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313 lines
21 KiB
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313 lines
21 KiB
Plaintext
<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en">
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<html>
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<head>
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<title>The Modem Life</title>
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</head>
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<body>
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<TABLE WIDTH=600>
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<TR><TD>
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<p><i>On an average October lunch break in 2001 I fired up my web browser
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to do my daily surfing of one of my favorite news sites, slashdot.org-
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one of the featured stories included a link to the textfile.com web site.
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Me being a BBS user of the 1980s I began to remiss of my computing days
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of past and after some browsing I found myself speechless as I sat face
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to face with my past- words that I had written sixteen years prior had
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been preserved and to some degree, celebrated on this site. I remained
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stunned for days and felt like I had just made contact with a long lost
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brother as the message that I wrote all that time ago had some special
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meaning to me. After a few e-mail exchanges with Jason (the webmaster)
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he ask that I write some companion text to my original message to help
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solidify the context of the message and to further the celebration of the
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special times when it was written- times that proved to be the infancy
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of the modern online community. I have included the added companion text
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in this version of my letter which is written in italics and contained
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in brackets.</i>
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<br>
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<br>
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<p>The Modem Life. Is it Really Worth it?
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<br>======================================
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<br> Written by The Nomad, for
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<br> all BBS's that wish it.
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<p>Note/Warning:
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<br>===============
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<br>The author of this file will go detailed into his life and will explain
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his feelings quite openly. If you are not mature enough to handle
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what the author is going to say and wish to insult him for his beliefs,
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I suggest you read no further.
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<p><i>[Users often focused much of their online time to systems that were
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within their local calling zone for cost issues, multiplied with the fact
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that there was a significantly smaller users community and it meant that
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the same users would often converse on a number of local systems. As well,
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with such a small home computer user base within the country many people
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didn<EFBFBD>t have immediate contacts to share their passion for computers with
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which often lead them to reach out to others they found in the online world
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for friendship. I personally had arranged a number of meetings with others,
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attended several mid-size user group parties and even, along with a few
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others went to the funeral of an online friend that I had who I had never
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meet. I wrote this disclaimer since many people that would be reading this
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message had met me or had some idea of who I was and to let potential abusers
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and our peers know that I considered the use of this message as ammunition
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for abuse to be of extremely poor taste. Today, this might seem silly but
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I felt it worthwhile as abuse was gaining popularity as an online activity.]</i>
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<br>
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<p>Well, another typical day in the modem world. Doesn't it just
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make you want to throw-up all over the keyboard?
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<p>Recently I thought I would call the numbers on the Megaterm 3.0 Famous
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Systems phone book <i>[Megaterm was a terminal program used to dial-up
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and communicate with BBSs, it<69>s distribution came with a list of BBSs that
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were favorites of the author.] </i> thinking these would be the "Top
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of the line" BBS's. As the Megaterm began to dial with Safehouse
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I kicked back and watched. Busy. Not surprising. It then
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proceeded to dial other BBS's, most of which I never have heard of.
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After about two more tries the program started to freeze. Not sure
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what was going on I picked up the phone only to hear the recording "We're
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sorry but the number you have dialed has been disconnected or is no longer
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in service...". I then hit [U] to unmark the number and continue
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the Megaterm dialing. Not too worried that that board was down the
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Megaterm continued to dial as I again kicked back and watched.
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<i>[Obtaining a connection to a board often seemed like a ritual to many
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online users of the day since access to most systems was limited to one
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user at a time. Of course, the most popular systems were always the hardest
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to get on to. The notation of using the brackets as in <20>[M]essage<67> was
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sometimes used as a courtesy to identify valid system prompt commands (in
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this case the letter <20>M<EFBFBD>), this is somewhat analogous to providing key
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words.]</i> The very next number that was opening message and the prompt
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for my password or 'NEW'. Being a new user I typed 'NEW'. To
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my displeasure the system told me it was a private BBS that allowed no
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new users and hung me up. Very displeased I kicked back in my chair
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and started to listen a little closer to the TV in the other room as the
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Megaterm began to start dialing again. After two more welcome busy
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signals the Megaterm started to flip from 'Click' to 'Busy' and back and
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forth. Confused, I picked up the phone and again heard that dreadful
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recording "Were sorry...". Very uneasy I pressed [U] to unmark the
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number. After a small welcome string of busy signals I got a ring.
