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º October 1995 Volume 3 Number 10 º
ÇÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĶ
º Board of Trade BBS New Port Richey, Florida (813) 862-4772 º
ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ
In This Issue
-------------
þ ONE BBSCON '95 - A Moment in Time
þ ONE BBSCON '95 - What People Where Saying About Tampa Bay
þ Windows 95 - The Hype Highway
þ Heretic: City of the Damned Review
- by Paul Pollack
þ The latest news, reviews, humor, and more
+ + + + +
Editor's Welcome
----------------
As with the past October issues of the Pasco BBS Magazine, this issue has full
coverage of the ONE BBSCON. In case you are not aware of it, which means that
you are not a regular reader of this publication, the ultimate on-line event
was held in Tampa this past August. With this issue we continue with the most
comprehensive coverage of ONE BBSCON '95 found anywhere. A very special event
was made even more special by the fact that it was held on our own home turf.
This issue includes an article on what people were saying about the Tampa Bay
area.
Along with looking at the latest news, this issue also takes a look at how
MicroSoft lead people down the "Hype Highway" with the release of Windows 95.
There is also a wonderful review of Heretic: City of the Damned, written by
our resident game guru Paul Pollack. Of course, all our regular features are
back as well.
Before concluding this month's openning comments, I want to take a moment to
thank Rob Marlowe of the Inner Sanctum BBS here in New Port Richey. Rob has
setup a home page on the World Wide Web for the Pasco BBS Magazine on his
system. Now the Pasco BBS Magazine can be read on the Internet at
http://www.sanctum.com/pasco. People can also telenet into his BBS at
sanctum.com and use his gateway to reach the home board of this publication,
the Board of Trade BBS. While you're there, I hope you take some time to
check out Rob's great board, which is the oldest BBS in Pasco County. Thanks
Rob!
'Til next month, thanks for reading!
+ + + + +
ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ PASCO BBS MAGAZINE ³
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³ EDITOR: Richard Ziegler ³
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³ HOME BBS: Board of Trade BBS (813) 862-4772 ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ File request current issue under magic file name PBM. ³
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ
+ + + + +
ONE BBSCON '95 - A Moment in Time
---------------------------------
The Online Networking Exposition and BBS Convention 1995, better known as ONE
BBSCON '95, did indeed take place in Tampa from August 16-20, 1995. Now that
the frenzy has receded, it is still difficult to believe that the ultimate on-
line gathering was held in our community. A well deserved thanks goes to Jack
Rickard, Phil Becker and all the staff at ONE, Inc. for putting on another
wonderful show. Thanks as well for bringing this show to the Tampa Bay area.
It was a blast! This article will look back at some of the events of this
past August, the highlights, the low-lights and a taste of the ONE BBSCON
experience. There is also a separate article in this issue about what people
said about our fair community. Next month's issue will have a couple of
follow-up reports and no doubt the Pasco BBS Magazine will be talking about
ONE BBSCON '95, the Tampa BBSCON, for years to come.
While the final numbers are not in, it appears that somewhere between 4,000
and 5,000 people made the annual pilgrimage to the BBSCON. While this was a
bit lower than initial estimates, the attendance was up from last year and the
total made for the largest gathering of telecommunications enthusiasts in
history. There is no argument that it was the biggest event in the history of
the Tampa Bay on-line community. It could be that this will remain Tampa
Bay's biggest on-line event well into the next century.
Attending a convention in your own home area is a bit different. People at
work will ask where you are going on your vacation and then give you a strange
look when you answer Tampa. Then you have to decide if you should pop for a
hotel room or not. Driving back and forth each day has its obvious benefits
and problems. As a matter of fact, despite the fact that the convention was
being held in Tampa, and there was no doubt whatsoever that I would attend, I
did not attempt to make any hotel reservations until the day before the show
started. So, needless to say, I did not get to stay at the cheaper hotel
nearest the Convention Center. However, I opted to stay down there two
nights. But, I will talk more about the hotel and the decision to drive home
as this chronology continues.
After checking into the hotel on Wednesday afternoon, I took a walk over to
the Hyatt to register for the BBSCON. Unfortunately, the registration was
being held at the Convention Center. So, I did make the trek from the Holiday
Inn, behind the Performing Acts Center, to the Convention Center and back. It
is a bit of a hike, one I did not choose to repeat. It certainly was hot, but
I guess that should be no surprise. After all, it was August in Florida!
After getting back to the hotel, I took a closer look at my ID badge. I
noticed that I was from 'New Port Rickey, Florida.' My first thought was that
someone on the ONE, Inc. staff was a big fan of the old I Love Lucy show. My
second thought was that I probably should get the badge changed instead of
keeping track of how many times someone asked where is New Port Rickey? Then
I would have to explain it is actually New Port Richey, the badge is wrong.
That night, when I bumped into Inner Sanctum Sysop Rob Marlowe, his name badge
said New Port Rickey too. I guess the same Lucy fan did his badge. I did
eventually get mine changed, Rob left his the way it was.
I had no intention of walking to the Convention Center, again, so I took one
of the shuttle buses to Wednesday evening's Welcoming Reception. The shuttle
buses from the hotels to the Convention Center worked great, there seemed to
be one every 15 minutes. The buses had advertisements on the side for eSoft,
ONE BBSCON '96 and other BBSCON related items. It was different, and perhaps
a bit exciting, to see buses running around Tampa advertising BBS related
products. It certainly added to the atmosphere of hosting the BBSCON.
It was a pleasant evening on the Tampa Convention Center's River-walk for the
Welcoming Reception. Perhaps, a little warm, but not too bad. There was a
light breeze coming off the water, and with illuminated paddle boats in the
channel, it made for a delightful locale. It was an evening full of
conversation with people from around town and around the world. I ran into
people I met at previous BBSCONs. One Sysop from Tennessee asked if I had
"some sort of pull to get this thing in my own home state." No, I did not
have anything to do with it, but this year's BBSCON was definitely a home
game. There was a buffet and the food was quite good. The coconut chicken
went over big, and that comes from a guy who doesn't even like coconut. If
you want to compare this year's Welcoming Reception to the last couple, I will
be happy to pass along my opinion. I would say the Welcoming Reception was
somewhere between Colorado Springs and Atlanta. It is tough to top the first
one, but it was definitely better than last year.
