Just logged on to Borderline BBS... Andrew's dial up in CA. At 1200 bps, man does that bring back memories. Did some searching around for other dial ups, obviously none were local.. still trying to figure out why in the day and age of internet access, cell phones and the like, why long distance charges still exist. Rather ridiculous if you ask me. Still, if you havent tried this, dust off the modem and give them a call - his web page below:
http://cottonwood.servebbs.com/
Great work, Andrew, on keeping this alive. Expect a call periodically :) Just gotta figure out how to circumvent the dial up charges...magickjack...hmmm...
Thanks for the call and the support, xlar54. :)
If you signed up for a new account today, you'll be validated and have full access when I get home from work tonight (about 7½ hours from now).
And to save you the bother of searching, you won't find any other Commodore-run dial-up BBS's because mine is the only one. ;)
QuoteJust gotta figure out how to circumvent the dial up charges...magickjack...hmmm...
Get those blue boxes out of storage! :laugh:
Quote from: xlar54 on October 12, 2008, 08:04 AMStill, if you havent tried this, dust off the modem and give them a call...
Yup, I've called the BBS a few times. I just have to remember to do it "periodically". :)
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
CommVEx v5 info - http://www.commodore.ca/forum and click on ComVEX
Blue boxing... whoa. Been a long time since Ive heard that phrase too..
Andrew, about how many callers a week do you get?
On Borderline BBS, I normally get 2-3 callers a week. On Cottonwood BBS, I normally get 5-6 callers a DAY. Obviously, the Telnettable option is more popular. But as long as there are people who continue to call Borderline BBS, I'll continue to run it. I'd have to go a whole month with no calls before I'd consider taking it down. ;)
Quote from: Andrew Wiskow on October 12, 2008, 08:57 AMAnd to save you the bother of searching, you won't find any other Commodore-run dial-up BBS's because mine is the only one. ;)
At the #acug chat tonight, I was talking to a Canadian gentleman who wants to start up a dial-up BBS so that he wouldn't have to worry about thugs coming into a telnet BBS.
Only the serious C= users need apply,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Quote from: RobertB on October 31, 2008, 02:58 PMAt the #acug chat tonight, I was talking to a Canadian gentleman who wants to start up a dial-up BBS so that he wouldn't have to worry about thugs coming into a telnet BBS.
I'll believe it when I see it. I've heard people talk about putting up a dial-up BBS, but I think most of them get discouraged when they discover just how much work goes into putting one up, and then get even more discouraged when they discover just how few people call. That's pretty much what happened with Charles' Master's Kingdom BBS.
Thing is - and maybe its just wishful thinking - but I would revert back 100% to dial up BBSing, if there were more boards, and people would join in the message boards. I suppose we're really spoiled by the speed of the net, instant downloads, etc. IMHO, even Qlink's resurrection has been hurt by the IRC channel link. Evil internet... :/
Now excuse me while I bittorrent the entire Gamebase 64...
Quote from: Andrew Wiskow on November 01, 2008, 07:55 AM...then get even more discouraged when they discover just how few people call. That's pretty much what happened with Charles' Master's Kingdom BBS.
I think Charles just did not stick long enough with it. He should have regularly announced it as a by-line in his postings... and it would take awhile to build up a clientele. Also, if IIRC, the BBS kept going up and then down -- difficult to attract people if the BBS is not regularly there. Well, the point is moot now; he cannot afford to have another phone line.
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
CommVEx v5 info - http://www.commodore.ca/forum and click on ComVEX
Quote from: RobertB on November 02, 2008, 06:43 AMI think Charles just did not stick long enough with it.
Precisely... I tried explaining that to him, but he didn't seem to "get it". Then, at the end, he thought he could run it on a "by request" basis. Well, that obviously didn't work. You've got to run it "all or nothing". In the end, he chose nothing.
Quote from: Andrew Wiskow on November 03, 2008, 06:42 AM
Quote from: RobertB on November 02, 2008, 06:43 AMI think Charles just did not stick long enough with it.