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The phone was answered and a carrier was sent. The Megaterm then
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connected for me only to find that it was a Pixboard. Very pleased
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(I love pixboards!) I called back and loaded up Pixterm. <i>[Pixboards
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were special BBS<42>s that were capable of transmitting images to the caller,
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this technology was quite revolutionary for the average online user of
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the day who was accustom to viewing just plain old text. Pixterm
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was the custom terminal program required to interact and view the images
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on a Pixboard.] </i> Once connected, pleased to see some nice graphics
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in the opening message I then typed in 'NEW'. Only to find out that
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a $10 validation fee was required to access ANYTHING but the main menu
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and [M]essage to SysOp. <i>[Most boards of the day offered a number of
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different levels of user access and most systems required the SysOp to
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validate a new user before they were granted privileges beyond reading
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messages. Validated users could post messages to these boards and were
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allowed to stay online for a longer period of time before being forced
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to log-off. Higher levels of access, which were acquired either by purchase,
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favor or personal contact, often provided benefits like allowing access
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to restricted boards, longer online times and access to a BBSs<53> textfile
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database. Some boards also had hidden levels of access which, if obtained,
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allowed access to hidden message boards, allowed the user to know the identity
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of otherwise anonymous posters and provided moderation capabilities to
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delete messages.]</i> After messing around for a few minutes I got
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bored and typed "OFF" to leave the system. I then returned to Megaterm
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and it continued to dial. After another busy signal the numbers sequence
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started over. And I got a ring, before I knew it, the words:
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<p> THE SAFEHOUSE MEGANET - PORT #02
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<br> "WHERE YOU'RE ALWAYS WELCOME!"
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<p>were printed across the screen, me being a regular caller to the board
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entered my name and password only then to be logged off due to the fact
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the that port was being reserved for a level 5 user. <i>[The Safehouse
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was one of the few systems that had multiple phone line capabilities but
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reserved one of those lines for a user with higher-level access, which
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I sadly didn<64>t have.]</i>
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<p> Very discouraged and then realizing that some day, The Safehouse
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would die too such as others favorite systems like Sherwood Forest II,
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The Outpost, The World of Cryton, and Sherwood Forest ///. I then quietly
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went to bed.
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<p> [Extra Note: No offense Safehouse Manager]
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<p> A day or two later I decided to give a few of the local boards
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a call, only to find that the most active sub-boards around were abuse!
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After reading a dozen or so messages I came across a message that was insulting
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my personal favorite BBS, The Digital Dimension, on-line since Aug. 1983,
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a VERY nice system. The post was saying how bad the board was because
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the SysOp wouldn't give him high access, and never answered [F]eedback,
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or [C]hats. <i>[Feedback was a simple e-mail letter to the SysOp. The chat
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function was a request that could be invoked by an online user for the
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SysOp to engage in a real-time conversation while the user was online.
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Once activated, the user could then continue with their online session
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while a message was displayed on the SysOp<4F> monitor indicating the function
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had been activated. It was always fun when a SysOp would break in on your
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session (particularly if the chat function was never invoked). To add to
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the fun, many SysOps had a message automatically displayed as a prelude
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to the chat that often included some overtones of a Godly entrance before
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the chat began.]</i> I was pretty upset, the SysOp is a personal friend
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so I naturally [P]osted about the matter and explained how he is a very
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busy person and tries to do as much as he can, after all there are over
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750 users! <i>[The number of registered users for a BBS was always
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analogous to a tigers<72> stripes and a point of great pride to a SysOp.]</i>
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Feeling satisfied I logged off and observed a few other local boards only
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to find more abuse, hatred, and destruction. I then decided I would
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go outside and get some fresh air and live a normal life, after all I don't
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want to take the image of a 'computer freak'. <i>[Many people of
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school age that had a computer were considered a computer freak by default
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since the concept and benefits of why anyone would want a computer was
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totally alien to the average person.]</i> A day later, very concerned,
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I again auto-dialed to same board with Matthew Dornquast's beloved Megaterm.
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After about a half an hour of dialing I heard the computer in the other
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room signal that a ring was detected. I came in the room and went
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through the logon procedures and went straight to the abuse board to find
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about 10 new messages after mine! I began to read them; more of the
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same hatred. I then came to a post about 4 after mine by the person
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that I posted about. He told me off and posted my number. I
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was very uneasy, I have never heard of the guy before and he posted my
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number! <i>[Much like what will possibly always be, not all
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online users of the day were cordial and some were even looking for trouble.
