BTN: Birmingham Telecommunications News COPYRIGHT 1992 ISSN 1055-4548 November 1992 Volume 5, Issue 10 Table Of Contents ----------------- Article Title Author Policy Statement and Disclaimer................Staff From The Editor................................Scott Hollifield Baud Politics: Election '92, BBS-style.........Local Sysops The BBS: Business or Hobby?....................Mark Maisel Elections? (or, Jeez, Not Again)...............Lurch Henson The Golden Pair................................Shayne Hardesty Review: BirdData v2.0.1a.......................Kelly Rosato BBS ProFile: Janet Rawlins.....................The Bishop Special Interest Groups (SIGs).................Barry Bowden Known BBS Numbers..............................Staff ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 BHM, 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 Bus System Channel 8250 Crunchy Frog DC Info Exchange F/X BBS Joker's Castle Kiriath Arba Lemon Grove Martyrdom Again?! The MATRIX The Outer Limits Owlabama BBS Owl's Nest Playground Safe Harbor Teasers Thy Master's Dungeon 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. SH ----------------------------------------------------------------------- N E W S F L A S H OUR BBS LIST GETS AN OVERHAUL! See the end of the issue. (But read the rest first.) ELECTION DAY IS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3! Yes, it's a big deal. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM THE EDITOR by Scott Hollifield "I'm Number One!" -- Truman Capote "To me, ya look like number two. Know what I mean?" -- Peter Falk from Neil Simon's Murder By Death Yes -- it's that time again. Election day? No! Beginning of the holiday season? No! Time to listen to me rant and rave within the confines of this column? No! Well, actually that last one was a lie -- it is indeed time again to listen to me rant and rave (mostly rant, admittedly). But just to provide that all-important sense of balance and parity, I'll say a few words on the other two topics as well. First of all, the election. Right here, right now, I'm going to reveal a secret which few people know about, so pay attention. The secret is that there is a hidden organization of people who exist in this country, whose aim, conscious or not, is to impose their perception of American society, culture and politics, as well as what should be done about it, upon the minds of all the rest of us innocent upstanding citizens. Am I talking about the politically correct? NO! I'm talking about the politically HIP. First, an explanation of the term. What's one of the biggest trends in this country this year? You guessed it - P.C.-bashing. Now, I'm not politically correct, nor do I claim to be. I am me-correct. However, when all this business about "political correctness" first started up - when all the pundits, commentators and common men first began flashing this phrase around - I was astounded by how fast it became a national trend. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with national trends, but they do have one disadvantage to them, and that is: Trends tend to lead to trendiness. No one minds being part of a trend, but everyone HATES being trendy. Hence the "politically hip" - the backlashers, the conforming non-conformists, the politically COUNTER-correct. Still confused? Here's a quick primer: Politically correct people believe that human civilization began with African-Americans. Politically hip people complain about how Columbus is being mistreated these days. What hogwash! Every newspaper and magazine column I've seen about Columbus this year is "In Defense of Chris", or "A Bad Rap For Columbus?". Would that *I* received such mistreatment. Politically correct people distrust the national media. Politically hip people distrust the national media except for Rush Limbaugh. The politically correct make a big deal about potentially offensive sports mascots. The politically hip make a big deal about the politically correct's big deal about this. You get the idea. We here at BTN even have an occasional member of the politically hip writing for us; his name is Lurch Henson, and we don't begrudge him. He's a fine writer and an interesting fellow - I suggest you read what he has to say. He'll tell you this month that it doesn't make any difference if you vote or not. If I were talking to one person, I'd probably say the same thing, but if I were talking to potentially hundreds of thousands of people, I'm sure I'd say something different, because although one person's vote rarely makes a difference, the vote of an entire demographic often does. I plan on voting because it's fun. It's the only sporting event that I truly take an active interest in. I guess I'm still young enough that I'm not disillusioned by politics, culture or life. Hopefully, I have a few years left in me for that. If you feel the same way, I gently offer the suggestion that you do likewise. It's free. Another thing I'm still naive about is Christmas. No, I don't believe in Santa Claus, but I still do believe in the spirit of the season, which I suppose is just as bad. Of course, being a child of the '80s, I'm highly motivated by image and icon, so it's no wonder that seeing Christmas decorations jacks my mood up a couple of notches. That's why I'm one of the few people who don't complain about seeing Christmas begin early. As if, after seeing the same old shopping mall for ten months, it's a big deal if they change the way things look for the remainder of the year, you know? (Complaining about Christmas decorations is, naturally, politically hip.) I have a feeling, though, that it goes a little bit deeper than simply being put off by gaudy spectacle. I think it's possible that seeing Christmas decorations reminds people, down deep somewhere, of something that they don't want to think about. I think it annoys people that the holiday gets a jump on them - they'd rather get THEMSELVES in the mood for it, and THEN see the decorations. Having Christmas decorations around when you don't feel Christmas-y can't be too much fun. Of course, I'm flexible that way. Well, okay, so let's get to this month's issue. Yep, it's my second issue as editor of BTN, and you'll notice that I kept my promise of making it larger than last month. One of the more notable pieces in this month's BTN, I feel, is Shayne Hardesty's paen to shopping for new shoes. I remember when I was young enough to feel the urge to write about every trivial thing that happened to me, and write passionately about it at that. The rest of it is also similarly high quality work from the city's most top-rated telecommunications writers. Enjoy their fruits, and note that all cash contributions should be directed to my address. (Oh yes, I promised BTN's first ever presidential endorsement. Well, truthfully, there was no getting around this -- I either have to name a serious candidate and end up looking pretentious, or come up with someone completely goofy and off-the-wall, and end up looking, well, pretentious. So in lieu of that, BTN hereby forfeits its endorsement and encourages you, if you vote, to vote your mind, heart, soul and conscience. And please don't drink and vote.) