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BTN: Birmingham Telecommunications News
COPYRIGHT 1993 ISSN 1055-4548
June 1993 Volume 6, Issue 6
Edition 1
Table Of Contents
-----------------
Article Title Author
Policy Statement and Disclaimer................Staff
From The Editor................................Scott Hollifield
Spring Comdex '93 - present............................Mark Maisel
Special Anniversary Section
[ Women and Telecommunications '93 - present.....Gwendolyn Norton
[ Known BBS Numbers '88-'93 - present............compiled by Scott Hollifield
"Available For Chat"...........................Jeff Vaughn
Mail Doors, Continued..........................David Moss
How I Spent My Saturday........................Lurch Henson
Telecommunications.............................Damion Furi
Masquerade.....................................Harlequin/Lady Ariana
A Little Dazed, A Little Confused, And A Little Excited
...............................................Jeff Vaughn
Known BBS Numbers..............................James Minton
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer and Statement of Policy for BTN
We at BTN try our best to assure the accuracy of articles and
information in our publication. We assume no responsibility for damage
due to errors, omissions, etc. The liability, if any for BTN, its
editors and writers, for damages relating to any errors or omissions,
etc., shall be limited to the cost of a one year subscription to BTN,
even if BTN, its editors or writers have been advised of the likelihood
of such damages occurring.
With the conclusion of that nasty business, we can get on with our
policy for publication and reproduction of BTN articles. We publish
monthly with a deadline of the fifteenth of the month prior to
publication. If you wish to submit an article, you may do so at any
time but bear in mind the deadline if you wish for your work to appear
in a particular issue. It is not our purpose to slander or otherwise
harm a person or reputation and we accept no responsibility for the
content of the articles prepared by our writers. Our writers own their
work and it is protected by copyright. We allow reprinting of articles
from BTN with only a few restrictions. The author may object to a
reprint, in which case he will specify in the content of his article.
Otherwise, please feel free to reproduce any article from BTN as long as
the source, BTN, is specified, and as long as the author's name and the
article's original title are retained. If you use one of our articles,
please forward a copy of your publication to:
Mark Maisel
Publisher, BTN
606 Twin Branch Terrace
BHAM, AL 35216
(205) 823-3956
We thank you for taking the time to read our offering and we hope that
you like it. We also reserve the right to have a good time while doing
all of this and not get too serious about it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
F R E E B I E : G E T I T W H I L E I T S H O T !
The following boards allow BTN to be downloaded freely, that is with no
charge to any existing upload/download ratios.
ADAnet One Alter-Ego Bone Yard
Bus System The Castle Channel 8250
C.A.B. The Comfy Chair! Crunchy Frog
DC Info Exchange Final Frontier Gateway BBS
Hardware Hotline Homewood's Hell Hole Joker's Castle
Lemon Grove Martyrdom Again?! The MATRIX
Milliways BBS Night Watch The Outer Limits
Owlabama BBS Owl's Nest Playground
Safe Harbor Southern Stallion Starbase 12
Teasers BBS T.G.U.E. BBS Thy Master's Dungeon
Weekends BBS
(This list includes some systems which are not local to Birmingham and
therefore not included on our BBS Numbers list.)
If you are a sysop and you allow BTN to be downloaded freely, please let
me know via The Matrix or Crunchy Frog so that I can post your board as
a free BTN distributor. Thanks.
Please note a slight change in our distribution policy! The local
boards in this list get BTN *first*, to the best of our ability. -SH
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
N E W S F L A S H
BTN's
FIFTH ANNIVERSARY
CELEBRATION
CONTINUES!!
See the special bonus feature
in this month's issue.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
From the Editor
by Scott Hollifield
Blah blah blah BBS pornography. Blah blah Channel 13. Blah blah
blah Rocky Rawlins blah. Blah the Matrix, blah Pam Huff. Bob Crawford
blah blah blah Atlantic Ocean blah blah. Blah blah protest, blah blah
civil disobedience, blah social change, blah blah, etc.
Blah blah Mark Maisel, blah Comdex.
Blah everybody else; blah blah special anniversary section
continued, blah blah.
Blah next month, et al.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Spring Comdex '93
by Mark Maisel
Once again, another Comdex is behind me and I'm glad. I always
look forward to the shows and enjoy them, but there is a special
satisfaction in having it behind me. They are really draining and the
time they take from my other activities makes it really tough to catch
up once I get home and sleep for a few days to recover.
The Georgia World Congress Center expansion is nice. The MARTA
train station is directly across the street from the site so commuting
via rail is quite attractive and leaves one sane at the end of a
frenzied day of mingling, gawking, and otherwise enjoying Comdex. The
traffic in Atlanta is pretty stout stuff. It doesn't quite compare to
New York City but it is getting there. I had to drive some because of
parties after the show so I did my share of rush hour madness.
Fortunately, it was limited exposure and I had Raymond Hugh to keep me
company and mock the traffic. The Center is a huge facility and was not
at all taxed to host all exhibitors who chose to exhibit for all comers.
As a matter of fact, substantial room remained empty in both halls so
Spring Comdex has plenty of room to grow if the Interface Group can
market Atlanta better than it has in the past.
This year, IBM and Microsoft were attempting to make friends and
influence people. Respectively, they were hawking the latest versions
of their new operating systems, OS/2 2.1 and Windows NT. I didn't spend
much time with either of them as my mission was oriented toward
graphics. I did stop at one of the five IBM booths to ask some
questions about the new OS/2 only to find that IBM still has a problem
with some of its people not knowing a damned thing about their products.
The woman I talked to could not answer any of my questions about the new
release. I asked real basic questions like, "What is different in the
new OS/2?". Her answer to that was, "I don't know. They seem the same
to me." Is this scary or what? Microsoft provided space for myriad
vendors who have written applications and utilities for Windows NT. I
thought it was a good way to show the products and the new operating
system.