When I returned to the hotel, I took some time to look out the window. Both
nights I stayed in Tampa, my hotel room window faced north. I wished that at
least one of the nights the room faced south, so I could have had a better
view of the downtown area itself, but I never went to the extent of requesting
a different room. However, there was a nice view of the Hillsborough River
and part of the beautiful University of Tampa campus. Tampa Stadium was off
in the distance and I could watch the sunset over Tampa Stadium, which was
somewhat poetic considering all the talk of building a new stadium. I
certainly hope that civic leaders and residents are not so nearsighted, as to
not build a new stadium. If Tampa does not build a new stadium, there are
plenty of communities who recognize the value of a NFL team and will do so if
we do not. But, I guess that is a bit off-topic.
Thursday morning, I checked-out of the hotel and drove the short distance to
the Convention Center, a short distance by car anyway. At last year's
Welcoming Session they had donuts and coffee free for the taking. Since I did
not take the time to stop and have breakfast, I hoped that would be the case
again this year. Unfortunately, there was nothing like that, but there was
coffee you could buy for $1.50 a cup.
Thursday morning's Opening Session took place in a rock concert atmosphere.
The lights were down very low and music played in the background. The
colorful ONE BBSCON '95 logo was displayed on two huge projection screens,
bleachers were set-up and a laser light show took place after Phil Becker's
talk. When the lights went out, I almost expected to see controlled
substances circulating through the crowd. It was quite dark and half the time
I did not know if my tape recorder was getting anything, so I did end up
having to shell out some money for the audio tapes of that session.
Jack Rickard began the Opening Session by welcoming everyone to ONE BBSCON
'95. He talked for a few minutes before introducing members of the ONE BBSCON
Executive Advisory Board. He also explained why the concept of the EAB was
used for the conventions. The idea was "to form an Executive Advisory Board
with different people representing different focuses of the on-line community.
I think this has been fairly successful. We've got very good representation
here this year." Several members of the board did speak to the assemblage.
Next month's issue will take a longer look at the Association of Online
Professionals, so we will save some of the organization's Executive Director's
remarks for next month. But, we did want to share some of Jack Rickard's
humor while he introduced David McClure. Rickard began by talking about other
attempts to form a Sysop Association. "Every year it seemed there was someone
who came up with the idea of forming some sort of association of bulletin
board operators. I watched quite a parade of them come out, announce
something, hope for 15,000 or 20,000 members instantly and when they didn't
materialize, move on. The question is why can't we get all the BBS operators
to do x, whatever x is. Basically, I didn't know. I had never seen all the
bulletin board operators do anything. If you got all the bulletin board
operators in the world, and laid them end-to-end, they couldn't reach a
conclusion, much less lunch. They are a fairly independent group of people
and getting them to do anything is a lot like herding cats. I think one of
the reasons they run bulletin boards, on-line services and their own Web sites
is that the rest of the world didn't do to suit them. So, they built another
one where they could have a little control and do it their way."
Rickard continued with his introduction. "Politically, almost all of the
bulletin board operators tend to be Libertarians. None of them actually join
the Libertarian Party, there's too many rules, you don't really buy into all
of it, but the tendency is towards Libertarianism, just don't want to actually
become a member. When we started Boardwatch Magazine people who ran on-line
services were viewed much as you might a group of people who met every Tuesday
evening to exchange toothbrushes. They do what? Why do they do that? In
recent years, it's not that much of a niche. This has gone quite into the
national eye and its become a bit of a mainstream thing. It also lead to a
curious desire by our governing structure to do two things, one is to regulate
it, and the other is tax it. To defend ourselves we are going to have to make
some concessions on the I don't join and I don't get involved position. The
first organization I've joined in ten years is now this Association of On-Line
Professionals."
After some opening remarks from several members of the Executive Advisory
Board, Phil Becker gave his traditional state of the industry report. Becker
presented a history of on-line, including a slide show featuring ads and
articles from years gone by. When Phil Becker concluded his remarks, the
second annual BBSCON laser light show took place. Each year Becker tries to
top the year before, which has lead to a very elaborate laser light show the
past two years. This was the highlight of the rock and roll aspect of the
Opening Session.
The last one to speak at the Opening Session is the Keynote Speaker and Dr.
Robert M. Metcalfe had that honor in Tampa. Metcalfe is best known as the
inventor of the local area network technology ethernet and as a columnist for
InfoWorld Magazine. His Keynote Address discussed "Convergence and the
Information Superhighway." Bob Metcalfe began his speech, "If you think the
Information Superhighway is a buzz word that takes itself too seriously, I
want to tell you my favorite anagram of the word Information Superhighway. An
anagram is simply a rearrangement of the letters and there are dozens of
anagrams for the phrase Information Superhighway. My favorite is this,
Enormous Hairy Pig With Fan." He also spent some time discussing the
Internet. "Some people think that the Internet is this collection of fiber
optics that go across the country and connect everyone together. When,
actually, the Internet is mostly ethernets connected together. This is how I
get to be the inventor of the Internet. There are a lot of people vying to be
the inventor of the Internet, so this is my way of getting my oar in too."
After the Opening Session, it is time for the first lunch break of the
convention. That first lunch was a bit disappointing, especially after the
lack of coffee and donuts that morning. They served a box type lunch. This
was a chicken sandwich with something that looked like a tomato and something
else brown that had a resemblance to lettuce. The banana was yellow, I guess
that is one good thing. The second day's lunch was nothing to brag about
either, basically a variety of different salads. It was a little downgrade in
the food from last year's convention. Saturday's chicken and ham lunch was
the best of the show, nothing to brag about, but reasonable in comparison to
the other meals. Following lunch, the educational sessions and vendor
exhibits kicked off at 1:30 pm on Thursday.
One of the BBSCON traditions continues to be The Jack and Phil Show, which is
an educational session put on by convention organizers Jack Rickard and Phil
Becker. Jack Rickard looked back at the first Jack and Phil Show, held the
year before the first ONE BBSCON, and talked about how the session remains
applicable with today's explosion of the Internet. "The original session we
did at FIDOCON91, 'How to Make Money with a BBS,' seems a little quaint now.
At the time we had people screaming blaspheme and so forth, but it was a very
popular session. But, I think there has been something happening in the last
year that almost makes it relevant again, we're back where we were in 1991. A
number of bulletin board operators are terribly uncertain about where the
future of on-line is going. The answer to the question is that most of you in
this room already went through this once, you know how it's going to come out.
