who here uses floppy disks still?
i still use them for my computers!! <3
especially my 286! <3

--mary4 (Victoria Crenshaw) the 286 enthusiast

... Error, no Keyboard - Press F1 to Continue.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Datanet BBS | telnet://datanetbbs.net:23 (21:1/166)

who here uses floppy disks still?
i still use them for my computers!! <3
especially my 286! <3

I haven't touched a floppy in years. I mean 15+ years....

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Clutch BBS * telnet://clutchbbs.com (21:1/199)

I haven't touched a floppy in years. I mean 15+ years....

:<< they are still pretty neat! just old and old school

--mary4 (Victoria Crenshaw) the 286 enthusiast

... DOS=HIGH? I knew it was on something...

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Datanet BBS | telnet://datanetbbs.net:23 (21:1/166)

yes i am still using diskets or more pecisly tape drives and disks

... Computer warten alle mit der gleichen Geschwindigkeit!

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Disconnected by Peer BBS (21:1/999)

:<< they are still pretty neat! just old and old school

I got a cool story...

When we were teens my buddy had his BBS hacked and had the whole system wiped.

We as kids in the early 90's called the cops to make a report and we realized after calling them we had a ton of pirated software still hanging around.

We ended up having to backup all our data to floppies..

Laughable now, because those cops looked at us like idiots. :D

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Clutch BBS * telnet://clutchbbs.com (21:1/199)

yes i am still using diskets or more pecisly tape drives and disks

based and magnetic media pilled! :D <3

--mary4 (Victoria Crenshaw) the 286 enthusiast

... DOS=HIGH? I knew it was on something...

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Datanet BBS | telnet://datanetbbs.net:23 (21:1/166)

I got a cool story...

When we were teens my buddy had his BBS hacked and had the whole system wiped.

We as kids in the early 90's called the cops to make a report and we realized after calling them we had a ton of pirated software still
hanging around.

We ended up having to backup all our data to floppies..

Laughable now, because those cops looked at us like idiots. :D

lol :D i love this story! :D :3

--mary4 (Victoria Crenshaw) the 286 enthusiast

... DOS=HIGH? I knew it was on something...

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Datanet BBS | telnet://datanetbbs.net:23 (21:1/166)

I got a cool story...

When we were teens my buddy had his BBS hacked and had the whole syst wiped.

We as kids in the early 90's called the cops to make a report and we realized after calling them we had a ton of pirated software still hanging around.

We ended up having to backup all our data to floppies..

Laughable now, because those cops looked at us like idiots. :D

i wish i had interesting stories like this but most of my internet experience is combating really bad mental illness and bullies/shit people online

--mary4 (Victoria Crenshaw) the 286 enthusiast

... This virus requires Microsoft Windows 3.x

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Datanet BBS | telnet://datanetbbs.net:23 (21:1/166)

Re: floppy disks are cool!
By: mary4 to All on Sun Apr 21 2024 22:33:42

My first computer had two 5.25" floppy drives, so there's a nostalgic
place in my heart for floppies. A year or so ago i inherited a Pentium
with a corrupted filesystem. It came with an optical drive but the
BIOS was too old to boot from it. So i had to boot from 3.5" floppy to
recover data from the disk and install a new OS (FreeDOS 1.3).

I have a couple of USB floppy drives. I read that they are not all
made the same. Some are way faster than the original floppy drives
ever were, but have subtle compatibility issues. In other words,
some USB floppy drives write floppies that cannot be reliably read
on retro hardware. Others are more compatible.

I've had fun working on challenges to fit lots of functionality onto a
single floppy. I've done a few projects of my own, and i remember
others:

* A DOS boot disk with a dial-up PPP Internet stack, DOSLynx, telnet,
etc.
* BasLinux, a Linux live-floppy with a surprising amount of
functionality. It uses kernel 2.0. A second floppy contains X11.
* QNX
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (21:2/101)

i wish i had interesting stories like this but most of my internet experience is combating really bad mental illness and bullies/shit
people online

I could tell you a few interesting stories from the 90's BBS days. We had all sorts of drama. :>

It was around a couple different sysops. One ended up being arrested. :)

However, I can also relate to morons and flame wars back then too. Bunch of people trying to be tough guys until they meet you face to face. :) Ohhhh goood times.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Clutch BBS * telnet://clutchbbs.com (21:1/199)

My first computer had two 5.25" floppy drives, so there's a nostalgic place in my heart for floppies. A year or so ago i inherited a Pentium with a corrupted filesystem. It came with an optical drive but the
BIOS was too old to boot from it. So i had to boot from 3.5" floppy to recover data from the disk and install a new OS (FreeDOS 1.3).

