____ _ _ __ __ _ _
/ ___|_ __(_)_______( )___ \ \ / /__ _ __| | __| |
| | _| '__| |_ /_ /// __| \ \ /\ / / _ \| '__| |/ _` |
| |_| | | | |/ / / / \__ \ \ V V / (_) | | | | (_| |
\____|_| |_/___/___| |___/ \_/\_/ \___/|_| |_|\__,_|
\\ =o)
(o> of bits and bytes /\\
___(()_________________________________________________________\_V___
// Home Recipes Musings Fun Stuff Links Grizzbook \\
\\
View Some Polaroids of My Compaq SLT/286 (FTP Links) 1 | 2 | 3
_____________________________________________________________
/ \
| |
| ________________________________________________ |
| | | |
| | Grizz's World of Computers | |
| | | |
| | I like computers. A lot. I like the hardware. | |
| | I love my Compaq 286/SLT and I love this | |
| | cyber-space thing and the "information super- | |
| | highway," which I explore on it. I invite you | |
| | to follow along with my mis-adventures in | |
| | the digital world. | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | * * | |
| | < | |
| | \ / | |
| | \______________/ | |
| | | |
| |________________________________________________| |
| |
| o . |
\___________________________________________________________/
_______| |_______
__________________|___________________________________|__________________
| _______ | | |
| |_______| | ___________________ | [] |
| | GRIZZ | | _ ___ | |
| |_______| ____________|_______________[___]_| |
| | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | [o] ==================== | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |__________________________________| |
|_________________________________________________________________________|
_____________
010101010101010101010101010101010101001010101010101010101|u| ______ | |
010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101011010101010| | ______ | |
01010 | | ______ | |
0101 ------------------------------------------------------| |________| |
0101 / TELNET Shell Update | ______ |
101 --------------------------------------------------------| | | | |
01 |__|____|_|__|
10 10
01 FEB-25-2026 01
10 10
01 A while back I wrote an entry called "Telnet shell: A new service from 01
10 my ISP." Well, I lied. I wrote the shell and was playing make-believe. 10
01 I remember when ISPs and colleges used to have such features and I 01
10 wanted to relive that experience. Specifically, I remember dialing in 10
01 to my ISP circa 1998 and finding the despite a successful handshake, I 01
10 effectively had no connectivity. I can't remember exactly how I did it 10
01 or what software I used, but I would dial back in via a terminal and 01
10 use terminal services to access the web and IRC in a text-only 10
01 interface. When the internet wasnn't down I would sometimes TELNET into 01
10 my college's system and access internet and e-mail that way. 10
01 01
10 When I was looking for a way to connect my Compaq 286/SLT (Compaq's 10
01 first laptop) to the internet, I landed on creating a dial-up server on 01
10 a Raspberry Pi 3b+. The same server also hosts my FTP server and my 10
01 TELNET/SSH shell, amongst other things that I can't think of right now. 01
10 Some of the services that I had set up are no longer working. For 10
01 instance, I used a bash script to grab showtimes for my local theatre 01
10 from the web and then filter out all the garbage I didn't want. 10
01 Eventually the site I was getting them from changed formats and I 01
10 didn't feel like rewriting it. Same for a written weather forecast. I 10
01 still have the visual forecast working, so I decided that it wasn't 01
10 worth maintaining the more verbose version. 10
01 01
10 The first two options in the shell, e-mail and web browser, are still 10
01 fully functional. This is no surprise as they are programs that are 01
10 actually running on the server. Option 3, which grabs time, date, and 10
01 moon phase got a slight update. I was previously basing the moon phase 01
10 on the Jewish calendar. This was fairly accurate, but I have since 10
01 installed a small program on the server that calculates it properly. 01
10 Now my script just calls on it for that part. 10
01 01
10 Option 4 used to be showtimes, but that has been replaced with a gopher 10
01 browser. The browser is running directly on the server, so I do not 01
10 have to worry about any maintenance for it. Option 5 remains the visual 10
01 weather forecast, but the text forecast that was option 6 has been 01
10 replaced with an IRC client. Again, this is installed on the server so 10
01 there will be no maintenance going forward. 01
