Editorial

We now have several ways of staying in touch with the rest of the world.  As promised, the first official bulletin boards of 2600 Magazine are now online with more on the way.

We're quite happy with what we've started out with.  The two boards are both in area code 914, just north of New York City.

Board #1 is the legendary OSUNY, a BBS that has been talking about phone phreaking and computer hacking for longer than any other board that we can remember.  In fact, OSUNY is mentioned on the very first page of our very first issue.  And it's also been referred to in Newsweek, although not very accurately.

Board #2 is The Central Office, another well known bulletin board for hackers and phreaks.  We're proud to be affiliated with these boards and we'd like to ask anyone else interested in running a 2600 board to log onto these first so you can see what a 2600 board is all about.  As we've stated previously, these boards are completely open to whoever calls in.  No area is off limits or for "elite" users only.  There are no areas of the systems where credit card numbers, MCI codes, or passwords are being posted.  But we refuse to put restrictions on users' private mail.

Above all else, private mail must remain private.  Even the system operator has no idea what is in each user's private mailbox - that's the only fair way to run a system.  Of course, it's quite possible that someone will send a Sprint code to someone else through the mail.  Or an obscene word.  Or a poem.  We do not take responsibility for the contents of private mail.  And neither does the post office.

Both boards are similar in format.  There are a series of rooms to "GOTO."  Some of them are obvious, some may take a little guesswork.  You can choose the rooms you want to be a part of or even create rooms.  Entry is not restricted or monitored, but you do have to know the name of the room you're entering.  (This is not hard information to come by, either through guessing or asking around.)  Files are also stored in some of the rooms.  These are easy to look at and download.

There is plenty of online help available for users.  And should you run into a problem of any sort, simply leave feedback or call us at: 516-751-2600

Every 2600 board will have an area for users to leave us public feedback.  Both of these boards have a 2600 room.  You can use this feature to communicate with other subscribers, offer criticism, praise, and suggestions.  Of course, you can also do this privately by sending us mail.  These systems are completely free to use and full of information and interesting users.

The number for OSUNY, 2600 Board #1 is: 914-725-4060

The Central Office, 2600 Board #2 is reachable at: 914-234-3260

If you get a busy signal, just keep trying.  Unfortunately, the 914 area code is not yet reachable on PC Pursuit, the service offered by U.S. Sprint that allows unlimited computer time across the country for $25 a month.  Let them know you want the 914 area code added - their number is 800-835-3638 - so we can all save on phone bills.  And keep checking for future 2600 bulletin boards in other areas.

While we're on the subject of bulletin boards, we should point out that the old Private Sector phone number in New Jersey is no longer in use.  It's possible we may have sent out some information to new subscribers with that number.  If you received such propaganda, please disregard it.

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In addition to all of this, we now have an address on the infamous "worldnet" discussed in the September 1987 issue of 2600.  If you know how to maneuver your way around the networks, you can send mail to us at our USENET address of 2600@dasys1.UUCP or our ARPANET address of phri!dasys1!2600@nyu

If you have difficulty sending to us at these addresses, let us know.