The Cutting Edge: Computing / Technology / Innovation : Side Roads Leading to the Internet
Are you a horseplayer? A Buddhist? A fiend for needlework? An emigre pining for Seoul? There’s a place for you in cyberspace, but it may not be the place you think.
Everyone is always talking about the Internet, and sign-up forms for America Online seem to flutter out of every magazine. But in all the hubbub about the burgeoning information highway, it’s easy to overlook one of the richest resources available by modem: your friendly neighborhood computer bulletin board.
There is a BBS, as they are popularly known, for almost everyone, yet even many experienced users of such services as Prodigy and CompuServe never venture far enough afield to see what a good BBS has to offer. That’s a shame, because in terms of sheer value, it’s hard to beat a good BBS.
Many systems offer multiplayer games, movie and TV listings, USA Today news, vast stores of software free for the downloading, and the chance to “chat” onscreen with other users who have a little too much time on their hands. Perhaps best of all, many BBSs offer unlimited electronic mail, including e-mail to the Internet and the various commercial services. In fact, users who just want e-mail from an on-line service should seriously consider adopting a BBS as their main post office.
BBSs are especially good for serving far-flung individuals who share a common interest. There are BBSs for Zen Buddhists, outdoor enthusiasts, horseplayers, entrepreneurs and just about everybody else. With an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 BBSs in America, there is a general or specialized BBS for almost every conceivable lifestyle, interest or taste.
BBSs are also increasingly popular as a way for organizations to disseminate information. Government agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration and Small Business Administration have their own BBSs, and software companies such as Microsoft have BBSs that carry product information, programming patches and other useful stuff.
BBSs are often cheap--from $30 to $75 a year--and sometimes free. Using a BBS is especially cost-effective when it isn’t a long-distance call away, but even then it can be worthwhile if the BBS has something you want (and you dial during off-peak hours). Experienced BBS users adopt what are known as off-line mail readers, which squeeze all your new messages and forum postings into a compressed packet for fast downloading. The software then organizes the information for easy reading or responding off-line, compressing responses into a reply packet that can usually be uploaded in no time at all.
BBSs are also, it must be said, a font of pornography. Not all, of course, but a good many BBSs--often the biggest and most expensive--are “adult-oriented,” specializing in sexually explicit material of all kinds. These boards tend to disclose their nature upfront, so beware. Even the tamer boards often offer personal ads, and in the heavily male world of cyberspace, women sooner or later seem to get hit on, or worse.
BBSs have come a long way since the earliest ones functioned simply as electronic cork boards for a handful of users. Various networks--FidoNet is perhaps the most famous--tie local boards together, so that a local BBS forum on golf might be part of a much larger discussion encompassing golfers from all over North America and even the world. There are networks of specialty boards too; many gay and lesbian BBSs, for instance, are connected by GayCom.
A great way to get started exploring the world of BBSs is to dial a free one close to home; a favorite of mine is the Los Angeles Valley College BBS. All you need for this is your modem and whatever telecommunications program it no doubt came with. You can tap into this particular BBS by dialing it with your computer at (818) 985-7150, at modem speeds of up to 14,400 bps.
Once there, you’ll find a wealth of offerings, including free Internet e-mail; your address will become mary.jones@support.com, assuming your name is Mary Jones. Thus equipped, you can send and receive mail to anyone on CompuServe, America Online and so forth. To message someone on CompuServe, replace the comma in his ID number with a period and append @compuserve.com. For America Online, it’s just username@aol.com. (Fill in the recipient’s actual username.) You can also use your address to subscribe to any Internet mailing list.
The Valley College BBS carries more than 900 Internet and FidoNet special-interest forums. And, of course, you can download shareware files, including off-line readers. You get access to almost everything on this easy-to-use system for free, but a payment of at least $15 annually gets you complete access and the feeling that you’ve paid your share for using this worthy enterprise.
Once you get the hang of using BBSs, your biggest problem, aside from finding time for your children, may be finding new systems to dial. A number of publications carry BBS lists, and there are lists all over in cyberspace, especially on many BBSs. On America Online, use the keyword BBS. On CompuServe, hit the IBM BBS Forum. On the Internet, check into any of the BBS newsgroups.
Sooner or later, you’ll find a BBS you’re comfortable with. Horseplayers might try the Handicapper’s Log (modem to (213) 934-6026). Searchers for satori can download some koans from the Tiger Team Buddhist Information Network at (510) 268-0102. Korean speakers (or English speakers interested in matters Korean) can try Korea America Online at (213) 962-3634.
Local Boards
Some local BBSs that are either free for newcomers or free for everyone:
* LA Online: (310) 372-4050; what’s happening in Los Angeles
* One World: (310) 372-0987; ecology, gardening
* LA Free-Net: (818) 776-5000; community-based system
* Beyond the Realm: (805) 987-5506; chat, games and shareware for the family
* Midnight Unicorne Tavern: (714) 572-6155; medieval theme
* Stitches Source BBS: (714) 589-1718; needlework
* Small Business Administration: (800) 697-4636; entrepreneurs.
Today marks the debut of Postcard from Cyberspace as a biweekly column. Daniel Akst welcomes messages at akst@news.latimes.com, but regrets that he cannot reply to each and every one.
