My history goes back to about 1981 when I was 10 or so and my school got its first computer. A Video Genie, which is a TRS80 clone, sort of and I was fascinated by it. I got a ZX81 for Christmas and then upgraded to a VIC20.

At that time I started getting computer magazines and saw ads for online services like Prestel, which was intriguing. I was familiar with Teletext which is a one way data system but this Videotex service promises the ability to send electronic and telex messages, chat with other users, book holidays, conduct finanial business, download software and more.


I upgraded to a BBC Micro and found that a Prestel information provider (IP) was giving away free modems with subscriptions.

The Prestel service used to charge 6p per minute during peak times (8am-6pm I think) and then was free other times, except for certain per page charges. That was on top of the monthly subscription.

That's when I started hearing about other online services, called bulletin boards. Many of them run on similar BBC Micros but with better, auto answer, auto baud modems.

I was hooked. I was dialing into all sorts of local boards and running up a huge phone bill. Calls, even local calls, were not free and charged per minute and with few exeptions I think that's still the case.

I ran my own BBS, Modem Mania, for a while in the UK but ended up leaving my parents home, getting a job in another city and really forgot about them for maybe 5+ years unitl I discovered The Internet...and that's a whole 'nother story!
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (46:1/194)

nelgin wrote to All <=-

My history goes back to about 1981 when I was 10 or so and my school
got its first computer. A Video Genie, which is a TRS80 clone, sort of
and I was fascinated by it. I got a ZX81 for Christmas and then
upgraded to a VIC20.

It's a little fuzzy for me, but in 1983 I got a C64. I recall getting
an Anchor 300 baud modem, but think it was to get onto QuantumLink
(later AOL). It wasn't until I went to college in the fall that I
started using my modem to connect to university systems and hearing
about BBSes. That was about the time we had 2 big computer tabloids
distributed where I lived - MicroTimes and Computer Currents, and I saw
the BBS listings in the back.

In 1986 I got sick of trying to read 80 columns on a 12" black and
white TV, and got an XT clone and a 1200 baud modem. That's when BBSing
really took off for me.

Around 1987, I met Dr. Strangelove, who ran Just Say Yes, and over a
couple of years got to me his friend and co-sysop. I did most of the
administrative work on a 2-node Searchlight BBS and got the urge to
start my own BBS.



... Adding on
--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: realitycheckbbs.org -- yesterday's tech today (46:1/115)

Re: Re: How did you find out about bulletin boards?
By: poindexter FORTRAN to nelgin on Tue Mar 26 2024 06:21:00

In 1986 I got sick of trying to read 80 columns on a 12" black and
white TV, and got an XT clone and a 1200 baud modem. That's when BBSing
really took off for me.

My first PC was given to me. It was a (c) 1982 Commodore PC with a green screen and 256K of memory and I think a 10mb hard drive or something stupid like that. I could play text adventure games on it and that was about it.

Around 1987, I met Dr. Strangelove, who ran Just Say Yes, and over a
couple of years got to me his friend and co-sysop. I did most of the
administrative work on a 2-node Searchlight BBS and got the urge to
start my own BBS.

My first BBS was home grown, I wrote it for the BBC Micro and pretty happy with it, but I ended up buying another BBS product and I wish I could remember what it was called and who it was from, it wasn't one of the mainstream ones at the time. But this one had more stuff than I could code up an was happy with it.
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (46:1/194)

Re: How did you find out about bulletin boards?
By: nelgin to All on Mon Mar 25 2024 05:40 pm

My dad was always into computers, so when I was a kid in the 80s, I often saw my dad using his computer at home.. He had a TRS-80 when I was born (I've only seen it in a photo). Later, he had an all-in-one computer he said he built as a kit computer, and later, he had an IBM PC-compatible along with a couple of Alpha Micro AM1000 computers:
https://ampm.floodgap.com/www/1000.htm

I never really knew what he used the AM1000 computers for (he had at least one in another room without a monitor attached), but I saw him use his IBM-compatible PC a lot, working on his own programming projects and dialing into services like CompuServe, Prodigy, etc..

