Nightfox wrote to Andeddu <=-
Re: Re: BBSes today
By: Andeddu to Nightfox on Wed Aug 05 2020 02:59 pm
I don't think we ever had local calls for free over here. I doubt I would have noticed anyway as I was never involved in any chat community around that time & I doubt there were any local gaming servers I could log into as online gaming back then was still in its infancy.
It wasn't just chat & games. In those days, I spent a lot of time
looking for games, PC utilities, and other files to download from
BBSes, and at 2400 baud, a ~200KB file could take about 15-20 minutes
to download. And of course it would take even longer if you had a
slower connection. I downloaded files quite a bit back then. I used
chat on some BBSes sometimes, but I actually never got much into BBS
door games back then.
Nightfox
Re: Re: BBSes today
By: poindexter FORTRAN to Nightfox on Tue Aug 04 2020 07:58 am
One of the early ones was Vivid Media. I had a bunch of friends who worked there, and this was early on in the internet era, when people had 1 work address and most people didn't have internet at home (or they had dialup)
People who left the company still kept their web pages at http://www.vivid.com/~username and their email addresses. They underwent a hostile takeover by one of their competitors, who promptly dumped the company name and the domain name.
Vivid Studios, the porn site, took over vivid.com, and people's legacy web sites redirected to the home page of a porn company.
hah.. That's funny.
Aside: we forget how early porn was on the internet - long before we were. My wife worked at a webcasting company from 1999 to 2016. They started off as a streaming news site with their own newsroom and journalists, and in the early days most of the engineering talent
came from the "adult entertainment" sector.
Yeah, porn has been around since the BBS days..
Nightfox
That seems to be true. However I'm not sure I see the big connection between BBSing and HAM radio.
On 08-05-20 09:58, Mauro Veiga wrote to VK3JED <=-
Yes! The hard CRs probably was the Boxer/DOS 7.0b. A great
editor
that match fine with Bluewave.
Yes! And the text screen with ANSI colors is a pleasure for the
eyes.
... "Engineering is easy, it's reading Klingon that's hard" Scotty
Haha yep - ST IV - The Voyage Home. :)
Great movie.
Klingon Bird of Prey - B'Rel Class
_ ________
_,-'|`||||||||_\___ _,-,_
| /_`-'||||||||' \\-____/_ __o`-,
|[__<|_|||||||| -----.______(=====/
|_\ \------'\____/--------\_,-'
`\`. \-'
\ \ \
`\`. \`
\ `-.__\
\______\
| ___\
\(___======][]
`--"
24
MeSSaGe SiTTeR 1.00 - Full Version
Live Long and Prosper
... Captain, a Klingon does NOT play Tetris.
Re: Re: BBSes today
By: Underminer to Andeddu on Wed Aug 05 2020 04:53 pm
I don't know how prevalent it is comparatively in the UK, but I think the bigger reason most of us folks feel like HAM is something most people should be aware o
is that there used to be a reasonable crossover of HAMs and BBS users, so many of us have been very exposed to it being a thing whether we took up a radio or not
That seems to be true. However I'm not sure I see the big connection between BBSing and HAM radio.
Nightfox
Yeah, in my neck of the woods ~98-2001 was a completely dead period, then there was a huge surge around 2001-2005 when telnet access was the hot thing and Mt32 was nicely portable and something you could just chuck at a
I didn't chat much on BBS's back then, and didn't really message much either. One reason was that some were single line, so there was no one to chat to. The other was that being at home, I had to be wary of hogging the
I did used to chat with a friend via modem, but not on a BBS. We would dial direct using Telix.
MT32? I'm thinking of the Roland MT-32 music synthesizer module, but I'm not sure that's what you mean.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_MT-32
Nightfox wrote to Dennisk <=-Unfortunately not possible with a 2400 modem, so we resorted to direct serial links. I think there was a program which make Doom support it, but it was too laggy from memory. This was a long, long time ago.
Re: Re: BBSes today
By: Dennisk to Nightfox on Thu Aug 06 2020 10:54 am
I didn't chat much on BBS's back then, and didn't really message much either. One reason was that some were single line, so there was no one to chat to. The other was that being at home, I had to be wary of hogging the
There were a couple multi-line BBSes in my area that had active
multi-node chat sections, and I used those sometimes. There were only
a few of those, but it seemed those tended to be MajorBBS boards in my area.
I did used to chat with a friend via modem, but not on a BBS. We would dial direct using Telix.
I did that sometimes too. There was one person who used to use my BBS around 1995 and sometimes we'd play Doom or Doom 2 over the modem with each other.
Sorry, Mtel32 not MT32. Brain fart. It was a really ubiquitous terminal program for a while, and really easy to distribute and run since all it needed was the .exe, but if you included a dialing directory or config in the same directory it would read it.
On 08-07-20 11:13, Dennisk wrote to Nightfox <=-
The ability to connect directly modem-modem is probably what I miss
most about modems. Being able to chat directly, send files directly.
It's odd how in the era of always on broadband, we can't really do this easily, and resort to dropbox, etc.
Vk3jed wrote to Dennisk <=-
On 08-07-20 11:13, Dennisk wrote to Nightfox <=-
The ability to connect directly modem-modem is probably what I miss
most about modems. Being able to chat directly, send files directly.
