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Commodork: Sordid Tales from a BBS Junkie

F

Flack

Experienced Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2005
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59
Location
OKC, OK
My new book Commodork: Sordid Tales from a BBS Junkie is now available. The book is a collection of my own personal experiences that took place during the classic bulletin board era. After a brief introduction that romps through my TRS-80 Model III and Apple II years, the book takes you through my adventures as a BBS user. The first half of the book takes place during my Commodore 64 years, while the second half takes place in the IBM PC world. As you might suspect, the book concludes right around the time the World Wide Web takes hold and destroys one of the greatest hobbies of all time. :)

If you remember copyfests and busy signals, you will enjoy my tribute to the greatest computer experience of all time.

The first chapter of the book is available for free in PDF format on my website here, which also contains purchasing links. The book retails for $14.95 (US).
 
To anyone else who was waiting, I have more books in stock! Drop me a PM or visit the site in my signature for ordering/paypal information. Dr. Pepper, yours shipped out today!
 
Very likely sold me on buying a copy soon. Review says "first part is choppy, but improves greatly from there". That sold me as I didn't like the first part that I downloaded in the PDF. I wish I had some helpful hints on improving the beginning but my composition skills are sorely lacking. Anyway, as soon as my bank balance increases (end of the month, ya know :( ) fairly sure I'll be paying with paypal :cool:
 
chuckcmagee said:
Very likely sold me on buying a copy soon. Review says "first part is choppy, but improves greatly from there". That sold me as I didn't like the first part that I downloaded in the PDF. I wish I had some helpful hints on improving the beginning but my composition skills are sorely lacking. Anyway, as soon as my bank balance increases (end of the month, ya know :( ) fairly sure I'll be paying with paypal :cool:
Click to expand...

I'm going with the part about 'not for everybody'. I never was much into the warez scene.

--T
 
chuckcmagee said:
Very likely sold me on buying a copy soon. Review says "first part is choppy, but improves greatly from there". That sold me as I didn't like the first part that I downloaded in the PDF. I wish I had some helpful hints on improving the beginning but my composition skills are sorely lacking. Anyway, as soon as my bank balance increases (end of the month, ya know :( ) fairly sure I'll be paying with paypal :cool:
Click to expand...

The easiest way to explain the problem I had with the first chapter is "trying to include everyone." Remember how bored you were in school when someone "didn't get it" and the teacher spent the entire classtime trying to help that one person? It's like that, I suppose. Jason Scott nailed it in his review -- after spending the first chapter and maybe part of the second getting ramping up to speed, I finally decided that if you made it that far into the book, you're along for the whole thing.

And yeah, sorry Terry. While there is a lot in the book that's *not* about warez, I don't want to misrepresent the book and try and sell you something you wouldn't enjoy. I called BBSes from around the age of 10 through my mid-20's, and a big chunk of that time was spent chasing games.
 
Terry Yager said:
I'm going with the part about 'not for everybody'. I never was much into the warez scene.

--T
Click to expand...

Even though I was in my early 20's when I got my first computers, I, and those in my group, thoroughly embraced the warez scene. I believe my first purchased piece of software was MS Macro Assembler 5.0 for DOS, probably in late 1985.

I'm not bragging about it, just saying. I think I've more than made up for it though. In 1997 alone, I bought so much software that the rebates amounted to over $400!

Now I just use Linux and open source software. Not because it's free as in beer, but because it's free as in speech. I regularly buy releases of Linux and the BSD's (I have currently have pre-orders in for the next release of Slackware Linux and OpenBSD).

(does that sound pathetically apologetic?)
 
I was mostly "a good little boy" and paid for my shareware. It did take me a long time to finally pay Phillip Katz his moola for pkzip 2.04. As in another post on here, I looked around in 96 and had over 300 buckaroos invested in OS/2 shareware. Buckaroos were much harder to come by in California and 1996 too. Arnoldland still loves to take huge chucks of your pay check, glad I'm mostly "non taxable" and in Nevada now.

I still have fun trying to find those little pieces of paper with my WinZip reg id, and all those other loooong 16 digit codes for shareware activations.
 
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