Hooked On BBS's Again

[Compumater]

I've been stuck inside for a few days from all the snow we've had, and during my bout of cabin fever I've been visiting many of the old school BBS's that are still hanging on out there on the Web via Telnet.

 

 

If you haven't been on one of these since the end of the BBS era (1997ish) you owe it to yourself to download syncterm and give them a try.

 

So many fond memories of dialing up late night BBS's to get the latest shareware release of Doom, Duke 3d, wolf 3d, Raptor... The list goes on and on. Stopping by my favorite message BBS (Millways) run on a bone stock 2 floppy drive Apple 2c even in late 96! Or heading over to "The Cave" that ran my favorite BBS software WWIV 4.24a

 

Those were the days, and I'm glad to say that some of these old systems are still kicking.

 

Fido net is still sort of active. Dove-net is rocking, heck WWIV-net is back! Love it.

 

Anyway That's it, just thought I'd point out that these BBS's are still going...well, maybe not strong, but still going anyway in 2018!

 

 

/s

 

[Nebulon]

It would be nice to have a quick tutorial for how to connect to a BBS these days.

[S1500]

I remember one gripe on the WWIV systems. You could have signatures on each post you make(not unlike in email). Some were animated, and it played the animation each time. No way to skip it.

[Nateo]

It would be nice to have a quick tutorial for how to connect to a BBS these days.

I concur. I have no experience connecting to a BBS but the whole thing just sounds magical.

[LambdaCalculus379]

I'm happy to see the BBS scene reviving again! I used to frequent a good number of BBSes back in the day (and I used to keep a listing of all the BBSes I dialed into, along with numbers, in a notebook that I loaded over the years with notes and info on them, as well as all of the needed incantations for modems!)

Some of the new modern favorites I'm enjoying nowadays are Level 29 BBS, Particles! BBS, and BlackICE BBS, to name a few!

Edited February 15, 2018 by LambdaCalculus379

[butterburp]

Here's a long list of BBS's that are still alive and kicking.

https://www.telnetbbsguide.com/bbs/list/detail/

 

How to do it in Dosbox for that uber-authentic feel:

http://breakintochat.com/blog/2013/04/17/telnet-to-bbs-within-dosbox-emulator/

 

Or if you just have to do it the LGR way...

[LambdaCalculus379]

Here's a long list of BBS's that are still alive and kicking.

https://www.telnetbbsguide.com/bbs/list/detail/

 

How to do it in Dosbox for that uber-authentic feel:

http://breakintochat.com/blog/2013/04/17/telnet-to-bbs-within-dosbox-emulator/

 

 

 

Just gotta dig out RIPTerm and I'm set to go! RIPTerm was my jam back in the day!

[bjbest60]

It would be nice to have a quick tutorial for how to connect to a BBS these days.

 

I concur. I have no experience connecting to a BBS but the whole thing just sounds magical.

 

I just launched a new one over the weekend: Space Cactus Canyon. Some BBSes can be accessed through a web page that have a built-in telnet client. I set up such a page right here. Just click Connect. Check it out if you're so inclined!

[Flojomojo]

It would be nice to have a quick tutorial for how to connect to a BBS these days.

 

 

Do you mean how to connect as in hardware to use? Read this ...

http://www.instructables.com/id/Calling-Bulletin-Board-Systems-BBS/

 

or do you mean where to go, and what to do when you get there? Skip to #7 in the list above, or use one of the suggested programs from this list

http://www.bbscorner.com/usersinfo/accessbbs.htm

There's a big directory of places to go here, too.

 

Short version: telnet to the site you want to access, then follow the prompts. Learn by doing. Enjoy the low-fi aspect of it, and marvel in how much slicker things are in a modern browser, even if we're doing basically the same things in a different wrapper. Here's another quick guide and a suggested BBS to try

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/04/a-1986-bulletin-board-system-has-brought-the-old-web-back-to-life-in-2017/

 

Note: Telnet is not secure, it's plaintext over the wire, easily eavesdropped, so just use it for fun, not anything sensitive.

[eightbit]

I recently purchased the WiModem232 and it is just pure awesomeness. I have been checking out various BBS's myself again after umm...about 26 years ITs been a LONG time. My 13 year old daughter is quite mesmerized with it. Really cool to show her how it "was".

[Shift838]

I have always enjoyed BBSing. The fact there are still BBS running on original hardware and support of our retro machines is great. I run FuSiON BBS. connect over via telnet

[Ed in SoDak]

Heh, I recall one month I racked up about $120 for one month on Delphi on dialup. Whoops, big surprise! We wnt for the unlimited plan for $20 a month after that and I really went nuts. Not many BBS's here in those days that had a local number, but I was active on one of them. Ran my own Flat Earth BBS for a short time on my TI99 with three floppy drives and 32k. Good memories, I saved a lot of logs of online chats or posts from back when the TI99 was in its first heyday after being dropped by TI.

 

We did a spoof on Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989, so it wasn't too long after) that was priceless. It kept getting added onto with every new post. I spooled the whole thread off to print and still have it somewhere.

 

-Ed

Edited March 18, 2018 by Ed in SoDak