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Blase's Baltimore BBS List - BBBLmmyy.ZIP
A Chronological History of Changes and Updates

June, 1992
Moved into the Baltimore area and was frustrated by the lack of good, up-to-
date BBS information. Existing lists were out-of-date and poorly maintained.
Guess I was spoiled by the BBS listing in the DC/MD/VA area put out by Mike
Focke.

July, 1992
After finally scraping together a few BBS's with (410) area codes, I began
calling some Baltimore area BBS's to gather other phone numbers, and to try
to find an accurate BBS list for the area - met with little success.
Decided at the end of July to compile the numbers I had and to initiate a
monthly list of VERIFIED BBS's for the Baltimore area - BBBLmmyy.ZIP was born.
BBBL0892.ZIP was compiled and "put out on the street" for distribution on
07/30/92.

August, 1992
Began looking for a BBS to help me distribute BBBL every month. Howard
Michaelski of NetWork BBS was the first Sysop to contact me and offer his
assistance. Howie and I began to search for software that could automate the
monthly BBS verification process. I re-opened my old BBS - Silver Streak on
August 27 at the phone number 410-683-1583.

September, 1992
With Howie's help, I wrote a {COMMO} script that quickly and easily verified
BBS numbers. Information on other BBS's came steadily from users on NetWork
BBS, plus others I was digging up from other board's online listings.
Responses from users and Sysops are positive.

October, 1992
No major changes - tweaked BBS verification program a bit to report baud
connect rates and error correction methods. Incorporated this information
into the November list. Several Sysop's tell me that activity on their BBS
has increased tremendously since their number appreared on the BBBL.

November, 1992
More positive feedback received from callers and Sysops. Several requests
for an 80-column format "long list" of BBBL have been received - for use on
BBS bulletins. Will add an additional format to the Dec. 92 listing. Decide
to add WHATSNEW.TXT (this file) to ZIP packet.

December, 1992
Got rid of the 132 column "long list" and replaced it with the 80 column
format (formerly BBBL-4.TXT). We are back to just three formats for the
list - this will make the ZIP file smaller. Started playing around with
CLIPPER again - might write a program to streamline sort/printing options.

January, 1993 -
April, 1993
No major changes - many new BBS additions to BBBL.

May, 1993
Made a few cosmetic changes to the headers on the lists. Modified the
BBBL.DOC to encompass the README.TXT file. Rearranged the doc's a little
bit. It seems that the BBBL stirred up some controversy among some FidoNet
-based Sysops - they just found out about the BBS list, and were livid over
the fact that I did not ask their "permission" to publish their BBS numbers.
"Too bad, and too late" was the answer.
Gerald Todd, Sysop of Modem Ready BBS announced the first annual Baltimore
BBS Poll - a ballot file is included in the May, 1993 issue of BBBL. He will
be collating the votes from Modem Ready BBS - 410-360-8007.

June, 1993
Added InterNet and BALT-Net addresses for additional contact methods to
update BBBL. The Baltimore BBS Poll ballot is still available in this month's
listing - vote! Have received many additions to the BBS list this month. The
list will go out a little early this month - I'm going on vacation at the end
of May.

July, 1993
Joined Fido-Net during June - node address is 1:2617/205. Had trouble
getting alot of the numbers verified - too many busy signals this month. I
guess it's because all of the kids are out of school, and the modems are
being burned at both ends.
No real changes to BBBL - increased the description field from 40 to 70
characters to give more room for BBS descriptions. This was done after
receiving several requests. Included Gerald Todd's results of the 1st Annual
Baltimore BBS Poll (BBSPOLL.) - unfortunately, the votes were sparse, and no
real "winner" could be determined.

August, 1993
Was out of town during the first of the month, so the list is going out a
bit late. No major changes this month in the format of the list.
NetWork BBS is up for sale, so I have deleted references to it in the BBBL
documentation. This was done in anticipation of a new phone number and
Sysop for NetWork. The main contact BBS for the list will be Silver Streak
from now on. Another secondary contact BBS may be recruited in the near
future.

September, 1993
Another busy month - NetWork BBS is down, so the main contact for BBBL is
now by default Silver Streak BBS. Several other bigger BBS went down this
month - let's hope its not a trend. Input to BBBL has been steady and
strong - more Sysops are contacting BBBL directly through the BBS or FidoNet.
Otherwise, another month - another list...
HEY - BBBL is one year old this month!

October, 1993
Added the "non-metro" (NM) status designator to accomodate BBS's that are
within the 410 area code, but are not local calls to most of the Baltimore
area. The Sysop of the NM BBS's must contact me each month to verify the
operational status of their BBS to stay on the "main" list, and off of the
long distance list.
Had very few changes this month, compared to most. Only one BBS got
disconnected, one changed numbers, and only a few did not answer. Received
a fair number of new BBS's this month.

