And NetSerial works excellent as a Serial Comport Emulator.  And it is
actively supported by its author.



Tom 'ACTION' Jackson

http://www.myRetroRock.com

We'll keep spinning vinyl 'til it's cool again!



   _____

From: 80sBBS@yahoogroups.com [mailto:80sBBS@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
Jeff Mitchell
Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 2:11 PM
To: 80sBBS@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [80sBBS] Re: Retrograde BBS - a custom "Commodore" board
implemented in...Java?



On Wed, 27 Feb 2008, Tom Miller wrote:

# > No one has had any luck getting any version of C-Net to run on a Telnet
# > setup, whether on real or emulated hardware. As a matter of fact,
# > several different BBS programs I've tried to use have had the same

Probably no one has tried very hard then..

- Lantronix has some cool telnet->modem gadgets
- Coders can pull it off if they wanted.. its not even very hard
- An emulated machine can emulate ring signals.. not hard.

(I know, I've written an emu and telnet frontend for my BBS :)

jeff

--
If everyone would put barbecue sauce on their food, there would be no war.





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The 29 February 2008 edition of the Commodore 64/128 Bulletin Board
List is now ready for viewing. You can access the list at the following
address:

http://cottonwood.servebbs.com/cbm-bbs-list.txt

The current state of the C= BBS Scene is as follows:

18 BBS's verified up and running today.

3 additions and 0 deletions.

-Andrew

Ok, so I was asked to introduce myself, so here it goes... :)

My name is Dallas Vinson from Huntsville, AL. I ran several different
BBS' through out the late 80's and early 90's here locally. The BBS I
ran was run on WWIV software (can't remember the name), and later
boards were run using VBBS and I am currently running Virtual Advanced
with vadv32 frontend for telnet support for 10 caller and Argus for
the GatorNet mail handler.

I can be found on BBSMates ( http://www.bbsmates.com/default.asp )
listing the BBS' I used to frequent as well as run. Some the ones I
can remember running were: Sound Source, and HAGAR 2.

Like I said above, I currently have a BBS up and running that is both
telnet ( telnet://bbs.furmen.org ) as well as has a PHP web side (
http://bbs.furmen.org ).

I'm hoping to not only link up with former friends from back in the
day, but also possibly garner some traffic for my current BBS and make
some new friends.

Due to some recent interest in having a Commodore-run dial-up BBS for
people to call, I've decided to put up Borderline BBS, running on
Color 64 v7.37!

This BBS operates 24 hours a day, starting NOW!  It operates at
300/1200/2400 baud, and features 40/80 column operation,
ASCII/ANSI/PETSCII support, message bases, file transfers, and online
games (Master's Empire 5.4, Stock Market, and Horse Racing!).

So dust off your old Commodore modems and give Borderline BBS a call
at (951)242-3593.  For international callers, the country code is
1.  :)

Oh... And before anyone asks... Cottonwood BBS and Cottonwood II
*are* still online, accessable via Telnet.  So yeah, I'm running 3
BBS's simultaneously now on *real* Commodore hardware...  *Someday*
I'll sleep.  ;)

-Andrew

Cottonwood BBS
cottonwood.servebbs.com:23

Cottonwood II
cottonwood.servebbs.com:6400

Borderline BBS
(951)242-3593

I came up with a PETSCII art ad for Borderline BBS, designed using
Kaleidoscope v4.0 on my C64.  This is actually an edited version of the
last "frame" of the animated intro graphic that you'll see if you
call...  Anyway, you can see a JPEG conversion of the ad at this
address: http://hometown.aol.com/cottonwoodbbs/bl_ad.jpg

Enjoy.  :)

-Andrew

I may seriously have to kook up the 1670 I have in a box somewhere and deal
with the LD charges, just to do this.

  -Q7

On Sun, Mar 9, 2008 at 1:34 AM, Andrew Wiskow <wiskow@...> wrote:

>   I came up with a PETSCII art ad for Borderline BBS, designed using
> Kaleidoscope v4.0 on my C64. This is actually an edited version of the
> last "frame" of the animated intro graphic that you'll see if you
> call... Anyway, you can see a JPEG conversion of the ad at this
> address: http://hometown.aol.com/cottonwoodbbs/bl_ad.jpg
>
> Enjoy. :)
>
> -Andrew
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

retrobbs.org, an archive site for the Arizona BBS scene, has moved.  The new
url is...

retrobbs.cortex-media.com

Please make a note of it.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> retrobbs.org, an archive site for the Arizona BBS scene, has moved.
> The new url is...
>
> retrobbs.cortex-media.com
>
> Please make a note of it.

