Anyone else remember the computer bulletin board systems of old?
I frequented the Cincinnati BBS's as a teenager in the late '80s and early '90s. Did anyone else live in an area where people on BBS's would constantly accuse each other of software piracy, when they had no proof? That was the worst thing you could accuse someone of around here. It was worse than being called a fascist or a communist.
One afternoon, a sysop of one of the BBS's called me personally (not my parents) impersonating a Cincinnati Bell security employee and falsely accused me of trashing his BBS. Later, he was busted for wire fraud for distributing pirated software (which he had accused everyone else of doing).
Never had I encountered so many self-righteous, whiny losers wrapped up in aggrieved privilege as I did on local BBS's. It was like Facebook, only worse.
I remember a lot of colorful flamewars too. I remember parts of their messages verbatim, like the one that started, "HELLO ALL YOU SNOT-FACED ASSES."
It all came crashing down in the mid-'90s when a corrupt sheriff raided a bunch of BBS's (some of which were in other counties and states) and accused them of distributing porn. It turned out that the cops on his task force ran BBS's that sold premium services that competed with those sold by the BBS's that were raided.
Raise your hand if you thought this thread was going to be about services signs.
That's a good portion of what early Prodigy Online was. Good luck trying to get any factual information on those gaming boards, there was nothing but constant web trolling that couldn't be factually verified without trial and error.
Quote from: roadman on August 26, 2019, 02:24:26 PM
Raise your hand if you thought this thread was going to be about services signs.
I thought this would be about the blue signs they use on European freeways.
Quote from: ozarkman417 on August 26, 2019, 02:41:03 PM
Quote from: roadman on August 26, 2019, 02:24:26 PM
Raise your hand if you thought this thread was going to be about services signs.
I thought this would be about the blue signs they use on European freeways.
Heh...I knew exactly was since I was around for the nether ages of online social media. My Dad was a marketing guy for Prodigy and used "BBS" as an acronym all the time. I'm kind of surprised the term fell out of use since forums like this are eventually an evolution of the concept.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 26, 2019, 02:44:47 PM
Quote from: ozarkman417 on August 26, 2019, 02:41:03 PM
Quote from: roadman on August 26, 2019, 02:24:26 PM
Raise your hand if you thought this thread was going to be about services signs.
I thought this would be about the blue signs they use on European freeways.
Heh...I knew exactly was since I was around for the nether ages of online social media. My Dad was a marketing guy for Prodigy and used "BBS" as an acronym all the time. I'm kind of surprised the term fell out of use since forums like this are eventually an evolution of the concept.
That couldn't have been too surprising coming out of me given my age. Windows XP was released 2 years before I was born. Technology sure gets better quickly.
Quote from: ozarkman417 on August 26, 2019, 03:00:01 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 26, 2019, 02:44:47 PM
Quote from: ozarkman417 on August 26, 2019, 02:41:03 PM
Quote from: roadman on August 26, 2019, 02:24:26 PM
Raise your hand if you thought this thread was going to be about services signs.
I thought this would be about the blue signs they use on European freeways.
Heh...I knew exactly was since I was around for the nether ages of online social media. My Dad was a marketing guy for Prodigy and used "BBS" as an acronym all the time. I'm kind of surprised the term fell out of use since forums like this are eventually an evolution of the concept.
That couldn't have been too surprising coming out of me given my age. Windows XP was released 2 years before I was born. Technology sure gets better quickly.
I don't know about that. Things were usually far less buggy back then and didn't require constant patches or updates. DOS code was way easier to work with and make reliable changes to. Now the problem is that there are so many advances in software and operating systems that it's almost impossible to reliably bug check them.
Quote from: roadman on August 26, 2019, 02:24:26 PM
Raise your hand if you thought this thread was going to be about services signs.
:wave:
Quote from: roadman on August 26, 2019, 02:24:26 PM
Raise your hand if you thought this thread was going to be about services signs.
This thread is in Off-Topic. It's going to be about anything
but that, really.
Quote from: MNHighwayMan on August 26, 2019, 04:57:29 PM
Quote from: roadman on August 26, 2019, 02:24:26 PM
Raise your hand if you thought this thread was going to be about services signs.
This thread is in Off-Topic. It's going to be about anything but that, really.
I hardly ever pay attention to what sub-forum a particular thread is in before I click on it. So I literally didn't know this was in Off-Topic until I just now read your post.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 26, 2019, 04:01:35 PM
Quote from: ozarkman417 on August 26, 2019, 03:00:01 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 26, 2019, 02:44:47 PM
Quote from: ozarkman417 on August 26, 2019, 02:41:03 PM
Quote from: roadman on August 26, 2019, 02:24:26 PM
Raise your hand if you thought this thread was going to be about services signs.
