[Nfb-web] Web Articles for Braille Monitor

Sunfire a_borka at sbcglobal.net
Sun Jul 22 04:33:28 CDT 2007 

I remember something like that in the settings of the BBS that only the
sysadmin could get to. You could set a time limit for each user per day.
Worked out pretty cool for the people that liked to hog space and time. I
usually kept it to 15-20 minutes a day so people could get in...



-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-web-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-web-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Peter Donahue
Sent: Saturday, July 21, 2007 10:53 PM
To: NFB Webmaster's List
Subject: Re: [Nfb-web] Web Articles for Braille Monitor


Good evening everyone,

And most of those companies charged you by the minute for connect time. Some
of the BBS'S I used to use only allowed you an hours worth of connect time
per day. I can't remember if NFB Net was one of them, but I remember
accessing a few local BBS'S which only allowed you an hour a day connect
time.

Peter Donahue


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <crichardson at nfbny.org>
To: "NFB Webmaster's List" <nfb-web at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 21, 2007 9:49 PM
Subject: Re: [Nfb-web] Web Articles for Braille Monitor


Yes, reminding me of the cost savings.  There was no flat rate call anywhere
telephone plans back then.  Your call from New York to New jersey was
cheaper than the call to California.  Also, the full rate was day time and
was about half as much during the night hours.

My how things have changed.

I wouldn't and you probably didn't get much traffic on a 300 baud BBS as
most people by the late 80's were getting 2400 baud pretty cheap and 9600
were coming into play.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sunfire" <a_borka at sbcglobal.net>
To: "'NFB Webmaster's List'" <nfb-web at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 21, 2007 12:02 PM
Subject: Re: [Nfb-web] Web Articles for Braille Monitor