In 1992, he gave me my own computer, a home-built PC with a 286 processor, along with a 2400 baud modem. He told me about bulletin boards and gave me a list of BBSes, along with a communications program (Procomm Plus). That's when I started using BBSes.. It was during the summer, so I wasn't in school, and I often started dialing into BBSes when my parents went to bed (after around 10:00PM). I thought it was really cool that you could have your computer connect to someone else's computer remotely over the phone line..

A couple years later, my parents agreed to get a second phone line for my computer that I could use any time and not worry about tying up the main phone line or having my modem answer the phone. I pretty much immediately set up my own BBS, which I enjoyed running, and it also made good use of that phone line.

Nightfox

on 27 Mar 2024, Nightfox said...

In 1992, he gave me my own computer, a home-built PC with a 286
processor, along with a 2400 baud modem. He told me about bulletin
boards and gave me a list of BBSes, along with a communications program (Procomm Plus). That's when I started using BBSes.. It was during the

when i was probably in.. 5th grade i think? the teacher for the computer class gave me a 300 baud modem .. that's how i got my start. he wanted me to learn about the internet though, but instead i went and called a bunch of bbses.. worked out in the end anyways but :)

A couple years later, my parents agreed to get a second phone line for my computer that I could use any time and not worry about tying up the main phone line or having my modem answer the phone. I pretty much
immediately set up my own BBS, which I enjoyed running, and it also made good use of that phone line.

lucky.. by the time i had my own second line i was using it for dedicated dialup internet. bit weird having your own phone number at the ISP, but it was cool. i remember injoy dialer for OS/2 had a bunch of extra stuff in it for "professional" use including some stuff to rather aggressively keep it's connection going. i remember i had a backup ISP too .. geez. a bit ocd i guess :)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
* Origin: d i s t o r t i o n // d1st.org (46:1/145)

Re: Re: How did you find out about bulletin boards?
By: fusion to Nightfox on Wed Mar 27 2024 04:49 pm

when i was probably in.. 5th grade i think? the teacher for the computer class gave me a 300 baud modem .. that's how i got my start. he wanted me to learn about the internet though, but instead i went and called a bunch of bbses.. worked out in the end anyways but :)

That's cool :) I'd think 300 baud would have been a bit slow for internet though, even in the mid 90s..

At the time I started (1992), the internet wasn't widely used yet. I didn't even know about the internet yet, and I'm not sure many people I knew did either.

lucky.. by the time i had my own second line i was using it for dedicated dialup internet. bit weird having your own phone number at the ISP, but it

What do you mean by "phone number at the ISP"? Your phone line wasn't at home?

Nightfox

Re: How did you find out about bulletin boards?
By: Nightfox to nelgin on Wed Mar 27 2024 12:54:50

(after around 10:00PM). I thought it was really cool that you could have your computer connect to someone else's computer remotely over the phone line..

I think that's what fascinated me about it, too. All that stuff out there you could do over the phone. I wish I had found the internet sooner. I found out about it playing a MUD and was told about Demon Internet, a UK provider that offered dialup with static IP for "10 quid a month". It was a fantasic deal, if you could get into their modems.

A couple years later, my parents agreed to get a second phone line for my computer that I could use any time and not worry about tying up the main phone line or having my modem answer the phone. I pretty much immediately set up my own BBS, which I enjoyed running, and it also made good use of that phone line.

