Most recent edit on 2007-11-02 01:25:49 by AlexMay
Additions:
A couple of years later and I discovered the Bulletin Board System∞ (BBS) scene. After spending a few weeks dialling up various systems all over the world at the heady speeds of 100 bytes per second, and quickly amassing a substantial £400 phone bill in the process, I hit on the wizard idea of writing my own BBS software so people would call me instead thus saving me from such financial damage. (It didn't work; the following month was £300)
Deletions:
A couple of years later and I discovered the Bulletin Board System∞ (BBS) scene. After spending a few weeks dialling up various systems all over the world at the heady speeds of 100 bytes per second, and quickly amassing a substantial £400 phone bill in the process, I hit on the wizard idea of writing my own BBS software so people would call me instead thus saving me from such financial damage. (It didn't work; the following month was £300)
Edited on 2007-11-02 01:24:52 by AlexMay
Additions:
This is a short, snappy reply dreamt up only a couple of years ago. For the true origins we must dig back through the crust of time back to the late 80's where I briefly flirted with the Amiga∞ demo scene. Requiring a moniker (as was the tradition) I chose Mr. Bigtime (inspired by Big Time TV from Max Headroom∞). This quickly proved to be an extraordinarily poor choice as I subsequently laboured for weeks trying to produce a simple scroll routine by hitting the Amiga's blitter chip directly from 68000 assembler. The demo group I had been tenuously accepted by quickly dropped contact with me and Mr. Bigtime never surfaced again but the inspiration of being known by a particularly silly name pervaded.
Using the scripting language of an Amiga terminal program called NComm∞ I hacked together a simple, yet fully working BBS. I posted the number around and waited. After several days a few calls started to come through, however most were dropped since it seemed that people didn't really want to connect to a 1200 baud BBS no matter how clever the coding behind it may be.
Eventually I got a faster modem and despite being awfully proud of my NComm system, I switched to the TransAmiga∞ BBS software. As as SysOp∞ (System Operator) I felt the dark urge that I required a new name that would inspire as well as haunt my growing user base. I chose Gengis Flanmaster. No, I didn't even bother to spell Genghis properly - that's how edgy I was back in my younger days.
Gengis ruled with a crudely drawn ANSI graphic∞ fist for a while, I continued to upgrade my modem, and my BBS software, switching to Xenolink∞. At some point Gengis retired to be replaced by the even more bizarre Chelt Grafter. Things were getting out of hand. After my initial enjoyment of writing the NComm hosted system I decided to write a serious BBS package in C where every part of the system would be configurable and scripted using ARexx∞. Pipeline was started and simmered away for about a year before I was joined on the project by Nick Loman.
I believe it was somewhere around this time that bigfug appeared. To be honest I'm a little hazy on that part of it. It may have been my BBS name, or my SysOp∞ name, I can't remember quite. Obviously, if I try to go into the origins it just turns into a rambling, weird tale of techy things that people don't care about any more.
Deletions:
This is a short, snappy reply dreamt up only a couple of years ago. For the true origins we must dig back through the crust of time back to the late 80's where I briefly flirted with the Amiga∞ demo scene. Requiring a moniker (as was the tradition) I chose Mr. Bigtime (inspired by Big Time TV from Max Headroom∞). This quickly proved to be an extraordinarily poor choice as I subsequently laboured for weeks trying to produce a simple scroll routine by hitting the Amiga's blitter chip directly from 68000 assembler. The demo group I had been tenuously accepted by quickly dropped contact with me and Mr. Bigtime never surfaced again but the inspiration of being known by a particularly silly name pervaded.
Using the scripting language of an Amiga terminal program called NComm∞ I hacked together a simple, yet fully working BBS. I posted the number around and waited. After several days a few calls started to come through, however most were dropped since it seemed that people didn't really want to connect to a 1200 baud BBS no matter how clever the coding behind it may be.
Eventually I got a faster modem and despite being awfully proud of my NComm system, I switched to the TransAmiga∞ BBS software. As as SysOp∞ (System Operator) I felt the dark urge that I required a new name that would inspire as well as haunt my growing user base. I chose Gengis Flanmaster. No, I didn't even bother to spell Genghis properly - that's how edgy I was back in my younger days.
Gengis ruled with a crudely drawn ANSI graphic∞ fist for a while, I continued to upgrade my modem, and my BBS software, switching to Xenolink∞. At some point Gengis retired to be replaced by the even more bizarre Chelt Grafter. Things were getting out of hand. After my initial enjoyment of writing the NComm hosted system I decided to write a serious BBS package in C where every part of the system would be configurable and scripted using ARexx∞. Pipeline was started and simmered away for about a year before I was joined on the project by Nick Loman.
