reconstructed version - edited copy --------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE DEAD CBBS SCROLLS: EXACT TRANSCRIPTIONS OF THERMAL ROLLS FROM THE FIRST MONTHS OF WARD CHRISTENSEN AND RANDY SUESS' CBBS, FOUNDED FEBRUARY 16, 1978 Transcribed by Jason Scott of TEXTFILES.COM, March 22, 2002 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ROLL TIME SPAN: May 25th, 1978 - May 27th, 1978 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FEEDBACK FROM RANDY SUESS: WARD---- THE SYSTEM BLEW UP AGAIN......TYPE IN R;102;........;150 AND WHEN IT GETS TO ABOUT 133 IT GOES AWAY!!! FROM: STEVE KIRK DATE: 05/25/78 TO: MIKE HERMAN SUBJ: UNIX I USE UNIX OP SYSTEM AT UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-CHICAGO....IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED YOU CAN TRY UNIX BY DIALING 996-6320 USE LOGIN NAME "MISC" NO PASSWORD. HEY RANDY???????? RANDY???? REAL FINE RANDY FROM: KEITH COOK DATE: 05/25/78 TO: ALL SUBJ: PRINTERS FOR SALE TWO PRINTERS FOR SALE. EXPANDOR $450.00; MODIFIED SELECTRIC $995.00. BOTH PRINTERS ARE IN GOOD WORKING ORDER. CALL KEITH COOK AT COMPUTERLAND OF ARLINGTON HTS. FOR FURTHER DETAILS. FROM: WARD CHRISTENSEN DATE: 05/25/78 TO: DAVE CAULKINS SUBJ: ATLANTA CBBS DAVE, I DO NOT HAVE THE NUMBER OF ATLANTA CBBS. I HAVE TALKED WITH DENNIS HAYES, AND DON HYDE (WHO IS DOING THE PROGRAMMING). THEY ARE USING DON'S DEVELOPMENT MACHINE FOR THE CBBS, SO IT'S HOURS ARE NOT FIXED. I SUGGEST YOU CALL THEM AT (404) 455-7663 AND GET THE LATEST, OR, IF I REMEMBER, I WILL ASK FOR IT WHEN I CALL, WHICH I DO FREQUENTLY. SORRY FOR NOT ANSWERING SOONER. P.S. THE ZIP CODE FOR CHICAGO IS WRONG ON THE CBBS CALIFORNIA. 46304 IS CHESTERTON, INDIANA, INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH THE PLACE WHERE I CALL YOU FROM. I WONDER IF GRAGG DID A ZIP-TO-CITY SEARCH FROM MY CALL TO HIM, AND PUT THE ZIP DOWN. ANYWAY, IT IS 60613. P.S. ALSO, HOW ABOUT A 'CREDIT' LINE FOR RANDY AND I IN YOUR CBBS? FROM: MIKE/HERMAN DATE: 05/25/78 TO: STEVE KIRK SUBJ: UNIX DOES THE SYSTEM HAVE A CHESS PROGRAM? ARE YOU INTERESTED IN TRADING SOME PROGRAMS? FROM: HENRY HILLBRATH DATE: 05/25/78 TO: SYSTEM OPERATORS SUBJ: HELLO FROM SEATTLE I AM A MEMBER OF THE NORTHWEST COMPUTER CLUB. JUST FOUND OUT ABOUT YOUR NEAT SYSTEM FROM HOMEBREW N/L AND WROTE AN ARTICLE ON IT FOR OUR N/L. WE HAVE A SIMILAR CAPABILITY ON A LOCAL TIMESHARE SYSTEM, BUT NOT PUBLIC. I AM AMAZED THAT YOU CAN GET SO MUCH THRUPUT ON ONE PHONE LINE! LOTS OF SUCCESS. FEEDACK FROM HENRY HILLBRATH: YOUR MODEM DOSEN'T WANT TO TALK TO SOME OR OF OUR MODEMS BUT OTHER THAN THAT YOUR SYSTEM WORKS GREAT. I SEE FORM READING SOME MORE MESSAGES THAT YOU ARE HAVING THRUPUT PROBLEMS. WE ARE PRINTING YOUR NUMBER HOPE IT DOSEN'T MESS YOU UP TOO MUCH. