Landmark events:
April
1992: Virus for You was born from the BBS* generation of juvenile to-be hackers,
IT specialists and computer maniacs. Circulated on the BBS’s. Started a
tradition of making fun of themselves, ordinary users, MicroSoft, viruses,
online credit card abuse. Did not contain technical information, instructions
for virus writing, etc as its title suggests. Founding father was Kosio Spirov,
who does not respond to electronic and telephone messages. Dark Avenger (world
notorious virus writer) and Veni Markovski (current chairman of the Buslgraian
Internet Society) are rumored to have also been founding fathers. Motivation
unclear. Yopn.stelf speculates fun was the only motivation. Also speculates
Kosio Spirov has more interesting things to keep him busy than answer requests
for interviews. Last issue: #16, March 1997.
Spawned
“followers” like NO CARRIER (circulated on a Rousse BBS), @Connected, pFuN.
[outsider
observation: the founding fathers dealt exclusively with themselves; served a
narrow community of BBS-ers; reminded each other how great they are and how
they can show the finger to the System; egocentric occurrence]
January
1997: Phreedom “was made to be the first
Bulgarian Phreak digital magazine. started by ManiaX Killerian as a result of
the publication of his ‘Anti-BTC manifesto. As the time passed, Phreedom became
the best Bulgarian H/C/P/A electronic digest. The word "PHREEDOM"
is a combination of the word "PHone" and the word
"fREEDOM". So, it could be named "Freedom on the phone"
magazine, or something...The
idea was to create the first Bulgarian e-zine with technical info, which has
not been published before. In the beginning Phreedom was a bunch of fuckin
curses against BTC + some unrelated info. It was dull. Anyway, the important
thing is that we didn't stop after the first 2-3 volumes and continued our
work. Phreedom got better. More authors started contributing better articles.
This way, Phreedom become the first, only and best Bulgarian tech e-zine, just
like Phrack... The people who are creating this magazine think that being smart
is not something bad, only because it is modern to be dumb. We don't say that
we are "the best of the best". We are just some maniac computer guys
(a little bit psychos), who try not to be stingy. We do our best not to be
alone in our quest.
The goals of Phreedom goals are: To fight any censorship, dumb-asses and stingy
people (who look at you bad when you ask something) and monopoly (especially
BTC).
The Phreedom Credo
By ManiaX Killerian and Exo [a.k.a yopn.stelf]
August
1997: New Media E-zine: For the first time a
company launches an official e-zine as part of its activities. It is done in regular
work hours. Justine will tell you it is an educational endeavor intended to
improve the quality of Bulgarian web design. Then she says it is PR action as
well. The *bpm circle raises a suspicious eyebrow every time the name is
mentioned. miss jezabelle elaborates on the mechanism of PR: “On a primary
level, yes, New Media E-zine is about educating professional designers. On a
secondary level, however, the implication is: we are the people who set the
standards and teach the rest. Therefore, if you want professional design, you
come to us.”
“I can’t tell you for sure when the first Bulgarian e-zine
appeared, but one of the first was @Connected, created by Voland,” Kaladan
says. “He created something original when the word ‘e-zine’
had not yet reached Bulgaria. He did the real thing.” He means I have to
find him.
The
e-mail messages I send to the addresses left at the @Connected site get back to
me with a “Delivery Status Notification: Failure.”
One
night Kaladan spots him in the #sofia chat channel. Notifies me immediately.
“See if he’s willing to talk.” Voland is
talkative.
[define
user: Voland: nick borrowed from Bulgakov’s “The Master and Margarita”
because he likes the idea of doing good through evil, wouldn’t reveal his evil
acts though; believes information, Internet and education should be free;
starting anything that has already been done is not his cup of tea]
Original
log follows:
Start
of Voland buffer: Sun Nov 25 23:09:17 2001
Session
Ident: Voland (voland@final.frontier.bg)
<e>
hi. i’m loking for voland, who did @connected once upon a time
***
deva_ is on IRC
<Voland>
found him
<e> kaladan sends me
<e>
i’m working on a story about bg e-zines
<Voland>
for bpm?
<e>
school project
<Voland>
so how can i help?
<e>
tell me about @connected
<Voland>
what exactly?:)
<Voland>
almost everything about connected is written there
<e>
why did you do it
<Voland>
in the intro and outro texts
<Voland>
why? .. don’t know ..
<Voland>
there was no reason ... had fun
<e>
some people say e-zine = compensating for your complexes
<Voland>
took the words form my mouth
<Voland>
from the keybord, that is
<e>
u agree?
<Voland>
a long time ago when i was 11 - 12
worked
for a newspaper
<Voland>
and some unfulfilled passion for media remained
<Voland>
@Connected was in a way a continuation
..
in
a way proving to myself that I can ..