It's the rest of the world that should be confused and they are." Phil Becker
added, "Nothing that is happening now is new, except in scale."
Rickard and Becker also discussed the traditional rumors how the large
telecommunications companies would somehow eventually control on-line
communications. Jack Rickard began, "How can this be when MCI, Sprint and the
big telephone companies are going to crush all of us? It has to do with
something bulletin board operators do better than these other groups can, and
it is called customer service. Try this, when you go home call the cable
company and tell them your TV does not work, and then can you help me install
WinSock?" Phil Becker continued on the same topic. "In yesterday's USA
Today, AT&T announced that they're going to monopolize home delivery of the
Internet. They can't deal with this, it is not in their realm of possibility
for them to do it. All they can do is be big and scare people. You happen to
be the people they want to scare, because you're the ones they are afraid of.
They can't find you in one place to wipe you out. They can't win this game
and they know it."
The ninety minute Jack and Phil Show did cover a wide range of topics. Jack
Rickard discussed how everyone wants on the Internet. He joked that people
will say "I want some Web and I want about seven pounds of it, I think.
They're not even too sure what it is." Phil Becker on the national on-line
services, "Large commercial services win only by emulating what Sysops teach
them how to do."
The vendor exhibits were pretty much the standard fare. From Internet service
providers to the Giffy girls, most of the major players in the on-line world
were there displaying their wares. There was the traditional free stuff and
give-a-ways, along with more sales pitches than a normal person would be
exposed too in a lifetime. But, there was plenty of interest, as vendors
continue to time the release of new products with the BBSCON.
The biggest surprise at the vendor exhibits was who was not there. Without
giving people any inclination of their plans, PCBoard was noticeably absent
from the exhibit floor. To this date, I remain bewildered by the decision of
Clark Development Company (CDC), makers of the PCBoard BBS Software, to be a
no-show. Was it a non-issue, or was it the story of the convention? I, along
with other PCBoard Sysops, made the logical assumption that CDC would be a
major player at the BBSCON. After all, they had been at the last three
conventions and CDC founder Fred Clark had served as a member of the Executive
Advisory Board at previous events. PCBoard had just won the Editor's Choice
Award from PC-Magazine and how could anyone be so stupid as to miss this
marketing opportunity? There was speculation that because they were running
their own "communications retreat" that they decided not to participate.
There were "off-the-record" comments on what lead to the decision. But, since
Clark Development Company has not commented on their decision, it would be
inappropriate for me to talk about it here. Apparently, by their silence, CDC
would prefer to keep the rumor mill cranking on that one.
As I mentioned earlier, the decision to drive back home to Pasco County, or
stay in Tampa for the night, was one I labored over. When I got home Thursday
night, I thought, hey, this is kind of nice. Being able to check the board,
sleep in your own bed and all that, seemed to make the decision to drive home
worthwhile. I had already had some fun, gotten to talk with a bunch of people
and started to think we're only halfway through this thing. It was sort of
like having two BBSCONs to go to. But, the next morning my perspective was a
bit more realistic. I got a taste of what the people who have to drive to
work in Tampa go through every morning. My advice to people attending
conventions in their own home area, stay, stay overnight! I cannot believe
that some people drive down to Tampa five days a week. I had not even left
Pasco County before I was disgusted. It really reinforced the idea of how
lucky I am that I don't have to make that daily trek. I guess you should not
discard any of life's experiences, but having to make the morning drive to
Tampa is one that I would not be too anxious to repeat. However, when I drove
down there on Sunday morning it was not nearly as unpleasant.
There was one more thing I wanted to mention about the hotel. They had a
television station called VISITEL, which is a station with information about
the area for visitors. Since I live in the area, most of the programming
offered little of interest. But, one evening they were broadcasting BBSCON
highlights. There was an interview with Phil Becker, along with the entire
Jack and Phil Show, playing on the hotel room TV. Since they knew that the
hotels were full of BBSCON attendees, I thought it was a very nice touch.
With somewhere around 180 different educational sessions to choose from, there
was something on just about every conceivable aspect of operating an on-line
service. One of the most popular educational sessions of the show has always
been the BBS Success Roundtables. The idea of putting a panel of successful
Sysops together for a question and answer session is a sound concept. The
Sysops have always been willing to share their proven expertise. In addition,
these sessions have traditionally yielded some lighter moments. Perhaps, the
best line came from Greg Ryan of the Exec-PC BBS. He was talking about how
some services market the Internet. "Everybody in this room has received at
least ten AOL disks in the last year and some of us are using them as
coasters."
Some other sessions had their humorous moments as well. A pretty good line
came out of a session on Promoting Your Hobby Board. A question from the
floor asked about the naming of your bulletin board, and voiced the opinion on
how Cyber-something was "getting a little worn out." Alan Bechtold, editor of
Sysop News and CyberWorld Report, joked "Yes, I think CyberXpo was the last
qualified use of that." Kathy Sussell of New York City's Invention Factory
BBS has a delightful sense of humor. She handles the marketing end of the
husband and wife board, while husband Michael handles the technical end of
things. She put on a session titled How to Happily Run a BBS with Your
Significant Other. Kathy Sussell talked about answering technical questions
on their voice support number. "I'll tell people I'm not the techie, I just
dropped by to answer the phone sometimes. But, I'll get you the answer. They
will say 'I'm calling you on a Zoom modem,' and I'll say, 'well that's the
problem.'"
On Sunday, ONE BBSCON '95 drew to a close. The BBSCON would reconvene in San
Francisco on August 7-11, 1996. As I drove back to Pasco County, my mind
wandered. It was a time to reflect on an amazing five days. There are
moments in life that stand out from the norm. There are moments in life that
make up for the day-to-day drudgery. There are moments in life that have a
special intensity. Moments to reflect upon for all eternity. Moments that
recharge the soul. Moments which you know will never be repeated. August 16-
20, 1995 was one of those moments in time. ONE BBSCON '95 now belonged to the
ages.
