I am/was good friends with Inky, the guy ran iMac.
That’s what he told me himself unless he was putting me on.
Man, this thread brings back memories! I remember hanging out with a friend of mine who had a modem (I didn’t even have a PC at the time), and wanting so badly to get on the BBSes.
Eventually I got myself a really cheap Compaq computer with a built-in 2400 baud modem and getting on the Junkyard and Titanic. I even met VMS later in a compsci class I was taking at the college. It was quite nice to finally put a face to the name of the board’s sysop.
And I even remember that the Junkyard was also the first to get Internet-able e-mail, which was quite nice because, before that, the only way to get on the net was going through online services like Compuserve or AOL. And these were expensive as hell, not to mention that you had to go through Datapac, which also charged by the minute as I recall.
And on another note, someone else was talking about the other “mystery board” that they couldn’t remember the name of. There were actually two. I think the first one was called Orion, and it was run by a few CHSS students as kind of a project as I recall. It used the same software as the Junkyard and the Pyramid. The other one ran on some kind of GUI, though I can’t remember the name. All I know was that it looked really pretty, but on a 14.4 kbps modem it took forever and a day to download a single page.
I still kind of find myself pining for those simpler days, when everything was so new and exotic, and when the Internet became available the whole world just opened up. Now hardly anything seems surprising or fresh anymore.
Well, i remember the bbs’s as a kid I would always sign on with my dad… I spent days looking to find a demo copy of wolfenstein 3d but i never found it 
It was probably superceded by Doom by that time. I don’t remember seeing Wolf3d on there, but then again, I never really looked.
First time poster, long time lurker…
I ran a BBS in Prince Rupert back in 1984 – “The Prince Rupert BBS”. How original, I know. It was founded partially to support the Prince Rupert Commodore Users Group, or PRCUG as it was known back then. We met at the library one Tuesday a month and exchanged ideas, programs, etc. Pretty nerdy stuff for 1984.
The board ran on my Commodore 64 with a 300 baud modem, a 5 1/4 floppy drive and a dedicated phone line. I was about 13 at the time, and by far the biggest computer geek in the neighborhood. It ran on the “Hal” BBS program… which I doubt anybody remembers.
The BBS offered group messaging and private messaging. On-line games did not exist yet, but on Thursday nights when I could borrow an extra floppy drive from a friend (hey, they cost $500 back then), I would offer a filebase for downloads. Thursday was a big day…
In addition to many local callers, I had users from all over BC, some from as far away as Alberta.
In 1985, I started writing my own BBS software in my bedroom, with the help of a Vic-20 for testing, connected via a null-modem cable to simulate a user (hey, computers didn’t multitask back then).
It all came to a griding halt one day in the summer of 85 when I realized I was missing out on my teenage years. I basically turned the computers off and didn’t really turn them back on again unless out of neccessity – homework basically.
I decided to start using my dedicated phone line to talk to girls, rather than a bunch of computer geeks 
I suppose it all worked out in the end, as I now run a 5-year old web hosting company and have been involved in the internet/tech industry for over 15 years now. The roots of a lot what we do on the internet today can be tied back to the BBS days.
Good times.
Dave
[quote=“VMS”]Didnt know there was some of you folks hanging out here…Yea had a few door games. Usurper and LORD were two of them. I cant even remember the others now…
Kinda makes me want to put together a box and restore it all from tape if I could find a Colorado Jumbo tape drive.
There is software out there to attach a Wildcat bbs to the internet via telnet…that would be a laugh.[/quote]
Yeah, I remember those door games. I used to play the quiz ones. I think one was called “King of the Board,” which worked kind of like a pyramid/ladder. I think it even let you write your own questions.
VMS I think it would be cool if you restored the Junkyard, though it would no doubt be a lot of time and trouble for you. Still, if you did, I’d defninitely use it, if only for the nostalgia! 
[quote=“dazil”]First time poster, long time lurker…
I ran a BBS in Prince Rupert back in 1984 – “The Prince Rupert BBS”. How original, I know. It was founded partially to support the Prince Rupert Commodore Users Group, or PRCUG as it was known back then. We met at the library one Tuesday a month and exchanged ideas, programs, etc. Pretty nerdy stuff for 1984.