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- --------- BAUD POLITICS --------- Birmingham's sysops speak their minds about the Presidential Election --------- Responses compiled by Scott Hollifield --------- Editor's Note: I asked local sysops to name who they endorse for President of the United States, and why, in 30 words or less. As you might well imagine, my length restriction was a bit on the tight side, and many of the respondents went on to defy the 30-word limit. Good on 'em -- that's what America's all about. If you're a local sysop, and I passed you over somehow, my apologizes; I did make an effort to reach every sysop I had on record. Now - on with it! --------- "I do not support George Bush. I dislike his oppressive policies, his failed conservative trickle-down economic policies (his failure to even notice that an economic crisis is occurring), his tax increases and increases in user fees that only seem to affect the middle class, and his broad-based discrimination against Indians, Gays, Blacks and people with disabilities." Bill Freeman Sysop, Adanet One "Frankly, I think we have a poor lot to choose from, thus cannot endorse any of the candidates. As a case of 'lesser of evils' Bush will have to get my vote." Maggie Harden Sysop, Alter Ego "I do not support Clinton because he is so flimsy in his statments. I do not support King Perot because big busines needs to stay out of government. VOTE REPUBLICAN!" Thor Sysop, Asgard "Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and the republicans have raped this country. Under the many years of republican control, the primary goal as I see it is for the rich to get richer and the poor to get even poorer. I do not know if Bill Clinton can solve the problems or even keep them from getting worse, but I KNOW that he can not do any worse. The only jobs a person can find now are ones that will not pay enough to make ends meet. It's time for a change." Omega Ohm Sysop, Byte Me! "I do not endorse any political candidate for President of the United States. However, my own personal vote will be for George Bush based basically upon his understanding of the constitution, his economic theory and his reluctance to rely upon race envy." Jeff Brumlow Sysop, Christian Apologetic Board (C.A.B.) "I support none of those Three Stooges posing as candidates." Wizkid Sysop, Datalynx "At this time I would vote for Bush. Don't get me wrong, I don't think he is really that much better than Clinton, but from what I have read, and heard, Bush would do 'less' to hurt the veterans and the general public. The reason I use the word "less" is that I don't think we really have a good choice for president, and I feel that Clinton would do a worse job than Bush. Lesser of evils, one might say.." Lee Harden Sysop, The Den "Of the three candidates running, my pick would be Perot. His strategy of pulling out for the summer and letting the other candidates 'cover themselves with mud' is, IMHO, brilliant. That's the kind of strategy we need in our relations with other nations." James Corbitt Sysop, Deep Space Nine "I am going to vote for President Bush. While I am not particularly pleased with his performance for the past four years, I see no one that is as qualified running. Also, the next president may be replacing up to four justices on the Supreme Court. I certainly do not want Bill Clinton picking them!" Henry McGraw Sysop, Drawing Room "I endorse Bush/Quayle. Clinton has a number of endorsements from special interest groups that I don't think is appropriate and may be indicative of where our taxes may go to. Perot is a good board chairman but I don't think he could rally enough Democratic or Republican support necessary to get the country back on track." Larry Linville Sysop, Genesis Online "I most likely will vote for Ross Perot. He in my opinion is the most likely of candidates to attack the national debt with vigor and have an impact over the next 4 years. We the American tax payers are the ones who will have to pay and I would prefer to start paying now rather than wait for Clinton or Bush to squander monies over the next few years and the debt continue to increase. This problem is so huge we need to address it now while it can be managed. Ross Perot is the most sincere candidate we have at this time." Jerry Hayden Sysop, Hoots With Owls "I endorse Perot. He has the experience in business to handle the financial matters of the government, plus administrative experience to make the two parties come together." Intruder Sysop, Intruder Enterprizes "If I had to chose today, I suppose I would have to say I'm supporting Perot. Why? Again, I suppose, at this juncture I have to relate back to the old quote 'if there's no one (thing) you want to vote for, vote against some one (thing).' I firmly feal Bush and Clinton are programmed politicians, caring for little more than getting re-elected or instituting their pet (read -- lobbyist faction with the most money) policies; perhaps we need someone to shake things up a bit, that leaves Perot -- a business man cum polititian." Rick Morgan Sysop, Joker's Castle "I am a Bush supporter. If anyone has noticed Mr. Clinton is yet to say how he is going to do all the things he promises, and now that he seems to be leading in the polls the interest rates have gone up to over 9% again. Mainly, I do not support anyone who would be unwilling to serve in defense of our country as Mr. Clinton did. Another thing, if Mr. Clinton applied for a high security government job with his background, he would be denied, and people want to put him in charge of the most delicate security position available in the country." Vikki Highfield Sysop, Magnolia "Clinton/Gore because Gore particularly has for years pushed to fund the National Data Backbone, and electronic equivalent of the Interstate Highway system." Rocky Rawlins Sysop, The Matrix "I think Perot would be a real change, probably either very, very good or disasterous. The thing I like most about Perot and Stockdale is that they seem to be focused on the real problem, which is the national deficit and deficit spending, instead of getting willingly sidetracked into, admittedly important, but lesser issues such as abortion rights. So I'll probably vote for either Perot or who ever the Libertarian candidate might be...At the moment I feel relatively sure that I don't want to vote for either the Republican or Democratic offerings." Marlin Johnson Sysop, Metaboard "George Bush - lesser of the evil. Perot is a good businessman but the country *obviously* isn't run like a business." Lamar Smith Sysop, Night Watch "I endorse Bill Clinton for President in 1992. While I am not a Democrat, I cannot stand to watch the country continue on the route to self-destruction that we are taking. I am willing to give the Democrats four years to prove what they can do with a united government." Asengar Sysop, Nirvana "I think I'll vote for George Bush. I really don't agree with a lot of things he's done but Bill Clinton is just too liberal for my tastes. Ross Perot is OK, and I was seriously considering voting for him before he dropped out back in July, but that changed my mind. Now I don't think he stands a chance." James Minton Sysop, Outer Limits "I will be voting for Perot, because he is the only candidate that will admit that things are a mess and it is going to be painful to fix it." Leaping Lotharious Sysop, Owlabama Mensa "Two weeks from E-Day, I am still undecided, but leaning towards the Republicans. The alternative is more government, more spending, and a bleaker future for America." Anita Abney Sysop, Party Line "I will go with Clinton... First of all he is more open about the subject of abortion, and I like his view. Secondly, I believe that 'busch' [sic] has proven himself incapable of being a world figure as he goes around attacking an opponent's character - not acceptable a World leadership role. As for his economics -- CANT be any worse than what the last 4 years did." Bill Knaffl Sysop, The Playground "I am voting for Andre Marrou, Libertarian candidate. I believe that the Demopublicans have lost sight of what our limited form of government means. Thomas Jefferson said, 'The government that governs best governs least,' and we sure have forgotten that! The Libertarians want a federal government that protects our rights and freedoms, and defends us against enemies foreign and domestic. No foreign aid, no loan guarantees, no bureaucracy, no undue burden on the taxpayers." Mark Bodenhausen Sysop, Quiet Zone [Editor's Note: Mark Bodenhausen is a Libertarian candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives.] "Well, I am voting for Bush. I am not very pleased with his performance, but I am scared to death of the added taxes that Clinton and Perot have both said they will impose if they are elected." Steve Turner Sysop, ST BBS "As for who I support in the presidential elections.....for awhile it was Morris the Cat (seriously), but then I hear a compelling argument that MIGHT shift my support, I haven't fully decided yet. It was 'Vote for Cthulu, why vote for the lesser Evil?' None of the candidates, in my opinion, are worth voting for, or against, this time around. I'd probably go for Bush, since he's a known, if I were going to bother to vote this time around. Not worth it though." Lurch Henson Co-sysop, Teasers "My endorsement goes to Bill Clinton mainly because of his stand on gay rights but also because after twelve years of Republican presidents, our economy just can't take anymore. Our national debt and federal spending has skyrocketed under the present administration. 