• Why?

    From Black Panther@21:1/186 to All on Mon Sep 14 18:21:46 2020
    Hi All,

    I think it's been awhile since this has been asked in here. There are some new people on board now, that might have some good answers. :)

    In the year 2020, with all of the Internet communications available, why do we still operate BBSes?

    For me, it's a great way to meet good people, without having to deal with the BS found on 'Social Media'. For many years, I was very active on Facebook, and then realized how much time I was wasting trying to scroll passed the posts that I didn't care about. When they decided not to give you the posts sorted by time posted, but by their 'popularity' rating, I figured it was time to give it up. So, my name is Dan, and I've been free of Facebook for four years. :)

    I also found that I wanted to get back into programming. Trying to jump in to dealing with APIs and web based applications, was WAY out of my league. Programming for a BBS is primarily text based, and fairly simple to get a complete understanding of what your doing. I started with writing some programs that were lacking in the Mystic world, like new file announcements, and log backups. I eventually changed over to programming in C, and was able to start writing some door games.

    In my opinion, running a BBS in 2020 is not for the users. Those days ended in the 90s. I run Castle Rock systems for me. If other people enjoy it, that is only a bonus.

    Right now, I'm enjoying trying to get some programs set up that I've never used before. A good example is getting FReqing set up. I'd also like to try to get email through Castle Rock, for a few reasons. I've also been working, slowly, on updating www.castlerockbbs.com. There are some major changes that are in the works there, that I think will benefit others as well. :)

    So, trying to get some legacy programs working on new systems is a challange, but also fun. The merging of different technologies, so to speak. :)

    Why do you run a BBS in 2020? I'm curious to hear your input.


    ... Two guys walk into a bar. Why didn't the second one duck?
    ___ MultiMail/Linux v0.52.1(RCS)

    --- Mystic BBS/QWK v1.12 A46 2020/08/25 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Castle Rock BBS - bbs.castlerockbbs.com (21:1/186)
  • From Charles Pierson@21:4/111 to Black Panther on Mon Sep 14 19:58:28 2020
    Hey Dan,

    In the year 2020, with all of the Internet communications available, why do we still operate BBSes?

    Technically I'm not actually running a BBS yet, but I'm getting there slowly. Although ultimately it might wind up something different than the normal.

    I've been playing around on BBSes since I was a kid. back when there were a lot of C=64, Apple, and Tandy Color Computer systems.

    I always enjoyed them, but kind of moved away as people began disappearing from echoes I participated in. A friend started some email list for a few of them, and I stayed there for a time. But it wasn't ever the same.

    Over the years, I check back in from time to time. and like you, The social media platforms just don't work like I like. So I'm back, trying my hand at setting things up, and we'll see what happens.


    --- AfterShock/Android 1.6.7
    * Origin: HOUSTON, TX (21:4/111)
  • From Underminer@21:4/103 to Black Panther on Mon Sep 14 19:05:09 2020
    Re: Why?
    By: Black Panther to All on Mon Sep 14 2020 02:21 pm

    In the year 2020, with all of the Internet communications available, why do we still operate BBSes?

    For me it's because:

    1) I have a few projects either on my list to tackle, or in progress for which some aspects of this "old technology" might be quite useful for plugging holes that modern solutions don't handle very well. And if I'm playing with it all to get inspiration, I might as well make sure it's available to anyone else.

    2) It's fun and I find the pacing and overall experience of this type of communication facilitates more discussion and community than some more modern offerings

    3) I've been doing it with occasional breaks since the 90s, so it would feel weird not to.
    ===
    Underminer - The Undermine BBS
    --- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
    * Origin: bbs.undermine.ca:423 - Calgary, AB (21:4/103)
  • From Atreyu@21:1/176 to Black Panther on Mon Sep 14 20:37:59 2020
    On 14 Sep 20 14:21:46, Black Panther said the following to All:

    Why do you run a BBS in 2020? I'm curious to hear your input.

    I already run a somewhat elaborate tech-setup at home for a business, so the extra resources were there to continue to run Darkrealms.

    Atreyu

    --- Renegade vY2Ka2
    * Origin: Joey, do you like movies about gladiators? (21:1/176)
  • From Jeff@21:1/180 to Black Panther on Mon Sep 14 20:54:06 2020
    On 14 Sep 2020, Black Panther said the following...
    In the year 2020, with all of the Internet communications available, why do we still operate BBSes?

    Nostalgia. It's technology from a time we enjoyed, or enjoy looking back
    upon. That technology is also much cheaper and also much more powerful
    today, whether it's due to internet connectivity or massive increases in available memory, storage, and processing speed. Despite that, though, it's still basically the same technology.

    Comraderie. I'm particularly into retrocomputing, and not only do BBSs make sense for that, but people I might meet on them will likely have some of the same interests.

    Jeff.
    -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Atari TI-99 TRS-80
    -+- Cold War Computing -+- Apple II PDP-8 Commodore -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Sinclair PDP-11 System/370

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Raspberry Pi/32)
    * Origin: Perceptronica (21:1/180)
  • From Datalus@21:4/120 to Black Panther on Tue Sep 15 00:49:08 2020
    Hi My name is Sam Penwright, Why do I keep running a bbs it gives me
    something to do I worked all my life and now its about me. Do I have
    people calling my Board well 1 or 2 but its okay I like trying to
    figuring things out and it gives me something to do when your 65 you
    dont have alot things Im able to do anymore but I like doing this .
    Thanks Datalus

    --- Ezycom V3.00 01FB064B
    * Origin: Deep Space Gateway BBS Running EZYCOM V3.0 (21:4/120)
  • From paulie420@21:2/150 to Black Panther on Mon Sep 14 22:01:43 2020
    Hi All,
    I think it's been awhile since this has been asked in here. There are
    some new people on board now, that might have some good answers. :)

    In the year 2020, with all of the Internet communications available, why do we still operate BBSes?

    In my opinion, running a BBS in 2020 is not for the users. Those days ended in the 90s. I run Castle Rock systems for me. If other people
    enjoy it, that is only a bonus.

    Why do you run a BBS in 2020? I'm curious to hear your input.

    Funny, BP, my reasons are very similar to yours. I run a BBS as *my* portal
    to the BBS world. And, like you, if other users enjoy my system and want to
    use it then GREAT... furthermore, I am certainly behind you, but I'm trying
    to learn python and would love to design things for users of Mystic, and
    BBSing as a whole.. I'm just not quite there yet.

    I created my first python project, and it is wicked cool to me, an old 1942 Philco Predicta television, a Raspberry Pi Zero and a capacitive touch
    button. Turn on television, and several photos display... then a 1943 Philco Predicta commercial plays... then, random videos of period correct television shows, commercials and other videos play... if a user touches the right spot
    ON the television (capacitive touch button installed underneath the thin wood of the Predicta) the random videos advance one. :P

    So, it took my love of antiques and my favorite piece to the next level... marrying old technology and new to create something that didn't exist before. :P

    I *want* to do that with Mystic mods, but realize that my code on the
    Predicta project is very basic. Do you have any suggestions of where to study/start for Mystic/python coding? Also, is there a list of Mystic MPL functions to go through?

    My BBS is mainly for me - but I hope that I build something that other BBS enthusiasts GET MOTIVATED by. :P



    |07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
    |08.........

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Raspberry Pi/32)
    * Origin: American Pi BBS (21:2/150)
  • From Avon@21:1/101 to Black Panther on Tue Sep 15 20:51:02 2020
    On 14 Sep 2020 at 02:21p, Black Panther pondered and said...

    In the year 2020, with all of the Internet communications available, why do we still operate BBSes?

    Why do you run a BBS in 2020? I'm curious to hear your input.

    For the friendship it brings, for the fun to tinker with software and make things talk to each other (new and old), as a place to find solace from a
    busy highly algorithmically monitored social media world.

    It reminds me of the fun I had in the 90s when BBSing was far more mainstream with geeks and non-geeks alike and when Usenet contained great discourse as well. I kinda hope those that knew/experienced that era will rediscover
    BBSing again for themselves (and many have/are) and that those too young to know (but with a certain interest for 'retro') will also stumble on to it and try things out.

    I'm more a messages guy than a files guy, less an ansi artist and coder than many, only to happy to support anyone who wants to set up a system, it doesn't matter what software, if it's stock and un-modded, I don't care. The fact someone wants to try things out and check out this 'world' is the main thing
    :)

    As someone who returned to the scene in 2012 (crap I'm old!) it's been a delight to see so many rediscover BBSing over the years, many have come back and then left but equally many are still active now several years after they first came back to the hobby or tried it for the first time - and that gives
    me a lot of pleasure.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)
  • From Zip@21:1/202 to Black Panther on Tue Sep 15 11:37:52 2020
    Hello Black Panther!

    On 14 Sep 2020, Black Panther said the following...
    In the year 2020, with all of the Internet communications available, why do we still operate BBSes?

    I do it to continue where I left off in 1997 and to re-live the memories of good old times, people and technology.

    Best regards
    Zip

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/25 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Star Collision BBS, Uppsala, Sweden (21:1/202)
  • From Joacim Melin@21:2/130 to Black Panther on Tue Sep 15 12:20:23 2020
    I run mine simply there is still a lot of activity in it. I have users who logs in on a daily basis and if the BBS is down for some reason they will text me or even call me and ask why. Also, it's been online for 6-7 years now and I still enjoy running it.


    --- NiKom v2.5.0
    * Origin: Delta City (deltacity.se, Vallentuna, Sweden) (21:2/130.0)
  • From Vk3jed@21:1/109 to Black Panther on Wed Sep 16 00:21:00 2020
    On 09-14-20 14:21, Black Panther wrote to All <=-

    Why do you run a BBS in 2020? I'm curious to hear your input.

    I run BBSs for me. I enjoy working with the technology and the style of messaging here. Occasionally, I'll try setting something up, and I also like how you can bring in multiple message networks to the one point.

    Still get more projects to work on, when I get my head in the right place, like fix the cross network echomail gateway (I think it needs a DOS mailer/tosser of its own). :) But it's fun here. :)

    If users come along and like what I'm doing, they're more than welcome to stick around, but I don't expect miracles. :)


    ... This tagline provided free of charge. Taxes may apply.
    === MultiMail/Win v0.51
    --- SBBSecho 3.10-Linux
    * Origin: Freeway BBS Bendigo,Australia freeway.apana.org.au (21:1/109)
  • From Vk3jed@21:1/109 to Avon on Wed Sep 16 00:29:00 2020
    On 09-15-20 16:51, Avon wrote to Black Panther <=-

    I'm more a messages guy than a files guy, less an ansi artist and coder than many, only to happy to support anyone who wants to set up a
    system, it doesn't matter what software, if it's stock and un-modded, I don't care. The fact someone wants to try things out and check out this 'world' is the main thing :)

    A man after my own heart. Messaging was and is my thing on BBSs. Files weren't of much interest, after trying some shareware out, and while I have the aptitude, coding isn't compatible with my mental health, so I do it sparingly. But systems integration is another thing of mine, finding ways to make things talk to each other

    As someone who returned to the scene in 2012 (crap I'm old!) it's been
    a delight to see so many rediscover BBSing over the years, many have
    come back and then left but equally many are still active now several years after they first came back to the hobby or tried it for the first time - and that gives me a lot of pleasure.

    I started BBSing in the early 90s, instantly hooked, ran my own board, passed it onto a friend (but stayed behind to look after the technical side). Was sad when it all fizzled out, but I didn't have the resources to take it back and run it on telnet.

    Rediscovered BBSing in late 2015, wanted to get back into it, and here I am. :)



    ... Chuck Norris knows the last digit of pi.
    === MultiMail/Win v0.51
    --- SBBSecho 3.10-Linux
    * Origin: Freeway BBS Bendigo,Australia freeway.apana.org.au (21:1/109)
  • From shinobi@21:1/153 to Black Panther on Tue Sep 15 18:04:35 2020
    Hello Black Panther,

    Why do you run a BBS in 2020? I'm curious to hear your input.


    for me it's efficiency. I'm tired of slow loading jquery megabytes of crap.
    I'm tired of self-confirmation seeking losers on insta. It was enough of ads filled YTB.

    In this world I can configure my system according to my needs. The relevant
    and important information are within two keypresses. And entertainment
    involves need to use my imagination.

    Good luck & thanks for Your Linux Tutorials

    |08Shinobi <.Phenom.> TBLX https://bbst.neocities.org HUB https://bbshub.org

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Infolinka BBS (21:1/153)
  • From Adept@21:2/108 to Black Panther on Tue Sep 15 18:06:49 2020
    In the year 2020, with all of the Internet communications available, why do we still operate BBSes?

    I assume I'll likely be echoing others' answers, but this seems like
    something good to answer before getting other people's answers.

    For me, my desire to set things up probably is mostly due to nostalgia. My desire to continue using BBSs is probably mostly due to the lack of memes and stupid discussions.

    The programming aspects are kind of nice, since I'm more capable there than I was the first time around, as is the ANSI making I've done (not sure if I'm more capable there, but Moebius has several features that TheDraw does not, which has made drawing easier.), but it's the message bases that draw me back.

    And, if I'm fair, what drew me in the first time around.

    on Facebook, and then realized how much time I was wasting trying to scroll passed the posts that I didn't care about. When they decided not
    to give you the posts sorted by time posted, but by their 'popularity'

    I use FBPurity, where you can sort by date if you're so inclined, though
    there are limitations (e.g., if Facebook doesn't give you the posts, FBPurity can't display them).

    But I've also largely stopped using the news feed for friends' posts, because it seems to be 90% political or "this really reflects me" memes. These tended to annoy me (generally because they're too reductive to be accurate, but getting bothered by the content was not unusual).

    Since the, "Hey everyone, this is what's going on in my life" posts are so rare, I stopped looking maybe 5 months ago. I occasionally see a bit, but I tend to view it as being largely off limits.

    But I've been posting a bit about going to Germany, a month of the ANSI
    artwork I made, and using messenger to directly talk to people I want to stay in contact with.

    And those have been solid. But it's also pretty self-limiting use, which is nice.

    But then compare this to BBSing, where it's basically a social network, but
    we talk about random things without anyone being able to post pictures, and
    the copypasta being rare or confined to certain areas.

    In my opinion, running a BBS in 2020 is not for the users. Those days ended in the 90s. I run Castle Rock systems for me. If other people
    enjoy it, that is only a bonus.

    Indeed. I'd still like to contact a variety of people I use to know, and see
    if I could get them to play the game of LORD on my BBS that's using the same data from my original BBS.

    And it's always nice to show off my calendar ANSIs.

    But I haven't spent any effort on advertising my BBS, so any calls to it are
    a bonus.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)
  • From Charles Pierson@21:4/111 to Vk3jed on Tue Sep 15 13:59:07 2020

    On 09-15-20 16:51, Avon wrote to Black Panther <=-



    A man after my own heart. Messaging was and is my thing on BBSs. Files

    weren't of much interest, after trying some shareware out, and while I
    have the
    aptitude, coding isn't compatible with my mental health, so I do
    it sparingly.
    But systems integration is another thing of mine, finding
    ways to make things
    talk to each other

    I've always liked the message side more. I did and still do love trying out software just to see what it does, and if I can get it to go beyond its design parameters, which is likely why I wound up crashing so many computers in my life.


    --- AfterShock/Android 1.6.7
    * Origin: HOUSTON, TX (21:4/111)
  • From Nodoka Hanamura@21:2/106 to Black Panther on Wed Sep 16 05:49:42 2020
    Why do you run a BBS in 2020? I'm curious to hear your input.

    Because it comes from a long past time when things were simpler and slower.
    As someone who grew up after the scene 'died' in the mid-90s with the dawn of the internet, the idea of dialing into a board and sending messages to people without having to see all of the ads, political subjects and drama all over
    the place is something that i've longed for for a while.

    I may be the youngest here, but honestly I feel I'm one of the few who
    wishes that although tech had still evolved - but that instead of social
    media, we would be using BBSing to communicate and share things, because of
    how Social Media has been used to turn us against each other and keep us addicted to it like a electronic drug.

    Born too late to experience the scene.
    Born just in time to see it come back.
    Nodoka Hanamura - NeoCincinnati BBS SYSOP - neocinci.bbs.io

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: NeoCincinnati BBS - neocinci.bbs.io:23 (21:2/106)
  • From Static@21:2/140.1 to Nodoka Hanamura on Wed Sep 16 06:18:53 2020
    Re: Re: Why?
    By: Nodoka Hanamura to Black Panther on Wed Sep 16 2020 01:49:42

    I may be the youngest here, but honestly I feel I'm one of the few who wishes that although tech had still evolved - but that instead of social media, we would be using BBSing to communicate and share things, because of how Social Media has been used to turn us against each other and keep us addicted to it like a electronic drug.

    So what if I've done nothing but sit in front of my computer listening to a mix tape for the past half hour with the terminal on redial waiting for the line of my favourite BBS to free up?

    I can quit anytime I want.
    --- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
    * Origin: Subcarrier BBS (21:2/140.1)
  • From Avon@21:1/101 to Nodoka Hanamura on Wed Sep 16 23:48:59 2020
    On 16 Sep 2020 at 01:49a, Nodoka Hanamura pondered and said...

    I may be the youngest here, but honestly I feel I'm one of the few who wishes that although tech had still evolved - but that instead of social media, we would be using BBSing to communicate and share things, because of how Social Media has been used to turn us against each other and keep us addicted to it like a electronic drug.

    That last comment is a timely and adroit observation.

    https://youtu.be/uaaC57tcci0

    This documentary is well worth a watch and causing quite a stir at present.
    I'm about 50% of the way through it at present.