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOUR SYSTEM DO WELL. LOTS OF LUCK. FROM: ERNIE KENT DATE: 05/26/78 TO: CARL HELMERS SUBJ: STUFF HI! GOT YOUR NOTE AND GLAD TO HEAR YOU FINNALY GOT A MODEM. ASSUMING YOU'LL GET IT UP AND LOOK HERE SHORTLY, HERE IS A MESSAGE FOR YOU. I'VE GONT MINE SET SO YOUR MODEM CAN BECOME MY CONSOLE (IN PARALLEL WITH IT ACTUALLY), AND SHORTLY WILL BE SET FOR TRANSMISSION OF HEX FILES FROM DISK. WHEN YOU FIND THIS KILL IT AND I'LL KNOW YOU'RE SET UP AND SEND YOU THE NUMBER AND THE PASSCODES. FUN, HUH? ----- ERNIE FROM: LARRY ROOT DATE: 05/26/78 TO: WARD SUBJ: ATLANTA NUMBER FOR ATLANTA CBBS IS: 404-458-4886. GOT THRU TO IT WED EVE/THU MORN. CREDIT IS THERE, WITH EITHER SYSTEM, AND I TOO WAS THROWN WITH THE ZIP CODE FOR CHICAGO...LEFT A SHORT COMMENT TO THAT EFFECT. CUL KUR LCR IS RUN BY BY WARD CHRISTENSEN AND RANDY SUESS FOR MSG...ETC.' FEEDBACK FROM TOM ROOT: VERY INTERESTING SYSTEM....MY COUSIN LARRY ROOT TOLD ME ABOUT IT, AND I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA. DIDN'T HAVE ANY IDEA THAT 'AMATEURS' COULD BE DOING STUFF LIKE THIS. HE ALSO TELLS ME THAT THERE ARE SIMILAR SYSTEMS IN CALIFORNIA AND ATLANTA, AS WELL AS SEATTLE. SUPER GREAT. I PROBABLY WON'T GET INTO THIS SYSTEM VERY OFTEN. AM USING LARRY'S TTY RIGHT NOW. ANYWAY, I THINK IT'S GREAT. FROM: DAVID SOUSSAN DATE: 05/26/78 TO: WARD & RANDY SUBJ: T@IS SYSTEM I AM NORT CORRECTING ERRORS CAUSED BY COMPUTER (ONLY TYPING ) AND THE A ...ER...WAY (ERROR BY COMPUTER) THIS IS WORKING IS TERRIBLE! (JUST GOT A ^R) PARITY BE DTECTED BY THE {CR}S USED IF THE BEGINNING. (IF=IN) THIS ISTHE MOLEE (MODEM) AT THE HP WORKS FILE. I HAVE SEEN MORE PARITY EV][_THERE SHOUL D BE A PARITY (IN MY OPINION). DIDN'T SEE MESSAG TALKED ABOUT. ECHO TAKES TIME, I KNOW. BUT SOMEHOW HP DOES IT FST (FA SRT)/LOOK AT MUTHE EWAY MY NAME WENT IN!!!!! FROM: STEVE WALK DATE: 05/26/78 TO: WARD SUBJ: CBBS SOFTWARE WARD, DID YOU GIVE THIS EXACT SAME SOFTWARE TO CALIFORNIA AND ATLANTA? I CALLED THEN UP A COUPLE OF NIGHTS AGO AND IT LOOKS THE SAME. ARE YOU GOING TO TRY TO SET UP A SUPER-SYSTEM WHERE BY EACH SYSTEM CALLS UP THE OTHER TO CHECK FOR MESSAGES? STEVE LEFT A MESSAGE FOR YOU WARD. FEEDBACK FROM JILL HURLEY: THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THANKS IT WAS MUCH FUN FEEDBACK FROM STEVE KIRK: HI THERE I AM INTERFACING THE COMPTALKER WITH BASIC FAR OUT HOW COME THIS IS ALWAYS BUSY?? TURKEYS AT 110 BAUD NOT JOCK LIKE ME