'Read my lips' is too little, too late." Festus Sysop, Torch Song "George Bush. He did not raise taxes, the CONGRESS did, which is predominantly DEMOCRATIC. I want to clean out the congress, and keep a Republican in office." Goldblade Sysop, Viper's Pit "Well, it's a very hard decision to make. If Ross Perot would not have dropped out then he would definately have my vote, but the fact that he dropped out just plainly shows that when the 'going gets tough', Perot doesn't get it going. So, Clinton is going to get my vote... I'm not happy with that, but he is the lesser of two evils. Bush can forget it. If Perot would be Clinton's vice-president, I would be very comfortable with the way the country would be run." Chase Sysop, The Wanderer "Personally I like Ross Perot. While Bush has had a good policy in dealing with other countries, I have not been happy with his domestic decisions. I do not like Clinton at all!!!!" Willie Moore Sysop, Willie's Dial-Your-Match ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The BBS: Business or Hobby? by Mark Maisel You know, I've beaten a subject nearly to death, or so I think. I've been talking lately about the changes we've been witnessing the past few years on bbs'. I did so hoping to begin some sort of discussion on a bbs about all of this. No success... This indicates one of two things: either people don't care or they haven't read any of this stuff I've written. I find the changes intriguing and I think they really deserve to be aired. Am I all alone out here, for whatever reason? I think not, so I'll try once more. As I remember, bbs' started off as an extension of the hobbyist heyday of micro-computing. I've still got an old acoustic coupler modem. For those of you unfamiliar, I'm sure some old timer will be glad to ramble about it endlessly on your behalf, if prompted. When I got involved with modems, I had a TI-99/4a, and used to go to a friend's house to play with his 110/300 baud wonder of wonders. It was attached to a Commodore VIC-20. To dial out, you used the telephone, and when you got an answer, you flipped a switch on the modem and then hung up the phone. It usually worked. There were a few boards in town, but before I found those, we would call up someone else with a modem just for the novelty of typing back and forth to each other, marveling at the idea and technology. Once we managed to write or acquire something with a transfer protocol, we used to swap little BASIC or assembler programs we'd written. The TI didn't last much longer because it was so expensive to expand it. I got a VIC-20 and modem of my own. I remember that modem very well. It was a "Mighty Mo" ($110) and could even dial out. It was real fancy, for its time. The software coming with it made no allowance for file transfer, however, so that was frustrating. None of the other software available for other modems would work with "Mighty Mo" at first, because much of its innards were proprietary. Eventually, someone figured it out and managed file transfers. By that time, I'd moved up to a Commodore 64 and 1200 baud Volksmodem ($225). I thought I was really doing something when I experienced a 4 fold increase in transmission speed. Reflecting on the time, I suppose I was. By that time, there were lots of bbs', though nothing like the thousands in existence today. At this stage, things were still geared toward the hobbyist. I got frustrated by the growing presence of IBM compatible machines, primarily because they worked in 80 columns and my C64 would only display 40. I got around this eventually with a nifty terminal program I snagged off of Compuserve that generated an optional 80 column display. I stayed with this system for a long time. It did everything I needed at the time. I didn't even consider an IBM compatible machine till Kathy graduated from college. As her major was accounting, she wanted something that would run Lotus 1-2-3. I had wanted an Amiga, a fairly new machine at the time. It had great graphics and sound unlike anything else on the market. It would not run 1-2-3 so I didn't get one for her graduation, and instead purchased an Everex 286-8mhz clone with EGA, and a mighty 30 megabyte hard drive. With this system also came a new modem. An Everex internal 2400 baud modem ($245) was an option I elected to purchase. I thought I'd been speedy before, but this thing was incredible. It suddenly became worthwhile to spend time on bbs' downloading files. It didn't take any time at all, hahahahaha. Another useful feature of this modem was that it had a speaker! I could actually listen to the carrier tones and connection. What a treat! I look back on that machine and modem with fondness. It enabled me to do things I'd never tried with a computer. It also marked a drastic change for me from primarily programming my own stuff to using that written by others. I purchased Turbo Pascal 3.0 for my use but never did much with it. By the time I'd purchased the 286, there was so much good software already written, I couldn't imagine writing it any better myself. I quickly became sold on the relatively new concept of shareware. Most of the software I used for years was shareware. I still use quite a bit of it, and much of the commercial software I use today had its origins in shareware. I tried several terminal packages and settled on Procomm. I used it as shareware until it finally became commercial and it is still on a machine in use. I switched to QModem right about the time it became commercial and I still use it. For you trivia buffs, the Crunchy Frog's node 2 is that ole 286. I gave it to Kathy to replace the XT she had been using for the Frog back when it was running only one node. She plugged in the 286 and it became node 2 when she decided to expand to two nodes. She used and is using a 386sx to serve the Frog. Anyway, I got a chance to purchase a used US Robotics HST ($300) after I'd been using the Everex modem for a year or two. The HST would run as fast as 9600 baud when connected to one of its own kind. Once again, I thought the increase phenomenal, and it was another 4 fold increase over what I'd had. I used that modem for about 3 years and eventually sold it. I then went on to purchase a Supra FAXModem. This thing runs as fast as 14,400 baud and is my current modem. I thought that surely things couldn't get any faster on a conventional phone line. The phone companies had been telling us it was impossible for years, even to achieve 2400 baud. Not to be too harsh on them there are still people who are otherwise regarded as intelligent that think the earth is flat. The Supra is a pretty good modem, though I've had some trouble connecting to a few other modems with which is compatible. I write most of that off to the way the sysops have their modems set. One other thing about the Supra is that its speaker has mysteriously