    Best, Paul

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)
  • From Vk3jed@21:1/109 to Charles Pierson on Thu Sep 17 00:16:00 2020
    On 09-15-20 09:59, Charles Pierson wrote to Vk3jed <=-

    I've always liked the message side more. I did and still do love trying

    Messages for ever. :D

    out software just to see what it does, and if I can get it to go beyond its design parameters, which is likely why I wound up crashing so many computers in my life.

    Haha there's so much software around now, one has to be very selective. :)


    ... Before they invented drawing boards, what did they go back to?
    === MultiMail/Win v0.51
    --- SBBSecho 3.10-Linux
    * Origin: Freeway BBS Bendigo,Australia freeway.apana.org.au (21:1/109)
  • From Adept@21:2/108 to Nodoka Hanamura on Wed Sep 16 16:25:55 2020
    Because it comes from a long past time when things were simpler and

    ...this is not how I'm used to thinking of the '90s.

    I'm also kind of ... uncomfortable with that sort of thinking, since it makes
    a previous time out to be idyllic, when it was anything but.

    E.g., would I like more interest in BBSing, especially in whatever local area I'm at? Yes. Would I prefer a world where computers were slow, there was no internet, messages took days to be able to respond to, etc.? Probably not.

    And that's not even getting into social issues or being _way_ more able to get niche items that I want that would've taken hunting at a bunch of different stores -- if it was possible to get at all.

    No pandemic would be nice, though.

    sending messages to people without having to see all of the ads,
    political subjects and drama all over the place is something that i've longed for for a while.

    ...but I'm with you there, regardless. Certainly, in my previous experience with BBSs (or Fidonet, now), there was plenty of political subjects and
    drama. But there was no such thing as a never-ending feed, where you have to make an effort to pull yourself away, rather than just being done with the task.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to Static on Wed Sep 16 13:07:00 2020
    Hello Static!

    ** On Wednesday 16.09.20 - 02:18, Static wrote to Nodoka Hanamura:

    ...instead of social media, we would be using BBSing
    to communicate and share things, because of how Social
    Media has been used to turn us against each other and keep
    us addicted to it like a electronic drug.

    So what if I've done nothing but sit in front of my
    computer listening to a mix tape for the past half hour
    with the terminal on redial waiting for the line of my
    favourite BBS to free up?


    There are only two industries that call their
    customers 'users': illegal drugs and software. "
    - Edward Tufte


    I can quit anytime I want.

    You go first! LOL

    --

    --- OpenXP 5.0.46
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Charles Pierson@21:4/111 to Static on Wed Sep 16 11:34:18 2020


    So what if I've done nothing but sit in front of my computer listening to a mix tape for the past half hour with the terminal on redial waiting for the line of my favourite BBS to free up?

    300 Baud is plenty fast for anything you need to do.

    --- AfterShock/Android 1.6.7
    * Origin: HOUSTON, TX (21:4/111)
  • From Charles Pierson@21:4/111 to Vk3jed on Wed Sep 16 11:48:18 2020


    out software just to see what it does, and if I can get it to go beyond
    its design parameters, which is likely why I wound up crashing so many
    computers in my life.


    Haha there's so much software around now, one has to be very selective. :)

    I am. I limit myself to "Hey that looks interesting. What can I screw up with that?"

    --- AfterShock/Android 1.6.7
    * Origin: HOUSTON, TX (21:4/111)
  • From Nodoka Hanamura@21:2/106 to Adept on Wed Sep 16 13:32:26 2020
    On 16 Sep 2020, Adept said the following...

    Because it comes from a long past time when things were simpler and

    ...this is not how I'm used to thinking of the '90s.

    I'm also kind of ... uncomfortable with that sort of thinking, since it makes a previous time out to be idyllic, when it was anything but.


    I can understand having that mindset. I guess it's kinda how I felt it was
    from percieving it with the collapse of the USSR and a brief general peace (albeit domestically in the US it was a wee bit of a hot mess with Clinton
    and what not for a few years).

    E.g., would I like more interest in BBSing, especially in whatever local area I'm at? Yes. Would I prefer a world where computers were slow,
    there was no internet, messages took days to be able to respond to,
    etc.? Probably not.

    Seconded. I essentially said "I wish that BBSes were still used as the
    primary method of using computers for communication, even on mobile using certain apps, as opposed to accursed social media and how it is these days"

    And that's not even getting into social issues or being _way_ more able
    to get niche items that I want that would've taken hunting at a bunch of different stores -- if it was possible to get at all.

    I agree on the latter. I'm thankful I'm able to get some of the figurines and other things I have online these days.

    No pandemic would be nice, though.

    I think anyone can agree on that one, lol

    ...but I'm with you there, regardless. Certainly, in my previous experience with BBSs (or Fidonet, now), there was plenty of political subjects and drama. But there was no such thing as a never-ending feed, where you have to make an effort to pull yourself away, rather than just being done with the task.

    Social Media is kind of like that for me. I've managed to eject that crap
    from my twitter by nuking my account, but I still see it, yet less often.
    Here, it's as simple as just not looking at the Debate section of DOVENET.

    Born too late to experience the scene.
    Born just in time to see it come back.
    Nodoka Hanamura - NeoCincinnati BBS SYSOP - neocinci.bbs.io

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: NeoCincinnati BBS - neocinci.bbs.io:23 (21:2/106)
  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Black Panther on Tue Sep 15 13:47:00 2020
    Black Panther wrote to All <=-


    In the year 2020, with all of the Internet communications available,
    why do we still operate BBSes?

    In no particular order:

    1. Momentum. I've been running a BBS since 1991, and reading messages
    with a cup of coffee has been my morning routine since then.

    2. Technical challenge. In the DOS era, I loved making multiple pieces
    of software work together, all tied together with a batch file that
    automated the whole mess. With this new incarnation I was amazed to
    be able to run a telnet BBS, SMTP/POP3/IMAP mail server, web server,
    Gopher, and FTP server and hub for a couple of othernets - on a cast
    off Windows box that no one wanted.

    3. Long-form communication. Both Facebook and Twitter are geared to
    short updates, sharing memes and photos, and don't appeal as much as
    a forum where people can express themselves more fully. I used to
    love blogging and LiveJournal, and while they're both out of the
    picture, BBSing still remains.

    4. The people. I used to love the local community that dial-up BBSing
    fostered. While I'm not getting together for coffee or drinks with
    the community online these days, I think it still appeals to a
    different sort of person.

    5. I read what I want to read, in the order I want to read it. I get
    so tired of seeing something on social media, then not being able to
    find it again because the order in which content is presented
    changes. What's so bad about chronological order?

    6. I own the content on my BBS. It won't disappear unless I disappear
    it.

    7. The networks don't have a financial interest in influencing the tone
    or content of what's being posted.







    For me, it's a great way to meet good people, without having to deal
    with the BS found on 'Social Media'. For many years, I was very active
    on Facebook, and then realized how much time I was wasting trying to scroll passed the posts that I didn't care about. When they decided not
    to give you the posts sorted by time posted, but by their 'popularity' rating, I figured it was time to give it up. So, my name is Dan, and
    I've been free of Facebook for four years. :)

    I also found that I wanted to get back into programming. Trying to jump
    in to dealing with APIs and web based applications, was WAY out of my league. Programming for a BBS is primarily text based, and fairly
    simple to get a complete understanding of what your doing. I started
    with writing some programs that were lacking in the Mystic world, like
    new file announcements, and log backups. I eventually changed over to programming in C, and was able to start writing some door games.

    In my opinion, running a BBS in 2020 is not for the users. Those days ended in the 90s. I run Castle Rock systems for me. If other people
    enjoy it, that is only a bonus.

    Right now, I'm enjoying trying to get some programs set up that I've
    never used before. A good example is getting FReqing set up. I'd also
    like to try to get email through Castle Rock, for a few reasons. I've
    also been working, slowly, on updating www.castlerockbbs.com. There are some major changes that are in the works there, that I think will
    benefit others as well. :)

    So, trying to get some legacy programs working on new systems is a challange, but also fun. The merging of different technologies, so to speak. :)

    Why do you run a BBS in 2020? I'm curious to hear your input.


    ... Two guys walk into a bar. Why didn't the second one duck?
    ___ MultiMail/Linux v0.52.1(RCS)

    --- Mystic BBS/QWK v1.12 A46 2020/08/25 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Castle Rock BBS - bbs.castlerockbbs.com (21:1/186)

    ... The robots can go off-script?
    --- MultiMail/XT v0.52
    * Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)
  • From Mauro Veiga@21:1/181 to BLACK PANTHER on Wed Sep 16 16:08:00 2020
    Quoting Black Panther to All at 09-14-20 14:21 <=-

    Why do you run a BBS in 2020? I'm curious to hear your input.

    Because is fun. I love old DOS programs and text-screen. To open
    the BlueWave to read/write messages or work on my system is a relax
    moment against boring GUI and annoying Social Networks. :-)



    []s │
    ┌────────────────────────────────────────────── * ─────────────
    │ Mauro R. Veiga - abutre.no-ip.org:2323 │
    ─────│───────────────────────────────────────────────┘


    MeSSaGe SiTTeR 1.00 - Full Version
    Live Long and Prosper

    ... "Don't underestimate the POWER of the Blue Wave" - Darth Vader
    ___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30
    --- SBBSecho 3.06-Win32
    * Origin: Ninho do Abutre 2 - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil * (21:1/181)
  • From xqtr@21:1/111 to Black Panther on Wed Sep 16 22:15:41 2020
    In the year 2020, with all of the Internet communications available, why d still operate BBSes?

    I think at the end... it's about nostalgia ;) It's not just BBSing, retro-gaming also is on it's "high", as people age and want to remember their youth :) Also i think, that those days, gaming, bbsing, even
    animation/cartoons was in their "golden era", not in graphics, but in quality.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Raspberry Pi/32)
    * Origin: Another Droid BBS # andr01d.zapto.org:9999 (21:1/111)
  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Nodoka Hanamura on Wed Sep 16 11:55:00 2020
    Nodoka Hanamura wrote to Black Panther <=-

    I may be the youngest here, but honestly I feel I'm one of the few who wishes that although tech had still evolved - but that instead of
    social media, we would be using BBSing to communicate and share things, because of how Social Media has been used to turn us against each other and keep us addicted to it like a electronic drug.

    If you haven't heard of him yet, check out Jaron Lanier - he has a
    couple of books and TED talks about social media, and as the
    "inventor" of popular virtual reality, he's seen the "scene" for some
    time.

    I'm reading his book "You are not a Gadget" now, he's got some
    interesting perspectives on content and payment.




    ... Into the impossible
    --- MultiMail/XT v0.52
    * Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)
  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Static on Wed Sep 16 11:59:00 2020
    Static wrote to Nodoka Hanamura <=-

    So what if I've done nothing but sit in front of my computer listening
    to a mix tape for the past half hour with the terminal on redial
    waiting for the line of my favourite BBS to free up?

    Then, you hear that connect tone and you sit down in front of the
    keyboard, with no idea which of the 12-odd BBSes you gang-dialed
    opened up.



    ... Into the impossible
    --- MultiMail/XT v0.52
    * Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)
  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Adept on Wed Sep 16 12:07:00 2020
    Adept wrote to Nodoka Hanamura <=-


    I'm also kind of ... uncomfortable with that sort of thinking, since it makes a previous time out to be idyllic, when it was anything but.

    My first thought was of trying to get an add-on card to work in the
    early '90s, before the internet and before plug-and-play. I needed to
    find the vendor's fax-back system telephone number, call a toll
    number, have the manual faxed to my work, then drive in to retrieve
    it.

    E.g., would I like more interest in BBSing, especially in whatever
    local area I'm at? Yes. Would I prefer a world where computers were
    slow, there was no internet, messages took days to be able to respond
    to, etc.? Probably not.

    Your second point is what made your first point so true. Fidonet was
    king back then, but the local othernets were much more outside the
    mainstream, covered local interest, and we polled more often -
    I usually polled once at 8pm when the rates went down, and once
    around 3am. With all of the BBSes polling a central hub, turnaround
    time was pretty good, and it made for a great medium for messaging.

    What I do miss is meeting the other sysops and users face-to-face.
    We'd get together 3-4 times a year, and putting a face to the alias
    made conversations much more civil, more meaningful when you
    saw the person behind the opinion.







    And that's not even getting into social issues or being _way_ more able
    to get niche items that I want that would've taken hunting at a bunch
    of different stores -- if it was possible to get at all.

    No pandemic would be nice, though.

    sending messages to people without having to see all of the ads,
    political subjects and drama all over the place is something that i've longed for for a while.

    ...but I'm with you there, regardless. Certainly, in my previous experience with BBSs (or Fidonet, now), there was plenty of political subjects and drama. But there was no such thing as a never-ending feed, where you have to make an effort to pull yourself away, rather than
    just being done with the task.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)

    ... Imagine the music as a set of disconnected events
    --- MultiMail/XT v0.52
    * Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)
  • From Blue White@21:4/134 to Nodoka Hanamura on Wed Sep 16 20:28:42 2020
    I may be the youngest here, but honestly I feel I'm one of the few who wishes that although tech had still evolved - but that instead of social media, we would be using BBSing to communicate and share things, because of how Social Media has been used to turn us against each other and keep us addicted to it like a electronic drug.

    I agree. Things sometimes boil over in the BBS world, and they certainly
    did even before the internet social media we know today. Still, the BBSes
    seem mostly immune to some of the hacking and commercial explotation that happens on social media platforms and, if you find yourself being exposed
    to too many opinions/ideas that you don't like (or that might not be
    legal!), you can always call another BBS.




    ... Direct from the Ministry of Silly Walks
    --- MultiMail
    * Origin: Possum Lodge South * possumso.fsxnet.nz:7636/SSH:2122 (21:4/134)
  • From Adept@21:2/108 to poindexter FORTRAN on Thu Sep 17 03:25:39 2020
    What I do miss is meeting the other sysops and users face-to-face.
    We'd get together 3-4 times a year, and putting a face to the alias
    made conversations much more civil, more meaningful when you
    saw the person behind the opinion.

    Yeah, that has never been particularly replaced, to much sadness.

    I lived in two different areas with active BBSs, one of which was after the consumer internet was fairly established, just some BBSs held on for longer (and wound up on telnet for a while, too).

    In both cases, I wound up with friend groups because of it.

    I assume people do that with meetup, possibly, but you're going in cold in meeting people. Here, were we all in the same area, there's much more of a
    base to work with.

    And shared topics to talk about.

    I've gained a friend group or two in other ways, but I'm sad not to have that sort of tool -- especially with how I'm in a new area.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to poindexter FORTRAN on Wed Sep 16 23:27:00 2020
    Hello poindexter!

    ** On Wednesday 16.09.20 - 07:55, poindexter FORTRAN wrote to Nodoka Hanamura:

    If you haven't heard of him yet, check out Jaron Lanier
    - he has a couple of books and TED talks about social
    media, and as the "inventor" of popular virtual reality,
    he's seen the "scene" for some time.

    I second that.

    His latest book sounds interesting too.

    "Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right
    Now"

    ..expounds more about the anti-social media subjects of the
    Ted Talks.


    I'm reading his book "You are not a Gadget" now, he's
    got some interesting perspectives on content and
    payment.

    He probably goes into a more convincing description about the
    payment solution. The Ted Talks touched upon on it briefly.



    --- OpenXP 5.0.46
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to poindexter FORTRAN on Wed Sep 16 23:35:00 2020
    Hello poindexter!

    ** On Wednesday 16.09.20 - 08:07, poindexter FORTRAN wrote to Adept:

    What I do miss is meeting the other sysops and users
    face-to-face. We'd get together 3-4 times a year, and
    putting a face to the alias made conversations much more
    civil, more meaningful when you saw the person behind
    the opinion.

    Has anyone organized something akin to a Zoom or Skype session
    to meet up? It wouldn't have the same casual "stepping away
    from techonology to just have a social beer".

    A live meet-up probably wouldn't work considering that many
    sysops and users are not even within a reasonable driving
    distance of each other. The internet may have helped to link
    people together, but in the meantime people are settled much
    more apart.


    --- OpenXP 5.0.46
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Avon@21:1/101 to poindexter FORTRAN on Thu Sep 17 16:23:38 2020
    On 15 Sep 2020 at 09:47a, poindexter FORTRAN pondered and said...

    4. The people. I used to love the local community that dial-up BBSing
    5. I read what I want to read, in the order I want to read it. I get
    7. The networks don't have a financial interest in influencing the tone

    I really like and agree with this also :)

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)
  • From Avon@21:1/101 to xqtr on Thu Sep 17 16:25:34 2020
    On 16 Sep 2020 at 06:15p, xqtr pondered and said...

    their youth :) Also i think, that those days, gaming, bbsing, even animation/cartoons was in their "golden era", not in graphics, but in quality.

    I tend to think a 'golden era' is usually 30 years earlier from whatever age
    we are :) Put another way, I think future generations will likely see things
    as golden also when they look back. Perhaps it's just in our nature to do so when we look back and reflect?

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)
  • From Avon@21:1/101 to poindexter FORTRAN on Thu Sep 17 16:28:21 2020
    On 16 Sep 2020 at 08:07a, poindexter FORTRAN pondered and said...

    What I do miss is meeting the other sysops and users face-to-face.
    We'd get together 3-4 times a year, and putting a face to the alias
    made conversations much more civil, more meaningful when you
    saw the person behind the opinion.

    There's a New Zealand Facebook group I posted to a few times about how BBSing was still active and inviting folks to sample it again via Agency BBS etc.
    etc. and the reaction was almost zero :(

    What I found was that the group was really made up of folks who enjoyed the
    old face to face meetups of the 90s and had reconnected via social media.
    Their interest in the medium that had brought them together the first time around was seemingly absent. Sadly.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)
  • From Avon@21:1/101 to Ogg on Thu Sep 17 16:32:23 2020
    On 16 Sep 2020 at 07:35p, Ogg pondered and said...