It's odd how in the era of always on broadband, we can't really do this easily, and resort to dropbox, etc.
That was fun in those days. It's theoretically possible, but no one's bothered to write the applications.
Quoting Vk3jed to Mauro Veiga at 08-06-20 19:36 <=-
Yes! The hard CRs probably was the Boxer/DOS 7.0b. A great
editor
that match fine with Bluewave.
Except for the bloody hard CRs, which cause the above when quoted. :/
Klingon Bird of Prey - B'Rel Class
_ ________
_,-'|`||||||||_\___ _,-,_
| /_`-'||||||||' \\-____/_ __o`-,
|[__<|_|||||||| -----.______(=====/
|_\ \------'\____/--------\_,-'
`\`. \-'
\ \ \
`\`. \`
\ `-.__\
\______\
| ___\
\(___======][]
`--"
24
MeSSaGe SiTTeR 1.00 - Full Version
Live Long and Prosper
Nice! :) Let's see if it survives quoting. :)
The ability to connect directly modem-modem is probably what I miss most about modems. Being able to chat directly, send files directly. It's odd how in the era of always on broadband, we can't really do this easily, and resort to dropbox, etc.
The ability to connect directly modem-modem is probably what I miss
most about modems. Being able to chat directly, send files
directly. It's odd how in the era of always on broadband, we can't
really do this easily, and resort to dropbox, etc.
That was fun in those days. It's theoretically possible, but no one's bothered to write the applications.
That was fun in those days. It's theoretically possible, but no
one's bothered to write the applications.
The modern version of that are instant messengers. You can chat with someone in real time, and send/receive files directly.
They've been around for 20+ years.
On 08-07-20 11:13, Dennisk wrote to Nightfox <=-
The ability to connect directly modem-modem is probably what I miss most about modems. Being able to chat directly, send files directly. It's odd how in the era of always on broadband, we can't really do this easily, and resort to dropbox, etc.
That was fun in those days. It's theoretically possible, but no one's bothe to write the applications.
... Diplomacy gets you out of what tact would have prevented.
Many of the popular instant messengers are either gone or stripped of many of their features though. MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, and I think AOL Messenger are no longer working, and ICQ is not nearly what it used to be. There are things like Google Hangouts, but I'm not sure if they allow direct file transfers.
MSN Messenger is basically Skype now, that allows direct file transfers.
Believe it or not, Facebook Messenger will allow you to send a file as well, although it's really geared towards images, I believe you can still send a zip file.
Jabber is an Open Source instant messaging system, and does require a central server (kind of like a BBS, as it's mostly independent), but you can do file transfers with that as well.
Google Hangouts are going away Soon<tm>. I mean, technically it's transitioning to "Google Meet" or something, geared towards business clients.
That said, things like Slack, Discord, HipChat, IRC, etc. allow one-on-one private messages with file transfers as well.
Re: Re: BBSes today
By: Dennisk to Nightfox on Fri Aug 07 2020 11:13 am
The ability to connect directly modem-modem is probably what I miss mos about modems. Being able to chat directly, send files directly. It's od how in the era of always on broadband, we can't really do this easily, resort to dropbox, etc.
It always seemed to me that you could send files directly with instant messg programs like Yahoo Messgnger, MSN Messenger, ICQ, etc., but now it seems li most of those are gone.. But these days, there is Google Hangouts, and Pidg Messenger is still around. You should still be able to chat with people usi such software and send files that way, I'd think. Though I think some chat software these days will upload your file to a temporary server location unt the recipient is online to download it.
Nightfox
It always seemed to me that you could send files directly with instant
messg programs like Yahoo Messgnger, MSN Messenger, ICQ, etc., but now
it seems li most of those are gone.. But these days, there is Google
Don't forget IRC. AFAIK it allowed direct transfer between IRC clients.
Arelor wrote to Nightfox <=-
It always seemed to me that you could send files directly with instant messg programs like Yahoo Messgnger, MSN Messenger, ICQ, etc., but now it seems li most of those are gone.. But these days, there is Google Hangouts, and Pidg Messenger is still around. You should still be able to chat with people usi such software and send files that way, I'd think. Though I think some chat software these days will upload your file to a temporary server location unt the recipient is online to download it.
Don't forget IRC. AFAIK it allowed direct transfer between IRC
clients.
Don't forget IRC. AFAIK it allowed direct transfer between IRC clients.
I don't think it's true that it's mainly an American thing.. My dad is a HAM radio operator, and I've known other HAM radio people, who have talked to people all around the world on HAM radio. I remember my dad mentioning there used to be people in Australia that he'd talk to on HAM radio, and other places too. That was one of the cool things about it - There are HAM radio repeaters that will forward your signal all over the place.
HAM radio certainly doesn't seem to be nearly as popular as it used to be, which may be why you haven't heard about it. But it's a worldwide thing. I actually don't know a whole lot of people into HAM radio, maybe just my dad and one other person, but it's still a thing.
Nightfox wrote to Dennisk <=-
Re: Re: BBSes today
By: Dennisk to Nightfox on Fri Aug 07 2020 11:13 am
The ability to connect directly modem-modem is probably what I miss most about modems. Being able to chat directly, send files directly. It's odd how in the era of always on broadband, we can't really do this easily, and resort to dropbox, etc.
