• BBS Archeology

    From metalhead@46:1/166 to All on Wed Nov 23 23:15:04 2016
    We are all BBS Archeologists. We keep the BBS scene alive, because it's fun, and we can't just toss it in the trash like we did with our Lincoln logs, and he-mans & shit, because it's more than just a hobby; it's a significant part
    of our history, and a significant part of our present too, for many of us.

    It sucks to see people trimming their BBS assets down, like when people shut down their boards due to inactivity, or due to financial reasons. Would you shut your board down if you had 100 callers per day?

    We will never recoup ALL of our beloved amigos from BBS past, but isn't it
    cool as fuck when, all of a sudden, one of them emerges from out of nowhere!?

    My man Cheech is gonna shit himself when he sees what I've done with my
    Mystic BBS. I made it kick serious ass. Pretty much everyone is doing amazing shit with their BBS these days. My friend Warlock was like "Wow! This isn't
    how I remember BBSing!"

    So, some people are doing really good jobs at reeling people back in. g00r00 gave us more than enough tools to make awesome shit happen. Gryphon has
    somehow attracted the attention of many old homies and he's drawing them back towards the scene. Many ansi/ascii artists are still hacking away at masterpieces. Caphood is showing people exactly what the fuck you do with a pile of kick ass, original ansi. Zero Reader is introducing all kinds of awesome add-ons to the delight of his visitors.

    I still have concern that we are a dying breed though. Can we bring in new recruits? Can you take an 11 year old kid, and show him how to use TheDraw,
    and expect him to create beautiful artwork out of typewriter characters!?
    Let's hope so!

    A lot of you 3lit3 fuckers disagree with me on this, but I say open it up to the world. Don't let this culture fade away. Take the time to explain it to
    the kids. They will become those cool motherfuckers that we were when we were in high school. People who networked in an out of the box kind of way, met
    cool people, got attracted to computer-related skills, made shit-tons of
    money, made lifelong weed connections, and lastly, honored a tradition that
    we DIDN'T take for granted.

    When I say "open it up!" I'm talking about drawing in more users. Do you like reading like 6 messages on your favorite BBS, and then going to bed? Fuck
    that! We need more BBS users. What would happen if some kid posted
    something like "What's TheDraw?" This is our chance to harvest some serious talent from the modern world. They will keep our shit thriving for
    generations to come. Once we're all dead and gone, do we want BBSing to be buried with us? No way! Let it live on!

    Also, "Opening it up" means stop acting like this is some exclusive club. If
    I found my way on your BBS, then I've got news for you: Your not that fucking exclusive!

    How hard is it to tell people about our culture, where we came from, how the internet fucked things up a little, but we're still thriving?

    Some kids are at that stage where they need to hide shit from their parents.
    I get that. What if their parents check their phones and see apps like "Facebook," "Twitter," etc? They will check that shit out, and find out what their up to. But for those kids who need some serious privacy, their parents will see like "Telnet for Android," or "Netrunner for Iphone." They will be like "WTF? I'm going to bed.." LOL God bless the kids who have good
    intentions, but need privacy. That's what BBSing was like for me back in the day.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A31 (Raspberry Pi)
    * Origin: Alcoholiday / Est. 1995 / alco.bbs.io (46:1/166)
  • From Accession@46:1/100 to metalhead on Wed Nov 23 23:38:54 2016
    Hello metalhead,

    On 23 Nov 16 23:15, metalhead wrote to All:

    It sucks to see people trimming their BBS assets down, like when
    people shut down their boards due to inactivity, or due to financial reasons. Would you shut your board down if you had 100 callers per
    day?

    Some people shut them down because they can't afford to put food on the table for their families, which is completely understandable. Others, do it just because they love to do it and don't care what the costs are.

    I don't feel the need to take it down completely, but obviously there will be times where I won't be able to participate as much as I have at other times. I enjoy computers (don't work with them on a daily basis). They actually relax me. So the BBS hobby of old keeps me on my toes in some aspects.

    So, some people are doing really good jobs at reeling people back in. g00r00 gave us more than enough tools to make awesome shit happen.
    Gryphon has somehow attracted the attention of many old homies and
    he's drawing them back towards the scene. Many ansi/ascii artists are still hacking away at masterpieces. Caphood is showing people exactly
    what the fuck you do with a pile of kick ass, original ansi. Zero
    Reader is introducing all kinds of awesome add-ons to the delight of
    his visitors.

    That's all that needs to be done, to be honest. Show those people of old that things are expanding into the new internet world.

    I still have concern that we are a dying breed though. Can we bring in
    new recruits? Can you take an 11 year old kid, and show him how to use TheDraw, and expect him to create beautiful artwork out of typewriter characters!? Let's hope so!

    Of course we're a dying breed. We can't bring in more new recruits than the people that are leaving the hobby. Most of the time you can't take an 8-11 year
    old kid and show him what you're doing. Sure they might be interested while you
    tell them, but then when they can load up Minecraft or Roblox and enjoy a PVP gaming experience for kids, this is probably boring in comparison.

    A lot of you 3lit3 fuckers disagree with me on this, but I say open it
    up to the world. Don't let this culture fade away. Take the time to explain it to the kids. They will become those cool motherfuckers that
    we were when we were in high school. People who networked in an out of
    the box kind of way, met cool people, got attracted to
    computer-related skills, made shit-tons of money, made lifelong weed connections, and lastly, honored a tradition that we DIDN'T take for granted.

    My BBS hasn't gone anywhere in 12 years. As long as I'm not in dire straits, I don't see it going anywhere either. I always appreciate callers that say they were a part of the past and are checking things out again. But after that, I don't care if my BBS doesn't get a call in a day either. I keep myself interested by keeping up with the latest BBS and FTN development. I try to use ALL open source programs as well, in case I care to try to modify it myself. My
    interest lies in the others that keep doing what they do to give us cool software in this ever-so-dying scene. If I get cool callers in the process.. that just makes it that much better.

