An anniversary

This month marks the 20^th year anniversary of my introduction to the world of the BBS. For those of you not in the know, back before the internet burst on the scene there were these things calls BBSs (bulletin board system), and they were run by the system operator (Sysop). Basically, the sysop would have a dedicated phone line and run the BBS software on his computer, and people would use their modems to dial in. Once on, it was basically like a message board that one person at a time could read (unless it was one of the BBS’s with multiple lines). Some of them also had games you could play. I also played in a lot of RPGs on them. People would run AD&D adventures and such. Like the internet now, a lot of time wasters.

The reason BBSs mean so much to me is that through them I formed my best, most long lasting friendships. I even ran my own board for a few years: Schizophrenic’s Paradise which was mainly for me and my friends to play games like Global Wars (a Risk rip-off), and keep in touch with the ones who had gone off to college in Austin.

I wanted to give some shout-outs to some of my old friends from back in the day. Those that I can remember anyways.

The ones I still know:
Galth Ractus – My brother!
Eric the Red – Keep on keepin’ on
Avshar – We work together, so of course I see him a ton.
Lancer – Good to hear from you again, man.
Craven Raven – Good to see you again.
Vector – Congrats!
Larry – Sorry dude, I can’t remember what name you used.

The Rest:
Erik the Blue – It was great hanging out at your apartment. Especially, for a teenage punk like I was
Grandmaster – I loved playing the RPGs on Runestone.
Horseman – Hope you are doing well, Jason
Enchantress
Thunderkorr – What up, Chad
Quasar Pendragon – The last Eric.
Bullwinkle
King Arthur
Crayon
Black Dragon
Akasha
Slice of Australia – One of the funniest people, ever. A master of ANSI animation. You were on of the best, Daniel
Satin Knight
Scooter Rider
Pern couple – I remember their board, but not the names they went by.
Headhunter
The Flying Chicken – Wrote some of the best mods for the WWIV software, and then just disappeared.
Bluenose – I always like you and your old man.
Fox Fire – Probably the only person funnier than Slice of Australia
Tauran Knight – Is KCE still around? I bought my 28.8 modem from him, when that was top of the line.
Old Goat – It was fun playing tennis.
Vernor
Fido Dido – Tamara, you really put me in a pickle that one time. Outside of that you were a pretty cool chick.
Freddy Krueger – The one Fido Dido got me in trouble with, kinda. We ironed everything out.
Zed Le Elf – Ron, sure had fun hanging out those too few times.
Yasmin Stargazer – I truly hope you found some peace in your life.

I am certain I forgot a ton of people, but it had been a long time. Thanks to everyone for all of the good times! Catch all of ya’ll on the flipside.