i am lighting up here
<3 <3 <3 <3 i am using FreeDOS 1.3 for my os on my computer right here! :D it is my OS of choice on my 286 and all computers
i also love 200mm disks (5.25" ones) they last forever!
BC> I have a couple of USB
floppy drives. I read that they are not all BC> made the same. Some are way faster than the original floppy drives BC> ever were, but have subtle compatibility issues. In other words, BC> some USB floppy drives write floppies that cannot be reliably read BC> on retro hardware. Others are more compatible. BC> BC> I've had fun working on challenges to fit lots of functionality onto a BC> single floppy. I've done a few projects of my own, and i remember BC> others:

usb floppy drives vary alot! xD
i have a very good one that works with my floppies properly! :D

* A DOS boot disk with a dial-up PPP Internet stack, DOSLynx, telnet,
etc.
* BasLinux, a Linux live-floppy with a surprising amount of
functionality. It uses kernel 2.0. A second floppy contains X11.
* QNX

yoooo thats a cool idea!

--mary4 (Victoria Crenshaw) the 286 enthusiast

... DOS=HIGH? I knew it was on something...

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Datanet BBS | telnet://datanetbbs.net:23 (21:1/166)

I could tell you a few interesting stories from the 90's BBS days. We
had all sorts of drama. :>

lol like today!

It was around a couple different sysops. One ended up being arrested. :)

lol!

However, I can also relate to morons and flame wars back then too. Bunch of people trying to be tough guys until they meet you face to face. :) Ohhhh goood times.

xDD i have alot of memories on http protocol alot of them where good but a bunch of them are bad. but over all was pretty good! <3

--mary4 (Victoria Crenshaw) the 286 enthusiast

... DOS=HIGH? I knew it was on something...

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Datanet BBS | telnet://datanetbbs.net:23 (21:1/166)

I got a cool story...
When we were teens my buddy had his BBS hacked and had
the whole system wiped.
We as kids in the early 90's called the cops to make a
report and we realized after calling them we had a ton
of pirated software still hanging around.
We ended up having to backup all our data to floppies..
Laughable now, because those cops looked at us like idiots. :D

What was the outcome of this? Did local PD put their best team of digital forensic investigators on the case? :)

There were some interesting times with the law back in the day, figuring out where it fits in the emerging digital world.


Chris/akacastor


--- Maximus 3.01
* Origin: Another Millennium - Canada - another.tel (21:1/162)

who here uses floppy disks still?

I still have 140 and 800k floppies for the Apple II range, but they're really superceded by emulation options. Most of the floppies are riddled with
mould.

Spec


*** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
--- SuperBBS v1.17-3 (Eval)
* Origin: Good Luck and drive offensively! (21:3/101)

I still have 140 and 800k floppies for the Apple II range, but they're really superceded by emulation options. Most of the floppies are
riddled with mould.

not really? my floppies are clean. you must of stored them somewhere moise and cool

--mary4 (Victoria Crenshaw) the 286 enthusiast

... DOS=HIGH? I knew it was on something...

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Datanet BBS | telnet://datanetbbs.net:23 (21:1/166)

i ment to say moist and dark... sorry

--mary4 (Victoria Crenshaw) the 286 enthusiast

... DOS=HIGH? I knew it was on something...

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Datanet BBS | telnet://datanetbbs.net:23 (21:1/166)

On 21 Apr 2024 at 10:33p, mary4 pondered and said...

who here uses floppy disks still?
i still use them for my computers!! <3
especially my 286! <3

I don't miss floppies. What is it about them that
you like?

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

I don't miss floppies. What is it about them that
you like?

everything!!!!!! the slowness of the reading
THE NOISES THE FLOPPY DRIVE MAKES WHILE READING IT!
the storing of files off the HDD :D <3 :3

--mary4 (Victoria Crenshaw) the 286 enthusiast

... This virus requires Microsoft Windows 3.x

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Datanet BBS | telnet://datanetbbs.net:23 (21:1/166)

What was the outcome of this? Did local PD put their best team of
digital forensic investigators on the case? :)

There were some interesting times with the law back in the day, figuring out where it fits in the emerging digital world.

Nothing. After we made a report, we never heard a single thing.

One, I think it was just over the head of the police officers, and two, it probably seem childish.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Clutch BBS * telnet://clutchbbs.com (21:1/199)

everything!!!!!! the slowness of the reading
THE NOISES THE FLOPPY DRIVE MAKES WHILE READING IT!
the storing of files off the HDD :D <3 :3

Odd, this was exactly why I disliked them back in the day. :)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Clutch BBS * telnet://clutchbbs.com (21:1/199)

A few years ago I had to work on an old computer system that was controlled
by software running off of a floppy. There was never anything good enough or better to replace this system with, so the entire opertation was dependant on that software to someone had written God only knows how long ago.