    Also, "Opening it up" means stop acting like this is some exclusive
    club. If I found my way on your BBS, then I've got news for you: Your
    not that fucking exclusive!

    This is by far an exclusive club. Just an interest and hobby of our own that we're keeping alive by running our BBSs.

    Some kids are at that stage where they need to hide shit from their parents. I get that. What if their parents check their phones and see
    apps like "Facebook," "Twitter," etc? They will check that shit out,
    and find out what their up to. But for those kids who need some
    serious privacy, their parents will see like "Telnet for Android," or "Netrunner for Iphone." They will be like "WTF? I'm going to bed.."
    LOL God bless the kids who have good intentions, but need privacy.
    That's what BBSing was like for me back in the day.

    While that may have been part of it. My mom used AOL back then. So while I was doing more private BBSing, she was on one of the biggest BBSs in the world back
    then. She knew what I was doing, yet didn't care as long as I wasn't out getting into fights and stealing (which I did my fair share of as well). This hobby actually kept me out of a lot of trouble I *could* have gotten into. :)

    Regards,
    Nick

    ... "Не знаю. Я здесь только работаю."
    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20160827
    * Origin: thePharcyde_ distribution system (Wisconsin) (46:1/100)
  • From metalhead@46:1/166 to Accession on Thu Nov 24 17:45:51 2016
    Some people shut them down because they can't afford to put food on the table for their families, which is completely understandable. Others, do

    I get that, but I remember 2 of my favorite BBSs (3 counting mine) going down with messages saying stuff like "No callers!"

    I understand enjoying sysoping, with or without callers, but it was getting a little ridiculous when I realized I was paying for a domain & hosting just to meagerly entertain a handful of people. It's more expensive now than it was
    in the old days. I used to pay $10 a month for a dedicated phone line.
    Shared hosting is like $9 a month, and then domain renewals can get out of control.

    the people that are leaving the hobby. Most of the time you can't take
    an 8-11 year old kid and show him what you're doing. Sure they might be

    I tried showing my 2 teenage nephews the world of BBSing, but I lost their attention after about 5 minutes.

    They have everything handed to them, as far as computers and communication goes. They never need to get their hands dirty with any programming
    languages, or even book readings to accomplish their goals. They are shitty typists too.

    I'd be thrilled if someone wanted to show me their old telegraph hardware, or early telephone operator tools. But now that I think about it, I probably wouldn't be as thrilled with it if I was 11.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A31 (Raspberry Pi)
    * Origin: Alcoholiday / Est. 1995 / alco.bbs.io (46:1/166)
  • From Captain Obvious@46:1/120 to metalhead on Thu Nov 24 20:10:13 2016
    On 11/24/16, metalhead said the following...

    I understand enjoying sysoping, with or without callers, but it was getting a little ridiculous when I realized I was paying for a domain & hosting just to meagerly entertain a handful of people. It's more expensive now than it was in the old days. I used to pay $10 a month for
    a dedicated phone line. Shared hosting is like $9 a month, and then
    domain renewals can get out of control.


    Of course I prefer it with users but I enjoy BBSing for the sake of it. As
    far as domains, I pay (depending on the domain) between $25-50 a year for a domain I would be using anyway so no extra cost, I just created a subdomain
    and redirect that to the BBS.

    -=>Richard Miles<=-
    -=>Captain Obvious<=-
    -=>bbs.shadowscope.com<=-

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A31 (Windows)
    * Origin: Shadowscope BBS | bbs.shadowscope.com | Temple, GA (46:1/120)
  • From Zero Reader@46:1/166 to metalhead on Fri Nov 25 02:18:22 2016
    On 11/24/16, metalhead said the following...

    I get that, but I remember 2 of my favorite BBSs (3 counting mine) going down with messages saying stuff like "No callers!"

    I've enjoyed your rants tonight man! Thanks for the good karma too. I don't think any of us are doing it for massive numbers of callers anymore. I just enjoy having my little plot out here to lord over and play with and if I get callers, then great! If people like it, that's even better.

    I appreciate your calls, and the fact that you do post messages. I love
    seeing that traffic going out over the net.

    I'd be thrilled if someone wanted to show me their old telegraph
    hardware, or early telephone operator tools. But now that I think about it, I probably wouldn't be as thrilled with it if I was 11.

    I do Morse code sometimes because I'm a ham radio guy. The last public event
    we had, I had people clustered all around me watching with interest as I did code and communicated with people far away. People do find this old stuff interesting I think, but few really grab on and get invested in it. I doubt
    any of the people who saw me working Morse code went out and got a ham
    license or tried to learn the code. Maybe someone did... I don't know.

    Strangely enough, a lot of my friends seem to be interested in my board again recently. I've had some people google it up and connect after seeing me post ANSIs on Facebag.. folks who haven't been on a board in 20 years. It's been very interesting.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A31 (Raspberry Pi)
    * Origin: Alcoholiday / Est. 1995 / alco.bbs.io (46:1/166)
  • From Poindexter Fortran@46:1/115 to metalhead on Sat Nov 26 13:31:00 2016
    metalhead wrote to Accession <=-

    I understand enjoying sysoping, with or without callers, but it was getting a little ridiculous when I realized I was paying for a domain & hosting just to meagerly entertain a handful of people. It's more expensive now than it was in the old days. I used to pay $10 a month
    for a dedicated phone line. Shared hosting is like $9 a month, and then domain renewals can get out of control.

    I took my BBS down for a couple of years when I needed the phone line
    for my business. I didn't have much of a problem running it for 1 or 2
    callers, but momentum is everything. If I lost a hard drive I don't
    know if I would have restored everything at that point.

