                 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  Existing lists were out-of-date and poorly maintained.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!

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