I have dozens and dozens of USB drives, now. They seem to be the new floppy disk, only they all have an absurd amount of storage space that I'll never
use.


*** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
---
* Origin: Shurato's Heavenly Sphere telnet://shsbbs.net (21:2/148)

Ben Collver wrote to mary4 <=-

My first computer had two 5.25" floppy drives, so there's a nostalgic place in my heart for floppies.

Pure Nihilism! BBS ran on an Apple // with two floppies. It felt like
every time you saved a message, it had to chunkachunkachunka and delete
a message to make room... :)


--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)

AKAcastor wrote to Niter3 <=-

There were some interesting times with the law back in the day,
figuring out where it fits in the emerging digital world.

Bruce Sterling's book "The Hacker Crackdown" does a good job of
documenting those very weird times. I had a BBS during Operation
Sundevil, and remember boards disappearing with no warning.

The book also talks a lot about early law enforcement engaging hackers
and the founding of the EFF. It's worth a read, and available freely
online.



... Adding on
--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)

Pure Nihilism! BBS ran on an Apple // with two floppies. It felt like
every time you saved a message, it had to chunkachunkachunka and delete
a message to make room... :)

LOL flop flop flop flop floopy flop xD

--mary4 (Victoria Crenshaw) the 286 enthusiast

... Operator, give me the number for 911

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Datanet BBS | telnet://datanetbbs.net:23 (21:1/166)

Bruce Sterling's book "The Hacker Crackdown" does a good job of documenting those very weird times. I had a BBS during Operation
Sundevil, and remember boards disappearing with no warning.

The book also talks a lot about early law enforcement engaging hackers
and the founding of the EFF. It's worth a read, and available freely online.

you learn something new everyday. this is one of the things i learned recently

--mary4 (Victoria Crenshaw) the 286 enthusiast

... Documentation: The worst part of programming.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Datanet BBS | telnet://datanetbbs.net:23 (21:1/166)

There were some interesting times with the law back in the day,
figuring out where it fits in the emerging digital world.

Bruce Sterling's book "The Hacker Crackdown" does a good job of documenting those very weird times. I had a BBS during Operation
Sundevil, and remember boards disappearing with no warning.

The book also talks a lot about early law enforcement engaging hackers
and the founding of the EFF. It's worth a read, and available freely online.

"The Hacker Crackdown" is on my bookshelf, but it may be time for a re-read, I don't remember when I last read it. A great recommendation.

Drifting just slightly (but still within very weird times), another great book is "The Cuckoo's Egg" by Clifford Stoll. The true story written by theastronomer at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who uncovered an international hacking ring based in West Germany, working for the KGB, penetrating American research and military computers. A fascinating story, anyone who hasn't read "The Cuckoo's Egg" should give it a read!


Chris/akacastor


--- Maximus 3.01
* Origin: Another Millennium - Canada - another.tel (21:1/162)

not really? my floppies are clean. you must of stored them somewhere moise and cool

None of these are my originals... which have long since bit the dust, I know some were stored in a wardrobe which appeared dry, and the rest I've got no idea, but its a pretty common problem. You wouldn't think there's anything
for mould to grow on, on a floppy.

Spec


*** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
--- SuperBBS v1.17-3 (Eval)
* Origin: Good Luck and drive offensively! (21:3/101)

I don't miss floppies. What is it about them that you like?

Once upon a time in a fit of desperation I used a 1.2 as a file area :)

Spec


*** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
--- SuperBBS v1.17-3 (Eval)
* Origin: Good Luck and drive offensively! (21:3/101)

book is "The Cuckoo's Egg" by Clifford Stoll. The true story written by

A story that begins with an accounting error. :)

Spec


*** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
--- SuperBBS v1.17-3 (Eval)
* Origin: Good Luck and drive offensively! (21:3/101)

On 21 Apr 2024 at 08:53p, AKAcastor pondered and said...

There were some interesting times with the law back in the day, figuring out where it fits in the emerging digital world.

Bruce Sterling's book "The Hacker Crackdown" does a good job of documenting those very weird times. I had a BBS during Operation Sundevil, and remember boards disappearing with no warning.

The book also talks a lot about early law enforcement engaging hacker and the founding of the EFF. It's worth a read, and available freely online.

"The Hacker Crackdown" is on my bookshelf, but it may be time for a re-read, I don't remember when I last read it. A great recommendation.

