Not sure if this is allowed, but I’m sure the mods will let me know.
Memories. LOL Things were so simple way back then it seems.
Did anyone host a BBS? I found this article kind of funny about ‘fixing’ WIndows by C:\FORMAT C:. Some things don’t change. LOL
Nice proofreading, Lazlow J.
I’m just a bit too young to have been part of the BBS scene, but I’ve certainly done plenty of Windows re-installs. I had a friend that would wipe his Windows 98SE drive every two weeks or so, whether or not there was any instability. I recently stumbled across an old backup of some screenshots and found one where I was apparently proud of the 31 day system uptime. Best part of the transition to NT based Windows was definitely the near complete elimination of BSoDs. Kinda blocked out the bad memories of random lockups and blue screens just being an expected part of daily computing life.
fdisk, format, reinstall
doo-dah, doo-dah
To be somewhat close to on-topic with self-hosting, the oldest service I have fond memories of running was a small Hotline server.
Hotline was pretty underground as I remember. Pre-cusor to P2P and a host of other platforms. At the time you’re not quite as aware, but looking through the lens of history, it’s fascinating where all of this technology originated.
I hope in some fashion computers and related technology drop out of mainstream appeal and are relegated to actual nerds and tinkerers again. Not in a gatekeeping sense, but just where the goals are about pushing boundaries for the sake of exploration and not solely profit and personal data acquisition motivated.
I hear what your saying, and I agree to a certain point. I think that we can and are pushing boundaries Also, I realize that all technology wields a double edged sword. Always has, always will. I agree with you on data acquisition/brokerage. It is unfortunate that we, as private citizens, must go through such great lengths to preserve as much of our privacy, security, and anonymity as we can. Taking my data that I generated with my own labor, use it to further profit your billion dollar company, without giving me due compensation is quite the slap in the face. If my data is worth so much to them, then it’s worth a mint to me. I get that loud and clear.
However, to me, the internet is a vast information repository.Full of all manner of entertainment, data, interesting adventures, and education. At no other time in human history have we ever had the sum total of the world’s knowledge in the palm of out hand on on our desktop. Maybe not wisdom, but knowledge. The great libraries of Alexandria couldn’t hold a candle to the internet.
I just filter out the stuff I want from the stuff that I don’t want and call it a day. It would be fascinating to see what it will be in 50 to 100 years.
Man, that takes me back. Several gaming groups I was part of had Hotline servers. The role they served for us was probably closer to a Discord server.
My first encounter with a computer was the Altair. then the Timex/Sinclair, then I think a couple in between, then TI 99-4a full setup, then one of just about each since then. It’s been a wild and crazy ride. I can’t keep up, the technology is moving at a lightening fast pace.