10 10
01 Option 7, which I use first thing every time I login, shows me a random 01
10 joke. This is using a curl request and I hope the server never goes 10
01 down. I love jokes! Have you checked out any of my THREE jokes pages? 01
10 Option 8 remains as a geolocation service. I can't remember for sure, 10
01 but I would think that this is running locally. Option 9 remains an 01
10 online encylopedia--Gopherpedia to be exact. Great site, BTW! 10
01 01
10 Option 10, Chatbot, used to connect to ChatGPT via API. I didn't like 10
01 having to pay to keep this going, so I am now working on my own 01
10 chatbot. It is NOT true AI, it's just scripted. But I am having fun 10
01 working on it and trying to improve it. I plan to write more on this 01
10 later. Option 11 allows me to leave the shell and access the server 10
01 directly. I use this option to access the server. Option 12 quits the 01
10 session and closes the connection. 10
01 01
10 I have added one more "unadvertised" option. Option 99 quietly resets 10
01 the modem and dial-up server. This is useful for when I have an 01
10 unexpected disconnection. It never gets run from the Compaq because if 10
01 the option needs run, I won't be able to dial-in. However, I have SSH 01
10 access on my phone and can now easily reset the modem without having to 10
01 find a modern computer. 01
10 10
01 Anyway, I'm done rambling. And you're done reading too, I guess. 01
10 10
01___________ 01
|u| ______ | | 10
| | ______ | |-------------------------------------------------------- 01
| | ______ | | Fun fact: Many fun facts are not actually facts! / 010
| |________| |------------------------------------------------------ 1010
| ______ | 12101
| | | | |010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010010010101010101010
|__|____|_|__|101010101010101010101010101010101010101010100100101010101010101
_____________
010101010101010101010101010101010101001010101010101010101|u| ______ | |
010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101011010101010| | ______ | |
01010 | | ______ | |
0101 ------------------------------------------------------| |________| |
0101 / 287XL maths co-processor | ______ |
101 --------------------------------------------------------| | | | |
01 |__|____|_|__|
10 10
01 I finally did it- I bought a co-processor despite not really knowing 01
10 if I will see any benefits from it with the type of software that I 10
01 use. But I will tell you why I did decide to try it- why not? 01
10 10
01 The model I got is the Intel C80287XL, which is very different than 01
10 the standard 287. The main difference is that its actually a 387! 10
01 Supposedly, this means that it has 50% better performance, uses 83% 01
10 less power, and has the extra instructions that a 387 would have. This 10
01 is intriguing. Are there programs that run on a 286 that would take 01
10 advantage of the 387 instruction set? Who knows? But if there are, 10
01 I am ready for them! 01
10___________ 10
|u| ______ | | 01
| | ______ | |-------------------------------------------------------- 10
| | ______ | | Fun fact: I was a mathlete! / 101
| |________| |------------------------------------------------------ 0101
| ______ | 12101
| | | | |101010101010101010101010101010101010101010100100101010101010101
|__|____|_|__|010101010101010101010101010101010101010101001001010101010101010
_____________
010101010101010101010101010101010101001010101010101010101|u| ______ | |
010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101011010101010| | ______ | |
01010 | | ______ | |
0101 ------------------------------------------------------| |________| |
0101 / Telnet shell: A new service from my ISP | ______ |
101 --------------------------------------------------------| | | | |
01 |__|____|_|__|
10 10
01 My Internet Service Provider, Soutdale Labs, has rolled out a new 01
10 feature that I really love. It is called a telnet shell and what is 10
01 does is connect me to the UNIX mainframe at the ISP and present me with 01
10 a menu of things that I can do. The first option connects me to my 10
01 email account where I can do email stuff. The second option is a web 01
10 browser that works pretty quickly with my slow modem. I think why it 10
01 seems so fast is because it is loading almost instantly on their big 01
10 computer and it then sends it to me line by line like when I am on a 10
01 BBS. Normally on the browser actually installed on my computer (the 01
10 same browser as what the ISP is running) I can't start reading the 10