I thought this would be about the blue signs they use on European freeways.
Heh...I knew exactly was since I was around for the nether ages of online social media. My Dad was a marketing guy for Prodigy and used "BBS" as an acronym all the time. I'm kind of surprised the term fell out of use since forums like this are eventually an evolution of the concept.
That couldn't have been too surprising coming out of me given my age. Windows XP was released 2 years before I was born. Technology sure gets better quickly.
I don't know about that. Things were usually far less buggy back then and didn't require constant patches or updates. DOS code was way easier to work with and make reliable changes to. Now the problem is that there are so many advances in software and operating systems that it's almost impossible to reliably bug check them.
We've gotten to the point where nobody actually understands how their technology works...and that's a bad thing, in my opinion. I remember learning the basics of how a VHS or a CD worked, for example. Almost no one has any idea how the iPhone in their pocket works.
Quote from: US 89 on August 26, 2019, 06:36:25 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 26, 2019, 04:01:35 PM
Quote from: ozarkman417 on August 26, 2019, 03:00:01 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 26, 2019, 02:44:47 PM
Quote from: ozarkman417 on August 26, 2019, 02:41:03 PM
Quote from: roadman on August 26, 2019, 02:24:26 PM
Raise your hand if you thought this thread was going to be about services signs.
I thought this would be about the blue signs they use on European freeways.
Heh...I knew exactly was since I was around for the nether ages of online social media. My Dad was a marketing guy for Prodigy and used "BBS" as an acronym all the time. I'm kind of surprised the term fell out of use since forums like this are eventually an evolution of the concept.
That couldn't have been too surprising coming out of me given my age. Windows XP was released 2 years before I was born. Technology sure gets better quickly.
I don't know about that. Things were usually far less buggy back then and didn't require constant patches or updates. DOS code was way easier to work with and make reliable changes to. Now the problem is that there are so many advances in software and operating systems that it's almost impossible to reliably bug check them.
We've gotten to the point where nobody actually understands how their technology works...and that's a bad thing, in my opinion. I remember learning the basics of how a VHS or a CD worked, for example. Almost no one has any idea how the iPhone in their pocket works.
Exactly I used to be able to tinker with my computer, car and pretty much any household device until I got it working properly. Everything these days pretty much requires an expert to under, diagnose and repair. For me it's actually part of the reason I find modern tech so unappealing, I like to be able to fix my own stuff if need be. It seems like with computing these days all I'm interested in is updating stuff on my own site, looking at maps and figuring out how to get Doom 1 & 2.
Quote from: kphoger on August 26, 2019, 04:13:11 PM
Quote from: roadman on August 26, 2019, 02:24:26 PM
Raise your hand if you thought this thread was going to be about services signs.
:wave:
Yeah, if the acronym does not mean "Big Blue Sign", then what the hell else could it be?
Quote from: roadman on August 26, 2019, 02:24:26 PM
Raise your hand if you thought this thread was going to be about services signs.
Or the original Thruway signs.
I found out about the wonderful world of BBSes a year ago or so. There's still a good number of them up and active on niche communities for vintage computing.
I surfed those all the time in 9th grade, much to the chagrin of my parents.
I knew exactly what it meant when I saw the subject line, though I wondered why the possessive form of "BBS" was used.
Grocer's apostrophe. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostrophe#Greengrocers'_apostrophes)
Quote from: MNHighwayMan on August 27, 2019, 07:13:28 PM
Grocer's apostrophe. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostrophe#Greengrocers'_apostrophes)
Heh, I was trying to be semi-subtle because someone on this forum believes an apostrophe is sufficient to pluralize "BGS" and I was trying not to draw attention to that.
I would have typed "BBSes" instead.
Oh man. I miss those days. In the Joliet, IL area, we had Revelations (First it was King Diamond themed , until the sysop, who is still a good friend of mine, found jesus,) Plainfield High School's Sherwood Forest, and the trio of atari BBS's in joliet, Alcatraz (ST based), SAC Base (8- bit, RIP, Gen. Jack D. Ripper,) and The Bullpen (8-bit).
Once I bought all of The Bullpen's sysop's Atari ST computers.