I believe it was somewhere around this time that bigfug appeared. To be honest I'm a little hazy on that part of it. It may have been my BBS name, or my SysOp∞ name, I can't remember quite. Obviously, if I try to go into the origins it just turns into a rambling, weird tale of techy things that people don't care about any more.
Oldest known version of this page was edited on 2007-11-02 00:17:15 by AlexMay []
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What is bigfug?
Ah, a question many have asked... The official reply is that taking the definition of 'fug':
fug (fŭg)
n. A heavy, stale atmosphere, especially the musty air of an overcrowded or poorly ventilated room:
"In spite of the open windows the stench had become a reeking fug" (Colleen Mc Cullough).
I can attribute it to the environment often encountered when doing live visual gigs, especially club nights.
However...
This is a short, snappy reply dreamt up only a couple of years ago. For the true origins we must dig back through the crust of time back to the late 80's where I briefly flirted with the
Amiga∞ demo scene. Requiring a moniker (as was the tradition) I chose Mr. Bigtime (inspired by Big Time TV from
Max Headroom∞). This quickly proved to be an extraordinarily poor choice as I subsequently laboured for weeks trying to produce a simple scroll routine by hitting the Amiga's blitter chip directly from 68000 assembler. The demo group I had been tenuously accepted by quickly dropped contact with me and Mr. Bigtime never surfaced again but the inspiration of being known by a particularly silly name pervaded.
A couple of years later and I discovered the
Bulletin Board System∞ (BBS) scene. After spending a few weeks dialling up various systems all over the world at the heady speeds of 100 bytes per second, and quickly amassing a substantial £400 phone bill in the process, I hit on the wizard idea of writing my own BBS software so people would call me instead thus saving me from such financial damage. (It didn't work; the following month was £300)
Using the scripting language of an Amiga terminal program called
NComm∞ I hacked together a simple, yet fully working BBS. I posted the number around and waited. After several days a few calls started to come through, however most were dropped since it seemed that people didn't really want to connect to a 1200 baud BBS no matter how clever the coding behind it may be.
Eventually I got a faster modem and despite being awfully proud of my NComm system, I switched to the
TransAmiga∞ BBS software. As as
SysOp∞ (System Operator) I felt the dark urge that I required a new name that would inspire as well as haunt my growing user base. I chose Gengis Flanmaster. No, I didn't even bother to spell Genghis properly - that's how edgy I was back in my younger days.
Gengis ruled with a crudely drawn
ANSI graphic∞ fist for a while, I continued to upgrade my modem, and my BBS software, switching to
Xenolink∞. At some point Gengis retired to be replaced by the even more bizarre Chelt Grafter. Things were getting out of hand. After my initial enjoyment of writing the NComm hosted system I decided to write a serious BBS package in C where every part of the system would be configurable and scripted using
ARexx∞. Pipeline was started and simmered away for about a year before I was joined on the project by Nick Loman.
Despite hardly ever seeing each other face to face, we worked like demons. Several 20 hour days in a row was far from uncommon, breaking only to hit the pub hard on Friday and Saturday nights. During this time we changed the name of the program to
Zeus BBS∞ (there was another comms related program called Pipeline at the time). We also felt that given Zeus' ability to morph into any form he chose it was fitting for a system that had a truly bespoke front end.
Nick's system was the first to go live. It was called 'fon..72'. Mine came online a couple of months later and was rebranded 'spa..58'. The origins of
spa/fon∞ are from a frame in a Robert Crumb comic. Yes, the silly names continued in force. Hey, it was the early nineties and we had to do something for fun what with John Major in power and all that...
I believe it was somewhere around this time that bigfug appeared. To be honest I'm a little hazy on that part of it. It may have been my BBS name, or my
SysOp∞ name, I can't remember quite. Obviously, if I try to go into the origins it just turns into a rambling, weird tale of techy things that people don't care about any more.
Anyway, about six years ago, when I started VJ'ing - a scene which (maybe because of connections with the demo scene) also seemed to require an exotic name - I chose VJbigfug for my own twisted historical reasons. As I have grown to become less enamoured with the term 'VJ' I phased that part out, preferring to go under the lowercase 'bigfug'. Though even this venerable name is being now being re-purposed as the brand name of my VJ software, rather than my public persona, which is now Blentin Quickleflipp. Ok, not really...
Aren't you glad you asked?
Read another rambling article by me about the history of Zeus BBS
here∞.
