Washington City Paper: Contents for May. 16

The Lost World
Information superhighway, meet the BBS cul-de-sac.

Cover Story

Quick: Which was the first computer online service available to Washingtonians? If you answered Prodigy, Genie, Compuserve, America Online, Microsoft Network, or the World Wide Web, give yourself 30 lashes with a printer cable. They're all Johnny-come-latelys. Bulletin board systems, or BBSs, were the first dial-ups on the local scene by a long shot.

BBSs bear little resemblance to second-generation online services like America Online. These home-brewed boards are typically electronic fiefdoms run by one person out of a home computer, and have only one incoming phone line. Quite a few of the remaining BBSs offer free access, and because the majority are closed-loop systems, they are more about slumming than surfing.

As much as I enjoy the globalism and urgency of the web, BBSs are soothingly yesterday. Then again, I'm a sucker for outdated technology and small-guy operations. I still get a lump in my throat when Sheriff Andy Taylor twirls the dial on his phone and asks Mabel, the town's trunk-line phone operator, to connect him with Helen, his main squeeze.

BBSs' technology may be quaint—or, depending on your viewpoint, a slow keypunch through hell—but their content is no more Mayberry than the web's. If you want to learn about bullet lubes, wrangle an invite to the next local gangbang, or pore over photos of mangled accident victims, you can find what you're looking for on a D.C.-area BBS.... Continued

Issue of May. 16 - 22, 1997

News and Features

The Lost World
Information superhighway, meet the BBS cul-de-sac.
Cover Story By Scott Barancik
Across the Great Divide
Bikers and drivers collide over Calvert Street turf.
The City By Stephanie Mencimer
Ignoreland
In Capitol Rock, self-appointed music scholar Mark Opsasnick writes the history of D.C.'s overlooked early rock 'n' roll scene.
The City By Eddie Dean
CVS Freezes Out Another Landmark
The City By Dave McKenna
Juvenile Delinquencies
A private contractor is stymied by Oak Hill juvenile hall's inability to reform.
The City By Julie Wakefield
race Trumps All
Washington Post polls render Barry and the control board in black and white.
The City By Jonetta Rose Barras
Weasel Fuel
The Mail By Michael E. Walker
Cloudburst
The Mail By Kevin Horsted
Orgy Overkill
The Mail By Matthew Cibellis
Adding Insult to Contempt
The Mail By F. Lennox Campello
Porta-John
The Mail By Sam Seidel
Nice Guys Finish Last
The Mail By Jerry Lorentz
Sheik Appeal
The Mail By Kevin Cuddihy
A Matter of Principal
The Mail By Peter Kehoe
Rand Out of Gas
The Mail By Tom Wilson

Columns

Down to His Last Strike, No Time to Spare
Cheap Seats By Dave McKenna
CityDesk
City Desk
Memorandum of Misunderstanding
Loose Lips By Ken Cummins
A Newspaper in Love With Itself
Paper Trail By David Carr

Eats

Couch Papas
Young & Hungry By Brett Anderson

Movies

Hot Buttons and Bows
Film Review By Arion Berger
A Few Well-Meaning Men
Film Review By Mark Jenkins

Music

Noblesse o' Blige
Music Review By Rickey Wright
Lamb
Music Review By Arion Berger
America's Song Butchers: The Weird World of Homer & Jethro
Music Review By Rickey Wright
Satisfact
Music Review By Christopher Porter
Perfect From Now On
Music Review By Christopher Porter