It sure didn't take the domain squatters very long...

g.

--
Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007
http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.

On 09/03/2008, Joe Roberts <deepspace@...> wrote:
> I may seriously have to kook up the 1670 I have in a box somewhere and deal
> with the LD charges, just to do this.
>
>  -Q7

There are some really good unlimited long distance plans these days...
  Or, do like I do and get those prepaid calling cards.  That way,
you're paying for the time up front instead of having to deal with it
on your monthly phone bill.  :)

-Andrew

CGTERM by Per Olofsson is an excellent Commodore Graphic terminal
emulator which runs in Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.  You can
download it at http://www.paradroid.net/cgterm/ ...  Unfortunately,
it's a Telnet-only program, so it can't be used for dial-up
connections.

However, Greg Pfountz, the author of the software that I'm running on
my dial-up board, also wrote a terminal program for MS-DOS in 1991
called the C64 Color Terminal Emulator.  Unfortunately, not all
modems are supported with this program. External modems work best;
most "WinModems" will not work. You can download this program at
http://cottonwood.servebbs.com/C64TRM5B.EXE ... Some have had success
running this from a DOS window from within Windows. The best thing is
to just try it out and see if you can get it to work.  Be sure you
know what COM port your modem is running on, and set the config for
the terminal to use the same port.

I thought this information might be useful to people wanting to call
Borderline BBS who don't have Commodore hardware to call with.  It's
also possible to call using the Commodore terminal program of your
choice from within VICE.  Of course, if all else fails, just call
using any ASCII-capable terminal program.

-Andrew

I think I still have CCGMS on a 5.25 floppy for my C64
somewhere. I will try that as soon as I can get my
friend's 1200 BAUD modem over here.

--- Andrew Wiskow <wiskow@...> wrote:

> CGTERM by Per Olofsson is an excellent Commodore
> Graphic terminal
> emulator which runs in Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
>  You can
> download it at http://www.paradroid.net/cgterm/ ...
> Unfortunately,
> it's a Telnet-only program, so it can't be used for
> dial-up
> connections.
>
> However, Greg Pfountz, the author of the software
> that I'm running on
> my dial-up board, also wrote a terminal program for
> MS-DOS in 1991
> called the C64 Color Terminal Emulator.
> Unfortunately, not all
> modems are supported with this program. External
> modems work best;
> most "WinModems" will not work. You can download
> this program at
> http://cottonwood.servebbs.com/C64TRM5B.EXE ... Some
> have had success
> running this from a DOS window from within Windows.
> The best thing is
> to just try it out and see if you can get it to
> work.  Be sure you
> know what COM port your modem is running on, and set
> the config for
> the terminal to use the same port.
>
> I thought this information might be useful to people
> wanting to call
> Borderline BBS who don't have Commodore hardware to
> call with.  It's
> also possible to call using the Commodore terminal
> program of your
> choice from within VICE.  Of course, if all else
> fails, just call
> using any ASCII-capable terminal program.
>
> -Andrew
>
>


Jim

Hi,
I am an old time bbs sysop.  Scott of Azureware.com and I are
sponsoring an old-time
telnet "Chat Party Tonight" on Sundays from 9:30pm to 9:30pm, Central
Daylight Time/USA.

You can find out the local time by using the /ver command once your in
chat.

Why so short?  I want all the people to show up together.  If it runs
longer than that or starts earlier that is fine!

The Chat server is configured for 1,000 connections so there is plenty
of room.
The server has dynamic chatroom/channel creation so groups can easily
segment into
smaller, more manageable areas.

Direct Telnet:chat.ChatNFiles.com

The ChatNFiles bbs's web address is:  http://www.ChatNFiles.com with
800,000+ downloads.