    Has anyone organized something akin to a Zoom or Skype session
    to meet up? It wouldn't have the same casual "stepping away

    Not that I know of. It's been talked about on/off over the years (well before covid-19 hit). I'd be open to joining a meet-up for the fun of it. The issue will be the global timezones at play but I'd be prepared to get up early or stay up late if need be to fit in :)

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)
  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Ogg on Wed Sep 16 21:40:35 2020
    Re: Why?
    By: Ogg to poindexter FORTRAN on Wed Sep 16 2020 07:35 pm

    Has anyone organized something akin to a Zoom or Skype session
    to meet up? It wouldn't have the same casual "stepping away
    from techonology to just have a social beer".

    I still meet with the sysops from my dial-up days, omce a week, There's a weekly MRC meetup happening right now, if text chatting is your thing.
    --- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32
    * Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to Avon on Thu Sep 17 01:28:00 2020
    Hello Avon!

    ** On Thursday 17.09.20 - 12:28, Avon wrote to poindexter FORTRAN:

    There's a New Zealand Facebook group I posted to a few
    times about how BBSing was still active and inviting folks
    to sample it again via Agency BBS etc. etc. and the
    reaction was almost zero :(

    What I found was that the group was really made up of
    folks who enjoyed the old face to face meetups of the 90s
    and had reconnected via social media. Their interest in
    the medium that had brought them together the first time
    around was seemingly absent. Sadly.

    Maybe they didn't quite have the simple means to reconnect
    with their modern pcs?

    Even now, maybe the requirement for using a terminal program
    probably falls on deaf ears and is an extra layer to
    implement. Besides, the FB users are probably happy with the
    web way of doing things, that's why they're on FB. ???


    --- OpenXP 5.0.46
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Avon@21:1/101 to Ogg on Thu Sep 17 19:46:18 2020
    On 16 Sep 2020 at 09:28p, Ogg pondered and said...

    Maybe they didn't quite have the simple means to reconnect
    with their modern pcs?

    I'd pointed them at Synchronet and Mystic at the time but there was little interest it seemed.

    Even now, maybe the requirement for using a terminal program
    probably falls on deaf ears and is an extra layer to
    implement. Besides, the FB users are probably happy with the
    web way of doing things, that's why they're on FB. ???

    I think more the latter... the feeling of why shift if it's working already? And that psychological thing of fear of missing out which social tends to
    play very well in the minds of most.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)
  • From Static@21:2/140.1 to Ogg on Thu Sep 17 05:23:29 2020
    Re: Why?
    By: Ogg to Static on Wed Sep 16 2020 09:07:00

    I can quit anytime I want.

    You go first! LOL

    Hey I said I can quit when I want. I just don't want to right now.
    --- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
    * Origin: Subcarrier BBS (21:2/140.1)
  • From Static@21:2/140.1 to Charles Pierson on Thu Sep 17 05:59:36 2020
    Re: Re: Why?
    By: Charles Pierson to Static on Wed Sep 16 2020 07:34:18

    300 Baud is plenty fast for anything you need to do.

    It's basically reading speed sure but you'll be wishing you invested in a 1200 or even 2400 when boards start getting fancy with PETSCII/ANSI art or you want to download multi-disk software without using up an entire week's worth of time.
    --- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
    * Origin: Subcarrier BBS (21:2/140.1)
  • From Static@21:2/140.1 to poindexter FORTRAN on Thu Sep 17 06:05:57 2020
    Re: Re: Why?
    By: poindexter FORTRAN to Static on Wed Sep 16 2020 07:59:00

    Then, you hear that connect tone and you sit down in front of the
    keyboard, with no idea which of the 12-odd BBSes you gang-dialed
    opened up.

    I can still hear Telix's little three-note connect tone...
    --- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
    * Origin: Subcarrier BBS (21:2/140.1)
  • From Avon@21:1/101 to Static on Thu Sep 17 23:58:53 2020
    On 17 Sep 2020 at 02:05a, Static pondered and said...

    I can still hear Telix's little three-note connect tone...

    Lordy I'd forgotten that one... happy memories and the thrill of getting a connect :)

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)
  • From Tiny@21:1/130 to Adept on Thu Sep 17 13:41:18 2020
    Quoting Adept to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

    I lived in two different areas with active BBSs, one of which was
    In both cases, I wound up with friend groups because of it.

    Most of my RL friends I met on the BBS back in the day.

    I've gained a friend group or two in other ways, but I'm sad not to

    Same here mainly through work.

    Shawn

    ... Predestination was doomed from the start.

    --- EzyBlueWave V3.00 01FB001F
    * Origin: Tiny's BBS - telnet://tinysbbs.com:3023 (21:1/130)
  • From Charles Pierson@21:4/111 to Static on Thu Sep 17 09:48:28 2020

    Re: Re: Why?
    By: Charles Pierson to Static on Wed Sep 16 2020 07:34:18

    300 Baud is plenty fast for anything you need to do.

    It's basically reading speed sure but you'll be wishing you invested in a 1200 or even 2400 when boards start getting fancy with PETSCII/ANSI art or you want to download multi-disk software without using up an entire week's worth of time. --- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux

    ahh, yes. I recall starting a download then going to sleep hoping the call didn't drop since it had 6-8 or more hours to go.

    --- AfterShock/Android 1.6.7
    * Origin: HOUSTON, TX (21:4/111)
  • From Vk3jed@21:1/109 to Charles Pierson on Fri Sep 18 00:38:00 2020
    On 09-16-20 07:48, Charles Pierson wrote to Vk3jed <=-


    Haha there's so much software around now, one has to be very selective.
    :)

    I am. I limit myself to "Hey that looks interesting. What can I screw
    up with that?

    Hahaha, that leaves the field wide open. :D


    ... Don't go to work, there's a lot to do.
    === MultiMail/Win v0.51
    --- SBBSecho 3.10-Linux
    * Origin: Freeway BBS Bendigo,Australia freeway.apana.org.au (21:1/109)
  • From Vk3jed@21:1/109 to poindexter FORTRAN on Fri Sep 18 01:51:00 2020
    On 09-16-20 08:07, poindexter FORTRAN wrote to Adept <=-

    My first thought was of trying to get an add-on card to work in the
    early '90s, before the internet and before plug-and-play. I needed to
    find the vendor's fax-back system telephone number, call a toll
    number, have the manual faxed to my work, then drive in to retrieve
    it.

    Haha, I never got to that point. I rarely had new hardware, and managed to find ways to make what I got my hands on work. :)

    Your second point is what made your first point so true. Fidonet was
    king back then, but the local othernets were much more outside the
    mainstream, covered local interest, and we polled more often -
    I usually polled once at 8pm when the rates went down, and once
    around 3am. With all of the BBSes polling a central hub, turnaround
    time was pretty good, and it made for a great medium for messaging.

    There were also niche/special interest othernets around, they were quite good.

    What I do miss is meeting the other sysops and users face-to-face.
    We'd get together 3-4 times a year, and putting a face to the alias
    made conversations much more civil, more meaningful when you
    saw the person behind the opinion.

    Sadly, there is no solution to this issue. Might have to wait until we have Star Trek style transporters, or at least immersive VR, where it can feel like you're together in the same (virtual) space.

    ...but I'm with you there, regardless. Certainly, in my previous experience with BBSs (or Fidonet, now), there was plenty of political subjects and drama. But there was no such thing as a never-ending feed, where you have to make an effort to pull yourself away, rather than
    just being done with the task.

    Yes, once the Bluewave packet was finished, the day's mail reading was over. :)


    ... Help fight continental drift.
    === MultiMail/Win v0.51
    --- SBBSecho 3.10-Linux
    * Origin: Freeway BBS Bendigo,Australia freeway.apana.org.au (21:1/109)
  • From Vk3jed@21:1/109 to Avon on Fri Sep 18 01:54:00 2020
    On 09-17-20 12:32, Avon wrote to Ogg <=-

    On 16 Sep 2020 at 07:35p, Ogg pondered and said...

    Has anyone organized something akin to a Zoom or Skype session
    to meet up? It wouldn't have the same casual "stepping away

    Not that I know of. It's been talked about on/off over the years (well before covid-19 hit). I'd be open to joining a meet-up for the fun of
    it. The issue will be the global timezones at play but I'd be prepared
    to get up early or stay up late if need be to fit in :)

    Would be good, though I'm a bit less flexible, as my body clock doesn't tolerate such tinkering. :(


    ... A Canadian? It's like an American, without the gun, with health care.
    === MultiMail/Win v0.51
    --- SBBSecho 3.10-Linux
    * Origin: Freeway BBS Bendigo,Australia freeway.apana.org.au (21:1/109)
  • From Warpslide@21:3/110 to Static on Thu Sep 17 15:22:34 2020
    On 17 Sep 2020, Static said the following...

    It's basically reading speed sure but you'll be wishing you invested in
    a 1200 or even 2400 when boards start getting fancy with PETSCII/ANSI
    art or you want to download multi-disk software without using up an
    entire week's worth of time.

    YouTube suggested this video to me, which of course I clicked on. Those
    noises brought back a lot of memories.

    "A history of modem sounds: 300 baud to 56k" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckc6XSSh52w


    This guy explains what each different modem sound does:

    "Why Does Dial Up Sound The Way It Does? (An Explanation)" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp47x1EabqI


    Jay

    ... Thanks for explaining the word "many" to me, it means a lot

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
    * Origin: Northern Realms (21:3/110)
  • From Charles Pierson@21:4/111 to Vk3jed on Thu Sep 17 14:28:32 2020

    On 09-16-20 07:48, Charles Pierson wrote to Vk3jed <=-


    Haha there's so much software around now, one has to be very selective.
    :)

    I am. I limit myself to "Hey that looks interesting. What can I screw
    up with that?


    Hahaha, that leaves the field wide open. :D


    It's limited to what I think is interesting. So there's that. :)

    --- AfterShock/Android 1.6.7
    * Origin: HOUSTON, TX (21:4/111)
  • From xqtr@21:1/111 to Avon on Fri Sep 18 01:24:20 2020
    I tend to think a 'golden era' is usually 30 years earlier from whatever age we are :) Put another way, I think future generations will likely
    see things as golden also when they look back. Perhaps it's just in our nature to do so when we look back and reflect?

    Reading this, i just realized that i am speaking exactly as my father did to
    me and told me about his "golden era" of music in the 60s etc. :) So, i
    believe there is a big truth in what you are saying :)

    :: XQTR :: Another Droid BBS :: andr01d.zapto.org:9999 :: xqtr@gmx.com

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Raspberry Pi/32)
    * Origin: Another Droid BBS # andr01d.zapto.org:9999 (21:1/111)
  • From Adept@21:2/108 to Avon on Fri Sep 18 00:27:08 2020
    I tend to think a 'golden era' is usually 30 years earlier from whatever age we are :) Put another way, I think future generations will likely
    see things as golden also when they look back. Perhaps it's just in our nature to do so when we look back and reflect?

    Short enough to remember how good of a game Super Mario Bros. 3 was, long enough ago to forget exactly how terrible your average Atari 2600 game was?

    I know there are at least a couple of Game Boy games that I played as a kid that I wouldn't even consider playing for more than a few minutes, now.

    On the other hand, Tetris is still a great game.

    But there are plenty of great games coming out, at all different levels of development, with many good, and many that are abominations that shouldn't exist (namely, most every pay-to-win game out there.).

    On the other hand, I would _gladly_ choose the board games of today over the board games of 30 years ago. Ugh, they were terrible, as a rule. No amount of time can make me think that "Monopoly" and "happy times with friends and/or family" are somehow related.

    Even if the various special editions did look pretty cool.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)
  • From Adept@21:2/108 to Avon on Fri Sep 18 00:33:08 2020
    What I found was that the group was really made up of folks who enjoyed the old face to face meetups of the 90s and had reconnected via social media. Their interest in the medium that had brought them together the first time around was seemingly absent. Sadly.

    I posted a month worth of my calendar ANSIs, and mentioned that I'd probably
    do a blog sort of thing on a sub just for people who actually knew me (but in
    a place that is dark-web-ish and controlled by me)...

    And one person did call, and mentioned how he hadn't called a BBS in 30 years.

    So that was neat. I suppose I did also kinda get another person thinking
    about setting up a BBS again, but he's a sysop friend, so the likelihood that he'd call other BBSs is pretty low, as you'd expect.

    Which is fine.

    But I don't think I'm that much of a draw, that people would go to that level of effort to see what I did, unless I badgered them to do so. Which is also fine, as I'd never want to be famous.

    So I do tend to find that the way to communicate with people is to figure out whatever medium works for them (that isn't a phone call, because not doing that.), and communicate directly with them that way.

    Since I don't really expect people to want to share my hobby.

    But, eh, maybe people who use Facebook actually prefer how it is?

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)
  • From Adept@21:2/108 to Ogg on Fri Sep 18 00:35:14 2020
    Even now, maybe the requirement for using a terminal program
    probably falls on deaf ears and is an extra layer to

    I tend to assume that people wouldn't do that, and just have an fTelnet instance on a web page (e.g., bbs.stormbbs.com).

    But I think that doesn't tend to work all that well on a phone, and I think a lot of people are pretty exclusively on their phones, these days.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)
  • From Avon@21:1/101 to Vk3jed on Fri Sep 18 13:30:08 2020
    On 17 Sep 2020 at 09:54p, Vk3jed pondered and said...

    Would be good, though I'm a bit less flexible, as my body clock doesn't tolerate such tinkering. :(

    With all that running you do you'll be way more flexible than me ;-p

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)
  • From Avon@21:1/101 to xqtr on Fri Sep 18 13:34:12 2020
    On 17 Sep 2020 at 09:24p, xqtr pondered and said...

    Reading this, i just realized that i am speaking exactly as my father
    did to me and told me about his "golden era" of music in the 60s etc. :) So, i believe there is a big truth in what you are saying :)

    I think for music a lot of what we look back and enjoy is stuff we were listening to when we were younger, from around the ages of 13-25 I think ...

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)
  • From Adept@21:2/108 to Avon on Fri Sep 18 02:44:41 2020
    I think for music a lot of what we look back and enjoy is stuff we were listening to when we were younger, from around the ages of 13-25 I think

    But today's pop music is so much better - people use autotune _all_ the time, and this a) means they're not slightly off key, driving me nuts, and b) more likely to have little techno bits.

    ...I may have strange ideas.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to Adept on Thu Sep 17 23:38:00 2020
    Hello Adept!

    ** On Thursday 17.09.20 - 20:35, Adept wrote to Ogg:

    ...and just have an fTelnet instance on a web page (e.g., bbs.stormbbs.com).

    But I think that doesn't tend to work all that well on a
    phone, and I think a lot of people are pretty exclusively
    on their phones, these days.

    For a full BBS experience/visit, fTelnet on my Blackberry
    (2"x2"screen) would be brutal.

    BUT, there is still the messages/echomail aspect that has
    other options:

    [1] The project at rocketsolidbbs.com looks and works pretty
    good on my rinky dinky Blackberry via Safari.

    [2] The echomail via Telegram project is also looking very
    promising.

    --
    ../|ug

    --- OpenXP 5.0.46
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Bucko@21:4/131 to Avon on Thu Sep 17 23:52:18 2020
    On 18 Sep 2020, Avon said the following...


    I think for music a lot of what we look back and enjoy is stuff we were listening to when we were younger, from around the ages of 13-25 I think ...

    I agree with you Avon.. I find myself listening to everything I loved back
    from that age group now.. Although I am pushing myself to expand my tastes, I have recently acquired a taste for old Country Music, (Ray Price, Hank
    Williams Sr., Tanya Tucker, Loretta Lynn etc.) I am also branching out into more real old Blues, (Robert Johnson, Blind Lemon, Charley Patton etc.) To be honest, that stuff is scaring me!! I can literally feel the music when these guys sing the blues. Anyways, that is my speil..

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: The Wrong Number Family Of BBS' - Wrong Number ][ (21:4/131)
  • From Avon@21:1/101 to Bucko on Fri Sep 18 17:13:20 2020
    On 17 Sep 2020 at 07:52p, Bucko pondered and said...

    back from that age group now.. Although I am pushing myself to expand my tastes, I have recently acquired a taste for old Country Music, (Ray

    :)

    I've found I've tended to seek out new artists that create music in the
    genres I like too.

    In my case I'm more synth orientated so look for artists that emulate Jean-Michel Jarre etc. I've found a couple of contemporary guys I really like by the names of Kebu and Madis :)

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)
  • From paulie420@21:2/150 to Warpslide on Thu Sep 17 19:58:39 2020
    YouTube suggested this video to me, which of course I clicked on. Those noises brought back a lot of memories.
    "A history of modem sounds: 300 baud to 56k" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckc6XSSh52w

    This guy explains what each different modem sound does:
    "Why Does Dial Up Sound The Way It Does? (An Explanation)" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp47x1EabqI

    Jay

    Tee hee, both of those were pretty fun views. Thanks for that little blurb on some random Thursday. :P



    |07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
    |08.........

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Raspberry Pi/32)
    * Origin: American Pi BBS (21:2/150)
  • From The Godfather@21:1/165 to Black Panther on Fri Sep 18 03:55:42 2020
    In the year 2020, with all of the Internet communications available, why do we still operate BBSes?

    I'm late to the party as my broken hand has been healing (uhg) but
    thank goodness for mouse support working in Netrunner and my system
    having been set up all light bar'ed .. so I could at least read and occasionally provide shorter replies.