Precisely... I tried explaining that to him, but he didn't seem to "get it". Then, at the end, he thought he could run it on a "by request" basis. Well, that obviously didn't work. You've got to run it "all or nothing". In the end, he chose nothing.
That's rather like the really early days (early 80's) - a lot of boards were like that, call once, hang up, the sysop would plug the moem in (or set it to answer if it was manual) then dial back in again :)
I "ran" one back in the day too.. I was 15... and the best I could do was hook it up after midnight - all my parents would allow... until one night when I forgot to unplug the other phone extension :/ The only way to get callers back then like that, was to put up warez... but at 15, I couldnt even afford that. Today, I probably wouldnt run one, but rather enjoy just being a caller.
Quote from: xlar54 on November 03, 2008, 11:50 AM
I "ran" one back in the day too.. I was 15... and the best I could do was hook it up after midnight - all my parents would allow... until one night when I forgot to unplug the other phone extension :/ The only way to get callers back then like that, was to put up warez... but at 15, I couldnt even afford that. Today, I probably wouldnt run one, but rather enjoy just being a caller.
I recently acquired a clone XT - I'm seriously considering putting it up as a dial-up (running QuickBBS 2.04) & adding in a selection of vintage door games (from the late 80's era).
I've actually built the 'bones' of the board - amazing how well that particular piece of software has managed to age actually. Apart from the fact it ain't Y2K compatible, you can make it look like anything available now (ie EleBBS or Synchronet).
The actual machine is optioned to the hilt as well, has a 2mb Intel Above board & an EGA card + IBM Enhanced Color monitor - both the board & the monitor would've cost a kings ransom in the day. Comparable for me at the time was bog standard 640k & a CGA card (using my Amiga's 1081).
Probably won't get many callers but I don't really care :)
For the first incarnation of Cottonwood BBS as a dial-up BBS running in Portland, Oregon, I was a 12-year-old SysOp. :)
I called a few PC boards back then, but I never really cared for them much. I much preferred the "feel" of the Commodore boards. :)
... and I still do! ;)
Quote from: Andrew Wiskow on November 04, 2008, 02:35 AM
For the first incarnation of Cottonwood BBS as a dial-up BBS running in Portland, Oregon, I was a 12-year-old SysOp. :)
I called a few PC boards back then, but I never really cared for them much. I much preferred the "feel" of the Commodore boards. :)
I migrated the board fairly early off my A1000 to the XT (still as an Amiga board though) mainly because the quality of software for the PC tended to be somewhat higher (probably start a flame war now). I tended to prefer to call BBS's based on PC's as well as they were (in general) faster & somewhat more customisable than competing platforms.
Horses for courses perhaps.
Lance
I called up the BBS tonight using Vic-20 and a homebrew TTL to RS232 convertor.
I was using Vic Term 40 as terminal program, running as rom image from MegaCart.
Dial up bbs on Vic-20 brought back some great memories.
My first dial up calls were made circa 1983 with Vic-20 and using a telephone company surplus 110bps modem.
(The modem weighed about 20 lbs and was 12" x 12" x 8" high).
My first one was a 300 baud fully manual job - in fact it was even connected to a dumb terminal :) Wyse 50 or something IIRC
Quote from: 6502Dude on November 04, 2008, 12:59 PM
I called up the BBS tonight using Vic-20 and a homebrew TTL to RS232 convertor.
I was using Vic Term 40 as terminal program, running as rom image from MegaCart.
6502Dude, congrats on getting it to work. :)
It was fun chatting with you, if only briefly. I hope you enjoyed your trip back in time. :)
Quote from: Blacklord on November 04, 2008, 02:27 PM
My first one was a 300 baud fully manual job - in fact it was even connected to a dumb terminal :) Wyse 50 or something IIRC
My first modem was a Commodore 1660 (300 baud) modem. My first "online experience" was with QuantumLink. I "discovered" BBS's a couple weeks later. :)
Same here. My first was a 1660. It was like discovering a new dimension or something. Listen to a dial process, then wow... characters starting to stream across my screen. From some other computer out there. awesome. Then a 1670 and the game was on. Soon I found that 2400 Aprotek modem, which to this day is still an oddity to me as my understanding is that a 64 cant reliably do 2400 bps, yet it managed to do a very good job. I never got a Switflink or T232 - after the 128 I went to an Amiga 500, where 19.2 was the norm.