Please drop by.
Tom Miller, Sysop

I'll say that's short!  9:30pm to 9:30pm...  so the chat will be
exactly 0 minutes in length?  ;)

Sounds like a great idea...  Unfortunately, I'll be at work at that
time tonight, and unless my work schedule gets changed, I'll be at
work most weeks at that time.  Still, I'll try to "pop in" when I can.
  :)

-Andrew


On 16/03/2008, Tom Miller <tlgalenson@...> wrote:
> Hi,
> I am an old time bbs sysop.  Scott of Azureware.com and I are
> sponsoring an old-time
> telnet "Chat Party Tonight" on Sundays from 9:30pm to 9:30pm, Central
> Daylight Time/USA.
>
> You can find out the local time by using the /ver command once your in
> chat.
>
> Why so short?  I want all the people to show up together.  If it runs
> longer than that or starts earlier that is fine!
>
> The Chat server is configured for 1,000 connections so there is plenty
> of room.
> The server has dynamic chatroom/channel creation so groups can easily
> segment into
> smaller, more manageable areas.
>
> Direct Telnet:chat.ChatNFiles.com
>
> The ChatNFiles bbs's web address is:  http://www.ChatNFiles.com with
> 800,000+ downloads.
>
> Please drop by.
> Tom Miller, Sysop

--- In 80sBBS@yahoogroups.com, Quag7 <deepspace@...> wrote:
>
> In an effort to sort of drag the list back on track here, I'll ask
an obvious
> two part question that I don't believe has ever been asked:
>
> (1) What is the most significant BBS you ever called.  By
significant, I mean
> your favorite, the most memorable, or otherwise important BBS.
Don't talk
> about your own, if you run one - talk about one that, perhaps,
inspired you
> to put yours up.

Two boards immediately spring to mind. The first is 'Flat Line BBS',
which was a dialup board in Charlottesville VA during the late 90's.
This is the first BBS I ever called, and the one that got me hooked.
Paul, the SysOp, was extremely courteous and attentive. My activities
and mindset as a SysOp now I owe to him. Second is 'Black Knite's
Dungeon', still accessible via telnet at bloodnet.myftp.org. I found
this board (And incidentally, the woman who has since become my
fiancee'. We met in the LORD game!) when I discovered the telnet scene
a few years back. That one makes the list for obvious reasons :-P

> (2)  What bulletin board systems do you frequent today?  What BBSes
today do
> you think provide the most value, relative to others?  If they're
public,
> post an address so others can check them out.  Again, don't promote
your own
> board - maybe others will do that through their answers.

I maintain a fairly healthy calling list, off the top of my head:

'The Diamond Mine Online' bbs.dmine.net
'The Broken Bubble' mdj.ath.cx
'Titantic BBS' ttb.slyip.com
'Black Knite's Dungeon' bloodnet.myftp.org
'Vertrauen" vert.synchro.net

I'm not going to go into long descriptions for each of them, but both
Titantic and Vertrauen are message network hubs (MetroNet and DoveNet
respectively), Black Knite has a ton of games and old files on his
board, The Diamond Mine puts out a huge monthly list of telnettable
boards, and Broken Bubble is run by a talented young programmer who's
already cranked out his first door game.


> (3) (Bonus) - If you had to pick a single piece of BBS software from
any era
> as you favorite, what would it be?  By BBS software, I mean the
"server," as
> opposed to, say, doors.

Personally I like Synchronet. It runs out of the box, so anyone can
have a working setup in a very short time. At the same time it's open
source, and if you have some knowledge of programming it's
ultra-configurable. They just recently released an add-on that allows
for dialup connections too, which is kinda cool.

Now that I've already posted my first message, I guess a quick intro
is in order. My name is Nick, I'm 26 years old, and I've been BBSing
since the mid to late 90's. I started out as a LORD fiend, and after
coming back into the scene (Now in the telnet era) finally found my
way into the message bases. I'm now the Co-SysOp of a telnet board,
but will always consider myself a user first and foremost.

-Nick

I've tried to do this a few times before with little success but I'm giving
it another shot.

http://www.dataswamp.net/rasterburn/

irc.sorcery.net
#rasterburn

Most IRC channels are focused on a specific technology or interest.  For
some time now, I've wanted to start a general-interest computing channel for
computer hobbyists.  Computer hobbyist,  a term you don't hear much anymore,
refers to anyone who uses, tinkers with, or otherwise enjoys using computers
in their spare time as a form of leisure or recreation.  I wanted to create
a channel for people who are still enthusiastic about and excited by
computers, above and beyond what they can be used for, business-wise.  This
is the kind of channel where no one should ever remark, "What would you want
to do that for?" or, "You've got way too much free time on your hands."
It's intended as a relaxed place with few rules or politics where almost any
computer-related topic is "on topic."

