• 33 Years!

    From Argos@21:1/203 to All on Fri Nov 25 08:09:18 2022
    In January 2023 it will be 33 years I have had a continuous BBS. I started out in 1990 with 4 lines dial up 9600 using Zoom Modems and a Rocket Port Serial Card on a Gateway 486DX2 66 and MS-DOS6. I used WWIV BBS Software and the BBS name was called RADS Y-town BBS. It was one of the most busiest BBS in NE Ohio.

    In the Early 2000's I got into HAM Radio and really focused on Packet BBS. Then with the Telnet BBS, I am now running Mystic for the past few years and
    love it. What a enjoyable journey it has been for such a wonderful hobby, both the BBS and HAM Radio ...

    It has crossed my mind of late, maybe it is time to finally retire .. this BBS only gets maybe two connections in any one month. And, besides love being a sysop and enjoying reading some really colorful posts every now and then, and of course still plant a few IBBS games which are totally addicting. I dunno ...Just maybe it is time to retire after 33 years and turn it down.

    I am open to any and all comments ?

    ---

    Rocket Town BBS - Telnet: rtbbs.ddns.net
    fsxNet: 21:1/203 fidoNet:1:135/383 - microNet: 618:250/35 Titusville, FL.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: Rocket Town BBS (21:1/203)
  • From Dr. What@21:1/616 to Argos on Fri Nov 25 10:07:51 2022
    Argos wrote to All <=-

    It has crossed my mind of late, maybe it is time to finally retire ..
    this BBS only gets maybe two connections in any one month. And, besides love being a sysop and enjoying reading some really colorful posts
    every now and then, and of course still plant a few IBBS games which
    are totally addicting. I dunno ...Just maybe it is time to retire
    after 33 years and turn it down.

    It's certainly harder to create a busy BBS now than in the "old days".

    Back then, you only had to compete with other local BBSs (and there usually wasn't that many) for callers. Today, you are competing with BBSs all over the planet.

    The main BBS that I call for net groups pretty much gets only me calling for days on end.

    I really don't know how to change that.

    So it guess it comes down to "how much hassle is it for you?". Being a sysop has pretty much always been a labor of love.


    ... Proofread carefully to see if you any words out!
    ___ MultiMail/Linux v0.52

    --- Mystic BBS/QWK v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: cold fusion - cfbbs.net - grand rapids, mi (21:1/616)
  • From Weatherman@21:1/132 to Argos on Fri Nov 25 10:09:48 2022

    It has crossed my mind of late, maybe it is time to finally retire .. this BBS only gets maybe two connections in any one month. And, besides love being a sysop and enjoying reading some really colorful posts every now
    and then, and of course still plant a few IBBS games which are totally addicting. I dunno ...Just maybe it is time to retire after 33 years and turn it down.

    I am open to any and all comments ?

    First, congrats on 33 years! Long ago I changed my mindset to run the BBS for myself. If I ended up getting users, great, but that in itself stopped mattering to me long ago.

    I started back in the early 80s running a BBS. There was a gap where I took my system offline from the late 90s into the early 2000s only due to moves and hardware that I wanted to retire.

    Now that everything is virtual, I have no more concern about hardware. I can run it on an old OS forever and it makes no difference.

    - Mark
       
    --- WWIVToss v.1.52
    * Origin: http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (21:1/132.0)
  • From claw@21:1/210 to Argos on Fri Nov 25 10:05:41 2022
    On 25 Nov 2022, Argos said the following...
    In January 2023 it will be 33 years I have had a continuous BBS. I
    started out in 1990 with 4 lines dial up 9600 using Zoom Modems and a Rocket Port Serial Card on a Gateway 486DX2 66 and MS-DOS6. I used WWIV BBS Software and the BBS name was called RADS Y-town BBS. It was one of the most busiest BBS in NE Ohio.

    This is awesome Congratulations!

    It has crossed my mind of late, maybe it is time to finally retire .. this BBS only gets maybe two connections in any one month. And, besides love being a sysop and enjoying reading some really colorful posts every now and then, and of course still plant a few IBBS games which are
    totally addicting. I dunno ...Just maybe it is time to retire after 33 years and turn it down.

    I am open to any and all comments ?