Yeah, I had a separate line for my BBS too, but it didn't last long since I moved out of my parents house. I did leave the BBS running for a time but I wanted my computer.
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (46:1/194)

on 27 Mar 2024, Nightfox said...

lucky.. by the time i had my own second line i was using it for dedic dialup internet. bit weird having your own phone number at the ISP, b

What do you mean by "phone number at the ISP"? Your phone line wasn't
at home?

what i meant is the number i called.. the line itself was just for me.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
* Origin: d i s t o r t i o n // d1st.org (46:1/145)

nelgin wrote to Nightfox <=-

Yeah, I had a separate line for my BBS too, but it didn't last long
since I moved out of my parents house. I did leave the BBS running for
a time but I wanted my computer.

I remember all of those BBSes that opened up with delusions of grandeur
after christmas, but were only open from 10:00am until 5:00am, using
their parents' phone line.

Kinda ruins the mystique of "TH3 HAX0RZ H1DE0UT!!!!1" when mom answers
the BBS line...



... Allow an easement
--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: realitycheckbbs.org -- yesterday's tech today (46:1/115)

I don't know how I got so lucky when I started my BBS. I lived in an
apartment and just assumed I'd be able to use the outside pair of 4-wire
telco wire to run the BBS line.

The apartment building I was in was lath-and-plaster, built in the
1920s, with old school solid copper 3-conductor cloth-wrapped wire.

Pacific Bell had a flat rate interior installation charge, I think it
was $75. The installer must have liked me, because he brought a
4-conductor telco wire from the DMARC, up through the garbage chute to
the second floor, stapled up and over 3 doors, the elevator, then back
down to my apartment, drilled under the baseboard to get through the
wall, then into the walk-in closet that was my office space.

Had I known better, or known I would only stay there 2 years, common
sense might have prevailed. Luckily, I was a dumb kid and the rest is
history.



... Always the first steps
--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: realitycheckbbs.org -- yesterday's tech today (46:1/115)

Re: Re: How did you find out about bulletin boards?
By: poindexter FORTRAN to nelgin on Fri Mar 29 2024 06:46:00

I remember all of those BBSes that opened up with delusions of grandeur
after christmas, but were only open from 10:00am until 5:00am, using
their parents' phone line.

Kinda ruins the mystique of "TH3 HAX0RZ H1DE0UT!!!!1" when mom answers
the BBS line...

Haha, yup. Another popular method that was used was call, let it ring then call back again. The system would answer if you called within so many seconds.
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (46:1/194)

Re: Re: How did you find out about bulletin boards?
By: poindexter FORTRAN to All on Fri Mar 29 2024 06:53:00

Pacific Bell had a flat rate interior installation charge, I think it
was $75. The installer must have liked me, because he brought a
4-conductor telco wire from the DMARC, up through the garbage chute to
the second floor, stapled up and over 3 doors, the elevator, then back
down to my apartment, drilled under the baseboard to get through the
wall, then into the walk-in closet that was my office space.

Sounds like he went above and beyond. I guess he couldn't just run it up the outside and through a hole in the window frame like they did with my phone install.

Had I known better, or known I would only stay there 2 years, common
sense might have prevailed. Luckily, I was a dumb kid and the rest is history.

What's $75 when you're young and stupid :)
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (46:1/194)

nelgin wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

Haha, yup. Another popular method that was used was call, let it ring
then call back again. The system would answer if you called within so
many seconds.

Distinctive ring - I remember a couple of boards that used that and
Hello Direct sold boxes that could route calls based on the ring. Line
one would go to your phone, line 2 to the BBS.




... Adding on
--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: realitycheckbbs.org -- yesterday's tech today (46:1/115)

nelgin wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

Sounds like he went above and beyond. I guess he couldn't just run it
up the outside and through a hole in the window frame like they did
with my phone install.

No, this was a beautiful 1930s deco apartment building, 6 floors and 50
or so units.

What's $75 when you're young and stupid :)

I made it up on savings by not having to call LD for files and in
beersbought for me at BBS gettogethers. :)



... Do you understand now, what the center represents?
--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: realitycheckbbs.org -- yesterday's tech today (46:1/115)

Re: How did you find out about bulletin boards?
By: Nightfox to nelgin on Wed Mar 27 2024 12:54:50

Hi, Nightfox.