The Alcatraz BBS had a game called Space Empire Elite, and one of the users in the forum was one by the handle of "The Dragon." Kid was an arrogant jerk. He was a regular player of SEE, and me, and the sysops of Alcatraz and SAC base had enough of his bullshit, so we took matters into our own hands. I went over to The Warden's house (sysop of Alcatraz,) and hung out there at 11:00 PM. The warden was monitoring the BBS at the time. Gen. Ripper called in, and trained all his forces on Space Empire Elite on the dragon. I connected locally, then the warden connected locally and did the same. Midnight hits, giving all three of us our new 20 turns for the day. I connected, the warden connected,and Gen. RIpper dialed in. We CRUSHED him decisively. 'twas a glorious thing. Dragon accused us of cheating, but we did things fair and square.
BBS's in Cincinnati included Law Talk (run by a lawyer), Information Loom, Electronic Magazine, CinchBug, Annie's, and Stardust Hotel. Annie's was the first one I was ever thrown off of. There was something called FidoNet that linked message boards of BBS's all over the world, and Cincinnati got cut off from it because there was so much abuse on Cincinnati BBS's.
Later, in the mid-'90s, the BBS's were completely shot to hell.
Quote from: vdeane on August 26, 2019, 09:49:03 PM
Quote from: roadman on August 26, 2019, 02:24:26 PM
Raise your hand if you thought this thread was going to be about services signs.
Or the original Thruway signs.
Also the original Connecticut Turnpike signs.
Also, some of the BBS's on the north side of town were very popular and would have been useful, but they were long-distance calls from northern Kentucky. Cincinnati Bell dumped on Kentucky a lot. Those were toll-free calls from Ohio, but they were long-distance from Kentucky - even though you could drive there and back within 40 minutes.
If anything was hurting business in Kentucky, it was that.
Quote from: roadman on August 28, 2019, 03:36:55 PM
Quote from: vdeane on August 26, 2019, 09:49:03 PM
Quote from: roadman on August 26, 2019, 02:24:26 PM
Raise your hand if you thought this thread was going to be about services signs.
Or the original Thruway signs.
Also the original Connecticut Turnpike signs.
Couldn't the 2nd
B stand for
Brown (used on tourist signage) as well?
Quote from: PHLBOS on August 30, 2019, 11:46:33 AM
Quote from: roadman on August 28, 2019, 03:36:55 PM
Quote from: vdeane on August 26, 2019, 09:49:03 PM
Quote from: roadman on August 26, 2019, 02:24:26 PM
Raise your hand if you thought this thread was going to be about services signs.
Or the original Thruway signs.
Also the original Connecticut Turnpike signs.
Couldn't the 2nd B stand for Brown (used on tourist signage) as well?
When I was in college, there was a bus stop on Central Grounds that was commonly referred to as the "BBS." Reason: It was a popular hangout for a lot of black students and when it became known as the "black bus stop," the black students adopted the term "BBS" for it. A Google search suggests this term is no longer in use. (Location was the right side of this Street View image; the stairs were the bigger hangout area that led to the "BBS" name (https://goo.gl/maps/WJjzMqZ1wzznDqSy8).)
I loved the BBS's where the sysops used handles like Blackbeard and Long John Silver, but expected nobody to think it was a pirate BBS.
Quote from: inkyatari on August 28, 2019, 03:21:40 PM
Oh man. I miss those days. In the Joliet, IL area, we had Revelations (First it was King Diamond themed , until the sysop, who is still a good friend of mine, found jesus,)
Wow, what's so bad about King Diamond and Mercyful Fate that someone religious can't be associated with? Sure there's some talk about Satan, but is it really that different than what is in the Bible? That's something I don't get... all this "blasphemy" could only be made by people who studied Christianity extensively in a sympathetic setting. Like how the premier Black Sabbath website has been run by a practicing Christian since the beginning.
Quote from: GCrites80s on September 03, 2019, 10:42:41 PM
Quote from: inkyatari on August 28, 2019, 03:21:40 PM
Oh man. I miss those days. In the Joliet, IL area, we had Revelations (First it was King Diamond themed , until the sysop, who is still a good friend of mine, found jesus,)
Wow, what's so bad about King Diamond and Mercyful Fate that someone religious can't be associated with? Sure there's some talk about Satan, but is it really that different than what is in the Bible? That's something I don't get... all this "blasphemy" could only be made by people who studied Christianity extensively in a sympathetic setting. Like how the premier Black Sabbath website has been run by a practicing Christian since the beginning.
Woahh.. wait a sec.. I'm not saying anything about my friend. My implication was that the name of the BBS took on a different meaning. I'm still friends with him, and while I am not a believer, he is, and he's a great guy, and I would never belittle him.
I shouldn't have gone there; it's not germane to the discussion.