    I personally love this topic but had never reflected on the "why" from
    a personal prospective other then my love for BBS'ing and the 80's and
    90's when life was more complicated to communicate but much more fun
    and adventurous then my kiddos have the freedom of today. I remember
    my buddies and I collecting cans, going to the local grocery store,
    cashing the cans in, and riding our bikes to the local Arcade. I raced
    BMX, loved the move RAD, and in my "hood" it seemed construction sites
    were left vacant for years, allowing us to build forts, play army
    dudes, attempt to smoke cigarettes, or turn a dirt lot into a hop track
    for racing practice. The music was political back then, it's hard to
    believe Twisted Sister had to appear in front of congress (shrug ..)
    and I listened to any new rock band that some deemed satanic; oddly my
    dad is a (now retired) minister. I remember being at Montgomery Wards
    and standing next to my mom, while a manufacturer representative boiled
    water in a microwave in a minute or so .. and the crowd of 20 had the
    look of fear as if they had just seen an alien. Lastly, but surely not
    least, I remember leaving that store to the first front projection big
    screen showing Superman 1 on a super disc!

    When I sold my business, I must have watched Stranger Things and it
    took me back to those times long forgotten, friends long lost or
    pasted, and I was bored. It was winter, no job, no plan to get one for
    a year .. but it was Winter and I'm an outdoorsy kinda guy. So .. I
    grabbed one of my kids google chromes, looked up BBS's and was blown
    away to see how many were still online; and the two dominant brands
    (Mystic and Syncronet) I had never heard of. So .. started calling all
    of them. And .. they appeared rather active considering the times.
    So, I bought a laptop as I didn't like the small terminal window on the
    telnet guide, and couldn't install Netrunner or SyncTerm on a google
    chrome.

    All of the sudden I had a bunch of power and nothing to do with it ..
    so I said .. why not relearn where I had left off, and I'm sick of
    social media and politics, so here we go.... downloaded Mystic, and
    started watching this mysterious Mystic Guy with a funky accent yet
    very informative.

    I had been really struggling to setup the message areas as some of the
    MGuys videos were a few years old and there were new features within
    config. So I called the funky accent dudes BBS and sent him a quick
    email. Less then two days later, I was on a zoom call and team view,
    with this incredibly popular man known as "Avon" in the BBS world
    helping this little nobody like me out. The conversation we had felt
    like a mini BBS meet up. Really brought back the good ol' days, and
    made me realize they still exist. So here goes:

    I run a BBS because those on BBS's (for the most part) actually can
    relate to the aforementioned story I shared, and I'd love to hear some
    of your memories from your childhood too! Since re opening my board,
    I've run into nothing but the most supportive community of SysOps --
    nothing had changed there --same community of friendship and
    helpfulness over a shared hobby and similar in age. This has to be one
    of the only places I can say I had a crush on Debbie Gibson in my
    tweens and not run into a collective "Who?"

    I do love configuring BBS's. While I'm not the best with ANSI, writing
    mods, or running a network, nor am I within the "tech field," I do feel
    I have an eye for design and love to make things look good, function
    well, and create an every changing BBS that keeps people coming back
    (even if by todays standards that may be 3 calls per week). To me,
    building a BBS is art, but also a local community of like minded
    individuals that collectively want to participate within it's
    development. And in my short time running the Underground, I have a
    few that are very candid, want to help, like the BBS, and we have
    become great friends.

    I've said my share about facebook; I've also made my mistakes of
    bringing up politics, religion, or asked a question about tech I
    probably could have googled. But to me, BBS peeps are probably the
    closest to real friends I've ever had; considering how often my dad
    changed churches and moved from state to state. Being able to stay
    connected with friends, and even family (my 12 year old is starting to
    log on my BBS ..) without ads, tracking, my inability to NOT read
    comments within controversial facebook articles (and then regretting I
    had ..) BBS's are a more "safe space" for a 40 something lol!

    Lastly, as another may have mentioned .. Networks, nor g00r00, are
    driving around in lambo's for their efforts. To each, even during disagreement, you're each much appreciated.

    -tG

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: The Underground ~ www.theunderground.us:10023 (21:1/165)
  • From Black Panther@21:1/186 to The Godfather on Fri Sep 18 02:31:36 2020
    On 17 Sep 2020, The Godfather said the following...

    I'm late to the party as my broken hand has been healing (uhg) but
    thank goodness for mouse support working in Netrunner and my system
    having been set up all light bar'ed .. so I could at least read and occasionally provide shorter replies.

    Sorry about your hand. What did you do? (besides break it...) :)

    After reading this paragraph, I was expecting a short message. ;)

    for racing practice. The music was political back then, it's hard to believe Twisted Sister had to appear in front of congress (shrug ..)
    and I listened to any new rock band that some deemed satanic; oddly my

    I was into the heavy metal music in the 80s. Some of my favorite were Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, and Queensryche. I also had a soft spot for the classic (at least it is now) rock from the 60s and 70s. Pink Floyd, The
    Eagles, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

    dad is a (now retired) minister. I remember being at Montgomery Wards

    That had to be interesting, being the son of a minister.

    and standing next to my mom, while a manufacturer representative boiled water in a microwave in a minute or so .. and the crowd of 20 had the
    look of fear as if they had just seen an alien. Lastly, but surely not

    Our first microwave had to weigh 150 pounds, and was as big as the table it
    sat on. Unfortunately there was only room in there for a bowl or plate.

    All of the sudden I had a bunch of power and nothing to do with it ..
    so I said .. why not relearn where I had left off, and I'm sick of
    social media and politics, so here we go.... downloaded Mystic, and

    I gave up on 'social media' about 3 or 4 years ago. If it wasn't political,
    it was people posting 15 selfies per day. I already know what you look like, you don't need to keep reminding us...

    started watching this mysterious Mystic Guy with a funky accent yet
    very informative.

    He still is mysterious. I could listen to that accent all day though. :)

    config. So I called the funky accent dudes BBS and sent him a quick email. Less then two days later, I was on a zoom call and team view,
    with this incredibly popular man known as "Avon" in the BBS world
    helping this little nobody like me out. The conversation we had felt

    Paul is an awesome guy. Don't tell him I said that. :)

    of the only places I can say I had a crush on Debbie Gibson in my
    tweens and not run into a collective "Who?"

    I think the response you get here would be more like "Who didn't!" ;)

    probably could have googled. But to me, BBS peeps are probably the closest to real friends I've ever had; considering how often my dad changed churches and moved from state to state. Being able to stay

    I feel the same way. It takes a special type of person to be able to run a
    BBS. Either in the 80-90s, or today. It almost makes you feel as you're part
    of a elite club. Everyone goes out of their way to help each other out.

    Back in 1994 when I was first setting up Castle Rock BBS, I was running into some snags. There was a sysop by the name of Rod Hagen that lived nearby.
    This was in Wisconsin. He asked if I could bring the computer over to his house, and he'd help me get everything working. He was probably in his 70s at the time, and knew computers better than anyone else I knew. He wouldn't take any compensation for his time, just wanted to be able to pass on the
    knowledge he had to this young 20ish kid. Unfortunately he passed about a
    year later...

    Lastly, as another may have mentioned .. Networks, nor g00r00, are
    driving around in lambo's for their efforts. To each, even during disagreement, you're each much appreciated.

    I had always pictured g00r00 in a lambo... ;) It's a labor of love for everyone. I'm glad that you are part of this 'elite' group. ;)

    Thanks for the response. I appreciate it.


    ---

    Black Panther(RCS)
    aka Dan Richter
    Castle Rock BBS
    telnet://bbs.castlerockbbs.com
    http://www.castlerockbbs.com
    http://github.com/DRPanther
    The sparrows are flying again...

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/25 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Castle Rock BBS - bbs.castlerockbbs.com (21:1/186)
  • From The Godfather@21:1/165 to Black Panther on Fri Sep 18 04:59:39 2020
    Sorry about your hand. What did you do? (besides break it...) :)

    I thought a 49 year old (clearing throat .. myself) could still lift a
    14ft 6x6 over my shoulder and carry it by myself from the front to the
    back yard. I got 3 of them back there .. the 4th rolled over on it.
    In addition I already had a pinched nerve. So .. someone was telling
    me to take it easy lol!

    After reading this paragraph, I was expecting a short message. ;)

    I knew someone would say that. But hey, were any of mine short prior
    to a broken hand? I'm pretty sure I need to work on the editing prior
    to sending thing.

    I was into the heavy metal music in the 80s. Some of my favorite were Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, and Queensryche. I also had a soft spot
    for the classic (at least it is now) rock from the 60s and 70s. Pink Floyd, The Eagles, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, and Lynyrd Skynyrd.


    Loved the Eagles; however I'm more with you om the Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Slayer, Ozzy, Iron Maiden, Guns and Roses, Motley Crew, The
    Clash .. I could go on and on. Loved them all. Heck Rat, Dokken,
    Poison .. honestly, I still love many of those bands. I did really
    like Black Sabbath though, which I believe was more 70's rock?

    That had to be interesting, being the son of a minister.

    Well .. it was an adventure .. for him. Let's just leave it at that.

    Our first microwave had to weigh 150 pounds, and was as big as the table it sat on. Unfortunately there was only room in there for a bowl or
    plate.

    Oh yeah, my moms first was Sharp and it was huge! I never liked the
    way food tasted when made within it -- still don't. But .. I was
    blessed to grow up with the inception of a lot of really cool
    technology.

    I gave up on 'social media' about 3 or 4 years ago. If it wasn't political, it was people posting 15 selfies per day. I already know what you look like, you don't need to keep reminding us...


    Oh god, the selfies ... yeah, and the cat and dog memes.
    Unfortunately, I have to keep social media around as my dad is now on
    it and considers it his day timer. If I dare call, after he's posted
    his weekly schedule, during a chruch retreat, it's usually a grumpy
    reply. I've tried explaining to him that news feeds are hundreds of
    posts long and that if it was so important I did not call that week, to
    simply call and let me know prior. lol! Honestly, it's almost
    exclusively locked down to family .. and for the most part I just share pictures of my kids since most live too far away to travel and see them
    often.

    He still is mysterious. I could listen to that accent all day though. :)

    Yeah, I swear Paul is the voice behind the hypnosis "quit smoking"
    meditation aps. Us American's probably sound horrible to those around
    the world. We do not have cool accents for the most part.

    I think the response you get here would be more like "Who didn't!" ;)

    Haha, see .. right there ^^^ I knew someone would know her name right
    off the bat!

    I feel the same way. It takes a special type of person to be able to run
    a BBS. Either in the 80-90s, or today. It almost makes you feel as
    you're part of a elite club. Everyone goes out of their way to help each other out.
    Back in 1994 when I was first setting up Castle Rock BBS, I was running into some snags. There was a sysop by the name of Rod Hagen that lived nearby. This was in Wisconsin. He asked if I could bring the computer
    over to his house, and he'd help me get everything working. He was probably in his 70s at the time, and knew computers better than anyone else I knew. He wouldn't take any compensation for his time, just wanted to be able to pass on the knowledge he had to this young 20ish kid. Unfortunately he passed about a year later...

    There was a State Farm Insurance Agent in his 60's that was very
    helpful to others back in the day within Colorado. He's since passed
    also. I found a site that has A LOT of old BBS's archived, and their
    original phone numbers. I so wish I remember my old systems number So
    I can add it to the list. Heck, I can't remember many telephone
    numbers these days -- smart phones have made it easy to be lazy. I ran
    my first BBS in 1983ish .. C-Net software .. a ... ummm ... not so but
    very shareware BBS (cringing emoji inserted here). We often had
    parties on weekends were someone totted over their hundreds of floppies
    to another's house, and we'd trade games. It was a fun era.

    Thanks for the response. I appreciate it.

    No problem! Love to talk about simpler times. I can't say they were
    "better" as my kids are pretty dang awesome. But .. looking back, we
    had safer freedom to roam back then, compared to what children are able
    to safely do today.

    -tG

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: The Underground ~ www.theunderground.us:10023 (21:1/165)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to The Godfather on Fri Sep 18 05:29:00 2020
    Hello tG!

    ** On Friday 18.09.20 - 00:59, The Godfather wrote to Black Panther:

    After reading this paragraph, I was expecting a short message. ;)

    (I was wonderin the same thing!)


    I knew someone would say that. But hey, were any of mine short prior
    to a broken hand? I'm pretty sure I need to work on the editing prior
    to sending thing.

    Ah.. so the breakage in the hand? I thought you wrote that
    the problem was discovered in your arm.


    Our first microwave had to weigh 150 pounds..

    Oh yeah, my moms first was Sharp and it was huge! I
    never liked the way food tasted when made within it --
    still don't. But .. I was blessed to grow up with the
    inception of a lot of really cool technology.

    That's all I primarily use. Chicken (sans skin) and pork
    chops come out quite well and taste as expected.


    --

    --- OpenXP 5.0.46
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Arelor@21:1/183 to Avon on Fri Sep 18 04:42:06 2020
    Re: Re: Why?
    By: Avon to xqtr on Thu Sep 17 2020 12:25 pm

    I tend to think a 'golden era' is usually 30 years earlier from whatever age we are :) Put another way, I think future generations will likely see things as golden also when they look back. Perhaps it's just in our nature to do so when we look back and reflect?

    Because pandemics and recession and unemployment and people burning cities belong to a golden era :-)
    --- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (21:1/183)
  • From Arelor@21:1/183 to Adept on Fri Sep 18 05:00:24 2020
    Re: Re: Why?
    By: Adept to Avon on Thu Sep 17 2020 10:44 pm

    I think for music a lot of what we look back and enjoy is stuff we were listening to when we were younger, from around the ages of 13-25 I thin

    But today's pop music is so much better - people use autotune _all_ the time and this a) means they're not slightly off key, driving me nuts, and b) more likely to have little techno bits.

    ...I may have strange ideas.

    It is the opposite for me. People abuse autotune all the time which makes the whole thing very electronic and unauthentic for me.
    --- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (21:1/183)
  • From Vk3jed@21:1/109 to Charles Pierson on Fri Sep 18 23:29:00 2020
    On 09-17-20 10:28, Charles Pierson wrote to Vk3jed <=-


    On 09-16-20 07:48, Charles Pierson wrote to Vk3jed <=-


    Haha there's so much software around now, one has to be very selective.
    :)

    I am. I limit myself to "Hey that looks interesting. What can I screw
    up with that?


    Hahaha, that leaves the field wide open. :D


    It's limited to what I think is interesting. So there's that. :)

    Who knows how broad your interests are? ;)


    ... We got a situation where someone's got a button connected to a bomb!
    === MultiMail/Win v0.51
    --- SBBSecho 3.10-Linux
    * Origin: Freeway BBS Bendigo,Australia freeway.apana.org.au (21:1/109)
  • From Vk3jed@21:1/109 to Avon on Fri Sep 18 23:45:00 2020
    On 09-18-20 09:30, Avon wrote to Vk3jed <=-

    On 17 Sep 2020 at 09:54p, Vk3jed pondered and said...

    Would be good, though I'm a bit less flexible, as my body clock doesn't tolerate such tinkering. :(

    With all that running you do you'll be way more flexible than me ;-p

    Haha my body clock isn't though. :/


    ... It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail.
    === MultiMail/Win v0.51
    --- SBBSecho 3.10-Linux
    * Origin: Freeway BBS Bendigo,Australia freeway.apana.org.au (21:1/109)
  • From Vk3jed@21:1/109 to Charles Pierson on Sat Sep 19 00:44:00 2020
    On 09-17-20 05:48, Charles Pierson wrote to Static <=-

    ahh, yes. I recall starting a download then going to sleep hoping the
    call didn't drop since it had 6-8 or more hours to go.

    Been there, done that. ;)


    ... Pros are those who do their jobs well, even when they don't feel like it. === MultiMail/Win v0.51
    --- SBBSecho 3.10-Linux
    * Origin: Freeway BBS Bendigo,Australia freeway.apana.org.au (21:1/109)
  • From Charles Pierson@21:4/111 to Arelor on Fri Sep 18 11:44:56 2020


    It is the opposite for me. People abuse autotune all the time which makes
    the
    whole thing very electronic and unauthentic for me.


    Autotune pretty much convinced me that they are no longer looking for singers to market in the music world, but images.

    --- AfterShock/Android 1.6.7
    * Origin: HOUSTON, TX (21:4/111)
  • From Charles Pierson@21:4/111 to Vk3jed on Fri Sep 18 11:55:25 2020


    It's limited to what I think is interesting. So there's that. :)


    Who knows how broad your interests are? ;)

    Well, anything dealing with fashion design is right out in the do not bother with pile.

    --- AfterShock/Android 1.6.7
    * Origin: HOUSTON, TX (21:4/111)
  • From paulie420@21:2/150 to The Godfather on Fri Sep 18 12:23:14 2020
    I personally love this topic but had never reflected on the "why" from
    a personal prospective other then my love for BBS'ing and the 80's and 90's when life was more complicated to communicate but much more fun
    and adventurous then my kiddos have the freedom of today. I remember
    my buddies and I collecting cans, going to the local grocery store, cashing the cans in, and riding our bikes to the local Arcade. I raced BMX, loved the move RAD, and in my "hood" it seemed construction sites were left vacant for years, allowing us to build forts, play army
    dudes, attempt to smoke cigarettes, or turn a dirt lot into a hop track for racing practice. The music was political back then, it's hard to believe Twisted Sister had to appear in front of congress (shrug ..)
    and I listened to any new rock band that some deemed satanic; oddly my
    dad is a (now retired) minister. I remember being at Montgomery Wards
    and standing next to my mom, while a manufacturer representative boiled water in a microwave in a minute or so .. and the crowd of 20 had the
    look of fear as if they had just seen an alien. Lastly, but surely not least, I remember leaving that store to the first front projection big screen showing Superman 1 on a super disc!