HA OK BAK TO WORK SEE YA KIRK [ Randy Suess Breaks into Chat ] - RANDY???? - YES - I HAD CALL FROM FRIEND OF YOURS ABOUT HP2000 - YES HE IS K00L - 10-4 I GAVE HIM AN ACCOUNT. BYE BYE U WILL LEARN TO USE A COMPUTER YET!!! IT'LL TAKE FOUR YESAARS OF ENGINEERING SCHOOL OR TYPING SCHOOL [ Chat Session Ends ] FROM: GEORGE/BRICKNER DATE: 05/26/78 TO: WARD AND ALL SUBJ: SYNCHRONOUS PROTOCOLS REGARDS YOUR MSG (193), THE SYNCHRONOUS MODENM DOES THE DATA RATE CLOCKING. THE 8251 COMMUNICATIONS CONTROLLER CHIP REQUIRES A SYNCH MODEM IN SYNCH MODE. DATA RATES FOR SYNCH XMISSION ARE FROM 1200 BAUD TO OVER 50 KB! YOU CAN GO UP TO 2400 BAUD ON VOICE GRADE PHONE LINES. SYNCH XMITS D8 BIT BYTES WITH A FEW FRAMING CHARACTERS: I.E. 1 OR 2 SYNCH CHARS; STX, 2 POLLING CHARS FOR ADDRESSING, ETX AND A CHECKSUM. SYNCH WOULD BE GOOD FOR BATCHED MESSAGES BETWEEN NETWORK NODES, TIEING UP PHONES LINES FOR LESS TIME, SAVING MONEY. ALSO MICRO COMPUTERS THAT TALK BISYNC ARE POTENTIAL PRODUCTS TO SMALL BUSINESSES. CHEAPER THAN IBM ! WE COULD USE BISYNC TO PERMIT VARIOUS CBBS TO PASS MSGS BETWEEN EACH OTHER. NAME: WARD CHRISTENSEN DATE: 05/26/78 TO: DAVID SOUSSAN SUBJ: CORRECTING MISTAKES "..AND LOOK AT THE WAY MY NAME WENT IN..." ??? THAT IS WHY CONTROL-R EXISTS. WHEN YOU TYPE YOUR NAME (OR ANYTHING YOU WANT TO GO INTO THE SYSTEM CORRECTLY) AND YOU THINK IT MIGHT BE GLITCHED, TYPE CONTROL-R, WHICH WILL ECHO THE ENTIRE LINE BACK TO YOU. IF IT IS INCORRECT, USE EITHER DEL OR CONTROL-U TO CORRECT IT. ...AS TO THE ECHO SPEED, IT IS CONCEIVABLE THAT WE, I BEGAN TO THINK THAT PERHAPS WE EXECUTE A LOT OF INSTRUCTIONS FROM TIME IN, TO TIME OUT,BUT LOOKED, AND IT IS ONLY ABOUT 50 OR SO. YOU HAVE ME PUZZLED. AS TO YOUR CONNECTION TO US, WE ADMIT TO NOT HAVING THE BEST MODEM MONEY CAN BUY, ONLY ONE WHICH IS REASONABLE IN COST IN KEEPING WITH THE OVERALL GOALS (BOTH COST AND FUNCTION) OF THIS SYSTEIM. WE WILL BE TRYING A NEWER REVISION HAYES MODEM SHORTLY (HAYES SAYS PAPERWORK IS DONE, SHOULD BE SHIPPED SOON). SORRY. IF NOT SATISFACTORY DON'T USE THE SYSTEM. NAME: WARD CHRISTENSEN DATE: 05/26/78 TO: STEVE WALK SUBJ: CBBS SOFTWARE STEVE: YES, BOTH ATLANTA AND CALIFORNIA ARE RUNNING MY SOFTWARE, ALTHOUGH I DID NOT 'EXACTLY 'GIVE' IT AWAY. IT IS COPYRIGHT. THE PROGRAMS BEAR A COPYRIGHT NOTICE, AND ALL DISTRIBUTION IS THRU RANDY AND MYSELF. WITH HAYES, WE TRADED, AND WITH CALIFORNIA, IT WAS DONE TO SHOW OUR SUPPORT FOR THE INTENSE EFFORT GOING INTO PCNET. FEEDBACK FROM WARD CHRISTENSEN: JUST RAN INTO GLITCH WHEREBY LOWER CASE CHARS WERE NOT ACCEPTED. I SAID 'SAVE 40 BADUC526.COM'. HOW ABOUT GETTING IT AND MODEMING