In 1992, he gave me my own computer, a home-built PC with a 286 processor, along with a 2400 baud modem. He told me about bulletin boards and gave me a list of BBSes, along with a communications program (Procomm Plus).

Heha - wow... I had forgotten about Procomm Plus. This is just like my story, except for the bit where you got to play with it and dial into BBSes! In my case my dad brought home a 286 PC and 2400 baud modem from work, along with a list of BBSes a work colleague had given him. I got to watch while he called into a couple and downloaded some dopey EGA paint program but the phone calls cost so much (and I'd have been fairly young at the time) that he never entrusted me with it :)

BobW
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: >>> Magnum BBS <<< - bbs.magnum.uk.net (46:20/111)

Re: How did you find out about bulletin boards?
By: nelgin to Nightfox on Thu Mar 28 2024 10:39:18

Hi, Nelgin.

was told about Demon Internet, a UK provider
that offered dialup with static IP for "10 quid a month".

Oooh, I had definitely not forgotten about Demon Internet but the "tenner a month" slogan had well and truly left my brain! I (or more correctly, my parents) used Demon for a good while - not only a static IP but also a whatever.demon.co.uk subdomain, under which you could use as many e-mail addresses as you liked (in whoever@whatever.demon.co.uk format) and it would kick you SMTP when you came online... A really stand-out offering back in the day.

BobW
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: >>> Magnum BBS <<< - bbs.magnum.uk.net (46:20/111)

Re: How did you find out about bulletin boards?
By: Bob Worm to Nightfox on Mon Apr 01 2024 09:53 pm

In 1992, he gave me my own computer, a home-built PC with a 286 processor,
along with a 2400 baud modem. He told me about bulletin boards and gave me
a list of BBSes, along with a communications program (Procomm Plus).

Heha - wow... I had forgotten about Procomm Plus. This is just like my story, except for the bit where you got to play with it and dial into BBSes! In my case my dad brought home a 286 PC and 2400 baud modem from work, along with a list of BBSes a work colleague had given him. I got to watch while he called into a couple and downloaded some dopey EGA paint program but the phone calls cost so much (and I'd have been fairly young at the time) that he never entrusted me with it :)

:) Fun times.
I only called local BBSes, so it didn't add anything to the phone bill. Luckily, there were quite a lot of local BBSes in my area back then.

Nightfox

Re: How did you find out about bulletin boards?
By: Nightfox to Bob Worm on Mon Apr 01 2024 14:45:31

Hi, Nightfox.

I only called local BBSes, so it didn't add anything to the phone bill. Luckily, there were quite a lot of local BBSes in my area back then.

Yeah, we didn't have free local calls in the UK... I suppose we still don't, most providers do unlimited calling bundles now but they're nationwide.

I was lucky enough to be in a town that somehow inherited an area code from the neighbouring capital city, so at least a good chunk of stuff counted as local. I seem to remember there was some not-local-but-not-long-distance setup between London and a few other key cities that I could piggyback onto. It was all by the minute, though :(

BobW
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: >>> Magnum BBS <<< - bbs.magnum.uk.net (46:20/111)

Re: How did you find out about bulletin boards?
By: Bob Worm to nelgin on Mon Apr 01 2024 21:58:44

Oooh, I had definitely not forgotten about Demon Internet but the "tenner a month" slogan had well and truly left my brain! I (or more correctly, my parents) used Demon for a good while - not only a static IP but also a whatever.demon.co.uk subdomain, under which you could use as many e-mail addresses as you liked (in whoever@whatever.demon.co.uk format) and it would kick you SMTP when you came online... A really stand-out offering back in the day.

