A BBS with some "Office Space" Flair! reddit / bbs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- JohnPolka · 2021-08-17 21:16 Fans of the movie "Office Space" will enjoy "The Basement BBS" which centers around the idea that your office desk has been moved to the Basement with your friend Milton of INITECH. In the process, you discover many fun ways to blow off work and earn FLAIR! This includes finding a discarded Chotskie's uniform in the Basement dumpster (only has the minimum 15 pieces of flair though), jumping on Tom Smykowski's "Jump to Conclusions" mat, helping Samir and Michael Bolton unjam a laser printer, searching for Milton's red stapler, playing games and office pranks, etc. If this sounds like fun (or if you have the case of the Mondays and in need of a cheering up), then connect to The Basement BBS! by telnet: basementbbs.ddns.net port 9000 or dial-up (which is Milton's preferred method): 503-245-5416. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 8bitguy1 · 2021-08-18 02:47 I’m up to about 60 flair. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DosGamerMan · 2021-08-18 08:04 Well, that was not something I am gonna do again. Wants a little too much personal info. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- JohnPolka · 2021-08-18 09:36 Sorry you feel that way. The Basement uses a retro BBS program from the 1980s and the user information it requests is typical from that era. In fact, I have found that many modern BBSs (e.g., those that run Synchronet, Mystic, etc.) request more personal info than the Basement does. Thanks for trying it out, nonetheless. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- lucidphreak · 2021-08-18 15:34 what software are you running? also - just because it ASKS for personal info does NOT mean you have to give (accurate) personal info. I split my handle into two for first/last name, give a protonmail email addy, use cyberspace for my city... get creative. Its pretty understood by BBS sysops and users alike that those in build questions that were standard in the 80's and 90's are no longer truly "required".. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- JohnPolka · 2021-08-18 15:55 I am running BBS Express Pro! for the Atari 8bit. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- nolageek · 2021-08-18 16:09 Can you modify what it asks? Under Synchronet you can disable most if not all of the information questions. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- JohnPolka · 2021-08-18 16:16 The questions are hard coded in and I don't have the source code to change them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- scotthay · 2021-08-18 16:17 That's awesome, loved BBS Express Pro. Ran both the 8-bit and ST versions of Pro and the original non-pro versions back in the day for many years for a couple different BBS's. I actually wrote the NetPaq plug in's to compress/uncompress the "networked" message board packets back then on the 8-bit version. I will try to check out your BBS soon, thanks for putting it up, it sounds like a really cool concept. Are you actually running this on an 8-bit Atari, or on am emulator of some sort? I would love to put up my old BBS. I still have the phone number I use to use, but now it is a virtual/VOIP number I use for my home alarm to call out on and for an incoming virtual fax (only get the occasional junk fax these days). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- scotthay · 2021-08-18 16:18 Funny, my wife was just talking last night about the old days of picking up the phone and hearing a modem when someone was online. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- JohnPolka · 2021-08-18 17:10 There's still a handful of BBSs with dial-up access. You can find some on the telnet BBS Guide (https://www.telnetbbsguide.com/bbs/connection/dial-up/). There's even a dial-up only BBS that's running Bulletin Board Construction Set (BBCS) on an Atari 8 bit (https://www.telnetbbsguide.com/bbs/backyard-board/). Saying that, most BBSs are telnet only or if they support dial-up, they also support telnet access. I'm now running my BBS on an emulator so I can save my retro machines for my personal use. :) Atari 8 bits are getting harder to find; especially at a good price. I do keep a version on real hardware that I use when I want to make changes. I still prefer developing on real hardware. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- scotthay · 2021-08-18 17:15 What emulator are you using? Are you using your same BBS Express Node # from back in the old days? I wonder how I could find out what mine were, I have the old hardware and disc's in the basement, but would be shocked if they still worked after all these years. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- JohnPolka · 2021-08-18 17:22 Altirra 3.0. I use 3.0 since the newer versions don't seem to work as well with Pro! You may have better luck than me with a newer version though. Yes, I still use the same node number (127). I'm also running my step dad's old Pro! BBS which is node 7 (Part-Time BBS which is ptbbs.ddns.net:8000). By the way, Keith Ledbetter's support BBS (node 1) is still up (telnet bfbbs.no-ip.com:8888), but someone else is running it. And it's now called The Boot Factory. What was the name of your BBS? There is an old node list floating around that might have your BBS listed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- scotthay · 2021-08-18 17:31 The Round Table BBS out of Cincinnati from around 1984-1993?, I also was the SysOp of the Cincinnati Atari Users Group "Cin'tari" that had a node # (I was a past president as well) sometime in the late 80's early 90's. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- scotthay · 2021-08-18 17:33 Is there some way to still have networked message bases with the telnet setup? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- JohnPolka · 2021-08-18 17:40 Found it! Node 184. You can see it listed in the list at the following link: https://ia800801.us.archive.org/26/items/PROBBSnews/pbnv1n2.txt I did not see anything listed for the Cin'tari! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- scotthay · 2021-08-18 17:43 Yep, that is it, cool! Thanks! Cin'tari may have only had an ST version, when I took over as SysOp from whoever had it before me it was on an ST, I can't remember if they ever ran an 8-bit board, if they did it may have been on other software. Is there a list of the ST version nodes somewhere? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- scotthay · 2021-08-18 17:45 Where is a good place to find the BBS software and plug in's, games, etc? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- JohnPolka · 2021-08-18 17:47 I'm not aware of any list of ST Express! nodes. You might be able to get an answer to your question at the "Atari BBS Club" on AtariAge (https://atariage.com/forums/clubs/8-atari-bbs-gurus/). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- scotthay · 2021-08-18 17:49 OK, I will check it out when I get a chance, thanks ---------------------------------------------------------------------- JohnPolka · 2021-08-18 17:54 Yes. Three of the four active BBS Express Pro! BBSs have a networked message base. It's very easy to set up on real hardware (just replace the phone number with the telnet address in the setup). But on Altirra, it requires a little extra setup. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2021-08-18 18:01 [removed] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- scotthay · 2021-08-18 18:02 Maybe this fall if I get done with a few other projects I am in the middle of I will attempt to set up one. I really miss running a BBS, one of the best times of my life. How much traffic do you get to yours? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- JohnPolka · 2021-08-18 18:12 Sounds good. The traffic is no where near what it used to be like. The Basement was originally up from 1986 - 1998. Then it returned online in 2017. If you ask any SysOp today, they'll probably tell you that running a BBS today is more of a labor of love. :) I don't keep track of the exact nunber of active users, but I can say that we have a nice core group that keeps the message bases active. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- nevarro · 2021-08-18 18:44 >In fact, I have found that many modern BBSs (e.g., those that run Synchronet, Mystic, etc.) request more personal info than the Basement does. Those questions can be disabled, though, and quite easily.