Word Perfect was another vendor trying to entice folks. They
showed the new Word Perfect 6.0 for MS-DOS as well as many other
products for a variety of platforms. I stopped to check out the new
Word Perfect since I have become quite the Word Perfect junkie over the
past few years. I liked what I saw though the graphics mode available
in it was awfully slow on the machine I used at their booth. The
software, as I recall, was not the release version so maybe they'll get
it running better before it is released. The big change I was hoping
for is included in the new version; support for True Type fonts. I have
Corel Draw 3.0 and it came with oodles of TT fonts. It will be nice to
have access to them from DOS and Windows.
As I stated earlier, my primary focus was graphics. There were
lots of video adapter manufacturers there and I met with several of
them, hoping to obtain press information and evaluation units for
review. I also met with folks from Viewsonic and Sampo in regards to
same for their line of SVGA monitors. Viewsonic has a particularly
impressive new monitor they say will begin shipping in July. It is a 21
inch, microprocessor controlled, multi-frequency monitor with a .26 mm
dot pitch, color control, and a top resolution of 1600x1200 pixels.
Needless to say, it is quite impressive. It is also expensive as the
list price is around $2400. If you are doing heavy duty CAD, DTP, or
other graphics work, you should definitely consider this monitor when
becomes available. I was very impressed though I'd be terrified to have
something that large on my desk. I expect that the DOS prompt would be
nearly an inch tall.
Nothing at the show really caught my eye as have some things at
shows past. I would say, however, that this show was an excellent one,
as such things go, since the overall quality and quantity of exhibits
was very high. It was impressive and informative, a tough thing to
accomplish in such chaos. If you wanted to go and didn't, it is too
bad. You missed a good one.
The nightlife was fun too. I always like Spring Comdex because all
my Atlanta friends and those who are traveling show junkies like me get
together for parties and socializing after the show. Sunday before the
show, Valeria Palmer hosted a dinner at her home for mostly ByteBrothers
participants and lurkers. We viewed the latest GIFs, FLIs, and photos
as well as swapping stories. Monday, we had a dinner at Manuel's Tavern
in the Virginia Highlands area of Atlanta. It was a lot of fun though
there was some confusion that prevented some folks from finding us.
Wednesday evening, Hayes Microcomputer Products (the modem folks) gave a
reception for bbs types, sysops, and other folks who were interested.
It was a lot of fun. Jim Harrer (Mustang Software), Mark Herring
(Sparkware), and Dennis Hayes (Hayes Microcomputer Products) spoke to
the assemblage briefly. Dennis spoke primarily about ISDN
implementation. If you don't know what ISDN is, please say so in a
letter to the editor and we'll whip up a tutorial. ISDN is a
potentially wonderful way to increase flexibility and throughput on your
phone lines that is not receiving nearly the publicity or push it should
from the Regional Bell Operating Companies. I made some grumbling
noises and one of the guys from Hayes overheard me. He came over and
introduced himself. Terry Rutter is his name and he knows a great deal
about ISDN. We had a very nice chat for 20-30 minutes and I now have a
good source for information about ISDN should there be any interest in
an article. I hung around after the show had ended, waiting for Friday
as I was invited to a barbecue in north Georgia. It was great! Thanks
to Greg Roberts for the fresh shoulder and ham and to Johnny & Paula
Bridges for extending the invitation. It was an hour drive to and from
the Bridges residence but it was well worth it.
It was a great week and while I'm glad it is over, I can't wait to
do it again. As a matter of fact, I'll be leaving at the end of June
for PC Expo, yet another computer show that takes place each year in New
York City. This will be my first time at this show and I hope to have
exciting things to share from that when it is over. Unfortunately, I'll
probably miss the July issue but I'm sure it will keep till August if it
must.
In closing and totally unrelated to Comdex, I am taking this space
to solicit suggestions for articles to be written by me for BTN. I have
already taken a suggestion from Damion that I will try to have ready for
the July issue. Please feel free to leave me a message on MATRIX main
board or in EZNet as I check those places most often. If you are not
local or do not have access to these places, you can send me e-mail via
the Internet at the following address: PCWMARK@AOL.COM. You may also
reach me on CompuServe at Mark Maisel,71154,365.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY SECTION
Featured herein are a couple of special features which weren't ready in
time for last month's issue: Gwendolyn Norton's comments on being a
female BBS user in 1993, and my own BBSography of the last five years.
Enjoy, friends.
--------------------------
Women in BBSing, Or the Lack Thereof
by Gwendolyn Norton
While the number of women using modems has been slowly increasing,
women are still an underwhelming minority in the BBS community. I
became even more aware of as this as I was trying to find women on?line
to ask their opinions for this article. Practically every time that I
logged on to The Matrix, I was the only female on. This article is a
compilation of popular theories as well as my own interpretations on the
scarceness of women in BBSing phenomenon.
For starters, I think that one big reason that most females never
even touch a computer is social conditioning and stereotypes. Whenever
someone portrays a computer nerd, it is ALWAYS a male (such as can be
seen on the present EGGO commercial.) This kind of repeat conditioning
advertises it as something that females would not be interested in the
same way the Barbie and My Little Pony suggest that males would not be
interested in them by always portraying girls playing with them in the
commercials. Also, for the females who choose to be "fashionably
stupid" because the men that they are interested in prefer to be
smarter than their women, computers have the image of being for
intelligent people (hence why they are operated by nerds.) However, the
increasing simplicity and user friendliness involved with modeming and
computers in general decreases the need for technical knowledge and
opens the doors for socializing is likely largely accountable for the
building increase in our numbers.
However, for those who do get into modeming (almost without
exception because they are an active male user's wife, girlfriend, or
sister) they are often quite horribly harassed and leave before they
ever get their roots planted. Although I have experienced this from men
of all ages, mostly the males responsible for driving the females off
are 13-year-olds exploring the world of hormones. Female new users have
no way of realizing that the guy explicitly proposing sex to them is
some 8th-grader, and instead pictures someone older and more
threatening.