I used their software, WINDIS, I think. I was fascinated watching the SMTP traffic come through when using debug mode, or maybe it did that all the time. Very smart system. I took a tour of Demon Internet while I was down in London for a job interview. Interesting stuff.
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (46:1/194)

Re: How did you find out about bulletin boards?
By: nelgin to Bob Worm on Wed May 01 2024 00:16:31

Hi, nelgin.

I used their software, WINDIS, I think. I was fascinated watching the SMTP traffic come through when using debug mode, or maybe it did that all the time. Very smart system. I took a tour of Demon Internet while I was down in London for a job interview. Interesting stuff.

Hmm - I vaguely remember them giving out Turnpike for a while but my recollection is *very* hazy! Soon after I started going online everything began to standardise so you didn't need weird custom stacks any more...

Was it an interesting tour? Maybe a couple of decades in telecoms has jaded me but possibly the first couple of times seeing a modem rack would be a fun time.

I once applied for a job at a company making network switches. That was absolutely fascinating because they made their own silicon and pretty much everyone there (I think less than 25 employees total) knew the product inside out. The way they thought about stuff was so different from how I'd ever approached it on the "consumer" side of the deal.

They did a proper role play in the interview where they played a customer with a problem in their production network and I had to support their product (which I'd never seen). It was a fun way to check whether candidates knew the fundamentals or just what vendor X tells you about their box. I still smile when I remember the guy asking me "is it safe to run that command?" to which I replied "go for it, it's just a lab box", then he came back with "No, this is my production network, remember?" :)

I remember being in one of Cisco's product awareness training sessions where they were getting all excited about their 1us fixed latency products and I was sat there thinking "they were doing 150ns when I interviewed at that place 3 years ago?!"

BobW
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: >>> Magnum BBS <<< - bbs.magnum.uk.net (46:20/111)

Re: How did you find out about bulletin boards?
By: Bob Worm to nelgin on Wed May 01 2024 14:01:36

Hmm - I vaguely remember them giving out Turnpike for a while but my recollection is *very* hazy! Soon after I started going online everything began to standardise so you didn't need weird custom stacks any more...

Not sure about that. Maybe that was after my time. I used Demon for a while in 1994/95 then I switched to Dircon. They seemed to be much after and had really good people. I was going to interview there for a job but I ended up moving to the US.

Was it an interesting tour? Maybe a couple of decades in telecoms has jaded me but possibly the first couple of times seeing a modem rack would be a fun time.

I saw cow.demon.net :)

Pretty neat to think it was a company that started out with 4 modems and leased line internet, if I remember.
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (46:1/194)

Re: How did you find out about bulletin boards?
By: nelgin to Bob Worm on Wed May 01 2024 09:51:58

Hi, nelgin.

I saw cow.demon.net :)

Well that just unlocked another memory... Now I'm sat here trying to remember hostnames that I haven't used in 20 years. Oh, wait... carry the one, 1995 was (nearly) 30 years ago now :\

Random aside, I used to work in a place that rented colo space (among other things) and always remember finding a customer who had set all their reverse DNS to <musician>.<company>.com. They had done a very good job of coming up with a list of top-flight names, starting at A and progressing through the alphabet until they hit the end of their IP block. When I branched out on my own I bought my business cards from them :)

BobW
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: >>> Magnum BBS <<< - bbs.magnum.uk.net (46:20/111)

Re: How did you find out about bulletin boards?
By: Bob Worm to nelgin on Wed May 01 2024 19:59:54

I saw cow.demon.net :)

Well that just unlocked another memory... Now I'm sat here trying to remember hostnames that I haven't used in 20 years. Oh, wait... carry the one, 1995 was (nearly) 30 years ago now :\

I remember when the internet would slow down when the US woke up. They had a T1 , I think, to the US which was fine while nobody was using it. Usenet was a great way to get files and ftpmail too.