It always seemed to me that you could send files directly with instant messger programs like Yahoo Messgnger, MSN Messenger, ICQ, etc., but
now it seems like most of those are gone.. But these days, there is Google Hangouts, and Pidgin Messenger is still around. You should
still be able to chat with people using such software and send files
that way, I'd think. Though I think some chat software these days will upload your file to a temporary server location until the recipient is online to download it.
Nightfox wrote to Arelor <=-
Re: Re: BBSes today
By: Arelor to Nightfox on Fri Aug 07 2020 03:55 pm
It always seemed to me that you could send files directly with instant
messg programs like Yahoo Messgnger, MSN Messenger, ICQ, etc., but now
it seems li most of those are gone.. But these days, there is Google
Don't forget IRC. AFAIK it allowed direct transfer between IRC clients.
IRC seems like it's in a whole different class though.. IRC does chat rooms and isn't just a 1-on-1 instant messenger.
Nightfox
That is what is missing, a basic program where if you only know an IP address you can connect to someone else and chat/send files, etc.
Maybe you would add an authentical layer, public a public connection
and encryption, but effectively the same.
You can still do it, but its all indirect, mediated by a server. I think we need a terminal-terminal mode in programs like Qodem and Syncterm, where you can do a direct connect, and chat and send files.
Minicom can do it, but it doesn't support TCP. Telix can do it, over TCP with DOS, but its a bit of a hassle.
Security is an issue, you need some authentication. Also, you need to know the IP address, and some ISPs (like Telstra in Australia) don't give you a public IP address.
I just miss the simplicity of the direct dial.
IRC, Facebook, Skype, MSN Messenger, Jabber, ICQ are not the same as the direct dial. They all require a configured server and/or a third party
Can you connect client to client with IRC?
Nightfox wrote to Dennisk <=-
Re: Re: BBSes today
By: Dennisk to Nightfox on Sat Aug 08 2020 01:20 pm
You can still do it, but its all indirect, mediated by a server. I think we need a terminal-terminal mode in programs like Qodem and Syncterm, where you can do a direct connect, and chat and send files.
Minicom can do it, but it doesn't support TCP. Telix can do it, over TCP with DOS, but its a bit of a hassle.
Security is an issue, you need some authentication. Also, you need to know the IP address, and some ISPs (like Telstra in Australia) don't give you a public IP address.
I just miss the simplicity of the direct dial.
In the 90s, there were a couple times when I would direct-dial someone over the modem and we'd just chat over the modem. And I remember there was one user on my BBS back then who I was in a user-sysop chat with,
and he said on a BBS, he thought you could just go ahead and start uploading a file and it would accept the file. I told him on a BBS,
you had to go to the file menu and then choose to upload (and upload to the right area) and he wasn't sure at first. I let him try it and of course, just uploading a file without going to the right place on the
BBS didn't work. I think he was thinking of being on a direct-dial session with someone and sending a file over. If you were using zmodem that way, I think the receiving user's system would just auto-start and the file would start transferring when the sender started sending it.
Ogg wrote to All <=-
Hello Dennisk!
** On Saturday 08.08.20 - 14:30, dennisk wrote to Nightfox:
That is what is missing, a basic program where if you only know an IP address you can connect to someone else and chat/send files, etc.
Maybe you would add an authentical layer, public a public connection
and encryption, but effectively the same.
Can't a torrent transfer be a solution for the file part (sans chat)?
From what I can tell, you can create a torrent token, send it to your peer, and the peer can use it to find your offering. Both systems coordinate the date and time they would be online and feed/seed to each other.
On 08-07-20 20:03, Dennisk wrote to Vk3jed <=-
That was fun in those days. It's theoretically possible, but no one's bothered to write the applications.
Shouldn't be too hard. I mean, you can kind of do it already with
Telix over DosBox.
Maybe I have found my new programming project.
On 08-07-20 10:46, Mauro Veiga wrote to VK3JED <=-
@VIA: VERT/ABUTRE2
Quoting Vk3jed to Mauro Veiga at 08-06-20 19:36 <=-
Yes! The hard CRs probably was the Boxer/DOS 7.0b. A great
editor
that match fine with Bluewave.
Except for the bloody hard CRs, which cause the above when quoted. :/
It is the formatting of the boxer. Inevitable.
Klingon Bird of Prey - B'Rel Class
_ ________
_,-'|`||||||||_\___ _,-,_
| /_`-'||||||||' \\-____/_ __o`-,
|[__<|_|||||||| -----.______(=====/
|_\ \------'\____/--------\_,-'
`\`. \-'
\ \ \
`\`. \`
\ `-.__\
\______\
| ___\
\(___======][]
`--"
24
MeSSaGe SiTTeR 1.00 - Full Version
Live Long and Prosper
Nice! :) Let's see if it survives quoting. :)
:-))
Klingon D-7 Class Attack Cruiser
,_o_,
=======
_____----(_o_)----_____
/ `-------------' \
[' `]
23
MeSSaGe SiTTeR 1.00 - Full Version
Live Long and Prosper
On 08-07-20 10:42, DaiTengu wrote to Vk3jed <=-
The modern version of that are instant messengers. You can chat with someone in real time, and send/receive files directly.
They've been around for 20+ years.
On 08-07-20 12:24, Moondog wrote to Vk3jed <=-
I'm not sure if Skype or Teamviewer would allow for file transfers. I recall I could do it with Bomgar on the technican side.