01 page until its 100% loaded, but I can now start reading at the top 01
10 of the page and the browser puts characters on my screen a little 10
01 faster than what I am reading at. 01
10 10
01 The third option is called Time, Date, and Moon and does what you 01
10 would expect and more! Here what it is reporting to me today: 10
01 01
10 Sun 12 Nov 1989 2:39:05 PM CST 10
01 28th of Cheshvan, 5784 01
10 Sunrise: 6:49; Sunset: 4:41 10
01 We currently have a waning new moon that is at 1% completion. 01
10 10
01 As you might expect, we have the Day of the week, date, time, time 01
10 zone, and some moon data. What you might not have excepted, but 10
01 something that I really appreciate, is the inclusion of the Hebrew 01
10 date, sunrise and sunset times, and even candle lighting and havdalah 10
01 times. It was very nice of Southdale Labs to think of their Jewish 01
10 customers! 10
01 01
10 The forth option lists all the sometimes for the week and what movies 10
01 are coming next week at the local theature. I love going to the movies 01
10 so this gets checked a few times a week! 10
01 01
10 Options 5 and 6 are a Visual Weather Forecast and a Full Weather 10
01 Report. The visual report is impressive! It makes pictures out of ASCII 01
10 charactes and put them right in the terminal for me! It gives me the 10
01 current conditions and the expected weather for today, tonight, and the 01
10 day/night for the following two days. Data included are condition, high 10
01 and low temperatures, wind speed and direction, visibility, 01
10 precipitation, and humidty. Each day or night has a graphic that 10
01 matchesthe conditions- I currently have mostly images of suns in my 01
10 forecast. The Full Weather Report has the same type of info and a short 10
01 statement. The big difference is the full report covers 10 days. 01
10 10
01 Option 7 gives me a randon joke. I love this! Why do choirs keep 01
10 buckets handy? So they can carry their tune! Option 8 is called 10
01 Geolocation and gives me the following info (I censored my IP address): 01
10 10
01 Your current IP address is: xx.xx.xx.xx 01
10 City: Algona 10
01 Country: United States 01
10 Country Code: US 10
01 Latitude: 43.067800 01
10 Longitude: -94.228100 10
01 Postal Code: 50511 01
10 Time Zone: American/Chicago 10
01 01
10 Option 9 is an on-line encylopedia. This thing is really impressive. It 10
01 seems to cover everything. Alli had me look up marina sauce and we 01
10 found out that is was neopolitan. Then we looked up neopolitan and 10
01 found out that it meant "from Naples, Italy." I will probably throw out 01
10 the Collier's now. 10
01 01
10 Option 10 is really neat- it's a robot that you can talk to! But way 01
01 better than that Eliza one that people have been sending around. 10
10 Surpisingly the robot is really knowledgable on lots of things, but 01
01 sometimes I am pretty sure it's making things up. So then I have to 10
10 double check with the on-line encylopedia. 01
01 01
10 The second to last option lets me exit the menu and actually play 10
01 around in the UNIX command prompt. I am sure they have me locked down 01
10 pretty good, but I can do things like move a file I download as an 10
01 email attatchment to my FTP service (which is also hosted by my ISP) 01
10 and then I can download it to my PC. The final option disconnects me 10
01 from the telnet shell. I've said it before and I will say it again, we 01
10 are truly living in the future! 10
01___________ 01
|u| ______ | | 10
| | ______ | |-------------------------------------------------------- 01
| | ______ | | Fun fact: ENIAC was the first mechanical computer. / 010
| |________| |------------------------------------------------------ 0101
| ______ | 01210
| | | | |101010101010101010101010101010101010101010100100101010101010101
|__|____|_|__|010101010101010101010101010101010101010101001001010101010101010
_____________
010101010101010101010101010101010101001010101010101010101|u| ______ | |
010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101011010101010| | ______ | |
01010 | | ______ | |
0101 ------------------------------------------------------| |________| |
0101 / My favourite BBSs | ______ |
101 --------------------------------------------------------| | | | |
01 |__|____|_|__|
10 10
01 With modems becoming more popular these days, Bulletin Board Systems 01
10 (BBSs) are have become all the rage. But what is a BBS? Simply put, 10
01 it's just someone else's computer! Someone like you or me with a 01
10 computer and modem can run some specialized software and set one up to 10