It takes a sense of humor to put up with the various offers/
proposals/predictions of future encounters. I tend to find them rather
amusing (laughing at them, not with them) and remain completely
unoffended. One of the more amusing opening lines that I ever got from
one of these cases was, "Hey, baby! Wanna chat? Wanna do OTHER
things?" Assuming females to be innocent and naive, he went on to
explain to me what he had meant by "OTHER things." However, even what's
amusing at first can become annoying, as one case (luckily, this only
happened this once) went on to constantly plague me with chat requests,
messages ("I love you. There, I shocked you, didn't I?"), and would
continuously jump into chat with me while I was waiting for another node
to answer. He was eventually locked out due to the complaints of others.
So, what can be done to increase the female population in the
BBS community? Well, for either gender, you can encourage your female
friends towards modeming, accenting on the communication benefits and
the simplicity of the process. For males, if you're planning on
proposing sex to someone electronically, save it for an adult section
that would deem it appropriate. For females, if you get harassed, don't
be driven away by it. Either laugh at the guy and forget about it, or
if you are truly offended, leave a message explaining what happened to
the sysop. S/he can check the chat records and verify your claim.
I have noticed in the last four months a drop off in over-the-modem
sexual propositions to me. Maybe it's because all the males out there
who wanted to proposition me have already done so, as I have been
calling BBSs for over a year and a half now, or more hopefully the guys
involved have either been warned by sysops or users to stop, or have
gotten the idea that what they might have considered to be a bit of fun
was actually horribly offending some users and stopped of their own
volition. Whatever the means, the ends are certainly desirable and
hopefully will aid in a continued increase in the female population of
our BBS community.
-------------------------
-----------==========-----------
Known BBS Numbers for the Birmingham Area
1988 - 1993
-----------==========-----------
What you're about to see is a more-or-less complete index to all the
full-time bulletin board systems to grace our fair city since the
beginning of BTN's publication in April 1988.
The list itself is pretty self-explanatory. Note that each system's
ORIGINAL number is given; if a board changed numbers, the newer number
is noted below the name in brackets.
SUPER-IMPORTANT!! PLEASE NOTE! that this is ONLY a representation of
the BBS lists that appeared in BTN from issue #1 to last month. It
is NOT intended to be a completely accurate chronology of exactly when
systems went up and went down; the month and year given indicate the
issue of BTN in which the BBS was listed. Therefore, any errors
inherent in those original lists will be carried over into this list.
In other words, don't come complaining to me because your board was up
for longer than it says in this list! This list only reflects what was
in BTN, which, I think we can all heartily say, is neither divine nor
error-proof.
It should also go without saying that this list is provided merely for
the historically curious; for a list of boards that are CURRENTLY
ACTIVE, please refer to the BBS list at the end of this issue of BTN.
221-B Baker Street 856-7034
January 1993 - present
Abject Poverty 680-9680
January 1991 - May 1991; July 1991 - August 1991
ADAnet One 854-9074, 854-2308, 854-0698, 854-5863
February 1992 - present
[changed from The Connection]
Alcatraz BBS 608-0880
March 1993 - present
Alter-Ego BBS 925-0707
June 1990 - present
[changes number to 744-7733 as of November 1991]
[changes number to 925-5099 as of April 1992]
America Online 324-0193
April 1988 - October 1989
[upgrades to three nodes (adding 324-0194, 324-0195) as of
August 1988]
[upgrades to four nodes (adding 324-0194, 324-0195, 251-2344)
as of October 1988]
[nodes 1-3 changes number to 323-2016 as of June 1989]
[upgrades to five nodes as of July 1989]
[changes to The Matrix as of November 1989 -- see The Matrix]
American BBS 674-1851
April 1988 - November 1991
Amiga Alliance 631-2846
April 1988 - August 1988, April 1989 - June 1989
[changes number to 631-8367 as of April 1989]
Amiga Alliance II 631-0262
January 1991 - August 1992
APCO BBS
-- see Penny Arcade
Apple Valley 854-9661, 854-9662
April 1988 - July 1988
[changes to Pinson Valley as of August 1988 -- see Pinson
Valley]
Arkham Asylum 853-7422
January 1991 - October 1992
Asgard BBS 663-9171
February 1992 - present
Asylum BBS 988-0477
August 1988
Baudville BBS 640-4593
October 1991 - present
[upgrades to 2 nodes (adding 640-4639) as of November 1991]
[upgrades to 4 nodes (adding 640-7243 and 640-7286) as of
April 1992]
[upgrades to 5 nodes (adding 592-4684) as of November 1992]
[downgrades to 4 nodes as of January 1993]
[changes numbers to 980-1089, 991-2095, 991-9144 and 995-0013
as of April 1993]
Beltron BBS 836-3846
April 1988
Bert's BBS 424-2872
December 1992 - April 1993
Birmingham BBS 251-2344, 251-8033
April 1988 - August 1988
[node 1 merges with America Online as of October 1988]
Birmingham BBS 854-5131
April 1992 - May 1992
Birmingham Business BBS 856-0679
June 1988 - December 1988
Bloom County 856-0587
February 1991 - February 1992
The Bone Yard 631-6023
October 1992 - present
Boy's Room 674-8117
April 1993 - present