+ + + + +
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+ + + + +
ONE BBSCON '95 - What People Were Saying About Tampa Bay
--------------------------------------------------------
When a city hosts the ONE BBSCON, or any other major event for that matter,
they are going to be the subject of some praise and criticisms. When ONE
BBSCON '95 was held at the Tampa Convention Center this past August, Tampa Bay
was no exception to this rule. Tampa's efforts to revitalize the downtown
area have yet to lead to substantial results, as downtown Tampa remains a
ghost town after the sun goes down. This lead to comments that Tampa was a
hick town where they rolled up the sidewalks at 6:00 pm. People complained
that there was no place to eat, that all the restaurants were closed and that
there was nothing to do around town. One of the first comments overheard
about Tampa was a poor attempt at humor, but it did hit the nail on the head.
"What do the locals do for excitement? Leave town!"
Not to indicate that all the feedback was on the negative side. Many people
were raving about how beautiful the area was and how wonderful the Tampa
Convention Center was. From Wednesday's night Welcoming Reception, until the
event closed on Sunday, never was heard a discouraging word about the
Convention Center itself. There was also plenty of discussion about something
completely out of the control of the local Chamber of Commerce, the heat.
There was talk from the organizers of the event that the Tampa location was
responsible for a leveling-off in the attendance for this year's show. The
editor of the Pasco BBS Magazine asked many in attendance what they thought
about Tampa and some of the better quotes are the basis for this article.
Phil Becker, one of the primary organizers of the ONE BBSCON, was asked what
he thought of Tampa. "I like Tampa quite a bit. It's a bit warm. I was here
in February and it was little bit nicer then, I would say, then it is right
now. This facility, on the other hand, is why we're here. It is the most
gorgeous convention facility, I think, that is available anywhere. It is
really why we brought this show here to tell you the truth." Jack Rickard,
the other half of the ONE, Inc. team, also commented on Tampa. "It's a little
warmish. It was beautiful in February. The attraction is this facility, it's
just ideal for this kind of a show. We thought that it would be a real pretty
show here and it is. Actually, Florida and the Tampa area with this Tampa Bay
On-Line and so forth, there are some pretty active people in the area on-line.
I think it has worked out pretty well for us."
Jack Rickard continued discussing the site of the Welcoming Reception, along
with the strengths and weaknesses of holding the event in Tampa. "I think
that river-walk terrace was a delightful setting. A little warm, but it was
very scenic and that is what we look for in the Welcoming Reception. Atlanta
had some advantages and disadvantages, Tampa has too. We try to go into a
place and take advantage of the good stuff and minimize the losses on the
things that don't work so well. Tampa is a little light on hotels, they don't
have a big hotel, they're a little bit scattered, so we try and focus it here
on the Convention Center. I did a hospitality last night with a boat tied up
out here by the fountain. Phil Becker did one where he brought in a boat and
they went on a cruise. We have kind of focused all the activities right here
on the Convention Center, which is the strong card here in Tampa."
With this year's event drawing only slightly more people than last year's show
in Atlanta, organizers were asked if they felt there may have been a leveling-
off in the attendance. Phil Becker replied, "I think the truth is that Tampa
is a little further away in people's minds, I think they're worried about the
heat in August and I think it has had a damping effect on this year's
attendance. It looks like we'll be in the 5,000 range, I haven't seen what
the local response will be. We've had a lot of interest locally and that may
change, we may get more local traffic than I expect. If the local traffic is
typical to what we've seen in past years we'll be in the 5,000 range." Jack
Rickard concurred, "It is kind of hard to get people from the rest of the
country to come down here, but we do have attendees from thirty countries."
What were others saying about the area? There was some talk at Thursday
morning's Welcoming Session. Scott Brinker, President and CEO of Galacticomm,
Inc. and a Fort Lauderdale resident, went up to the podium and commented,
"Welcome to Tampa and the humidity!" Jim Harrer, President of Mustang
Software, Inc., began his opening remarks, "First of all I think we ought to
give Jack and Phil a hand for, again, hosting this at such a beautiful
facility like Tampa. This is just gorgeous guys." Shortly after the
Welcoming Session, David McClure, the Executive Director of the Association of
Online Professionals, put the warm temperatures in perspective. "I love
Tampa. It's warmer than this in D.C., where I come from. If you look at the
map, it's all red. If you are going to have to have the weather one way or
another, Tampa is gorgeous, I love it."
Kathy Sussell, who operates the Invention Factory BBS with her husband, was
also asked 'how do you like Tampa?' "I don't," the New York City resident
replied. "The area we're in is not really conducive to getting to know Tampa.
Well, it's kind of hot, it's August. See, at the convention we are really too
busy to get out and see anything. I mean, it looks like a nice city. For me,
I'm in the downtown area in the hotel and there is like no people walking
around. It is kind of quite at night and there are not many shops, it's hard
to buy souvenirs."
There was also some talk about the active hurricane season and about how
Hurricane Erin had passed through the area just two weeks prior to the event.
Phil Becker joked, "I was concerned about that. When the hurricane came
through, and I saw another one coming behind it, I said this will work out
real good. We'll get all these people in town and then kill them. This will
work." Jack Rickard also quipped, "I was praying Hurricane Felix would come
this way, kind of cool things down."
So, that is some of what people had to say when the BBSCON came to our
community. This was one of the largest conventions to take place at the Tampa
Convention Center this year and was the largest gathering of on-line
enthusiasts in history. A record which should stand until they reconvene the
BBSCON in San Francisco next August.
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Windows 95: The Hype Highway
-----------------------------
As expected, MicroSoft released the latest version of Windows on August 24.
As people scurried to upgrade their computers to handle the massive operating
system, the release of Windows 95 was expected to bring a billion dollar
windfall to the computer industry. As with any new software, the inevitable
bugs and problems began surfacing shorting after the release. While there are
many interesting stories coming out of this new release, the hype surrounding
Windows 95 made everything else pale by comparison. MicroSoft proved to be
the masters of marketing and lead millions of consumers down the hype highway.
For months, MicroSoft had been heralding the much delayed release of Windows
95 as a way to improve the quality of life for the average computer user, if
not the average American. This may have been the most hyped marketing
campaign in history, even dwarfing the "new" Coke fiasco. But, credit must be
given, where credit is due, and MicroSoft launched one of the most effective
advertising campaigns in history. There certainly were some interesting
stunts in their strategy.
MicroSoft would not allow sales of Windows 95 until August 24, which lead
computer stores worldwide to open their doors at midnight to begin selling the
software. Despite the fact that there no shortage of copies of Windows 95,
some stores were going to the extent of taking reservations for the software.