Vintage computing, emulation, virtualization, computer hardware, DIY
computer projects, programming, scripting, OS experimentation, online
communities and the Internet, bulletin board systems, and so forth are a few
of the kinds of things I like to talk about from time to time, but have
problem finding people to do that with.  I certainly can't find a channel
where all of these things are on topic.

My goal for the channel is to also keep it fairly intelligent and devoid of
some of the excesses of IRC most of you are probably well aware of.

I am quite busy for the next few days with work, but by all means feel free
to drop in and idle/lurk if no one else is around to talk to.  Keep your IRC
window open while you work or play.

If you like the idea, spread the word.

   -Quag7


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

*http://tinyurl.com/655yye*

This might interest some of you.  It is an article from January 1970 on home
computing.  In the article, a family who has a home terminal with a modem
link to a timesharing system is described.

"The computer costs $110 a month terminal rental, plus $7.50 to $11 an
hour."

Ouch!


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Wow.  That entire site is wonderful!  Thank you!

On Thu, Apr 17, 2008 at 2:21 AM, Joe Roberts <deepspace@...>
wrote:

>   *http://tinyurl.com/655yye*
>
> This might interest some of you. It is an article from January 1970 on
> home
> computing. In the article, a family who has a home terminal with a modem
> link to a timesharing system is described.
>
> "The computer costs $110 a month terminal rental, plus $7.50 to $11 an
> hour."
>
> Ouch!
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I went to the channel but of course no one was there.  oh well.


On Mon, Apr 14, 2008 at 10:16 AM, Joe Roberts <deepspace@...>
wrote:

>   I've tried to do this a few times before with little success but I'm
> giving
> it another shot.
>
> http://www.dataswamp.net/rasterburn/
>
> irc.sorcery.net
> #rasterburn
>
> Most IRC channels are focused on a specific technology or interest. For
> some time now, I've wanted to start a general-interest computing channel
> for
> computer hobbyists. Computer hobbyist, a term you don't hear much anymore,
> refers to anyone who uses, tinkers with, or otherwise enjoys using
> computers
> in their spare time as a form of leisure or recreation. I wanted to create
> a channel for people who are still enthusiastic about and excited by
> computers, above and beyond what they can be used for, business-wise. This
> is the kind of channel where no one should ever remark, "What would you
> want
> to do that for?" or, "You've got way too much free time on your hands."
> It's intended as a relaxed place with few rules or politics where almost
> any
> computer-related topic is "on topic."
>
> Vintage computing, emulation, virtualization, computer hardware, DIY
> computer projects, programming, scripting, OS experimentation, online
> communities and the Internet, bulletin board systems, and so forth are a
> few
> of the kinds of things I like to talk about from time to time, but have
> problem finding people to do that with. I certainly can't find a channel
> where all of these things are on topic.
>
> My goal for the channel is to also keep it fairly intelligent and devoid of
> some of the excesses of IRC most of you are probably well aware of.
>
> I am quite busy for the next few days with work, but by all means feel free
> to drop in and idle/lurk if no one else is around to talk to. Keep your IRC
> window open while you work or play.
>
> If you like the idea, spread the word.
>
> -Quag7
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>



--
Would you like a source of easy extra income?

http://www.projectpayday.com/go/1002487
Project Payday


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> I went to the channel but of course no one was there.  oh well.
>
You just have bad timing. :)  Quag & I hang out there during the week,
along with a nice gent that goes by the nick "JMS". :)

g.

--
Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007
http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.

J Michael Strazenski????? :))

Tell him we want an apology series for Tormenting us with Crusade. :))

-L Furmen
-Furmen Outpost ( bbs.furmen.org )


On Sun, Apr 27, 2008 at 11:52 AM, Gene Buckle <geneb@...> wrote:

>
> > I went to the channel but of course no one was there.  oh well.
> >
> You just have bad timing. :)  Quag & I hang out there during the week,
> along with a nice gent that goes by the nick "JMS". :)
>
> g.
>
> --
> Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007
> http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> This year's harvest is 17442 bushels.  You have 5000 acres.Yahoo! Groups
> Links
>
>
>
>


--
-Dallas Vinson
-dallas.vinson@...
----
Jesus Taught LOVE and ACCEPTANCE, NOT HATE and Predjudice!!
----


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- Dallas Vinson <dallas.vinson@...> wrote:

> J Michael Strazenski????? :))
>
> Tell him we want an apology series for Tormenting us with Crusade. :))

I liked Crusade.