The system that became SDF even plays a role in that book.

Drifting just slightly (but still within very weird times), another
great book is "The Cuckoo's Egg" by Clifford Stoll. The true story written by theastronomer at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who uncovered an international hacking ring based in West Germany, working
for the KGB, penetrating American research and military computers. A fascinating story, anyone who hasn't read "The Cuckoo's Egg" should give it a read!

+1 for "The Cuckoo's Egg". Stoll was also on an episode of
Nova talking about tracking down said hackers. The recent
conspiracy theory ramblings that have been posted around come
from someone calling themselves, "pengo", which is a name
that appears in the book.

The Masters of Deception book is also pretty good, as is
"Cyberpunk".

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

The Masters of Deception book is also pretty good, as is
"Cyberpunk".

i did not know cyber punks are an irl thing! :D

--mary4 (Victoria Crenshaw) the 286 enthusiast

... System halted - Press all keys at once to continue

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Datanet BBS | telnet://datanetbbs.net:23 (21:1/166)

I've had fun working on challenges to fit lots of functionality onto a single floppy. I've done a few projects of my own, and i remember
others:

I had a older Sharp laptop that "ate" hard disks. After a couple, I quit buying them. I would boot it from a DOS floppy that would install a RAM
disk as C:, then ask for a B: drive (i.e. another floppy) that would
contain ZIP files on it. It would unzip whatever was on that floppy to
the RAM drive, then ask for A: to finish the AUTOEXEC.BAT.

I used to use this machine for a couple of things:

-- When traveling, I could load it with a comm program and access my BBS
and the Internet via dial up
-- I would also sometimes have it load MicroFocus COBOL and SPF/2 so I
could work on and compile programs.

I eventually took the machine apart to see if I could put a Raspberry Pi
into it. I wish I had not done that. ;)


--- Talisman v0.53-dev (Linux/armv7l)
* Origin: possumso.fsxnet.nz * telnet:24/ssh:2122/ftelnet:80 (21:4/134)

oh no those poor floppies! </3

i'd say keep the machine as is

--mary4 (Victoria Crenshaw) the 286 enthusiast

... This virus requires Microsoft Windows 3.x

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Datanet BBS | telnet://datanetbbs.net:23 (21:1/166)

Hello tenser!

The Masters of Deception book is also pretty good,

The 1995 book by Slatalla? Sounds interesting. I've read both
previous one just mentioned here.

as is
"Cyberpunk".

Do you have an Author for that one?



--- OpenXP 5.0.58
* Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)

Re: floppy disks are cool!
By: Blue White to Ben Collver on Mon Apr 22 2024 08:35 am

That old Sharp laptop sounds cool! I too have experienced instant regret
more than once attempting to modify/repair hardware and unintentionally bricking it for eternity.

I wonder what caused it to eat hard drives.

Once i had a Sharp pocket PC with a MIPS processor. It came with an old version of Windows CE and i installed NetBSD on it. It had a PCMCIA slot, which i could use to get on WIFI. It ran NetHack and a text editor just
fine, but it was definitely a situation where i would want to
cross-compile the binaries from a more powerful system.
--- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
* Origin: The Fool's Quarter, fqbbs.synchro.net (21:1/149)

AKAcastor wrote to Poindexter Fortran <=-

Drifting just slightly (but still within very weird times), another
great book is "The Cuckoo's Egg" by Clifford Stoll. The true story written by theastronomer at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who uncovered an international hacking ring based in West Germany

A great read as well. I haven't read that since college, I worked at
the bookstore and borrowed books to read at slow points in my workday.


... Wait, this is a *scene*?
--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)

+1 for "The Cuckoo's Egg". Stoll was also on an episode of
Nova talking about tracking down said hackers. The recent
conspiracy theory ramblings that have been posted around come
from someone calling themselves, "pengo", which is a name
that appears in the book.

Good catch. I thought "pengo" seemed like a familiar name but hadn't put it together.

The Masters of Deception book is also pretty good, as is
"Cyberpunk".

I don't think I read the Masters of Deception: The Gang That Ruled Cyberspace book, not sure why as I do recall hearing about it, gotta add it to the list I guess. I've heard positive things about this book from others too.

Not sure which book is "Cyberpunk", searching for that is tricky as it brings up all kinds of stories in the cyberpunk genre, hard to look it up without the author's name.


Chris/akacastor


--- Maximus 3.01
* Origin: Another Millennium - Canada - another.tel (21:1/162)

On 22 Apr 2024 at 11:15p, mary4 pondered and said...

