zen4dummies Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 Checkout http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=wazoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wazoo Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 Nothing to do with Reporting, so moved to the Lounge. Gadz, what a poor set of definitions involved here. Although it mentions Opus (a specific BBS from the 1980s), There were probably thousands of Opus based BBS's back in those days, Opus being a software application rather than a "specific BBS" .... I don't think I could put a number on the different BBS software packages I'd dabbled with back then, all with their own special features, all with their special headaches .... http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=bbs "typically run by amateurs for fun out of their homes on MS-DOS boxes with a single modem line each." My "Home of the Grand Wazoo" BBS ran on Apple II stuff from 1983 to 1996 (starting on a Franklin 1200 [at] 300 baud, graduating to an Apple IIc [at] 1200, ending with a IIgs at 2400). A guy down the street ran his WWIV system on a Commodore-64. A guy a couple of blocks over ran his on an Amiga. But, yeah, I did also co-SYSOP a number of MS-DOS based BBS's, one of which had 23 incoming phone lines. Fans of Usenet and Internet or the big commercial timesharing bboards such as CompuServe and GEnie tended to consider local BBSes the low-rent district of the hacker culture, but they served a valuable function by knitting together lots of hackers and users in the personal-micro world who would otherwise have been unable to exchange code at all No idea what BBS's this person used, but the reality of most BBS's was for the distribution of freeware/shareware, discussion boards, and games. Tradewars, LORD, Falcon's Eye .. memories of old .... A guy that worked for me gave a lady a lift home one night after a college course, finding out that she was married to "Horse" ... the SYSOP of a Commodore-64 BBS. Horse was asked if he had a clue as to where Wazoo lived .. and it was pointed out that these two SYSOPs of "competing" BBS's lived something like 8 houses apart on the same street. Was joking about that with the SYSOP of Sugar Magnolia, and he started in doing the 'chuckling on screen' thing .. as it turns out that he was living less than 3 blocks behind me. We'd only been 'chatting' electronically for 3 or 4 years <g> Lots of BBQ'ing after that evening! Though understanding that this wasn't the purpose of the provided link, thanks for the memories! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 Oooh, Wazoo, you are a man after my own heart. My closet is full of Apple II's... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zen4dummies Posted December 8, 2004 Author Share Posted December 8, 2004 Nothing to do with Reporting, so moved to the Lounge. Gadz, what a poor set of definitions involved here. There were probably thousands of Opus based BBS's back in those days, Opus being a software application rather than a "specific BBS" .... I don't think I could put a number on the different BBS software packages I'd dabbled with back then, all with their own special features, all with their special headaches .... My "Home of the Grand Wazoo" BBS ran on Apple II stuff from 1983 to 1996 (starting on a Franklin 1200 [at] 300 baud, graduating to an Apple IIc [at] 1200, ending with a IIgs at 2400). A guy down the street ran his WWIV system on a Commodore-64. A guy a couple of blocks over ran his on an Amiga. But, yeah, I did also co-SYSOP a number of MS-DOS based BBS's, one of which had 23 incoming phone lines. No idea what BBS's this person used, but the reality of most BBS's was for the distribution of freeware/shareware, discussion boards, and games. Tradewars, LORD, Falcon's Eye .. memories of old .... Though understanding that this wasn't the purpose of the provided link, thanks for the memories! 21068[/snapback] Opus being the penquin in the now defunct comic strip, of course. I started with a TRS80 and outgrew it in about a month, graduating to an 8088 MS-DOS machine. My first modem was also 300 baud. I could type a lot faster than that thing, and there were slower modems around. The BBSs did a good job in their day. And, referring to your undisplayed quotes, in those days a hacker was a techie and not some eburgler. zen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wazoo Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 Oooh, Wazoo, you are a man after my own heart. My closet is full of Apple II's... It was so strange back then .. dealing with mini and main-frames all day, solving all the MS/PC-DOS issues, in one office, jumping from a KayPro-10 on one desk, a terminal to a RSX-11MPlus PDP-11/23,23+,73 networked system I'd hooked up in our offices on one side of the hall, a terminal to a VAX cluster across the hall, a terminal to the IBM main-frames downstairs, my Navy guy with his Amiga questions, my Air Force guy with his C-64 problems, a Navy Cheif with an Osbourne in the next office, actual mission systems based on Data General, DEC, and Rolm computer systems .. on and on .. it was so nice to go home and actually have fun doing stuff on my Apple II's ... if I felt the need for more 'work', there was that TI-99/4a given to me by a few of the engineers as a good-bye gift at my previous assignment (would have been so much nicer if they'd have spent some real money and tossed in one of those peripheral expansion boxes though <g>) For some reason, old Mac computers are finding their way here these days. Thinking of that, remembering now that I was going to unpack a Tandy 1400LT and see what its condition was after being stored for these past few years. On the other hand, I really need to get back to some real work <g> .... thanks again for the dredging up of some old memories ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wazoo Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 And, referring to your undisplayed quotes, in those days a hacker was a techie and not some eburgler. As stated in a previous response, my "hacking" was the way I learned things. The only "formal" training I received was on a computer that had clock cycles stretched across several cirsuit cards. From then on, I was always stuck in the mode of being in charge of the electronics repair shop, and computers were obviously electronic, thus "my problem" .... One day, I thought my problems were solved when I found out that there was a "programmer" on-board. Turns out that he was the financial budget guy, just filling the programmer slot. The IBM folks only spoke IBM, the contractors had already been over asking me to help them figure out how to install the VAX cluster, the actual programmer of the software involved on this particular bit of mission equipment had dropped dead of a heart-attack in the Philipines, Data General wouldn't talk to me as the developers wouldn't give me a license number for the system .... thus began the day I got to learn Fortran, using documentation from a 3-version higher set from a different computer manufacturer .... I'll admit that it took me three days to find and "fix" the problem, but the road to gain enough knowledge to find those two lines of code in a sub-module, no help available, and the only encouragement being that a dozen analysts were out of work because the system was down .... let's just say it was 'fun' .... Coming from the days where a manual set for a computer system would be from 2 to 400 pounds of printed material, I have to admit that I find the complaints about a FAQ here as being "too huge and confusing" just a bit on the silly side. but, I know, this is just based on my background, experience, and outlook on life in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest art101 Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 For some reason, old Mac computers are finding their way here these days. Thinking of that, remembering now that I was going to unpack a Tandy 1400LT and see what its condition was after being stored for these past few years. On the other hand, I really need to get back to some real work <g> .... thanks again for the dredging up of some old memories ... 21083[/snapback] Ah, memories. I bought my first Mac in 1985, then a Mac Plus and a Mac SE (which ran at the then blistering speed of 50 MHz!) in '87... plus a gigantic 20 MB external hard drive. I remember thinking I could never possibly use up 20 MB in my lifetime. I now routinely shove graphic and video files around on my G4s, G5, and PowerBooks that run up Gigs of space and think nothing of it. I also notice Apple stock going up (and not just because of the iPod). I wonder if more users are finding their way back to an OS I've always found seamless - and in these dark days of spam, less prone to viruses and malware. Or maybe I'm just a Pollyanna Mac-head who can't change his stripes. <g> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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