I was one of those Hams that began logging on to BBS'es after getting a C=64 many years ago.

I met you on another GT POWER BBS, The Volunteer BBS and later joined your Pan-American BBS .

Reading computer magazines started my interest but when a fellow Ham told me about a dial-up Commodore BBS i ztarted there.
I found about The Volunteer BBS from a list in a free monthly(?) magazine I found in some stores.

40 years ago.

I wanted to learn about computing from folks who KNEW computing already
Kinda like the old Automobile commercial:
Ask the man who owns one.

How can I become A Mister Know-It-All other than by associating with the people Who Actually KNOW the ins and outs of operating computers,sharing their successes and failures with others Users.

I never got to the Mr. KIA level BUT I have learned lots and lots of things that makes computing life easier for me.
Also the BBS membership allows Me to share things I've learned (good&bad) while using the gear here.

Thanks to You and all of the other Sysops that I used their Systems, I enjoy using PC's and this cellphone You Folks have made my life easier.
So I come back, and back, and back againand again.
Thanks!!!!!!!!!!
Ed
---
þ Synchronet þ CAPCITY2 * capcity2.synchro.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/Rlogin/HTTP

Re: ANSI art
By: phigan to Nightfox on Fri Jul 18 2025 12:27 am

Nothing wrong with making an honest buck. But it only lasts until big money takes notice. Small operators are gradually squeezed out and eventually only giants remain. That's what the telcos and cable operators did to independent ISPs.

Like the shareware mindset, it was always doomed.
---
þ Synchronet þ Vertrauen þ Home of Synchronet þ
[vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net

Your last line had me remember way back 40 years ago when there were many free Games written and shared for the C=64 and after running a game I saw a screen saying itwS a Shareware Program and had some numbers after a Dollar Sign.

I'd never seen that before .Until that day.

Some years later I got a disk to try out Compuserve for a half hour at no cost. I looked aound Compuserve and didn't think it was worth paying for.

T'wasn't until I got interested in DSL that I wanted to spend money for my hobby.
Ed
---
þ Synchronet þ CAPCITY2 * capcity2.synchro.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/Rlogin/HTTP

Your post had me remember that You and Daryl Stout were using your internet account to Transfer GT Power packets long before the FIDO SYSOPS begansoing that.

It is normal operating procedure now days

You Two were doing that to lessen your telephone bill(s).

THANKS MUCH­!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ed
---
þ Synchronet þ CAPCITY2 * capcity2.synchro.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/Rlogin/HTTP

On 17 Jul 2025, Dumas Walker said the following...

What I think really killed the "golden era" of BBSing was the growing availability of the Internet, regardless of whether the users were
running linux or Windows or ???.

I experienced the same thing with CB radio. There was a group of probably 30 of us within range at any given time. When the internet took off that group shrank fast to a point where there were hardy any regular users 1997-98

... Multitasking: Reading in the bathroom

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Linux/64)
* Origin: The Bottomless Abyss BBS * bbs.bottomlessabyss.net

Re: Re: ANSI art
By: multiplemiggs to Dumas Walker on Sat Oct 25 2025 10:48 pm

On 17 Jul 2025, Dumas Walker said the following...

What I think really killed the "golden era" of BBSing was the growing availability of the Internet, regardless of whether the users were running linux or Windows or ???.

I experienced the same thing with CB radio. There was a group of
probably 30 of us within range at any given time. When the internet
took off that group shrank fast to a point where there were hardy
any regular users 1997-98

The internet was enticing, but also what was bad for bbses
is how sysops operated. many sysops were close minded and not eager to adopt new things. I think the best thing to do if it was affordable was to bridge bbsing into the internet and web.

Also sysops were always in it for themselves, and that doesn't really build strength. Combine that with cliques that formed and that divides it
more.

You can see cliques being bad for bbsing in the telnet age. I saw a
msg network that was elitist fall apart dude to lack of activity and
interest. activity and interest is from diversity. if you dont have that, you're dying a slow death. Another one now lets anybody in. that might be too little too late.

The important thing to remember is that a bbs is a system for users to interact with. It's for socalizing, maybe gaming and maybe files.

If you don't look at it that way, you are doomed. if you are in it for yourself, all that will be there is yourself.