On 08-07-20 15:55, Arelor wrote to Nightfox <=-
Don't forget IRC. AFAIK it allowed direct transfer between IRC clients.
On 08-08-20 13:30, Dennisk wrote to Nightfox <=-
Can you connect client to client with IRC?
Vk3jed wrote to Dennisk <=-
On 08-07-20 20:03, Dennisk wrote to Vk3jed <=-
That was fun in those days. It's theoretically possible, but no one's bothered to write the applications.
Shouldn't be too hard. I mean, you can kind of do it already with
Telix over DosBox.
Yeah, I think a newbie network programming assignment, really. :)
Maybe I have found my new programming project.
Should be a quick one. ;)
IRC, Facebook, Skype, MSN Messenger, Jabber, ICQ are not the same as the dir dial. They all require a configured server and/or a third party moderated account. You can't just install Skype on two machines and connect, you have create accounts with Microsoft.
That is what is missing, a basic program where if you only know an IP addres you can connect to someone else and chat/send files, etc. Maybe you would a an authentical layer, public a public connection and encryption, but effectively the same.
Something like Minicom/Telix using an SSH tunnel.
Can you connect client to client with IRC?
... MultiMail, the new multi-platform, multi-format offline reader!
That said, things like Slack, Discord, HipChat, IRC, etc. allow
one-on-one private messages with file transfers as well.
Things like Slack, Discord, and IRC seem in a different league all their own compared to the more simple one-on-one instant messenger clients.
Can't a torrent transfer be a solution for the file part (sans chat)? From what I can tell, you can create a torrent token, send it to your peer, and the peer can use it to find your offering. Both systems coordinate the date and time they would be online and feed/seed to each other.
Re: Re: BBSes today
By: Dennisk to Nightfox on Sat Aug 08 2020 01:30 pm
IRC, Facebook, Skype, MSN Messenger, Jabber, ICQ are not the same as
the direct dial. They all require a configured server and/or a third
party
I wasn't really thinking of direct dial in this case, but that's true.
Can you connect client to client with IRC?
Not that I know of. IRC clients require connecting to an IRC server.
would also needs to act as a tracker.
My point isn't that there aren't ways to transfer files, there are. But you can no longer "just connect" in the way you could with Telix.
MRO wrote to Dennisk <=-
Re: Re: BBSes today
By: Dennisk to Ogg on Sat Aug 08 2020 04:40 pm
would also needs to act as a tracker.
My point isn't that there aren't ways to transfer files, there are. But you can no longer "just connect" in the way you could with Telix.
Many of the popular instant messengers are either gone or stripped of many of their features though. MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, and I think AOL Messenger are no longer working, and ICQ is not nearly what it used to be. There are things like Google Hangouts, but I'm not sure if they allow direct file transfers.
A lot of modern instant messengers are designed for mobile, now. WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook Messenger, etc. Heck, every mobile phone has some sort of text messaging, which is really just instant messaging between phone numbers (and capable of transferring media files)
Many of the popular instant messengers are either gone or stripped of
many of their features though. MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, and I
think AOL Messenger are no longer working, and ICQ is not nearly what
it used to be. There are things like Google Hangouts, but I'm not sure
if they allow direct file transfers.
People tend to use IMs on their phone now, hence the popularity of WhatsApp.
Re: Re: BBSes today
By: DaiTengu to Nightfox on Sat Aug 08 2020 04:39 pm
A lot of modern instant messengers are designed for mobile, now. WhatsA Telegram, Facebook Messenger, etc. Heck, every mobile phone has some so of text messaging, which is really just instant messaging between phone numbers (and capable of transferring media files)
I've heard WhatsApp and similar messengers are so popular in some countries that people just use those and might never use SMS text messenging.
Nightfox
On 08-08-20 21:39, Dennisk wrote to Vk3jed <=-
Might base it on Minicom, as it has most of the functionality already.
On 08-08-20 21:08, Nightfox wrote to Andeddu <=-
There is a WhatsApp desktop program for Windows, but it requires your phone to be available on the same network, since it seems to
communicate through the WhatsApp app on the phone.
Most of the instant messanging programs I mentioned above (MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger at least) had a smartphone app available too..
There is a WhatsApp desktop program for Windows, but it requires your phone to be available on the same network, since it seems to communicate through the WhatsApp app on the phone.
Nightfox
Yes. In Spain, everybody uses Whatsapp or Telegram. Signal Messenger has gained some traction during the COVID-19 lockdowns because of claims Whatsapp was limiting the sharing of links and messages because the amount of anti-government dissenting had skyrocketed.
Yes. In Spain, everybody uses Whatsapp or Telegram. Signal Messenger
has gained some traction during the COVID-19 lockdowns because of
claims Whatsapp was limiting the sharing of links and messages because
the amount of anti-government dissenting had skyrocketed.
SMS is mainly used for corporative messaging. It is just the one show
to be the most reliable. It is the sort of thing banks use to deliver one-time-pins and the like.
One thing I dislike about the new system of cellphones is that people who would otherwise be a local call due to their actual place of residence now show up as a long-distance call on my bill.
To activate you WhatsApp account, a telephone number is required. It's one account per SIM... which is why it's so popualar, I believe. As soon as you add someone to your phone book, they're automatically added on WhatsApp.
