Vintage BBS Validation Message of the Week (#1)
November 11th, 2005 by Benj Edwards
If you read my introduction or the “About the Author” page on this site, you’ll know that I ran a BBS from 1992 to 1998. It was a one line, 24-hour WWIV BBS called “The Cave BBS.” Anyway, back in the BBS days there was a common convention known as submitting a validation message. This was a personal statement sent to the SysOp (short for System Operator, the person who ran the BBS) that essentially begged and brown-nosed for full access to the system (especially for the file section), sent immediately after registering on the BBS. The new user was taken directly into a message editing screen and forced to send the message. If he or she aborted the message, then the BBS would usually hang up on them. What follows is an example of such a message, sent to me, RedWolf, long ago.
Subject: UMMM
Name: Ceaser #298 @1
Date: Tue Jun 25 19:22:14 1996
RE: Validation FeedbackI am Jonathan A. Matthews and I am a cool person. You just have to meet me. I will spread the word of this BBS because I don’t want to be the only one on here.
-JAM-
Ok, so that was a little thin, but I enjoyed it. I like how he spelled Caesar. I suppose I’ll give you a little bonus, one of the many silly threats that came in on a monthly basis:
Subject: RED WOLF READ THIS NOW!
Name: Mad Max #115
Date: Tue Apr 04 19:31:49 1995
RE: Validation FeedbackRED WOLF,SOON AS YOU GET A CHANCE,GIVE ME SOME MAIL SO WE CAN TALK ABOUT ME TAKING OVER THE CAVE!ALL YOU ARE IS A PUNK!YOU MIGHT THINK I’M CRAZY BUT I AM
MAD MAX!!!!!
Oh no! Will MAD MAX succeed in taking over the BBS? I guess you’ll just have to tune in again next week for another exciting episode of Vintage BBS Validation Messages!
November 11th, 2005 at 6:55 pm
Man.. BBS.. it’s rare to find people who know what that is.. I remember when my dad got our first 2400 baud modem back in San Diego.. I was online constantly. Good memories.
November 11th, 2005 at 11:01 pm
Yeah, BBSes were a big part of my life for a long time. Thanks for the comment, Jay. I plan on writing a lot more about my BBS adventures in the future, and perhaps you can share some of yours too.
June 24th, 2006 at 11:45 am
This is great! U ran a BBS on a Commie 64 for a few years. One line, 1200 baud at first, then 2400. GREAT memories. Door, games, hacking other BBS’s, chating w/ people as a Sysop… The good old days. I like they way you set this up so people could leave messages, like a BBS, nice.
July 21st, 2006 at 12:07 am
A C64 with a 1200 baud……… I started bbs-ing on a Vic-20 and thought I was going light speed first time I ever used a 1200 baud. I ran accross a program print out I had done back in those days…..twelve foot long piece of four inch wide thermal. Why I have kept it this long, I don’t remember.
I do remember getting retro after running accross it. A 2.8 ghz P4 running an emulator for an eight bit……just so as to play a Scott Adams game.
August 25th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Old-school flavor bbs…Not what you think though, but maybe…Check it out at: 201 – 471 – 2205
Music – Demos – Games and More!
Note: If all you get is ringing, keep dialing it will connect as the port is busy with another caller…But keep dialing.
December 3rd, 2012 at 12:26 am
This brings back memories. I started a BBS with my brother back in the late 80s. It began life on a 300 baud modem, later upgraded to an Atari ST with multiple 9600 (US Robotics) baud modems. Having a multiline system gave a sysop bragging rights. That, and how much space you had along with how quickly you got files. Many lawns mowed and Pennysavers delivered to invest in that infrastructure. Good memories.
Cheers