Since covid bbsing has lost even more users. I'm not sure if we will ever
get regular callers again. I'm not sure that we offer what people want. I myself spend a lot of time with friends on telegram talking and posting vids and memes. that's more enjoyable than a bbs.
---
þ Synchronet þ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

Re: Re: ANSI art
By: MRO to multiplemiggs on Sun Oct 26 2025 01:28 am

What I think really killed the "golden era" of BBSing was the
growing availability of the Internet, regardless of whether the

By 1997 my BBS callers droped to the point that I pulled the plug on the Original Outwest BBS.

The internet was enticing, but also what was bad for bbses
is how sysops operated. many sysops were close minded and not eager to adopt new things. I think the best thing to do if it was affordable was to bridge bbsing into the internet and web.

I had shut my BBS down but kept the 2nd line so I could dial into the internet.

The important thing to remember is that a bbs is a system for users to interact with. It's for socalizing, maybe gaming and maybe files.

The internet had all that and more.
From 1997 to 2015 I had all but forgot about BBSes, then I googled BBS and found they still existed, Thats when I started the 2nd Outwest BBS on Synchronet, and a BBS (Razzpie BBS) that I started on a Raspberry PI and Mystic, running on a Raspberry PI 3.



... MODEM: Monumentally Obsolete Data Eating Machine.

---
þ Synchronet þ the Outwest BBS - outwestbbs.com or outwest.synchro.net

Re: Re: ANSI art
By: Denn to MRO on Sun Oct 26 2025 07:46 am

By 1997 my BBS callers droped to the point that I pulled the plug on the Original Outwest BBS.

For me, it was 2000 when I decided to take my original BBS down. By then, there were so few callers (almost none) that I thought people generally weren't interested in BBSes anymore. I figured the internet was the new way people were getting online, and I could see why people would probably feel like they wouldn't really have a reason to use a BBS anymore.

In 2007, I discovered and watched "BBS: The Documentary", and then I found that some BBSes were still around and running on the internet. I was a little surprised, given there were so few users when I took my original BBS down. I decided to start running a BBS again and have been running my current BBS since then.

Nightfox

---
þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com

The internet was enticing, but also what was bad for bbses
is how sysops operated. many sysops were close minded and not eager to adopt new things. I think the best thing to do if it was affordable
was to bridge bbsing into the internet and web.

Also sysops were always in it for themselves, and that doesn't really build strength. Combine that with cliques that formed and that divides it more.

You can see cliques being bad for bbsing in the telnet age. I saw a
msg network that was elitist fall apart dude to lack of activity and interest. activity and interest is from diversity. if you dont have
that, you're dying a slow death. Another one now lets anybody in.
that might be too little too late.

The important thing to remember is that a bbs is a system for users to interact with. It's for socalizing, maybe gaming and maybe files.

If you don't look at it that way, you are doomed. if you are in it for yourself, all that will be there is yourself.

Since covid bbsing has lost even more users. I'm not sure if we will
ever get regular callers again. I'm not sure that we offer what people want. I myself spend a lot of time with friends on telegram talking
and posting vids and memes. that's more enjoyable than a bbs.
---
þ Synchronet þ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

This is very true. Without the users it's just an empty platform.

Well there might be an increase coming with all the age verification crap that is happening on the internet where there's new interest in BBS's and Telnet. Outside of that I guess the reality of the user base is a lot of us in our 40's - 50's reliving the BBS scene from our youth, and some young new users from the retro computing and small / decentralized web scenes.

What changes too is when there's users using a platform out on necessity. Back when BBS's were at their peak it was in part that there was little else for the average user. The same thing can be said for CB. Back then our landline was still a partyline so using a modem was out of the question, and long distance was pricey so many of us used CB out of necessity in a lot of ways.

... I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Linux/64)
* Origin: The Bottomless Abyss BBS * bbs.bottomlessabyss.net

Re: Re: ANSI art
By: multiplemiggs to MRO on Sun Oct 26 2025 10:41 pm

Well there might be an increase coming with all the age
verification crap that is happening on the internet where

you mean with porn sites?

i dont see people getting interested in bbses.

it's always the people who come and go and say ohhh retro!
---
þ Synchronet þ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

Re: Re: ANSI art
By: MRO to multiplemiggs on Sun Oct 26 2025 22:23:26

Well there might be an increase coming with all the age
verification crap that is happening on the internet where

you mean with porn sites?

