5 ms·

I loved the BBS era. For those of us kids who saw Wargames at the movie theater it was almost like magic. My first modem was 300 baud. You haven't lived until

I loved the BBS era. For those of us kids who saw Wargames at the movie theater it was almost like magic. My first modem was 300 baud. You haven't lived until your mom ruined your 5 hour download of a sweet 300-500k game because she picked up the phone. Good times.

bedhead 11y ago
I would also add that you haven't lived until your mom burst into your room holding a phone bill for hundreds of dollars and demanding an explanation.
- jlgaddis 11y ago
  Now that brings back memories! "Who were you talking to in Pennsylvania for four hours in the middle of the night for a week!?"
- cromwellian 11y ago
  That's when you start phreaking. Then you learn to deal with your mom bursting in the room when you get a letter from the phone company investigating wire fraud.
  - strictnein 11y ago
    Took me a while to convince my mother that the credit card generator that I used for "free" accounts was actually just part of a video game I was playing. She found a print out of some fake AMEX numbers and was not pleased.
    - wil421 11y ago
      Brings back memories of using CC generators to call 1-900 numbers for free or pay for random services online. I still dont know how I never got in trouble. We also used keygens so we could play online games online for free with a burned disc (or to play over LAN).
- 300bps 11y ago
  Happened to me in 1985. Racked up a $350 phone bill in one month using my Mitey Mo 300 bps modem. Parents took the modem for a month. Then I fixed the problem by finding some long distance company's calling card access numbers (Sprint, MCI) and had the Commodore 64 my BBS ran on hack them out every night between 2 am and 6 am. I would get about a dozen codes per night.
strictnein 11y ago
I just miss BBS games like LORD[0] and Trade Wars[1] in their "natural" setting. Sure, I can play them now, but when dialing in to a BBS meant spending actual money on long distance calls, most people who played those games were pretty serious about it. Similar to how most DWANGO[2] players were also pretty solid and didn't mess around. Another fond memory: finding a BBS list on one BBS, and then dialing into all of the new ones to see what they had to offer. Was a great way to spend the night while the parents were asleep. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_of_the_Red_Dragon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_of_the_Red_Dragon [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_Wars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_Wars [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DWANGO https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DWANGO

bedhead 11y ago

I would also add that you haven't lived until your mom burst into your room holding a phone bill for hundreds of dollars and demanding an explanation.

jlgaddis 11y ago
Now that brings back memories! "Who were you talking to in Pennsylvania for four hours in the middle of the night for a week!?"
cromwellian 11y ago
That's when you start phreaking. Then you learn to deal with your mom bursting in the room when you get a letter from the phone company investigating wire fraud.
- strictnein 11y ago
  Took me a while to convince my mother that the credit card generator that I used for "free" accounts was actually just part of a video game I was playing. She found a print out of some fake AMEX numbers and was not pleased.
  - wil421 11y ago
    Brings back memories of using CC generators to call 1-900 numbers for free or pay for random services online. I still dont know how I never got in trouble. We also used keygens so we could play online games online for free with a burned disc (or to play over LAN).
300bps 11y ago
Happened to me in 1985. Racked up a $350 phone bill in one month using my Mitey Mo 300 bps modem. Parents took the modem for a month. Then I fixed the problem by finding some long distance company's calling card access numbers (Sprint, MCI) and had the Commodore 64 my BBS ran on hack them out every night between 2 am and 6 am. I would get about a dozen codes per night.

strictnein 11y ago

I just miss BBS games like LORD[0] and Trade Wars[1] in their "natural" setting. Sure, I can play them now, but when dialing in to a BBS meant spending actual money on long distance calls, most people who played those games were pretty serious about it. Similar to how most DWANGO[2] players were also pretty solid and didn't mess around. Another fond memory: finding a BBS list on one BBS, and then dialing into all of the new ones to see what they had to offer. Was a great way to spend the night while the parents were asleep. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_of_the_Red_Dragon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_of_the_Red_Dragon [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_Wars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_Wars [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DWANGO https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DWANGO