<Voland>
cant tell why the others participated
<e>
haven’t u wanted to get published in print
<Voland>
no.. prefer online .. feels closer somehow
<e>
a, that’s it: inet is your medium? why
<Voland>
because I know it best, I’ve been dealing with internet since 97 in all kinds
of ways
<Voland>
chustvam se v svoi vodi :)
<e>
and invincible? meaning you can write absolutely free, whatever you want?
<Voland>
that too, yeah
<e>
why did you quit
<Voland>
we all quit, on one hand the gang split up, everone went their own way, some to
the university, others found jobs. on the other – we had nothing more to write
about I guess.. we had all proven to ourselves we could do it .. the fifth
issue (last) got somehow different .. at least think very very good .. and
theni .. just didn’t feel like writing .. there was no more that urge to sit
and tell something to the others .. don’t know.. maybe we grew up :)
<e>
how important is the number of ppl who read you? to what extent did you do it
just for yourselves and to what extent for an audience
e>
grhhh...can’t articulate my questions tonight
<Voland>
got it.. :)
<Voland>
it’s not exactly “to what extent”... suppose u saw there is no hit counter
<Voland> it was not important how many read it .. but
how they read it..
<Voland>
whether they got what we wanted to say.. and whether they liked it
<Voland>
on the whole .. most reactions were positive ..
<Voland>
or if someone did not like it, did not bother to tell us
<e>
two weeks nobody enters, is it still worth it?
<Voland>
well yes, it’s there .. we wrote it .. we want and have something to say ..
whoever wants can read it ..
<e>
so it is not destimulating if counter reads 0?
<Voland>
I suppose if we knew nobody saw it, it would be depressing ..we just did our
best to NOT know if someone read it or not
<Voland>
and when someone did read it and liked it .. it got to us
<Voland>
;)
***
deva_ has left IRC
<e>
what wre you doing at the time
<e>
for a living imam I mean
<Voland>
Heh.. everyone pretended they were studying :)
<e>
how much time did you devote to connected
<e>
correct answer is - our nights :))
<Voland>
depends on mood and willingness .. :)
<Voland>
there si no correct answer :)
<Voland>
lili wrote a lot of her stuff during classes :)
<Voland>
and one piece – at an exam :)
<e>
hehe
<Voland>
and we were not .. too regular students ..
<Voland>
;)
<e>
how many were you btw
<Voland>
in the beginning 4 .. Aggressor, KoRn, I_Robot .
sorry
I give you the nicks but the names won’t mean much, will they :)
<Voland>
then I_Robot (ivan) quit .. he wanted something different <Voland> lili
sent in articles
<Voland>
mordred contributed a lot of ideas and articles
<Voland>
flori too
<Voland>
it was different every issue .. whoever has an idea or finds something
intersting
<Voland>
:)
<e>
how do you find the idea for a paid ezne
<Voland>
disgusting
<e>
why
<Voland>
don’t know .. feels dirty somehow .. same as making you pay for your education
.. (something I don’t support either)
<e>
familiar with the current bg ezines?
<Voland>
poor.. I withdrew form that stuff somehow..btw..
<Voland>
you know about connected .. do you know about the so called competition at the
time :)
<Voland>
I think you’d be intersted to see it :)
<Voland>
hmf.. I’ve forgetten the site
<Voland>
a there it is .. www.pfun.online.bg :)
<Voland>
appeared .. shortly after issue 2 if I’m not wrong
gresha..
:)
<Voland>
johnt found me on the irc .. so and so we are doing something like yours, go
see it, man, and tell me what you think about it
<Voland>
a lot of fresh stuff there :)
<Voland>
it was not competition actually.. more like somebody who does the same as we do
<Voland>
to a certain extent better and better organized than ours
<Voland>
it wasn’t as spontanneous though I think
<e>
know it :) johnt is too busy with a baby and a job and has no time to even
write an e-mail response
<Voland>
:) back then he had not even met tancheto [wife]
<e>
why wasn;t it spontaneous
<Voland>
don’t know .. just I feeling I had reading it
<Voland>
appeared to orderly
<Voland>
cant describe it .. just a feeling
<e>
ezines are more free/informal/underground as a concept?
<Voland>
that’s how they should be if you ask me
<e>
major advantage to print?
<Voland>
Hahahaha .. flash and animated gifs
:)))))
<e>
:)) disadvantage?
<Voland>
no, serious .. the net is a bigger medium than print .. more possibilities to
express what you want ..more means
<Voland>
hm.. disadvantage: audience .. print is accessible by all, everyone is used to
print .. people don’t like innovations
<Voland>
it won’t be easy to make a man read some ezine even if you give him a computer
and internet and show him the site
<Voland>
just beause it is new and he is not used to it
<e>
envision a [hyper distant] future when print won’t exist?
<Voland>
not so distant
*
Voland plays it optimist tonight
<Voland>
judging by tmyself and the people around ..