    They have everything handed to them, as far as computers and
    communication goes. They never need to get their hands dirty with any programming languages, or even book readings to accomplish their goals. They are shitty typists too.

    I'm a 2 finger typist, but fast now. I'm trying to get my 13 year old
    son to take a typing class, but maybe they'll have Minority report
    interfaces by the time he's in college and teaching him how to type
    will be like teaching him Morse code.

    I'd be thrilled if someone wanted to show me their old telegraph
    hardware, or early telephone operator tools. But now that I think about it, I probably wouldn't be as thrilled with it if I was 11.

    I took my son to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA when
    he was 11. He was suitably impressed, especially when seeing core
    memory and old room-sized computers.



    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A31 (Raspberry Pi)
    * Origin: Alcoholiday / Est. 1995 / alco.bbs.io (46:1/166)

    ... "I speak to machines with the voice of Humanity..."
    --- MultiMail/Win32 v0.49
    * Origin: realitycheckbbs.org -- yesterday's tech today (46:1/115)
  • From Poindexter Fortran@46:1/115 to Captain Obvious on Sat Nov 26 13:32:00 2016
    Captain Obvious wrote to metalhead <=-

    Of course I prefer it with users but I enjoy BBSing for the sake of it.
    As far as domains, I pay (depending on the domain) between $25-50 a
    year for a domain I would be using anyway so no extra cost, I just
    created a subdomain and redirect that to the BBS.

    I'm paying for mail redirection to get mail past my ISP to my BBS
    located in my garage. I realized I could get a VPS for less, have a
    system on the net for less than the redirection. Time to move!

    :)



    ... Powered By Celeron (Tualatin). Engineered for the future.
    --- MultiMail/Win32 v0.49
    * Origin: realitycheckbbs.org -- yesterday's tech today (46:1/115)
  • From metalhead@46:1/166 to Zero Reader on Tue Nov 29 00:17:28 2016
    I've enjoyed your rants tonight man! Thanks for the good karma too. I

    I've been going a little too crazy with it. I'm like a Gremlin, but you can't give me beer and a BBS terminal after midnight! I've got to learn how to
    chill a bit.

    anymore. I just enjoy having my little plot out here to lord over and
    play with and if I get callers, then great! If people like it, that's

    I think that's a great way to handle it. I don't feel the excitement for
    BBSing like I used to. Back in 2010, I was really excited about it, finding
    out that it could be accessed online, and all that. But the scene is kinda stale, I think.

    interest as I did code and communicated with people far away. People do

    How did you transmit it to the other person?

    seeing me post ANSIs on Facebag.. folks who haven't been on a board in
    20 years. It's been very interesting.

    That's a good idea! I bet that most of the old BBS folk don't realize that
    it's still happening. When I first got back into it, I was sure that I would
    be sticking with Renegade, but then I found out about Mystic and it blew my mind. There's a lot of fun stuff in this software to utilize, but I'm just
    way more into learning bits and pieces of modern stuff, these days.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A31 (Raspberry Pi)
    * Origin: Alcoholiday / Est. 1995 / alco.bbs.io (46:1/166)
  • From metalhead@46:1/166 to Poindexter Fortran on Tue Nov 29 00:24:32 2016
    I'm a 2 finger typist, but fast now. I'm trying to get my 13 year old
    son to take a typing class, but maybe they'll have Minority report

    I used to be fast with less fingers, now I use them all, but not the proper way! I use the pinkies very sparingly.

    Typing could become obsolete at any moment, I suppose. But can we speak
    faster than we can type?

    I can write great essays, but I think speech-to-text would be a huge
    challenge for me to get used to.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A31 (Raspberry Pi)
    * Origin: Alcoholiday / Est. 1995 / alco.bbs.io (46:1/166)
  • From Accession@46:1/100 to metalhead on Tue Nov 29 07:22:52 2016
    Hello metalhead,

    On 29 Nov 16 00:17, metalhead wrote to Zero Reader:

    I think that's a great way to handle it. I don't feel the excitement
    for BBSing like I used to. Back in 2010, I was really excited about
    it, finding out that it could be accessed online, and all that. But
    the scene is kinda stale, I think.

    Stale?! 2010?! The "scene" has been stale for a lot longer than that, unfortunately. Then again, my "scene" consisted of all the ANSI artists that used to frequent BBSs also. Now they've all moved to Facebook and while I'm certain they haven't forgotten where it all began and how they became popular (ie: BBS ads and moving artpacks around via BBSs), they have definitely left it
    behind for the giant new age BBS we call Facebook.

    That's a good idea! I bet that most of the old BBS folk don't realize
    that it's still happening. When I first got back into it, I was sure
    that I would be sticking with Renegade, but then I found out about
    Mystic and it blew my mind. There's a lot of fun stuff in this
    software to utilize, but I'm just way more into learning bits and
    pieces of modern stuff, these days.

    Currently developed software is what keeps me interested in this hobby. I enjoy
    seeing what those developers can come up with in comparison to some of the newer stuff engulfing the masses these days. I mean, who would have ever thought we'd have FTP, NNTP, web integration, amongst other things in a BBS package back in the 90s?

    I tip my hat to the people that still take the time to create amazing software for this hobby. If that were to ever stale out.. I'd probably be gone as well. But as long as there's something new to tinker with for hours on end at any given time, it'll keep my interest.

    Regards,
    Nick

    ... "Не знаю. Я здесь только работаю."
    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20160827
    * Origin: thePharcyde_ distribution system (Wisconsin) (46:1/100)
  • From Tiny@46:1/126.3 to Accession on Tue Nov 29 09:19:00 2016
    Accession wrote to metalhead:

    I tip my hat to the people that still take the time to create amazing software for this hobby. If that were to ever stale out.. I'd probably be gone as well. But as long as there's something new to tinker with for
    hours on end at any given time, it'll keep my interest.