01 their liking. Most people go to BBSs for three reasons: chat, warez, 01
10 and games (doors). Here are some of my favourites: 10
01 01
10 capitolcityonline.net 10
01 This is my all-around favourite BBS. I like to get on this one often 01
10 and play L.O.R.D with Joe. We also send each other messages. Mike 10
01 Powell runs this one and he always has soon cool ANSI art up that you 01
10 get to see when you sign off.Oh, it's got a minesweeper game that's 10
01 pretty cool too. 01
10 10
01 bbs.iscabbs.com 01
10 ISCA is based in Iowa City at the U of I. If you want to talk to 10
01 people, this is the biggest chat BBS in the entire world. The 01
10 stereotype that we never shut up in the midwest must be true! 10
01 01
10 moetiki.ddns.net 10
01 This is another BBS run by Mike Powell and it focuses on games, or 01
10 doors as they are called in BBS jive. My favourite one on Moe's is 10
01 where you get to be a Disk Jockey competing against other radio 01
10 stations. It's cooler than it sounds. 10
01 01
10 penisys.online 10
01 The Public Electronic Network Information System, or PENIS for short, 01
10 is a public access utility to help you connect to many online services. 10
01 You can access the World Wide Web, Usenet, Gopher, IRC, chat and do 01
10 lots of otherstuff. It is actually quite big, I think you would quite 10
01 like being on it! 01
10 10
01 bbs.alsgeeklab.com 01
10 This is my other favoruite BBS. Al has some good ANSI design on his 10
01 BBS, when you first log on it displays a world map with a cross hair on 01
10 your location. It was actually able to identify my down to my town. If 10
01 you live in witness protection, maybe that would be a little scary for 01
10 you. Al also has a graphical weather section on this BBS. Much like 10
01 PENIS, there are some online utilities available- and the ones that 01
10 they do have much more reliable than the sluggish PENIS. 10
01___________ 01
|u| ______ | | 10
| | ______ | |-------------------------------------------------------- 01
| | ______ | | Fun fact: IBM patented the floppy disk in 1972 / 010
| |________| |------------------------------------------------------ 0101
| ______ | 01210
| | | | |101010101010101010101010101010101010101010100100101010101010101
|__|____|_|__|010101010101010101010101010101010101010101001001010101010101010
_____________
010101010101010101010101010101010101001010101010101010101|u| ______ | |
010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101011010101010| | ______ | |
01010 | | ______ | |
0101 ------------------------------------------------------| |________| |
0101 / My new text editor (and accessories) | ______ |
101 --------------------------------------------------------| | | | |
01 |__|____|_|__|
10 10
01 Vision Editor 01
10 This shareware editor is very robust and super-customisable. Ever 10
01 single bit of keyboard input is customisable- you can even set what 01
10 keys move the cursor or delete (I chose the arrow keys and the delete 10
01 key respectively). Where this really shines is setting up shortcut 01
10 commands that make sense to you. For instance, I always had trouble 10
01 with remembering if shift-insert copied or pasted, so I am just using 01
10 the more modern crtl-c and ctrl-v. 10
01 01
10 I customised my F-keys as well. F1 and F3 are help and repeat search, 10
01 as is common. I set F2 and F4 to cascade and tile the text windows- did 01
10 I mention I can open up multiple windows? The are built in applications 10
01 too. I set F5 to open the calculator, F6 the calendar, and F7 the file 01
10 manager. There are also an ASCII table and memory report built in. I 10
01 set F8 to trigger the spell checker function. You have to provide your 01
10 own spell checker, one is not provided with the software. 10
01 01
10 Vision Editor has at least three more "power features" that I am aware 10
01 of. The first is the ability to set macros. You can record, delete, and 01
10 load macros. The first 9 macros can be assigned their own keyboard 10
01 shortcuts. The second power feature is the ability to pause editing and 01
10 run other DOS programs. You can simply shell-out to DOS, or you can add 10
01 an application to a menu of programs. I added a dictionary and a 01
10 thesaurus to the program menu and set macros to activate each of them. 10
01 I think set keyboard shortcuts to make open with I press F9 and F10 01
10 respectively. F11 opens the program menu, and F12 shells out to DOS. 10
01 The final power feature is the ability to mark blocks, which you can 01
