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Modeming1
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1988-05-28
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%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% %
% Modeming along %
% %
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% By %
% Stephen Hudson %
% SysOp %
% Blackboard BBS %
% (02) 525-6970 %
% PO BOX 640 %
% Miranda, 2228 %
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Welcome MD readers of the world to yet another article!!! Hopefully
this one might be interesting and/or helpful to you especially if you are
wondering about that oft-talked about feature of the computer world,
ELECTRONIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS. These articles have been written with two
purposes in mind. 1) A general overview of modeming along.....
2) A description of some bulletin boards around.
Firstly let me introduce myself. I am a System Operator of Blackboard BBS
(BBS stands for Bulletin Board Service). This means I run a BBS... more on
that later. I also regularly call a few BBSs in Sydney and try to abuse
everybody I know :-) )
Now I have presented my credentials, lets have a look at BBSs and you.
=====================
= Glossary =
=====================
Firstly, a small glossary of terms you will hear regularly throughout this
article.
:-) A smiley face on its side.... if you start using BBSs you will
encounter this regularly. It means that the last thing said was a joke.
There are a heap of variations on this one, such as :-Q for smokers,
and :-{) for those people with a moustache.. ..
MODEM: A device to couple your computer to the telephone. It can run at
different speeds, the most common speeds being 300/300, 1200/75, 1200/1200
and 2400/2400. These numbers refer to the baud rate of the modem, how many
0s & 1s it can send down the line per minute. The faster the modem, the
more expensive, the more susceptible to line noise, and the quicker you can
send/receive information.
LINE NOISE: Every telephone line has a bit of static in the background, and
some are worse than others. If you are calling on a "noisy" line you might
see random characters popping up, make$s a ^essge har& to re#d dont you
think... :-)
Bulletin Board: A computer hooked up to the telephone waiting for someone to
ring it. The computer will answer the phone, establish what speed the other
modem is calling at, and begin to to exchange information with it. The
bulletin board has a SysOp, sometimes (like mine) more than one.
SYSOP: A silicon-head who never sleeps. He does daily maintenance of his
beloved board, spends huge sums of money on it to keep it running, answers
pages, helps new users, and replies to stacks of electronic mail.
BBSs and you.... an overview
============= ==========
"I don't have a modem, so what am I missing out on...."
A simple answer to this qustion is "A large telephone bill!!"
If you live in the country, ie, have to call your capital city STD, then
this is especially true. You will not be able to get the full use out of
the modem. However, you will be able to get public domain software like
everyone else, and via Viatel or a BBS like mine, buy computer or other gear
without having to go into town. You can also get technical help from other
gurus without having to visit them.
However, for those people in a city with several BBSs around, your
enjoyment of your modem will be tenfold more. Every bulletin board has
different goals. Some, like mine, are a purely social board for interested
users to chat about various subjects, keep up to date on world news through
our electronic magazine etc. Others, like Club Amiga, are mainly a file
transfer board with a lot of public domain software, sometimes for other
machines as well, others are for C programmers to get help, for game
players to play online adventure games or for pirates to swap programs.
The last one is probably the most infamous type - hacking has been a
favourite subject for a lot of young children.
"What do you mean by public domain software?"
PD (public domain) software is software for which the author keeps the
copyright but allows free distribution of the program. It ranges from
picture files that budding young artists have drawn, to simple and not-so
simple games, to communications programs, text editors, programming
utilities etc. You usually do not have to pay a cent for the use of these
programs. Some programs are classed as Shareware, they can be freely
distributed but the author asks $5, $10 for his efforts if you get some use
out of the program.
Some bulletin boards allow any user to log on and take whatever they want,
other BBSs ask that for every 5 programs a user takes, he provides one in
return. Others charge the user a membership fee before he can look at the
files.
"Membership fees?"
Some boards ask $10, $20 for access privleges, this is to help cover the
cost of running the board as well as re-imburse the SysOp for the number
of hours he puts in. In return the user gets access to the public domain
programs on the board, access to other conversation areas, access to
magazines, information services etc.
Blackboard, and some others, give membership to those users who regularly
leave messages. Others don't have a membership section at all.
"Conversation areas??"
The main role of a bulletin board is for electronic mail. Here you can
leave messages to any of the other people on the board, or even on the
network.
Networks are where several BBS's are linked together. At a certain time
each day they ring each other and exchange some of their messages. In this
way, some of the bigger networks are international, you can read about
what is happening on the AMIGA side of things in America. If you have a
question for someone in America, for a small charge it will eventually
find its way to him/her.
"But I dont want to talk about computers all the time!"
Neither does anyone else [ other than me :-) ]!!! Some BBSs have SPECIAL
INTEREST GROUPS set up, like a section for sailors wanting to talk about
their craft, or for mechanics to swap ideas and news. Whatever your
interests are, you can usually find other people willing to talk to you on
them.
"You mentioned online games earlier... what did you mean?"
Online games are adventure games, like Colossal Caves which you can play as
if you were running the program on your own computer, and when you have
finished you can compare how you went with how everyone else performed.
Other games are based on standard RPGs (Role Playing Games.. eg Dungeons &
Dragons) where you direct an imaginary person through an imaginary world,
making decisions every couple of days. You are usually accompanied by half
a dozen other players and can interact with them, while another unseen
player evaluates your decisions and tells you what happens. These games can go on
for months. Another popular game is trade wars, where players roam around
a universe in space ships blowing each other up, trading, creating planets
etc....
"Other than logging onto Bulletin Boards, what else can I do with my modem?"
One of the other useful functions of your modem is to be able to ring up
your friends and exchange programs, pictures or stories.
Also, some programs you may buy, such as Marauder II, may offer online
updates. This means that when you send in your registration card, you can
ring the author's computer up regularly and download the latest version of
the program.
Plus there are professional services like Viatel and the like which offer
all sorts of charged services, like booking travel tickets, or getting the
latest stock prices.
And there are the business uses, you might decide to set up a bulletin
board at work for some reason, an example would be for travelling
salesman, so they could ring up with their portable computer each night to
get the latest prices, and to pick up any messages that the boss might
have for them.
Other than that, a modem can be used to beat your little brother up with,
or to chase away cats, but I don't recommend these courses of action.
[Continued in "MODEMING2]
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