Bullseye BBS 942-9576
January 1992
Bus System BBS 595-1627
April 1988 - November 1990; January 1991 - present
[changes number to 987-5419 as of January 1993]
Byte Me! BBS 979-2983
October 1988; April 1989 - present
Camelot BBS 856-0679
June 1990 - February 1992; September 1992
Cannibal Cafe 942-9576
January 1993 - present
The Castle 841-7618
February 1992 - present
Castle Rock 995-9900
December 1992 - present
Cat House 854-5907
November 1989 - August 1990
Channel 8250 785-7417
April 1988 - present
[changes number to 744-8546 as of April 1989]
[upgrades to 2 nodes (adding 744-5166) as of May 1990]
Christian Apologetic 808-0763
March 1992 - present
Club Phoenix 942-0252
October 1988 - December 1989
CM(ee) BBS
-- see VCM(ee) BBS
Commodore Club-South 853-8718
April 1988 - November 1988
The Commodore Zone 856-3783
February 1990 - May 1992
The Connection 854-9074, 854-2308
April 1988 - January 1992
[node 1 only listed as of March 1990]
[node 2 re-instated as of December 1990]
[upgrades to 3 nodes (adding 854-0698) as of February 1991]
[upgrades to 4 nodes (adding 854-5863) as of November 1991]
[changed to ADAnet One as of February 1992 -- see ADAnet One]
Cow's Head 856-2465
February 1993 - April 1993
Crow's Nest 951-5678
May 1990 - July 1990; February 1991
Crunchy Frog 956-1755
January 1989 - present
[upgrades to 2 nodes (adding 956-0073) as of July 1991]
[changes numbers to 823-3957 and 823-3958 as of October 1992]
The Dancin' Deers 980-0048
June 1991
Darkhold BBS 681-0002
November 1992 - December 1992
DataLynx 322-3425
February 1991 - May 1992; September 1992 - present
[upgrades to 2 nodes (changing to 933-6784 and 933-7032) as of
April 1992]
[changes number to 933-1974 as of September 1992]
[changes number to 328-7688 as of December 1992]
DataWorks BBS! 664-0406
March 1993 - present
Deep Space Nine 980-1089
June 1992 - March 1993
[upgrades to 2 nodes (adding 991-2095) as of March 1993]
[merges with Baudville as of April 1993]
The Den 925-0707
December 1991 - present
[changes number to 933-8744 as of April 1992]
Digital Publishing BBS 854-1660
July 1991 - present
[called Disktop Publishing BBS, July 1991 - February 1993]
The Dog House 425-9255
August 1990 - June 1991
Domino Effect 853-4675
April 1992
Downgrade Evolution 823-4858
October 1991 - January 1992
Draco's Tavern 664-5589
December 1990
Dragon's Hoard 833-3790
November 1990 - May 1992
Drawing Room 951-2391
September 1992 - March 1993
D3 Systems 663-2759
October 1988 - January 1991
Duck Pond 822-0956
October 1988 - December 1990
Eazy's Playhouse 870-0434
September 1989 - November 1989; February 1990 - September 1990
EcoBBS 933-2238
September 1992 - present
The Edge of Oblivion 520-0230
June 1991 - January 1992
Electric Requiem 680-9753
August 1990 - September 1990
Elite Empire 967-8479
August 1988, November 1988 - January 1989
Elite Fleet 853-1257
August 1989 - July 1990
Elysian Fields 620-0694
September 1992 - December 1992
Emerald Castle 871-6510
May 1990 - August 1990
Empire BBS 428-6074
January 1992 - June 1992
EZNet Central 785-7417
March 1990 - December 1990
The Faction BBS 995-2757
April 1993 - present
Family Smorgas-Board 744-0943
December 1991 - present
Fear & Loathing 985-4856
June 1988 - November 1988
Final Frontier 681-6148
September 1992 - November 1992
Final Frontier 838-5634
May 1993 - present
Flip Side 798-3961
October 1991 - January 1992; December 1992 - present
FM Station 680-9772
June 1991 - August 1991
Forest Palace 942-4581
January 1993 - February 1993
The Fortress BBS 664-9040
May 1988 - June 1988, August 1988 - July 1989
Frat House 252-1274
March 1993 - April 1993
F/X BBS 823-5777
January 1992 - January 1993
[upgrades to 3 nodes (adding 822-4570 and 822-4526) as of
February 1992]
Gamer's Online 942-4581
April 1993 - present
Gateway BBS 854-5131
August 1989 - October 1989
Gateway BBS 425-8772
December 1992 - March 1993
Genesis Online 620-4144
June 1992 - present
Gizmo's Atari BBS 854-0698
June 1989 - January 1990
Graphics Zone 870-5306, 870-5329
September 1990 - February 1993
The Great Underground Empire
-- see T.G.U.E. BBS
The Guardian BBS 425-1951
March 1993 - present
Hacker's Corner 674-5449
May 1990 - October 1990; March 1991 - April 1993
The Hanging Tree 938-2145
October 1990 - January 1991
[changed to The Round Table as of February 1991 -- see The Round
Table]
Hard Disk 987-0794
January 1992 - March 1992; June 1992 - September 1992
Hardeman's BBS 640-6436
June 1991 - present
Hardware Hotline 631-6629
February 1993 - present
The Headland BBS 991-0947
January 1993 - present
HellBound BBS 444-9043
October 1992 - January 1993
Highlander BBS 856-9391
March 1993 - present
Homewood's Hell Hole 870-0967
January 1993 - present
Hoots With Owls 520-9540
September 1992 - April 1993
Illuminatus BBS 871-0489
November 1992 - present
Infinite Probability 791-0421
February 1992 - December 1992; March 1993 - present
Intruder Enterprizes 969-0870
September 1992 - present
I.S.A. BBS 995-6590
April 1989 - June 1991; October 1991 - October 1992
Island BBS 870-4685
September 1992 - January 1993
The Islands BBS 870-7776
April 1989 - September 1990
Ivory Tower 833-0616
June 1988
Jim's Place 787-5512
April 1989 - October 1989
Joker's Castle 744-6120
November 1988 - present
[number changed to 664-5589 as of January 1991]
KickAxis BBS 733-0253
January 1993 - present
Killing Fields 780-8845
September 1992 - October 1992
Kingdom of Teletech
-- see Teletech BBS
Kiriath Arba 681-8374
February 1992 - November 1992
K-9 Corner 424-8202