    Hey, tG... during our chats it never came up, but I am also the child of
    parent ministers.. my family was a part of The Salvation Army ministry and I, also, had a childhood of moving every 4 years [or so] for new 'orders'.

    Odd that you had a similar experience... we differ, because that childhood pushed me away from religion - however that hasn't been a barrier for us. It was neat to hear you describe your childhood; thanks.

    I run a BBS because those on BBS's (for the most part) actually can
    relate to the aforementioned story I shared, and I'd love to hear some
    of your memories from your childhood too! Since re opening my board,
    I've run into nothing but the most supportive community of SysOps -- nothing had changed there --same community of friendship and
    helpfulness over a shared hobby and similar in age. This has to be one
    of the only places I can say I had a crush on Debbie Gibson in my
    tweens and not run into a collective "Who?"

    I do love configuring BBS's. While I'm not the best with ANSI, writing mods, or running a network, nor am I within the "tech field," I do feel
    I have an eye for design and love to make things look good, function
    well, and create an every changing BBS that keeps people coming back
    (even if by todays standards that may be 3 calls per week). To me, building a BBS is art, but also a local community of like minded individuals that collectively want to participate within it's
    development. And in my short time running the Underground, I have a
    few that are very candid, want to help, like the BBS, and we have
    become great friends.

    Your path to enjoying these BBSes is recieved well; I enjoyed hearing why
    they touch you and share similar reasoning to why I dig the scene...

    Ultimately, its about connecting with people who have similar interests -
    these weird computer boards and the things you can do with them keep this
    group working on new ways to keep old tech alive.

    Nice writeup.



    |07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
    |08.........

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Raspberry Pi/32)
    * Origin: American Pi BBS (21:2/150)
  • From The Godfather@21:1/165 to paulie420 on Fri Sep 18 16:04:45 2020
    Hey, tG... during our chats it never came up, but I am also the child of parent ministers.. my family was a part of The Salvation Army ministry
    and I, also, had a childhood of moving every 4 years [or so] for new 'orders'.

    Ohhhhh .. I was pushed away from religion for years. Didn't want a
    thing to do with church, still don't really. Watching the behind the
    scene power trips that deacons and board of directors had over my Dad,
    and the challenges it presented to him, was enough to change my view of
    a physical "church" being my means to sustain belief. We can talk more
    about that in email, however not bashing religion, also requires an
    equal respect of not pushing it on others. So I won't get into it here.

    Your path to enjoying these BBSes is recieved well; I enjoyed hearing why they touch you and share similar reasoning to why I dig the scene...

    I had my own after school job from as early as 13 years of age; more so
    from 15 on. I used most of my paychecks paying my dad for long
    distance calls from Oklahoma to Colorado to stay in touch with my BBS
    friends during my short stint of staying with him to finish off
    highschool (another long story lol!)

    Ultimately, its about connecting with people who have similar interests - these weird computer boards and the things you can do with them keep this group working on new ways to keep old tech alive.

    Yeah, it's not just about the tech .. it's about people who remember,
    miss even, arcades, the freedom of bike rides, appreciate the evolution
    of the technology. My children will never know what the heck a flip
    phone is -- heck wait till I find a brick phone to show them. And I
    keep forgetting, but not important anyway at the moment (but once they
    complain about cellphone bills) what cellphone bills used to look like
    when they came out with restricted minutes! The bag phone, hard wired
    .. lol! I think we are blessed to have been Gen-Xers and Boomers .. we
    got to see tech evolve into what many these days just expect within
    society. Remember texting using a pager? That was interesting ..
    While tech is still fascinating, and ever evolving .. there was nothing
    like watching the origination of tech history unfold in front of our
    eyes that has created the platforms available to us today.

    Nice writeup.


    Thanks! Typos, but I really didn't read back through it to shorten it
    up nor edit it. I can type, but I get one or two chances a day still
    without needing to rest the hand.

    -tG

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: The Underground ~ www.theunderground.us:10023 (21:1/165)
  • From The Godfather@21:1/165 to Ogg on Fri Sep 18 16:10:09 2020
    (I was wonderin the same thing!)

    You guys are relentless.

    Ah.. so the breakage in the hand? I thought you wrote that
    the problem was discovered in your arm.

    Yes, both. Its been a double whammy on the arm for sure. I finally
    sucked it up and went into the doctor, who sent me for x-rays, which
    lead me into a splint/cast up until recently. SO what I thought was
    just a pinched nerve was the equivalent of a boxers break. But yes, I
    also have the pinched nerve which won't be addressed until the break is
    totally healed.

    -tG

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: The Underground ~ www.theunderground.us:10023 (21:1/165)
  • From Adept@21:2/108 to Arelor on Fri Sep 18 21:20:17 2020
    It is the opposite for me. People abuse autotune all the time which
    makes the whole thing very electronic and unauthentic for me.

    Clearly unauthentic music is the best. :)

    But, yeah, I knew I'd touch a nerve on that one. I don't recall hearing
    someone else talk about autotune favorably, so I assume most people are
    either strongly against it, or just okay with it.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)
  • From Adept@21:2/108 to The Godfather on Fri Sep 18 21:54:20 2020
    I thought a 49 year old (clearing throat .. myself) could still lift a 14ft 6x6 over my shoulder and carry it by myself from the front to the back yard. I got 3 of them back there .. the 4th rolled over on it.

    Clearly you were capable of it, and your limit was 3. :)

    That said, I looked it up, and it sounds like a 14 foot 6x6 weighs in the neighborhood of 160 pounds (72-ish kg), which does seem like a solid time to have a second person.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)
  • From Adept@21:2/108 to Charles Pierson on Fri Sep 18 22:08:18 2020
    Autotune pretty much convinced me that they are no longer looking for singers to market in the music world, but images.

    I mean... Was it really all that different with The Monkees?

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)
  • From The Godfather@21:1/165 to Adept on Fri Sep 18 19:02:16 2020
    That said, I looked it up, and it sounds like a 14 foot 6x6 weighs in the neighborhood of 160 pounds (72-ish kg), which does seem like a solid
    time to have a second person.

    That would have been a good idea, when thrown over and balanced on a
    shoulder it's mostly leg work .. until you lay it down and it rolls
    over your hand that is .. But yes, I couldn't convince my 12 year old
    to help me move them from where they were delivered on the driveway, to
    my back yard when building a second pergola type structure .. so .. here
    I am! But I got it finished so thats nice.

    -tG

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: The Underground ~ www.theunderground.us:10023 (21:1/165)
  • From Charles Pierson@21:4/111 to Adept on Fri Sep 18 18:13:35 2020

    Autotune pretty much convinced me that they are no longer looking for
    singers to market in the music world, but images.

    I mean... Was it really all that different with The Monkees?
    To an extent, there has always been a segment that promoted image over talent, you're right. It just seems more prevalent now? Or possibly just more obvious.
    --- AfterShock/Android 1.6.7
    * Origin: HOUSTON, TX (21:4/111)
  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Charles Pierson on Fri Sep 18 15:53:00 2020
    Charles Pierson wrote to Static <=-

    ahh, yes. I recall starting a download then going to sleep hoping the
    call didn't drop since it had 6-8 or more hours to go.

    Downloading Microsoft C at 2400 baud. Confusing, since I already had
    Microsoft Quick C, which was a decent compiler, debugger and IDE.



    ... Emphasize the flaws
    --- MultiMail/XT v0.52
    * Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)
  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Avon on Fri Sep 18 15:57:00 2020
    Avon wrote to Bucko <=-

    In my case I'm more synth orientated so look for artists that emulate Jean-Michel Jarre etc. I've found a couple of contemporary guys I
    really like by the names of Kebu and Madis :)

    Check out "Space Station Soma" or "Groove Salad" on Soma.fm, you
    might like some of the artists on there.




    np: Fluke, "Setback"



    ... Emphasize the flaws
    --- MultiMail/XT v0.52
    * Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)
  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Black Panther on Fri Sep 18 16:02:00 2020
    Black Panther wrote to The Godfather <=-

    I was into the heavy metal music in the 80s. Some of my favorite were Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, and Queensryche. I also had a soft spot
    for the classic (at least it is now) rock from the 60s and 70s. Pink Floyd, The Eagles, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

    Queensryche was on heavy rotation for me in the early 90s. When Chris
    De Garmo left, the lineup never felt the same - and Geoff Tate's
    voice was showing signs of wear.

    Rage for Order, O:M and Empire were an incredible run. Tribe was a
    nice follow-on, with CDG back for a bit.



    np: Sensorama, "Aspirin"


    ... Emphasize the flaws
    --- MultiMail/XT v0.52
    * Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)
  • From Black Panther@21:1/186 to poindexter FORTRAN on Fri Sep 18 18:00:52 2020
    On 18 Sep 2020, poindexter FORTRAN said the following...

    Queensryche was on heavy rotation for me in the early 90s. When Chris
    De Garmo left, the lineup never felt the same - and Geoff Tate's
    voice was showing signs of wear.

    Rage for Order, O:M and Empire were an incredible run. Tribe was a
    nice follow-on, with CDG back for a bit.

    I actually saw Queensryche in 1989. They opened for Metallica. It was their Operation Livecrime tour. I think they did a better show than Metallica did.
    I also loved Empire, but never had a chance to see that tour.

    After Empire, I never really followed them anymore. So I'm not sure how their music changed. I'll have to take a listen, as I'm sure they're songs are on YouTube. :)


    ---

    Black Panther(RCS)
    aka Dan Richter
    Castle Rock BBS
    telnet://bbs.castlerockbbs.com
    http://www.castlerockbbs.com
    http://github.com/DRPanther
    The sparrows are flying again...

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/25 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Castle Rock BBS - bbs.castlerockbbs.com (21:1/186)
  • From Bucko@21:4/131 to Avon on Fri Sep 18 20:48:01 2020
    On 18 Sep 2020, Avon said the following...


    :)

    I've found I've tended to seek out new artists that create music in the genres I like too.

    In my case I'm more synth orientated so look for artists that emulate Jean-Michel Jarre etc. I've found a couple of contemporary guys I really like by the names of Kebu and Madis :)


    Nice, I will have to check them out as I also like a little synth type music
    as in ELO early to now...

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: The Wrong Number Family Of BBS' - Wrong Number ][ (21:4/131)
  • From Adept@21:2/108 to The Godfather on Sat Sep 19 01:13:32 2020
    over your hand that is .. But yes, I couldn't convince my 12 year old
    to help me move them from where they were delivered on the driveway, to

    Just when the kids start to be useful for manual labor, it's time to start being their own person who's not always by your side, I guess. :)

    my back yard when building a second pergola type structure .. so .. here
    I am! But I got it finished so thats nice.

    I'm glad the project got finished, even if it was at the (hopefully
    temporary) cost of a limb.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)
  • From Adept@21:2/108 to Charles Pierson on Sat Sep 19 01:18:35 2020
    To an extent, there has always been a segment that promoted image over talent, you're right. It just seems more prevalent now? Or possibly
    just more obvious.

    I suppose, though I'm not convinced.

    I mean, especially if you get away from the record-label-screws-everyone-over segment, as there is a _lot_ more music available out there than there used
    to be.

    But thinking of autotune, it's also led to a lot of interesting things, like much of what Daft Punk has done. It's a tool, though it's reasonable that
    some people don't like the sounds that the tool makes.

    ...it still seems weird to me to talk about music, as I'm probably significantly less interested in music than normal, my YouTube usage today aside.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)
  • From Charles Pierson@21:4/111 to poindexter FORTRAN on Fri Sep 18 20:49:35 2020



    Downloading Microsoft C at 2400 baud. Confusing, since I already had

    Microsoft Quick C, which was a decent compiler, debugger and IDE.


    or downloading a large program, and once it finishes, realizing you have no idea what you were planning to do with it.
    --- AfterShock/Android 1.6.7
    * Origin: HOUSTON, TX (21:4/111)
  • From Charles Pierson@21:4/111 to Adept on Fri Sep 18 21:49:52 2020


    I suppose, though I'm not convinced.

    I mean, especially if you get away from the record-label-screws-everyone-over segment, as there is a _lot_ more music available out there than there used to be.

    Availability of music, and what gets more promotion, air time, etc. are two different creatures. Among other things, the internet has done wonders for independent musicians.

    But thinking of autotune, it's also led to a lot of interesting things, like much of what Daft Punk has done. It's a tool, though it's reasonable that some people don't like the sounds that the tool makes.
    As a tool, autotune is fine. I just feel like a lot of "popular" artists that I have seen can have a tendency to over use it, instead of relying on their own voice, in their own range.

    EDM, or groups like Daft Punk, that's sound and style is based on electronics, aren't the ones that I refer to.

    ...it still seems weird to me to talk about music, as I'm probably significantly less interested in music than normal, my YouTube usage today aside.
    That's the thing with these networks. We can find ourselves talking about all sorts of topics.
    --- AfterShock/Android 1.6.7
    * Origin: HOUSTON, TX (21:4/111)
  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Black Panther on Fri Sep 18 20:21:00 2020
    Black Panther wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

    After Empire, I never really followed them anymore. So I'm not sure how their music changed. I'll have to take a listen, as I'm sure they're
    songs are on YouTube. :)

    It became a circus. New guitarists, Operation:Mindcrime II, claims of
    the Tate family taking advantage of the band, allegations of
    altercations on stage between the drummer and Tate, Tate and his
    family fired from the band, injunctions, two bands called
    Queensryche, a court settlement, a false "farewell" tour, and now
    Tate's doing his own thing and Queensryche is settling into a rhythm
    again with a new singer.



    np: Nine Inch Nails, "No You Don't"

    ... Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.
    --- MultiMail/XT v0.52
    * Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)
  • From Warpslide@21:3/110 to poindexter FORTRAN on Sat Sep 19 00:21:59 2020
    On 18 Sep 2020, poindexter FORTRAN said the following...

    np: Nine Inch Nails, "No You Don't"
    NP: Pearl Jam, "Jeremy"

    I recall admiring your taglines once-upon-a-time. Now I'm admiring your
    now playing tags.

    Jay

    NP: <Super Mario All Stars 3D game music>

    ... Why does a chicken coop have two doors? If it had four, it'd be a sedan

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
    * Origin: Northern Realms (21:3/110)
  • From Adept@21:2/108 to Charles Pierson on Sat Sep 19 13:36:34 2020
    or downloading a large program, and once it finishes, realizing you have no idea what you were planning to do with it.

    To have it, obviously.

    ...at least I assume that must be it, considering the amount of random files
    I have collected without ever using or using only once.

    Nice to know I'm not alone on that.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)
  • From Adept@21:2/108 to Charles Pierson on Sat Sep 19 13:50:22 2020
    Availability of music, and what gets more promotion, air time, etc. are two different creatures. Among other things, the internet has done
    wonders for independent musicians.

    Indeed. Lots of problems with the music industry (and lots of them don't even have reasonable bad-but-not-terrible solutions, so far as I can tell), but
    I'm glad people have a broader range of things to listen to, and that there
    are ways of gaining popularity with music beyond just hoping the right (predatory) record exec happens to hear and like you.

    As a tool, autotune is fine. I just feel like a lot of "popular" artists that I have seen can have a tendency to over use it, instead of relying
    on their own voice, in their own range.

    I suppose. I guess I tend to assume that there's a mixture.

    And I'm amazed at how frequently people sound off-key when singing. I do
    kinda wonder if monitors have a different pitch or something. I remember with choir, it sounded more on key to match with everyone else than to sing the correct notes. But when soloists sing, oh, the US national anthem (an objectively difficult and terrible song), going sharp or flat is really jarring.

    Well, to me, anyway, as I seem to be sensitive to pitch accuracy.

    Anyway, hearing people butcher songs is way more unpleasant to me than the
    idea that the music might sound unauthentic.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)
  • From Charles Pierson@21:4/111 to Adept on Sat Sep 19 09:01:46 2020


    To have it, obviously.

    Must be.

    ...at least I assume that must be it, considering the amount of random files I have collected without ever using or using only once.

    Nice to know I'm not alone on that.

    I recently had a tree limb fall during a storm and smash a storage shed. The sheer number of old Floppies and CDs I had in there that wound up lost amazed me. Especially considering the number of CDs and DVDs I still have in the house.

    I think I may have a problem.

    --- AfterShock/Android 1.6.7
    * Origin: HOUSTON, TX (21:4/111)
  • From Charles Pierson@21:4/111 to Adept on Sat Sep 19 09:18:59 2020


    As a tool, autotune is fine. I just feel like a lot of "popular" artists
    that I have seen can have a tendency to over use it, instead of relying
    on their own voice, in their own range.

    I suppose. I guess I tend to assume that there's a mixture.

    And I'm amazed at how frequently people sound off-key when singing. I do kinda wonder if monitors have a different pitch or something. I remember with choir, it sounded more on key to match with everyone else than to sing the correct notes. But when soloists sing, oh, the US national anthem (an objectively difficult and terrible song), going sharp or flat is really jarring.

    In a group environment, of course you adjust to match the others.
    Solo singing, from what I've noticed and experienced, much of the time it seems to me that people are trying to match the song exactly, instead of adjusting to meet their own range. You can't hit that note? Take it down an octive to your own range. I'm a baritone possibly tenor. I have no business trying to sing in a soprano range. Or adjust to a key that I can reach the notes in.

    Well, to me, anyway, as I seem to be sensitive to pitch accuracy.

    Pitch accuracy is important.

    Anyway, hearing people butcher songs is way more unpleasant to me than the idea that the music might sound unauthentic.

    It isn't so much authentic or not, to me. It's more a preference for a singer's natural voice coming through. If that makes sense.

