Oh, they are all fancy now:
Posted on 01/11/2021 7:45:34 PM PST by Traveler59
I had to think a bit about this. For those of you less than 30 years old, when the internet was in it's infancy, there was a whole lot of things going on. Did you ever do an Archie search? How about utilizing Gopher menu's? The only three web browsers for DOS6.22/Win3.11 were Mozilla, Netscape, and Lynx. But there were, and still are, places on the internet that big tech doesn't own and can't own because it's too decentralize.
For the the geeks like me, BBS'ing was where we started. This was the mid-80's. Imagine, posting a message on a local dial-up BBS, and 2 days later getting a reply back from someone on the other side of the world. For me to reach the internet was a dial-up shell account through a local SprintNet port. Only hyperterminal, no graphics.
Then came AOL, and Genie, and Compuserve. AOL was first to attempt social networking with ICQ. Clunky, but it whetted the appetite for those who wanted real time (or near real time) interaction. But this is when the “point and click” generation started. Had to have a GUI (graphical user interface) or they wouldn't use it. Want to know if you're part of that generation? Disconnect your mouse and navigate through the internet without a mouse or a touch pad. If you're wondering how, try using your 'TAB' key. See, learned something new.
Anyhow, before ICQ, MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, Parlor, (etc,etc, ad nausium) there where two social networks that are still in operation. One is Network Newsgroups, the other is Internet Relay Chat. Both of these are decentralize, and neither is run or controlled by big tech. Many, not all internet service providers have access to one or both of these networks. You'll have to check with your internet customer service.
Network Newsgroups is a message board. Text only, no grapics or hyperlinks. At least the last time I used it that was the case. This is part of the real 'wild,wild west' of the internet. There are moderated groups where you request permission to join much like Free Republic on facebook. Irritate the moderator and you get the boot. All you can do is read the messages, no posting. The unmoderated groups... well that's why asbestos keyboards where invented. Gives new meaning to the phrase “Flame On”. I think there are some flame wars that have been going on for years. Post to the local ISP's newsgroup server and within one hour it will hit/bounce/relay through several thousand servers around the world. Can't kill it, too decentralized. My newsgroup reader client of choice was Agent by Forte, Inc. Still out there, I just checked. Either connect to your ISP's Network Newsgroup (NNTP) server or find an open NNTP server and go to town.
The other social network that predates the world wide web is internet relay chat (IRC). This one is real time online chat. It can be either across one or two dozen open servers with several thousand “channels” all going at the same time, or a single server with invite only access. IRC is where you go to lose hours and days on a weekend. You got off work Friday night and it's now Monday morning. Fun, thrilling, aggravating, and humorous all at the same time. However, if you have “dainty tendencies” you do NOT want to go here. The open servers are generally rude, crude, and socially unacceptable, just the way the internet was meant to be. Closed servers, or invite only servers, can keep the riff-raff out but it's still a bandwidth hog on an unimaginable scale. If your try to run an IRC server from your house, your ISP will turn you off in under 30 minutes. Voice of experience here, I plead ignorance and they put me on probation for 6 months (no funny stuff). My choice for an IRC client was mIRC. Still out there. Again, you can't kill IRC. It's been going for far longer than the world wide web and it is also decentralized.
My .02 on the subject. There are many more old-time geeks out there with ideas.
They think they are able to define truth. They are wrong.
From App Store
OSX: News group reader: Hogwasher
OSX: NZB reader: NZB Drop
My Dad was a WW II Navy Radioman, and could probably have translated your post. He was very handy with Morse Code.
App Store
internet relay chat (IRC).
OSX: XChat Azure
OSX: New IRC Live Chat Client
Oh, they are all fancy now:
WWW = World Wide Wait
I loved computers pre-Windows. Working in DOS was so much fun. When I see a C: prompt now I smile.
WordPerfect, Lotus, and Paradox in DOS were the best!
“I have all of you beat - I remember using punchcards instead of keyboards.”
And I have jumper wired punchcard sorting machines. So there.
Well, that would concern me a bit, as windoze doesn't use forward slashes. Real operating systems, on the other hand, do.
sorry i used the wrong slash :-( was using my phone to respond
No problem! You provided me a great opportunity to be snarky. Something I simply couldn’t pass up, obviously. :-)
LOL.. i can take it...
Try this
Copy the code in Msg then paste it on RIGHT box where the code is and the msg will come out in plain language.
where you see the # is the spacing between words...
A few years ago USN RM 1950s-60s I would have figured it out by hand BUT....
You will have to ‘fill in some of the blanks’ as something was lost in translation somewhere along the line.
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