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Posting an individuals<6C> phone number on a BBS was often used as a
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method of attack against a person in an attempt to destroy that persons<6E>
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anonymity of using an alias. It also attempted to demonstrate ones<65> resourcefulness
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as personal information was often highly guarded from the general online
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public.]</i> Not sure to post or not I sat there for a minute and said
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why not. Not bothering to read the other new messages I [P]osted.
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I then told him how everyone had their own right to say what they want
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and that posting number solved nothing. Of course later that week,
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for about three days I received prank calls, I would pick up the phone
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with a "Hello?" Nothing. He would just sit there, hoping that I would
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get upset with his deed. This will make him happy. I then started
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to tell him how much of a man he was by prank calling, he was probably
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expecting to here "We have a trace on our line blah blah blah!" I then
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hung up. He never called back. <i>[These of course were all days
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prior to Caller ID and related technologies. As phone abuse was often a
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method of attack against another online user many people either did or
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claimed to of declared to the phone company that they were receiving harassing
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phone calls and worked out arrangements to have a call trace placed on
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their line.]</i> Later on that day my very good SysOp friend of The
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Digital Dimension called me. He started to explain how he was told
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earlier today that he was going to be moving at the end of this school
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year. He then asked me very seriously 'Bryan, will you please run
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a copy of the board in Houston while I take a copy to Iowa.' I thought
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long and hard, being a SysOp required a lot of work, time, and devotion.
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A whole lot. I agreed. Many things were now needed to be done.
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Now realizing that I didn't have the hardware to support the system, that
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weekend I started a buying spree. I first bought my Sider 10 Megabyte
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hard drive, $695. <i>[Can you believe 10MB for $700? The scary part is
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that was considered cheap- the Sider was the first hard disk widely available
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for under a $1000.]</i> Then bought a Thunderclock, another $110.
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<i>[Apple II computers did not come equipped with a system clock, which
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was necessary to keep track of users login times. The Thunderclock was
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an expansion card that plugged into the system bus and provided this basic
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function.]</i> I of course needed a firmware chip for my cat, $30.
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<i>[This firmware EPROM plugged into a socket on an Applecat brand modem
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and enhanced the functionality of the modem to allow it to answer phone
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calls.]</i> And so my computer won't overheat, a System Saver, $70.
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<i>[The <20>System Saver<65> was an encased fan that attached to the outside
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air vents of the Apple II to provide increased airflow though the otherwise
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fanless unit.]</i> I then realized that I would need my own phone
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line so I called the phone company and got it installed, $120. Realizing
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how many callers I would loose if the number changed, I would have to pay
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an additional $60 to get the same number, 713/497-4633 but that will have
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to wait <20>till he moves. After realizing I just spent over a thousand
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dollars just to get the board started I began to get use to the software.
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It was a home brew. <i>[custom written.]</i> Nevertheless, a very
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nice one. I started to write new "mods" <i>[modifications]</i> and
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features for the board. I only had a print out of the board then
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so the SysOp could get his software copyrighted. <i>[More specifically,
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the SysOp was ultimately wanting to get his software published and
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was advised by his agent to not distribute electronic versions of the source
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code for it.]</i> Knowing that in order to keep the high quality of the
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system it would require many long nights over the keyboard, more night
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then ever before. Typing... thinking... working... programming.
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After showing the SysOp my progress, he was quite pleased. I rewrote
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many functions. Many features were now more efficient and faster
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then before. I also started the beginning of our soon to be enormous
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[L]ibrary on our new 'baby' the 10 Meg Sider. <i>[It was often in the mind
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of an individual to better understand ones computers and how to control
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it. As well, me being the person I am, couldn<64>t leave good enough alone.]</i>
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<p> After a month or so, with the same old BBS abuse and programming,
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I took a look at all the work I had done. Over 200 files in the [L]ibrary
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so far, many new features which have never appeared on a board in the U.S.
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(to my knowledge) have been thought up, organized, and programmed.
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I then thought, when I take the board over I will be the victim all this
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major abuse on these other boards. What an honor. God, what
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an honor! I then began to wonder, why, why does everyone abuse everyone
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else so much? Are they insecure? Are they really that upset?
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Are they just blowing off a little steam? Do they enjoy making enemies?