I would however like a refund for buying "The Lost Tales".


      
________________________________________________________________________________\
____
Be a better friend, newshound, and
know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.  Try it now. 
http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

On Thu, 1 May 2008, Vince Callaway wrote:

>> J Michael Strazenski????? :))
>>
>> Tell him we want an apology series for Tormenting us with Crusade. :))
>
> I liked Crusade.
>
> I would however like a refund for buying "The Lost Tales".

What, having Andreas Katsulas die wasn't enough for you?
He died for AOL-Time-Warner's sins.

Crusade did have promise, I'll say that much, but I would at LEAST like to
have seen it come to a conclusion rather than just leaving us hanging like
it did.

On Thu, May 1, 2008 at 7:08 PM, Vince Callaway <v_callaway@...> wrote:

> --- Dallas Vinson <dallas.vinson@...> wrote:
>
> > J Michael Strazenski????? :))
> >
> > Tell him we want an apology series for Tormenting us with Crusade. :))
>
> I liked Crusade.
>
> I would however like a refund for buying "The Lost Tales".
>
>
>
> 
________________________________________________________________________________\
____
> Be a better friend, newshound, and
> know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.  Try it now.
> http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> This year's harvest is 17442 bushels.  You have 5000 acres.Yahoo! Groups
> Links
>
>
>
>


--
-Dallas Vinson
-dallas.vinson@...
----
Furmen Outpost BBS ( bbs.furmen.org )
Supporting the SciFi/Fantasy/Anime/Furry Communities


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

>> J Michael Strazenski????? :))
>>
>> Tell him we want an apology series for Tormenting us with Crusade. :))
>
> I liked Crusade.
>
> I would however like a refund for buying "The Lost Tales".
>
Now this is a blast from the past.  How have you been doing Vince?

g.

--
Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007
http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.

I guess this is enough lurking... :) Great group by the way.

I mainly geek out with Commodore BBS's; I've resurrected mine, running
Image BBS.

(pasted [with minor edits] from Jeff Ledger's Telnet BBS forum,
<http://jledger.proboards19.com/index.cgi?board=talk>)

Well, boy howdy. The old girl is ticking away just fine mere inches
from my left foot. For the first full day she was back up, she
received 14 calls. Not bad! Not bad at all. I am pleased that it was
missed. (Just means you have to improve your aim, people...)

There are still some issues to be worked out. I lost a few menu files
in a hard drive crash a while back, but I'll continue to work on them.
Also, do not attempt to use the "FurryBoard" feature at this time.
(There seems to be a sychronization issue between the two user lists
maintained by the "matrix mod" which makes this possible. I have not
yet looked into the fix.)

I have a mostly-completed BBS guide; it's in OpenOffice.org format,
but could easily be converted to a .PDF (or M$ Word .doc format), if
anyone is interested, simply e-mail me.

Or, one thing that I may do is upload it to Metal Mage's Retrograde
BBS site: <http://www.retrogradebbs.com>. [Edit: this has been done
with the OO.o version, can't find the .doc file yet; all I have to do
is install OO.o on this Linuxy computer and do a "save as," but I'm
lazy... :/]

Note: If you have had an account at any point during the system's
life, all your account information is preserved. If you're having
trouble remembering your password or username, simply e-mail me via my
Yahoo e-mail address, and I'll either look up your account name, or
reset your password temporarily.

Note that you can change your handle, as well as other terminal
parameters, using the "EP" command (which I've rewritten as compared
to stock Image BBS, as I have with quite a bit of the system, it's not
very stock anymore...).

Have some fun! 100+ games online. Message base activity is picking up
with each and every passing day. Lots of fun little utilities.

The address, you ask? Why, it's telnet://dragonseye.dyndns.org:6400!

(Note: the BBS is physically located in Tacoma, WA; not in Oregon as
some screens will state. I was just so excited to get it up again I
haven't worked on making everything perfect yet.)