    Unless the cost of operating the BBS is getting to be too much, I don't see why you wouldn't want to preserve the history. I get it most people get in and after they like it make their own BBS, however with all the interBBS tools and chats and networks, even if your not getting a ton of calls seems worth it to keep it up.

    I was one of those that came back after years and made a BBS since I used to run one. I use my BBS more than anyone else but thats ok. I like it :D.

    If the cost of hosting it outweighs the benefits I get it. Would like to see it. Whats the address?

    |23|04Dr|16|12Claw
    |16|14Sysop |12Noverdu |14BBS |04(|14Noverdu.com|04)
    |10Standard Ports for SSH/Telnet Web/HTTP://|14Noverdu.com:808
    |20|15fsxNet/MRC Chat/Registered Doors!/50Nodes/No Time Use! Stay On!|16|07

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Noverdu BBS (21:1/210)
  • From SoDa7@21:2/150 to Argos on Fri Nov 25 12:16:16 2022
    In January 2023 it will be 33 years I have had a continuous BBS. I
    started out in 1990 with 4 lines dial up 9600 using Zoom Modems and a Rocket Port Serial Card on a Gateway 486DX2 66 and MS-DOS6. I used WWIV BBS Software and the BBS name was called RADS Y-town BBS. It was one of the most busiest BBS in NE Ohio.

    First of all, congratulations for keeping your BBS active for 33 years, it's for sure something you should be proud of! Also, nice to hear about the achievements you got with your board!

    It has crossed my mind of late, maybe it is time to finally retire .. this BBS only gets maybe two connections in any one month. And, besides love being a sysop and enjoying reading some really colorful posts every now and then, and of course still plant a few IBBS games which are
    totally addicting. I dunno ...Just maybe it is time to retire after 33 years and turn it down.

    Well, actually as someone said in a post before mine, running a BBS today is something you do for really few people, however, like I discovered the boards only this year, new people that get interested on these would like to find out about the other boards! You got me interested in visiting your board to know what history holds on it!

    ... Uses time effectively: Clock watcher -work evaluationese

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 2022/07/15 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbs>>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)
  • From Utopian Galt@21:4/108 to Argos on Fri Nov 25 16:50:17 2022
    BY: Argos(21:1/203)


    |11A|09> |10It has crossed my mind of late, maybe it is time to finally retire .. |07
    |11A|09> |10this BBS only gets maybe two connections in any one month. And, besides|07
    |11A|09> |10love being a sysop and enjoying reading some really colorful posts every|07
    |11A|09> |10now and then, and of course still plant a few IBBS games which are|07
    |11A|09> |10totally addicting. I dunno ...Just maybe it is time to retire after 33|07
    |11A|09> |10years and turn it down. |07
    I have been around since 1995, but its most likely a mail reader for me right now. Energy was getting too damn expensive to keep my bbs up full time.

    The other problem, is finding a bbs platform that makes me fully happy.


    --- WWIV 5.8.0.3608
    * Origin: inland utopia * california * iutopia.duckdns.org:2023 (21:4/108)
  • From Nightfox to Argos on Fri Nov 25 20:21:39 2022
    Re: 33 Years!
    By: Argos to All on Fri Nov 25 2022 08:09 am

    In January 2023 it will be 33 years I have had a continuous BBS. I started out in 1990 with 4 lines dial up 9600 using Zoom Modems and a Rocket Port Serial Card on a Gateway 486DX2 66 and MS-DOS6. I used WWIV BBS Software and the BBS name was called RADS Y-town BBS. It was one of the most busiest BBS in NE Ohio.

    That's cool :) I originally started running a BBS in 1994 with RemoteAccess and a 14.4k modem and a 386SX-16 PC. I took that BBS down in 2000 when callers had dropped off significantly, and it seemed to me nobody wanted to use a BBS anymore. I got back into running a BBS in 2007 when I found there were still BBSes available.

    Nightfox
  • From boraxman@21:1/101 to Argos on Sun Nov 27 12:45:34 2022
    It has crossed my mind of late, maybe it is time to finally retire .. this BBS only gets maybe two connections in any one month. And, besides love being a sysop and enjoying reading some really colorful posts every now and then, and of course still plant a few IBBS games which are
    totally addicting. I dunno ...Just maybe it is time to retire after 33 years and turn it down.

    I am open to any and all comments ?