October 1990 - August 1991
Labyrinth BBS 681-0002
September 1992 - October 1992
Lands of Brittania 791-0421
May 1990 - September 1990
Last Word 663-4721
January 1993 - present
Lemon Grove 836-1184
April 1992 - present
The Levee 681-8636
February 1991
Lion & Unicorn 856-2464
September 1992 - present
[changes number to 424-1599 as of November 1992]
Liverpool Connection 856-0267
October 1991 - November 1991
Little Kingdom 823-9175
November 1989 - October 1992
[upgrades to 2 nodes (adding 823-9192) as of April 1990]
[changes numbers to 969-0007 and 969-0008 as of August 1990]
Long Island 631-0184
June 1991 - July 1991
Lumby's Palace 520-0041
April 1993 - present
LZ Birmingham 870-7770
May 1988 - April 1990
The Madhouse! 428-3061
July 1991 - November 1991
Magic City 664-9883
January 1993 - present
Magic Star 591-1571
April 1988
Magnolia BBS 854-6407
April 1988 - present
Martyrdom Again?! 491-2876
July 1991 - August 1991
The Matrix 323-2016, 251-2344
November 1989 - present
[changed from America Online as of November 1989]
[upgrades to 6 nodes (adds 323-0799) as of April 1991]
[upgrades to 7 nodes (adds 323-6016) as of January 1992]
[upgrades to 15 nodes as of September 1992]
[upgrades to 25 nodes as of January 1993]
[upgrades to 26 nodes as of March 1993]
Medicine Man 664-5662
February 1992 - November 1992
MetaBoard 254-3344
December 1991 - present
[changes number to 854-4814 as of March 1993]
MetroMac BBS 323-6306
April 1993 - present
Microtech Comm. 951-5678
March 1991 - May 1991
Milliways BBS 956-3177
December 1992 - present
Missing Link 853-1257
August 1990 - present
Misty Mountain 979-8409
May 1988 - August 1988
Misty Mountain II 969-2052
July 1988 - August 1988
The Modem Mission 491-8946
September 1989 - October 1989
The Monster BBS 967-4839
October 1991 - November 1992
Morbid Curiosity 592-4161
May 1992
Music Alley BBS 969-2416
April 1988 - July 1988
Myth Drannor 699-5811
September 1990 - January 1992
Neon Moon 477-5894
January 1993 - present
Night Watch 841-2790
November 1991 - present
Nirvana BBS 942-6702
April 1992 - present
Nouveaux BBS 871-5551
July 1988 - January 1989
Optical Illusion 853-8062
October 1991 - June 1992
The Other Side 520-0230
March 1992 - May 1992
Ouija Board 669-0623
March 1992 - May 1992
Outer Limits 969-3262
November 1988 - January 1990; October 1990 - present
[changes number to 985-1725 as of October 1990]
[changes number to 425-5784 as of May 1992]
[changes number to 425-5781 as of January 1993, and upgrades
to two nodes (adding 426-2939)]
Outside It's America 951-2473
October 1990 - November 1991
Owlabama BBS 833-8345
August 1991 - present
[changes number to 833-7176 as of November 1991]
Owl's Nest 680-0851
September 1990 - present
Panic Zone 870-0434
October 1990
Paradise City 853-1439
June 1991 - May 1992
Party Line 856-1336
April 1992 - present
PC Exchange Link 663-2759
February 1991 - August 1991
Penny Arcade 226-1841
April 1988 - October 1988; November 1989 - January 1990;
December 1992 - present
[listed as APCO BBS as of May 1988]
[listed as Scott's Penny Arcade as of June 1988]
[goes back to Penny Arcade as of October 1988]
[changes number to 699-4625 as of December 1992]
Pinson Valley 854-9661, 854-9662
August 1988 - May 1989
[changed from Apple Valley]
[node 2 listed only as of April 1989]
Pirate's Cove 942-7429
August 1990 - February 1991
Playground BBS 836-4200
September 1992 - present
[changes number to 681-5070 as of April 1993]
Point of No RETURN 664-9609
April 1988 - November 1988
Pooh's Corner 980-8710
November 1991 - October 1992; December 1992
Posys BBS 854-5131
November 1989 - December 1989; May 1990 - June 1990; August
1990 - May 1991; November 1992 - present
Primary One 853-1175
December 1988 - April 1989
Pro-Electric BBS 980-8836
September 1992 - October 1992; December 1992
Professional's Board 856-0679
January 1989 - May 1990
Programmer's Shack 871-3356
March 1991 - August 1991
ProSoft Systems 853-8718
December 1988 - January 1990
Psycho's Den 592-2545
May 1989 - June 1989
[changes to Radio Free TROAD as of July 1989 --
see Radio Free TROAD]
The Quiet Zone 833-2066
January 1991 - December 1992; February 1993 - present
Radio Free TROAD 592-2545
July 1989 - November 1989; May 1990 - July 1991
[changed from Psycho's Den]
[changes number to 592-6234 as of May 1990]
[changes number to 979-6183 as of August 1990]
Raven BBS 674-6214
April 1988
Raven's Bluff 681-4096
March 1992 - June 1992
Raven's Manor 681-4096
November 1992 - December 1992
Razor's Edge 995-0412
January 1993 - present
Realm of Tarot 870-7776
October 1988 - February 1989
Reaper's Keep 853-6560
January 1993
RiverSide BBS 663-6015
July 1988 - August 1988
Road Kill 987-0794
November 1991 - December 1991
Role Player's Paradise 631-7654
November 1988 - July 1990
The Round Table 938-2145
February 1991 - March 1992
[changed from The Hanging Tree]
Safe Harbor 665-4355
June 1990 - present
[upgrades to 2 nodes (adding 665-4332) as of February 1992]
The Safety BBS 581-2866
October 1991 - present
Sam's Domain 956-2757
April 1993 - present
Sandwich Shop 226-1872
June 1990
Shadetree BBS 787-6723
November 1989 - May 1991
Sherwood Forest 838-1432
March 1991 - April 1991
68FREE 933-7518
April 1988 - May 1989
SkyNet 674-0852
June 1992
Sleepy Hollow 970-0518
January 1993 - April 1993
Smitty's BBS 849-7349
October 1988, December 1988 - April 1989
Song Remains The Same 995-0784
September 1992 - October 1992
Southern Regiment 647-9176
May 1988 - August 1988
Southern Stallion 631-0262