    Same here. ;) That and trying to get new tech like the pi's and ipv6 working. Hell today I'm fighting with samba because well... I want to use golded on my laptop and the jam bases are on the pi. hahaha

    Ipv6... made a couple more changes. telnet port 2323 2023 binkp 24555 and 24556. Any chance you could see if you can reach those 4? I will make this work Nick. ;)

    Shawn



    ... "Keyboard? How quaint!" - Scotty

    --- MBSE BBS v1.0.6.9 (GNU/Linux-ARM)
    * Origin: Tiny's BBS - www.tinysbbs.com (46:1/126.3)
  • From Zero Reader@46:1/166 to metalhead on Tue Nov 29 09:25:08 2016
    On 11/29/16, metalhead said the following...

    interest as I did code and communicated with people far away. People

    How did you transmit it to the other person?

    I was transmitting Morse code over a radio.... ham radio. That's a hobby that
    a year ago I was all gung-ho on (in fact, I'm the outgoing president of what
    I think is probably the largest radio club in the state). But I've sort of grown fatigued with it all. The hobby has turned into a mix of preppers squirreling away cheap Chinese radios waiting for the the world to end, and these emergency communication "whackers" who think they can do a better job than professionals. At least around here that's the gist of it.

    I just want to enjoy the hobby aspect of it, so I'm trying to get back to
    just having fun with it.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A31 (Raspberry Pi)
    * Origin: Alcoholiday / Est. 1995 / alco.bbs.io (46:1/166)
  • From Accession@46:1/100 to Tiny on Tue Nov 29 09:50:30 2016
    Hello Tiny,

    On 29 Nov 16 09:19, Tiny wrote to Accession:

    Same here. ;) That and trying to get new tech like the pi's and
    ipv6 working. Hell today I'm fighting with samba because well... I
    want to use golded on my laptop and the jam bases are on the pi.
    hahaha

    Screw samba shares. Grab the Golded sources on your Pi and install there. Copy your configs over and use putty to ssh into it from anywhere.

    Ipv6... made a couple more changes. telnet port 2323 2023 binkp
    24555 and 24556. Any chance you could see if you can reach those 4?
    I will make this work Nick. ;)

    Still nothing, and I know you will. :)

    --- MBSE BBS v1.0.6.9 (GNU/Linux-ARM)
    * Origin: Tiny's BBS - www.tinysbbs.com (46:1/126.3)

    How do you like staring at that? lol

    Regards,
    Nick

    ... "Не знаю. Я здесь только работаю."
    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20160827
    * Origin: thePharcyde_ distribution system (Wisconsin) (46:1/100)
  • From Steven Sheeley@46:1/177 to Zero Reader on Tue Nov 29 12:05:32 2016

    Hello Zero!

    29 Nov 16 09:25, you wrote to metalhead:


    I was transmitting Morse code over a radio.... ham radio. That's a
    hobby that a year ago I was all gung-ho on (in fact, I'm the outgoing president of what I think is probably the largest radio club in the state). But I've sort of grown fatigued with it all. The hobby has
    turned into a mix of preppers squirreling away cheap Chinese radios waiting for the the world to end, and these emergency communication "whackers" who think they can do a better job than professionals. At
    least around here that's the gist of it.

    I just want to enjoy the hobby aspect of it, so I'm trying to get back
    to just having fun with it.


    I've been around the field since the 70's but never made the time to do anything other than listen and think "I really need tog et my license". Now that I am in a place to be able to do it, I've decided to kick my self in the arse and get my license. Only problem is, and it's not really a problem, that the local club appears to be "missing in action". Living in a rural area (Greenbriar County, west Virginia) makes it a little harder to do these kinds of things. The local club is supposed to be just up the road, but I'm not getting any response from them through email.

    Anyways, I'm going to get my shack setup over the next few months and do something with this rather than sit around listening again. :)

    Steven


    ... Drive not ready E: (R)etry (G)o to Impulse (C)all Geordi
    === GoldED+/W32-MSVC 1.1.5-b20160322
    --- SBBSecho 2.27-Win32
    * Origin: Split Infinity BBS - Rupert, WV (46:1/177)
  • From Zero Reader@46:1/166 to Steven Sheeley on Tue Nov 29 13:18:27 2016
    On 11/29/16, Steven Sheeley said the following...

    self in the arse and get my license. Only problem is, and it's not
    really a problem, that the local club appears to be "missing in action". Living in a rural area (Greenbriar County, west Virginia) makes it a

    Oh man, sorry to hear that. Clubs are strange... you either get clubs that
    are in the throes of a slow death with guys who don't want to do much of anything, or sometimes you find a progressive one that has an active
    membership willing to try new things. The club website is always a good indicator of where they stand.

    Anyways, I'm going to get my shack setup over the next few months and do something with this rather than sit around listening again. :)

    Yeah man just do it. If you have the gear and the means to get some wire in the air, go for it! I get more from the amateur radio subreddit than I ever
    do from a club anyway!

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A31 (Raspberry Pi)
    * Origin: Alcoholiday / Est. 1995 / alco.bbs.io (46:1/166)
  • From Accession@46:1/100 to Tiny on Tue Nov 29 15:39:12 2016
    Hello Tiny,

    On 29 Nov 16 16:35, Tiny wrote to Accession:

    Screw samba shares. Grab the Golded sources on your Pi and install
    there. Copy your configs over and use putty to ssh into it from
    anywhere.

    You've done this? I got golded to compile on the pi no problems,
    but when I attempt to launch it nothing happens. Haven't gotten
    around to figuring out why I assumed it didn't work with the ARM cpu.

    Of course. That's what I'm posting from right now. If you launch "gedlnx -C/path/to/config" and nothing happens.. then something is wrong with your configuration file. I think you have to make sure goldkeys.cfg and something else is in the same directory as the executable. Or at least a correct path to them if including them in golded.conf/cfg.