In the UK WhatsApp is so big I have never really heard of people using SMS. I have personally used around 5-10 SMS messages in 2020, and these messages are to older folk who don't have smartphones.
WhatsApp is great when it comes to sending pictures, documents or videos... it's such a streamlined and easy to use service once it has access to your phone.
I have been involved in larger group chats with
people from work and any files dropped are accessible to those within the chat. One to one voice/video chat along with conference calls are possible too.
I do miss MSN Messenger on Windows though. I have a lot of fond memories using that IM around 2004-2012. I recall FaceBook being responsible for partially killing it around 2009/2010. I hated that integrated web-script chat box and much perferred the MSN client.
One thing I dislike about the new system of cellphones is that people who Og>> would otherwise be a local call due to their actual place of residence Og>> now show up as a long-distance call on my bill.
whats long distance?
On 08-09-20 23:11, Ogg wrote to MRO <=-
Long distance calls incur charges per minute.
Local calls are free.
To activate you WhatsApp account, a telephone number is required. It's one account per SIM... which is why it's so popualar,
believe. As soon as you add someone to your phone book, they're automatically added on WhatsApp.
Re: Re: BBSes today
By: Arelor to Nightfox on Sun Aug 09 2020 05:22 am
Yes. In Spain, everybody uses Whatsapp or Telegram. Signal Messenger has gained some traction during the COVID-19 lockdow
because of claims Whatsapp was limiting the sharing of links and messages because the amount of anti-government dissenti
had skyrocketed.
The same happened here in the UK due to people spreading "misinformation"... I have seen a more concerted effort from the
silicon valley giants to control information, which is why companies such as Google are being investigated in relation to th
upcoming US election.
In the UK WhatsApp is so big I have never really heard of people using SMS. I have personally used around 5-10 SMS
messages in 2020, and these messages are to older folk who don't have smartphones.
I've heard it's different in other countries, but in the US, most people use SMS to text each other on their phones, so
normally we would not have a reason to use WhatsApp unless we know someone who uses WhatsApp for some reason.
What's the reason for people not using SMS in the UK? That seems a little strange to me, because SMS is a feature included
with all cell phones, and WhatsApp is a 3rd-party app you have to install on your phone before you can use it.
I've heard it's different in other countries, but in the US, most people use SMS to text each other on their phones, so normally we would not have a reason to use WhatsApp unless we know someone who uses WhatsApp for some reason.
What's the reason for people not using SMS in the UK? That seems a little strange to me, because SMS is a feature included with all cell phones, and WhatsApp is a 3rd-party app you have to install on your phone before you can use it.
You can do that with SMS messages too.. What advantage does WhatsApp offer in that regard?
You can do group chats with SMS too, and send a file out to everyone.
There are contacts I had on MSN Messneger and other chat clients that I don't have on my contacts anymore. One chat program I really miss is ICQ though. ICQ had a little profile you could fill out for yourself, and ICQ would let you search for a random chat partner from anywhere in th eworld.
I used that in the late 90s to early 2000s to chat with people. I think ICQ has removed those features though.
The real strangth of that, from the comercial point of view, is that it removes the necessity of managing user credentials.
Your average dumb user only needs to know his phone number to operate the messaging device. No more user/password combinations
required, which nowadays a lot of people is unable to manage.
This has the bonus of letting the IM service provider know your phone number and the phone number of your contacts, which is
juicy minable data.
contracts. I have access to infinite data and around 500 SMS messages per month... the internet appears to be a lot quicker to me than SMS. Also,
I didn't know that it was possible to SMS as part of a group... does that mean you're sending a single message several times to different people? That would eat up your SMS allocation quickly.
In relation to pictures/files, are you referring to MMS? That's really quite slow and again, it consumes your SMS monthly allocation quickly. I've never tried sending a video over MMS - sounds like a god damn nightmare, tbh.
ICQ was my first IM client. I liked it a lot however only really used it to speak to my cousin who lived around 400 miles away from me. mIRC was my main chat client for around three years... it was absolutely required if you were involved in the online gaming scene backin the late 90s, early 00s.
I think most phone IMs operate in the same fashion. WhatsApp is massive in the UK but I think it's different elsewhere - in Asia WeChat and Viber seem to be the go to IMs.
whats long distance?
Long distance calls incur charges per minute.
Local calls are free.
yeah i'm just joking. in my area we havent had long distance charges
in many many years.
whats long distance?
Long distance calls incur charges per minute.
Local calls are free.
yeah i'm just joking. in my area we havent had long distance charges
in many many years.
Hello MRO!
** On Monday 10.08.20 - 22:10, mro wrote to Ogg:
whats long distance?
Long distance calls incur charges per minute.
Local calls are free.
yeah i'm just joking. in my area we havent had long distance
charges in many many years.
Where exactly is your area?
I had a couple family members & friends on my ICQ list, but I often used ICQ's feature of connecting you to random people to chat with. IRC is a bit of a different thing in that IRC seemed to mainly be used for chat rooms with multiple people.
I have some friends in Brazil who use WhatsApp. One created a few group chats for people who want to learn English, Portuguese, and Italian. That's basically the only thing I'm using WhatsApp for right now.. Nobody else I know uses WhatsApp.