Many stores stayed open until the wee hours of the morning to handle the rush
of customers. Some of the stores carried a live broadcast of Bill Gates and
MicroSoft had representatives in some stores to answer questions. In New
Zealand, where the midnight deadline came hours before stores in the United
States could begin selling the software, Auckland business student Johnathan
Prentice bought the first retail copy. A Dallas computer store ran a "Best
Dressed Computer Nerd" contest, but the whole midnight scenario left many with
the thought that most computer geeks needed to get a life.
But, the hype was the amazing thing. MicroSoft paid to use the Rolling
Stones' song "Start Me Up" for its advertising campaign. Some in the media
were reporting that the rights to the rock classic cost MicroSoft up to $12
million, but the actual cost was somewhere between $2-4 million. A hefty
outlay, but only a small percentage of the $150 million advertising budget.
MicroSoft president Bill Gates' face was all over the television. He was on
Larry King Live, the Today Show and featured in a paid half-hour advertisement
in most of the major media markets.
Some of the stunts were actually fairly original and clever. In Great
Britain, farm fields were painted with the Windows 95 logo. In Sydney,
Australia, a floating barge carrying a 40 foot re-creation of the software
package was towed into the harbor. In New York City, MicroSoft paid to light
the 102-story Empire State Building in Windows 95 colors. They brought out
the entire run of "The Times of London" and distributed the paper free of
charge, with some modifications to hype the release. Tonight Show host Jay
Leno hosted a corporate carnival in Seattle, which was beamed via satellite
to 43 cities.
A look behind the hype generated some gratifying numbers for MicroSoft. They
reportedly sold more than 300,000 copies in the United States on the first
day, sold 1 million copies over first four days and expected to sell 29
million copies by the end of the year. A look behind the hype generated some
unsatisfactory numbers for MicroSoft. Within days of the release, the
newspapers were full of Windows 95 horror stories of system crashes and the
loss of critical data. Their support line was overwhelmed with people seeking
help. Some spent hours on the phone, hours on hold for a long distance call
which was not toll free. MicroSoft had 1,600 people taking calls, which they
felt could handle in excess of 20,000 calls a day, but they were woefully
under-staffed. Many times technicians could not answer questions and were
giving the traditional answer to something they cannot explain, the old "virus
or disk problem" response. Another unsatisfactory number for MicroSoft, was
the fact that their stock lost $4 on the Monday after the release.
There will be millions of words written about the release of Windows 95. An
article could be written on how we ever got to a point where an operating
system takes up 63 megabytes of disk space. Articles have already been
written on the claims that Windows 95 can be installed in less than an hour on
a 386 with 4 meg of RAM. But, the hype was the amazing thing. Will MicroSoft
try the same thing when they release their first bug fix release in November?
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³ ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ ÜÜÜ ³
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Heretic: City of the Damned Review
----------------------------------
Written by Paul Pollack, editor of GamePlay Magazine, New Port Richey, FL
Another week, another 3D game. I've run over pedestrians, blown away bombers,
blasted a few imps, and now, with the release of Heretic, my dragon's claw is
awfully worn. It sometimes seems like this type of game pops up every week,
with each new game getting less & less original along the way. The first-
person perspective has become over-used. Yes, there's no such thing as a
surplus of good titles, but many of the recent games are not good titles, far
from it, in fact.
That's why Heretic was such a relief. It's an awfully creative idea, with the
best 3D engine I've yet to see, and an original concept that sets a positive
example for other game companies. There are numerous magical artifacts
scattered throughout the game, and the medieval feel only adds to the
atmosphere. Heretic is an incredible title.
Heretic (shareware version): City of the Damned
Statistics:
Developer: Raven (using the Doom engine)
Publisher/Distributor: ID software
Requirements: 486 DX, 4 MB RAM, 9600 BPS+ modem for modem play
Recommended: 486 DX/33 with VLB, 8+ MB RAM, supported sound cards, 14.4 modem
Available at: Board of Trade BBS -- (813) 862-4772 / (813) 863-5886
Any codes: You betcha (what 3D game doesn't have codes?!). Here:
Defective Doom Codes
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
IDDQD -- Kills you ("trying to cheat, eh? now you die.")
IDKFA -- Takes away weapons/ammo ("cheater -- you don't deserve weapons")
Correct Heretic Codes
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
RAMBO -- All weapons/full ammo
RAVMAP -- Full map (must be in map mode)
PONCE -- Full health
SHAZAM -- Toggle higher weapon power
COCKADOODLEDOO -- Become a chicken
QUICKEN -- God mode
GIMMExx -- Get artifacts (where xx is a letter a-j [not d or j in the
shareware version] followed by a number 1-9)
SKEL -- Gives you all the keys
KITTY -- No clippings mode
ENGAGExx -- Warp mode (where xx is the episode number followed by the level
number)
MASSACRE -- Massacre; kills all creatures on level
Remember: As in Doom, the codes will only work on the first four skill
levels.
Difficulty: Adjustable
Report Card: (Remember: these are strictly our opinion)
Graphics...................... A+
Sound......................... A
Music......................... B+
Plot.......................... N/A
Animation..................... A
Puzzles....................... N/A
Humor......................... N/A
Funfactor..................... A+
Re-play factor................ B+
Control\manipulation.......... B+
Technical factor.............. B
Concept....................... A
Bang for your buck............ A
Ending........................ D
Overall....................... A
The Explanation:
Graphics (A+): With Heretic, the artists at Raven have forever redefined what
3-D games should look like. The wall, floor, and ceiling textures look
fantastic, and fit in perfectly with the medieval setting, while the weapons
all look realistically rendered. The enemies you face are also very well-
rendered, which leads me to believe that Heretic has the finest graphics ever
to appear in a 3-D game. There's a great attention to detail here. The water
seems to almost ripple, the graphics have a medieval touch that fits in
perfectly with the concept, and everything stays in perspective while in
flight. Of course, Raven has always had great graphics in their titles
(Shadowcaster speaks for itself), so it's not that much of a surprise that
Heretic has raised the graphical stakes in the world of PC gaming.
Sound (A): Heretic makes great use of sound, from the splash present when
your character hits the water to the sound of dead creatures collapsing to the
floor. Best of all, every single one of the sounds is realistic (or, in the
case of the weapons, at least sounds right), and this adds greatly to the
overall quality of the title.