    I do. ;) The thing is... MBSE does bluewave packets, which I prefer more then QWK (I know it's stupid) and I'm so used to the QuickBBS
    style setup that I find MBSE easier to configure then I did mystic.

    I just can't stand how fugly it default interface is. I would have to make that
    thing look every bit NOT like MBSE in order to be able to not cringe when I go through the login process. :)

    Regards,
    Nick

    ... "Не знаю. Я здесь только работаю."
    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20160827
    * Origin: thePharcyde_ distribution system (Wisconsin) (46:1/100)
  • From Tiny@46:1/126.3 to Accession on Tue Nov 29 16:35:58 2016
    Accession wrote to Tiny:

    Screw samba shares. Grab the Golded sources on your Pi and install there. Copy your configs over and use putty to ssh into it from anywhere.

    You've done this? I got golded to compile on the pi no problems, but when I attempt to launch it nothing happens. Haven't gotten around to figuring out why I assumed it didn't work with the ARM cpu.

    Still nothing, and I know you will. :)

    Thanks. :) I'll be asking again soon! ;)

    --- MBSE BBS v1.0.6.9 (GNU/Linux-ARM)
    * Origin: Tiny's BBS - www.tinysbbs.com (46:1/126.3)
    How do you like staring at that? lol

    I do. ;) The thing is... MBSE does bluewave packets, which I prefer more then QWK (I know it's stupid) and I'm so used to the QuickBBS style setup that I find MBSE easier to configure then I did mystic.

    Shawn


    ... "Suicide Hotline...please hold."

    --- MBSE BBS v1.0.6.9 (GNU/Linux-ARM)
    * Origin: Tiny's BBS - www.tinysbbs.com (46:1/126.3)
  • From metalhead@46:1/166 to Zero Reader on Tue Nov 29 20:42:11 2016
    waiting for the the world to end, and these emergency communication "whackers" who think they can do a better job than professionals. At

    They sound like interesting people to talk to when you're bored. What kinds
    of stuff do they talk about? Just shooting the shit? Or are they trying to do something productive?

    The way you described it reminds me of when I was about 12, and I briefly
    tried getting into CB radio communication. I was already into the BBS stuff, but one of my nerdy friends showed me a community of CB people, who used to (probably still do) communicate from their homes with CB radios. I just liked messing with them. I'd get on the truck driver's station (forgot which one it was, maybe 19?) Then I'd give them bad directions, or something. That sort of thing amused me back then.

    How's the range with HAM radios? How local of a community can one have with them? I'd give it a try.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A31 (Raspberry Pi)
    * Origin: Alcoholiday / Est. 1995 / alco.bbs.io (46:1/166)
  • From Zero Reader@46:1/166 to metalhead on Tue Nov 29 22:12:50 2016
    On 11/29/16, metalhead said the following...

    waiting for the the world to end, and these emergency communication "whackers" who think they can do a better job than professionals. At

    They sound like interesting people to talk to when you're bored. What kinds of stuff do they talk about? Just shooting the shit? Or are they trying to do something productive?

    Mostly just talk about radios. Although the 80/75 meter band is more like advanced CBers who ramble on about their failing health, the economy,
    politics, etc. The usual 7 a.m. Waffle House blathering.

    The way you described it reminds me of when I was about 12, and I briefly tried getting into CB radio communication. I was already into the BBS stuff, but one of my nerdy friends showed me a community of CB people,
    who used to (probably still do) communicate from their homes with CB

    It's similar to CBs in a way. Except you don't have to have a license to have
    a CB. You can only run a limited amount of power, and there are no rules. A
    lot of people think amateur radio guys are uptight because we have callsigns and official licenses and all that. I can agree with that to a certain level, but the CBers are a cesspool. Mostly weird antics, drug dealers and truckers. But that is interesting....

    How's the range with HAM radios? How local of a community can one have with them? I'd give it a try.

    The range is whatever you want it to be. I can grab a little handheld radio
    and use the repeater tower near my home to talk with local guys, or link up
    to the DMR system and talk all over the eastern seaboard and beyond. If I
    fire up my HF rig, I could talk to Russia without much difficulty at certain times of the day.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A31 (Raspberry Pi)
    * Origin: Alcoholiday / Est. 1995 / alco.bbs.io (46:1/166)
  • From Tiny@46:1/126.3 to Accession on Wed Nov 30 05:29:10 2016
    Quoting Accession to Tiny <=-

    Of course. That's what I'm posting from right now. If you launch
    "gedlnx -C/path/to/config" and nothing happens.. then something is
    wrong with your configuration file. I think you have to make sure goldkeys.cfg and something else is in the same directory as the executable. Or at least a correct path to them if including them in golded.conf/cfg.

    Okay I'll keep at it. :) I was not in "Dosthink" mode I guess. <Laugh>
    With luck later today you'll see th golded tearline. ;)

    make that thing look every bit NOT like MBSE in order to be able to
    not cringe when I go through the login process. :)

    Very true! I've got the BBS side 50% done. Changed colours, added
    menu screens, changed the keys so they make sense, but the new user side
    of things I still hate.

    Shawn



    ... Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
    --- Blue Wave/DOS
    * Origin: Tiny's BBS - www.tinysbbs.com (46:1/126.3)
  • From Tiny@46:1/126.3 to Zero Reader on Wed Nov 30 06:25:22 2016
    Quoting Zero Reader to metalhead <=-

    that to a certain level, but the CBers are a cesspool. Mostly weird antics, drug dealers and truckers. But that is interesting....

    Plus the kids who must have every gadget possible in their cars. :)

    I kind of like the fact CB is a free for all, it was sure a lot more
    fun back in the day when Dukes Of Hazzard made it all so popular. hahaha

    Shawn

    ... If man were immortal, do you realise what his meat bills would be?
    --- Blue Wave/DOS
    * Origin: Tiny's BBS - www.tinysbbs.com (46:1/126.3)
  • From Tiny@46:1/126.3 to Tiny on Wed Nov 30 08:42:30 2016

    Hello Tiny!