Andeddu wrote to Nightfox <=-
Re: Re: BBSes today
By: Nightfox to Andeddu on Mon Aug 10 2020 02:05 pm
I have some friends in Brazil who use WhatsApp. One created a few group chats for people who want to learn English, Portuguese, and Italian. That's basically the only thing I'm using WhatsApp for right now.. Nobody else I know uses WhatsApp.
Do Americans use WhatsApp on the whole? Are IMs popular in the
States or do you all have massive SMS contracts? Like I said, in
the UK WhatsApp is ALL we use. I am not sure if it's the same in
mainland Europe... Arelor said there's another IM that's popular
in Spain but they also use WhatsApp.
Do Americans use WhatsApp on the whole? Are IMs popular in the States or do you all have massive SMS contracts? Like I said, in the UK WhatsApp is ALL we use. I am not sure if it's the same in mainland Europe... Arelor said there's another IM that's popular in Spain but they also use WhatsApp.
WhatsApp is certainly used in the US; I would guess mostly by
younger people. As far as I know, most (all?) phone contracts
include unlimited SMS. Mine certainly does, and everyone I know -
we all send a lot of texts.
Interesting. That's never been the case in the UK. I've owned a mobile phone for over 17 years and I have never had a contract which has given me more than 500 SMS text messages per month. Pre-smartphone days, most contracts only offered 300 SMS messages - and we really needed them back then as there was no other method of mobile text communication (that was mainstream).
Are 20GB+ data contracts the norm in the US? We consume a lot of internet data here in the UK and the plans on offer reflect that.
WhatsApp is certainly used in the US; I would guess mostly by
younger people. As far as I know, most (all?) phone contracts
include unlimited SMS. Mine certainly does, and everyone I know -
we all send a lot of texts.
Do Americans use WhatsApp on the whole? Are IMs popular in the States or do you all have massive SMS contracts? Like I said, in the UK WhatsApp is ALL we use. I am not sure if it's the same in mainland Europe... Arelor said there's another IM that's popular in Spain but they also use WhatsApp.
I suppose it's better if each country sticks to one popular IM so that there's no requirement to download more than one third party app. I use WhatsApp as my only internet based chat service, and I SMS the odd person who doesn't have a smart phone.
Andeddu wrote to Gamgee <=-
Re: Re: BBSes today
By: Gamgee to Andeddu on Tue Aug 11 2020 08:07 pm
WhatsApp is certainly used in the US; I would guess mostly by
younger people. As far as I know, most (all?) phone contracts
include unlimited SMS. Mine certainly does, and everyone I know -
we all send a lot of texts.
Interesting. That's never been the case in the UK. I've owned a
mobile phone for over 17 years and I have never had a contract
which has given me more than 500 SMS text messages per month. Pre-smartphone days, most contracts only offered 300 SMS messages
- and we really needed them back then as there was no other
method of mobile text communication (that was mainstream).
Are 20GB+ data contracts the norm in the US? We consume a lot of
internet data here in the UK and the plans on offer reflect that.
Are 20GB+ data contracts the norm in the US? We consume a lot of internet data
here in the UK and the plans on offer reflect that.
Unlimited SMS has been around as long as I can remember, certainly
I think it is the "norm" now among all major carriers.
Are 20GB+ data contracts the norm in the US? We consume a lot of internet data here in the UK and the plans on offer reflect that.
As far as I know, the norm for data now is "unlimited". There may
be caveats to that with some carriers, such as after a certain
amount of bandwidth is used (generally a LOT), they start to
"throttle" your speed some. I don't think it's usually an issue
for 99% of folks.
On 8/12/2020 10:04 AM, Andeddu wrote:
Are 20GB+ data contracts the norm in the US? We consume a lot of internet data
here in the UK and the plans on offer reflect that.
My current plan is "unlimited" but subject to throttling after the first 20G. I have hit my unthrottled cap before. I don't even have a
personal laptop currently, but when I did it was because I was connected
via my cell, and windows, and several apps immediately started
updated... what really sucked it was the start of my new month of
service, so I was throttled all that month. That was on a 5gb plan at
the time.
Closest I've come lately is around 17GB and that was on a 10 day road trip.
--
Michael J. Ryan
tracker1 +o Roughneck BBS
I don't really know anyone in the US who uses WhatsApp. And I'm not sure what you mean by "massive SMS contracts"? Cell phone plans in the US usually have unlimited SMS messages; I've only occasionally heard of some plans that have limited SMS messages or where SMS messages cost extra money to send/receive.
That seems interesting to me.. For a long time, there was no WhatsApp, so I think cell phone carriers in the US just decided to provide unlimited SMS messages.
Data caps are common. I think my data usage cap for my smartphone is actually somewhere around 5GB per month, which is much lower than the 20GB you mention. But I rarely use data on my phone when I'm out, so I've never noticed myself hitting that limit. When I use things on my smartphone that require data, often it's when I'm at home or somewhere else that has wifi. And naturally, when I'm out of the house, I'm usually busy driving or doing something anyway, so I have less chance to use my phone.
i'm in the usa and i cant really get into whatsapp.
i use pretty much everything and so do my friends. i use google voice to keep in touch with my friends [and facebook]
As far as I know, the norm for data now is "unlimited". There may
be caveats to that with some carriers, such as after a certain
amount of bandwidth is used (generally a LOT), they start to
"throttle" your speed some. I don't think it's usually an issue
for 99% of folks.