IT OVER TO ME. BAH. FROM: DAVE JAFFE DATE: 5/26/78 TO: JACK WIERDA SUBJ: RE #205 DAVE JACK, GOT YOUR MSG, BUT WAS UNABLE TO CALL TOM MADDEN AT INTEL. WILL BE OUT OF TOWN FOR TWO WEEKS, BUT I'LL BE SURE TO CALL WHEN I GET BACK. GOING TO NCC - HOPE TO HAVE LOTS OF PICS FOR NEXT MEETING. QUESTION: WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED IN DONATING YOUR CROSS REFERENCE PROGRAM TO CP/M LIBRARY. IF SO MODEM IT TO ME (ASSUMING YOUR MODEM IS UP) WHEN I GET BACK FROM: RANDY SUESS DATE: 05/26/78 TO: RICHARD GRAGG SUBJ: PET RICHARD....I JUST OBTAINED PET AND AM INTERESTED IN YOUR HOOKUP OF A MODEM TO YPUROUR PET. IS THERE SOMETHING SPECIAL IN HOOKING UP A SERIAL DEVICE TO THE PET?? LEAVE A MESSAGE IF YOU CAN. RANDY FROM: LARRY ROOT DATE: 05/27/78 TO: ATLANTA CBBS SUBJ: SYSTEM DUMB TRIED ACCESSING ATLANTA CBBS AT APPROX 300ACD THU MIGHT BE INTERESTED CALL WAS INITIATED FROM RICHTON PARK, IL, JUST SOUTH OF CHICAGO. HOPE IT WAS A FLUKE. CUL LARRY ROOT. -----} KILL UPON RECEIPT (KUR) {----- FROM: BOB LIEBERMAN DATE: 05/27/78 TO: ALL CP/M USRS SUBJ: HELP WITH 1.4 DUAL DENSITY SOFTWARE REQUIRE SOME AID IN DEBUGGING RELEASE 1.4 DUAL DENSITY SOFTWARE FROM DIGITAL SYSTEMS (NOT RESEARCH) TO USE ON THEIR FDC-3 CONTROLLER. CALL BOB AT 676-6786 TNX. FEEDBACK FROM FRED STEPHENS: WE ARE CALLING FROM SEATTLE AT 300 BAUD AND HAVE NO PROBLEM READING YOUR MESSAGES NOTE: WE HAVE HEARD ABOUT YOUR SYSTEM... BUT REALIZE IT IS 'PRIVATE',,, ANY CHANCE OF WARD AND RANDY GETTING/THE NO???? OVER TO YOU... OUR SYSTEM IS A TIME SHARE AND THE WAY WE USE IT IS THAT EACH MEMBER HAS A PASSWORD FOR THE CLUB ACCOUNT OK. ANYONE WE COULD CONTACT?? (NAME, PHONE) ROY GILLETTE 1-206-524-0596 TELL HIM I CALLED OK. THANKS. P.S. [ Randy Suess Breaks into Chat ] - YOU HAVE GREAT SIGNAL - WHAT KIND OF MODEM? - OMMITEC - WE CAN READ YOU OK BUT THE TYPE BACK IS JUST GARBAGE - OK. I FOUND THE SAME PROBLEM CALLING THE CALIF. SYSTEM. WE MAY HAVE TO CRANK UP OUR LEVEL. OVER. - THIS IS THE FIRST TIME TRYING TO CALL OTHER SYSTEMS IS THE CALIF. GROOP UP? - YES, IN RICHARD GRAGG'S CLOSET, ONLY LATE AT NIGHT UNTIL HIS D.A.A. ARRIVESS... EARLY JUNE. OVER - OK THANK YOU GOODBY/ - ADIOS. [ Chat Session Ends ] FROM: LARRY ROOT DATE: 05/27/78 TO: ALL SUBJ: REMEMBER !* * * * * * ///////////////////////// ! * * * * * / !* * * * * * ///////////////////////// ! * * * * * / MEMORIAL !* * * * * * ///////////////////////// ! / DAY !/////////////////////////////////////////////// ! / MEANS !/////////////////////////////////////////////// ! / REMEMBER !