    30 Nov 16 05:29, I wrote to Accession:

    Okay I'll keep at it. :) I was not in "Dosthink" mode I guess.
    <Laugh> With luck later today you'll see th golded tearline. ;)

    Yep, that didn't take much. ;) For some reason I thought I could pass
    the config file via the commandline and it didn't have to be in the same directory as the execuatble.

    Shawn

    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20160322
    * Origin: Tiny's BBS - www.tinysbbs.com (46:1/126.3)
  • From Accession@46:1/100 to Tiny on Wed Nov 30 07:58:06 2016
    Hello Tiny,

    On 30 Nov 16 08:42, Tiny wrote to Tiny:

    Yep, that didn't take much. ;) For some reason I thought I could
    pass the config file via the commandline and it didn't have to be in
    the same directory as the execuatble.

    You can. But in that case you would have to type out the complete path to the config file (ie: /opt/golded/bin/gedlnx -C/opt/golded/etc/golded.conf is the exact line I use here). You can't run "./gedlnx -Cgolded.conf when golded.conf is not in the same directory. :)

    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20160322
    * Origin: Tiny's BBS - www.tinysbbs.com (46:1/126.3)

    We have a winner, folks!

    Regards,
    Nick

    ... "Не знаю. Я здесь только работаю."
    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20160827
    * Origin: thePharcyde_ distribution system (Wisconsin) (46:1/100)
  • From Zero Reader@46:1/166 to Tiny on Wed Nov 30 12:42:40 2016
    On 11/30/16, Tiny said the following...

    I kind of like the fact CB is a free for all, it was sure a lot more
    fun back in the day when Dukes Of Hazzard made it all so popular.

    I think it's funny to listen to every now and then. The main problem with it
    is that you're limited to a small amount of power. I know some people
    illegally raise the power with amps and modifications. But when used
    properly, it's mostly limited to a small area, unless you get propagation conditions that lead to good "skip" where the signal travels much farther.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A31 (Raspberry Pi)
    * Origin: Alcoholiday / Est. 1995 / alco.bbs.io (46:1/166)
  • From Tiny@46:1/126.3 to Accession on Wed Nov 30 13:40:02 2016

    Hello Accession!

    30 Nov 16 07:58, you wrote to me:

    You can. But in that case you would have to type out the complete path
    to the config file (ie: /opt/golded/bin/gedlnx -C/opt/golded/etc/golded.conf is the exact line I use here). You can't
    run "./gedlnx -Cgolded.conf when golded.conf is not in the same
    directory. :)

    I had a space after the -C which is probably why it didn't work. Ah well no worries golded.cfg is in the golded directory and I now only need to run ./gedlnx and it launches. ;)

    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20160322
    * Origin: Tiny's BBS - www.tinysbbs.com (46:1/126.3)

    We have a winner, folks!

    Shawn
    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20160322
    * Origin: Tiny's BBS - www.tinysbbs.com (46:1/126.3)
  • From Poindexter Fortran@46:1/115 to Tiny on Wed Nov 30 06:49:00 2016
    Tiny wrote to Zero Reader <=-

    Quoting Zero Reader to metalhead <=-

    that to a certain level, but the CBers are a cesspool. Mostly weird antics, drug dealers and truckers. But that is interesting....

    Plus the kids who must have every gadget possible in their cars. :)

    I kind of like the fact CB is a free for all, it was sure a lot more
    fun back in the day when Dukes Of Hazzard made it all so popular.


    I didn't know about drug dealers. My father worked for a trucking
    company and we had a CB in the family van we used for road trips. We'd
    have it on channel 17 on I-80, it was interesting hearing the truckers
    talking to kill the time.

    We broke down once and were able to call a tow truck by talking to a
    REACT volunteer on channel 9, this was before cell phones.


    ... Powered By Celeron (Tualatin). Engineered for the future.
    --- MultiMail/Win32 v0.49
    * Origin: realitycheckbbs.org -- yesterday's tech today (46:1/115)
  • From metalhead@46:1/166 to Zero Reader on Wed Nov 30 14:48:09 2016
    to a certain level, but the CBers are a cesspool. Mostly weird antics, drug dealers and truckers. But that is interesting....

    Hmm, this sounds like a spamming opportunity for me! lol

    beyond. If I fire up my HF rig, I could talk to Russia without much difficulty at certain times of the day.

    Now you've got me interested! I will keep this in mind if I get the chance to use one. Does HF mean high frequency? If you're using this method, can you target specific regions? Or will it just be a range of people from here to Russia?

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A31 (Raspberry Pi)
    * Origin: Alcoholiday / Est. 1995 / alco.bbs.io (46:1/166)
  • From Zero Reader@46:1/166 to metalhead on Wed Nov 30 22:57:31 2016
    On 11/30/16, metalhead said the following...

    beyond. If I fire up my HF rig, I could talk to Russia without much difficulty at certain times of the day.

    Now you've got me interested! I will keep this in mind if I get the
    chance to use one. Does HF mean high frequency? If you're using this method, can you target specific regions? Or will it just be a range of people from here to Russia?

    Yep, you got it, HF is "high frequency" which is actually quite low compared
    to VHF and UHF and even higher. Typically in ham radio, when we talk about
    HF, we're talking about longer range contacts. Contacts out of country are called "DX" contacts, and to me, these are the most fun.

    It will vary depending on where you are in the world, but from the U.S. east coast, I can almost always find major European stations to talk to. As the
    sun begins to set, South Americans become easy to work. Later into the
    evening, I hear guys in neighboring states and regions.