    --- AfterShock/Android 1.6.7
    * Origin: HOUSTON, TX (21:4/111)
  • From Vk3jed@21:1/109 to Charles Pierson on Sat Sep 19 22:32:00 2020
    On 09-18-20 07:55, Charles Pierson wrote to Vk3jed <=-



    It's limited to what I think is interesting. So there's that. :)


    Who knows how broad your interests are? ;)

    Well, anything dealing with fashion design is right out in the do not bother with pile.

    Hahaha OK. :)


    ... A pill a day keeps the stork away.
    === MultiMail/Win v0.51
    --- SBBSecho 3.10-Linux
    * Origin: Freeway BBS Bendigo,Australia freeway.apana.org.au (21:1/109)
  • From djatropine@21:1/121 to Black Panther on Sat Sep 19 15:17:15 2020

    On 09/14/2020 2:22 pm Black Panther said...
    In the year 2020, with all of the Internet communications available, why do we still operate BBSes?


    1. Very little work is required to make use of BBS's.
    2. Don't have to pay Russian hackers to recover lost messages and
    silly/ridicolous posts I have made 20 years from now.
    3. Filling out a FaceCrook account takes a LOT of work and
    there are more questions asked than the amount of questions a
    officer of the law would ask if I ever do something really dumb
    4. To rebel against the "work conspiracy"
    5. When I have trouble with something, it is easy to use the help function.








    --- ENiGMA 1/2 v0.0.12-beta (linux; x64; 12.13.1)
    * Origin: Xibalba -+- xibalba.l33t.codes:44510 (21:1/121)
  • From Black Panther@21:1/186 to Charles Pierson on Sat Sep 19 15:43:28 2020
    On 19 Sep 2020, Charles Pierson said the following...

    I recently had a tree limb fall during a storm and smash a storage shed. The sheer number of old Floppies and CDs I had in there that wound up
    lost amazed me. Especially considering the number of CDs and DVDs I
    still have in the house.

    I think I may have a problem.

    Yes, I think you may have a problem. How are you going to replace those Floppies and CDs? ;)


    ---

    Black Panther(RCS)
    aka Dan Richter
    Castle Rock BBS
    telnet://bbs.castlerockbbs.com
    http://www.castlerockbbs.com
    http://github.com/DRPanther
    The sparrows are flying again...

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/25 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Castle Rock BBS - bbs.castlerockbbs.com (21:1/186)
  • From Adept@21:2/108 to Charles Pierson on Sat Sep 19 22:45:56 2020
    I recently had a tree limb fall during a storm and smash a storage shed. The sheer number of old Floppies and CDs I had in there that wound up
    lost amazed me. Especially considering the number of CDs and DVDs I
    still have in the house.

    I suppose that was a decent way to encourage you to clean things up a bit, though kind of horrifying if you lost any data of interest.

    For me, I'd have so much more of those things if I hadn't reliably moved _so_ often. I'm glad to have less stuff, though with digital stuff, I'm also glad I've managed to put a lot of it on other drives.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)
  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Adept on Sat Sep 19 15:54:00 2020
    Adept wrote to Charles Pierson <=-

    ...at least I assume that must be it, considering the amount of random files I have collected without ever using or using only once.

    Part of the reason I became a sysop, pre-internet - to have other
    people upload files to me instead of me having to search around,
    maintain ratios, and spend time, you know, looking for stuff.

    I still have 4000-5000 text files from that era on the BBS, it's a
    nice little snapshot of a scene.



    np: Gary Numan, "Are 'Friends' Electric?"


    ... Where is the center of the maze?
    --- MultiMail/XT v0.52
    * Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)
  • From Underminer@21:4/103 to Charles Pierson on Sat Sep 19 20:13:51 2020
    Re: Re: Why?
    By: Charles Pierson to Adept on Sat Sep 19 2020 05:18 am

    Well, to me, anyway, as I seem to be sensitive to pitch accuracy.
    Pitch accuracy is important.

    It can be, but I find I'm far more sensitive to whether the tone is pleasing or grating than if the pitch is dead on. Gilbert Gottfried could sing absolutely pitch perfect and I probably wouldn't find it terribly appealing, but someone like Eddie Vedder is quite listenable even if he's a little off.
    ===
    Underminer - The Undermine BBS
    --- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
    * Origin: bbs.undermine.ca:423 - Calgary, AB (21:4/103)
  • From Charles Pierson@21:4/111 to Black Panther on Sat Sep 19 22:48:50 2020

    I think I may have a problem.

    Yes, I think you may have a problem. How are you going to replace those Floppies and CDs? ;)

    The floppies I fear are beyond hope. the CDs perhaps were back ups of backups.

    some I believe might be on some old hard drives which might be ok. It's a matter of cobbling together va machine from my bits and pieces that can read them.

    I think I had some version of Novell, and various other antique OS's amongst the rubble. so much history.

    --- AfterShock/Android 1.6.7
    * Origin: HOUSTON, TX (21:4/111)
  • From Charles Pierson@21:4/111 to Adept on Sat Sep 19 22:52:15 2020


    I suppose that was a decent way to encourage you to clean things up a bit, though kind of horrifying if you lost any data of interest.

    Mostly just nostalgia, although I had built some older systems for the grandkids when they were younger so they could play around on them and learn some stuff.

    For me, I'd have so much more of those things if I hadn't reliably moved _so_ often. I'm glad to have less stuff, though with digital stuff, I'm also glad I've managed to put a lot of it on other drives.

    I had a tape drive and zip drive with some of it somewhere, but I think that got lost in a move. I suppose I'll be rebuilding now. not the first time.

    --- AfterShock/Android 1.6.7
    * Origin: HOUSTON, TX (21:4/111)
  • From Charles Pierson@21:4/111 to Underminer on Sat Sep 19 22:56:36 2020

    Pitch accuracy is important.

    It can be, but I find I'm far more sensitive to whether the tone is pleasing or grating than if the pitch is dead on. Gilbert Gottfried could sing absolutely pitch perfect and I probably wouldn't find it terribly appealing, but someone like Eddie Vedder is quite listenable even if he's a little off. ===

    There is that as well. Music is one of those things that is entirely subjective to the listener. Pitch perfect is nothing if the listener doesn't like the voice, or song.

    --- AfterShock/Android 1.6.7
    * Origin: HOUSTON, TX (21:4/111)
  • From paulie420@21:2/150 to The Godfather on Sat Sep 19 14:15:22 2020
    Ohhhhh .. I was pushed away from religion for years. Didn't want a
    thing to do with church, still don't really. Watching the behind the
    scene power trips that deacons and board of directors had over my Dad,
    and the challenges it presented to him, was enough to change my view of
    a physical "church" being my means to sustain belief. We can talk more about that in email, however not bashing religion, also requires an
    equal respect of not pushing it on others. So I won't get into it here.

    Understood; both of the hardships you speak of, altho in the Salvation Army
    my parents were Majors, and were at the helm of each church... theres always someone up the ladder pulling strings that affect the lives of those underneath.

    Agreed that further discussion is better done outside of fsx. :P

    Yeah, it's not just about the tech .. it's about people who remember,
    miss even, arcades, the freedom of bike rides, appreciate the evolution
    of the technology. My children will never know what the heck a flip
    phone is -- heck wait till I find a brick phone to show them. And I
    keep forgetting, but not important anyway at the moment (but once they complain about cellphone bills) what cellphone bills used to look like when they came out with restricted minutes! The bag phone, hard wired
    .. lol! I think we are blessed to have been Gen-Xers and Boomers .. we got to see tech evolve into what many these days just expect within society. Remember texting using a pager? That was interesting ..
    While tech is still fascinating, and ever evolving .. there was nothing like watching the origination of tech history unfold in front of our
    eyes that has created the platforms available to us today.

    I was in Toledo, OH when I first got into BBSing - and it was a great town
    for it. In fact, we had a huge group of highschool aged friends right in the 419. Luckily, I didn't have too many long distance nightmares.

    I did some courier stuff for warez files, however at that point I was using other ways of getting calls out.

    My first tech was pagers! The very first that I had was actually a voice
    pager almost like a CB radio. I don't even know what tech it was, but
    remember pages came thru as voice... but if you missed it, you missed it! It had a squelch button and you could press it and hear OTHER PEOPLES pages/voices. Anyway, the person paging you would dial a number... your pager would give you a 5 beep warning, the phone would answer for the caller and
    say 'leave your message at the beep'... BEEP; whatever that message was came directly to my pager. They were heavy, and fairly large - like a garage door opener and solid as a rock. Morotola units.

    Then I went to the infamous # beepers; the you got 10 digits sent to... but
    my favorite was when the text pagers came out; I thought I was king ish when
    I could recieve full text message style pages. LOL... how times have changed.



    |07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
    |08.........

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Raspberry Pi/32)
    * Origin: American Pi BBS (21:2/150)
  • From The Godfather@21:1/165 to paulie420 on Sun Sep 20 03:45:09 2020
    Understood; both of the hardships you speak of, altho in the Salvation Army my parents were Majors, and were at the helm of each church...
    theres always someone up the ladder pulling strings that affect the
    lives of those underneath.

    Sounds very militant. I'd love to hear more .. just gmail me .. we can
    discuss it there :)

    I was in Toledo, OH when I first got into BBSing - and it was a great
    town for it. In fact, we had a huge group of highschool aged friends
    right in the 419. Luckily, I didn't have too many long distance nightmares.

    Arvada Colorado for me, a suburb of Denver. Great scene .. the WWIV
    community seemed the most dominant; or at least from a customization
    and active modding scene. Yet seeing some retro PC Boards .. I wish we
    had had a few of those .. I don't recall seeing any worth calling.
    C-Net was also big there in the day. Back in the day matchmaker was a
    BBS .. met some great ladies on that site :) lol!

    I did some courier stuff for warez files, however at that point I was using other ways of getting calls out.

    We always paid a hub $5 a month to make the long distance "hop" across
    area code lines. Never had to call long distance until I spent two
    years away from my childhood friends and a girlfriend I hated leaving.
    BBS's kept us connected for sure .. but things were obviously different
    when I got back. It's easy to grow distant, which is why I still
    prefer a phone call over a text, or a face to face lunch over a zoom
    call.

    My first tech was pagers! The very first that I had was actually a voice pager almost like a CB radio. I don't even know what tech it was, but remember pages came thru as voice... but if you missed it, you missed
    it! It had a squelch button and you could press it and hear OTHER PEOPLES pages/voices.

    That must have been the year I had a bag phone plugged into my cig
    lighter. lol! Sounds cool though. In my pager days, had to type
    numbers that when upside down resembled words 07734 or 01134, can't
    remember! I'm not turning my monitor upside down to proof read.

    - like a garage door opener and solid as a rock. Morotola units.

    Yeah, garage door openers. When I was around 10-12ish, my buddies and
    I found one. We rode our bikes up and down the street thinking it was
    cool we could open up so many garage doors at the press of a button --
    until an investigator showed up to the house to speak to my mom and I
    to explain a dudes tools got stolen (whoops!) Not a good day for me
    for sure. Lets just say, thats when I learned about the need for
    encryption.

    Then I went to the infamous # beepers; the you got 10 digits sent to... but my favorite was when the text pagers came out; I thought I was king ish when I could recieve full text message style pages. LOL... how times have changed.

    Didn't realize the basic text pager came out after whatever th voice
    thing is you were referring to. If you sent me a link, I'd probably be
    like "Oh yeah, that pager!" Yeah, I remember being out of town on
    business, getting the 911 text from my boss to basically call right
    away, and having to go find a payphone and enter my ATT corporate long
    distance card info to call him. Then getting pulled into the CFO's
    office to ask why the long distance bill was so high! Yeesh ..

    Good times ... it used to be so easy stating "never got that page,
    sorry .." then to say "Oh, I didn't get that text on my smart phone."

    -tG

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: The Underground ~ www.theunderground.us:10023 (21:1/165)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to The Godfather on Sun Sep 20 12:05:00 2020
    Hello The!

    ** On Saturday 19.09.20 - 23:45, The Godfather wrote to paulie420:

    Didn't realize the basic text pager came out after
    whatever th voice thing is you were referring to.

    I didn't even realize that there was a voice-pager either.


    Good times ... it used to be so easy stating "never got
    that page, sorry .." then to say "Oh, I didn't get that
    text on my smart phone."

    When I send text (SMS) from shop, there are a handful of
    people who claim that they never received them - even though
    they told me that had the service.

    Now with many people on cell phones, my calls to them are
    almost all long distance from the land-line service at my
    business. Therefore, I prefer to text them using the free web/
    text one-way services to announce that their special order has
    arrived. I can just copy-paste their phone number, book
    title/author from my database to the text widow. One service I
    was using (txt.bell.ca) worked for a majority of users across
    all the different carriers, except Fido and Telus. Lately,
    Bell has now limited the success of delivery to *just* other
    Bell customers.

    The recipient would get the message and it would appear as if
    it arrived from 012345678 or 00000000. I found out later,
    that some users could block those "unknnown" numbers and never
    get my txt.

    But now I use email-to-txt directly contructed directly within
    my email program. That appears to be more successful.

    Each carrier has their own server address, for example:

    Bell: <cellnumber>@txt.bell.ca
    Rogers: <cellnumber>@pcs.rogers.ca

    Works great.

    I nolonger have to waste time waiting for 5-6 rings before
    pickup, and either [1] get redirected to a v-mail, wait up to
    30 seconds for the automated answer preamble, or [2] get an
    answer, but the person's reception is poor and indecipherable.


    --- OpenXP 5.0.46
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Utopian Galt@21:4/108 to Nodoka Hanamura on Wed Sep 16 22:06:36 2020
    RE: Re: Why?
    BY: Nodoka Hanamura(21:2/106)


    Born just in time to see it come back.
    I want more bbses to be formed since Facebook likes to censor.


    --- WWIV 5.6.0.3261
    * Origin: inland utopia * socal usa * iutopia.duckdns.org:23 (21:4/108)
  • From Utopian Galt@21:4/108 to Ogg on Thu Sep 17 00:12:53 2020
    RE: Re: Why?
    BY: Ogg(21:4/106.21)


    Even now, maybe the requirement for using a terminal program
    probably falls on deaf ears and is an extra layer to
    implement. Besides, the FB users are probably happy with the
    web way of doing things, that's why they're on FB. ???
    When I tried to call my former bbs users many of them said what the use, they liked the new generation of technology.


    --- WWIV 5.6.0.3261
    * Origin: inland utopia * socal usa * iutopia.duckdns.org:23 (21:4/108)
  • From Adept@21:2/108 to Utopian Galt on Mon Sep 21 02:10:33 2020
    I want more bbses to be formed since Facebook likes to censor.

    Eh. We don't really need more BBSs for that -- we need to have more people _using_ BBSs.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)
  • From Utopian Galt@21:4/108 to Adept on Sun Sep 20 20:02:23 2020
    RE: Re: Why?
    BY: Adept(21:2/108)


    Eh. We don't really need more BBSs for that -- we need to have more
    people
    _using_ BBSs.
    The people who were from those groups/message boards could learn how to use Syncterm, MultiMail and or a newsgroup reader.


    --- WWIV 5.6.0.3261
    * Origin: inland utopia * socal usa * iutopia.duckdns.org:23 (21:4/108)
  • From Charles Pierson@21:4/111 to Adept on Sun Sep 20 22:55:23 2020


    Eh. We don't really need more BBSs for that -- we need to have more people _using_ BBSs.

    There's the rub. How do you attract more people in this era? Not just more people, but people that are more than "Meme of the day" sharers.


    --- AfterShock/Android 1.6.7
    * Origin: HOUSTON, TX (21:4/111)
  • From Nodoka Hanamura@21:2/106 to Utopian Galt on Mon Sep 21 00:34:19 2020
    On 16 Sep 2020, Utopian Galt said the following...

    RE: Re: Why?
    BY: Nodoka Hanamura(21:2/106)


    Born just in time to see it come back.
    I want more bbses to be formed since Facebook likes to censor.

    I'm not a big fan of Facebook for many reasons.

    Born too late to experience the scene.
    Born just in time to see it come back.
    Nodoka Hanamura - NeoCincinnati BBS SYSOP - neocinci.bbs.io

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: NeoCincinnati BBS - neocinci.bbs.io:23 (21:2/106)
  • From The Godfather@21:1/165 to Ogg on Mon Sep 21 00:44:32 2020
    When I send text (SMS) from shop, there are a handful of
    people who claim that they never received them - even though
    they told me that had the service.

    I had that problem with my business too as my invoice software allowed
    for text notifications for up and coming services. Often times it was
    the home owner "forgetting to do something" necessary prior to our
    arrival. It would be nice if the email to text and or software to text
    showed "read" as our cell phones do when we text someone. The funny
    thing is, I'd physically text customers from my iphone,I'd see they
    opened it, and they'd say "Oh, I didn't get that text." It was always
    during this time of year when we needed their sprinkler heads, cable
    line, and invisible dog fence wires marked prior to doing aeration.
    We'd show up, not a damn thing done. And there isn't a tool that
    allows us to know where they are, nor are we liable for something we
    can't see underground, that they chose a service for that pokes holes
    into the ground. It was frustrating. Fortunately mailchimp was a
    great tool that I used to monitor who opened and read important
    communication as well as marketing campaigns. And I could resend to
    those that did not open the email. If I didn't see them open, I'd
    physically text them so there was no question as to my communication.

    -tG

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: The Underground ~ www.theunderground.us:10023 (21:1/165)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to The Godfather on Mon Sep 21 02:14:00 2020
    Hello The!