    What makes your BBS distinct? Does it serve a particular set of interests?

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)
  • From sPINOZa aNARCHISt@21:1/116 to Argos on Sat Nov 26 13:54:21 2022
    In January 2023 it will be 33 years I have had a continuous BBS. I
    started out in 1990 with 4 lines dial up 9600 using Zoom Modems and a Rocket Port Serial Card on a Gateway 486DX2 66 and MS-DOS6. I used WWIV BBS Software and the BBS name was called RADS Y-town BBS. It was one of

    Congrats with the milestone and also with the fact that you were running MSDOS-6 3 years before the rest of the world got their copy ;)

    Keep the system running and enjoy working on it. Most of us keep it running just for our own pleasure.

    Gtx!
    sPI

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 2022/07/15 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: .+Sound&Demos+. - <sndgarden.bbsfreak.nl:*hidden*> (21:1/116)
  • From Argos@21:1/203 to boraxman on Mon Nov 28 08:18:37 2022

    What makes your BBS distinct?
    After 33 years does it matter, it not like I am marketing a business with a motto.

    Does it serve a particular set of
    interests?

    Back in the early day, the only BBS'ers were Geeks ... After 33 years, I am going to bet the farm that is the same.

    In todays climate, what were once called Geeks and Nerds and now called "social media influencer" Really ?

    To the question is serving an interest us unchanged. BBS content serves what it draws to serve... they your mind wonder from there.

    ---

    Rocket Town BBS - Telnet: rtbbs.ddns.net
    fsxNet: 21:1/203 fidoNet:1:135/383 - microNet: 618:250/35 Titusville, FL.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: Rocket Town BBS (21:1/203)
  • From Argos@21:1/203 to sPINOZa aNARCHISt on Mon Nov 28 08:41:55 2022

    Congrats with the milestone and also with the fact that you were running MSDOS-6 3 years before the rest of the world got their copy ;)

    LOL ... you are the ONLY one that caught on to this ... Yup, sure was. I
    was running Alpha and Beta DOS 6.0 three years before the open release.
    It was a layered install on DOS 5.5 and that is because back then I Worked for Microsoft. I was a Network Engineer on the Microsoft Mail and then Exchange Platform.

    I started out working on Project Sparta then moved to Project Chicago. I also did a little time on cross implementation on Project Wolfpack, that was fun. Cluster install work with Windows NT and Cluster 4.0, Man the Compaq Servers were fast back then!

    MS-DOS 6.0 was finally released in Early 1993 (it was Classified stall a Beta) because Microsoft was seriously bleeding money from it .. that is what DOS-6.20 was released that November of the same year. It gave Microsoft time to fix all the bugs. Then in June ( I think) of 1994 they released 6.22.

    In September of 1996 the entire department was Fired from Microsoft Exchange Division when they shipped the entire project overseas.

    That Fall I Opened my own Consulting Business with one employee (ME) and finally retired in 2014 and sold the Business to 23 of the 96 employees.

    Now what I do all day is fuss with my BBS, get pissed off at the Propaganda News and Go fishing, Allot!

    ---

    Rocket Town BBS - Telnet: rtbbs.ddns.net
    fsxNet: 21:1/203 fidoNet:1:135/383 - microNet: 618:250/35 Titusville, FL.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: Rocket Town BBS (21:1/203)
  • From boraxman@21:1/101 to Argos on Tue Nov 29 21:14:27 2022
    What makes your BBS distinct?
    After 33 years does it matter, it not like I am marketing a business with a motto.

    Does it serve a particular set of
    interests?


    It's not about marketing, its about what I might find when I go there.

    Back in the early day, the only BBS'ers were Geeks ... After 33 years,
    I am going to bet the farm that is the same.

    In todays climate, what were once called Geeks and Nerds and now called "social media influencer" Really ?


    I think the "Geeks and Nerds" back then are completely different to the vapid "Social media influencers" today.

    To the question is serving an interest us unchanged. BBS content serves what it draws to serve... they your mind wonder from there.


    Hmm, maybe. I've thought about starting a BBS but without a target audience, there isn't much point I think. BBS's were once local things, but that is no longer the case now.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)
  • From Nightfox to boraxman on Tue Nov 29 09:58:07 2022
    Re: Re: 33 Years!
    By: boraxman to Argos on Tue Nov 29 2022 09:14 pm

    Back in the early day, the only BBS'ers were Geeks ... After 33
    years, I am going to bet the farm that is the same.

