Entries by warmfuzzy

BBS’es on The Darknet: The Scene in Private

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As of late several BBS sysops have offered their BBS services for use on the Darknet.  The Darknet is a trinity of secure and anonymous communications platforms, including TOR (The Onion Router), I2P (The Invisible Internet Project), and Freenet (The Freenet Project).  Only two of these services would work well with The BBS Scene, due to the nature of how data is accessed and stored.  I have heard that they are rather slow to connect to, however exciting knowing that you are on the bleeding edge on computer communications technology.  I2P has recently upgraded its redundancy options to allow for very stable communications through multiple routes.  TOR still seems to be the most popular overall, however.  You can check out these networks on your own at www.torproject.com and www.geti2p.net.  Freenet is also available, however as noted above it isn't suited to BBS Server comms.  You can reach Freenet at www.freenetproject.org.  It should not be assumed that everything going on in the Darknet is bad; its often the case where people just want to make blogs and such and be able to journal anonymously without having the fear of being harshly judged and ridiculed.  There are most definitely some sites on the Darknet that should not be there at all, end of question, full stop.  They are the minority, however.  Maybe you'd be interested in hosting your BBS on the Darknet.  That would be very cool indeed.  Would it be private or public?  Would it be on the right side of the law or not?  It's definitely something that's interesting to consider.  Don't break the law, whatever you do, as the punishments for crime are severe, and because there is so much good that could be done.

KANSIT.com : Mentoring in The BBS Scene

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Why would BBS Day advertise a business in our blog?  Because there is nothing quite like it in the BBS Scene.  This is new ground: a company that goes along side of people who are new to the BBS Scene and offer advice and support to those wanting to get involved in our good hobby.  Instead of offering several specific services to choose from, KANSIT.com offers the service of hiring a professional mentor.  You get one-on-one support by a person who will spend as much time with you as you need and you pay a small fee for personal guidance on your journey to BBS server admin.  Have you ever wanted a friend that you could call up for some help with your BBS?  … a friend who can steer you in the right direction? … someone who you can rely on? … Jonathan Justvig is that guy.  jjustvig@kansit.com .

Textmode Magazine BBS Booklets

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The PHATstar Society has been working behind the scenes on various BBS-related projects, with one of our most cherished being a set of e-Booklets that fully cover various subjects relating to BBS topics.

2600.network : The Umbrella POTS Dial-in Gateway : Hosted by Flex

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One of the most amazing developments in The BBS Scene is Flex's POTS Dial-in Gateway.  This system allows people who want to dial into bulletin board systems have a portal for doing so.  Its a simple yet profound idea: have a large bank of modems connected to a server that hosts up various bulletin board systems, having a choice of which BBS system to connect to out of a large assortment of options.  So on systems where its impractical to have a phone connection to, all you have to do is add the BBS into a listing of many BBSes and the user, after connecting, can determine which system they want to access and get redirected to whatever BBS they choose amongst the wide variety of systems with redirects to them.  I have personally connected at around ~46 kbps on occasion, but I get a solid connection at 19.2 kbps.  This is all the speed you need to logon to check your mail.  In a situation where someone can't get the Internet but can get dial-up, this would be optimal as an e-mail store and forward system.  Flex has several lines into his network.  My own personal setup to access Flex's system is a US Robotics 56k v.92 External Serial Modem, a DTECH FTDI Chipset Serial to USB connector, and a Cable-to-Go 7′ highly insulated RJ-11 (phone) cable.  I've also got a DB-9 to DB-25 Serial to Serial adaptor so that the USB connection wire will have the right connection to the modem.  The DTECH cable is rather fancy in that it has colour indicators that indicate whether one is sending or receiving from the serial connection.  So…. mad props to Flex for helping so much to the BBS community.  His system is yet another example of a person with an awesome idea and changes things up and makes the vision a reality.  Truly spectacular Flex!  Good job!

C2G RJ11 High-Speed Internet Modem Cable, 7 Foot Long, Transparent Blue
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000083JZ0/

USRobotics USR5686G 56K Serial Controller Faxmodem
https://www.amazon.com/USRobotics-USR5686G-Serial-Controller-Faxmodem/dp/B003U9ZH7Y/

DTECH USB to RS232 DB9 Serial Adapter Cable 15 Feet with FTDI Chip
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01J1HWLMM/

StarTech.com DB9 to DB25 Serial Cable Adapter – F/M – Serial adapter
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00066HOWK/

 

 

Abandonwarez

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Some people believe strongly that if a software application is abandoned then its open game to be used without paying for its use. Some games are in a grey area of legal use. Many BBS doors can no longer be registered as the games have been abandoned by their authors. In other circumstances, door games such as LORD (Legend Of the Red Dragon) and the various games made available from John Dailey Software can still be registered during this point in time. Actually, the price to register door games comes at an excellent price point. For example, John Dailey's games can be purchased with a $15 USD license fee using PayPal money transfer. Some people think that it is fine to pirate a game if it is impossible to register it using legal means. Personally I would not suggest using pirated door games on your BBS because the author could come back into The Scene and you would be liable to purchase the game plus damages. This philosophy will work for the benefit of The BBS Scene by upsetting people enough to make people keep our Scene's software preserved. We lost a great person who ran BBSFILES.COM. From there you could legally register all sorts of games from various authors. His death from Cancer has been tragic, both for his own self, and for the non-lasting legacy of his offerings. If anyone can find his tools to register games and keep monies in reserve until the authors come back into the BBS Scene would be most excellent. What I know is that if you pirate software from an author who still has a legal option to register their door game then formal registration is the route you must take. Piracy is stealing and the authors of games, especially the small time game developers need to be rewarded for their work for helping out our Scene. There is one piece of software that I use because there are no replacements for it and if I need to pay to use it retroactively I'm okay with that. It is absolutely required in my case, so I have to judge my actions on a scale of Lady Justice. From law class the professor said that the main word in law is “it depends.” There are many facets that must be considered, with few things being fully black or white.

Welcome to the Official BBS Day Website

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We are celebrating the very first official BBS Day! This was an idea that popped up in an MRC (Multi-Relay Chat) conversation in October and now we're getting our act together and getting this site done and the BBS Day a real thing. Greets to everyone in the BBS Scene, welcome to our great section of oldschool networking. We wish you the very best this Christmas season and New Years festivities. Welcome aboard!!