September 1992 - October 1992; January 1993 - March 1993
[changes number to 699-4797 as of January 1993]
Source Line 674-0952
March 1991 - May 1991
Sparta PCBoard 979-0193, 979-0196
April 1989 - June 1989
[upgrades from 4 nodes to 6 as of May 1989]
Sperry BBS 853-6144
April 1988 - present
ST BBS 836-9311
April 1988 - present
Starbase 12 647-7184
January 1993 - present
Strattosphere BBS 833-7612
July 1991 - August 1991; March 1992 - April 1992
[changes number to 428-1066 as of March 1992]
Strawberry Fields 856-0267
February 1992 - March 1992
Teasers BBS 987-0122
October 1991 - present
Teletech BBS 674-0852
February 1990 - October 1990
[listed as The Kingdom of Teletech as of April 1990]
T.G.U.E. BBS 681-0002
January 1993 - March 1993
Thy Master's Dungeon 940-2116
June 1992 - present
Torch Song 328-1517
September 1992 - present
Trade Mart BBS 787-5512
February 1989
Trauma Room 823-9127
December 1992 - March 1993
Triangle BBS 933-8227
April 1992 - June 1992
Twilight Zone 856-3783
October 1988 - January 1990
Ultra-Vision BBS 856-1593
August 1989 - October 1989
Vampire's Crypt 833-8494
December 1990 - February 1991
VCM(ee) BBS 655-4059, 655-4065
May 1990 - September 1992
[listed as CM(ee) BBS as of July 1991]
Venus BBS 424-2872
May 1993 - present
Victory Express 425-0731
May 1990 - July 1990; September 1990 - August 1991
[changes number to 425-0821 as of September 1990]
Viper's Pit 856-2464
November 1992 - January 1993
Wanderer BBS 836-0603
September 1992 - December 1992
Warrior River 520-9540
April 1992 - August 1992
Waste Lands 991-5184
November 1992 - December 1992
Weekends BBS 841-8583
December 1992 - present
Wildfire 1 942-9576
February 1992 - May 1992
Wild Side 631-0184
February 1992 - November 1992
Willie's DYM 979-1629, 979-7739
August 1988 - present
[upgrades to 4 nodes (adding 979-7743 and 979-8156) as of
July 1990]
[changes numbers to 664-9902, 664-9903, 664-9895 and 664-9896
as of December 1992]
Willie's RBBS 979-7743
August 1988 - June 1990
[merges with Willie's DYM as of July 1990]
Wonderland Avenue 699-5811
February 1992 - June 1992
The Word BBS 833-2831
June 1991 - October 1991; December 1991 - March 1993
Ziggy Unaxess 991-5696
June 1988 - July 1990; October 1990 - present
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Available for Chat"
by Jeff Vaughn
Hello again folks. It's time again for me to put my keyboard to the
test and talk about something mildly interesting or amusing. Since The
Matrix has just upgraded to version 15.0, there's a little something to
work with this issue.
One of my favorite past times is using the CHAT function on Matrix.
There are three good reasons for this. One, Rocky has roughly eighteen
lines running simulultaneously. Two, there are thousands of people to
abuse. Three, the CHAT has finally upgraded to a bareable level.
In the earlier versions of PCBoard, the node chat, well, sucked.
That's the only way to describe it. BBS software like Telegard, VBBS,
and WWIV had long since gone to real-time chat and i was quite used to
it since i ran a BBS some time back myself. PCBoard's chat was a
constant wait state and if someone was a bad typist, you really had to
have some serious patience to chat. Now all that has changed.
The new version 15.0 of PCBoard has greatly improved it's chat
function. It has upgraded to a real-time chat with channels insted of
the old (G)roup chat or one on one with only one channel.
Below is a cut and paste from the Matrix of the command list of the
CHAT function. Everything below is 100% accurate to the letter.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Node Chat Functions
-------------------
Subcommands: (G) (Q) (X) (CALL) (CHANNEL) (ECHO) (IGNORE) (HANDLE)
(MENU) (MONITOR) (PRIVATE) (SEND) (SHOW) (SILENT) (TOPIC)
(WHO)
(G) Goodbye, logoff system
(Q) Quit chat, return command prompt
(CALL) Calls another user into chat
(CHANNEL) Change to another topic (or channel)
(ECHO) Enable "echo" mode
(IGNORE) Ignore input from one or more nodes
(HANDLE) Change your name (or handle) for use in chat
(MENU) Redisplay the menu regardless of Novice/Expert
status
(MONITOR) Toggles monitoring of channels (optionally
accepts numbers indicating which channels to
monitor)
(NOECHO) Disables "echo". Non-Echo Mode is useful for
split-screen chatting.
(PRIVATE) Make a conversation (or channel) private
(PUBLIC) Make a conversation (or channel) public
(SEND) Send a private message to another node in chat
(SHOW) Show users currently in chat
(SILENT) Toggle display of user entrance and exit
information
(TOPIC) Change the topic for the current channel
(WHO) Display who is online and what they are doing
Description: Node chat allows 2 or more people to communicate with each
other across separate nodes of the BBS.
A Channel is a separate group of people or topic of
conversation. There are 255 channels available. Use of
the SHOW command will allow you to see what
converstations, by topic, are currently taking place and
who is involved in each. The MONITOR command will let you
listen in on all non-private channels to help you decide
which conversations you might wish to join. Typing
MONITOR alone will toggle the function on or off. Typing
MONITOR followed by numbers will monitor specific
channels.
A Handle simply allows you to identify yourself without
requiring that your entire name be used. A Handle does
not hide your identity (as seen by a WHO command in
PCBoard) but merely provides you the ability to be known
by another name while in chat.