> Hi...
>
> Wow! I remember those days of BBS systgems. Used to run one myself 
> back in 90-93 before I stopped for a while. The main one I remember 
> was called renegade bbs. You could download it for free and them make 
> some changes to it. I also remember being a part of the WWIV network 
> (I think thats what it was called). Hmmm or was it something else? One 
> of my boards was ran on an IBM compatible computer (that's what they 
> were called back then) and another
> one I had that ran on a C64 for a while and then on a C128. I remember one
> of the networks I was on spaned Canada, the US and Mexico. So, to get
> forum
> posts and messages from the north part of Canada to me at the time
> (Michigan), took about 1-2 weeks. They wanted to save money on the BBS
> owners, so they had the originating BBS making the transfer call dial the
> closest one on the network, and so on until it got to its final place. I
> also remember that for a network load of 1000 posts/files and stuff, for a
> 300bps modem took around 2 hours to transfer (about 400k worth of data).
> What a dinosaur!! I now have DSL that goes 1536k and that is considered
> slow
> now a days? how fast to me! grin!
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-web-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-web-bounces at nfbnet.org] 
> On Behalf Of crichardson at nfbny.org
> Sent: Saturday, July 21, 2007 11:47 AM
> To: NFB Webmaster's List
> Subject: Re: [Nfb-web] Web Articles for Braille Monitor
>
>
> BBS were not always on any kind of network.  They were basically a 
> single computer running whatever brand BBS software.  Most only had 
> one phone line which meant for a lot of redialing to get into a 
> system.  Once on you could
> read public messages, send emails to users on that system, yes, just that
> one computer, play some online games and download files.
>
> A system like WWIV started to assign network numbers to its systems 
> and had to be registered to Wayne Bell's computer to be put into the 
> network. Then
> at night mainly when users were less likely to be using the systems, the
> BBS
>
> would call out to other systems and transfer emails.  Some would be 
> incoming
>
> to your own system, or just passing through to another on the system.
>
> Unlike nowadays were someone would receive an email in minutes of me 
> sending
>
> it, it sometimes took 1 to 3 days for an email to be received through 
> the early BBS networks.  I believe David used Telnet work NFBNET and 
> he could probably tell you any differences in that system.
>
> What became more like the internet we know today and was the beginning 
> of the end for BBS was the online services, like CompuServe and Genie.  
> I use to have an account on Genie, which stood for General Electric 
> network for information Exchange.  Along with it's many public message 
> boards you could send messages to people around the country in 
> minutes, but not from Genie to
>
> CompuServe.  Online shopping was first introduced in these systems 
> also.
>
> later on CompuServe and AOL became internet service providers and a 
> lot of their services became moot as they became a part of the 
> internet.
>
> Gosh, this makes me feel like a computer dinosaur, but what's worse is 
> I have written programs on Holarith cards.  No, not some digital 
> memory cards,
>
> but paper keypunch cards.  Also not having a keypunch machine we use 
> to use a guide and blacken out the parts of the card that would be 
> punched with a number 2 pencil, kind of like the lottery game cards 
> nowadays.  You know what it was like to almost know the ASCII value 
> for every character on the keyboards of today and for output I knew a 
> lot of special characters above the 127 value for formatting 
> documents.
>
> We just forget sometimes how much easier it is today.
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Peter Donahue" <pdonahue1 at sbcglobal.net>
> To: "NFB Webmaster's List" <nfb-web at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, July 20, 2007 7:50 PM
> Subject: Re: [Nfb-web] Web Articles for Braille Monitor
>
>
>> Hello everyone,
>>
>>    Can you please explain how BBS'S differed from the Internet? 
>> Although it
>> may not have been a part of the Internet as we now know it the NFB Net
>> BBS
>> opened possibilities for members and others interested in our work to
>> communicate with each other and to exchange information electronically. I
>> could use a refresher on this subject to ensure that what I write is
>> accurate.
>>
>>    Peter Donahue who prefers to get it right the first time to avoid 
>> informational gotcha's!
>>
>> Peter Donahue
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: <crichardson at nfbny.org>
>> To: "NFB Webmaster's List" <nfb-web at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Friday, July 20, 2007 5:00 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Nfb-web] Web Articles for Braille Monitor
>>
>>
>> I hate to disagree, but BBS were not a part of the net.  Not the 
>> internet anyway.
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Peter Donahue" <pdonahue1 at sbcglobal.net>
>> To: "NFB Webmaster's List" <nfb-web at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Friday, July 20, 2007 4:10 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Nfb-web] Web Articles for Braille Monitor
>>
>>
>>> Hello Gary and listers,
>>>
>>>    I began writing what I hope will become the first article in this 
>>> series last night. Perhaps the best place to begin the series is to 
>>> review a brief history of the development of the Internet and its 
>>> use by the NFB. I believe
>>> the NFB Net BBS was our earliest use of the net. Also does anyone
>>> remember
>>> the years our national Web site was launched and when NFB Net was
>>> converted
>>> from a BBS to a Web Site? Dave does the BBS still operate or has it
>>> become
>>> a
>>> part of NFB and Internet History?
>>>
>>>    Beginning in this way would be a good, "Jumping-off point" for 
>>> launching the series. In addition to encouraging more folks to 
>>> become tech savvy, the series should also serve to familliarize 
>>> members with the work of our Webmasters Group. I'll write the first 
>>> article to launch the series and will
>>> post a draft here when it's finished. We can then decide who wants to
>>> write
>>> the next one in the series. Gary since you're our fearless leader
>>> perhaps
>>> you could do an article that discusses the work of our Webmasters group
>>> and
>>> the services we offer to affiliates to help them establish or enhance
>>> their
>>> Internet presence. As I said I wish I could have brought this idea up
>>> during
>>> our meeting in Atlanta.
>>>
>>> Peter Donahue
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Wunder, Gary" <WunderG at health.missouri.edu>
>>> To: "NFB Webmaster's List" <nfb-web at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Friday, July 20, 2007 10:16 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [Nfb-web] Web Articles for Braille Monitor
>>>
>>>
>>> I think this is a good idea. We'll need to write in a way which 
>>> encourages people who are not technically inclined to take on some 
>>> of the things we find most beneficial.
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nfb-web-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-web-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>>> On Behalf Of Peter Donahue
>>> Sent: Monday, July 16, 2007 5:09 PM
>>> To: nfb-web at nfbnet.org
>>> Subject: [Nfb-web] Web Articles for Braille Monitor
>>>
>>> Hello everyone,
>>>
>>>    Here's hoping those who attended this year's national convention 
>>> had a great time as Mary and I did. We had another great Webmasters 
>>> Seminar and I was privileged to be one of the presenters. I thought 
>>> the topics were informative, and was pleased to hear about the 
>>> template being created for
>>> our state affiliates.
>>>
>>>        There's an idea I forgot to bring up, but didn't and whish I 
>>> had thought of it so we could discuss it during the meeting. Given 
>>> all of the discussion and questions folks have about how the 
>>> Internet can be utilized to spread the federation's message I was 
>>> going to bring up the idea of some
>>> of us writing a series of articles for the Braille Monitor explaining
>>> the
>>> nature of the Internet, and the different facilities the net affords us
>>> to
>>> spread our message and philosophy about blindness. While many members
>>> are
>>> aware of our use of the Internet they're not acquainted with how it
>>> works,
>>> and how best such facilities as e-mail, discussion groups, Web Sites,
>>> podcasts, and of course everyone's favorite subject audio streaming
>>> work,
>>> what's involved in operating them, and which of these net communication
>>> methods are best for different communications needs among members, local
>>> chapters, and other affiliates.
>>>
>>>    I find that many folks are aware of our use of the Internet, but 
>>> they don't quite understand how it all works. I'd like to suggest 
>>> that we write a series of articles dealing with various aspects of 
>>> the Internet for publication in The Braille Monitor to inform 
>>> members of what the Internet
>>> is, what means of information sharing are available to the NFB via the
>>> Net,
>>> and how we can best utilize these facilities to spread our message, and
>>> to
>>> grow and build the federation. I wish I thought to bring this idea up
>>> during
>>> the meeting so we could discuss it, and to perhaps formulate a plan
>>> where in
>>> each one of us could write an article discussing one particular aspect
>>> of
>>> the Internet, and how to create and use its variety of communications
>>> tools
>>> to our advantage. I'll be interested in hearing feedback concerning this
>>> idea.
>>>
>>> Peter Donahue
>>>
>>> "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten" Joel 2-25
>>>
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>>
>>
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