November, 1993
Included new list manager program written by H. Michalski. The List
Manager (BBBLM.EXE) allows viewing, searching, and printing of the Baltimore
BBS List. This program requires the file BBBL.DAT to run. All of the
standard format lists (BBBL-*.TXT) are generated with BBBLM.EXE now - I have
included a BBBL.TXT file (like BBBL-1.TXT) from the old format for those who
can't figure out BBBLM, or just want the text file for BBS bulletins, etc.
Many BBS's refuse to answer this month - not many new BBS's this month.

December 1993/January 1994
No real changes - Blase's Baltimore BBS List will featured in the upcoming
issues of Balt-Wash Bitstream Magazine in February. Look for it on your
local news-stand!

February, 1994
Quite a few systems have been added to the Baltimore BBS List - and not
many BBS's went down during the month of January. Silver Streak (BBBL's
support BBS) opened up Node 2 for subscribers and Visiting Sysops. The
number for node 2 is 683-1586 - Sysops can use this line to send updates
for the upcoming issues of BBBL.

March, 1994
MANY NEW BBS's this month - BBBL now has over 250 verified Baltimore area
BBS numbers! A few changes also, but mostly additions to the list. Bitstream
Magazine has been delayed due to baby arrival in January - hopefully, we'll
get the first issue out in a newsletter format by the end of March.

April, 1994
BBBL is featured in the April, 1994 issue of Boardwatch Magazine. The list
featured is a modified version of the March, 1994 list. Relatively few
changes in the list: 5 BBS's went down, and a few new ones were added. A
new Windows-based BBS List Manager is in the works - the new application will
be beta-tested in April, and hopefully will be available for the May BBS List.
Get your copy of Boardwatch early - its sure to sell out in the Baltimore area
this month!

May, 1994
The April/May 1994 issue of Boardwatch just came out, and apparently quite
a few people have seen the Baltimore list already. No real dramatic changes
this month - a few new additions and deletions. I'm working on a Clipper
program to improve the current list manager - I may release a beta version
next month if I have time to work on it. Fidonets 2617 and 261 have merged
back together again, so there will be a new Fidonet address for Silver Streak
BBS this month.

June, 1994
The June, 1994 edition of BBBL is dedicated to the late Tom Craver, former
Sysop of the Rainbow Zen BBS. Tom passed away on May 4, 1994 at 9:00am. He
had been battling with Lou Gehrig's disease for quite a while. He will be
missed by the entire Baltimore online community. His BBS is still online.

July, 1994
Silver Streak upgraded to 5 lines - the new number is 410-683-0300. We
also finally got our new Fidonet node address under the re-consolidated
Net 261. The new and final node number is 1:261/1200. There were many
additions and changes to the BBS list this month. Apparently, everybody
is started to jump on the information superhighway. Many BBS's announced
newly connected Internet access - including Silver Streak. No major
changes have been made to the BBBL list structure. A new door to add BBS
info. has been added to Silver Streak - please use it to add or change
info. on the BBS list.

August, 1994
Not much going on - not very many disconnected BBS's, but lots of non-
answering systems. Everybody is on vacation this week, I guess. A few
days late, but better late and verified, than on time and not verified.
We had plenty of new and updated entries this month. The online BBS List
door on Silver Streak gots lots of use this past month, and a lot of good
new data was collected. Thanks to those that contributed.

September, 1994
Lots of new BBS's, but also a lot of disconnected systems. No major
changes to the list or the format.

October, 1994
No major changes - a lot of disconnected systems this month.

November, 1994
No November BBS List - Silver Streak was sold to David Fogle along with
the rights to Blase's Baltimore BBS List. The new number for Silver Streak
BBS is now 410-254-3400.

December, 1994
See above note - no major changes except for the ownership and compilation
responsibilities belong to David Fogle now.

January, 1995
No Major changes - A few new systems only

February, 1995
No Major changes - Name change for a system The Other Place system 2 now
known as The Mind's Eye. Tim's Computer Service went to two lines this month.

March, 1995
A lot of system showed up this month as not available. Make note of this we may
have lost a few, but there is still a long list!

April, 1995
Please note some phone number changes to the listing this month. The Systems
listed as Not Available has shrunk this month.

May, 1995
A few new systems this month. Overall though most of the remained stable.

June, 1995
Cleaned up last months Deletions/Non Verified systems. Several new systems
though this month.. check them out.

Please Note:
------------
Blase's Baltimore BBS List (BBBL) is Copyright (c) 1992-1994 Brad Blase
and Copyright (c) 1994 David Fogle.

DO NOT DISTRIBUTE THIS LIST IN PART OR WHOLE WITHOUT GIVING PROPER CREDIT
TO THE COLLECTOR AND COMPILER OF THIS INFORMATION.

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