died. I'd send it back to be repaired but I hate to do without it for the time it is going to take. Anyway, that is about it for my rambling. You now have an idea of the roads I've traveled, how I got where I am, and where that is. The bbs' in Birmingham grew in number pretty quickly as the price of 8-bit Atari and Commodore machines came within reach of more folks, and as more folks decided to learn about computers. About the time these systems started gaining some sophistication, the IBM-PC clone had become a marketing phenomenon, bringing with it, much faster and fancier hardware & software. There are still some old Atari and Commodore systems around but they don't see the level of traffic they did at one time. The clone folks experimented with various packages including Genesis, RBBS, and PC Board. There were others but none ever was so widely accepted around Birmingham as PC Board. It was curious how different cities around the country seemed to pretty much standardize on a particular package. Birmingham to this day remains pretty much a PC Board town. Wildcat! has made a pretty good leap from anonymity in the past year too, but PC Board is still the top dog, volume-wise. Anyway, every day, more and more folks discovered bbs' in Birmingham and we chatted away. I primarily involved myself in discussions of current events and answering questions about computer hardware & software. As more people came online, they began to come from less technically oriented backgrounds, and to have more diverse opinions. I enjoyed these trends immensely. One day, a bbs called Pinson Valley (at the time, Apple Valley), began to carry a collection of conferences shared with lots of different bbs' all across the country. This message network, Interlink (tm), was certainly an interesting opportunity. The audience was much wider in depth and volume. There was even an offline mail reading system, available since it was nearly impossible to participate in any significant number of conferences within a reasonable amount of time. I tried this system and didn't like it at all. It was cumbersome, slow, and not at all convenient for me. It left a bad taste in my mouth for offline mail reading schemes for years. Just as things were getting cranked up good for Pinson Valley and local Interlink (tm) usage, Pinson Valley had to go down. Shortly thereafter, a small group of sysops and hangers-on were invited to a party. At that party, the concept of EZNet was born. I won't go into detail here but EZNet was the only message sharing going on in Birmingham for at least a few years. It was all local too. I found it handy and I continue to do so. It is a great way to get a message out to folks on many different bbs' in town. It was with these two events that I began to think about what might lie ahead for bbs'. EZNet had no particular cost to the sysop above and beyond existing expenses, but Interlink (tm) involved nightly calls to a hub for mail transfers. Somewhere along the way, long distance call charges were being run up, and there needed to be a way to pay for them; other than the sheer generosity of the sysop calling. With Interlink (tm) and others like it, also came rules. People who rose to positions of authority, influence, or what-have-you within various networks, along with sysops who passed on their expenses via subscriptions, began to have a vested interest in making bbs' more than just a hobby. Message networks and access to "the newest programs (files)" could easily be marketed as value added or enhanced services, for which a fee could be charged. These things did happen though Birmingham was slow to accept this change. This also fell hand in hand with the slowness of national and international message networks to come here. Long established message networks like RIME and FIDO didn't get here until fairly recent times, given my time scale. As I recall, the first one to come after our brief brush with Interlink was Metrolink, and this was on Channel 8250. Once the Channel had hooked up, the idea of being part of a big message network caught on like wildfire. Many sysops bought into it because they thought it necessary to attract callers of quality (those who are active in message bases), and because they could generally get into cheaply. The cheapness came from the fact that early network members in Birmingham generally allowed any other local sysop to transfer network mail with them. On the matter of bbs access becoming a business transaction, the first attempt that met with any success in Birmingham was America Online (tm). Yes, that was the name, and through amazing foresight, the sysops, Rocky Rawlins and Tom Egan registered the name as a trademark. They sold the name to the commercial venture of the same name a few years back. Anyone want to purchase the name, "The MATRIX (tm)"? To their credit, they allowed anyone access to the system whether or not they'd paid. That access was limited to 30 minutes per day, initially; hardly sufficient time to access the huge system they'd put together. That huge system and limited time was the incentive offered to get folks to pay for additional time. It worked. They were able to break even most of the time, which was the stated goal, as I recall. Several systems tried to emulate this success but none quite made it since there remained so many free systems in Birmingham. Another reason why America Online (tm) made it, I think, is because the resources dedicated to the system were beyond anything that anyone else in town was doing or could afford to do. Prices for computers and bbs related hardware continued to fall. This enabled more sysops to have more than one phone line for the use of callers, as well as giving them more money to use for long distance calls for network mail & files. Folks kept on trying to compete against or at least duplicate the success of The MATRIX (tm), but the lower prices allowed it to keep on expanding at the same time as others were just reaching the original dimensions of the old America Online (tm). Additionally, the number of free bbs' continued to grow, thus making it even more difficult for those who sought to profit or at least make their systems self-sustaining. Outside of Birmingham, in both rural and urban areas, bbs' that charged a fee were becoming widely accepted as the standard. There were and are lots of bbs' tossed up by the hobbyists but most don't tend to last very long. This last statement is true for Birmingham though there are many free hobbyist boards up and running that have been doing so for several years. The "for- fee" bbs' seemed to have made their place and it was going to get bigger. Within the last year, at least two other bbs', Baudville and Genesis Online, have begun a seemingly successful subscription service. I'm sure that more will follow, and that they will find some market niche in which to prosper, or at least pay the bills. The changes are many and not everyone is in agreement about whether they are for the good. Lets see, we have a (possible local) tendency toward fee based bbs', huge bbs' (networks, conferences, and file libraries), a proliferation of offline mail reading and writing, and even more folks getting into bbs' that aren't necessarily computer experts, or even computer literate beyond managing to get online. If you're still with me, I'd like to talk about these changes with the idea of getting some sort of discussion going in regards to them. Is a fee based bbs a good idea? I don't know. I've subscribed to some of them in the past. I am not currently paying for access to any sort of online service. A fee based bbs can be a good thing, especially for a rural or otherwise under served area. It allows the costs to be shared among those who take advantage of the service. It may also provide a viable primary or secondary source of income for the owner(s). It has disadvantages