Random aside, I used to work in a place that rented colo space (among other things) and always remember finding a customer who had set all their reverse DNS to <musician>.<company>.com. They had done a very good job of coming up with a list of top-flight names, starting at A and progressing through the alphabet until they hit the end of their IP block. When I branched out on my own I bought my business cards from them :)

I named my servers after drinks; gin, vodka, whiskey, tuaca... :)
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (46:1/194)

Back in 1988 my parents bought a full Commodore 128 setup used. Not sure on the sellers situation, but in addition to the usual it included extra floppy drive and a 300 baud modem. I did not have money to pay for the various services that were offered. However, there was a weekly/monthly computer publication that had all the state (MN) BBS numbers. I was hooked.

From there I needed to find a way to access long distance numbers without using codes. I heard and witnessed horror stories of people getting caught. My goal was to find other ways and test phone systems, 800 dial up modem and exchanges to exploit flaws to get long distance for free.

Throughout this journey of wardialing and exploiting were modem and system upgrades. A very exciting time in my youth and lead me to the career I am in today.

-Infiltrator

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/01/28 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Black Flag <ACiD Telnet HQ> blackflag.acid.org:23 (46:1/104)

Hello nelgin!

Replying to a msg dated 25 Mar 24 17:40, from you to all.

i was in secondary school where we were taught information technology, and i bought a written off 286AT from my dad's work. I joined a computerclub in town which was sponsored by a PC shop which also had a BBS. So i borrowed a modem and dialed in. Then later became a point in the Technet 111: FTN as many other computerclub members did. Then i left all that, moved and went to Technical College, got my B.Sc. and over the last 25 years been working on large-scale websites ever since. Just a month ago started to find my interest in FTN again.

regards,
Floris


--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5--b20170303
* Origin: ----> Fidian on Azure West-Europe (Holland) IPV6. (46:2/115)

From there I needed to find a way to access long distance numbers
without using codes. I heard and witnessed horror stories of people getting caught. My goal was to find other ways and test phone systems, 800 dial up modem and exchanges to exploit flaws to get long distance
for free.

Throughout this journey of wardialing and exploiting were modem and
system upgrades. A very exciting time in my youth and lead me to the career I am in today.

In the 90s I also wished for a way to access long distance numbers, I was too nervous to try much myself, and a lot of the text files I was reading probably didn't apply to systems near me.

I'd love to hear any stories or memories you have of wardialing and everything that goes along with it!


"Would you like to play a game?" :)


Chris/akacastor

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Linux/64)
* Origin: thE qUAntUm wOrmhOlE, rAmsgAtE, uK. bbs.erb.pw (46:20/106)

"Would you like to play a game?" :)

"SHALL WE PLAY A GAME?" is the correct quote!

I even googled it and "would you like to play a game" showed so many WarGames references that I thought that confirmed it. Nope!


Chris/akacastor

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Linux/64)
* Origin: thE qUAntUm wOrmhOlE, rAmsgAtE, uK. bbs.erb.pw (46:20/106)

akacastor was heard saying....

I'd love to hear any stories or memories you have of wardialing and everything that goes along with it!

I didn't have to wardial. There was a couple access codes that got floated around for long distance services. I used one of those for over a year with the same code to call New York to connect to a free service that offered
slip access to the internet.



Shawn

... It's so true to life it's hardly true.
* Silver Xpress V4.5/P [Reg]
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (46:1/700)

I'd love to hear any stories or memories you have of wardialing and everything that goes along with it!

I didn't have to wardial. There was a couple access codes that got floated around for long distance services. I used one of those for over
a year with the same code to call New York to connect to a free service that offered slip access to the internet.

That sounds awesome - over a year is pretty good longevity. Being used for access to the internet I assume it was pretty heavily used? Did you ever hear of any consequences from the access codes, or did they just stop working one day and everyone moved onto something else? If the codes were floated around I guess you wouldn't have been the only one enjoying them.

I think the closest I got was calling a BBS with a 1-800 toll free number and using it to trade files with a long distance friend. Eventually the sysop messaged us and told us to ease off a bit as us staying connected too long was going to become a problem when the beancounters noticed it.