The Masters of Deception book is also pretty good, as is
"Cyberpunk".

i did not know cyber punks are an irl thing! :D

It's just the title of the book. :-)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

On 22 Apr 2024 at 11:53a, Ogg pondered and said...

Hello tenser!

The Masters of Deception book is also pretty good,

The 1995 book by Slatalla? Sounds interesting. I've read both
previous one just mentioned here.

Yes, that's the one. Slatalla and Quittner.

as is
"Cyberpunk".

Do you have an Author for that one?

The one by Hafner and Markoff. I believe it was
mentioned here earlier? The part about RTM was
interesting (disclaimer: I've interacted with RTM
a few times professionally. He's gone on to a very
distinguished career in systems after his early
infamy).

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

i'd say keep the machine as is

Like I said, I wish I had! ;)



--- Talisman v0.53-dev (Linux/armv7l)
* Origin: possumso.fsxnet.nz * telnet:24/ssh:2122/ftelnet:80 (21:4/134)

That old Sharp laptop sounds cool! I too have experienced instant
regret
more than once attempting to modify/repair hardware and
unintentionally
bricking it for eternity.

I wonder what caused it to eat hard drives.

Well, to say it at the hard drives might have been misleading. What I
actually think the problem was is that the hard drives made to fit that
machine were not very good. Keeping in mind we are talking about a
laptop, the drives were very sensitive to vibration. I have used other
laptops that I have traveled with that (knock-on-wood!) have been a lot
better about actually being able to be moved!

Once i had a Sharp pocket PC with a MIPS processor. It came with an
old
version of Windows CE and i installed NetBSD on it. It had a PCMCIA
slot,
which i could use to get on WIFI. It ran NetHack and a text editor
just
fine, but it was definitely a situation where i would want to
cross-compile the binaries from a more powerful system.

Speaking of nethack, one of the programs I would load onto the RAM drive
on the Sharp was a DOS version of Rogue. I used to play that one all the
time! Another one that would fit, believe it or not, was Simcity 2000,
another game I was very found of.



--- Talisman v0.53-dev (Linux/armv7l)
* Origin: possumso.fsxnet.nz * telnet:24/ssh:2122/ftelnet:80 (21:4/134)

Hello AKAcastor!

Not sure which book is "Cyberpunk", searching for that is tricky as it brings up all kinds of stories in the cyberpunk genre, hard to look it up without the author's name.

https://bookmanager.com/tbm/ ?q=h.tviewer&using_sb=status&qsb=keyword&qse=OqerFF92q0u4cgiz1T
30xw

--

--- OpenXP 5.0.58
* Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)

Not sure which book is "Cyberpunk", searching for that is tricky as it brings up all kinds of stories in the cyberpunk

genre, hard to look it up

without the author's name.

https://bookmanager.com/tbm/ ?q=h.tviewer&using_sb=status&qsb=keyword&qse=OqerFF92q0u4cgiz1T
30xw

Thanks, I don't think I'd heard of "Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier", it looks like a good read! Appreciate the recommendation.


Chris/akacastor


--- Maximus 3.01
* Origin: Another Millennium - Canada - another.tel (21:1/162)

Ben, I HAD to get a 1541 when I bought a C=64.
Someone I knew had a TRS-80 Model One w/ Cassette Tape Drive.
I had earlier seen a Apple][ w/ 2 Floppy Drives and knew that Disk Drives were faster storing Data than Tape Drives.

A 486 I used had both 5 1/4 and 3 1/2 Drives in it.

I went to Radio Shack to get a 3 1/2 USB Disk Drive after getting a XP because I wanted to put files off of the 486 on the new computer.

Mary began this thread and I have to be honest and say I haven't touched a Floppy Disk in years.

Ed
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (21:1/175)

Re: floppy disks are cool!
By: Ed Vance to Ben Collver on Tue Apr 23 2024 11:32 am

Mary began this thread and I have to be honest and say I haven't touched a Floppy Disk in years.

I remember a lot of people complaining that Apple's first iMac (released in 1998 - or was it 1997?) lacked a floppy drive. Apple often seemed to make transitions too soon.. I think people were still using floppy disks fairly often at the time. I think the last time I used a floppy disk was 2004 or 2005 - and that was for making backups of some of my personal data. I eventually used a USB flash drive instead.

Nightfox

For the C=64 / 1541 combo later I wanted a Fast Loader Cartridge, decided on the Super Snapshot v4 Cartridge.
Ed
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (21:1/175)

Mary began this thread and I have to be honest and say I haven't touched
a Floppy Disk in years.

lol! i still use them!

