Ancient history
May. 19th, 2005 12:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lurkittyThis place reminds me of the BBS world. That was my real introduction to computers. Before the Internet, heck, before USenet, I think. We started at 300Baud, then 1200, 2400 and mushroomed from there. We had parties at hostsites and sat on computers posting, modems blinking in corners like mutant rats with tiny red eyes. NERD was a popular BBS back then -- I still hang with more NERD-o-philes (as we called ourselves) than high school friends.
The BBS that was revered the most was Backwater -- often spoken of in hushed tones. It stated as a kind of helpdesk -- "COBOL -- hell -- you're better off just writing that in Assembly...". It scrolled by at a miserable 300 Baud -- line by line. Then something strange happened. Someone started posting poetry anonymously. At first, the hardcore geeks were outraged. Then they started to like it. Then they joined in. Then it became the premier art board in the Portland area. No one used their name. You had a border and an alias. Lurkers abounded, famous writers were said to have tested their works there -- names like LeGuin were whispered. The BBS was kept on 20KB hard drives, and swapped when one got full. To be at the top was cool.
Yes -- Backwater lives. Here's a sample. http://www.backwater.com/archive/bw850318.txt
Scroll down to my second border -- yes that's me -- for my version of a classic tale.
{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}!!!isis!!!{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}
I think my border was kind of pretty!
P.S. the next installment is http://www.backwater.com/archive/bw850323.txt
scroll down a long ways. Interesting to note a short bit of prose from Tin Man just above it asking if Gray was so because he "stands between the shadows and the light". No -- Tin Man is not JMS.... and this was 1985.
The BBS that was revered the most was Backwater -- often spoken of in hushed tones. It stated as a kind of helpdesk -- "COBOL -- hell -- you're better off just writing that in Assembly...". It scrolled by at a miserable 300 Baud -- line by line. Then something strange happened. Someone started posting poetry anonymously. At first, the hardcore geeks were outraged. Then they started to like it. Then they joined in. Then it became the premier art board in the Portland area. No one used their name. You had a border and an alias. Lurkers abounded, famous writers were said to have tested their works there -- names like LeGuin were whispered. The BBS was kept on 20KB hard drives, and swapped when one got full. To be at the top was cool.
Yes -- Backwater lives. Here's a sample. http://www.backwater.com/archive/bw850318.txt
Scroll down to my second border -- yes that's me -- for my version of a classic tale.
{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}!!!isis!!!{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}
I think my border was kind of pretty!
P.S. the next installment is http://www.backwater.com/archive/bw850323.txt
scroll down a long ways. Interesting to note a short bit of prose from Tin Man just above it asking if Gray was so because he "stands between the shadows and the light". No -- Tin Man is not JMS.... and this was 1985.