So if there are any other Tennessee folks out there considering a C= board, Im your first caller. I tossed the idea around of running my own as stated, but again.. I think I have more fun being a caller.
Speaking of connectivity though... I build a 7404 adapter for the userport, and it worked fine awhile back. When I recently got everything out again, I couldnt get a connection. Can you guys help refresh my memory - do I need a null modem adapter as well? (seems logical that I would) I thought for sure I would have packed that up with everything if I needed it, but I cant find it in that stuff anywhere.
I'm ever so slightly envious of you guys. My first online experience was surfing the web at university in 1995, using Netscape on a Mac of some kind.
When I had a C64 (and later an Amiga) in the 80s, I knew about modems and I knew you could connect to other computers over the phone lines but I didn't know about BBSs or anything. Besides, call rates were so high in Sweden back then that my parents would never have let me connect the computer to the phone line anyway.
My first time on a BBS with a Commodore was a couple of years ago when I used my C128 with RR-Net and GuruTerm to connect to a telnet BBS.
Well I successfully telneted into the XT tonight, so I only have, oh, half a million more menus to write & it'll be back online :)
Quote from: Blacklord on November 04, 2008, 07:22 PM
Well I successfully telneted into the XT tonight, so I only have, oh, half a million more menus to write & it'll be back online :)
Only half a million? :D
I suggest going live with generic menus and improving them incrementally as you go.
For example:
1. Do Stuff
2. Do Different Stuff
3. Do Something Different than 1 & 2
etc...
N. Go Back to Previous Menu
Then people can have the adventure of exploring themselves. Maybe even make it interactive, so if they, for example, choose '3' and that turns out to be the 'Profile' menu, they can go back a level and edit '3' to say '3. Profile'. That way they can all feel empowered!
Honestly, sometimes I don't know what you people would do without me. ???
Note to Golan: This is a high-content post. Please count as such, since I know you are keeping score. :police:
Quote from: Andrew Wiskow on November 05, 2008, 02:09 AM
Quote from: Blacklord on November 04, 2008, 07:22 PM
Well I successfully telneted into the XT tonight, so I only have, oh, half a million more menus to write & it'll be back online :)
Only half a million? :D
Yeah - give or take a mil either side :)
Quote from: airship on November 05, 2008, 04:19 AM
I suggest going live with generic menus and improving them incrementally as you go.
For example:
1. Do Stuff
2. Do Different Stuff
3. Do Something Different than 1 & 2
etc...
N. Go Back to Previous Menu
Then people can have the adventure of exploring themselves. Maybe even make it interactive, so if they, for example, choose '3' and that turns out to be the 'Profile' menu, they can go back a level and edit '3' to say '3. Profile'. That way they can all feel empowered!
Honestly, sometimes I don't know what you people would do without me. ???
Note to Golan: This is a high-content post. Please count as such, since I know you are keeping score. :police:
How about totally p**sing people off by changing the look & feel every other day & chaging the software weekly too ? Keep people guessing :)
Quote from: Blacklord on November 05, 2008, 05:08 AMHow about totally p**sing people off by changing the look & feel every other day & changing the software weekly, too? Keep people guessing.
Nah, that's what this board is for.
Quote from: airship on November 05, 2008, 05:47 AM
Quote from: Blacklord on November 05, 2008, 05:08 AMHow about totally p**sing people off by changing the look & feel every other day & changing the software weekly, too? Keep people guessing.
Nah, that's what this board is for.