Be there, or be burninated! :)

Ryan "Pinacolada" Sherwood

> Or, one thing that I may do is upload it to Metal Mage's Retrograde
> BBS site: <http://www.retrogradebbs.com>. [Edit: this has been done

Neat site Ryan, thanks for the link.

>
> (Note: the BBS is physically located in Tacoma, WA; not in Oregon as
> some screens will state. I was just so excited to get it up again I
> haven't worked on making everything perfect yet.)
>
Did you move up to my neck of the woods? :)  If you don't remember, Skip
is up here as well (sysop of Dura Europos).  Ahh, the memories. :)

g.

--
Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007
http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.

Now I could well be the last one on this list to have heard of the 1998
German film called "23," but on the off chance I'm not, I urge everyone here
to see this movie.  Since undoubtedly there are enthusiasts of these
incidents on this list, I wanted to start by quoting from Wikipedia as a
kind of disclaimer:

*"23* is a 1998 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998>
German<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany>movie about a young
hacker <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker> Karl
Koch<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagbard_%28Karl_Koch%29>,
who supposedly committed suicide on May
23<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_23>,
1989 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989>. It was directed by Hans-Christian
Schmid <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans-Christian_Schmid>, who also
participated in screenwriting. The title derives from the protagonist's
obsession with the number 23<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/23_%28numerology%29>,
a phenomenon often described as
apophenia<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apophenia>.
Although the film was well received by critics and audiences, its accuracy
has been vocally disputed by some witnesses to the real-life events on which
it was based. It is worth noting that Gutmann and Schmid have authored a
book that, apart from telling the story of the making of *23*, also details
the differences between the events and persons in the movie and in reality."

If the name sounds familiar but you can't quite place it, this is about the
guys that Clifford Stoll was after in "The Cuckoo's Egg," which I hope most
of you have read.

23 is not available in Region 1, so if you live in North America, you're
going to have to get it from the places you might expect.  Fortunately, good
subtitles can found, so it's worth looking for.

There has probably been a lot more written about the factual accuracy of the
plot and timeline elsewhere, but I'm not going to concern myself with that
for now.  I wanted to talk about the portrayal of computers in this film,
which is fairly remarkable and unique as far as fiction goes.

I really enjoyed this film.  I don't think I've enjoyed a "computer movie"
this much since Wargames.

23 concerns a young German leftist who is obsessed with Robert Anton
Wilson's Illuminatus trilogy (23 and 5 being the numbers of the Illuminati,
apparently - haven't read these books yet but they're on my list).  In the
early 1980s, he travels to a Chaos congress where Wilson is speaking, and at
some point becomes a politically-motivated hacker himself.   Along with his
friend, David (Goliath), he begins penetrating mainly US military systems
and selling what he finds to the Soviets.  The movie is more similar to The
Falcon and the Snowman than it is Wargames in this regard.

The major concern of the filmmakers appears to be paranoia, which is a theme
I have always been interested in.  To me, paranoia brings a human closest to
his animal state.  Rationality breaks down.  Hormones and adrenalin flow.  I
am not an especially paranoid person but I have had isolated episodes of it,
a few of which have involved computers.  I was never really into hacking but
I was into things like free phone calls in the 1980s (like many on this
list, I assume), and various other low-level but nonetheless illicit
activities.  Unexpected line noise or strange clicks while speaking voice
can really set your adolescent mind running wild with fear.  Considering
what the characters in this film were up to, that strikes me as doubly silly
now.

Particularly interesting here is the amount of Commodore hardware in film.
It's named by name, and great pains were taken to use authentic Commodore
machines, which I appreciated.  Center stage is, of all things, an SX-64,
the luggable/portable version of the Commodore 64, which was the system the
characters did most of their work through.  I come from a Commodore
background, so a lot of this movie came off as technoporn to me.

It's not 100% on the money.  One question I have is about the conspicuous
use of acoustic couplers.   Unless there's something about the middle 80s
German phone system / modem market I don't know, I somehow doubt people were
using these.  In Wargames, the acoustic coupler was used because it was
demonstrative to audience members who didn't know what a modem is.  It was a
forgiveable sin in the service of moviemaking.  The IMSAI hardware in
Wargames, already many years out of date, was also forgiveable because it
was legitimate - if old - hacker tech.   If some guy knocked on your door
right now and offered to sell you David Lightman's hardware, who wouldn't
take him up on the offer?