/////////////////////////////////////////////// ! FROM: LARRY ROOT DATE: 05/27/78 TO: WARD SUBJ: LABELS WARD--- JACK BELAL AND I ARE THINKING ABOUT FETTING TOHGETHER A SIG FOR IMSAI OWNERS AND WE WERE WONDERING WHICH WAY WE'RE GOING TO GO) THEN THAT WUD SAVE A LOT OF TIME. PLS LET ME KNOW. TNX KUR LCR CUL. FROM: STEVE;WALK DATE: 05/27/78 TO: MR. CHRISTENSEN SUBJ: CBBS SOFTWARE WARD, ARE THERE ANY PLANS TO HAVE A UNIFIED NETWORK? I MEAN SEPARATE NETWORK UNITS WHICH CALL EACH OTHER UP TO SEND EACH ONE MESSAGES? ONE SYSTEM COULD SEND TO ANOTHER NOT TOO FAR AWAY (LESS PHONE BILL). THEY PROBAB- LY CALL EACH OTHER UP TO TRANSFER MESS. AT OFF HOURS. ANOTHER QUESTION, WHEN I WAS TALKING TO THE SYSTEM IN CALIFORNIA THE OPERATOR WAS TALKING BACK ONLY HE SAID HIS MESSAGE WAS TRANSPARENT TO THE SYSTEM. HOW DID YOU DO THAT? RESPECTFULLY, STEVE WALK [ Ward Christensen Breaks into Chat Mode ] - HI FROM WARD SAW YOUR MSG - THE CALIF SYSTEM TYPED TO YU BY SIMPLEY HAVING HIS KEYBOARD GO DIRECTLY TO THE MODEM, NOT TO ANY PROGRAM (I.E. BULLETIN BOARD/OR ANYTHING). AS TO NETWORKING, THIS SYSTEM IS SIMPLE. PCNET IS DOING THE FANCY STUFF. WELL LEAVE THAT FOR THEM. OVER - YOU SCARED ME I THOUGHT SOMETHING WAS WRONG WITH THE SYSTEM WHEN YOU CAME ON - HA HA - DO YOU HAVE ANY NUMBERS FOR THE PCNET? - NO, BUT WOULDN'T HELP ANYWAY WITHOUT THEIR V-E-R-Y COMPLEX SOFTWWARE. OVER - DO YOU MEAN ALL THEIR PROTOCAL? OVER - ALL? DON'T UNDERSTAND. - I THOUGHT THEY HAVE A STRICT SYNTAX FOR MESSAGES OVER - YES. HAIRY HANDSHAKING IN 'RADIX 41' THEN WHEN BOTH SIDES AGREE, THEY GO TO FULL 8 BIT OVER - WHAT IS 'RADIX 41' OVER - IT'S A WAY TO SEND 8 BIT DATA VALUES (2 BYTES, AS A 3 BYTE PRINTABLE VALUE, FOR COMMUNICATING WITH COMPUTERS WHICH DON'T HAVE FULL 8 BIT CAPABILITIES, SUCH AS A BZ...BASIC-ONLY SYSTEM. OVER - THAT SOUNDS NEAT. WHAT COURSES DO YOU RECOMMEND IN COLLEGE ABOUT COMPUTERS? I AM ENROLLED AT IIT OVER - DON'T KNOW. COMPUTER SSCIENCE NOT INVENTED WHEN I WENT 10 YEARS AGO...O V E R. - HOW WAS THE LAST CACHE MEETING. I WENT ON A CANOE TRIP OVER - NO MEAT. JUST NON-TECHNICAL ON RADIO SHACK, BUT THEN A TECHNICAL ONE ON THE 6800 INSTRUCTION SET - WELL, I GOTTA GO. WORKING ON HEATHKIT 2 METER SYSTEM. RANDY BUGGING ME TO GET GOING. BYE.. - THANKS FOR TALKING TO ME. TALK TO YOU LATER. [ End of Chat Mode ] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE DEAD CBBS SCROLLS: EXACT TRANSCRIPTIONS OF THERMAL ROLLS FROM THE FIRST MONTHS OF WARD CHRISTENSEN AND RANDY SUESS' CBBS, FOUNDED FEBRUARY 16, 1978 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ROLL TIME SPAN: May 25th, 1978 - May 27th, 1978 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- reconstructed copy - edited