My current plan is "unlimited" but subject to throttling after the first 20G. I have hit my unthrottled cap before. I don't even have a
personal laptop currently, but when I did it was because I was connected
via my cell, and windows, and several apps immediately started
updated... what really sucked it was the start of my new month of
service, so I was throttled all that month. That was on a 5gb plan at
the time.
Closest I've come lately is around 17GB and that was on a 10 day road trip.
Re: Re: BBSes today
By: Gamgee to Andeddu on Tue Aug 11 2020 08:07 pm
WhatsApp is certainly used in the US; I would guess mostly by younger people. As far as I know, most (all?) phone contracts include unlimited SMS. Mine certainly does, and everyone I know -
we all send a lot of texts.
I live in the US and haven't really noticed anyone I know using
WhatsApp. I sup pose it's possible though.
SMS messages were never really used as a method of conversation over here... due to the low-monthy cap, they were used to send quick messeges like instructions -- definitely not full blown conversations like we do now on WhatsApp. I think that's why IMs on the PC were so important, we were always chatting to people via the home computer. Now all text based conversations are carried out via the smartphone.
I have an unlimited data plan which I make use of... I think I average around 27GB per month. I don't tend to connect my phone to the router at home because 4G is so quick and reliable.
20GB should be enough of a threshold for most people. Having a phone with an uncapped unlimited data plan has sure changed the way I use technology. I pretty much just use my phone these days... I very rarely browse the web on my PC and the only other device I use to go online is my iPad. Around a decade ago I used my laptop to carry out at least 90% of all my media consumption.
I live in the US and haven't really noticed anyone I know using
WhatsApp. I sup pose it's possible though.
One important thing to remember is that WhatsApp is used universally in OTHER countries, which in turn drives many Americans using it to talk and communicate with their familes and friends FROM those countries. So yes, not a lot of 'americans' use whatsapp as their form of text/communication, but there are many with firneds and familes in other countries that do use it - in order to communicate with them.
I know its unpopular, but with the TikTok/WhatsApp bans that Trump is bringing... I just think that America shouldn't tell its citizens what they can and can't do. I can't wrapo my head around how thats OK. If we're free, we're free to choose what risks we want to take or not. If I can't even get people around me to mitigate and wear masks, how the hell can you tell me not to watch videos on TikTok!!
Re: Re: BBSes today
By: Gamgee to Andeddu on Tue Aug 11 2020 08:07 pm
WhatsApp is certainly used in the US; I would guess mostly by
younger people. As far as I know, most (all?) phone contracts
include unlimited SMS. Mine certainly does, and everyone I know -
we all send a lot of texts.
Interesting. That's never been the case in the UK. I've owned a mobile phone for over 17 years and I have never had a contract which has given me more th 500 SMS text messages per month. Pre-smartphone days, most contracts only offered 300 SMS messages - and we really needed them back then as there was other method of mobile text communication (that was mainstream).
Are 20GB+ data contracts the norm in the US? We consume a lot of internet da here in the UK and the plans on offer reflect that.
For me, IM programs on computers were always easier because I can type a lot faster on a real keyboard. That was especially true before smartphones, where you had to press the keys on a phone keyboard a few times to get the letter you want, for each letter. Back then I rarely used SMS messages because it just took so long to type them on a cell phone. But with smartphones, it has become easier.
There are times when I like to just relax and browse things online with my phone. I think it works well for that, but there are times when I want to type something, and I really like using the real keyboard on my desktop PC (or a laptop) because I type so much faster on one. As they say sometimes, mobile devices are good for consumption, but desktop PCs and laptops are still good for content creation. Though these days, you could potentially use a bluetooth keyboard & mouse with a mobile device. I've even seen adapters for a smartphone that will give you a standard USB port on a phone. My last phone (a Samsung Galaxy S7) came with one such adapter, and one time I tried using it to plug in a standard USB mouse on my phone, and I got a mouse pointer on it..
I've heard of the TikTok ban, but haven't heard anything about WhatsApp being banned..
I hadn't even heard of TikTok until a few months ago, when TikTok was in the news for potentially being insecure and sending information back to China.
I think pre-smartphone everyone struggled with messaging which is why we ended up with text speak. After around 2008, things got a lot easier... I
I hadn't even heard of TikTok until a few months ago, when TikTok was
in the news for potentially being insecure and sending information
back to China.
TikTok is the new Vine. It's one of the most popular social media platforms among young adults/kids.
Re: Re: BBSes today
By: Andeddu to Nightfox on Sat Aug 15 2020 12:02 am
I think pre-smartphone everyone struggled with messaging which is why we ended up with text speak. After around 2008, things got a lot easier... I
What is "text speak"?
Re: Re: BBSes today
By: Andeddu to Nightfox on Sat Aug 15 2020 12:02 am
What is "text speak"?
TikTok is the new Vine. It's one of the most popular social media platforms among young adults/kids.
Vine is something I'm not really familiar with either.. :P
I hadn't heard of Vine either until after it died in 2017. It was particularly big in the USA.
Re: Re: BBSes today
By: Andeddu to Nightfox on Sat Aug 15 2020 12:12 am
I hadn't even heard of TikTok until a few months ago, when TikTok was
in the news for potentially being insecure and sending information
back to China.