An Open Discussion is one in which others may freely
join. A Private Discussion prevents others, not already
in the channel, from monitoring or joining. The PRIVATE
command can be used to make a channel private. The PUBLIC
command will make it public again. Channel #1 can never
be made private which leaves it open for newcomers to the
chat.
During the course of an open discussion you may notice
other callers joining in. An announcement of each arrival
or departure is made to let you know who is in chat. The
SILENT command can be used to turn these announcements
off.
The CALL command lets you invite other users into your
chat session. These users may already be in group chat,
or they may be out in the main part of the BBS. As long
as the user has not made himself unavailable and isn't
busy performing other duties you may issue a CALL command
to request his presence in chat. It should be understood
that the caller may decline your offer to chat.
NOTE: The CALL command is the ONLY way that someone
outside of a Private Discussion can join. Once you CALL
the user, a flag is set that allows that user join.
The SEND command can be used to privately send a one line
message to another caller that is already in group chat.
The caller does not need to be in the same channel as
yourself.
The IGNORE command allows you to ignore the input coming
from one or more nodes. If a caller, in your channel, is
becoming a nuisance, that caller can be ignored. However,
ultimately the better solution would be to switch to
another channel and make it private.
The NOECHO command allows you to disable the input
echoing that normally occurs. With echoing enabled, your
system must be capable of handling ANSI cursor position
commands and even then you are limited to ONE line of text
that can be typed ahead while another caller is typing.
With echoing disabled, ANSI is no longer required and
since a local split screen is used, none of the text is
transmitted until you press enter so you may type more
than a single line of text while others are typing. Type
ECHO to re-enable echoing.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Some of you might have noticed the SEND command. That's a nice
little quirk that ORACOMM has used for quite some time. It allows one
user to send a one-liner to another user privately. It's sneaky, I like
it (grin).
I would say that in the last two months, the CHAT has picked up a
good 80%. A friend of mine, Marikae Worley, and I were constantly
getting into group chats after she got a computer and we seemed to
arrtact a lot of attention. We'e been known to easily have 8-12 people
chatting at once. Believe me, on the old group chat function, it was
totaly chaos, which was great 'cause that's what we had intended in the
first place.
Names that are commonly known around the Matrix like our own Sysops
(Tom Egan and Rocky Rawlins), Richard Foshee, Scott Hollifield (yes, our
own BTN editor), and several others get on the chat occasionally and
create thier own personal havok for the fun of things. [Editor's Note:
I deny everything.] Since the introduction of handles to the new CHAT,
the names have become quite colorful as well (yes, you all know who you
are). I have to give Richard credit for some of the more creative
handles (grin).
I can honestly say that i've probably had some of the most
interesting (that's one way of putting it) concersations in my life on
the CHAT lines. People tend to get very open behind the screen.
Sometimes they get a little out of control, but a user should know what
he or she is getting into once they type that CHAT command. It ain't
Kansas by a long shot and is too weird to the Twilight Zone. A hint to
the naive, expect anything in there.
As a last note, if you happen to log on and want someone to abuse,
you can find me on channel 42 usually (it's a Hitchhiker thing). Don't
forget to bring a towel.
Signed: Kilroy
Acknowledgements : PCBoard and Rocky for the info, Van Halen for the
tunes while i wrote, Richard for the notes "Behave yourself" <BG>,
Cadence and Ivory for somebody to kick out while i was having a private
conversation, and thanks
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mail Doors.... continued
by David Moss
In the last issue of BTN, Damion Furi and myself wrote articles
covering the two most popular mail doors (MarkMail and Tomcat). In
this issue we'll cover the offline reader. The offline reader I have
selected is OLX-TD. Defined, this acronym stands for "Off-Line Xpress,
Test Drive."
OLX-TD is a shareware mail reader and can be found on most of the
bulletin boards around town. The registration cost for this program is
$40.00. With that said, let's talk about shareware programs for a
minute. There are a lot of good shareware programs that are written for
the purpose of allowing you to "try it before you buy it." OLX is no
exception. This test drive version does come with a lot of features,
but with registration, you'll get even more, as with all shareware.
So please consider registering your shareware. This will insure the
continuing quality of shareware in the future.
The shareware version of OLX comes in self extracting form. The
full name of the file is: OLX-TD.EXE. You will need to make a directory
for this program. Also, you will need about 525k free disk space. The
program comes with a 69-page manual that is comprehensive enough even
for the tough questions. Once you've made the directory, copy the file
"OLX-TD.EXE" into that directory and type OLX-TD. The files will self-
extract and you will be ready to go.
The first item on the agenda is to browse through the documentation
that comes with OLX. The name of this file is OLXTD.DOC. It will give
you some good information about the use of the program. The
documentation of OLX is very in-depth, so I will not cover it. I will
leave that to the user.
Now after browsing the documentation, and becoming familiar with
some of the options available to you, it's time to open the program.
Type OLXTD and the main screen appears. The first thing we'll do is
cover setup.
You'll notice that in the lower right of the screen the ALT-N -
Configuration on the menu. This is where we want to go. Hold down the
"ALT" key and tap the "N" key. This will bring up the Configuration
Screen. The first item is to define which directories you will keep
your QWK and REP packets. QWK's are the packets you will download from
your favorite board, REP's are the replies that you will be sending back.
Here, I accepted the defaults of the home directory of C:\OLXTD.
Next is the General configurations. I accepted the defaults here
also. You may want to change some of these settings, but for now they
should be sufficient to get started.
Next is the Toggles configuration. Since this is more of a
customization option than anything else, I accepted the defaults. You
can always come back later to customize these settings to suit you.
Next, is the Editor configuration. I accepted the internal editor
provided with OLX.
Next is the Replies option. Here again I accepted the defaults.
Next is the Packers option. Unless you are dealing with an exotic
packer, accept all the defaults here. Make sure the packers are in your
path. Other than this, I see no reason to change any of these.