To the credit of the filmmakers, they have the couplers connecting,
conspicuously, at 300 bps - a detail I appreciated.

But seriously, check out some of these screenshots.

In this one, you can see various pieces of Commodore hardware.  Mixing up
the monitors and the like was a nice touch, but you can see a C64, 1541
drive, and Commodore monitor.  Each appears to be displaying actual
Commodore video output.  For reasons that are unclear to me, in many movies
you'll recognize a specific piece of hardware, but it will be displaying
something which clearly was not generated by that piece of hardware.  I've
seen Commodore 64s outputting graphics from Atari 2600s, for example (Not
even going to go into the hand drawn animation you sometimes see):
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/chaos_computer_club-c64.jpg


Here's David (Goliath) playing Commodore Pac Man.  Note the monochrome C64
output to his left.  The vast Commodore border on the screen is
unmistakable:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/chaos_computer_club-commodore_hardware.jpg


Commodore hardware hacking - good luck!
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/chaos_computer_club-hardware_hacking.jpg


A beautifully lit shot of the Congress:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/chaos_computer_club.jpg


CCC, transfixed by the real Robert Anton Wilson:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/chaos_computer_club-robert_anton_wilson.jpg
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/chaos_computer_club-robert_anton_wilson-closeu\
p.jpg
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/chaos_computer_club-listening_to_raw.jpg
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/chaos_computer_club-raw_outside_of_ccc.jpg


Commodores are not the only vintage hardware to appear in the film.   We
also have an Atari, but it does not fare well.  Goliath writes a password
brute-forcer, and the Atari, they say, can't keep up.  I'm not sure what
that means or why an Atari would crash while brute forcing passwords, so
this is a technical quibble.  Still:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/brute_forcing_on_atari-1.jpg
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/brute_forcing_on_atari-2.jpg


Dictionary attack via Atari:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/brute_forcing_on_atari-3.jpg


And here, the Atari craps out, after which Goliath gets pissed, violently
unplugs the thing, stacks it in the corner and shouts, "WE'RE AMATEURS!"
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/brute_forcing_on_atari-5-atari_craps_out.jpg


Now if you want to be a professional - well, what then?  Goliath and Hagbard
are instructed to buy a used "PDP-11 Micro," but instead pick up a regular
PDP-11 which they can't use because of its power requirements and because
its controller is busted (how usable were PDP11s in the middle 80s for brute
forcing systems?  No idea).  I know OF PDP-11s but am not an expert.  The
photos I have seen do not look like the ones in the film (IRL, they are far
more colorful); nor is any DEC tag visible on the ones in the movie.
Nevertheless, whatever they used for the film was impressively heavy-looking
- maybe someone here can fill in some details on what we're actually looking
at:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/buying_a_pdp11.jpg
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/loading_pdp11.jpg


Here, they've unloaded it on the street in front of Hagbard's apartment.
The guy in the leather jacket is irritated that they spent his money on what
would turn out to be a completely unusable system:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/unloading_pdp11.jpg
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/pdp11_on_street.jpg


Busted "controller," one of the characters points out:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/pdp11-busted_controller.jpg


There is something gorgeous about this shot.  Would love a poster of it but
I'd remove the tarps.  Supposed PDP11 in the rain:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/pdp11_in_the_rain.jpg


Toward the end of the movie, gripped by paranoia, our heroes (?) are hacking
via an Ericsson luggable of some type at hotels, and, eventually, via phone
booth when they get too paranoid to do it from the hotel room:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/ericsson_luggable_of_some_sort-2.jpg



They did a really good job with the computer displays in the film.  If the
virtuosity of the effects people stands out anywhere, it's here, because
they appear to have actually programmed the Commodore (or remote system,
possibly) to generate the online system displays.  The Commodore character
set is unmistakable and unsimulated:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/citichat-connect300.jpg


Here, Hagbard connects to an air force system conspicuously running VAX/VMS
4.4 - of course, the "hack" here is that it is very unlikely these systems
were written to display at 40 columns on Commodores!  A minor quibble.  Note
the built-in SX-64 monitor on the right.
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/hagbard-airforce-vaxvms.jpg


This is a shot from early in the movie where Hagbard sets up his first
computer (from the subtitles):