    Where you talk depends on a lot of factors: the atmosphere, the solar cycle, time of day, which band is in use, etc. Studying how radio waves behave is
    sort of a specialized area in the hobby all by itself.

    But it's amazing what you can do with a small radio and a wire antenna up in the trees. From my home I've worked all 50 states three different ways --
    Morse code, voice, and data. I've collected more than a 100 countries using a combination of code/voice/data... for me, HF really is where the fun is at in the hobby.

    If you don't have a mentor, it can be a bitch to get started in radio though. Just because someone is a licensed amateur on paper, doesn't mean they know shit about operating. Also, you don't just run down to Best Buy and purchase one of these things. I'm currently using a radio I built from a kit (Elecraft K3), so I was able to fully customize it.

    Anyway, all this is off-topic for the message area, but let me know if you
    want to learn more!

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A31 (Raspberry Pi)
    * Origin: Alcoholiday / Est. 1995 / alco.bbs.io (46:1/166)
  • From Kidd Wicked@46:1/125 to metalhead on Sat Dec 17 08:24:12 2016
    On 11/23/16, metalhead said the following...

    We are all BBS Archeologists. We keep the BBS scene alive, because it's fun, and we can't just toss it in the trash like we did with our Lincoln logs, and he-mans & shit, because it's more than just a hobby; it's a significant part of our history, and a significant part of our present too, for many of us.

    I will tell you what will kepp the bbs's going. And it kinda sucks but hear me out. A cell phone message reader app for mystic. You would not Get to see all the cool shit the bbs has to offer but will be able to contribute to discussions more.

    |11·|03-|09─|01─╖ |15K|07í|08dd |01╓──|09·-|03· |11·
    |01╙ |15W|07íck|08ed |01╙

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A69 (Android)
    * Origin: |10SH |022.0 |08si|02n.e|10l|153|10t|02e.c|08om|02 (46:1/125)
  • From metalhead@46:1/166 to Kidd Wicked on Mon Dec 19 23:38:30 2016
    hear me out. A cell phone message reader app for mystic. You would not
    Get to see all the cool shit the bbs has to offer but will be able to contribute to discussions more.

    Fuck yea! That would be awesome! Or even QWK for Android would be nice!

    I used to love logging on to BBSs with my phone, but I got sick of it, and it seems like hardly anyone's using fTelnet anymore anyway.

    I could definitely settle for simple message base action on my phone!

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A31 (Raspberry Pi)
    * Origin: Alcoholiday / Est. 1995 / alco.bbs.io (46:1/166)
  • From Tiny@46:1/126.3 to metalhead on Thu Dec 22 06:08:16 2016

    Hello metalhead!

    19 Dec 16 23:38, you wrote to Kidd Wicked:

    I used to love logging on to BBSs with my phone, but I got sick of it,
    and it seems like hardly anyone's using fTelnet anymore anyway.

    I can't handle the small screen or the lack of a keyboard. I now have
    a cheap chromebook I love though with a 15" screen so I'm able to do more
    on the go now as it boots in seconds and the battery lasts forever and a day.

    I could definitely settle for simple message base action on my phone!

    I would like to use this though. I did configure hotdoged once, and it worked, but I didn't like having to be a point as I couldn't keep my LRP's
    the same.

    Shawn

    ... Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20160322
    * Origin: Tiny's BBS - www.tinysbbs.com (46:1/126.3)
  • From metalhead@46:1/166 to Tiny on Fri Dec 23 01:54:47 2016
    I can't handle the small screen or the lack of a keyboard. I now have
    a cheap chromebook I love though with a 15" screen so I'm able to do more

    Does your chromebook support Adobe flash? (I'll assume yes, but I'd like to know for sure!)

    I could definitely settle for simple message base action on my phone!

    I would like to use this though. I did configure hotdoged once, and it worked, but I didn't like having to be a point as I couldn't keep my

    What is hotdoged? I'm lost, but this sounds interesting!

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A31 (Raspberry Pi)
    * Origin: Alcoholiday / Est. 1995 / alco.bbs.io (46:1/166)
  • From Tiny@46:1/126.3 to metalhead on Fri Dec 23 17:38:04 2016

    Hello metalhead!

    23 Dec 16 01:54, you wrote to me:

    Does your chromebook support Adobe flash? (I'll assume yes, but I'd
    like to know for sure!)

    GIve me a website to test it on for you and I will. I know it will on
    my ubuntu chroot, but I'm more then happy to try any website you give me.

    Using it now via a ssh app to my pi. ;) Though I also have Bluewave
    working in dosbox on the thing as well!

    What is hotdoged? I'm lost, but this sounds interesting!

    Point based FTN editor for Android. Cna't seem to find a link right now
    but if you dig around on google you should find something about it.

    Shawn

    ... Let me then switch tacks and change horses in midstream.
    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20160322
    * Origin: Tiny's BBS - www.tinysbbs.com (46:1/126.3)
  • From wkitty42@46:1/132 to Kidd Wicked on Fri Dec 23 17:58:53 2016
    On 12/17/16, Kidd Wicked said the following...

    I will tell you what will kepp the bbs's going. And it kinda sucks but hear me out. A cell phone message reader app for mystic. You would not
    Get to see all the cool shit the bbs has to offer but will be able to contribute to discussions more.

    in fido technology network parlance, this is known as a point system... with that in mind, there is HOTDOGED and AFTERSHOCK which are smartphone apps
    which do exactly that... i don't know which is for what phone, though... both of those are echotags on fidonet, too...

    --- Mystic BBS v1.10 A57 (Windows)
    * Origin: (46:1/132)
  • From metalhead@46:1/166 to Tiny on Fri Dec 23 22:28:25 2016
    GIve me a website to test it on for you and I will. I know it will on

    d1st.org working ok?

    Using it now via a ssh app to my pi. ;) Though I also have Bluewave working in dosbox on the thing as well!