TikTok is the new Vine. It's one of the most popular social media
platforms among young adults/kids.
Vine is something I'm not really familiar with either.. :P
you've never heard of before can make you feel positively one-hundred years old.
I hadn't heard of Vine either until after it died in 2017. It was particularly big in the USA.
Vine is something I'm not really familiar with either.. :P
DO YOU LIVE IN A CAVE
TikTok is the new Vine. It's one of the most popular social media
platforms among young adults/kids.
Vine is something I'm not really familiar with either.. :PDO YOU LIVE IN A CAVE
Hello MRO!
** On Saturday 15.08.20 - 19:03, mro wrote to Nightfox:
Vine is something I'm not really familiar with either.. :P
DO YOU LIVE IN A CAVE
Maybe some people are not interested in visiting social media cess pools.
Vine is something I'm not really familiar with either.. :P
DO YOU LIVE IN A CAVE
Maybe some people are not interested in visiting social media cess pools.
TikTok is the new Vine. It's one of the most popular social media
platforms among young adults/kids.
Vine is something I'm not really familiar with either.. :P
DO YOU LIVE IN A CAVE
Maybe it's his Man-Cave?
vine was just funny short videos.
Re: Re: BBSes today
By: Nightfox to Andeddu on Fri Aug 14 2020 09:44 pm
Re: Re: BBSes today
By: Andeddu to Nightfox on Sat Aug 15 2020 12:02 am
What is "text speak"?
it is gr8 2 spk 2 u 2nyt. ty 4 ur rply.
Re: Re: BBSes today
By: Nightfox to Andeddu on Fri Aug 14 2020 09:45 pm
TikTok is the new Vine. It's one of the most popular social media platforms among young adults/kids.
Vine is something I'm not really familiar with either.. :P
Haha, coming across all these massively popular social media apps which you' never heard of before can make you feel positively one-hundred years old.
I hadn't heard of Vine either until after it died in 2017. It was particular big in the USA.
vine was just funny short videos.
Re: Re: BBSes today
By: MRO to Ogg on Sat Aug 15 2020 11:54 pm
vine was just funny short videos.
I have heard of "vines" as short videos. But I didn't realize there was a site called Vine. I've seen collections of "vines" as short funny videos on YouTube.
I hadn't heard of Vine either until after it died in 2017. It was
particular
big in the USA.
Not big enough because i never heard of it either
There are some things I guess I don't pay much attention to. There's a TV show called Breaking Bad, which was apparently fairly popular, but I had never heard of it until there was a news story that it was in its last season. :P
i miss vine. it was very entertaining.
Not big enough because i never heard of it either
Re: Re: BBSes today
By: MRO to Andeddu on Sat Aug 15 2020 06:54 pm
i miss vine. it was very entertaining.
TikTok is very similar... will you miss that too?
I know its unpopular, but with the TikTok/WhatsApp bans that Trump is bringing... I just think that America shouldn't tell its citizens wha they can and can't do. I can't wrapo my head around how thats OK. If
I've heard of the TikTok ban, but haven't heard anything about WhatsApp being ba nned..
There are some things I guess I don't pay much attention to. There's a TV show called Breaking Bad, which was apparently fairly popular, but I had never heard of it until there was a news story that it was in its last season. :P
Haha, I think everone's seen Breaking Bad over here except me, I can't be arsed watching something that's 5+ seasons long. Too much to get through, so I'd rather not bother.
20GB should be enough of a threshold for most people. Having a phone with an uncapped unlimited data plan has sure changed the way I use technology. I pretty much just use my phone these days... I very rarely browse the web on my
PC and the only other device I use to go online is my iPad. Around a decade ago
I used my laptop to carry out at least 90% of all my media consumption.
How things change!
There are some things I guess I don't pay much attention to. There's a TV >> show called Breaking Bad, which was apparently fairly popular, but I had
never heard of it until there was a news story that it was in its last
season. :P
Haha, I think everone's seen Breaking Bad over here except me, I can't be arsed
watching something that's 5+ seasons long. Too much to get through, so I'd rather not bother.
it's similar but not the same entirely. i find it less enjoyable and i'm not an avid user.
Yeah... I use a combination of things... I'm WFH, and have a wired VPN
Re: Re: BBSes today
By: MRO to Andeddu on Sun Aug 16 2020 07:38 pm
it's similar but not the same entirely. i find it less enjoyable and
i'm not an avid user.
I never used Vine or TikTok but I have seen my fair share of videos posted on YouTube. I agree, some can be highly entertaining. There will be a gap
Yeah... I use a combination of things... I'm WFH, and have a wired
VPN
what the hell is WFH
white fat human?
On 08-17-20 16:54, MRO wrote to Tracker1 <-
what the hell is WFH
Yeah... I use a combination of things... I'm WFH, and have a wired VPN device for my work laptop. Beyond this, there's a combination of
devices connected to the TVs. I have my Shield TV, fiance and daughter prefer Fire sticks, and there's also chromecasting. I do watch youtube
on TV, but will use my phone a lot of the time.
It's a decent show. You don't have to binge it, you can do it just like
any syndication show, watching an episode a night during the week to
wind down.
If you like "Breaking Bad" should also give "The Shield" a view.
--
Michael J. Ryan
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