Ron L. wrote to Aaron Thomas <=-

The first book was "The Modem World - A Prehistory or social media" by Kevin Driscoll. I didn't have high hopes for it, but I have to say that
it didn't even meet that low bar.

I saw him speak with a panel at the Computer History Museum last year
with a handful of old sysop friends from the dial-up days. Great time.

Lots of Woke BS scattered through the book like the demographic of BBSs "skewing in favor of white men."

Back then, they were. His book dealt with the early days of BBSing, we
all felt he could have written about the current state of BBSing.

And mostly focusing on the "fringe"
BBSs and groups that dealt with the Alphbet Soup crowd as opposed to
the vast majority of BBSs that focused on geeky topics.

Those were an important part of BBSing - giving safe areas for people
to share their thoughts when the social landscape wasn't so accepting.
I'm thinking of some of the gay/lesbian BBSes during the HIV crisis of
the 80s and 90s. Seeing your friends dying and no one's sure of the
cause (and the administration treats it as a offhandedly as a "gay"
thing)

The end result was that you were left with an idea that BBSs were run
by gay/trans people who did drag shows every night. Then in the final chapter, he laments that some of his students came away with a
"unexpected misunderstanding of early online culture." Well, duh!

We took radically different things away from reading his book.



--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: http://realitycheckbbs.org | tomorrow's retro tech (1:218/1)

The stuff people say on Fox News cracks me up sometimes. But I don't engage because the elitists get mad if I accidentally use keywords li "hate" or "rino."

Oh, ya. I'm banned from doing any reviews on Amazon because I, truthfully, described 2 books on BBSs as "woke nonesense". Yes, it was those words because they were the strongest in my review.

Books on BBSs? That's crazy! And woke nonsense in a book about BBSs? That's even crazier! I haven't seen a lot of wokeism on BBSs (just here on Fido maybe.)

I will do my best, but I don't expect to have much enthusiasm for any political candidates any time soon.

I feel you pain. Sometimes when I'm in the voting booth, I feel like I have to choose between Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum.

It's always that way. They are all such idiots. I feel dumb for having a "Mike Sigler" sign in my yard this past summer, because I later found out that he's a former news anchor. (What's a former news anchor doing running as a "Republican" for state senate?) And of course he lost - that was part of the plan.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Windows/64)
* Origin: JoesBBS.Com, Telnet:23 SSH:22 HTTP:80 (1:342/201)

Aaron Thomas wrote to Dr. What <=-

Books on BBSs? That's crazy! And woke nonsense in a book about BBSs? That's even crazier! I haven't seen a lot of wokeism on BBSs (just here
on Fido maybe.)

Well BBSing is getting bigger. Some of the younger crowd is learning about it.

The first book was "The Modem World - A Prehistory or social media" by Kevin Driscoll. I didn't have high hopes for it, but I have to say that it didn't even meet that low bar.

Lots of Woke BS scattered through the book like the demographic of BBSs "skewing in favor of white men." And mostly focusing on the "fringe" BBSs and groups that dealt with the Alphbet Soup crowd as opposed to the vast majority of BBSs that focused on geeky topics.

The end result was that you were left with an idea that BBSs were run by gay/trans people who did drag shows every night. Then in the final chapter, he laments that some of his students came away with a "unexpected misunderstanding of early online culture." Well, duh!

The other was "You Are Not Expected To Understand This. How 26 Lines of Code Changed the World". Edited by Torie Bosch. It was supposed to be a book of short stories about the early days of computers, but ended up being just a bunch of Woke propaganda.

Both ended up in the Goodwill pile, hopefully for someone to use to start their bonfire.

It's always that way. They are all such idiots. I feel dumb for having
a "Mike Sigler" sign in my yard this past summer, because I later found out that he's a former news anchor. (What's a former news anchor doing running as a "Republican" for state senate?) And of course he lost -
that was part of the plan.

Part of the problem is that we still think of politics in the way we were taught in school (which was probably incorrect back then too). We need to really see this through the lens of power dynamics and choose our candidates wisely.


... A wife lasts as long as a marriage, an ex-wife for ever.
___ MultiMail/Linux v0.52

--- Mystic BBS/QWK v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
* Origin: cold fusion - cfbbs.net - grand rapids, mi (1:120/616)

The first book was "The Modem World - A Prehistory or social media" by Kevin Driscoll. I didn't have high hopes for it, but I have to say that
it didn't even meet that low bar.

Lots of Woke BS scattered through the book like the demographic of BBSs "skewing in favor of white men." And mostly focusing on the "fringe"
BBSs and groups that dealt with the Alphbet Soup crowd as opposed to the vast majority of BBSs that focused on geeky topics.

Most BBS people are leftists, but I underestimated their level of insanity.

The other was "You Are Not Expected To Understand This. How 26 Lines of Code Changed the World". Edited by Torie Bosch. It was supposed to be
a book of short stories about the early days of computers, but ended up being just a bunch of Woke propaganda.

They're leaving no stone unturned. Everything must be infiltrated.

Part of the problem is that we still think of politics in the way we were taught in school (which was probably incorrect back then too). We need
to really see this through the lens of power dynamics and choose our candidates wisely.

I was brainwashed into thinking that Democracy is great, and superior to other forms of government. It might have worked well for the Iroquois, but it's not working for us. We get to change "kings" every 4 years, but our kings are too limited in their power.

A real monarchy is more stable than this "Democracy" stuff. Royal families have been ruling other countries for centuries, and they're not trillions in debt (e.g. Spain: 1.8 million euros in debt, Brunei: 352 million dollars in debt.)

We're at a level where we should start learning to speak Mandarin.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Windows/64)
* Origin: JoesBBS.Com, Telnet:23 SSH:22 HTTP:80 (1:342/201)

I tried to get into the "debate" on Dovenet but I can't find a Mystic BBS that
carries it, and I'm not nsync with Synchronet.