Fine - next week we'll be using PHPBB, then after that back to PunBB then after that I'll build a flat text file job.........
How's that sound ?
Quote from: Blacklord on November 05, 2008, 05:08 AMHow about totally p**sing people off by changing the look & feel every other day & chaging the software weekly too ? Keep people guessing :)
Nah, if you really wanted to make people upset, then you could jumble the commands... For example, have the command for the message base send people to the file transfer section. The command for the file transfers sends people to online games... And so on...
On second thought... Don't do that. :P
Quote from: Andrew Wiskow on November 05, 2008, 04:26 PM
Quote from: Blacklord on November 05, 2008, 05:08 AMHow about totally p**sing people off by changing the look & feel every other day & chaging the software weekly too ? Keep people guessing :)
Nah, if you really wanted to make people upset, then you could jumble the commands... For example, have the command for the message base send people to the file transfer section. The command for the file transfers sends people to online games... And so on...
On second thought... Don't do that. :P
Roll on April 1 :)
Bloody hell it's not fun finding 20 year old (or older) doors & utilities for this little effort......
Now, I need some willing victims to do external testing for me...... <hint, hint>
The next person to sign up for a new account on Borderline BBS will be user #50. In these times, I'd say 50 users on a dial-up BBS in just under a year isn't half bad. ;)
How about connecting a cellphone like a Blackberry or a Pocket PC based pda phone onto the C64 and use the service's free nights and weekend mins? I remember connecting my old Blackberry 7120 (later a Motorola Q Global) to my laptop and use the cellphone's internet access for the laptop to access the internet. If there is a device that allow you to connect the C64 through serial to a mini usb plug (which a lot of pda phone uses that kind of jack), perhaps there is a way to get the cellphone to function like a modem? That way, most cellphone service's nights and weekend mins are usually free and won't have to worry about long distance charge. Well, just a thought anyway.
F14DUDE, yes, that's a thought... And a good one, too! ;)
There have been a few people who have successfully called in to Borderline BBS using a cell phone modem, so it is possible.
I'm happy to announce that Borderline BBS is now running on a CMD hard drive instead of the 1581 and seven 1571s that it's been running on for some time now. This means that the file transfer section is vastly bigger now, with plenty of room for additional files to be added. It also means that I'll probably be saving a bit on my electricity bill. ;)
Check out the "new and improved" Borderline BBS by calling +1(951)242-3593. For more information, visit the Cottonwood/Borderline website (the URL is in my signature, below).
Quote from: Andrew Wiskow on March 19, 2009, 07:25 AMI'm happy to announce that Borderline BBS is now running on a CMD hard drive...
Sweet! :)
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
Notacon 6 / Blockparty 3 on April 16-19
http://www.notacon.org , http://www.demoparty.us
Many, many thanks to Robert for selling me his "spare" CMD HD. :)
BTW, Robert... That CMD HD-40 still had its original 40MB mechanism in it. I replaced it with an 80MB mechanism that I have. I could install a 4GB mechanism in it if I upgrade the ROM inside of it, but I don't anticipate needing to do that since 80MB really is a TON of space for a Commodore BBS, even if it doesn't sound like much by today's standards. :)
Quote from: Andrew Wiskow on March 19, 2009, 04:05 PMThat CMD HD-40 still had its original 40MB mechanism in it.
Ah-ha, I did not know that. After all, it was just a spare. :)
QuoteI replaced it with an 80MB mechanism that I have. I could install a 4GB mechanism in it if I upgrade the ROM inside of it...
Those 4 gig SCSI mechanisms are much in demand by knowing CMD hard drive owners and by classic Amiga users.
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
Notacon 6 / Blockparty 3 on April 16-19
http://www.notacon.org , http://www.demoparty.us
Quote from: RobertB on March 19, 2009, 04:22 PMThose 4 gig SCSI mechanisms are much in demand by knowing CMD hard drive owners and by classic Amiga users.
I have one here that one of the guys gave me at MossyCon3. So I do have one, should the need for it arise. :)