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JohnPolka

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Portland, Oregon USA
  • Interests
    Currently my focus is on Atari 8 bit computers, old school BBSs, emulators, and the Lynx hand held. However, I also enjoy Atari ST computers, Jaguar, and 2600.

    My non-Atari interests include TI-994A and Coleco Adam computers.

    I am originally from the Cleveland Ohio area. So, I am always interested in reconnecting with other Cleveland Atarians -- especially those from the old Atari BBS scene in the 80s and 90s.

    I run the Basement BBS. The BBS is running a customized version of BBS Express Pro! Telnet: basementbbs.ddns.net. Port: 9000. This BBS originally ran from 1986 - 1998, so it is truly an Atari time capsule on the Internet! :)

    Another BBS to check out is Part-Time. It was run by my step dad from 1985-early 2000. It was the longest running Atari 8 bit BBS in the Cleveland 216 Area Code. To connect, telnet to ptbbs.ddns.net Port: 8000.

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  1. We now have a music playlist for Baud Day! Check it out! https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs1SQTEFTiN1hpI7XSwZgetQTMp0U60hU&si=yGMkEt4UGK8A3beU -JP
  2. We now have a music playlist for Baud Day! Check it out! https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs1SQTEFTiN1hpI7XSwZgetQTMp0U60hU&si=yGMkEt4UGK8A3beU -JP
  3. We will celebrate "The Squeal" with the "Most Appeal" on March 12, 2024! https://www.southernamis.com/baudday
  4. We will celebrate "The Squeal" with the "Most Appeal" on March 12, 2024! https://www.southernamis.com/baudday
  5. Very cool! I asked my step dad who also worked for AT&T and he said that employees back then had a set amount of free long distance minutes per month. What a blast to call all those BBSs back then, eh? You don't still have any of these BBS lists, do you? -JP
  6. That's hilarious...the first hard drive I bought was a used 5MB hard drive. When it arrived, it included a diagnostic test print out. The print out mentioned a bunch of bad sectors. So, I called the company that sold it to me and they said it must have been sent to me by mistake. So, I returned it and they shipped me a Lapine 10 meg hard drive (Lapine was the brand name). That was the hard drive for my BBS for awhile. I then added a second hard drive sometime later. I think the second one was a 20MB hard drive. -JP
  7. Yep. I did the same thing. I kept a box fan on the MIO while it operated the Basement BBS 24/7. Back in 2017, when I unpacked my old MIO for the first time in years, I found a few strains of white fur in it. I am pretty sure that fur belonged to our old mascot, "The Basement Cat", which was notorious for climbing on top of the BBS' keyboard while someone was online. This would, of course, mess with the online user's BBS session. There is still an individual who, to this day, still thinks it was me messing with their BBS session while they were online. But what really happened was that I heard the chat bell going off, I saw the cat on the keyboard, who immediately jumped off when he saw me enter the room. When I broke into chat, this user proceeded to cuss me out. I told him it was the cat and he didn't believe me. Moving forward, I put a box onto of the Atari 800XL to protect the 800XL from the cat. That didn't stop the cat. I would still catch him on top of the box. At least he was no longer messing with users' BBS sessions. hahahaha For those who have not already seen this...there is a tribute page with some photos and nice ATASCII dedicated to the Basement Cat at http://basementbbs.ddns.net:7000/basement-cat.html -JP
  8. I should have guessed Hogan's Heroes. Sergeant Schultz is your favorite character on that show, eh? -JP
  9. 4TBs of "Abbott and Costello", "Three Stooges", "Laurel and Hardy", "Buster Keaton", and "Charlie Chaplin" movies, eh? -JP
  10. In January 1984, the Boot Factory Atari BBS goes online for the first time. Boot Factory has undergone many changes over the years including a version that was run on a PC. Today, it is an Atari 8 bit BBS running BBS Express Pro!. SysOp Abdul acquired the BBS Express Pro! software from his friend, Keith Ledbetter. Ledbetter had shut down his BBS after he sold the rights of the BBS Express Pro! software. Abdul did not do anything with Keith's old BBS until 1999 when he resurrected the BBS as a telnet/Internet based BBS. He made the BBS his own by renaming it Boot Factory 2K+ (or simply BF2K+). Despite the name change, many of the original message bases and file downloads have been preserved. You can check out the BBS today by connecting to bfbbs.no-ip.com port 8888 with your favorite term program (both telnet and raw connections are supported).
  11. This month, in 2022, Heisenberg's Hideout BBS opens. Heisenberg's Hideout BBS has a "Breaking Bad" TV show theme and employs the Carina II BBS software for the Atari 8bit. You can connect to HH BBS at hhbbs.ddns.net:9000.
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