too, at least in its infancy. Locally and abroad, I've seen systems go up, ask for money, and then disappear. Who can you call, the Better Business Bureau? Most of these systems are either ill conceived, under funded from the start, or premeditated scams. One must be a careful consumer indeed to avoid being bitten by such a system. The MATRIX (tm) recently joined the Better Business Bureau in order to instill confidence in the consumers that, yes, they will be around and accountable. A complaint I've heard about some fee based systems is that there are usually more rules and that they are more vigorously enforced. This makes sense to me since the owner is running a business, is much more exposed to liability, and has a much more vested interest in making sure potential and existing customers aren't run off by other customers who may offend. BBS' are getting larger too, especially those that charge a fee. America Online (tm) started off with three lines and now The MATRIX (tm) has 15. I'm told that more will be available soon. There are even more extraordinary examples of growth to be found across the country. The file libraries are measured in gigabytes and range among every category of files you can imagine. The numbers of conferences and message networks has grown beyond comprehension as well. The Information Age is upon us and it is a deluge. Is it easier to find something out of the ordinary by way of a conference or file? Yes, in that it is more likely to exist than previously. No, in that there is so much out there from which to choose to search, that one may easily lose track, perspective, or even interest, given the vastness of some of the systems online today. Offline mail reading and writing has been around for a long time, but only in the past few years has it really gotten popular in Birmingham. Channel 8250 lead the way by being the first, after Apple Valley, to offer offline mail service. At one time, the ability to be active in many conferences and/or on may bbs' depended on quick thinking, quick typing, and lots of spare time. It has been argued that the quality of messages has declined and the volume increased since offline mail service has removed the need for the above abilities. It has been said that there are many leaving messages now that otherwise would not do so, or at least not in the volume at present. I say that this is a two edged sword. I find offline mail service to be extremely helpful to me in remaining active on many systems and in many conferences. I have always been very active but the availability of offline service allows me much more flexibility. I can download packets of mail to read at my leisure. If I require a reference not readily at hand, I can get it without having to worry about a bbs dropping me for a lack of activity while I research. I can read whenever I feel like it and have my system automatically poll for mail when I know bbs' are least busy. The process of interaction with the bbs is completely automated for me and I can use the bbs as a tool for learning and communication without having to worry a whole lot about knowing the nuts and bolts of the tool. I can merely use it. The other edge of this sword is that I can more quickly skip over messages about things, from or to folks in whom I'm not interested. I have more sophisticated techniques available to me to find only those messages of interest to me. This is a great way to help in paring down the flow of information to a manageable portion. With the coming of so many new folks, especially those who are using computers as tools and not as ends unto themselves, there are things to be said. I rather like the diversity, though the increased volume does make it tougher to sort through the chaff to find those gems. Not everyone is an intellectual, nor is everyone in agreement. If they were, the bbs' and the world would be a dull place. There are many who seem to forget that and their complaints have been heard by me. Not everyone is a terrific comedian either, but that doesn't stop some folks from trying. Is it elitism to want the not so smart, not so agreeable, and not so funny to go away? I don't know. BBS interaction is different from the personal kind but there are similarities. There are those folks who attract others, repel others, and those who are content with the status quo, whatever it may be. Over the years, I've seen folks leave the local bbs', and many of them say they left because of the networks and all these new folks. I don't know nor do I care if this is true. I miss some of them but many more, some even more entertaining, have taken their places. There, I've spit out about as much as I can manage without some interaction. I feel better and hope that you will be interested enough to discuss this with me somewhere. I regularly call Crunchy Frog, The MATRIX, and Channel 8250, at least a few times a week. I also scan the EZNet conference that is available on several boards in a few states. I hope you've enjoyed this and to hear from you soon. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Elections? or Jeez, not again....... by Lurch Henson This article isn't going to be as popular as some of mine have been in the past, but that's ok, I'm not writing it to make anyone else happy, I'm writing it because I'm tired of seeing all this garbage on TV all the time about "YOU can make a difference....." First things first, your vote makes no difference at all. Oops, he's said something nasty.... Well, that's teh way it is. YOU do not elect the president. Ask any high school student if you don't believe me. The president is chosen by a group of men sitting in a room all by themselves, making whatever deals they want to make, and deciding, by themselves, for us, who will sit in the chair for the next four years. The only thing that the vote we cast does is act as a poll for them to look at, then decide if they want to follow public opinion, or not. They don't always do it, either. Presidential candidates have been elected by popular vote, and the other candidate has won, because these men decided we were wrong, and the other guy was better. Now, don't get me wrong, your vote CAN make a difference, it just DOESN'T. What upsets me is the way that we are lied to about it. You see all these stars on TV "talking frankly" with you from the screen, saying things like the above, "YOU can make a difference....." I see this as an insult to our intelligence. Especially for the high school students..... Unless things have changed since I went to high school, you are still taught the way things work. You still find out about the guys sitting in that room deciding things for everyone else. Then, you go home and see the stars of "90210" on the set saying things like "Let me talk to you for a sec,".... and "You know, they don't think we matter, show them that `young people' CAN make a difference." I don't know, maybe high school students are more gullible than when I was in high school, but somehow I doubt it. All this money that is being spent to lie to people on TV is crazy. Spend it somewhere that it'll do some good. Quit hiding under the candidates beds and following each other around with cameras and get to work on fixing some of the damn problems we've got in this country. There is more than enough work out there for all of the people in public office to have more than enough to do without worrying about who's telling the better lie. Jeez, people, quit pestering the Hell out of people that are tired and just want to watch a little relaxing TV when they get home at night.....we'd do alot better without having to put up with watching some billionaire buy up all the TV time he can to show infomercials about his kids...... If I wanted to be bored with home movies I'd go back to Lower Alabama and get my dad to run his videos. I for one will be REAL glad when the elections are over