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Ärende: FidoNews 24:10 [02/05]: Frank'S Column - Frank Vest
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                   FRANK'S COLUMN - FRANK VEST
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                          Evolution of a BBS
                            By Frank Vest
                             1:124/6308.1

 Science and people talk about evolution. The "big bang" theory,
creation theory and dozens of other theories, arguments and such.

 Collin County Station started out with a big bang. A dream of making
money by providing a service with this wonderful Bulletin Board
System. Dreams die hard and "The Musician's Forum" was in operation
for a couple of years.

 Yes, Collin County Station started life as The Musician's Forum. It
survived a move from Oklahoma, USA to Texas, USA. But things must
evolve to continue. The music theme just wasn't working. Few musicians
called and that number was dropping due to this wonderful new thing
called the "Internet".

 With Fido guarding the message areas, Collin County Station was born.
Since the Sysop was living in Collin County, Texas, the name seemed a
good idea. Who knows, maybe some users will donate a few bucks to keep
things going. Yeah, right.

 Time moved on. BBS software changed. Dial up access ended and telnet
became the main access. The concept of a message based Bulletin Board
gave way to the games. Then the messages slowed down. Looked like the
end was near.

 Now comes this web access thing. What about this? Can it work? Sure
sounds good. There are lots of web forums around that do great and
have lots of messages. A revival??  Dreams die hard. With web access
and telnet access the games are still the main draw. A few die hard
message users, but very few.

 Here comes retirement for the better half (the Sysop's wife). Funds
are cut and life gets harder. Thoughts of closing Collin County
Station mount but are dismissed. We would still have the DSL for
internet browsing, so the BBS is not really a big drain. Some
electricity and repairs as needed. Still, it is a cost and money is
tight.

 Next great idea. Start a web site for Collin County, Texas. The site
will have links to businesses in the county and cities in the county.
Use Google Ads to generate income and some affiliate advertising to
make a few dollars and we can supplement the retirement income.
"http://collincountystation.com" is born. With hosting from a friend
the cost is low and the service is good. This will be great.

 Dreams die hard. Did I say that already?? Must be age. <Ahem>. I'm
holding onto this dream. With luck, some help from higher sources and
who knows what, this might work. At any rate, building the site has
been a learning experience.
 So, what is Collin County Station today??  I'm really not sure there
is a word for it, but here is a rough description:

 Collin County Station, in Collin County, Texas, provides visitor
information and a local business index for the county of Collin. At
Collin County Station you can find local weather, links to city and
business locations, fun facts, pictures and information about Collin
County, Texas. There is web access to message areas. Telnet access to
messages and games. FTP access to files and an event calendar.

 The http://collincountystation.com domain has been active for under
six months. In that time, it has gained a Google rank of three. For
those that are into validation, almost all of the site is W3C
validated. The calendar fails due to the software used to generate it.
I have made the suggestion to the author to make the software W3C
compatible. Hey, it could happen. :) Some messages don't pass
validation due to the characters. Not much that can be done there.

 At any rate, If you are interested in Collin County, Texas or just
curious, there are photos and links to all kinds of places in the
county and cities in the county. Just point your browser to
http://collincountystation.com and have a browse.

Regards,
Frank


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