    In todays climate, what were once called Geeks and Nerds and now
    called "social media influencer" Really ?

    I think the "Geeks and Nerds" back then are completely different to the vapid "Social media influencers" today.

    In the early 90s, it seemed that many people who were using computers were people who were actually interested in computers and learning about them. It seemed that a bigger percentage of computer users back then understood the technical standpoint of computer things. Later, especially when the internet became popular, it seemed almost everyone had a computer and there were a lot more people who didn't really know much about computers but would use them for work, etc..

    Hmm, maybe. I've thought about starting a BBS but without a target audience, there isn't much point I think. BBS's were once local things, but that is no longer the case now.

    I've been running my BBS without a specific target audience. I know there are BBSes that are more busy than mine, though there are people using my BBS.

    Nightfox
  • From Gamgee@21:2/138 to Nightfox on Tue Nov 29 12:34:00 2022
    Nightfox wrote to boraxman <=-

    Back in the early day, the only BBS'ers were Geeks ... After 33
    years, I am going to bet the farm that is the same.

    In todays climate, what were once called Geeks and Nerds and now
    called "social media influencer" Really ?

    I think the "Geeks and Nerds" back then are completely different to the vapid "Social media influencers" today.

    In the early 90s, it seemed that many people who were using
    computers were people who were actually interested in computers
    and learning about them. It seemed that a bigger percentage of
    computer users back then understood the technical standpoint of
    computer things. Later, especially when the internet became
    popular, it seemed almost everyone had a computer and there were
    a lot more people who didn't really know much about computers but
    would use them for work, etc..

    Absolutely agree. Seriously, I'd put the percentage of "back then" at
    80% + , and nowadays... 5% max.

    Hmm, maybe. I've thought about starting a BBS but without a target audience, there isn't much point I think. BBS's were once local things, but that is no longer the case now.

    I've been running my BBS without a specific target audience. I
    know there are BBSes that are more busy than mine, though there
    are people using my BBS.

    Same here.



    ... Pros are those who do their jobs well, even when they don't feel like it. === MultiMail/Linux v0.52
    --- SBBSecho 3.15-Linux
    * Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (21:2/138)
  • From boraxman@21:1/101 to Gamgee on Thu Dec 1 23:48:25 2022
    Back in the early day, the only BBS'ers were Geeks ... After 33
    years, I am going to bet the farm that is the same.

    In todays climate, what were once called Geeks and Nerds and now
    called "social media influencer" Really ?

    I think the "Geeks and Nerds" back then are completely different to t vapid "Social media influencers" today.

    In the early 90s, it seemed that many people who were using
    computers were people who were actually interested in computers
    and learning about them. It seemed that a bigger percentage of computer users back then understood the technical standpoint of computer things. Later, especially when the internet became
    popular, it seemed almost everyone had a computer and there were
    a lot more people who didn't really know much about computers but would use them for work, etc..

    Absolutely agree. Seriously, I'd put the percentage of "back then" at 80% + , and nowadays... 5% max.


    I concur. I think if you include mobile phones, then 5% becomes quite generous.

    My opinion is that the "masses" were brought into computing too quickly. I'm amazed how silly many peoples workflows are, such as taking a photo of a web page on a screen, then sending that photo in order to transmit a message. Even educated people I work with store data in terrible, inefficient ways (think scanned printouts of documents, instead of just in a database).

    The push to make computers a mass commodity has crippled us.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)
  • From Nightfox to boraxman on Thu Dec 1 08:53:50 2022
    Re: Re: 33 Years!
    By: boraxman to Gamgee on Thu Dec 01 2022 11:48 pm

    I'm amazed how silly many peoples workflows are, such as taking a photo of a web page on a screen, then sending that photo in order to transmit a

    That's one thing that surprises me a little - It seems many people don't know how to propertly take a screenshot. I've also seen people posting photos from their smartphone where it's just a screenshot of their smartphone to show a photo they were looking at in their web browser - Complete with their phone's top statusbar and black bars in the web browser, etc.. It seems many people also don't know that you can save the actual photo to your device and you can post that rather than taking a screenshot. And if you're taking a screenshot, at least edit it to crop out only the thing you want to share.