and done with, I CAN'T WAIT..... An no, I am not voting this time around (not surprised, are you?). Since gaining the "right" to vote, I have never once voted FOR anyone, I've only voted AGAINST. I'd vote for the guy that wasn't the one I didn't want in office, hoping that maybe it'd make a difference somewhere down the line.... This time around, I don't particularly want any of them in office, each for their own reasons. I think that they would all do more damage than I want to see done, but if I had to go with the lesser of all evils, I'd probably just hope for four more years of the same as the last four, hoping that maybe next time around someone worth the office would take a shot at it. Oh yes, one more thing.....your vote might not mean anything, might not be what puts the next guy in the big chair, but your vote DOES elect the guys below him, so in that way you can make a difference. I'm not telling anyone not to vote with this article, far from it, I'm mainly just blowing off a little steam at all the people on TV talking down to the general public. If you want to vote, please do so, but do it where it does the most good. Vote for those that make the laws, and vote for the ones that make the laws YOU want made. The most important part of our government is it's structure, NOT the idiot that sits on top. Put together a good structure and the guy on top gets less and less important.... Vote for the little stuff.....you'll find that the little things always turn out to be the most important......in everything you do. Take care of the little things in life and the big ones take care of themselves..... 9210.26 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Golden Pair by Shayne Hardesty As you may or may not know, there are three major things that a teenager really looks forward to. The first, of course, is Christmas, the time of the year where everyone paints on a happy face and bombards you with cool stuff, expecting nothing in return except a hug (there's got to be a catch somewhere). The second thing we look forward to is the glorious day when we turn sixteen, and we get a taste of freedom for the first time. And finally, the third thing we look forward to is that time when you start back to school and get that new pair of shoes. I'm sure you know the story well. Your parents pick that one day, and they save up for years for it. This is your day; the kid's day to make the decisions. The word "power" comes to mind. Anyway, you get all dressed up in your shoe-buying clothes and head down to the shoe store. You arrive on the scene and are informed that you limit is fifty dollars (yeah, right). You get out of the car, walking about twenty feet ahead of your parents so that no one thinks you're really with them. You arive in this store, which is blasting some kind of oldies music at full volume which your parents seem take some sort of odd pleasure in. So you gaily stroll around staring blankly at the walls and racks of shoes, confident that your parents are standing behind you somewhere with pocketfulls of money. After wondering around for hours, you finally come upon the wall you were looking for, the one that says, "Reebok" on it. The wall contains a couple million shoes. You spend time narrowing them down by picking them up and then listening to what your parents think is wrong with them. Then, of course, it is your parents turn to pick up the shoes for $19.95 and tell you how perfect these are for you. You turn away trying to explain to them that these shoes determine your social status for the whole next year. So you make a bold decision and decide that Reeboks might not really be what you want. Nike's? Where are they? After seaching the store you fail to find them. So you pick on one of the little bubbly, happy salesmen that is more-than-eager to help you (I wonder if these guys work on commision???) and ask him if he can help you find the Nike's. He says, "No problem, dude." and leads you through a maze of winding passageways and tunnels. When you finally come out into the light you are blinded by the millions of shoes that are on the wall ahead of you. So you spend the next four hours and finally narrow it down to that perfect pair of shoes, the shoes that were made just for you. So you pick on a happy little salesman and ask him if he has these in an eleven. He says, "I'm sure we do, let me check--I'll be back in a second." You wait there for three more hours while you can envision the clerk in the back snorting coke and laughing at you with the other salesmen, while your parents are over browsing the $9.95 discount shoes rack. After an eternity he appears from this little doorway with two boxes. One is a size seven and the other in an eighteen. He says, "Sorry, but we didn't have those in an eleven. Would you like to try this eighteen instead?" By this time you are fed up, so in the middle of throwing shoes at him you carefully explain to him that you requested an eleven, and that's all you want to see. And you pick out another pair. Not the cool shoes you wanted, but these are five dollars more expensive and not too ugly. And of course, the process is repeated. They only have these in a five and a fifteen. Now you decide that you really wanted Reeboks, so you hire a tourguide and find the Reebok wall again. And, invariably, the process is repeated. They only have the Reeboks in eights and nineteens. By this time the music is starting to eat away at your brain and you are getting fed up, and so are your parents. So in a last effort to keep your sanity you request the $29.95 pair of offbrand generics. And of course your parents make you try them on, putting the new shoe on one foot and your old shoe on the other. And of course you hear those dreaded works you hoped you were too old to hear. "Walk around in it and see how comfortable it is." So you do the "dorky shoe walk". One new shoe, one old shoe, making one lap around the little aisle where you are. You don't like the way the shoe feels, but when you tell the salesman he just explains that the shoe is new, and you are too stupid to know that new shoes have to be broken in. So you convince yourself that this is really the shoe you wanted (even though your really hate it). Your friends make sure you know of their dissaproval all year long by their constant nagging about how pathetic your shoes are. So next year you vow to get that all cool $149.95 pair of shoes that would be the envy of the whole school. Too bad they only make those in fours and you just aren't aware of it yet... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- A Review of BirdData 2.0.1a by Kelly Rosato OVERVIEW: BirdData 2.0.1 is a Windows 3.1 based package for use by aviculturists for maintaining the various records related to exotic birds. (IE: breeding, weights, pets, sales and so forth). It requires at least a 80286 based CPU with 1mb of ram, Windows 3.1 and a mouse. EVALUATION: After downloading BirdData 2.0.1 (refered from this point as BD) I unzipped the file to a work directory and proceeded to install the program. The install went smoothly, and was fairly simple. The few things that I could be improved as far as installation were small, the install is DOS based, and when installing it should step through the default directory. In my case, I did not want to install the program to C:\BIRDDATA, I wished to install to a subdirectory called C:\WINDOWS\BIRDDATA. So I had to halt the installation and restart it, being careful to instruct the install program the specified subdirectory. Once past this small hurdle, I started windows and and fired up BD. I was then asked to specify where BD's datafiles were at. This should be logged by BD during the installation for this purpose, since this is redundant. Given that most of the people that are using are more concerned with Aviculture than computers operation, this should be as streamlined