<Voland>
we all read newpapers .. online
<Voland>
most big newspapers have sites and today’s issue is up there
<Voland>
more and more I read it online .. and .. there it’s free
<Voland>
and it is not a question of the stotinki that I pay for a paper .. just
information .. whatever it is should be free
<e>
and how do the people who gather, process, write, etc that information make
their living
<Voland>
brb have to take some pills
<Voland>
heh that’s the hole in my system .. don’t know how they make a living ..
internet should also be free.. though I work for an ISP
<Voland>
system administrator at online.g
<Voland>
online.bg
<e>
how much time are you online and what do you do [work does not count]
<Voland>
a lot.. sometimes almost 24 hours.. if work does not count seem I chat :) read
e-mails, browse sites
<e>
nice bg site/ezine?
<Voland>
don’t know them well enuf to say. have to say at least 5-6, read them carefully
.. cant say
<e>
what sites do you browse
<Voland>
freshmeat.net, freebsd.org daemonnews.org
slashdot.com,
thingeek.com
<Voland>
unix oriented
<e>
diagnosis of bg inet at the moment?
<Voland>
okrupnqvane
<e>
quality I mean
<Voland>
poor .. but we try
<e>
btw when at thet time of connected, was the word ezine popular in bg
<Voland>
not at all
<Voland>
we never found a name to call it .. it was just connected
<Voland>
I like to think it was sort of a tribune
<Voland>
you wanna say something – well say it ..
<e>
precisely my original idea of an ezine :) 10x
<e>
would you do an ezine again
<Voland>
the moment I feel I have something to say/write.. but I wouldn’t call it ezine
<e>
a tribune?
<Voland>
more likely, yes
<e>
what do you hold againt the word ezine?
<Voland>
too popular .. associated with a particular mold .. I don’t like molds
<e>
what is the mold now
<Voland>
all ezines taken together are the mold
<e>
what don’t you like about that mold
<Voland>
the mere idea that there is a mold .. that people have certain expectations ..
that it has already been done
<e>
aaa, got it :)
<Voland>
for example .. there were not two issues of connected that wre alike in terms
of design
<e>
and when you did it, there was nothing like it in bulgaria, right?
<Voland>
you havent heard of virus for you ?:)
<Voland>
a lot of our ideas are derived from vfu
<Voland>
its just that vfu is years older and only the old bbs
users remember it
<e>
okz. 10x. that will do I think
<Voland>
is that gonna be published?
<e>
no
<Voland>
good.
<e>
:) actually, does bpm count as publication? and what do you have against
publication?
<Voland>
hmm..when I think of it .. can’t come up with any serious argument against
publication .. don’t know
<Voland>
you know what.. do whatever you want with it
<Voland>
information should be free
...
End
of Voland buffer Sun Nov 25 23:09:17
2001
May
1999: HIT.BG incorporate an e-zine in their portal as
part of their traffic-generating strategy.
August
1999: *bpm is born as a homepage of the #bpm chat
channel in direct competition with #techno. ivgin and kano get banned
from #techno. Start their own chat channel. Very fashionable to make a web site
for your channel. Conceive a section “bits of our minds” just to put up their
essays. “*bpm became an e-zine
when it got clear that people like to read essays,” says Kaladan. Kano walks
away, because his idea is to “beat” the #techno site. ivgin’s idea is to make a
meaningful site that would make users think and react. They want to be like wired.com.
Qualitatively
HIT.BG and *bpm are a new genre – don’t have to be a computer freak to
understand.
>> All kinds of people who have a vague idea of web development realize the web is world-wide open for their media aspirations.
Kaladan’s diagnosis: “Unfortunately, we now see a process of dying of Bulgarian e-zines. A month and a half ago two e-zines went down – e-bulgaria and seven – e-zine for the seven deadly sins. I incorporated their content in *bpm.”
esem’s diagnosis: “I see the enthusiasm lagging already.”
Yopn.stelf’s diagnosis: “In Bulgaria, everyone
is extreme individualist. You somehow gather a crew, they start quarrelling
like crazy. I suppose it’s because we are raised that way. Look at Western
classrooms – roundtables. While we sit at a desk, hands behind the back, and
get punished for talking to the next-desk neighbor. One-man e-zines do not
survive.”
Quick facts:
Kaladan: “An e-zine starts as an offline idea.
Then it grows as a community online.”
ivgin: “The technical implementation of the
site may take anything form a couple of hours to a couple of weeks to infinity
;)”
pro_01: “There is a six-month latent period
when no one knows about your site. It’s killing.”
esem:
“If you know where to leave a hyperlink, you can create enormous traffic in
your direction. It can be seen 10,000 times in a single day.”
miss jezabelle: “Update may take anything from
a minute to a night.”
* BBS - Bulletin Board System – a computer that can be reached by computer modem dialing for the purpose of sharing or exchanging messages or other files. Mini Internet that substituted expensive (at that time) Internet service. Users build a database on the principle: to download 100 K you have to upload at least 50 K. The process is moderated by a system operator (SysOp). The biggest problem - only one user could be connected at a time.