The board ran on my Commodore 64 with a 300 baud modem, a 5 1/4 floppy drive and a dedicated phone line. I was about 13 at the time, and by far the biggest computer geek in the neighborhood. It ran on the “Hal” BBS program… which I doubt anybody remembers.
The BBS offered group messaging and private messaging. On-line games did not exist yet, but on Thursday nights when I could borrow an extra floppy drive from a friend (hey, they cost $500 back then), I would offer a filebase for downloads. Thursday was a big day…
In addition to many local callers, I had users from all over BC, some from as far away as Alberta.
In 1985, I started writing my own BBS software in my bedroom, with the help of a Vic-20 for testing, connected via a null-modem cable to simulate a user (hey, computers didn’t multitask back then).
It all came to a griding halt one day in the summer of 85 when I realized I was missing out on my teenage years. I basically turned the computers off and didn’t really turn them back on again unless out of neccessity – homework basically.
I decided to start using my dedicated phone line to talk to girls, rather than a bunch of computer geeks
I suppose it all worked out in the end, as I now run a 5-year old web hosting company and have been involved in the internet/tech industry for over 15 years now. The roots of a lot what we do on the internet today can be tied back to the BBS days.
Good times.
Dave[/quote]
Yeah, it’s funny how that stuff works, isn’t it? Something you do as a hobby that people tease you about or otherwise make you feel is a waste of time turns out to be the bedrock for a great career! Good on you Dave!
Dave, answer your ICQ one of these days and take me off your block list
Brett
(I found these forums by searching for Mike Ringer’s name on Google. How about that.
Geting back on topic…
I have to admit Dave’s BBS was the first I was aware of but you took it down before I could log on. I remember it had some color which at that point neither IBM’s or Apple’s could do with BBS’s.
That reminds me I did something similar with printers trying to build my own graphics program on my 9pin dot matrix printer. It had 1028 bit resolution but you could only use half of it because of the way it used the pins together.
I also recall that it was too bad all the free you gave yourself didn’t work, Dave. heehee.
(Cripes, I just realized this was my last BBS handle and 15 years later I’m still using it.)
Yup… computer geeks didn’t really get the ladies until the dot-com era…
I only remember using the CLN BBS, and the PPP dial up service which was pretty amazing. Back when there was one web browser–Mosaic, and you needed a subscription to use a search engine. A good list of bookmarks was a valued thing. Manually loading images…
You mean graphical web browser, right?
I just gave it a try. Quite fun. Shame I never tried it back in the day…
oh man, where do I start…
I found my first bbs by “hacking” the research terminal in the PRSS library, which I got caught doing, and got my first ban…
the next was for installing nethack on all the IBM terminals in the accounting class…
and then doom on a 150+ terminals at UNBC…multiplayer fun…
anyway, ya, the junkyard absolutely owned rupert, before tha 'net.
titanic was pretty kewl, and I went to a couple in Terrace/Kitamat/Smithers…and also dialed into every bbs that would except the call, including many in Europe, USSR, thailand, and a ton across North America…
you should have seen the static on the old rotary exchange in Port Simpson, ie Wildgothem…I remember quite well using 2400s and being happy with a 1200 link…
If you want I have a couple quick80 drives if you want to resurect The Junkyard…I know I’d be there everyday…hmm, do you think it still has references left by us being on the site? I cant remember my login, prolly was deadeye, my old handle…
anyone remember playing a game with a lemonaid stand, and another game where you played a dnd type game, getting armor, swords, and fighting stuff?
mike d.
“Don’t just do something, stand there!”
Then daemon, remember the days at kewl blues place in LA X in 95 & 96?
yup, flight sims, and ten buck smokes! only three stores to goto, and I always had to walk to go pick up shit…
and eddie smashing a frog with a rock…heheh
“Don’t just do something, stand there!”
If you have a qic80 drive I have a machine. Just looking over some info on putting a Wildcat BBS online via telnet and it seems possible.
But I have two backups of the board near the end a few months apart, the last being Feb of '97. Hmmm, PM me for details on the tape drive. I think I see a winter project…
Man, I’m so glad you turned me on to this game. It makes for a nice little diversion in the day without getting sucked into spending hours upon hours killing stuff for exp or researching weapons or stat point benefits. Thanks for the link!
If you need a quick fix and can remember the basics try this page and try the telnet link.
bbsfinder.com/listing.asp?search=kelowna
One of very few left in Canada.