I carry it, but I run Synchronet. I think my GT Power BBS also carries it.
If not, it can be added easy enough.

If you were still running a BBS or point of your own, I could offer you an
FTN feed of Dovenet. I am already doing that for a couple of other systems/points.

That said, I doubt you will find many people hanging around there that
don't hang around here *and* who lean left.

There are several other FIDO political echoes. Did everyone disappear from those as well?


* SLMR 2.1a * Monday is a hard way to spend 1/7 of your life.
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (1:2320/105)

I tried to get into the "debate" on Dovenet but I can't find a Mystic BB that
carries it, and I'm not nsync with Synchronet.

I'll give it a try sometime from your BBS. I know there's at least 1 leftie on Dovenot.

I carry it, but I run Synchronet. I think my GT Power BBS also carries MP> it. If not, it can be added easy enough.

If you were still running a BBS or point of your own, I could offer you
an FTN feed of Dovenet. I am already doing that for a couple of other systems/points.

I appreciate it. I don't think I'll put up a BBS again though. (Maybe I can convince Joe to get on the Dovenet train sometime!)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Windows/64)
* Origin: JoesBBS.Com, Telnet:23 SSH:22 HTTP:80 (1:342/201)

Aaron Thomas wrote to Dr. What <=-

It's productive for us to discuss the ways to combat the left, how to
help tear down their institutions, and how to combat rinoism.

We don't need to do much on that. They seem to be doing fine on their own. Especially that we have non-censored news outlets.

I tried to get into the "debate" on Dovenet but I can't find a Mystic
BBS that carries it, and I'm not nsync with Synchronet.

I usually just laugh at them and move on.

It's only when I'm feeling vindictive that I respond, showing how delusional they are. But everyone else usually already knows.

The stuff people say on Fox News cracks me up sometimes. But I don't engage because the elitists get mad if I accidentally use keywords like "hate" or "rino."

Oh, ya. I'm banned from doing any reviews on Amazon because I, truthfully, described 2 books on BBSs as "woke nonesense". Yes, it was those words because they were the strongest in my review.

I will do my best, but I don't expect to have much enthusiasm for any political candidates any time soon.

I feel you pain. Sometimes when I'm in the voting booth, I feel like I have to choose between Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum.


... I don't own any slaves. My wife has one, though.
___ MultiMail/Linux v0.52

--- Mystic BBS/QWK v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
* Origin: cold fusion - cfbbs.net - grand rapids, mi (1:120/616)

We need a new venue for talking about political stuff. All the lefties have vanished from Fidonet. (Did we fix them?) Now we're all just a bunch of non-Democrat guys with nothing much to argue about.

I used to enjoy commenting in news website comments like Fox News, NY Post, and Revolver, but those systems suck, it's difficult to navigate to your replies,
and the moderators don't want anyone saying anything from outside the box.

BBSing is declining in popularity worse than ever. It's not just Fidonet. Where do I go to fight with lefties? :)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Windows/64)
* Origin: JoesBBS.Com, Telnet:23 SSH:22 HTTP:80 (1:342/201)

Aaron Thomas wrote to All <=-

We need a new venue for talking about political stuff. All the lefties have vanished from Fidonet.

Mike Miller is still here. And since I started ignoring the other ones, the only thing that I see are fewer message headers. So I'm not missing them.

(Did we fix them?)

No. They all left because they lost and can't spin it in any other way.

Now we're all just a
bunch of non-Democrat guys with nothing much to argue about.

Now, that is a problem. We do need someone with counter viewpoints who can actually discuss. I got tired of the parrots pushing the same debunked talking points over and over again. That's why I stopped reading their messages.

And I was in another debate area where some people were **still** saying that Jan. 6 was an "insurrection".

I used to enjoy commenting in news website comments like Fox News, NY Post, and Revolver, but those systems suck, it's difficult to navigate
to your replies, and the moderators don't want anyone saying anything
from outside the box.

Ya, not much in the way of discussion stuff on other venues. Although OANN's article discussions can get interesting - sometimes.

BBSing is declining in popularity worse than ever. It's not just
Fidonet. Where do I go to fight with lefties? :)

The polls on Election Day.


... Does "PIRATE" software come with a treasure map?
___ MultiMail/Linux v0.52

--- Mystic BBS/QWK v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
* Origin: cold fusion - cfbbs.net - grand rapids, mi (1:120/616)

Now we're all just a
bunch of non-Democrat guys with nothing much to argue about.

Now, that is a problem. We do need someone with counter viewpoints who can actually discuss. I got tired of the parrots pushing the same debunked talking points over and over again. That's why I stopped
reading their messages.

It's productive for us to discuss the ways to combat the left, how to help tear down their institutions, and how to combat rinoism.

I've learned a lot of stuff from you and Mike. I like our network of non-communists.

And I was in another debate area where some people were **still** saying that Jan. 6 was an "insurrection".

I tried to get into the "debate" on Dovenet but I can't find a Mystic BBS that carries it, and I'm not nsync with Synchronet.

Ya, not much in the way of discussion stuff on other venues. Although OANN's article discussions can get interesting - sometimes.

The stuff people say on Fox News cracks me up sometimes. But I don't engage because the elitists get mad if I accidentally use keywords like "hate" or "rino."

BBSing is declining in popularity worse than ever. It's not just Fidonet. Where do I go to fight with lefties? :)

The polls on Election Day.

I will do my best, but I don't expect to have much enthusiasm for any political candidates any time soon.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Windows/64)
* Origin: JoesBBS.Com, Telnet:23 SSH:22 HTTP:80 (1:342/201)