NYCnet EchoMail Coordinator =========================== Also listed as: NYCnet Manhattan EchoHub / NYCnet Manhattan EchoHub 1 / NYCnet Network Coordinator / The United Front "The United Front BBS initially began on a CP/M-based Osborne 1 computer in 1981, with a single dialup running at 300 baud. This increased to 1200 baud, then 2400 baud, and the system grew to host a large amount of public domain CP/M applications, with the eventual intent of joining the FOG (First Osborne Group) league of BBSes. But a system failure on the Osborne shelved that plan, and the new United Front BBS began on a 286. This BBS grew and flourished through many changes in its hardware, up through 386, 486 and in its final incarnation, a 486 DX/2 66 driving six 19,200 baud modems while multitasking over an 8-port serial card using Quarterdeck software. At this point the BBS featured a wide slew of online games, inter-user chatting and also inter-user multiplayer games, not to mention a large chunk of the EchoMail feed and also many FidoNET file feeds; with approximately 5 GB of storage, with more content coming in every day on the File feeds, the BBS had a very extensive selection of downloads. By this point too, the SysOp had been elected as the Net Coordinator for NET 278 (NYCNET), with authority over all of the many FidoNET BBSes in New York City and its five boroughs. Over his many years in this position, this BBS also became the primary EchoMail Hub for NYCNET, and the SysOp also accepted the mantle of Net EchoMail Coordinator. Yet the inexorable, growing draw of the Internet, AOL and other commercialized online services and the ongoing decline of FidoNET in general led the BBS gradually from having all six lines continually occupied to getting perhaps one or two calls per day. Always provided as a free service, with subscription being optional, the BBS was shut down in 2000 due to lack of use and lack of operating funds to cover replacing failing hardware and the ongoing expense of six phone lines." - Darrell Benvenuto Phone : 718-886-1829 Place : Flushing, NY Years : 1981 - 2000 Sysop : Darrell Benvenuto Listed by telephone number, as they all were. A few of these boards did reach the web: see recoveries-002.txt. Source : bbslist.textfiles.com, compiled by Jason Scott ------------------------------------------------------------------ gopher://hp84.com/ | https://ge97.com/ .