10 then modify, export to its own file and other things that I haven't 10
01 01
10 I really like this software, and hopefully my utterings will now be 10
01 better refind with like misspellings. 01
10 10
01 Jorj Spell Checker 01
10 This is the spellchecker I told Vision Editor to use. It's pretty 10
01 simple and has a relatively small dictionary, but my vocabulary isn't 01
10 that vast, I am sure it will catch up quickly. It has options to add 10
01 new words that it finds. Hopefully I add them correctly spelled. 01
10 10
01 Jorj Dictionary 01
10 This is the dictionary I connected to Vision Editor and launch by 10
01 pressing F9. It works pretty well, but it could stand to have more 01
10 words in it. 10
01 01
10 Thesaur V4.2 by Derrick Burgess 10
01 This is the thesaurus I am using, I have it set to launch when I press 01
10 the F10 key while using Vision Editor. It is easy to use, but much like 10
01 the Jorj dictionary it could stand to have a wider array of words. I do 01
10 have the option to add more synonyms to it, unlike the Jorj dictionary. 10
01 This does have a TSR mode as well if that floats your goat. 01
10___________ 10
|u| ______ | | 01
| | ______ | |-------------------------------------------------------- 10
| | ______ | | Fun fact: I can count in binary on my fingers / 101
| |________| |------------------------------------------------------ 1010
| ______ | 12101
| | | | |010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010010010101010101010
|__|____|_|__|101010101010101010101010101010101010101010100100101010101010101
_____________
010101010101010101010101010101010101001010101010101010101|u| ______ | |
010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101011010101010| | ______ | |
01010 | | ______ | |
0101 ------------------------------------------------------| |________| |
0101 / Some games I like | ______ |
101 --------------------------------------------------------| | | | |
01 |__|____|_|__|
10 10
01 Dangerous Dave 01
10 10
01 You play as Dave, you are less dangerous than advertised. This game 01
10 began as a demo after some dude play Super Mario Bros. The goal is to 10
01 escape the level by finding the door out without dying. Easier said 01
10 than done, I don't think I've beaten the third level yet. 10
01 01
10 Amnesia 10
01 I can't remember what this is about. 01
10 10
01 Bureaucracy 01
10 This is written by Douglas Adams of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy 10
01 fame. It started with a piracy warning and a form that purposely 01
10 written poorly and pokes fun at you as you fill it out. The game is 10
01 what one should expect from the man who brought us The Long Dark Tea- 01
10 Time of the soul. 10
01 01
10 Hexxagon 10
01 Play some chinese checkers type game against another player or the 01
10 Braniac. There is a space bug theme that I think is pretty neat. The 10
01 sounds that come across my PC speaker are really impressive. 01
10 10
01 Oregon Trail 01
10 I packed up Alli and the kids in my wagon and set out on the trail as 10
01 carpenter. Alli broke three different legs and was always exhausted. 01
10 Not a peep out of anyone else. Seems very accurate. 10
01 01
10 Floor 13 10
01 This is my pick of the week! You work for the British government 01
10 murdering people, This also seems very accurate. I really enjoyed the 10
01 detailed manual and all the reports I got from my different secret 01
10 government murder department leaders. 10
01___________ 01
|u| ______ | | 10
| | ______ | |-------------------------------------------------------- 01
| | ______ | | Fun fact: I have an extra bone in my foot / 010
| |________| |------------------------------------------------------ 0101
| ______ | 01210
| | | | |101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101001001010101010101
|__|____|_|__|010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010010010101010101010
_____________
010101010101010101010101010101010101001010101010101010101|u| ______ | |
010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101011010101010| | ______ | |
01010 | | ______ | |
0101 ------------------------------------------------------| |________| |
0101 / The software I use | ______ |
101 --------------------------------------------------------| | | | |
01 |__|____|_|__|
10 10
01 Microsoft DOS 01
10 This seems like a good, solid operating system. If you have never used 10
01 DOS, it is very similar to CP/M. I use the included EDIT command to 01
10 write this website. 10
01 01
10 DOSPPP/MTCP 10