    ** On Sunday 20.09.20 - 20:44, The Godfather wrote to Ogg:

    arrival. It would be nice if the email to text and or
    software to text showed "read" as our cell phones do when
    we text someone. The funny thing is, I'd physically text
    customers from my iphone,I'd see they opened it, and
    they'd say "Oh, I didn't get that text."

    I've texted from my phone only a half-dozen times at most in
    the last year. I don't recall seeing an "opened it" option.
    Would that be specific to the carrier?

    I'd rather avoid using my phone (which I primarily only use as
    a mobile hotspot) for texting. I would rather not divulge my
    device phone number to just anyone. I've recently received a
    few texts that are clearly not personal messages (they are
    some kind of sales gimmick) ..and I don't want it to get
    worse.

    Email to text is proving to be a good alternative.

    BTW.. I recently got a call from someone on their cell phone,
    but the signal was choppy from their end. They said they knew
    that would happen. While on the phone with them, they said,
    "Wait.. I need to go upstairs where we get a better signal."
    Sheesh, this reminded me of Green Acres where they had to
    climb the telephone pole to reach the phone!

    BTW, I haven't seen any modern sitcom that documents the
    reality of poor cellphone coverage or poor audio quality.

    The characters in the tv series "24" relied heavily on cell
    phones. Their phones were practically in constant use. I think
    they depicted the battery life and cell coverage as a total
    fantasy.


    It was always during this time of year when we needed
    their sprinkler heads, cable line, and invisible dog
    fence wires marked prior to doing aeration. We'd show up,
    not a damn thing done. ...
    ...It was frustrating. Fortunately mailchimp was a great
    tool that I used to monitor who opened and read important
    communication as well as marketing campaigns.

    I haven't looked at Mailchimp for years. Might be worth seeing
    what their pricing is like now 10 years later.

    But right now, more people are prepared to receive SMS than
    deal with email. For some people, if my email contains even
    one link (usually my website) their spam settings would block
    my messages. :(

    So.. email to text is an improvement. As a last resort, I end
    up calling and bite the bullet on the long-distance charges.


    And I could resend to those that did not open the email.
    If I didn't see them open, I'd physically text them so
    there was no question as to my communication.

    Some people can be so delinquent when acknowledging a received
    message. I have some special orders pre-covid that have not
    been picked up (and paid for) yet. I'll probably just have to
    write them off as losses.

    2020 will be a big year of 5-figure debt, losses, and taxes on
    surplus inventory.


    --- OpenXP 5.0.46
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From The Godfather@21:1/165 to Ogg on Mon Sep 21 02:54:54 2020
    I've texted from my phone only a half-dozen times at most in
    the last year. I don't recall seeing an "opened it" option.
    Would that be specific to the carrier?


    Not sure, I have an iPhone and have had both ATT and Verizon and both
    show that a message has been read. But it could be?

    I'd rather avoid using my phone (which I primarily only use as
    a mobile hotspot) for texting. I would rather not divulge my
    device phone number to just anyone. I've recently received a
    few texts that are clearly not personal messages (they are
    some kind of sales gimmick) ..and I don't want it to get
    worse.

    I don't blame you. I had to use it as my business phone as I was in
    the "field" not a free standing building. I was so glad to give the
    telephone number up when I sold my business. It's so nice not getting
    text messages at all hours of the night, including weekends with family
    when I was closed. I'm just thinking maybe there is a software title
    out there that would let you know if a text message was read, so you
    can zero in on those that are not from a marketing prospective, similar
    to mailchimp. Or maybe switch to email and use mailchimp. It's free
    and it worked fantastic for me.

    BTW.. I recently got a call from someone on their cell phone,
    but the signal was choppy from their end. They said they knew
    that would happen. While on the phone with them, they said,
    "Wait.. I need to go upstairs where we get a better signal."
    Sheesh, this reminded me of Green Acres where they had to
    climb the telephone pole to reach the phone!

    Lol! Omg, like the old Verizon commercials "Can you hear me now?"
    Must have been rural. My dad lives in the middle of nowhere Indiana
    and 70% of the time we can't talk on the phone as he doesn't have
    reception. Everytime I go to visit him, especially when I ran my
    business, I had to have tinfoil on my head, standing ontop of his
    house, while doing a hand stand, to get a signal -- one bar, not full reception.

    The characters in the tv series "24" relied heavily on cell
    phones. Their phones were practically in constant use. I think
    they depicted the battery life and cell coverage as a total
    fantasy.

    Yeah but that show was AWESOME, so miss Jack ...

    I haven't looked at Mailchimp for years. Might be worth seeing
    what their pricing is like now 10 years later.

    Free. I loved it. I could create a campaign and automate how often it
    sent; while also seeing reports on who read versus who did not. It was particularly important with some of the services I was about to start, especially if they had not paid yet. In addition, the ease of making a professional looking email was so easy, and I did 100% of it on my
    iphone. The only time they begin charging was if more the X number of
    messages were sent per year and or clients per year. It was such a
    high number, I had never reached it; and I had 1200 active clients.

    But right now, more people are prepared to receive SMS than
    deal with email. For some people, if my email contains even
    one link (usually my website) their spam settings would block
    my messages. :(

    Hmm .. I must be getting old, I hate text messages. My wife tries to
    from the other room and the hair on the back of my neck rise in
    frustration. I also find that many use it as their day planner these
    days. I'd get text messages at 11pm-1am with a photo of a singular
    weed in a clients lawn with no text other then "I have weeds." It was
    so annoying. It took me a couple of years to realize that people do
    like to send a quick message and then expect the business to just
    handle it. But in the business I was in, it wasn't that simple. For
    example, we couldn't spray weed control if temps were over 85%, wind
    was over 10mph, or it was raining. Yet the customers would never
    answer their phone for me to be able to talk through that with them.
    They'd just keep sending the same damn picture lol!

    So.. email to text is an improvement. As a last resort, I end
    up calling and bite the bullet on the long-distance charges.

    I'm pretty sure mailchimp has text capability now .. but check it out,
    I could be wrong.

    Some people can be so delinquent when acknowledging a received
    message. I have some special orders pre-covid that have not
    been picked up (and paid for) yet. I'll probably just have to
    write them off as losses.

    Yeah I went through that during mulch season (march through april). I
    finally started requiring 50% deposit prior to services being
    performed. Otherwise, we'd mulch someones house, and three months
    later be trying to collect; however rain and heat fades mulch, so to
    them it didn't look good anymore .. that isn't my fault, but I'd never
    get paid without filing a Mechanics lien on their home. While
    mechanics leans are profitable, they are time consuming and obviously
    not a way to win clients for life. So I hated the few times I had to
    do so.

    2020 will be a big year of 5-figure debt, losses, and taxes on
    surplus inventory.

    Well lets hope the taxes work out in your favor and you see a nice
    return. I'm holding off on starting a new business until I'm able to
    clearly see where the home services industry will be needed and
    sustained after the pandemic.

    -tG

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: The Underground ~ www.theunderground.us:10023 (21:1/165)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to The Godfather on Mon Sep 21 05:17:00 2020
    Hello The!

    ** On Sunday 20.09.20 - 22:54, The Godfather wrote to Ogg:

    The characters in the tv series "24" relied heavily on cell
    phones. Their phones were practically in constant use. I think
    they depicted the battery life and cell coverage as a total
    fantasy.

    Yeah but that show was AWESOME, so miss Jack ...

    Absolutely. The 1-hour real-time per episode concept was
    riveting.


    So.. email to text is an improvement. As a last resort,
    I end up calling and bite the bullet on the long-
    distance charges.

    I'm pretty sure mailchimp has text capability now .. but
    check it out, I could be wrong.

    I started to look. TL;DR. I'll try again later.


    Well lets hope the taxes work out in your favor and you
    see a nice return. I'm holding off on starting a new
    business until I'm able to clearly see where the home
    services industry will be needed and sustained after the
    pandemic.

    My accountant missed a whole category of expenses last time,
    and I ended paying too much taxes + a penalty. In the
    meantime, my work life and outlook very much resembles the
    depiction in this episode of Black Books, from 3:09 - 4:12.

    https://youtu.be/qZ8JIqNjRWc

    The whole series is pretty good too.

    I learned about this series only about 5 years ago.

    --- OpenXP 5.0.46
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Arelor@21:1/183 to Ogg on Mon Sep 21 05:45:12 2020
    Re: pager tech
    By: Ogg to The Godfather on Sun Sep 20 2020 10:14 pm

    I'd rather avoid using my phone (which I primarily only use as
    a mobile hotspot) for texting. I would rather not divulge my
    device phone number to just anyone. I've recently received a
    few texts that are clearly not personal messages (they are
    some kind of sales gimmick) ..and I don't want it to get
    worse.

    I just have a business phone, and another business phone, and then my personal phone. This way I can give a business number to
    customers so they will be able to reach me during work hours, and keep my personal phone private.

    People who has an active business life and does not keep personal and working phones separate are in it for a world of pain.
    --- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (21:1/183)
  • From Spectre@21:3/101 to djatropine on Sun Sep 20 11:50:00 2020
    3. Filling out a FaceCrook account takes a LOT of work and there
    are more questions asked than the amount of questions a officer
    of the law would ask if I ever do something really dumb

    Odd, I've only ever given them an email address... and a bogus DOB + name I ìthink. So not to many questions.... But I closed my FB account earlier this ìweek. Unplugged so to speak.

    Spec


    *** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
    --- SuperBBS v1.17-3 (Eval)
    * Origin: Scrawled in haste at The Lower Planes (21:3/101)
  • From Spectre@21:3/101 to poindexter FORTRAN on Sun Sep 20 15:33:00 2020
    np: Gary Numan, "Are 'Friends' Electric?"

    Nahh they're more eclectic than eletric :)

    Spec


    *** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
    --- SuperBBS v1.17-3 (Eval)
    * Origin: Scrawled in haste at The Lower Planes (21:3/101)
  • From Adept@21:2/108 to Charles Pierson on Mon Sep 21 14:55:57 2020
    There's the rub. How do you attract more people in this era? Not just more people, but people that are more than "Meme of the day" sharers.

    I imagine that most of those people are just not using social media at all,
    so the range of people who want to chat with random people on the internet
    (or even their group of friends) is limited.

    Come to think of it, I have a fairly-techie group of friends (not local, at this point, of course), and we largely talk on a discord server. It used to
    be a dedicated chat server, but Discord works fairly well, and memes are generally kept in certain areas.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)
  • From The Godfather@21:1/165 to Ogg on Mon Sep 21 13:12:33 2020
    and I ended paying too much taxes + a penalty. In the
    meantime, my work life and outlook very much resembles the
    depiction in this episode of Black Books, from 3:09 - 4:12.

    OMG I'm in tears. The cutting of the cord is something I could so see
    you doing! lol! I love the when he pays the guy off to leave with his
    used books to avoid the whole cycle of having to sell and re buy them
    once read!!

    -tG

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: The Underground ~ www.theunderground.us:10023 (21:1/165)
  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Ogg on Mon Sep 21 11:24:00 2020
    Ogg wrote to The Godfather <=-

    I've texted from my phone only a half-dozen times at most in
    the last year. I don't recall seeing an "opened it" option.
    Would that be specific to the carrier?

    Sounds like Apple's iMessage or Android's RCS, two enhanced messaging
    formats.

    The characters in the tv series "24" relied heavily on cell
    phones. Their phones were practically in constant use. I think
    they depicted the battery life and cell coverage as a total
    fantasy.

    Funny or Die "uncovered" the early 24 Pilot, done in 1994.

    "The schematics are too big to email!"

    "How big?"

    "Three floppies!"

    "We'll meet on AOL..."



    np: LTJ Bukem, "My Life"




    But right now, more people are prepared to receive SMS than
    deal with email. For some people, if my email contains even
    one link (usually my website) their spam settings would block
    my messages. :(

    So.. email to text is an improvement. As a last resort, I end
    up calling and bite the bullet on the long-distance charges.


    And I could resend to those that did not open the email.
    If I didn't see them open, I'd physically text them so
    there was no question as to my communication.

    Some people can be so delinquent when acknowledging a received
    message. I have some special orders pre-covid that have not
    been picked up (and paid for) yet. I'll probably just have to
    write them off as losses.

    2020 will be a big year of 5-figure debt, losses, and taxes on
    surplus inventory.


    --- OpenXP 5.0.46
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)

    ... The exception also declares the rule
    --- MultiMail/XT v0.52
    * Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)
  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Ogg on Mon Sep 21 11:25:00 2020
    Ogg wrote to The Godfather <=-

    Absolutely. The 1-hour real-time per episode concept was
    riveting.

    I guess they went to the bathroom during the commercial breaks.

    I watched one of the first seasons on DVD in sorta-real time, over 2
    days. Lots of fun.



    ... The exception also declares the rule
    --- MultiMail/XT v0.52
    * Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)
  • From August Abolins@21:2/101 to Arelor on Mon Sep 21 14:52:59 2020
    On 21/09/2020 4:45 a.m., Arelor wrote: Ogg

    I just have a business phone, and another business phone,
    and then my personal phone. This way I can give a business
    number to customers so they will be able to reach me
    during work hours, and keep my personal phone private.

    My phone was a fluke. The previous owner broke the usb port that is
    used for charging and file transfers and just ended up giving the
    phone to me. I simply got an external charger and a few extra
    batteries. I use wi-fi or email for file transfers. Normally, I
    would not have purchased a new phone on my own.


    People who has an active business life and does not keep
    personal and working phones separate are in it for a world
    of pain.

    I like your idea of a phone with two sim cards (.: 2 separate numbers)

    But at this point I get frustrated when I misplace "little" things
    like my iPods or the Blackberry phone! I have two iPods, and I
    can't find one of them. I have my iPods to chime/beep on the hour,
    but the battery is most certainly expired on the one I can't find.
    I hazard to imagine what I would do if I misplaced a new 2-SIM
    phone! The Blackberry has gone awol a few times.. and I feel really
    lucky when I find it.
    --- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
    * Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (21:2/101)
  • From Joacim Melin@21:2/130 to Adept on Mon Sep 21 21:47:22 2020
    I want more bbses to be formed since Facebook likes to censor.

    Eh. We don't really need more BBSs for that -- we need to have more
    people
    _using_ BBSs.

    On the other hand - do you really want the vast majority of morons that occupy Facebook to start BBS:ing?


    --- NiKom v2.5.0
    * Origin: Delta City (deltacity.se, Vallentuna, Sweden) (21:2/130.0)
  • From Arelor@21:1/183 to August Abolins on Mon Sep 21 18:49:35 2020
    Re: Re: pager tech
    By: August Abolins to Arelor on Mon Sep 21 2020 10:52 am

    I like your idea of a phone with two sim cards (.: 2 separate numbers)

    But at this point I get frustrated when I misplace "little" things
    like my iPods or the Blackberry phone! I have two iPods, and I
    can't find one of them. I have my iPods to chime/beep on the hour,
    but the battery is most certainly expired on the one I can't find.
    I hazard to imagine what I would do if I misplaced a new 2-SIM
    phone! The Blackberry has gone awol a few times.. and I feel really
    lucky when I find it.

    You beat that problem with routine.

    I have a bag of "essentials" where I keep all the small, everyday stuff that is easily lost that I want to have on me. Thet would be keys - I have a LOT of keys, both personal and business - two phones, and a wallet. I try to have all that stuff ALWAYS on the bag, so I am guaranteed I won't be losing any. As long as I don't lose the bag itself, I know where the phones, keys etc are.
    --- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (21:1/183)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to Arelor on Mon Sep 21 22:38:00 2020
    Hello Arelor!

    ** On Monday 21.09.20 - 14:49, Arelor wrote to August Abolins:

    You beat that problem with routine.

    I have a bag of "essentials" where I keep all the small,
    everyday stuff that is easily lost that I want to have on
    me. Thet would be keys - I have a LOT of keys, both
    personal and business - two phones, and a wallet. I try to
    have all that stuff ALWAYS on the bag, so I am guaranteed
    I won't be losing any. As long as I don't lose the bag
    itself, I know where the phones, keys etc are.

    I do that with my keys, wallet and sunglasses. But I need the
    iPods for use through the day and as I move through the house.
    My phone operates as a mobile hotspot, and sometimes I like to
    check things out with it when I am somewhere else in the
    house, so it doesn't stay in one spot either.

    I can't tell you how many times I have to use the "Find
    Handset" function for my cordless phone handsets at the shop!
    And that only works if there is still enough battery juice in
    those things.


    --- OpenXP 5.0.46
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to The Godfather on Tue Sep 22 00:10:00 2020
    Hello The!

    ** On Monday 21.09.20 - 09:12, The Godfather wrote to Ogg:

    ..my work life and outlook very much resembles the
    depiction in this episode of Black Books, from 3:09 -
    4:12.

    OMG I'm in tears. The cutting of the cord is something I
    could so see you doing! lol!

    I guffawed and gagged on a beverage when I saw that scene for
    the 1st time. My phones are cordless. :( But I've learned
    to notice every technological flaw in a phone call so that I
    have an excuse to say "the connection seems bad, I can't make
    out everything you say, this is too frustrating, we'll have to
    try later..." ..and hang up. ;)



    I love the when he pays the guy off to leave with his
    used books to avoid the whole cycle of having to sell and
    re buy them once read!!

    Yep.. that is pratically my reality too. People bring me stuff
    that they think is worth something. If I accept a box of books
    that I haven't had time to look at on the spot, I can find out
    later that some of the books are just worthy of a trip to the
    dump. In that case, I ought to pay someone to do that! :/

    Or.. I end up giving value to their books and they don't sell
    as expected.

    In either case, I lose a bit. The Black Books scene just cuts
    to the chase and provides the visual representation of the
    money flow. It is so true. If it was happening to someone
    else, I'd probably laugh everyday. But it feels very much
    like me in those scenes.


