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New BBS: Space Cactus Canyon!


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Hello everyone,

 

I just wanted to announce that over the weekend I launched a new BBS titled after my Atari 2600 homebrew, Space Cactus Canyon. You can use your favorite telnet client to access it at spacecactus.sytes.net, or, in the (extremely unlikely, I'm sure) event you don't have a favorite telnet client, I've set up a web page with an embedded client.

 

It's pretty small right now, but I've done some customization in terms of graphics and forums. As for files, it has some of my favorite DOS games available for download, as well as some Atari 2600 ROM files--official releases and homebrews.

 

I've never run a BBS before, and this was kind of a "because it's there" type of project. It seems most people run them either a.) out of nostalgia or a desire to keep things old-school or b.) from a libertarian, away-from-prying-eyes perspective. I'm wondering if there's something that BBSes could do today that the modern Internet can't. I don't know if there's an answer for that, but it could be very interesting if there's a service that a BBS could provide that's not really available elsewhere.

 

Anyway, check it out if you're inclined, and let me know what you think! And I'd love to hear other ideas about what a modern BBS might accomplish.

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I gotta check this out later. I've only seen one BBS in my life, so this should be a hoot. Thanks for posting the link!

 

Cool! We actually had a power outage today due to high winds and both the laptop working as the server and my router crashed, but everything should be back online now. Let me know what you think!

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I logged in tonight. bjbest60-did you try messaging me? I saw an message asking if I was Gamemoose. Modern instincts kicked in and I tried responding by typing but then my screen changed. Doh!

 

That was Retro Radical! I gotta say, the last time I accessed anything like a BBS was back when I had my CoCo connected to Delphi. So this is a whole new universe. It's going to take a bit to get my mind to wrap around the interface.

 

I'm using SyncTerm to connect and navigate. Seems to work alright. I tried downloading that "Star man" or whatever GIF using Zmodem protocol. I have no clue where the file went.

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I logged in tonight. bjbest60-did you try messaging me? I saw an message asking if I was Gamemoose. Modern instincts kicked in and I tried responding by typing but then my screen changed. Doh! That was Retro Radical! I gotta say, the last time I accessed anything like a BBS was back when I had my CoCo connected to Delphi. So this is a whole new universe. It's going to take a bit to get my mind to wrap around the interface. I'm using SyncTerm to connect and navigate. Seems to work alright. I tried downloading that "Star man" or whatever GIF using Zmodem protocol. I have no clue where the file went.

 

Glad you checked it out! No, I didn't try messaging you, but there may have been other people online. I agree--the interface is definitely odd, and I still wish the listing of messages on the boards worked more like modern email, for example. And yes, I have no idea where files really go either, especially if you're using the telnet client built into a webpage. It's strange (and fun) thinking about how people networked pre-Internet.

 

Will try this out later, never been on a BBS before.

 

Yeah, it's kind of a strange space. Some interesting older files, though. Many of them make it appear like the world came to an end sometime during the rise of Windows 95 and the Clinton administration. And I guess the world did come to an end then, more or less, for BBSes.

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  • 8 months later...
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After more than a year of being lost in the desert of space, I'm happy to report that the Space Cactus Canyon BBS is back, firmly planted on Mars and living on a Raspberry Pi 3B.

 

You can telnet to it at spacecac.synchro.net (new address) or use this page as in the past--just click Connect to be whisked away.

 

On 12/3/2018 at 7:31 PM, Johnrh said:

Did you shut this down?

Perhaps unwisely, the Canyon had traveled in a vessel piloted by a laptop running Windows Vista.  Who knew (besides everyone) that perhaps Vista was not the greatest OS ever?

 

The laptop crashed, but this week I was able to salvage the files.  I did a fresh install on a Raspberry Pi and transferred over as much previous content I could, which was almost all of it.  So, the BBS is good as new, with even a few small additions, and it seems like a Raspberry Pi is the perfect device for this kind of project.

 

On 4/19/2019 at 2:21 PM, doctor_x said:

guessing its syncronet?

Yes, and I was pleased to learn the Raspberry Pi install process on their wiki works exactly correctly.

 

See you all in the Canyon!

Edited by bjbest60
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