Music (B+): There's not really that much to be said about this; the music in
about all first-person shooters is pretty solid, and Heretic's certainly no
exception.
Plot (N/A): Heretic's plot was ever more well-hidden than that of Apogee's
Rise of the Triad. In fact, I couldn't even find it, although I know that one
does exist from the bits and pieces I've seen as well as the ending. The
plot, judging from what little I've seen, seems to be about on par with Doom,
which isn't saying much. Then again, nobody really cares about the plot in a
game like this anyway, mainly because the plot isn't an integral part of the
gameplay.
Animation (A): For Heretic, Raven used the Doom engine (which is fitting
since id published the game), and the result in fantastic. The scrolling and
bobbing (on a fairly fast [486 DX2-50 with VLB recommended]) are every bit as
realistic as Doom's, and the immersive quality of the title is simply
fantastic.
Puzzles (N/A): The puzzles in Heretic were similar to those in Doom; find the
keycard, unlock the door, find the switch, see what it does, etc. And, like
Doom, the puzzles mix in so well with the gameplay that it's impossible to
give this a separate rating.
Humor (N/A): While there wasn't any humor in the game (unless you think the
Doom codes backfiring is funny), it could only hurt the overall quality of
the product. With a medieval setting, humor would look out of place and
detract from the overall experience.
Funfactor (A+): Heretic is a very fun game to play, since it manages to
immerse you further into the game world than into other program I've seen;
including id's Doom/Doom ][ and Apogee's Rise of the Triad. It's obvious that
a lot of work has been put into the game, and it really pays off in the end;
wandering through the corridors and shooting enemies with your powered-up
ethereal crossbow has never been so much fun!
Re-play factor (B+): Although it doesn't have nearly as many new PWAD files
as does Doom, Heretic allows up to four players on an IPX-compatible network,
and two players via a 9600 BPS+ modem (try a 14.4/28.8 for maximum
performance). Raven and id have also included DWANGO.EXE, a program that
makes finding an opponent for your on-line sessions much easier. And yes,
Heretic does allow the player to run user-created WAD files (again, id has
asked for users to create WAD's only for the registered version), so there may
be a whole lot of them cropping up pretty soon. But even without modem play,
network play, or external WAD's, Heretic is a fun game that'll keep you coming
back for more. There's plenty in here for you to discover, and the game world
is large and inviting.
Control/Manipulation (B+): To control Heretic, you can use either the
keyboard, mouse, or joystick, and the game features special support for the
Gravis PC GamePad, as well as a few other peripherals (like the Cyberman).
While you'll probably enjoy playing with a combination of keyboard and mouse,
I found that my Gravis PC GamePad worked the best out of everything I've
tried. The controls were smooth, the four buttons were easy to reach, and
there were few times when I needed to resort to keyboard control.
Technical factor (B+): The game runs about as smoothly as Doom on many
levels, and should perform nicely (although you may see some slowdown on some
levels) on a 486 DX-33 with VLB/PCI. As for bugs, I didn't encounter much
trouble, although I have heard reports of it occasionally freezing up or
dumping the user back to DOS. These are just minor faults; they don't show up
that often.
Concept (A): While the 3D shoot-em-up concept has been used ad nauseum, this
is not a typical 3D shooter. What strikes me as so original about Heretic is
the fact that it features an inventory system, which goes a long way toward
making it the best 3D game on the market. What this system enables you to do
is to carry certain items, called "artifacts." Each artifact does a specific
job; some are magical, and enhance your weapon power, or make you partially
invisible, while others are normal artifacts, like a torch used for lighting
the room. You access the inventory system by using a combination of the
bracket and enter keys (brackets to select, and enter to activate).
One of the artifacts enables you to fly, but unlike ROTT, where you have to
keep pressing the button to stay in the air, Heretic allows you to simply move
your character up and he'll simply stay there: less realistic, but more
convenient. (ROTT v1.1 note: Rise of the Triad v1.1's flying method has
changed, and now functions essentially the same as Heretic's. This review was
written before v1.1, and as such, some things may not be accurate.)
The weapons are also a nice touch; your staff, elvenwand, ethereal crossbow,
dragon's claw, and gauntlets of the necromancer are all pretty much what you'd
expect to find in a game of this setting. Yes, some type of sword would be
nice, and our resident mythological expert Alex Thomas claims that
necromancers don't wear metal (it's against their religion), but these are
still solid additions to this already solid game. As a Doom level designer
(GLADIATOR, available on the BOT BBS -- get it today!), I noticed that Heretic
also has many sector types, the most noticeable is the ability to set the
winds (useful for simulating water currents). And all the rest of the game
just fits so well together that you can't help but love it.
Raven and id have also opted to include an RSAC advisory-board rating with
Heretic, and are among the first game publishers to use what may become `the'
standard rating system. When you first begin at the menu screen, in the lower
left-hand corner, you'll see an RSAC advisory rating warning you of the level
three (out of four) blood/gore content found in the game. Although I doubt
this rating will persuade someone not to play, it will help concerned parents
decide whether the game is appropriate for their child.
Bang for your Buck/Worth buying (A): Both Raven & id Software are famous for
putting out high quality programs, and with Heretic, it becomes apparent why
they have such reputations. Heretic makes full use of the Doom engine, but
enhances it with so many neat touches (such as inventory management, the
ability to fly, and unique artifacts), that it stands out as one of the best
games, if not THE best game the genre has to offer. Whether you buy it or not
depends upon what you like. If you are A) a Doom freak, B) a medieval times
fan, or C) just someone looking for a great game (that's about all of us,
isn't it?), you should check out Heretic. Then again, if you don't like 3D
shooters, Heretic probably won't convert you. Your loss, though.
Ending (D): I found the ending of the shareware version of Heretic
suspiciously similar to that of the shareware version of Doom. Both consisted
completely of text appearing on a background, explaining a brief ending, and
then telling what to expect when you register the next episode.
Well, what should you expect? While on the subject of similarities between
Doom and Heretic, let me point out that both titles use a similar approach
when it comes to registration. Both Doom and Heretic intentionally take out
certain items to increase registration rates; for Doom it was the BFG 9000,
Plasma Cannon, and the Berserk power-ups. For Heretic, id and Raven have
taken out the Hellstaff, Phoenix Rod, and other power-ups.