--mary4 (Victoria Crenshaw) the 286 enthusiast

... BREAKFAST.COM Halted... Cereal port not responding.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Datanet BBS | telnet://datanetbbs.net:23 (21:1/166)

Re: floppy disks are cool!
By: Ed Vance to Ben Collver on Tue Apr 23 2024 11:32 am

I am enjoying the rabbit holes we are going down together on this
floppy thread. I remember using a tape drive on a VIC-20 and a
friend's C=64. Once i bought a tape drive with cables at a yard
sale for $5 and hooked it up to my first PC.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_cassette_tape

I wrote ASM login code to give audio prompts to enter user name,
password, and if given the wrong password it spoke out
"Wrong password, loser!" recorded from a friend who was willing to
do voice acting for this project.

Useless on a single-user system like DOS, but still fun.

I don't remember exactly how it worked. INT 15h only supports
motor-off, motor-on, read-data, and write-data. My guess is
that i used motor-on, a timed delay, and then motor-off for
each prompt.

* User prompt
* Password prompt
* Then either silent login or:
* Wrong password prompt

I could have repeated copies of the prompts, to use the tape for
multiple login attempts. The PC couldn't rewind the tape, so i
had to do that manually. :>
--- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
* Origin: The Fool's Quarter, fqbbs.synchro.net (21:1/149)

Talking about Commodore Computers and storing on tape made me think of the article in Popular Electronics/Computer Electronics magazine of using a 7414 TTL I.C. between a regular Cassette Recorder and the Cassette Port to put programs on tape.

If I have mentioned this here recently just figure it was because of Old Age. Ed
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (21:1/175)

Hello Ogg,

22 Apr 24 11:53, you wrote to tenser:

The Masters of Deception book is also pretty good,

The 1995 book by Slatalla? Sounds interesting. I've read both
previous one just mentioned here.

i've just finished M.O.D. it was quite interesting and it has the right atmosphere.

Regards,
--
dp

telnet://bbs.roonsbbs.hu:1212 <<=-

... Uptime: 1d 4h 58m 6s
--- GoldED/2 1.1.4.7+EMX
* Origin: Roon's BBS - Budapest, HUNGARY (21:4/148)

Roon wrote to Ogg <=-

The Masters of Deception book is also pretty good,

The 1995 book by Slatalla? Sounds interesting. I've read both
previous one just mentioned here.

i've just finished M.O.D. it was quite interesting and it has the right atmosphere.

I've been going through a retro reading binge lately. Decided to re-read
Bruce Sterling's Hackers book, just picked up Slatalla's MOD, and have
The Modem World by Kevin Driscoll to read. I'm going to see him speak at
the Computer History Museum about BBSes tomorrow night, and meeting two
old sysop friends of mine - Taipan Enigma from &TOTSE and Dr.
Strangelove from Just Say Yes. They were the founders, I was one of the
first BBSes in NIRVANAnet(tm) back in the '90s.



... Do you understand now, what the center represents?
--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)

Hello poindexter,

24 Apr 24 06:45, you wrote to me:

Roon wrote to Ogg <=-

The Masters of Deception book is also pretty good,

The 1995 book by Slatalla? Sounds interesting. I've read both
previous one just mentioned here.

i've just finished M.O.D. it was quite interesting and it has the
right atmosphere.

I've been going through a retro reading binge lately. Decided to
re-read Bruce Sterling's Hackers book, just picked up Slatalla's MOD,
and have The Modem World by Kevin Driscoll to read. I'm going to see
him speak at the Computer History Museum about BBSes tomorrow night,
and meeting two old sysop friends of mine - Taipan Enigma from &TOTSE
and Dr. Strangelove from Just Say Yes. They were the founders, I was
one of the first BBSes in NIRVANAnet(tm) back in the '90s.

yeah i am on this retro reading wave as well. i read hackers as well last autumn, and now i started Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet.

Regards,
--
dp

telnet://bbs.roonsbbs.hu:1212 <<=-

... Uptime: 1d 12h 22m 24s
--- GoldED/2 1.1.4.7+EMX
* Origin: Roon's BBS - Budapest, HUNGARY (21:4/148)

Hello poindexter,

24 Apr 24 06:45, you wrote to me:

Roon wrote to Ogg <=-

The Masters of Deception book is also pretty good,

The 1995 book by Slatalla? Sounds interesting. I've read both
previous one just mentioned here.

i've just finished M.O.D. it was quite interesting and it has the
right atmosphere.