{16879}BBS were populated by people like me.
{16950}I got a computer and joined my peers.
{{17000}Just a simple computer.
{17090}Only a Commodore, but it served my needs.
{17210}[keyboard clicks]
{17567}I felt I discovered a new continent.
{17690}I visited my global neighbors.
{17810}It didn't take long to choose a name
{17850}[your name: HAGBARD CELINE]
{17938}[Heavy Click]

http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/hagbard-commodore_sx64.jpg


The computer is named after the one in Illuminatus!:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/hagbard-fuckup.jpg


Here's a nitpick - Hagbard logs on to a U Bremen computer using a highly
unlikely login name - we can chalk this up to exposition, but it was
probably unnecessary nonetheless:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/hagbard-login.jpg


Money shot of the SX-64 keyboard:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/hagbard-sx64_keyboard.jpg


Round-the-clock hack session.  Weed, coffee and a disheleved room:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/allnighter.jpghttp://www.dataswamp.net/colin/2\
3/allnighter.jpg
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/karl+david-around_the_clock_hack_session.jpg


Commodore monitor, login screen, unmistakable 1541 drive on right:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/hagbard-online_on_tv.jpg


Hagbard, hacking for a television program with 64'er poster on wall:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/hagbard-tv.jpg


Juelich nuclear power plant intrusion:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/juelich_plant_breakin.jpg


Paranoia hits hard.  Hagbard, low on sleep, and high on stimulants, panics
at what he insists is a trace.  The plasma screen is from the Ericsson
luggable.  Here, they are hacking from the hotel room.  This incident sends
them out to a phone booth:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/omg_trace.jpg


Here is an interesting shot - a shell script (of sorts) used to harvest
passwords.  Hagbard gets the idea while watching a locksmith duplicate a key
- why brute force when you can just harvest?  Particularly cool about this
shot is the concept of writing UNIX shell scripts on a Commodore SX-64.
This is possibly my favorite shot in the film, because it shows sincere
effort on part of the effects people:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/trojan-logger.jpg

Some extra exposition - they explain verbally what a trojan horse is in the
film, and include this quick shot:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/trojan_exposition.jpg


Goliath pores over the list of passwords the trojan/harvester has lifted:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/passwords.jpg


This is a problem I have, as someone who keeps irregular and often bizarre
hours.  Though the economy is more 24-hours based now than it was then, I
run into this problem a lot:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/stores_close.jpg


Acoustic coupling, as I mentioned above, is conspicuous in this film, and
they went through a lot of effort to depict it
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/acoustic_coupling_at_motel.jpg
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/hagbard-acoustic_coupler.jpg


Hagbard looks out from the phone booth, paranoid and on the verge of panic
while Goliath looks at him, worried:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/acoustic_coupling_in_phone_booth.jpg



Another shot of the boys doing naughty things with the Ericsson luggable -
from a phone booth!:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/acoustic_coupling_in_phone_booth-classified_sy\
stem.jpg
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/acoustic_coupling_in_phone_booth-russian_citie\
s.jpg


Bach is discussed as a hacker:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/bach_as_hacker.jpg


The illuminati?
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/us_dollar+weisshaupt.jpg


Hagbard, convinced he's been watched/followed, aligns his keyboard perfectly
parallel with the edge of his desk when leaving his apartment one day:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/aligning_keyboard_to_detect_intrusion.jpg


He returns and finds this, much to his horror:
http://www.dataswamp.net/colin/23/intrusion.jpg


Whether completely accurate or not, I highly recommend this movie.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Wow, going over the archives on this message area, I see some old faces.
Anyways,  Here I am, some of you know who I am.  Anyways, I'm 37 now, I have
4 kids, been married for the last 13 years to my 2nd wife.  I am a
self-employed Linux admin and other etc. things.

Chris Faulkner


--
My New Email address is chris@...


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hey Chris! It's Don..Todd's friend...
If you remember me...
been awhile


----- Original Message ----
From: Chris Faulkner <cfaulkner70@...>
To: 80sBBS@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, May 25, 2008 1:34:19 AM
Subject: [80sBBS] The Bandit, Nashville TN is here


Wow, going over the archives on this message area, I see some old faces.
Anyways, Here I am, some of you know who I am. Anyways, I'm 37 now, I have
4 kids, been married for the last 13 years to my 2nd wife. I am a
self-employed Linux admin and other etc. things.

Chris Faulkner

--
My New Email address is chris@mainsteam. net

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]