Overall (A): Heretic is one of those rare titles that not only tries to
imitate the best, but to improve upon it. While other attempts like this one
have met with mixed results, Heretic ups the genre a notch higher and extends
the Doom engine with its innovative inventory management.
Although it may seem like a minor addition, I really feel that Heretic's
inventory system could be the next big step forward in the genre, as
publishers realize that it takes more than just good graphics and a smooth
engine to keep people hooked. Soon gamers will be demanding more, as the next
batch of 3D games (like Quake & Dark Forces) are released.
To be more immersive, there must be more realism, and only through
improvements such as Heretic's inventory management will we ever get this.
Gamers have been wishing for more realism for quite a while, and it's nice to
know that game companies are finally listening to us. Download a copy of
Heretic off the Board of Trade BBS today. You won't be sorry!
Editor's Note: Thanks again to Paul Pollack for another great article. There
will be more from Paul and GamePlay in next month's Pasco BBS Magazine. Paul
is an avid gamer and frequent BBSer who, if you would like to contact him, can
be reached at Gator's Place BBS (813) 376-0087, or Dr. Duck's BBS (813) 849-
3562. Paul is also the moderator of the GamePlay Conference on the Board of
Trade BBS (813) 862-4772.
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ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
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³ ÜßÜ ÜßÜßÜ ÛÛ Û ÛÛ Û ÛÛ Û Û ÛÛ Û ÛÛ Û ÛÛ ÛÛ Û ÛÛ Û ÜßÜßÜ ÜßÜ ³
³ ÜßÜßÜßÜßÜßÜßÜß ÛÛ ÛÛÜÛ ÛÛ Û Û ÛÛÜ ÛÛÜÛ ÛÛ ÛÛÜÛ ÛÛÛÛ ßÜßÜßÜßÜßÜßÜßÜ ³
³ ßÜßÜßÜß ßÜßÜß ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ Û ÛÛ Û Û ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ Û ÛÛ Û ÞÛÝ ßÜßÜß ßÜßÜßÜß ³
³ ßÜß ßÜß ÛÛ Û ÛÛ Û ÛÛ Û Û ÛÛ Û ÛÛ ÛÛ Û ÛÛ Û ÞÛÝ ßÜß ßÜß ³
³ ÛÛÜÜÛ ÛÛ Û ÛÛ Û Û ÛÛÜÛ ÛÛ ÛÛÜÛ ÛÛ Û ÞÛÝ ³
³ ³
³ =======FOR THE SERIOUS ONLINE GAMER======= ³
³ ³
³ The hottest gaming magazine ever just got even better! With more reviews ³
³ of shareware and commercial games/demos, more game hints, Windows 3.1 ³
³ compatibility, an updated list of the best shareware games, demos and ³
³ more! This is one magazine you simply can't afford to miss! Now with a ³
³ terrific all-new 256-color menu system, an awesome new RPG narrative, a ³
³ complete One Must Fall 2097 strategy guide, and a terrific strategy ³
³ guide to Privateer. You haven't known gaming until you've read GamePlay! ³
³ ³
³ ==========DragonHawk Productions========== ³
³ ³
³ Home BBS: Board of Trade BBS, New Port Richey, FL (813) 862-4772 ³
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ
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EFF Quote of the Month
----------------------
"When cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl!" [When
cryptography is outlawed, only outlaws will have privacy!", ROT-13 encrypted]
- John Perry Barlow, EFF co-founder
Editor's Note: The Electronic Frontier Foundation Quote of the Month is a
collection of the wittiest and stupidest, most sublime and most inane
comments ever said about cryptography, civil liberties, networking,
government, privacy, and more. For more information on the Electronic
Frontier Foundation, contact the EFF via the Internet, phone, fax, or US
Mail. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, 1001 G Street NW, Suite 950 E,
Washington, DC 20001, (202) 347-5400 (voice), (202) 393-5509 (fax), (202)
638-6119 (BBS), Internet: ask@eff.org.
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²²²²± ²²± ²²± ²²± ²²²²²²²± ²²± ²²± ²²²²± THE NEWS
²²± ²²± ²²± ²²± ²²²± ²²± ²²± ²± ²²± ²²± ²²± ²²± DIRECTORY
²²± ²²± ²²± ²²²²±²²± ²²±²± ²²± ²²± ²²²±
²²± ²²± ²²±²²²²± ²²²²± ²²±²±²²± ²²²± A brief look
²²± ²²± ²²± ²²²± ²²±²± ²²²²²²²± ²²²± at some of
²²± ²²± ²²± ²²± ²²± ²²± ²²± ²± ²²²±²²²± ²²± ²²± the news of
²²²²± ²²± ²± ²²± ²²± ²²²²²²²± ²²± ²²± ²²²²± the month
The next TWO BBSCON will take place May 23 to 26, 1996 in Munich, Germany.
The headquarters hotel for the third annual European version of the popular
ONE BBSCON will be the Sheraton Munchen Hotel & Towers. There will be a Gala
Dinner on May 24 and an optional river rafting excursion on May 26.
Information may be obtained from TWO BBSCON EST., P.O. Box 206, FL-9486
Schaanwald, Liechtenstein, Europe, or +41 (75) 373 28 32, or at
twobbs@online.li.
The 904 telephone area code will be splitting on December 3 of this year to
form a new 352 area code. This change, which originally was expected to
happen some time next year, will affect the Southern section of the current
904 area code. The part of Pasco County in the 904 area code, along with
Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Levy, Marion, and Sumter counties, will have to switch
to the new area code. The areas north of that will be able to retain the
current area code. This is the latest in a series of area code splits taking
place all over the country. The increased usage in electronic equipment, such
as pagers, modems and cellular phones, has created the demand for additional
telephone number.
The second annual trade show put on by Sysop News...and CyberWorld Report will
take place June 11-13, 1996 at the Sahara Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas,
Nevada. For more information on cyber.Xpo.96 contact Offinger Management
Company, P.O. Box 2188, Zanesville, OH 43702-2188, (614) 452-4541, or at
cyberxpo@muskingum.edu.