Chris/akacastor

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Linux/64)
* Origin: thE qUAntUm wOrmhOlE, rAmsgAtE, uK. bbs.erb.pw (46:20/106)

Thanks for your interest. I am guessing a lot of the text files you read probably covered boxing, using various tones. The other risky ones were the "950" numbers basically prepaid calling cards and other similar phone cards.

Thinking back of the ways to achieve long distance was to:

Dial the discovered 800 numbers and using any outbound modem connections they offered. These numbers were mostly Universities.

Calling anything that had a PBX and wait when the receiver would disconnect you might get a dial tone on that system.

When on a system with outbound modems sending a Hayes AT command "a/" would send/show the last modem command sent. This would often result in undiscovered numbers/BBSs and even other places.

I really enjoyed coming back from school and having new numbers to dial as my wardialer was sending the output to my printer.

There were a lot of systems that I fumble my way to use. Goal was never to be destructive but use it to learn.


-Infiltrator

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/02/26 (Linux/64)
* Origin: alcoholidaybbs.com / Est. 1995 / Columbia, SC (46:1/166)

Quoting Akacastor to Tiny <=-

That sounds awesome - over a year is pretty good longevity. Being
used for access to the internet I assume it was pretty heavily used?

I know my friend and I used it a /lot/.

Did you ever hear of any consequences from the access codes, or did
they just stop working one day and everyone moved onto something else?

They just stopped working one day. From waht I remember now it was a
Toronto number which was long distance to me. So I would use my calling service which gave me unlimited access to Toronto for $10 a month then
connect to it, enter another code and dial new york. LOL

The dialing string was something else. :) ATDT9055551212,,,,,123456789,,4165551234,,,,123456789,,,,,2125554321
Soemthing like that. Dial the local number, enter a code, dial the
Toronto number enter a code dial the new york number.

If the codes were floated around I guess you wouldn't have been the
only one enjoying them.

Must have been a ton of people using that one. I wasn't really in the
"scene" so by the time it hit boards I called...

Shawn

... There's nothing moister. Than an oyster!
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (46:1/700)

That sounds awesome - over a year is pretty good longevity. Being used for access to the internet I assume it was pretty heavily used?

I know my friend and I used it a /lot/.

Did you ever hear of any consequences from the access codes, or did they just stop working one day and everyone moved onto something else

They just stopped working one day. From waht I remember now it was a Toronto number which was long distance to me. So I would use my calling service which gave me unlimited access to Toronto for $10 a month then connect to it, enter another code and dial new york. LOL

You guys were all doing it wrong. The way to call LD BBSs was to take a valid credit card #, punch it into a credit card generator program, then use and abuse the shit out of all the credit card numbers it gives you, one at a time, until all the cards on the list are maxed out.

At least, that's what I heard ;)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 2022/07/15 (Windows/32)
* Origin: ..wizardsrainbow.com..323.436.5249..los angeles.. (46:1/155)

On Wed, 29 May 2024 18:55:05 -0700
"Infiltrator" (46:1/104) <Infiltrator@f104.n1.z46.fidonet> wrote:

Back in 1988 my parents bought a full Commodore 128 setup used. Not
sure on the sellers situation, but in addition to the usual it
included extra floppy drive and a 300 baud modem. I did not have
money to pay for the various services that were offered. However,
there was a weekly/monthly computer publication that had all the
state (MN) BBS numbers. I was hooked.

From there I needed to find a way to access long distance numbers
without using codes. I heard and witnessed horror stories of people
getting caught. My goal was to find other ways and test phone
systems, 800 dial up modem and exchanges to exploit flaws to get long distance for free.

Throughout this journey of wardialing and exploiting were modem and
system upgrades. A very exciting time in my youth and lead me to the
career I am in today.