Next are the final three: Colors, Function Keys, and ALT Keys. I
accepted all of the defaults on these as well.
So far, I've learned that OLX comes ready to use. Unless you have
some need to alter the basic configuration, I would accept the defaults
across the board.
You will notice that OLX comes with a sample QWK from Mustang
Software. This is a Welcome QWK which will take you on a tutorial of
OLX. I highly recommend going through this tutorial.
Ok, by now you're ready to make your mail run to your favorite
board. One note here: your communications software will download the
QWK to the directory you have specified in the set-up of that software,
usually the "down" directory. However, you have told OLX that your QWKs
will be in the home diretory of OLX. The solution is, that after every
mail run, you copy the QWK to the home diretory of OLX. This can best
be achieved by a simple batch file that will do it automatically. One
other note: if you leave the QWKs in your "down" directory, the next
time you wish to download a new QWK, your communications software will
look in the "down" directory and see that the QWK is already there and
you will not get the new QWK. The solution here is to erase the old QWK
prior to downloading the new one. This too, is best achieved by writing
a batch file that will perform this chore for you.
Now, simply copy the QWK to the home directory of OLX, start OLX,
highlight the name of the QWK and hit <ENTER>. OLX will unzip the QWK,
and allow you to read the messages as you choose. You will have the
option of replying to each of the messages or continuing without
replying. Upon opening the QWK a separate screen will appear that will
give you the option of reading the new Bulletins, News, Mail, and the
new Files list of the particular board you have selected. The new files
list is invaluable to all of us, as it will keep you up to date on new
uploads to the bulletin board. This was covered in the first part of
these articles, and I would consider setting the mail door up to deliver
this to you as well as the bulletins and the mail.
Back to OLX. You will notice the options in the upper right corner
of the screen. Reply, Next, Prev, ( for previous message ) Index, and
Other. At any time, while reading a message, you have the option of
replying to that message. Simply position the mouse on the Reply box or
use the "R" key. OLX will then present a pop-up screen that will ask you
to confirm the choices of: From, To, Subject, Private, Carbon Copies,
Return Receipt, Conference #, and the Tagline you wish to use.
A couple of notes on these subjects; follow the general rules of
etiquette, watch the profanity, do not attack the individual, if
engaged in a debate, debate the issue not the person, DON'T TYPE
EVERYTHING IN UPPERCASE, THIS IS CONSIDERED SHOUTING, consider leaving
the reply "Private" or "Public", public mail generates new mail for you,
private mail generates very little, if any. Confirm the other choices
such as Conference #. If everything is agreeable, then the "F10" key is
used to edit the reply.
During a reply, you will have the option of quoting the original
message. Here, you should quote enough of the original message so that
others will have the gist of the conversation. Delete the lines that
have no bearing on the subject in question. In OLX the command to
delete the line is "Ctrl Y." If this conference is being echoed long
distance, then remember that the sysop pays for this out of his/her own
pocket. So delete the appropriate lines as well as all the old tag
lines.
After your reply, you will be given another chance to confirm the
choices you originally made. Once you are satisfied, the "F10" key saves
the reply into a REP packet ready for upload when you are finished
reading the rest of the mail in this packet.
A couple of final notes: when you are ready to send the reply back,
rember that the REP is in the home directory of OLX. This is often the
most troublesome area. Here is how I do it, I call the board, enter the
mail room, select "U" for upload, at the prompt I hit the "Page Up"
key, next I hit <ENTER> to accept my default of Zmodem, next, I turn on
the "Insert" key where I type the complete path to the REP, in my case
it's C:\olx\ you won't have to enter the name of the REP, that will
already be displayed for you.
I have just recently learned the fast way into Tomcat, the mail
room of Wildcat bulletin boards, it is (!John Doe Password) without the
parentheses. This command takes you straight to the mail room on the
Wildcat board where the sysop has granted fast access. You should enter
this all on one line. This command is different from the regular fast
access command in that you would replace the "!" with an "*" in front of
the "Firstname." The "*" in front of the "Firstname" takes you straight
to the Main Menu. Remember, if the sysop does not allow fast access,
then these commands will not work.
Final comments:
At any time, while in OLX, remember that the F1 key provides on-line
help. The F3 key provides a "Pick List" of options that are available
on a particular subject.
When selecting a mail reader, keep in mind that there are several to
choose from. If you find one a bit complicated, then try another one. I
do not endorse any in particular. I have just selected OLX as the one
to write about for this article as it is one of the most popular ones on
the bulletin boards. However, it is the one I have chosen to use as my
personal mail reader.
If you do find one you like, then please consider registering it.
You will get a lot of added features for a nominal cost.
Last but not least, don't hestitate to ask the sysop of the board
you happen to use for assistance. I have never found a system operator
that is not willing to spend time to help someone get acquainted with
the mail room. The system operator is there and knowledgeable, so don't
be timid about asking questions. I do it all the time!
NOTE ON SLMR FROM DAMION FURI: OLX-TD is a the commercial version of SLMR
(Silly Little Mail Reader, also known as SLiMeR). Current SLMR users may
want to seriously consider switching because of the new utilities included
with the package. SLMR provides nothing more than a limited tagline
manager, and the basic ability to unarchive, read, edit, and re-archive
.QWK and .REP packets. OLX-TD allows the user to delete, rename, sort, and
mark as unread the available .QWK packets. Because SLMR was abandoned to
the public domain, many users (myself included) have hacked out the random
Fn screen characteristic of the unregistered version. Since SLMR is now
impossible to register, my understanding is that this is legal (I could be
wrong; I'm not an attorney). The $40 registration is more than worth it
for the majority of OLR users.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
How I Spent My Saturday
or
Jeez, I'm Tired....
by
Lurch Henson
Well, I'm kinda glad that's all over with, though knowing the
state of TV news in B'ham, it won't be for long..... Let's see, how did