If you want evidence of just how mainstream on-line communications have
become, just look to the season opening telecast of ABC's Monday Night
Football. When Dallas running back Emmitt Smith ran for a 60 yard touchdown
on the game's third play, play-by-play announcer Al Michaels stated: "The
Cowboys have just sent the Giants a message in all caps!"
+ + + + +
ROTFL!
------
Computer humor courtesy of Sandy Illes
Top Ten Ways To Know You Need A New Computer
10. It says, "I can't let you do that Dave," even though your name isn't Dave.
9. It won't boot unless you put the battery re-charger on it.
8. The error messages now say, "Please trade me in... please!"
7. It makes better toast than zip files.
6. It auto-dials 911 and begs for help.
5. You have to literally boot it just to get the floppy drives to work.
4. Unix systems sneer at it and call it a dweeb.
3. Even 286's sneer at it and call it a dweeb.
2. It acts like it thinks BIOS stands for: "But I'm Obviously Stupid."
1. It singes your fingers when you type on the keyboard.
Editor's Note: Thank you to ROTFL Digest!, and its editor Sandy Illes for
allowing the above to be reprinted from a prior issue of the on-line humor
magazine. For more information on ROTFL Digest! contact Access Media Systems
at (905) 847-7362 (Voice/FAX), or call the CAP/Canada BBS at (416) 287-0935.
Email: sandy.illes@canrem.com, or Sandy Illes 1:250/710.
+ + + + +
S H A R E W A R E R E V I E W
ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ Program ³ Jack Flash ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ Author/Vendor ³ MVP Software ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ Special Requirements ³ 386 or higher ³
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ
Jack Flash Review
-----------------
Jack Flash and the Mutiny of the Things is a new game written by Christian
Aschoff of Germany's CAPS Softwaredesign ULM and distributed by MVP Software.
The first of Jack Flash's four worlds is being distributed via the Shareware
market. It is an enjoyable game with nice graphics and colorful enemies.
The game scenario begins with a news broadcast by Norbert Nanotech. It seems
that Professor E. Eddison (known as Evil Eddi) has brought the "Things" to
life with his "Energy Generators." Now the battle begins with nowhere to hide
from the aggressive apples, combative carrots, lunatic light-bulbs and all the
other strange things the doctor has brought to life. The hope for
civilization lies with the one and only Jack Flash and his Suck-O-Matic. As
Jack Flash, you try to suck the life out of all the bad guys and save the
universe in the process.
With parallax-scrolling, decent sound card support and a sense of humor, Jack
Flash Mutiny of the Things is a nice addition to MVP Software's catalog.
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°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
² ²
² Board of Trade BBS New Port Richey, Florida ²
² ²
² Home of the Pasco BBS Magazine ²
² ²
² Home of the 813 BBS Directory ²
² ²
² Home of DragonHawk Productions ²
² ²
² Home of Shadoware ²
² ²
² (813) 862-4772 ²
² ²
² 12/24/48/96/144/28800 baud ²
² ²
² Official Distribution Site: ²
² Alive Software, Apogee Software, Epic MegaGames, Gamer's Edge, ²
² Id Software, Impulse Software, MVP Software, Safari Software, ²
² Software Creations, Soleau Software and Union Logic Software ²
² ²
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
+ + + + +
PBM Flashback - October 1994
----------------------------
The October 1994 issue of the Pasco BBS Magazine featured a report on ONE
BBSCON '94 in Atlanta. One of the highlights was the Sysops who were quoted
during the BBS Success Roundtable educational sessions. The sessions are
quite informative, but the sessions are not without their lighter moments.
Here is some of what Kathy Sussell of the Invention Factory BBS had to say
about running a bulletin board in New York City.
"We had a very big (line) noise problem. The infrastructure of New York City
is falling apart. It is kind of hard to be a high tech company in a low tech
town."
Editor's Note: PBM Flashback will appear on a regular basis in future issues.
Most issues will have this brief look back at some of the features which have
appeared over the history of the Pasco BBS Magazine.
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Corrections and Clarifications
------------------------------
In last month's Catalog of Free On-Line Magazines, one magazine's home BBS had
the incorrect telephone number. The GamePlay Magazine's home BBS, the Board
of Trade BBS, had the wrong number. Since this is also the home BBS of the
Pasco BBS Magazine, the correct number can be found several places in this
issue, but it shows just how easy it is to get someone's number wrong.
If you notice mistakes in the magazine, please let us know so the appropriate
correction may be run.
+ + + + +
Next Month
----------
The November issue of the Pasco BBS Magazine will have more ONE BBSCON '95
coverage. There will be a report on the Association of Online Professionals
and a look ahead to ONE BBSCON '96, which will be held in San Francisco next
August. Along with all the latest news, all our regular features will be
back.
Do not miss the November issue of the Pasco BBS Magazine, which will be
available on or before October 22.
+ + + + +
Important Information
---------------------
The Pasco BBS Magazine is distributed free of charge, as long as it is
unaltered and complete. When uploading make sure the original archive is
intact with all files included.
The Pasco BBS Magazine is the sole property of the Board of Trade BBS and
Richard Ziegler. It is legally copyrighted material and all rights are
reserved. No part of this magazine may be used without permission. No
compensation of any kind may be received for the viewing, distribution, or
for any other use of the magazine files.
By submitting something, you are agreeing to allow publication of the
material in the magazine. Articles reprinted with permission remain the
property of the cited source. Guest contributions may not necessarily
reflect the views of the Pasco BBS Magazine. The editor reserves the right
to edit submissions, however, this is normally only done to correct spelling
or grammatical errors. The editor makes all determinations on what and when
articles will run.
Every effort is made to insure that all information contained within the
Pasco BBS Magazine is accurate, but inadvertently mistakes can appear.
The Pasco BBS Magazine, Board of Trade BBS or Richard Ziegler cannot be held
liable for information contained within this document. It is intended that
this magazine exists for the personal enjoyment of the readers.
Rather than place a trademark symbol at every occurrence of a trademarked
name, it is stated that trademarks are only being used in an editorial
fashion with no intention of any infringement of the trademark itself.
More information can be found in the other files distributed with the
magazine's archive.
Comments, questions, suggestions and submissions can be left on the Board
of Trade BBS (813) 862-4772, or mailed to Board of Trade BBS, P.O. Box 1853,
New Port Richey, FL 34656.
+ + + + +
(C)Copyright 1995 Richard Ziegler - All Rights Reserved
+ + + + +
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