https://web.archive.org/web/https://www.telnetbbsguide.com/
Direct link to what appears to be the monthly list of BBS's (if you want to peruse just that):
Telnet BBS Guide
11–20 of 60 posts
Re: Telnet BBS Guide
#12I really dislike the www bloat so I was excited to browse the list, unfortunately so far I mostly see ancap/libertarian/declinist posts (or just people who seem very sad and/or angry) as well as many far-right dogwhistles I recognize from 4chan. Can somebody recommend more, uh, uplifting BBS communities?
The late 80's/early 90's when BBS's were probably at their peak were such a different time - politics were different and more civil, but also there was nothing like Facebook, no mass usage of cell phones, no streaming, you still made/received calls on your landline phone, you still went shopping at the mall, etc. A BBS isn't going to turn the whole clock back.
What's amazing honestly is that 4chan started in '02 or '03, before most of the modern media-heavy Internet and is still around.
Re: Telnet BBS Guide
#13If you're looking for a simple web-based one, have a look at https://midnight.pub . :)
Is this content computer-generated?
'When we went for a new wife
acquaintance, on the way I asked "What is she doing?" .. He replied,
slightly embarrassed, "Yes, nothing at all."'
Re: Telnet BBS Guide
#14Re: Telnet BBS Guide
#15sysop breaking in for chat:
Re: Telnet BBS Guide
#16I suppose we'll never see an iOS "terminal/modem" that calls out from the phone to dial-up BBS's. Anything like that for Android?
I don't think it's practical. The lossy compression that GSM uses is incompatible with the protocol used with modems, which assume the analog characteristics of real phone lines.
If you want to reach a BBS on your phone, you could use a telnet app like Termius or Termux over 4G.
Re: Telnet BBS Guide
#17Most important thing when using BBS through telnet: it uses no cryptography!
Re: Telnet BBS Guide
#18I suppose we'll never see an iOS "terminal/modem" that calls out from the phone to dial-up BBS's. Anything like that for Android?
I remember someone trying to port minimodem to run under termux. Nevertheless, it still not a HAYES modem, but I don't think it is difficult to build one using minimodem.
Re: Telnet BBS Guide
#19I really dislike the www bloat so I was excited to browse the list, unfortunately so far I mostly see ancap/libertarian/declinist posts (or just people who seem very sad and/or angry) as well as many far-right dogwhistles I recognize from 4chan. Can somebody recommend more, uh, uplifting BBS communities?
The late 80's/early 90's when BBS's were probably at their peak were such a different time - politics were different and more civil, but also there was nothing like Facebook, no mass usage of cell phones, no streaming, you still made/received calls on your landline phone, you still went shopping at the mall, etc. A BBS isn't going to turn the whole clock back. What's amazing honestly is that 4chan started in '02 or '…
Back then people just didn’t take the kind of edgelording the OP is talking about seriously. When you saw a Nazi white supremacist following the left hand path and quoting Michael Acquino you rolled your eyes for the most part.
Same goes for wacky conspiracy stuff in the 90s. It felt (and mostly was) harmless and full of in jokes going back to discordianism and such fnord.
It was before absolutely every popular sentiment, subculture, belief system, religion, ideology, etc. had been politically weaponized by big data driven propaganda farms in the employ of political parties and nation states.
We thought the media was “controlling us” back then. We had no idea how much worse it would get.
I thought of a good summary of our condition today: “culture is a dark forest.” Any idea or culture that shows itself will be detected and invaded by the all seeing eye of the data driven propaganda machine.
I really think the future is private enclaves, closed forums, etc. with strict rules to try to keep out not just trolls and idiots but more importantly bots. We are living in the twilight of the open Internet, at least as a medium of any kind of meaningful communication. All that will be left on the “clearnet” is a social media influencer hustle culture driven hellscape where half the participants are bots anyway.
Re: Telnet BBS Guide
#20Any way to sort this list by activity in some way? Seems kinda hard to figure out where to check out first.