as possible. Once up and running the program was simplicity itself to use, showing Mr. Bradner's admirable adherance to the Windows Programing Guidelines. With 22 iconbuttons in a tool bar on the right side of the screen representing various aspects including: Weights, Search, Print, Undo, Graph Weights, New Bird, Toolbox, African Greys, Amazons, Cockatoos, Conures, Lories, Macaws, Pionus, Poicephalus, Ringnecks, Electus, Breeding Pairs, Pets, Information, Trash. The Iconbuttons are well laidout and mostly pleasing to the eye. The toolbar itself is fair, but does not allow for and customization other than changing the Iconbuttons themselves, it would be nice to be able to dispense with icons that one does not need and be able to move the toolbar to another location if needed. I did not NEED to move the toolbar during my evaluation, but the option would be nice since I am left handed and refer to the left side for things such as in Excel where I can customize the enviroment to my taste. As I worked (I added about a 2 dozen faux birds for a test bed) It seemed that the program was slightly slow. This I can only attribute to the BASIC engine, since I have no methodology for benchmarking this type of program due to the fact it is the only one if it's type. Other than this I found nothing little that detracted from the programs simplicity, power and ease of use. The Iconbuttons cover almost every aspect of an exotic birds life, from the breeding pair and vet records to the business aspects such as purchases and sales points. If you have a computer and keep birds, this package is a godsend for keeping track of the staggering amount of data that keeping exotic birds produce. and all in all I was pleased with Mr. Bradner's work with BirdData 2.0.1. best worst RATING SCALE: EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR POOR UNACCEPTABLE PERFORMANCE: This program was tested on an AST EISA 486/25DX with a 670mb HDD, BOCA SVGA card with NCR graphics co-processor, and NEC 4D monitor. As mentioned above the performance was slower than expected considering that I was not sorting large databases (100,000 records or more) and it is not a Query By Example, "QBE" system) RATING: FAIR SUPPORT: Since BD is a shareware program and is a part time venture rather than a full blown commercial venture, BD is supported at this time only on the Bird Info Network (303-423-9775) technical assistance is a hit or miss prospect. However this is balanced by the fact that I know that since it's release Mr. Bradner has feverishly worked on fixing any bugs that have appeared. RATING: FAIR VALUE: Again BirdData 2.0.1 is Shareware and considering it's feature range and niche market, the $25.00 price is exceptionally low. Giving it a powerful Price to Performance ration. RATING: EXCELENT PROS: Nothing else of this class available, price, ease of use and some customization. CONS: Speed, installation could be simpiler. OVERALL: Good package for the money. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ProFile by The Bishop ----------- The ProFile is a light-hearted attempt at allowing the BBS community to get to know the selected user or sysop better. The harassees...er... candidates for the ProFile are selected purely by random (or maybe not - read up on 'chaos'). If anyone has any suggestions for questions to be included in the ProFile or for users to be harassed by the ProFile, then feel free to E-Mail them to me (The Bishop on Crunchy Frog, or Aaron Dees on most other boards in town)... ----------- PRO FILE: Janet Rawlins Age: Umm....oh, let's just say Thirtysomething. Birthplace: Montgomery Alabama -- home of George Wallace, Emory Folmar, racism, and of course our WONDERFUL State Legislature! Occupation: You mean aside from being a sysop? Well, when I'm not resetting nodes, validating new users, and answering messages, I'm a Medical Technologist at UAB Hospital. (at least THAT job pays something!) My hobbies include: aquariums (oscars and tiger barbs at present), cats, (5 at present), reading (novels, histories, aquarium books, etc.), and, at one time, writing sleazy stories and space romances. Years telecomputing: About 3, and I'm still nearly as computer illiterate now as I was back then. Sysop, past/present/future of: The MATRIX BBS. I be's SYSOP #2! My oddest habit is: Gee, you'll have to ask Rocky about that...... My greatest unfulfilled ambition is: To be a best-selling novelist. The single accomplishment of which I am most proud is: the first story I ever wrote. My favorite performers are: Manneheim Steamroller, Enya, and Vangelis. The last good movie I saw was: Casablanca. (believe it or not, I just recently saw it for the first time!) The last good book I read was: "In Mortal Combat" by John Toland. (It's about the Korean War.) If they were making a movie of my life, I'd like to see my part played by: Anjelica Huston. (I can dream, can't I?) My pet peeves are: (oh boy! how many do I get to list, huh?) 1. calling long-distance to validate a new user, only to find out it's a fake. 2. hearing the phone ring the EXACT moment I take my first bite of supper. 3. people who walk their dogs and let them dump on my front grass. 4. Ross Perot. 5. George Bush. 6. Bill Clinton. 7. (nah, that's enough I guess...) When nobody's looking, I like to: watch Ren & Stimpy cartoons. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SIG's (Special Interest Groups), Computer Related ------------------------------------------------- BEPCUG CCS Birmingham East PC Users Group Commodore Club South Jefferson Sate Jr. College Springville Road Library Ruby Carson Hall, Rm 114 2nd & 4th Tuesday (C64/C128) 3rd Friday, 7-9 PM 3rd Monday (Amiga) Paula Ballard 251-6058 (after 5PM) 7:30-10 PM BCCC BIPUG Birmingham Commodore Computer Club Birmingham IBM-PC Users Group POB 59564 UAB Nutrition Science Blg Birmingham, Al 35259 RM 535/541 UAB School of Education, Rm 153 1st Sunday (delayed one week 2nd and 4th Sundays, 2 PM if meeting is a holiday) Rusty Hargett 854-5172 Marty Schulman 967-5883 BACE FAOUG Birmingham Atari Computer First Alabama Osborne Users Enthusiast Group Vestavia Library, downstairs Homewood Library 2nd Monday, 7 PM 1st Saturday, 1PM Benny Brown 822-5059 Ed Purquez 669-5200 CADUB BGS/CIG CAD Users of Birmingham Birmingham Genealogical Society/ Homewood Library Computer Interest Group 3rd Tuesday, 6:30PM-8:30PM Birmingham Public Library Bobby Benson 791-0426 3rd Floor Auditorium 3rd Sunday, 2:30 PM Robert Matthews 631-9783 or Bone Yard BBS RAHSPCUG Ramsay Alternative High School PC Users Group Ramsay High School 1800 13th Avenue South last Wednesday of each month (September-April) from 3:02-3:35 Lee Nocella 581-5120 SIG's, Non-Computer Related --------------------------- BBC Birmingham Astronomy Club Blue Box Companions Subject: Astronomy Subject: Dr. Who Red Mountain Museum Annex Hoover Library 4th Tuesday, 7:30PM 1st Saturday, 2PM-5PM If you belong to or know of a user group that is not listed, please let us know by sending E-Mail to Barry Bowden on The Matrix BBS. