Matt,

M>memories.  I'll never forget the sound of modem negotiation even until the da
M>die.

  Put that as a Smartphone ringtone, or set that up on your answering
machine. 

M>It is satisfying to see that fido technology and bulletin boards as a technol
M>have survived to the 21st century and suffered fools.  The visionaries who
M>created the earliest technology invented something that outlasted their
M>contributions long after they were driven away.  They are technological pione
M>of a type the world will never fully appreciate.

  That's for sure.

M>I am also impressed to see that software is still being actively developed.  
M>authors of binkd, husky, synchronet, ezycom, mystic and more have done an
M>immeasurable service.  At the time circumstances pulled me away I was sure
M>things would implode in a few years but occasionally I peek in and see people
M>still participating.

  The BBS is one of the last hobbies I can still do because of declining
health, and my BBS is the last one left in the state of Arkansas. I
usually hit the message areas first (with QWK Mail, no less), then I
play what few doorgames I can, before my legs start cramping up from
sitting at the computer too long.

  Years ago, when we had at least a dozen BBS's in the Little Rock area
alone, users and Sysops would gather at a local restaurant every so
often, to put names to faces, recruit new users to their BBS's, etc.
Sadly, those days around here are long gone.

M>I was shocked to see someone releasing BBS software in 2015.  It got me
M>wondering how active are bulletin boards today?  How many visitors do you see
M>and what type of things do they come for?   Seeing the energy got me inching 
M>set one up if only to play my old games.  My only fear is not being able to f
M>cracks for all the doors I once registered as I suspect most people who
M>maintained them fell off the planet or would not care to hassle with someone
M>over something they were paid $15 for 15 years ago.

  Most of the time, I'm the only caller on the system, although I've
picked up some new users via another hobby, ham radio. I'm glad there
are several brands of software, but I've only run the following:

1) SoftMail and Mini-Net -- BBS software for the Radio Shack TRS-80
Model 100 laptop. I joked it was "The World's Smallest BBS", with a 1200
baud modem. I ran it from December, 1990 to May, 1992.

2) GT Power (dial-up) -- for my birthday in 1992, a friend of my
brother's got an 8088 XT, with 640K of RAM, a 20 megabyte hard drive, a
3.5" and a 5.25" floppy drive, a mouse, keyboard, a monochrome green
monitor, and DOS 3.20 -- that was the birthplace of The Thunderbolt
BBS. I even ran it for a time under OS/2 Warp, or DESQView with DOS
5 and 6.22 -- all before I started using Windows. I ran it from May,
1992 to May, 2005. The BBS features weather and ham radio as its main
themes.

3) Synchronet (dial-up, telnet, and web) -- in May, 2005, I upgraded
from Windows 98 to Windows XP, and switched to Synchronet, to get telnet
and web access. I ran that until 2007, then went to Virtual Advanced
(noted below). However, with the VADV32 Telnet Server constantly
crashing of late (I'm not sure if it's the port sniffers or something
else), I'm working on going back to Synchronet. However, I'm going to
look into using VADV32's website interface, along with Synchronet's BBS
software, to get "the best of both worlds". One thing I really like
about Synchronet (3.14a and later) is that you can run both fossil and
non-fossil doors on the system.

4) Virtual Advanced (telnet and web) -- currently running it, but as
noted above, with constant telnet server crashings, I'm working on
setting up Synchronet again. However, there won't be dial-up access this
time, due to extremely poor phone line quality out here. Several years
ago, construction crews at the apartment complex where I live, sliced
several underground cables like a knife through butter...even though
they were clearly marked. They left the holes open, and it poured rain
that night, with the water inundating the cables. The resulting line
noise made a voice or data call impossible. And, I can't see paying $50

(Continued to next message)
---
 þ OLX 1.53 þ Why does the Psychic Hotline have to ask for your name??
                                                                           
                                                                           
                                                   
--- Virtual Advanced Ver 2 for DOS