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Do they feel superior to insult others? I don't know. I really
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don't know. I myself like to make friends. Not only just friends
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that I will talk to on the phone, but ones that come over on weekends,
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go out partying on Friday nights, play sports, and just about anything
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else a true friend does. Without knowing that I went to the same
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school as Shadow's Pawn for almost a year I meet him at the SysOps house
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and am now good friends with him. Despite the fact that I am two
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years older then him, he is on the football team, I am in band and enjoy
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playing the trumpet, and we had almost no common interests became good
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friends because of similar interests, the computer. But I still came
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back to the same question "Why do they abuse?" Why? Life is bad enough
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as it is, and then there are the feds who are after all us pirates, phreakers,
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and hackers. <i>[I had to laugh some when I read this. Pirates are
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individuals that distribute copyrighted software. Phreakers are individuals
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who acquire and use long distance PIN access numbers that don<6F>t belong
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to them. Hackers are individuals who attempted to penetrate computer systems
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that they weren<65>t granted access to. (The modern definition of this activity
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has changed and is now referred to as cracking. Crackers of this day were
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individuals that found methods to circumvent software copy protection schemes,
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if someone was successful in a particular pursuit they would say they <20>Cracked
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it<EFBFBD>.) While I<>ve never been one to not give people their due and don<6F>t
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condone these activities I found that many people did them out of necessary
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to further their knowledge of computers given their limited resources.
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At that, many were minors and knew there was a limited recourse that could
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be taken against them at that time. I laugh because the fear of the feds
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was something that was often the buzz on different message boards while
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the reality showed that they typically had little interest in what was
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going on.]</i> Who needs more enemies? While we can all be
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helping each other the "good old" traditional computer activities like
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helping others get up to date "wares", even if they have a Networker modem
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and not that "excepted" Applecat? <i>[Wares are the items of trade for
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a software pirate. The Networker modem was capable of transferring data
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at 300 baud while the Applecat could do 1200 so the bias was obvious.]</i>
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I remember back when I first got my modem. I couldn't remember one
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abuse board. Not one. Then suddenly one by one, slowly but surely,
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they started coming up with the demand of them due to the large amount
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of hatred from two users. Now, the abuse board is just as common
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as the public board. Why? Why? Then somewhere, some one
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person had a grand idea. The same thing that happened over two hundred
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years ago. This genius said, that order in the modem society is a
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must and some form of government must be formed. Thus came Tele-Trial,
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with this new concept came new constitutions, new sub-boards, and an incensement
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of tele-conferencing phreaking. The constitutions would set the laws
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of the BBS. The sub-boards would provide a special meeting place for matters
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of the tele-trial and the tele-conference for the often called "court room"
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for the trial of the defendant. This system worked in many places.
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Punishments were often deletion from that board or even to the great extent
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of credit card information being released, and abused. But for many,
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deleting ones password would not keep them off the system. They would
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just call back with a new handle and abuse more people till he was deleted
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again. And the process goes on and on. Believe me, I have seen
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it happen. So I came to the conclusion that this method is not full
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proof. I then came upon a crazy idea of mine. Not so sure of
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myself I begin my think more in-depth. One hope for me remained,
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and I then walked to my computer, put in Apple Writer and began to type.
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<i>[Apple Writer was the de facto standard word processor for Apple II
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users of the day.]</i> Now, I have completed my work. My task is
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finished at this moment of Sunday May 26 1985 at 12:55 in the morning.
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I thank you for you time and am sorry for any and all errors.
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<p> Sincerely,
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<p> Bryan Nomad
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<p><i>In Jason's comments about my letter he said that this was a plea
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to the online community of 1985, in retrospect I have to concur that he
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is right. What<61>s sad however is that you could change a small amount of
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this message and make it meaningful to an online world that exists years
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later- sufficient to say that it<69>s hard to imagine some aspects of
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the online community ever changing so long as people can operate with some
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degree of anonymity. Throughout the decades that I<>ve spent online I<>ve
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found that, from a human perspective the modem lifes<65> greatest tool is
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to allow people the freedom to express what they really want and be the
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person they want to be- no excuses, no limits, no regrets. Some people
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that appear as kind individuals in person live in shadows online where
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their true self can run free without fear of retribution. Others however
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prove themselves noble and dignified without reward and are often brighter
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gems then what the eye beholds. The choices come from within, the freedom
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is yours. In the end, I think you just have to ask yourself "What kind
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of world do you want?"</i><i></i>
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<p><i>Respectfully,</i><i></i>
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<p><i>-Bryan (bpnomad@yahoo.com)</i>
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<p>
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