Some countries, and now US states, appear to be looking to expand the age verification beyond what most would consider "porn sites." They want to be able to spy on what you are looking at.
---
þ Synchronet þ CAPCITY2 * capcity2.synchro.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/Rlogin/HTTP

Re: Re: ANSI art
By: MRO to multiplemiggs on Sun Oct 26 2025 10:23 pm

Well there might be an increase coming with all the age
verification crap that is happening on the internet where

you mean with porn sites?

They are pushing age verification for other things too, in a move everyone with two braincells was expecting.

For example, the Australian government wants to enforce age verification for any social media. They consider Github social media, by the way.


--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

---
þ Synchronet þ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL

Re: Re: ANSI art
By: Dumas Walker to MRO on Mon Oct 27 2025 08:16 am

Re: Re: ANSI art
By: MRO to multiplemiggs on Sun Oct 26 2025 22:23:26

Well there might be an increase coming with all the age verification crap that is happening on the internet where

you mean with porn sites?

Some countries, and now US states, appear to be looking to expand
the age verification beyond what most would consider "porn sites."
They want to be able to spy on what you are looking at.

like what? the age verification on porn sites seems to have fizzled too.
---
þ Synchronet þ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

Re: Re: ANSI art
By: Arelor to MRO on Mon Oct 27 2025 02:29 pm

For example, the Australian government wants to enforce age
verification for any social media. They consider Github social media,
by the way.

australia is fucking whacko. especially during and after covid.
it seems like their number one priority is taking away their people's rights.

it's only illegal if you get caught. people can use a vpn or icognito,etc
---
þ Synchronet þ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

Hello multiplemiggs!

** On Saturday 25.10.25 - 22:48, multiplemiggs wrote to Dumas Walker:

I experienced the same thing with CB radio. There was a
group of probably 30 of us within range at any given time.
When the internet took off that group shrank fast to a
point where there were hardy any regular users 1997-98

Why would the introduction of internet affect people who are
invested in CB radio?


--- OpenXP 5.0.64
* Origin: Ogg's Dovenet Point (723:320/1.9)
* Synchronet * CAPCITY2 * capcity2.synchro.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/Rlogin/HTTP

Re: ANSI art
By: Ogg to multiplemiggs on Tue Oct 28 2025 07:58 pm

Hello multiplemiggs!

** On Saturday 25.10.25 - 22:48, multiplemiggs wrote to Dumas Walker:

I experienced the same thing with CB radio. There was a group of probably 30 of us within range at any given time. When the internet
took off that group shrank fast to a point where there were hardy
any regular users 1997-98

Why would the introduction of internet affect people who are invested
in CB radio?

hey there's this new thing called cb simulator on compuserv. you can talk to tons of cool people instead of the neckbeard who lives in his parents shack and hasn't worked his entire life.
---
þ Synchronet þ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

On 25 Oct 2025, multiplemiggs said the following...

On 17 Jul 2025, Dumas Walker said the following...

What I think really killed the "golden era" of BBSing was the growing availability of the Internet, regardless of whether the users were running linux or Windows or ???.

I experienced the same thing with CB radio. There was a group of
probably 30 of us within range at any given time. When the internet took off that group shrank fast to a point where there were hardy any regular users 1997-98

yeah a lot of those people went to irc. or they went to AOL (AIM), webtv chat, or that weird "internet cb" thing, or any number of other places.. they're all just on facebook now. sad really. community is dead i guess.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
* Origin: cold fusion - cfbbs.net - grand rapids, mi

On 28 Oct 2025, Ogg said the following...

** On Saturday 25.10.25 - 22:48, multiplemiggs wrote to Dumas Walker:

I experienced the same thing with CB radio. There was a
group of probably 30 of us within range at any given time.
When the internet took off that group shrank fast to a
point where there were hardy any regular users 1997-98

Why would the introduction of internet affect people who are
invested in CB radio?

ever found someone in real life that used to call bbses when they were in their prime? i'd bet a lot of them wouldn't be interested in connecting to them again. because it was a means to an end. like having a car phone before there were cellulars that fit in your pocket. they just don't care about the bbs aspect of it at all, because something better replaced it. and that's specifically considering that they would have experienced bbsing "at it's best" with countless users..

CB was just like that really. and for the most part the people i still hear on CB radio are there for the same reason we're here on BBSes now. some sort of "meta" experience where both the purpose of the BBS (communication) and the act of using a BBS are meaningful to us.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
* Origin: cold fusion - cfbbs.net - grand rapids, mi

Re: Re: ANSI art
By: fusion to Ogg on Thu Oct 30 2025 03:26 pm

ever found someone in real life that used to call bbses when they were in their prime? i'd bet a lot of them wouldn't be interested in connecting to them again. because it was a means to an end. like having a car phone before there were cellulars that fit in your pocket. they just don't care about the bbs aspect of it at all, because something better replaced it. and that's specifically considering that they would have experienced bbsing "at it's best" with countless users..