    --

    --- OpenXP 5.0.46
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Underminer@21:4/103 to Arelor on Mon Sep 21 23:53:29 2020
    Re: pager tech
    By: Arelor to Ogg on Mon Sep 21 2020 01:45 am

    I just have a business phone, and another business phone, and then my personal phone. This way I can give a business number to customers so they will be able to reach me during work hours, and keep my personal phone private.

    Yeah, I just have a softphone on my cell with an extension I have set to ring with my deskphone for business. Then I can still receive calls work wise if needed without having to give anyone my cell - before I did that I had a number of clients who did not have boundaries and would call my cell direct at 3am on Sunday.
    ===
    Underminer - The Undermine BBS
    --- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
    * Origin: bbs.undermine.ca:423 - Calgary, AB (21:4/103)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to Underminer on Tue Sep 22 02:39:00 2020
    Hello Underminer!

    ** On Monday 21.09.20 - 19:53, Underminer wrote to Arelor:

    Yeah, I just have a softphone on my cell with an extension
    I have set to ring with my deskphone for business. Then I
    can still receive calls work wise if needed without having
    to give anyone my cell - before I did that I had a number
    of clients who did not have boundaries and would call my
    cell direct at 3am on Sunday.

    What softphone app/service are you using?


    --- OpenXP 5.0.46
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Spectre@21:3/101 to Joacim Melin on Tue Sep 22 15:22:00 2020
    On the other hand - do you really want the vast majority of morons that occupy Facebook to start BBS:ing?

    I wonder where the morons actually are... I think I've covered before my ìusage of FB appears to be non-standard, but there are certainly large groups ìof non-moronic people hiding out there... so some of them yes :P

    Spec


    *** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
    --- SuperBBS v1.17-3 (Eval)
    * Origin: Scrawled in haste at The Lower Planes (21:3/101)
  • From Underminer@21:4/103 to Ogg on Tue Sep 22 01:08:56 2020
    Re: pager tech
    By: Ogg to Underminer on Mon Sep 21 2020 10:39 pm

    What softphone app/service are you using?

    I'm using GS Wave for the softphone on my cell. I have a fusionPBX server (basically just a skinned freeswitch implementation) and trunk through Signalwire. Call quality is great, I never have to worry about a busy line, and with the amount of call time I actually use, my entire business phone setup is less than $15/mo. And since I'm not having to pipe EVERYTHING to my cell anymore I can run a cheaper third party cell plan, and that's saving me nearly $100/mo by not having to deal with the crooks at Telus.
    ===
    Underminer - The Undermine BBS
    --- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
    * Origin: bbs.undermine.ca:423 - Calgary, AB (21:4/103)
  • From Hatton@21:4/10 to Ogg on Tue Sep 22 08:16:57 2020
    Re: pager tech
    By: Ogg to Underminer on Mon Sep 21 2020 10:39 pm

    Yeah, I just have a softphone on my cell with an extension
    I have set to ring with my deskphone for business. Then I
    can still receive calls work wise if needed without having
    to give anyone my cell - before I did that I had a number
    of clients who did not have boundaries and would call my
    cell direct at 3am on Sunday.

    What softphone app/service are you using?

    I'd be interested to know this as well. I've been working from home since March and had a "demo" with Webex Calling but that just expired so I shifted to Google Voice. That stopped taking calls after the 3rd or 4th inbound and I had to restart the browser (there's no app).

    Work will reimburse me for a service but I just need to find one.

    Hatton

    ... OUT TO LUNCH - If not back at five, OUT TO DINNER!

    ---
    ■ Synchronet ■ 3 Corners BBS - telnet://3corners.us
    * Origin: fsxNet FTN<>QWK Gateway (21:4/10)
  • From Underminer@21:4/103 to Hatton on Tue Sep 22 03:37:04 2020
    Re: pager tech
    By: Hatton to Ogg on Tue Sep 22 2020 04:16 am

    I'd be interested to know this as well. I've been working from home since March and had a "demo" with Webex Calling but that just expired so I shifted to Google Voice. That stopped taking calls after the 3rd or 4th inbound and I had to restart the browser (there's no app).

    If there's enough call for such a thing I could potentially add a domain for folks needing something.
    ===
    Underminer - The Undermine BBS
    --- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
    * Origin: bbs.undermine.ca:423 - Calgary, AB (21:4/103)
  • From Adept@21:2/108 to Joacim Melin on Tue Sep 22 16:06:05 2020
    On the other hand - do you really want the vast majority of morons that occupy Facebook to start BBS:ing?

    I know you're joking, but...

    Sure, I'd welcome them. Unlike with Facebook, I have significantly more
    control over what comes in, which networks I see info through.

    And I can use a variety of twit filters to autodelete messages from certain users, if I want to make my BBS a more pleasant place for others, too.

    I guess moderation becomes more of a chore, though.

    But I assume we'd still mostly stay in our bubbles -- conspiracy theorists
    and those who just _have_ to talk about he-who-must-not-be-named aren't
    welcome here, but they're undoubtedly welcome everywhere.

    Especially Fidonet. Which has plenty of space for adding in a whole raft of unpleasant internet people.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)
  • From Adept@21:2/108 to Spectre on Tue Sep 22 16:49:51 2020
    I wonder where the morons actually are... I think I've covered before my ìusage of FB appears to be non-standard, but there are certainly large groups ìof non-moronic people hiding out there... so some of them yes :P

    I tended to assume that everyone is moronic from time to time, and considered moronic by those who disagree with them, despite the fact that most people
    are probably fairly intelligent.

    That said, if I ever comment on a news or sports article on a
    fairly-popular website without some extremely good reason (e.g., attempting to add useful, pertinent info to an astronomy article, that in no way is
    something someone would debate.), I do believe I will have entered the
    "moron" category, along with everyone else in the message area.

    But hopefully most people there are merely there temporarily.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)
  • From Arelor@21:1/183 to Adept on Tue Sep 22 12:14:42 2020
    Re: Re: Why?
    By: Adept to Joacim Melin on Tue Sep 22 2020 12:06 pm

    On the other hand - do you really want the vast majority of morons that occupy Facebook to start BBS:ing?

    I know you're joking, but...

    Sure, I'd welcome them. Unlike with Facebook, I have significantly more control over what comes in, which networks I see info through.

    And I can use a variety of twit filters to autodelete messages from certain users, if I want to make my BBS a more pleasant place for others, too.

    I guess moderation becomes more of a chore, though.

    But I assume we'd still mostly stay in our bubbles -- conspiracy theorists and those who just _have_ to talk about he-who-must-not-be-named aren't welcome here, but they're undoubtedly welcome everywhere.

    Especially Fidonet. Which has plenty of space for adding in a whole raft of unpleasant internet people.

    It is not just an issue of having moronic users you can put in a twit filter.

    Take Mastodon and the fediverse as examples. Administrators of certain nodes get a lot of hate messages from users of other nodes of the network because they don't censor certain people.

    Imagine you have a server and allow users with certain impopular opinion to exist in your node. Then people from other nodes in the network will come at you and threaten you and harass you no end.
    --- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (21:1/183)
  • From Adept@21:2/108 to Arelor on Wed Sep 23 02:57:47 2020
    Imagine you have a server and allow users with certain impopular opinion to exist in your node. Then people from other nodes in the network will come at you and threaten you and harass you no end.

    I had a longer post, but, yeah, I don't know how exactly I'd deal with it,
    but it seems quite theoretical, and I doubt with a mass influx of Facebook users that I'd wind up with all that many headaches to make a call on.

    Though if people are using my BBS to be irritating on Fidonet, I'd probably just drop Fidonet. If they start using my BBS to be irritating on FSXnet, I'd drop the user.

    And if people are harassing me, then I'd deal with it like any harassment - escalate if needed, and probably suffer because there's not a whole lot of recourse, generally.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to Hatton on Wed Sep 23 12:47:00 2020
    Hello Hatton!

    ** On Tuesday 22.09.20 - 04:16, Hatton wrote to Ogg:

    Yeah, I just have a softphone on my cell with an extension
    I have set to ring with my deskphone for business...

    What softphone app/service are you using?

    I'd be interested to know this as well. [..snip..]
    Work will reimburse me for a service but I just need to find one.


    I spotted this link for suggestions in another discussion
    group:

    https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/best-apps-for-a-second-
    phone-number/

    I'm beginning to lean toward a solution like that.

    --- OpenXP 5.0.46
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Warpslide@21:3/110 to Ogg on Wed Sep 23 13:16:46 2020
    On 23 Sep 2020, Ogg said the following...

    I spotted this link for suggestions in another discussion
    group:

    https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/best-apps-for-a-second- phone-number/

    I'm beginning to lean toward a solution like that.

    I use voip.ms for VoIP (SIP) service. I pay US$0.85 /mo for a phone number
    and pay $0.005 cents per minute for calls to Canada and $0.01 cents per
    minute for calls to the US. Incoming calls are billed at $0.009 per minute.

    They also offer toll free numbers if that's your thing with incoming calls billed at $0.027 per minute.

    They have numbers all over Canada & was surprised even smaller communites
    have numbers available from Bracebridge to Bancroft to Binbrook. A lot/most
    of their numbers also support two way SMS via their web interface. SMS messages cost $0.0075 each and MMS messages cost $0.02 each.

    Our "landline" is actually serviced through this with an ATA I bought online
    so I can use my existing cordless phones. I also setup a rule where it'll go directly to voicemail (they offer voicemail to email) after 10:30pm unless the number has been allowlisted.

    I do have a softphone installed on my laptop, it's a piece of freeware called MicoSIP (www.microsip.org). I also have a softphone installed on my iPhone called "SessionTalk SIP Softphone". Both seem to work quite well, though I don't use the softphones that often.

    Jay

    ... Can you hear me now?

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
    * Origin: Northern Realms (21:3/110)
  • From Hatton@21:4/10 to Ogg on Wed Sep 23 21:03:31 2020
    Re: softphone
    By: Ogg to Hatton on Wed Sep 23 2020 08:47 am

    I spotted this link for suggestions in another discussion
    group:

    Thanks for the link and it looks like there are a few options. I should have clarified on mine, I'm using my work PC for calls and want to leave my cell out of the picture.

    I'll see if any of these offer a windows desktop client. Currently I'm using Google Voice via the Chrome Hangouts plugin. It's clunky and I've missed a few calls since I can't set an alternate ringer device.

    Hatton

    ... It is easier to write an incorrect program than understand a correct one.

    ---
    ■ Synchronet ■ 3 Corners BBS - telnet://3corners.us
    * Origin: fsxNet FTN<>QWK Gateway (21:4/10)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to Warpslide on Wed Sep 23 23:40:00 2020
    Hello Warpslide!

    ** On Wednesday 23.09.20 - 09:16, Warpslide wrote to Ogg:

    I use voip.ms for VoIP (SIP) service. I pay US$0.85 /mo for a phone
    number and pay $0.005 cents per minute for calls to Canada...

    Thank you for that write-up.

    I never heard of voip.ms, and yes they reach into my area:
    Bancroft. Personally, I don't need VoIP. The analog phone is
    fine for actual voice calls. I would just use the texting SMS
    features. An excellent find. Thank you.


    I do have a softphone installed on my laptop, it's a piece
    of freeware called MicoSIP (www.microsip.org). I also
    have a softphone installed on my iPhone called
    "SessionTalk SIP Softphone". Both seem to work quite
    well, though I don't use the softphones that often.

    Not having a cell phone, I used to use a service called
    iConnect on my laptop with a 3G mobile dongle, about 15 years
    ago. It was rather cool to fire up my laptop in my vehicle
    and make a call when absolutely necessary. It basically
    operated as a pay-as-you-go long-distance service. I didn't
    subscribe to having a dedicated phone number for incoming
    calls. I just used it for outgoing. I am not sure what "phone
    number" people saw when they received calls from me. iConnect
    only offered VoIP, no SMS.


    --- OpenXP 5.0.46
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Atreyu@21:1/176 to Ogg on Wed Sep 23 23:57:01 2020
    On 23 Sep 20 19:40:00, Ogg said the following to Warpslide:

    I never heard of voip.ms, and yes they reach into my area:

    Just chiming in here, I've had good experiences with voip.ms a few years ago.

    Atreyu

    --- Renegade vY2Ka2
    * Origin: Joey, do you like movies about gladiators? (21:1/176)
  • From Joacim Melin@21:2/130 to Adept on Wed Sep 30 23:11:07 2020
    Imagine you have a server and allow users with certain impopular opinion
    to exist in your node. Then people from other nodes in the network will
    come at you and threaten you and harass you no end.

    I had a longer post, but, yeah, I don't know how exactly I'd deal with
    it,
    but it seems quite theoretical, and I doubt with a mass influx of
    Facebook
    users that I'd wind up with all that many headaches to make a call on.

    Though if people are using my BBS to be irritating on Fidonet, I'd
    probably
    just drop Fidonet. If they start using my BBS to be irritating on
    FSXnet, I'd
    drop the user.

    And if people are harassing me, then I'd deal with it like any
    harassment -
    escalate if needed, and probably suffer because there's not a whole
    lot of
    recourse, generally.

    Mastodon is mostly quite enjoyable. There are more people from the "alternative" camps there compared with Twitter and there are some folks from the extreme left and the extreme right (I tend to block both). The low point on Mastodon for me was when I was simply saying that a person who was accused of sexual abuse was labeled as a rapist shouldn't be labeled as such unless he was actually convicted in a court of law. Not a totally unreasonable idea, I thought, since the accusations against the person in question was made public many years after it was supposed to have happened and also the supposed crime never was reported to the police. I want to be clear that it very well may have happened but my point was that if we can start to apply nasty labels on people based on rumors, we all may be in trouble eventually.

    I was proven right within hours when I was labeled as a "rape apologist" and then others started to imply I was sexually molesting my children and... well, you get the idea. I damn near quit Mastodon there and then but ended up blocking a ton of these people and my experience has been enjoyable ever since.


    --- NiKom v2.5.0
    * Origin: Delta City (deltacity.se, Vallentuna, Sweden) (21:2/130.0)
  • From Arelor@21:2/138 to Joacim Melin on Wed Sep 30 19:58:33 2020
    Re: Re: Why?
    By: Joacim Melin to Adept on Wed Sep 30 2020 07:11 pm

    Imagine you have a server and allow users with certain impopular opini
    to exist in your node. Then people from other nodes in the network wil
    come at you and threaten you and harass you no end.

    I had a longer post, but, yeah, I don't know how exactly I'd deal with it,
    but it seems quite theoretical, and I doubt with a mass influx of Facebook
    users that I'd wind up with all that many headaches to make a call on.

    Though if people are using my BBS to be irritating on Fidonet, I'd probably
    just drop Fidonet. If they start using my BBS to be irritating on FSXnet, I'd
    drop the user.

    And if people are harassing me, then I'd deal with it like any harassment -
    escalate if needed, and probably suffer because there's not a whole
    lot of
    recourse, generally.

    Mastodon is mostly quite enjoyable. There are more people from the "alternative" camps there compared with Twitter and there are some folks fro the extreme left and the extreme right (I tend to block both). The low poin on Mastodon for me was when I was simply saying that a person who was accuse of sexual abuse was labeled as a rapist shouldn't be labeled as such unless was actually convicted in a court of law. Not a totally unreasonable idea, I thought, since the accusations against the person in question was made publi many years after it was supposed to have happened and also the supposed crim never was reported to the police. I want to be clear that it very well may h happened but my point was that if we can start to apply nasty labels on peop based on rumors, we all may be in trouble eventually.

    I was proven right within hours when I was labeled as a "rape apologist" and then others started to imply I was sexually molesting my children and... wel you get the idea. I damn near quit Mastodon there and then but ended up blocking a ton of these people and my experience has been enjoyable ever sin

    Now I am going to bother your sysop until he bans you out of your nod, or bother other sysops so they don't peer with you.

    Prepare to be cancelled. Resistence is futile.

    Also long live Usenet and othernets where this sort of sarcastic crap cannot be turned into a reality :-P

    --
    gopher://gopher.operationalsecurity.es
    --- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
    * Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (21:2/138)
  • From Charles Pierson@21:4/111 to Arelor on Wed Sep 30 21:01:12 2020
    Thus spake Arelor:
    Re: Re: Why?
    By: Joacim Melin to Adept on Wed Sep 30 2020 07:11 pm


    Now I am going to bother your sysop until he bans you out of your nod, or bother other sysops so they don't peer with you.

    Prepare to be cancelled. Resistence is futile.

    Now that means I have to work to get you cancelled for getting him cancelled. Why do you want to make me do something?

    Also long live Usenet and othernets where this sort of sarcastic crap cannot be turned into a reality :-P

    Hear, Hear!


    So let it be written, So let it be done.
    --- AfterShock/Android 1.6.7
    * Origin: HOUSTON, TX (21:4/111)
  • From Joacim Melin@21:2/130 to Charles Pierson on Thu Oct 1 12:18:00 2020
    Thus spake Arelor:
    Re: Re: Why?
    By: Joacim Melin to Adept on Wed Sep 30 2020 07:11 pm


    Now I am going to bother your sysop until he bans you out of your nod, or
    bother other sysops so they don't peer with you.

    Prepare to be cancelled. Resistence is futile.

    Now that means I have to work to get you cancelled for getting him cancelled. Why do you want to make me do something?

    Also long live Usenet and othernets where this sort of sarcastic crap
    cannot be turned into a reality :-P

    Hear, Hear!

    The world is a cruel, cold place. :D


    --- NiKom v2.5.0
    * Origin: Delta City (deltacity.se, Vallentuna, Sweden) (21:2/130.0)