I've been going through a retro reading binge lately. Decided to re-read Bruce Sterling's Hackers book, just picked up Slatalla's MOD, and have The Modem World by Kevin Driscoll to read. I'm going to see him speak at the Computer History Museum about BBSes tomorrow night, and meeting two old sysop friends of mine - Taipan Enigma from &TOTSE and Dr. Strangelove from Just Say Yes. They were the founders, I was one of the first BBSes in NIRVANAnet(tm) back in the '90s.

yeah i am on this retro reading wave as well. i read hackers as well last autumn, and now i started Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet.

You guys got me interested. I've added this to a list of things to read. :>

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Clutch BBS * telnet://clutchbbs.com (21:1/199)

Re: floppy disks are cool!
By: niter3 to Roon on Wed Apr 24 2024 16:17:31

Those books look interesting to me as well.

A friend of mine recommends Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson as the epitome
of cyperpunk fiction. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash

My to-read list includes:

Mirrorshades edited by Bruce Sterling https://www.rudyrucker.com/mirrorshades/HTML/

Juicy Ghosts by Rudy Rucker
https://www.rudyrucker.com/juicyghosts/HTML/
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (21:2/101)

Ben Collver wrote to niter3 <=-

A friend of mine recommends Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson as the epitome
of cyperpunk fiction. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash

If you want to read Ur-cyberpunk, read Neuromancer, by Wiliam Gibson -
if you haven't already.

While I count "Bladerunner" as seminal cyberpunk (albeit visual), I
don't know if the book "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" by Philip
K. Dick counts.

Mirrorshades edited by Bruce Sterling https://www.rudyrucker.com/mirrorshades/HTML/

Juicy Ghosts by Rudy Rucker
https://www.rudyrucker.com/juicyghosts/HTML/

I like Rudy Rucker's work - it reminds me that I wanted to read the Ware Tetrology.




... Don't give Chad a big neural network
--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)

who here uses floppy disks still?
i still use them for my computers!! <3
especially my 286! <3

Let's see... I still use floppies on my Apple IIe, C=64, C=128, Dolch PAC 60 and a couple laptops; 286, Pentium and a ThinkPad.

I do utilize SDCard solutions for most of the above, and other HDD replacements like CFCard boards - but yea, using the actual media DOES do it for me... :P



|07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
|08.........

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbs>>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

:<< they are still pretty neat! just old and old school

I got a cool story...

When we were teens my buddy had his BBS hacked and had the whole system wiped.

We as kids in the early 90's called the cops to make a report and we realized after calling them we had a ton of pirated software still
hanging around.

No you freaking didn't!! Muahahahahahaha - I can just hear it now, two kids explaining to the cops that someone had wiped their important bulletin board system machine. And that was ILLEGAL and damaged the machine - 'It's all gonnnnnnne' - lolzzzz!!



|07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
|08.........

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbs>>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

i wish i had interesting stories like this but most of my internet experience is combating really bad mental illness and bullies/shit people online

I could tell you a few interesting stories from the 90's BBS days. We
had all sorts of drama. :>

It was around a couple different sysops. One ended up being arrested. :)

Dude - my entire teenage years were spent with BBS friends, girlfriends, other sysops, scene drama - all of it. TBH, we were the coolest nerds around I think! I went to four proms!!

So many bonfires and parties and pizza meetups - what was the name of YOUR coffee house hangout? Mine was....... SOMETHING Grounds; dang I can't remember it... it was some hipster/hippy name AHHH - SACRED GROUNDS. Lots of BBS drama happened @ The Sacred Grounds, man!

:P



|07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
|08.........

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbs>>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

No you freaking didn't!! Muahahahahahaha - I can just hear it now, two kids explaining to the cops that someone had wiped their important bulletin board system machine. And that was ILLEGAL and damaged the machine - 'It's all gonnnnnnne' - lolzzzz!!

YEs, but pictured a couple of us panicking "we need to backup all these warez and pam anderson pictures!!!"

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Clutch BBS * telnet://clutchbbs.com (21:1/199)

Dude - my entire teenage years were spent with BBS friends, girlfriends, other sysops, scene drama - all of it. TBH, we were the coolest nerds around I think! I went to four proms!!

So many bonfires and parties and pizza meetups - what was the name of
YOUR coffee house hangout? Mine was....... SOMETHING Grounds; dang I
can't remember it... it was some hipster/hippy name AHHH - SACRED
GROUNDS. Lots of BBS drama happened @ The Sacred Grounds, man!

It wasn't a coffee house, but a bowling alley. One of our friends out of our group owned a bowling alley so we had a room upstairs to get together.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Clutch BBS * telnet://clutchbbs.com (21:1/199)

niter3 wrote to paulie420 <=-

It wasn't a coffee house, but a bowling alley. One of our friends out
of our group owned a bowling alley so we had a room upstairs to get together.