I can understand that, and I was sort of like that myself when the internet started to become popular, and then when I saw that my BBS was barely getting any users anymore in 2000. I figured people generally stopped using BBSes because most people now had access to the internet, with so much more things easily available. In 2007, I found that BBSes were still around (and on the internet); I was surprised, but I also thought it was pretty cool that BBSes were still around. Even though the internet basically provides everything BBSes did and more, I think BBSes get a lot less of the ads & spam that we see elsewhere on the internet. BBSes also provide a simpler user interface, which can potentially translate into a simpler overall experience.

Also, BBSes tended to have a local user community due to avoiding long-distance phone charges, though that doesn't really happen much anymore with BBSes being on the internet.

Nightfox

---
þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com

Re: Re: ANSI art
By: fusion to Ogg on Thu Oct 30 2025 03:26 pm

ever found someone in real life that used to call bbses when they
were in their prime? i'd bet a lot of them wouldn't be interested
in connecting to them again. because it was a means to an end. like
having a car phone before there were cellulars that fit in your
pocket. they just don't care about the bbs aspect of it at all,
because something better replaced it. and that's specifically
considering that they would have experienced bbsing "at it's best"

yeah i tried to get bbs people back into bbses and they are done.
they will take a look but it's not the same as it was.

i get that but a lot of sysops dont process it that way.
---
þ Synchronet þ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

fusion wrote to Ogg <=-

ever found someone in real life that used to call bbses when they were
in their prime? i'd bet a lot of them wouldn't be interested in
connecting to them again.

My BBS was a dial-up ghost town until I moved over to telnet. I tried
convincing some of my old callers to try telnetting in; most did, a
call or two, then stopped.

The overriding sentiment was that there was momentum back then and it
became a part of their routines. Once dial-up went away, the internet
replaced it and it was difficult to get back into it.

CB was just like that really. and for the most part the people i still hear on CB radio are there for the same reason we're here on BBSes now. some sort of "meta" experience where both the purpose of the BBS (communication) and the act of using a BBS are meaningful to us.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
* Origin: cold fusion - cfbbs.net - grand rapids, mi

--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
þ Synchronet þ .: realitycheckbbs.org :: scientia potentia est :.

Nightfox wrote to fusion <=-

Also, BBSes tended to have a local user community due to avoiding long-distance phone charges, though that doesn't really happen much anymore with BBSes being on the internet.

True, and having meetups made a huge difference in humanizing the user
on the other end of the line. I recall two users who were scathing
towards each other online, constantly. They met at one of the meetups,
eyed each other for an uncomfortable amount of time, shook hands, and
ended up talking most of the night.


--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
þ Synchronet þ .: realitycheckbbs.org :: scientia potentia est :.

Re: ANSI art
By: MRO to Retroswim on Tue Jul 15 2025 10:08 pm

Re: ANSI art
By: Retroswim to Lord Raptor on Wed Jul 16 2025 02:42 am

https://github.com/mkrueger/icy_tools

It has TheDraw font support, and half-block drawing like Moebius, but builds on it with layers+channels ala PhotoShop, SIXEL support, LUA plugins, and more! Highly recommend.

yeah it's not bad. i like how it shows previews of the fonts.
i forgot which ones i made custom.

i'm not so sure i would use all those fancy features.
i still prefer a full screen interface for drawing ansi. not that i draw ansi anymore.

Moebius works well on windows if you want to do some ANSI art in a full screen environment.
Bob,
telnet://ricksbbs/synchro.net:23
http://ricksbbs.synchro.net:8080

---
þ Synchronet þ Rick's BBS telnet://ricksbbs.synchro.net:23

Re: ANSI art
By: Bobby Patton to MRO on Wed Nov 12 2025 03:15 pm

i'm not so sure i would use all those fancy features. i still prefer
a full screen interface for drawing ansi. not that i draw ansi
anymore.

Moebius works well on windows if you want to do some ANSI art in a
full screen environment. Bob, telnet://ricksbbs/synchro.net:23

i dont like the interface for moebius.
---
þ Synchronet þ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::