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Known BBS Numbers For The Birmingham Area Well, as you can see, I've restructured the BBS Numbers list. The main reason I did this was that the number of networks being echoed into Birmingham became so great, the list was starting to look messy. I was also starting to run out of symbols to use. So, even though the list is now twice the number of lines it used to be, I hope people will find it easier and more convenient to use. Also, something you should know is that I had to scramble a bit to update the list. I apologize for any errors or omissions that crept in, and ask that you leave ME (Scott Hollifield) a note about it. The ideal places to do this are on Crunchy Frog or The Matrix. Letting Mark Maisel know still works, technically, but realize that this only means that he has to give it to me, stretching the process out an extra step. NAME NUMBER BAUD RATES MODEM BBS SOFTWARE SUPPORTED TYPE ADAnet One (Nodes 1-3) 854-9074 1200-2400 PCBoard 14.5 [ez, fi, ad] ADAnet One (Node 4) 854-5863 9600-14400 USR DS PCBoard 14.5 [ez, fi, ad] Alter-Ego BBS 925-5099 1200-9600 USR HST PCBoard 14.5 [ez, ml] Asgard 663-9171 300-9600 V.32 WWIV 4.21a [ma, al, te] Baudville (Node 1) 640-4593 300-2400 Major BBS 6.02 [none] Baudville (Node 2) 640-4639 300-2400 Major BBS 6.02 [none] Baudville (Node 3) 640-7243 300-2400 Major BBS 6.02 [none] Baudville (Node 4) 640-7286 300-2400 Major BBS 6.02 [none] Baudville (Node 5) 592-4684 300-2400 Major BBS 6.02 [none] Bone Yard, The 631-6023 300-9600 USR HST PCBoard 14.5 [fi, bh] Bus System 595-1627 300-2400 PCBoard 14.2 [none] Byte Me! 979-BYTE! 2400-14400 USR HST WWIV 4.12 [ez, th, al] Castle, The 841-7618 300-2400 C-Base 2.0 [none] Castle Rock 995-9900 1200-19200 VBBS 5.52 [vi, al] Channel 8250 (Node 1) 823-3957 300-14400 USR DS PCBoard 14.5 [ez, un] Channel 8250 (Node 2) 823-3958 300-14400 USR DS PCBoard 14.5 [ez, un] Christian Apologetic 808-0763 300-14400 V.32bis Wildcat! 3.55 [wi, bc] Crunchy Frog (Node 1) 956-1755 300-14400 USR DS PCBoard 14.5 [ez, ml, lu] Crunchy Frog (Node 2) 956-0073 300-14400 USR DS PCBoard 14.5 [ez, ml, lu] Darkhold 681-0002 300-2400 Telegard 2.7 [none] DataLynx 933-1974 1200-14400 V.32/V.42bis WWIV 4.21 [ez] Deep Space 9 980-1089 300-14400 Wildcat! 3.51 [none] Den, The 933-8744 300-9600 USR HST ProLogon/ProDoor [ez, ml, il] Disktop Publishing 854-1660 300-9600 V.32 Wildcat! 3.01 [pl] Drawing Room 951-2391 300-2400 Wildcat! 3.02 [di] EcoBBS 933-2238 300-2400 WWIV 4.21 [none] Elysian Fields 620-0694 300-2400 Telegard 2.7 [al] F/X BBS (Node 1) 823-5777 300-14400 USR DS PCBoard 14.5 [ri, cc] F/X BBS (Node 2) 822-4570 300-14400 V.32bis PCBoard 14.5 [ri, cc] F/X BBS (Node 3) 822-4526 300-14400 V.32bis PCBoard 14.5 [ri, cc] Family Smorgas-Board 744-0943 300-2400 PCBoard 14.5 [ez, fi, mj, bc, fa, ic, cf, cd, np, ag, hs, ve] Final Frontier 681-6148 300-2400 USR DS Wildcat! 3.50 [none] Genesis Online (Nodes 1-4) 620-4144 300-2400 Major BBS 5.3 [none] Graphics Zone (Node 1) 870-5306 300-2400 MNP4 TBBS 2.1(16) [none] Graphics Zone (Node 2) 870-5329 300-2400 MNP4 TBBS 2.1(16) [none] Hacker's Corner 674-5449 1200-2400 MNP4 PCBoard 14.5 [none] Hardeman's BBS 640-6436 1200-14400 Wildcat! 3.51 [wi, di] HellBound BBS 444-9043 2400-14400 VBBS 5.52 [none] Hoots With Owls 520-9540 300-2400 TriBBS 3.0 [none] Illuminatus BBS 871-0489 1200-9600 VBBS 5.52 [vi, al] Infinite Probability 791-0421 2400-9600 V.32 VBBS [ww, vi, al] Intruder Enterprizes 969-0870 300-9600 V.32 VBBS 5.5 [none] Island 870-4685 2400-9600 V.32 Hermes 2.0 [fi] Joker's Castle 664-5589 300-14400 USR DS PCBoard 14.5 [ez, ml, un] Kiriath Arba 681-8374 300-2400 WWIV 4.21 [ww, ma, al] Lemon Grove 836-1184 300-12000 V.32/42bis Searchlight [fi, sl] Lion & The Unicorn 424-1599 1200-57600 VBBS 5.52 [none] Magnolia BBS 854-6407 300-14400 USR HST PCBoard 14.5 [ez, ml] MATRIX, The (Nodes 1-10) 323-2016 300-2400 PCBoard 14.5 [ez, ml, th, il, in, al, sh, sc, gl] MATRIX, The (Nodes 11-14) 323-6016 9600-14400 USR DS PCBoard 14.5 [ez, ml, th, il, in, al, sh, sc, gl] MATRIX, The (Node 15) 458-3449 9600-14400 V.32 PCBoard 14.5 [ez, ml, th, il, in, al, sh, sc, gl] Medicine Man BBS 664-5662 300-14000 V.32bis GTPower 17.00 [gt] MetaBoard 254-3344 300-14400 USR DS Opus [fi] Missing Link 853-1257 300-14400 USR HST C-Net Amiga 2.31 [none] Monster, The 967-4839 300-2400 Telegard 2.7 [none] Night Watch 841-2790 1200-2400 TriBBS 2.11 [cc, tr, di] Nirvana 942-6702 300-2400 VBBS 5.52 [al] Outer Limits 425-5871 1200-9600 USR HST Wildcat! 3.01 [fi] Owlabama BBS 856-2521 300-14400 GTPower 17.00 [gt] Owl's Nest 680-0851 300-14400 USR DS PCBoard 14.5 [ez, ml, lu] Party Line 856-1336 300-14000 V.32bis TriBBS 2.11 [cc, tr, di] Playground 836-4200 300-2400 TriBBS 2.11 [tr, di, cc, ez, al] Posys BBS 854-5131 300-9600 V.32 Passkey 1.31b [none] Quiet Zone, The 833-2066 300-9600 V.32 ExpressNET [none] Raven's Manor 681-4096 300-9600 V.32bis VBBS [vi] Safe Harbor (Node 1) 665-4332 300-2400 GTPower 17.00 [gt] Safe Harbor (Node 2) 665-4355 300-14400 USR DS GTPower 17.00 [gt] Safety BBS 581-2866 300-2400 RBBS-PC [none] Sperry BBS 853-6144 300-2400 V.32 PCBoard 14.5 [none] ST BBS 836-9311 300-2400 PCBoard 14.2 [ez] Teasers 987-0122 300-2400 WWIV 4.20 [al] Thy Master's Dungeon 940-2116 300-9600 V.32 TriBBS 2.11 [none] Torch Song 328-1517 300-2400 Wildcat 3.01 [pr, se] Viper's Pit 856-2464 300-9600 V.32 WWIV 4.21 [al] Wanderer, The 836-0603 300-14400 V.32/42bis Wildcat! 3.00 [th, pr, lu] Waste Lands 991-5184 300-2400 WWIV 4.21 [ww, al] Wild Side 631-0184 300-1200 WWIV 4.20 [al] Willie's DYM (Node 1) 979-1629 300-2400 Oracomm Plus [none] Willie's DYM (Node 2) 979-7739 300-2400 Oracomm Plus [none] Willie's DYM (Node 3) 979-7743 300-1200 Oracomm Plus [none] Willie's DYM (Node 4) 979-8156 300-1200 Oracomm Plus [none] Word, The 833-2831 300-2400 WWIV 4.12 [none] Ziggy Unaxess 991-5696 300-1200 Unaxess [none] The many symbols you see underneath the names of many of the bbs' in the list signify that they are members of one or more networks that exchange or echo mail to each other in some organized fashion. ad = ADAnet, an international network dedicated to the handicapped ag = AgapeNet, a national Christian network, multi-topic al = AlaNet, a local network, multi-topic bc = BCBNet, a local network, religion-oriented bh = BhamTalk, a local network, multi-topic cc = City2City, a national network, multi-topic cd = CDN, a national Christian network for file distribution cf = CFN, a national Christian network, multi-topic di = Dixie Net, a regional network, multi-topic geared toward the south eastern United States ez = EzNet, a local IBM compatible network fa = FamilyNet, an international network, multi-topic fi = FidoNet, an international network, multi-topic gl = GlobalLink, an international network, multi-topic gt = GTNet, an international network, multi-topic hs = Home-School-Net, a national network for home schooling ic = ICDM, an international Christian network, multi-topic il = ILink, an international network, multi-topic in = InterNet, an international network, linking businesses, universities, and bbs', multi-topic lu = LuciferNet, an international network, adult oriented ma = MAXnet, a local network, connecting WWIV and VBBS systems ml = MJCN, an international network for Messianic Jews ml = Metrolink, an international network which echoes RIME, multi-topic np = NPN, a national network for new parents pl = PlanoNet, a national network, multi-topic pr = PrideNet, a local homosexually oriented network ri = RIME, an international network, multi-topic sc = Science Factor Net, a national network, science and technology oriented se = SEC, a regional network, homosexually oriented geared toward the southeastern United States sh = Shades N Shadows Net, a national network for role-playing games sl = SearchlightNet, a national network, multi-topic te = TECHnet, a local network, hardware and utility oriented th = ThrobNet, an international network, adult oriented tr = TriBBS Net, a national network, multi-topic un = Uni'Net, an international network, multi-topic ve = VETLink, a national network for military veterans vi = VirtualNet, national network, multi-topic wi = WildNet, a national network, multi-topic ww = WWIV-Net, an international network, multi-topic If you have any corrections, additions, deletions, etc., please let me know via a message on the main board of The Matrix or Crunchy Frog. The following BBSs did not answer the last time I tried to verify their existence. If you have any information on their status, please drop me a line. EcoBBS Elysian Fields Hacker's Corner Hoots With Owls Kiriath Arba The Monster BBS Thy Master's Dungeon Wild Side -----------------------------------------------------------------------