    The push to make computers a mass commodity has crippled us.

    I'm not sure I'd say it has crippled us, but there are certainly a lot of people who still don't seem to be very computer savvy. That's something I find surprising, as computers have been around for quite a while now.

    Nightfox
  • From boraxman@21:1/101 to Nightfox on Fri Dec 2 23:44:13 2022
    I'm amazed how silly many peoples workflows are, such as taking a pho a web page on a screen, then sending that photo in order to transmit

    That's one thing that surprises me a little - It seems many people don't know how to propertly take a screenshot. I've also seen people posting photos from their smartphone where it's just a screenshot of their smartphone to show a photo they were looking at in their web browser - Complete with their phone's top statusbar and black bars in the web browser, etc.. It seems many people also don't know that you can save
    the actual photo to your device and you can post that rather than taking
    a screenshot. And if you're taking a screenshot, at least edit it to
    crop out only the thing you want to share.


    My favourite, and my wife has done this, is taking a screenshot of a note, then sending that note over the phone. Instead of just typing the note.

    Part of this is the way the system is designed, it becomes easier to do things the very inefficient way, than the efficient way. People don't learn how to take screenshots on their computer, or how to copy and paste.

    The push to make computers a mass commodity has crippled us.

    I'm not sure I'd say it has crippled us, but there are certainly a lot of people who still don't seem to be very computer savvy. That's something
    I find surprising, as computers have been around for quite a while now.

    Nightfox

    I do mean what I said. The way which data is used at my workplace, and any workplace I've been at, is horrifically inefficient. The reason for this is because everyone is now a "computer user", but they don't know about Information Technology or computing, or basics such as how to store data in a way which can be queried from other programs.

    Once people learned their way to fumble around a GUI, or paw at a screen with their phone, we've considered them to be fully learned on computing, and therefore competent to work with them.

    Back in the 80s, early 90s, people who used computers learned how to use them. We had manuals. We learned basics such as text being stored as a sequence of bytes, which is different to an image. We learned some basic CLI concepts.

    All that is gone. Now watching someone use a computer is like watching someone drive who puts one foot on the accelerator and one on the brake SIMULTANEOUSLY to maintain a desired speed. (yes I've seen that too!)

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to boraxman on Fri Dec 2 08:37:00 2022
    Hello boraxman!

    ** On Friday 02.12.22 - 23:44, boraxman wrote to Nightfox:


    My favourite, and my wife has done this, is taking a
    screenshot of a note, then sending that note over the
    phone. Instead of just typing the note.

    That might be a good way to communicate an access code or the
    the instructions for the secret location of a physical key.


    Part of this is the way the system is designed, it becomes
    easier to do things the very inefficient way, than the
    efficient way. People don't learn how to take screenshots
    on their computer, or how to copy and paste.

    I think it's just time for most people. And that works in both
    directions. I mean given enough time, the user might discover
    the added things they could do like crop and enhance. Or, they
    simply don't feel they have the time to figure it out at the
    moment.


    --- OpenXP 5.0.51
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Nightfox to boraxman on Fri Dec 2 09:31:17 2022
    Re: Re: 33 Years!
    By: boraxman to Nightfox on Fri Dec 02 2022 11:44 pm

    My favourite, and my wife has done this, is taking a screenshot of a note, then sending that note over the phone. Instead of just typing the note.

    I haven't seen people do that before, but that's not really surprising.

    One thing that bugs me (I guess a bit of a pet peeve) is a lot of front-facing smartphone cameras have a "selfie mode" where it mirrors the image, even when the photo is saved, and people are posting selfie photos online that way. I'm a little surprised the software developers would make the camera app save photos mirrored like that, but at least there's usually an option to toggle that. It seems people aren't changing that option though, and are totally fine with their selfie photos being saved mirrored. A mirrored photo doesn't represent the scene as it is, and if I'm going to be sharing a photo with people, I wouldn't want it mirrored.. It becomes obvious when there are things like a shirt or a sign in the photo that have text where you can see it's backwards/mirrored. And if someone comments on the fact that it's mirrored, usually people respond and say "That's because it's a selfie" - as if selfies are supposed to be mirrored? Most people don't seem to care..