-Infiltrator

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/01/28 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Black Flag <ACiD Telnet HQ> blackflag.acid.org:23
(46:1/104)

The US is lucky that it has free local dialing. Nothing like that in
the UK. The first time I heard about such a concept was when I was on
holiday in Barbados and they told us that all calls on the island were
free so people could be on the phone for hours. My head was spinning at
the possibilities!
--
End Of The Line BBS - Plano, TX
telnet endofthelinebbs.com 23
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (46:1/194)

On Sat, 1 Jun 2024 23:34:39 +0100
"akacastor" (46:20/106) <akacastor@f106.n20.z46.fidonet> wrote:

"Would you like to play a game?" :)

"SHALL WE PLAY A GAME?" is the correct quote!

I even googled it and "would you like to play a game" showed so many
WarGames references that I thought that confirmed it. Nope!

Chris/akacastor

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Linux/64)
* Origin: thE qUAntUm wOrmhOlE, rAmsgAtE, uK. bbs.erb.pw (46:20/106)

How about a nice game of chess?

People will often quote what they remember hearing rather than what
they do hear.
--
End Of The Line BBS - Plano, TX
telnet endofthelinebbs.com 23
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (46:1/194)

Re: Re: How did you find out about bulletin boards?
By: nelgin to All on Wed Jun 26 2024 07:38 pm

UK. The first time I heard about such a concept was when I was on holiday in Barbados and they told us that all calls on the island were free so people could be on the phone for hours. My head was spinning at the possibilities!

The free local calling was a reason why BBSes tended to have mainly local users. For places where even local calls cost money, I wonder if that was the case.

Nightfox

On Wed, 26 Jun 2024 19:23:53 -0700
"Nightfox" (46:1/150) <Nightfox@f150.n1.z46.fidonet> wrote:

Re: Re: How did you find out about bulletin boards?
By: nelgin to All on Wed Jun 26 2024 07:38 pm

UK. The first time I heard about such a concept was when I was
on holiday in Barbados and they told us that all calls on the
island were free so people could be on the phone for hours. My
head was spinning at the possibilities!

The free local calling was a reason why BBSes tended to have mainly
local users. For places where even local calls cost money, I wonder
if that was the case.

Nightfox
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com (46:1/150)

There were 3 price tiers, generally.

Local calls - Anything in the same area code or closeby. Local for me
was upto about 25 miles.

Long Distance - Anything else outside the immediate area

Trunk - These are slightly lower rates between larger cities such as
London and Birmingham.

Calls were cheaper after 6pm on weekdays and all weekend.

I used to call boards all over the UK, which explains the massive phone
bills I racked up. After moving to the US, I didn't even think about
bulletin boards since I had all the internet I could wish for, even if
it was at 14.4K.
--
End Of The Line BBS - Plano, TX
telnet endofthelinebbs.com 23
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (46:1/194)

"Would you like to play a game?" :)

"SHALL WE PLAY A GAME?" is the correct quote!

I even googled it and "would you like to play a game" showed so many WarGames references that I thought that confirmed it. Nope!

How about a nice game of chess?

People will often quote what they remember hearing rather than what
they do hear.

It is incredible how our brains will fuck with us like that!

One of the most famous examples has to be "Luke, I am your father."


Chris/akacastor

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Linux/64)
* Origin: thE qUAntUm wOrmhOlE, rAmsgAtE, uK. bbs.erb.pw (46:20/106)

Re: Re: How did you find out about bulletin boards?
By: akacastor to nelgin on Thu Jun 27 2024 07:21 pm

"Would you like to play a game?" :)

"SHALL WE PLAY A GAME?" is the correct quote!

It is incredible how our brains will fuck with us like that!

One of the most famous examples has to be "Luke, I am your father."

That's probably part of it. Another part is people are probably just repeating what they hear other people quote, and incorrect quotes end up getting repeated more than the correct quote. The general effect of incorrect information being spread around might explain the Mandela effect, at least in some cases.

Nightfox