracked games soo much faster...remember the Punter protocol anyone? Also remember getting an MSD-1001 1MB floppy and the magical Fastload cartridge b4 that...also 'epic' events...then there was the C-128...big money back then. Those were the days...
My uncle was a programmer (coder) in basic and ML back then. We had 2 extra phone lines. He ran a commodore based programming forum and my cousin and I ran a game trading bbs. We used 'The Keep' bbs software and one called C-Net (I think...was written by Ivory Jones anyway). My uncle specialized in The Keep...we always had the most customized Keep bbs around. Started back when most people were running 300 baud...unless u had money. Upgrading to 1200 was like an epic event...lol Made trading cracked games soo much faster...remember the Punter protocol anyone? Also remember getting an MSD-1001 1MB floppy and the magical Fastload cartridge b4 that...also 'epic' events...then there was the C-128...big money back then. Those were the days...
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No, you don't. You know how to press buttons in a UI and think you are "understanding" technology.
Older folks were actually steeped in tech from teenager years and on. They understand how chips work, how to write programs, how to *build* the tech you are using to press your UI buttons so you can strut around thinking you "understand" technology... LOL
Thanks for playing
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In the early 80s I had a commodore 64 with 300 baud at home and a TRS-80 model 102 as a portable. (40x8 display, ran for days on 4 AA batteries.) Also 300 baud.
The old BBS' were great, many of the people I met through them have been good friends long after BBS' were history.
The old BBS' were great, many of the people I met through them have been good friends long after BBS' were history.
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Consider how much could be done with the little we had you should be stunned. When 16 bit graphics came it was like a revolution. The stuff you take for granted had to come from some kind of begining. Arrogance toward the past is a road fraught with perils.
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May or may not be relevant, but after recently resurrecting a 2007 Mac Pro 2,1, I discovered Cathode Terminal app for Macs. Perfect for some retro BBS'ing as long as board is not busy
edit: n00b unable to link images, sorry
edit: n00b unable to link images, sorry
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No one wants to feel irrelevant, but alas, that feeling comes with age, even to you in time. Regarding the 7-yr-old (one of my daughters) navigating the net: why do you think there's been such flood of interest in Raspberry Pi's, dev boards, coding camps, devs using minimal DE's (tiling window managers, terminal-only...) instead of GUI -- like it was done decades ago -- etc etc? Maybe because the general emphasis has become more in flash and bang, hide the internals, don't worry about whether or not your IM is client-side or server-side encrypted, if at all, while "interacting" with your surrounding world stooping over your mobile, grinning your teeth for a selfie and then editing it on-the-fly for Tinder. I have no particular problem with all of that, sign of the times, however, as a parent, I prefer my kids to have an understanding of the underpinnings of said tech, so my offspring grows up not just consuming, but creating, in this new world. So, an old skool walk through memory lane of BBS, telnet, www, IRC etc etc may just serve the purpose to educate my kids where we're coming from. I'm not a coder nor am I young anymore, but these Ars pieces serve a genuine purpose, at least for me. YMMV.
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You know what is incredibly ironic? By bemoaning this fun little article looking back at old technology, you're acting like a grumpy old man yelling at a cloud. After you grow up a little bit, you'll realize that taking everything so seriously is a symptom of immaturity.
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I had no idea. How do they manage that with their characters? Do they have Unicode bbses? Or are they in English?
I'm the DOS ages we had codepages for this but it wouldn't have offered enough space for Chinese. Only simplified Chinese perhaps, and Japanese would have been ok.
Reason I'm wondering is that most BBS software is from that era.
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I can still remember CIX, which still seems to be running. Many interesting things started there. Cliff Stanford recruited the first 50 users for his Demon Internet (the first U.K. Dial-up ISP), Linus Torvalds asked if anyone was interested in getting involved in a Unix-like operating system and more.
At the time things were done by direct modem connection to the server, but compressed into a burst so that downloads and uploads could happen as fast as possible and then read/replied to off-line. I think CIX are still using a descendent of the original Ameol package I used.
At the time things were done by direct modem connection to the server, but compressed into a burst so that downloads and uploads could happen as fast as possible and then read/replied to off-line. I think CIX are still using a descendent of the original Ameol package I used.
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PTT BBS supports unicode. They have Telnet client for Iphones and IOS (Miu Term).
Obviously, they (BBS software) are on FreeBSD or Linux now.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PTT_Bulletin_Board_System
https://youtu.be/6VdtJTEDTY0
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BBS The Documentary is worth checking out if you're of a mind. I seem to recall it was released under Creative Commons, so in theory torrenting it should be ok (if you can't get hold of the DVDs).
http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/
http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/
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Not only no it isn't, but no it's not new, either. The guy's a dingus, just ignore him.
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This is Jason Scott's (of the internet archive data recovery team). It wasn't creative commons originally at least, but there's no more DVDs left for sale and I think he said he's not making any more. Where that leaves his opinion on torrenting I don't know. Ask him. He's usually super busy though.
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I'm almost sure it was released under CC, but you've got me wondering now.
Edit: Ah ha! I was right. From the Book of Wiki:
"Although the documentary was released under the Creative Commons Attribute-ShareAlike 2.0 License and later under 3.0, meaning that anyone can legally download it for free, Jason Scott Sadofsky has made it known that the downloadable version is only a taste of the full experience and recommends that individuals purchase the documentary DVDs."
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BBS's were a lot of fun. I ran one for years on a Apple ][+ with 4 floppy drives. Then later added a 10 meg hard drive to it. Picked up a Mac SE/30 and ran a BBS on that for a few years more, with a FidoNet node and everything.