    I do mean what I said. The way which data is used at my workplace, and any workplace I've been at, is horrifically inefficient. The reason for this is because everyone is now a "computer user", but they don't know about Information Technology or computing, or basics such as how to store data in a way which can be queried from other programs.

    Once people learned their way to fumble around a GUI, or paw at a screen with their phone, we've considered them to be fully learned on computing, and therefore competent to work with them.

    Even if someone isn't totally computer savvy, I suppose a computer program could still make a process mor eefficient than doing it manually or some other way.

    I feel like there are a surprising number of people who still just don't "get" computers and similar technology, even though they've been in popular use for many years now.

    Nightfox
  • From boraxman@21:1/101 to Ogg on Sat Dec 3 10:28:45 2022
    My favourite, and my wife has done this, is taking a
    screenshot of a note, then sending that note over the
    phone. Instead of just typing the note.

    That might be a good way to communicate an access code or the
    the instructions for the secret location of a physical key.


    Obfuscated like the Captcha codes? Could be.


    Part of this is the way the system is designed, it becomes
    easier to do things the very inefficient way, than the
    efficient way. People don't learn how to take screenshots
    on their computer, or how to copy and paste.

    I think it's just time for most people. And that works in both directions. I mean given enough time, the user might discover
    the added things they could do like crop and enhance. Or, they
    simply don't feel they have the time to figure it out at the
    moment.



    I think its the latter. Each time someone needs to so something, it needs to be done then and there, so they use the only thing they know. Then they forget about it until the next time it becomes urgent. The reason that my workflows are different, is I choose a time when its not urgent, or anticipate what I might need to do, and figure out how to do it better in advance. I separate the "learning" from the "doing" so the learning cost is moved to when it can be borne, shortening the "doing". If you have to learn and do at the same time, when you need it done then and there, then you can't budget for both, and you chose the more inefficient method, because even if it takes longer, its within your time budget.

    In the short term, it falls within budget, but in the long term, its more costly. Seems a common problem really.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)
  • From Spectre@21:3/101 to boraxman on Sat Dec 3 09:51:00 2022
    Part of this is the way the system is designed, it becomes easier to do things the very inefficient way, than the efficient way. People don't learn how to take screenshots on their computer, or how to copy and paste.

    I have to disagree with this, but it's going to depend on what you're doing I s'pose. I find these days where documents and sometimes images are embedded that its easiest to take a screenshot, paste it straight into an editor and take it from there...

    Spec


    *** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
    --- SuperBBS v1.17-3 (Eval)
    * Origin: Good Luck and drive offensively! (21:3/101)
  • From boraxman@21:1/101 to Spectre on Sat Dec 3 21:14:43 2022
    Part of this is the way the system is designed, it becomes easier to things the very inefficient way, than the efficient way. People don' learn how to take screenshots on their computer, or how to copy and p

    I have to disagree with this, but it's going to depend on what you're doing I s'pose. I find these days where documents and sometimes images are embedded that its easiest to take a screenshot, paste it straight
    into an editor and take it from there...

    Spec

    I does depend on what you are doing. Here is a common scenario that I face at the office. I work with white collar professionals who have tertiary or higher education. A typical workflow might be like this. Someone wants to convey information that I may need to insert into a document. They pull that information up, perhaps by opening a PDF or by bringing up a table of information that is created by a database or database like system. They take a screen snap and e-mail it to me, which means I must read, and type the data in. Had they copy and pasted, or been able to copy and paste, I could have saved the effort, and potential for transcription errors.

    Another common scenario is that data is screenshotted from Excel, perhaps, if lucky, copy and pasted into a table. A more suitable workflow would see the document generated by pulling the data from Excel directly. Labels created by querying Excel (or some other file) instead of manually input. The thing is, I provided a "proof of concept" example of how to create specifications where the data was extracted directly from the master data spreadsheet automatically. Simple, easy, no transcription errors. however, you have to learn how to use Word at a slightly higher level, and take a little more care in how you format the source data. In other words, you had to learn something new, so it was a no go. we do things the hard way still, error prone and time consuming.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to boraxman on Sat Dec 3 08:01:00 2022
    Hello boraxman!

    [...] In other words, you had to learn something new, so it
    was a no go. we do things the hard way still, error prone
    and time consuming.

