I honestly don’t remember what the first BBS I joined was, though it was probably something like Allentown Tech or The Nucleus, both of which were boring-but-dependable local boards. I probably had to use my real name on whatever it was. Eventually, of course, I found out about boards that focused less on PD software and HAM radio, and more on 0-day warez and post/call ratios. A handle was required. Now, I’m not sure about all the handles I used, or their order, but I’ll try and reconstruct the history as best I can.

For over a year now, I’ve been working at the same job. It’s a pretty good job. I make enough to pay the bills and still have spending money, I’m doing something I generally enjoy, and I don’t have much of a commute. My job title is ‘Information Technology Developer.’ I do a lot of different things, but my core duties revolve around writing software. As someone who deals daily with writing, implementing, and modifying software, I have some opinions on the subject.

One of the best ideas in modular programming (and in much of design, really) is ‘the black box.’ A black box is a mysterious device that accepts a given type of input and operates on it in such a way as to produce a desired result reliably. Its workings are hidden from view, but because the relationship between its input and its output is known, its workings don’t matter.

eight bits

Born in the summer of 1998, the Church of the Machine God was a proud but short-lived venture undertaken by Brothers OT (that’s me), Kevin, Søren, and Drew.

Shortly after I began college, I started playing on some multi-user online RPGs. They weren’t, overall, very good, but I knew some of the players and admins from school, and gaming with them was fun. Eventually, I became an admin, too, and made some more friends among the staff.

[ rjbs, March 2022: I don’t actually know the original date of this post! ]