In this part of Back to the BBS, I focus on making your own BBS. I spoke with the authors of Synchronet, Enigma 1/2, Image 3.0 and Legacy/X BBS software and from Daniel Kelly and Shooter Jennings to hear their take on the great software out there and why you might want to run your own BBS!
Back to the BBS Part Three: Privacy, Message Groups and Retro Hardware
In this part of the documentary we introduce the matter of privacy, with all the erosion of privacy on the net, the #BBS might provide a real alternative for you. We also introduce BBS messaging, a fun forum and email service. Finally we cover hardware to get your retro equipment such as #Commodore 64 and #Atari machines to connect to a BBS via WiFi!
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This episode features interviews with (in order of appearance):
Howard Sherman (of Excaliber BBS – http://excaliber.club)
‘Denis’ – A young BBS user
Chris Eldrige (Kurisu Yamato)
Contents:
0:00 Introduction
1:38 Privacy
8:41 BBS Messaging Overview
9:19 Chris Eldridge describes Echomail
11:35 Echomail demonstration
18:08 Private email: Netmail
20:22 Using retro hardware to get on a BBS
Back to the BBS Part Two: Games & Mods
In this part of Back to the BBS we introduce Games and Mods. There are interviews with the authors of some excellent brand new games, as well as talking to sysops that make add-on software (mods) to BBS’s that give it some modern and fun functionality. Bulletin Board Systems (BBS’s) were what people went online with before the web. This multi-part documentary shows you what BBS’s do, why they are still relevant and fun to use today..
Don’t forget to LIKE this video and please SUBSCRIBE to my channel! Press that NOTIFICATION bell so you get to know when new great videos come out that you’ll like! I really do appreciate your subscriptions, it makes the countless hours I spend on this channel feel so worthwhile! If you really like my stuff and fancy spotting me a cup of coffee, don’t forget to check out my Ko-Fi and Patreon pages:
https://www.ko-fi.com/alsgeeklab
https://patreon.com/alsgeeklab
Back to the BBS – The return to being ‘online’
Ever wondered what happened ‘online’ before the Internet? Yes! There was something before the ‘net. The crazy thing is, that it’s still going today. They’re called Bulletin Board Systems (BBS’s). They are great fun, they have an awesome community of really fun people (as you’ll see in this video), they have games, cool add-on apps called ‘mods’, message forums (kinda like Facebook groups or usenet), and what’s more, it’s private (in most cases). Completely away from the prying eyes of Google and Facebook, it’s a world that is coming right back to life, and could become even more relevant in this age of online censorship and (mis)use of our information so that Facebook et al. can make money from us.
Think of the best bits of E-mail, usenet, Reddit, Facebook Groups, filesharing and a few more besides. Package it all in one area, with a really cool retro aesthetic and you have a BBS. People run BBS’s today because they are passionate about engaging in a community of people with similar ideals, something they won’t get anywhere else.
Join me in part one of the documentary. Part two is just around the door. I’ve put many months of work into this documentary, with dozens of interviews. Across the series I cover the following topics:
PART ONE:
- INTRO TO BBS’s
- What is a BBS?
- Why are BBS’s fun? (interviews)
- History
- Connect via the Internet
- ANSI graphics/text
- How to use a BBS
- Dave Cloutier / BBS Demo
- Subi (15 yr old BBS user)
- Dave Perussell (future of BBS’s)
- Daniel Kelly (aBSINTHe BBS demo)
The following parts of the series cover:
- GAMES / DOORS
- MODS
- HARDWARE
- BBS SERVER SOFTWARE
- BBS MESSAGES
- PRIVACY
- ANSI GRAPHICS
- DEMOSCENE / MOD SCENE
- THE UNDERGROUND
The Top 10 PC games in summary (1981-1991)
Hi all,
Due to popular demand, I was asked if I could keep the ‘Top 10’ DOS Games series going. The idea was to do the top 10 games of the first decade of the PC (’81-’91). I finished them off a few weeks ago. I’m pressing the pause button on any more for now to concentrate on other videos, however I thought it would be nice to make a summary video. So for your viewing pleasure, here’s an overview of the best games from that first decade. It also diarises how the PC platform grew up over the years, which was really interesting to see it begin to become the dominant force from shaky beginnings.
Check it out!
IBM PC: The first games ’81-’81 Part 11: (1991)
It’s the last in this 10-part series documenting the best in the top ten games of the first decade of the PC’s Games. We end here on 1991. Some absolute bangers of games here, made it far too difficult to do a top 10 (or even a top 20 tbh), so you may see that I have been ‘creative’ with some of the allocation of games to a position 😉
The final in the series – Top 10 DOS Games of the 1st decade of the IBM PC
Unlock with PatreonIBM PC: The first games ’81-’91 Part 10 (1990)
Watch with me as I review them all and tell you why they are awesome! 1990 was a year of two halves to me. 256 Colour VGA was in, EGA, CGA and MDA felt like a thing of the past, almost overnight. FM Synth in Adlib was the norm and slicker gameplay, with the introduction of many 3D games was welcoming in the new decade. Games like Monkey Island and Golden Axe set this year apart though!
An interview with Ken Williams: Sierra Co-Founder
I met with Ken Williams for a fascinating chat about all things Sierra: From where it all began, with Ken finding a copy of a text adventure on a mainframe and Roberta being obsessed by it. To how the company was nearly bankrupt and was rescued by IBM and Tandy.
Ken talks about one of his proudest products, The Sierra Network, as well as his relationships with Al Lowe and ‘The two guys from Andromeda’ (Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe).
Ken releases a new book next month entitled ‘Not all fairy tales have happy endings’, which talks about all things Sierra, including how it really worked on the inside. The book is available next month. Check out his website: https://www.kensbook.com to register your interest in obtaining a copy.
Don’t forget to LIKE this video and please SUBSCRIBE to my channel! Press that NOTIFICATION ? bell so you get to know when new great videos come out that you’ll like! I really do appreciate your subscriptions, it makes the countless hours I spend on this channel feel so worthwhile! If you really like my stuff and fancy spotting me a cup of coffee, don’t forget to check out my Ko-Fi and Patreon pages:
The Top 10 DOS Games of 1990
This is the second-last one of the series on the first decade of the IBM PC’s games. Enjoy!