    YOU were forced to do things the hard way (transcribing) only
    because THEY did it the easy way (screenshots)! :D

    Can't you refuse screenshot deliveries?




    --- OpenXP 5.0.51
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From boraxman@21:1/101 to Ogg on Sun Dec 4 17:29:24 2022
    [...] In other words, you had to learn something new, so it
    was a no go. we do things the hard way still, error prone
    and time consuming.

    YOU were forced to do things the hard way (transcribing) only
    because THEY did it the easy way (screenshots)! :D

    Can't you refuse screenshot deliveries?


    I could not do my job, but that wouldn't go down well. Contrary to what people believe, efficiency is not really sought after all that much in the private sector. Job security for many exists because there is so much make-work and paper shuffling to do.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)
  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Nightfox on Wed Nov 30 06:53:00 2022
    Nightfox wrote to boraxman <=-

    Hmm, maybe. I've thought about starting a BBS but without a target audience, there isn't much point I think. BBS's were once local things, but that is no longer the case now.

    I've been running my BBS without a specific target audience. I know
    there are BBSes that are more busy than mine, though there are people using my BBS.

    I was never good at theming my BBS, was focused mostly on making an
    "internet in a box" before there was an internet.


    ... Have you ever asked a question you weren't supposed to ask?
    --- MultiMail/DOS v0.52
    * Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)
  • From Nightfox to poindexter FORTRAN on Mon Dec 5 10:54:13 2022
    Re: Re: 33 Years!
    By: poindexter FORTRAN to Nightfox on Wed Nov 30 2022 06:53 am

    I've been running my BBS without a specific target audience. I know
    there are BBSes that are more busy than mine, though there are
    people using my BBS.

    I was never good at theming my BBS, was focused mostly on making an "internet in a box" before there was an internet.

    That's cool though. I wasn't aware of the internet yet when I started my BBS (in 1994) - though I remember seeing some BBSes around that time that allowed accessing FTP sites, so you could download something from an FTP site to the BBS and then download it from the BBS.

    Nightfox
  • From esc@21:4/173 to Nightfox on Mon Dec 5 12:13:36 2022
    I was never good at theming my BBS, was focused mostly on making an "internet in a box" before there was an internet.

    That's cool though. I wasn't aware of the internet yet when I started
    my BBS (in 1994) - though I remember seeing some BBSes around that time that allowed accessing FTP sites, so you could download something from
    an FTP site to the BBS and then download it from the BBS.

    I remember a local BBS having actual internet email addresses /for free/ for its users, and it was impossibly long and complex. But nevertheless I thought it was the coolest thing and even was able to send and receive a couple of messages.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 2022/07/11 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: m O N T E R E Y b B S . c O M (21:4/173)
  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to esc on Tue Dec 6 06:51:00 2022
    esc wrote to Nightfox <=-

    I remember a local BBS having actual internet email addresses /for
    free/ for its users, and it was impossibly long and complex.

    Yeah, there were those fidonet addresses (I was kurt.weiske@f418.n161.z1.fidonet.org) or the even longer bang paths, when
    you had to specify a route for email to travel to in order to get to you.

    I wonder if that was the motivation for me getting a shell account at
    crl.com, one of the shortest names I could find. :)


    ... All of my certifications are self-signed.
    --- MultiMail/DOS v0.52
    * Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)
  • From Adept@21:2/108 to Nightfox on Mon Jan 2 19:23:30 2023
    the image, even when the photo is saved, and people are posting selfie photos online that way. I'm a little surprised the software developers would make the camera app save photos mirrored like that, but at least there's usually an option to toggle that. It seems people aren't

    I also dislike this, though I'm mostly fine with other people posting whatever they want to.

    But I would prefer to see the picture as the camera is seeing it. Whenever it's not possible to change it, it drives me nuts. I shouldn't have to struggle to get a picture that's what the camera is seeing.

    I go back and forth on having it mirrored while on a video call. I think I'm fine with it in non-mirrored mode, though I'll probably always struggle when holding something up to the camera.

    On that note, it's kind of entertaining for me and my family. It's easier for me to use a second screen, and hold that up to the camera, than to get my brother to turn on screen sharing in the Zoom call.

    But I think, that's more of an indictment on the large variety of ways that Zoom is still terrible as a video chat app.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)