01 This is the software the my Internt Service Provider sent me to get 01
10 "on-line" All I have to do is switch to the DOSPPP folder and type 10
01 "connect" and the modem starts dialing and screeching and next thing I 01
10 know, my screen is scrolling with all kinds of stuff I don't fully 10
01 understand. Eventually it tells me that the driver has loaded and I am 01
10 on-line. 10
01 01
10 Then I can switch to the MTCP fold where I have IRCjr, FTP, TELNET, 10
01 ping, and some other programs that I don't use. With IRCjr I can chat 01
10 with my "online friends" like the folks in the POJR community. FTP lets 10
01 me connect to my FTP server or even to my website to upload and 01
10 download the files you are reading. TELNET lets me connect to BBSs, my 10
01 favourites being Capitol City, Al's Geek Labs, and the Public 01
10 Electronic Networked Information System (P.E.N.I.S.). I will discuss 10
01 those more in depth in the future. Ping lets me check and see if 01
10 websites or networked computers are online- also useful for seeing if 10
01 my connection has timed out. 01
10 10
01 DOSlynx 01
10 This program lets me view webpages. I can use my mouse with it. I can 10
01 use it to find out the weather and the latest move showtimes! It seems 01
10 pretty cool, but some bigger webpages are pretty slow on it. I think 10
01 this is limited by my modem speed. 01
10 10
01 Borland Side Kick 01
10 Now this I like. This software boots when the computer turns on and 10
01 loads itself into the background memory. If I press CTRL and ALT, 01
10 Sidekick pops up- even if I'm in another program. Sidekick has a 10
01 calculator, text editor, calendar, address book, and a communications/ 01
10 phone dialer. 10
01 01
10 I keep notes in the text editor primarily, but I can also use it to 10
01 open a README file and reference it while I have the program it 01
10 pertains to open. I can have multiple text files open at once. The 10
01 caclulator is nice, and has a scientific function. I really like the 01
10 calendar for scheduling stuff or for keeping track of when I last 10
01 changed the furnace filters. The address book is handy, I have all my 01
10 friends and family saved in there. The communcations/dialer program I 10
01 use in a similar way- I keep log-in details, chatroom notes and such in 01
10 it- but I do not actual use it to dial anyone. 10
01___________ 01
|u| ______ | | 10
| | ______ | |-------------------------------------------------------- 01
| | ______ | | Fun fact: The first computer mouse was made of wood. / 010
| |________| |------------------------------------------------------ 0101
| ______ | 01210
| | | | |101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101001001010101010101
|__|____|_|__|010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010010010101010101010
_____________
010101010101010101010101010101010101001010101010101010101|u| ______ | |
010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101011010101010| | ______ | |
01010 | | ______ | |
0101 ------------------------------------------------------| |________| |
0101 / The hardware I use | ______ |
101 --------------------------------------------------------| | | | |
01 |__|____|_|__|
10 10
01 I know what you are thinking- what kind of system is Ol' Grizz rockin? 01
10 Well, I've got my self a spanking new Compaq SLT/286 LAPTOP!!!! This 10
01 thing is so cool, it have VGA built in with 8 different shades of grey! 01
10 I have a trackball that I use with it so I can play Star Trek games 10
01 from my recliner. It's even got a battery in it that claims 3 hour 01
10 battery life. I am truly living in the future! My model have 1.6mb of 10
01 RAM (more than enough), a 2400 bps modem for getting "on line", a 01
10 1.44mb floppy and a 60MB hard disk! And the processor is a 286 running 10
01 at a screaming fast 12mhz. I have been thinking about installing the 01
10 287 maths co-processor, but I hear not many software companies are 10
01 actually taking advantage and I am worried I will just be wasting my 01
10 money. 10
01___________ 01
|u| ______ | | 10
| | ______ | |-------------------------------------------------------- 01
| | ______ | | Fun fact: Bill Gates owns many gates-hence the name. / 010
| |________| |------------------------------------------------------ 0101
| ______ | 01210
| | | | |101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101001001010101010101
|__|____|_|__|010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010010010101010101010
C:\> format a: /s