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#THE BBS ZINE#
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#BY MHJ#
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#Issue 7 - For the week of 10/06/19 - 10/12 #
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########################### #Date Published - 10/22/19 #
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#Focal Point#
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Index:
Foreward
Amateur Radio BBS
Amiga Frontier
Amstrad BBS
NULL: A BBS E-mag
BBS Real Time Chatting
BBSes and File Sharing
Game of the Week
Music of the Moment
Links
Outro
Contact
Next Issue Preview

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#Foreward#
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So I’ve decided the following concerning the zine. It will now be
monthly, and I will spend more time at just one BBS instead of many.
This will allow me to get a better understanding of everything.
Additionally, I will only cover BBSes that interest me or are popular or
new. I just feel like it’s impossible to cover every BBS ever.

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#Amateur Radio BBS#
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Amateur Radio BBS was down, so unfortunately, no screenshots of it.

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#CONNECTION METHODS#
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telnet://amateurradiobbs.com:2323

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#Amiga Frontier #
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As I need to apply for an account there, this will be covered again some
other time.

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#CONNECTION METHODS#
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telnet://frontierbbs.net:8888 ssh://frontierbbs.net:8889

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#Amstrad BBS #
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This BBS was pretty interesting. It was all about the Amstrad line of
home computers. I don’t know much about those home computers, but it did
seem pretty interesting that they decided to make a BBS all about them.

I think this BBS doesn’t get enough love, I noticed that there weren’t
many calls to it. Show the SysOp some fun and give them a call!

[Main]

[Games]

[Text Files]

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#CONNECTION METHODS#
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telnet://amstrad.simulant.uk:464 ssh://amstrad.simulant.uk:6128/

##############################
#NULL: A BBS E-mag#
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Just wanted to give a shout-out to a fellow BBS supporter, xqtr! He
writes NULL, a executable(!) e-mag that regularly features columns,
music and more about BBSes. His work is pretty amazing. Check his mag
out at the following: https://github.com/xqtr/null

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#BBS Real Time Chatting#
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One of the great things about BBSes is the chatting. Most seem to use
something like IRC, so it feels natural to just be able to talk back and
forth. There’s also the fact that the SysOp can break into your session
at anytime. That’s happened to me once and it was great getting to know
them.

I really prefer real time chatting to email, as it’s easier to fire off
and get to know someone quicker, rather than waiting for possibly days
to hear back from them. Of course, that sort of thing isn’t always
conducive to careful, thought out replies.

The rise of secure instant messaging has been a blessing, such as
Telegram, Signal and so on - but it’s good to go back and see how
messaging was on a BBS. It feels much more like a public forum than a
all-out spam fest like some of the bigger group chats are.

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#BBSes and File Sharing#
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File sharing has been around since forever, although for most people it
started with things like Napster. Back in the BBS days though, I heard
that many things were shared, from shareware(of course), to warez, to
music and everything in-between.

Of course, having lived back then, in the days of CompuServe and
Prodigy, I remember it being particular slow to download much of
anything. So the best things to get was simple shareware games, FAQs and
pictures. Everything you downloaded felt like a teasure, because it cost
you potentially some money depending on how you got to the BBS.

I think today people just try to digitally hoard things because the
speeds are so fast and the drives are so big. I think reducing our
digital footprints is important, so perhaps, like ‘simple living’, there
should be a ‘simple digital life’ to go along with it.

#######
#Links#
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VGMusic - lots of video game MIDI music https://vgmusic.com/

Tilde News - Part of the tildeverse, but for news! https://tilde.news/

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#Game of the Week#
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Assassin:

This game is pretty cool. I didn’t play it much beyond making my own
character named Mario. It seems a bit like LORD but with a more
interesting premise. I think it seems to be fun, so I would definitely
recommend it.

[Assassin]

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#Music of the Moment#
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Super Metroid OST Complete: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C4-ay3RUzk

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#Outro#
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I hope I didn’t disappoint anyone with this announcement, but I have to
be reasonable concerning this. I want the zine to continue for as long
as possible, but I also want quality over quantity. Thanks for reading
this issue.

#########
#Contact#
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For questions, concerns, comments and anything else, please contact me
at the following: mhj@sdf.org

Thank you.

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#Next Issue#
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BBS:
Atrium
Columns:
Multiplayer BBS Games
ANSI art showcase
Guest column
Game of the Week
Links

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