Remembering the BBS Scene By kpaul in MLP Sat Apr 02, 2005 at 03:41:02 PM EST Tags: Focus On... (all tags)
	Ah, those were the days. As now, it was a healthy mix of academics, techies, conspiracy theorists and trolls. Jason Scott has a great website chock full of old BBS textfiles, with no advertising. What does his collection include? Well, it's a lot like K5 if you ask me, but maybe a little more naive. There are some ugly things down in these archives; there are narcissistic ravings from pre-adolescent social misfits. There are calls for anarchy. There's satanism, there's racism, there's all the -isms in the book lurking in the words. But there's hope, too. There's excitement, there's joy, there's every manner of feeling being crammed down into ASCII and posted for the world to find. It's a spectrum of humanity, and this is what I hope you'll find, buried there, among the text. Enjoy. Jason Scott Proprietor, TEXTFILES.COM

Jason Scott's top 100 Some of the files in this section go back to 1982 (when the users cried that the death of the BBS was at hand.) Ten years later, though, and they were still around and talking about things like the joy of handles (as in usernames.) Some of you may be too young to remember, but before P2P, the BBS world had its own warez underground (Apple Warez site circa 1984.) Also in 1984, you could get textfiles with details of basic telecommunications. Even better, in 1986, Anarchy Inc. published the B00G and the art of ZEN textfile. What's that, you ask? Well, I have two theories. First, it could be a mistake like invading Iraq instead of Iran because of one letter changing - was a b00g a baby trying to say blog? Ok, no, that's not it. I think it's an early troll attempt at ROR or the !!!11one phenomenon. Some of the stuff isn't dated, but is still classic, like the drunken rant on being elite in the BBS world. Feh. Like K5, you could find gems on the BBSs. They also had horrible fiction by characters such as Captain Goodnight. Are you lucky enough to remember mr. pez? Anarchy Files The Anarchy Section contains textfiles on explosives and general mayhem. (Do Not Try This at Home.) It has real Americans making H-Bombs in their basements, a primitive bugmenot.com, and last but not least, the anarchy trolls. ASCII Art K5 ASCII reenactment players, wherefore art thou? You would really dig the ASCII section. From pr0n to cows to smileys - textfile creators were really into ASCII art. BBS Tech Texts The BBS Section has a large collection of textfiles on running a BBS system. Wildcat was a familiar term. The BBS 30 Commandments is kinda interesting. I had to smile at the State of the BBS circa 1986. Heh. You can see Dvorak pre-slashdot. Still relevant today, Voices from the WELL: The Logic of the Virtual Commons. Computers The Computers Section is tech from the trenches in the early days. You could learn about modems, UNIX, copy protection, hard disks, and much more. The geek to non-geek ratio was vastly different in the early days. Conspiracy The Conspiracy Section is as kooky as the conpiracy theorists of today. The secret concentration camps meme is still going strong today. Going in the other direction, someone transcribed the truth about Mars from 1956. You can go even further back in time with the chronology of secret societies. Drugs In the Drugs Section you can take the LSD Survey and then pass it on to your friends. An official report on MDMA (aka ecstasy) was passed around starting in the late 80s. If you weren't into those types of drugs, you could settle for a beer pizza or learn about the stoner survival kit. Fiction The Stories and Fiction Section has a lot of bad writing. And some good writing. Which does A Smart Bomb with a Language Parser belong to? I'll let you decide. Beyond user written fiction, a lot of fable textfiles exist. Garr. Food The Food Section has a lot of recipes and articles on food. Hungry? How about Better than Sex Cake? If you're into more primitive methods of getting food, killing chickens might interest you. I'm not sure if this is the real Coke recipe and I'm not sure I would try making it. Games In the Games Section, a lot of the general textfiles seem to be from the 90s. I didn't know the early 80s Atari could be so complicated. I must admit, before textfiles.com, I hadn't given much thought to arcade cheats. Magazines Ah, the glory days of text e-zines in the Magazines Section. Yeah, you've probably heard of Phrack, but what about CUD, the Computer Underground Digest? Surely you've heard of HOE. What about TANJ, which started in 1988. And who can forget print zines, the DIY blogs of yesteryear. Phreaking The Phreaking Section has stuff on cell phones in 94, a lot of info on various boxes (you know, like what the Apple founders sold out of their garage in the early days.) Is phreaking dead? Whatever the answer, you can still read the history of phreaking and relive the good old days. Politics Oh, yes, they have a Politics Section. And yes, they have an Iraqi menace textfile. Also, Quayle (remember him?), Bush, and a personal favorite of mine, that too often forgotten document, the U.S. Constitution. I'm not sure why, but the name Ingersoll sounds familiar. Anyone? BBS Life Remembered Ok, that's enough mindlessness for the moment. There are literally tens of thousands of other files at the textfiles.com website. The Good Old Days of BBSing will be missed. I wouldn't trade it for the world wide web of today, but it's nice sometimes to think back and remember all the events on the BBS timeline.

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Slashdot BBS textfiles no advertising TEXTFILES. COM this section death of the BBS the joy of handles Apple Warez basic telecommunications B00G and the art of ZEN drunken rant on being elite Feh gems horrible fiction mr. pez Anarchy Section Americans making H-Bombs primitive bugmenot.com anarchy trolls K5 ASCII reenactment players ASCII section pr0n cows smileys BBS Section Wildcat BBS 30 Commandments State of the BBS circa 1986 Dvorak pre-slashdot Virtual Commons Computers Section modems UNIX copy protection hard disks Conspiracy Section secret concentration camps the truth about Mars chronology of secret societies Drugs Section LSD Survey official report on MDMA beer pizza stoner survival kit Stories and Fiction Section bad writing A Smart Bomb with a Language Parser fable Garr Food Section Better than Sex Cake killing chickens real Coke recipe Games Section early 80s Atari arcade cheats Magazines Section Phrack CUD HOE TANJ print zines Phreaking Section cell phones in 94 various boxes dead history Politics Section Iraqi menace Quayle Bush U.S. Constitution Ingersoll tens of thousands Good Old Days think back remember BBS timeline Also by kpaul