FidoNet was quite interesting. Still is I suppose. Email and forums before the internet was around.
FidoNet was quite interesting. Still is I suppose. Email and forums before the internet was around.
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8-N-1
Today= "Ate anyone?" see zombie fan
Then= 8 data bits , None parity, 1 stop bit
Today= "Ate anyone?" see zombie fan
Then= 8 data bits , None parity, 1 stop bit
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I got into BBSs back on my old BBC Micro. First via an acoustic coupler, then via a piece of kit called the Demon Modem which BT really didn't want you connecting up to their system There were a couple of scare stories about the Demon Modem being so shodily made (which it was) that it occasionally sent raw mains voltage down the phone line, crisping the equipment at the other end. Seems unlikely to be honest, but it also wouldn't surprise me if it were true.
I still have nightmares about the first phone bill...!
There were a couple of scare stories about the Demon Modem being so shodily made (which it was) that it occasionally sent raw mains voltage down the phone line, crisping the equipment at the other end. Seems unlikely to be honest, but it also wouldn't surprise me if it were true.I still have nightmares about the first phone bill...!
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Used mostly Citadel BBS's back in the day in the old 612 ac. I cannot believe how long ago that was already...as if I didn't already feel old.
Thanks Ars. ;-)
Thanks Ars. ;-)
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If you're on a Mac and want to do this properly then check out a bit of software called Cathode:
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/cathode/id499233976?mt=12
It's a terminal emulator that simulates old VDUs...flicker, distortion, that sort of thing. Quite configurable, and you can set a baud rate.
£4.99
The author also has a free text editor called Blinky, which does much the same.
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/cathode/id499233976?mt=12
It's a terminal emulator that simulates old VDUs...flicker, distortion, that sort of thing. Quite configurable, and you can set a baud rate.
£4.99
The author also has a free text editor called Blinky, which does much the same.
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You're confusing a FOSSIL driver with NetFossil. FOSSIL is Fido Opus Seadog Serial Interface Layer. It was developed with the cooperation of the authors of Fido (Tom Jennings), Opus (Wynn Waggoner(sp?) III), and SeaDog (Thom Henderson) in order to allow MS-DOS compatible computers of the day to run Fido, Opus, and SeaDog with serial port cards that used non-standard port addresses. Many other BBS and mailer authors implemented FOSSIL's INT14 interface in order to leverage that functionality. NetFossil presents both the INT14 interface as well as a modem emulator that interfaces with TCP/IP.
It scares me to know I still have that nonsense locked up in my skull, ready to spew forth at the first opportunity.
You're right, I am. In any event, I don't think there's a version that would work on apple 2, is there? Unless you could run something like it on an intermediate machine (like a raspberry pi) that pretended to be a modem so you could just plug in.
FOSSIL drivers were strictly an x86 thing. That being said, there's a few different devices out there that are turning into workable modem emulators that an Apple II (or any vintage computer) could use. They're all based around ESP8266 boards. Basically all you need is something like a NanoMCU (it's a module-ized version of the ESP8266 with a serial chip on it), a pair of MAX232 level converters, 8 1uF Electrolytic caps and a DB25 connector. The rest is software (and 99% of that is done already).
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As a Citadel user, you may find this interesting:
http://anticlimactic.retrovertigo.com/M ... ittree.txt
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Way back in the day (Apple //c with 300baud modem was my first connection to another computer), in the files sections, you usually could find a text file with numbers to other BBSs. I downloaded a large one, once (after getting a 2400) when I was in college and called all over the USA (including to Hawaii just to do it). The phone bill was bad. Still, it was fun.
A friend had a CompuServe account.... MegaWars III was the bomb. In college, I subscribed to Genie and we would dial our campus modem bank and then connect to another computer in wustl that had a modem bank that allowed you to call out... there was a Genie dial-in node there (so we could avoid paying long distance charges since there was no Genie node in the college town). We played Air Warrior. It was awesome, too.
There were "BBS" on the 'net, as well. Mars Hotel, for example, was one written and ran by a guy I know. The machine it ran on was a hack, as well... it was sort of infamous.
A friend had a CompuServe account.... MegaWars III was the bomb. In college, I subscribed to Genie and we would dial our campus modem bank and then connect to another computer in wustl that had a modem bank that allowed you to call out... there was a Genie dial-in node there (so we could avoid paying long distance charges since there was no Genie node in the college town). We played Air Warrior. It was awesome, too.
There were "BBS" on the 'net, as well. Mars Hotel, for example, was one written and ran by a guy I know. The machine it ran on was a hack, as well... it was sort of infamous.
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Holy crap, I loved TradeWars! I had it on my BBS back in the mid-late 90's. I liked playing so much I spent the extra $$$ for a second (livin' large!) phone line so users could still log-in. Running WWIV, iirc.
My ex hated that BBS, but the hobby I loved got my career going. Got a job at a large institution who ran a BBS and was wanting to migrate to web. This was '97. 20 years in the same job and loving it.
Insult to injury: I have no degree and pull down half-again what she makes with her degree.
RIP, War Machine. Fond memories.
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I ran a Mustang BBS for years in the early days of the Internet. Mustang eventually sold out to Santronics Software in 1998 which is when I shut my system down. Santronics still sells the software on their website http://www.santronics.com/index.php
There also used to be another well supported BBS software called WorldGroup BBS (originally Major BBS). It's found killed himself in 1996 and the company tried to go public in 1998 but failed and went under.
There also used to be another well supported BBS software called WorldGroup BBS (originally Major BBS). It's found killed himself in 1996 and the company tried to go public in 1998 but failed and went under.
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