"Maybe someday there will be an AMBASSADOR II..."

With those words, almost six years ago, I ended my notes briefly recounting the history of AMBASSADOR BOARD, the electronic bulletin board system (BBS) that I had run for as many years in the small Canadian town of Shelburne, Ontario. In the six years that have elapsed since writing those words, I have worked for two ISP (Internet Service Provider) companies, been the managing partner in another and owned a fourth outright. I lost almost everything I had and I have relocated a third of a continent away to start over. I am now director of technical services (a fancy name for web master) of a local web based information system and 'net portal.

A lot has changed in my life since that day nearly 12 years ago when I decided I could run a BBS a heck of a lot cheaper than the long distance bills my kids were running up chatting on Quantum Link, an early AOL-style on line community for Commodore 64 users. I'm not sure if I ever saved any money, but I sure had fun and met a lot of great people along the way.

I've missed the 'bass, as AMBASSADOR BOARD became affectionately known. I've missed the community and the sharing. Perhaps it's just nostalgia and it can never be regained, but since writing "Maybe someday..." I have always believed a BBS could live again, even in this day of the Internet... perhaps ESPECIALLY in this day of the Internet!

I have been searching for a product that would provide much of what the 'bass offered, but also provide access via the Internet, opening the reach of this new AMBASSADOR BOARD to the world. Just like in the days before the first AMBASSADOR BOARD, I looked long and hard to find something that would do the job. I condered Wildcat! v5x, since the original 'bass was a Wildcat! board, but the cost was prohibitive. I looked at WebBBS, a fine product with a lot of good features, but still not really what I wanted.

One thing that struck me during my recent search was the resurgence of the BBS community since its near demise in the mid 90s. Now, with the installation of SynchroNet BBS, the new AMBASSADOR BOARD is ready to meet the world head on. Download a copy of mTelnet, or use QmodemPro or any other Telnet program (preferably with ANSI support) and connect to telnet://bbs.ambassadorboard.net (port 23 - it's the default) and get ready to re-live the future!

Note: if you use the telnet link above you will connect using Windows native Telent client. If you are using a version of Windows prior to XP, then this Telnet client does not support ANSI color or graphics and your experience will be less than perfect. It is a good way to quickly check out what a BBS has to offer, but you really should take a few minutes to download and install mTelnet. When you do connet to the BBS, you can create a 'New' account for yourself (it's free!). If you don't have ANSI support in your telnet client, say [No] to 'color terminal' and [No] to 'IBM extended ASCII'. Downloading and installing mTelnet will provide the best experience, allowing you to answer 'yes' to both of those questions and see all the BBS has to offer.