    That is cool! But if only there was a way for more sysops to offer Bluewave packets via the web. That would be perfect!

    Point based FTN editor for Android. Cna't seem to find a link right

    I see the app on the google play store. It says "Fidonet client." That sounds interesting, but I just don't quite get how it works. Do you have to have
    your own Fido address to use it? (sysops only?)

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A31 (Raspberry Pi)
    * Origin: Alcoholiday / Est. 1995 / alco.bbs.io (46:1/166)
  • From Tiny@46:1/126.3 to metalhead on Sat Dec 24 03:03:18 2016

    Hello metalhead!

    23 Dec 16 22:28, you wrote to me:

    d1st.org working ok?

    Sure is. Connected fine.

    That is cool! But if only there was a way for more sysops to offer Bluewave packets via the web. That would be perfect!

    I had a way to do it on my old Maximus BBS, but it took a whole pile
    of mecca scripts and cgi apps I wrote. Haven't re created it in years
    and wouldn't even attempt it anymore. (I don't have the time I once did!)

    I see the app on the google play store. It says "Fidonet client." That sounds interesting, but I just don't quite get how it works. Do you
    have to have your own Fido address to use it? (sysops only?)

    Sort of, you need to get a point address from a BBS of your choice.

    Shawn

    ... When in doubt, predict that the trend will continue.
    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20160322
    * Origin: Tiny's BBS - www.tinysbbs.com (46:1/126.3)
  • From wkitty42@46:1/132 to metalhead on Sat Dec 24 18:08:49 2016
    On 12/23/16, metalhead said the following...

    I see the app on the google play store. It says "Fidonet client." That sounds interesting, but I just don't quite get how it works. Do you have to have your own Fido address to use it? (sysops only?)

    it is a point system... your fido bbs sets up a point address for you to use... their mail tosser then tosses the mail into packets for you to pick up just like any other node... you don't have to login, go through menus, wait for mail to be gathered, or any of that stuff... you connect to their mailer and download the mail already waiting for you... then your tosser puts it in your message bases on your device... the mailer, tosser, reader and editor are all included in the client...

    --- Mystic BBS v1.10 A57 (Windows)
    * Origin: (46:1/132)
  • From metalhead@46:1/166 to wkitty42 on Sat Dec 24 23:32:52 2016
    it is a point system... your fido bbs sets up a point address for you to use... their mail tosser then tosses the mail into packets for you to

    I get it now, and thanks for the explanation. I don't have any sysop credentials with any Fido style networks (I guess by credentials I mean an address,) so I don't think this will be ideal for me to use at the moment,
    but I bet that those who do have Fido addresses can enjoy the shit out of
    this thing!

    Is it for Fidonet only? Or can it collect mail from other fido-style networks too? (Agora/Dove/Etc?)

    I'm sorry if I sound like a big dummy with all this, it's just that I really can't find this information anywhere else, and although I've sysop'd a lot in the past, I've never had a working Fidonet mail system before, but I can see why it's so desirable these days (with cool apps like this one.)

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A31 (Raspberry Pi)
    * Origin: Alcoholiday / Est. 1995 / alco.bbs.io (46:1/166)
  • From Nicholas Boel@46:1/100 to metalhead on Sun Dec 25 09:54:16 2016
    Hello metalhead,

    On Sat, 24 Dec 2016 23:32:52 -0500, metalhead -> wkitty42 wrote:

    I get it now, and thanks for the explanation. I don't have any sysop credentials with any Fido style networks (I guess by credentials I mean an address,) so I don't think this will be ideal for me to use at the moment,

    You could also ask just about anyone to provide you with a point address. You would then just setup your phone/tablet to use the software with the provided address.

    but I bet that those who do have Fido addresses can enjoy the shit out of this thing!

    As well as anyone else that desires to use it.

    Is it for Fidonet only? Or can it collect mail from other fido-style
    networks
    too? (Agora/Dove/Etc?)

    That I'm unsure of. If the application is hard-coded to use 1-4 as the zone numbers, then yes it would be for Fidonet only. However, I don't think it would
    be.. so you should be able to connect to other fido-style networks. However, the application itself I believe let's you setup ONLY one point address. Which means you can only setup one network at a time.

    I'm sorry if I sound like a big dummy with all this, it's just that I
    really
    can't find this information anywhere else, and although I've sysop'd a lot
    in
    the past, I've never had a working Fidonet mail system before, but I can
    see
    why it's so desirable these days (with cool apps like this one.)

    Sometimes the only way to get answers is to ask quesions. :)

    Regards,
    Nick

    --- slrn/1.0.3 (Linux)
    * Origin: thePharcyde_ distribution system (46:1/100)
  • From wkitty42@46:1/132 to metalhead on Sun Dec 25 14:30:34 2016
    On 12/24/16, metalhead said the following...

    I get it now, and thanks for the explanation.

    you're welcome :)

    Is it for Fidonet only? Or can it collect mail from other fido-style networks too? (Agora/Dove/Etc?)

    point systems are a FTN thing... FTN means Fidonet Technology Network... QWK and others do not have "points"... QWK is QWK which being a point or full
    node eliminate that logging into another BBS to get you mail step...
    everything is done on the fly by the tosser when mail is processed...

    I'm sorry if I sound like a big dummy with all this

    it is quite alright... if one doesn't know FTN stuff, it is quite understandable they don't grasp other FTN concepts at first :)

    --- Mystic BBS v1.10 A57 (Windows)
    * Origin: (46:1/132)
  • From metalhead@46:1/166 to Nicholas Boel on Tue Dec 27 12:45:46 2016
    You could also ask just about anyone to provide you with a point
    address. You would then just setup your phone/tablet to use the software

    I will try this. Thanks again!

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A31 (Raspberry Pi)
    * Origin: Alcoholiday / Est. 1995 / alco.bbs.io (46:1/166)