I've posted before about this, but I lived next door to a house
converted into a pub - our front porches were combined so I could walk
to the pub without stepping on a sidewalk.

They sold beer and wine, pipe tobacco and cigars, and had separate
rooms - a living room with comfy chairs and a fireplace, a room with
tables people could work at (this was near a university), a back room
and 2 porches. We had many gettogethers there.

https://shorturl.at/intE4





... Allow an easement
--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)

I do utilize SDCard solutions for most of the above, and other HDD replacements like CFCard boards - but yea, using the actual media DOES do it for me... :P

Not sure if it happened, but someone was talking about floppy drive sound effects for the Apple II floppy emulator. Chugga chugga chugga.....

Spec


*** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
--- SuperBBS v1.17-3 (Eval)
* Origin: Good Luck and drive offensively! (21:3/101)

can't remember it... it was some hipster/hippy name AHHH - SACRED GROUNDS. Lots of BBS drama happened @ The Sacred Grounds, man!

It wasn't a coffee house, but a bowling alley. One of our friends out of our group owned a bowling alley so we had a room upstairs to get together.

The two fairly regular locations here was, Zone 3, a laser tag arena, and Charlton's, a pool hall. When I say pool hall it was pretty large, 3 floors, karaoke, live band, and a floor of tables all fully licensed.

Spec


*** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
--- SuperBBS v1.17-3 (Eval)
* Origin: Good Luck and drive offensively! (21:3/101)

Re: Re: floppy disks are cool!
By: Spectre to paulie420 on Tue May 07 2024 06:04 am

Not sure if it happened, but someone was talking about floppy drive sound effects for the Apple II floppy emulator. Chugga chugga chugga.....

Speaking of floppy drive sounds, I've enjoyed some of the Floppotron videos on YouTube (where someone has made a setup of floppy drives connected to a music sequencer which plays popular songs using floppy drives to make the sounds of the various parts of the song).

Nightfox

I've posted before about this, but I lived next door to a house
converted into a pub - our front porches were combined so I could walk
to the pub without stepping on a sidewalk.

They sold beer and wine, pipe tobacco and cigars, and had separate
rooms - a living room with comfy chairs and a fireplace, a room with
tables people could work at (this was near a university), a back room
and 2 porches. We had many gettogethers there.

That's pretty neat. Bet you made some good memories here.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Clutch BBS * telnet://clutchbbs.com (21:1/199)

The two fairly regular locations here was, Zone 3, a laser tag arena, and Charlton's, a pool hall. When I say pool hall it was pretty large, 3 floors, karaoke, live band, and a floor of tables all fully licensed.

That's pretty sweat. We only had the bowling alley, otherwise we would just go to each other's homes.

It was also difficult for us to all meet up because some of our friends lived in the city just outside ours. Not that it was far, but when you're young with no drivers license, you were begging your parents to drive you. Even the city buses didn't take you between the city/towns..

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Clutch BBS * telnet://clutchbbs.com (21:1/199)

That's pretty sweat. We only had the bowling alley, otherwise we would just go to each other's homes.

It was also difficult for us to all meet up because some of our friends lived in the city just outside ours. Not that it was far, but when you're young with no drivers license, you were begging your parents to drive you. Even the city buses didn't take you between the city/towns..

We also had home meets.. Charltons was a regular Friday night for a while. Sounds like we probably had a wider age spread too, it was nothing for car
pool groups for those either to young, or just without a license. Ahh there's
a location I forgot too... Was a public park.. lol.. surprised to never got
the boot from there..

Spec


*** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
--- SuperBBS v1.17-3 (Eval)
* Origin: Good Luck and drive offensively! (21:3/101)

Let's see... I still use floppies on my Apple IIe, C=64, C=128, Dolch
PAC 60 and a couple laptops; 286, Pentium and a ThinkPad.

I do utilize SDCard solutions for most of the above, and other HDD replacements like CFCard boards - but yea, using the actual media DOES
do it for me... :P

i use SSDs for the main C: drive on my computers but i also use CFcards for auxilary secondary drives like D: on my 286! :D

--mary4 (Victoria Crenshaw) the 286 enthusiast

... DOS=HIGH? I knew it was on something...

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Datanet BBS | telnet://datanetbbs.net:23 (21:1/166)

Not sure if it happened, but someone was talking about floppy drive sound effects for the Apple II floppy emulator. Chugga chugga chugga.....

sounds cool! <3

--mary4 (Victoria Crenshaw) the 286 enthusiast

... System halted - Press all keys at once to continue

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Datanet BBS | telnet://datanetbbs.net:23 (21:1/166)