Virus for you >> http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Peaks/9024/vfu.htm created: 1992 (the following is unverified information) idea: Kosio Spirov, a typical representative of the Nerd race – hyper intelligent self-contained IT freak because: had fun content: funny stories from the lives and struggles of the first generation of Bulgarian hackers/computer maniacs; not as dangerous as the title suggests, not dangerous at all actually fact: Dark Avenger and Veni Markovski were in the crew
phreedom magazine* >> http://www.phreedom.org/ created: 1997 by: ManiaX Killerian because: ManiaX Killerian wrote an Anti-BTC Manifesto that had to evolve into the “first Bulgarian Phreak digital magazine” that would fight censorship, monopolism, lamers, dumb fat asses, ignorance and egoism content: hack/programming/network and systems administration/open source materials, titled something like “Turning Hybrid IRC server for linux 2.4 kernels” fact: Bulgarian Telecommunications Company is the source of all evil.
NO CARRIER NO CARRIER >> http://psabev.hit.bg/ezine.htm created: 1997 by: a group of students from Rousse because: the Rousse Power BBS boys needed a system to circulate monthly news, ideas and chat jokes content: ATDX1P621741, Fidonet address, 100 MB, 6x86, EDO-RAM, 14400 bps; poems and jokes that you won’t get if you don’t know what Sx 386 and SysOp mean fact: at the time of NO CARRIER, there were 5-6 computers Pentium-75 Mhz in Rousse.
@Connected >> http://debian.fmi.uni-sofia.bg/connected created: 1999 because: for no particular reason, for kicks content: “Our viewpoint on things that happen around us” i.e.: protest against computer-use limitations in the university, “Little Red Riding Hood” in computer lingo, pc fun in verse and prose, anti-MicroSoft, an excerpt from Kurt Vonnegut’s “Sirens of Titan” fact: the one female author wrote her pieces primarily in classes, one – during an exam
pFuN >> http://www.pfun.online.bg created: 1999 by: JohnT because: (JohnT too busy with work, wife and baby to answer questions, author’s speculations) got inspired by “Virus for you” or @Connected or both content: see entries for “Virus for you” and @Connected fact: issue topics evolved from “What it’s like to be a system operator” to “A search for stupidity”
New Media E-zine >> http://www.abcbg.com/ezine/
created: 1997 by: ABC Design & Communication, a Bulgarian web agency because: ABC Design & Communication wanted to educate Bulgarian web developers, who in 1997 were creating wretched sites, and as an effective PR strategy content: educational: from professionals to professionals fact: New Media E-zine is the only Bulgarian e-zine that is done during the standard work hours.
Panopticon >> http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Square/6980/ created: 1997 by: all_losers because: all_losers got into a postmodernist mood and bore the idea of a site which hosts nothing personal and yet is very very personal content: all_losers’ favorite excerpts from “some bookies,” e.g. Foucault’s, “Alice in Wonderland” fact: everyone who ever expressed an interest in Panopticon thought there was a whole crew behind it
hit >> http://ezine.hit.bg/ created: 1999 by: HIT.BG Ltd. as: part of the HIT.BG portal
targeted at the most active user group – teenagers; traffic generator tool content: art, music/techno, computers, lifestyle pieces that pass through esem’s ednolichen “face control,” which is austere fact: the day esem published his frenzied piece on the “shit called SAX Magazine,” the editor of Club M magazine called to offer him a job
*bpm >> http://bpm.egoist.bg/
created: 1999 because: ivgin and kano noticed that cool chat channels have homepages original idea: ivgin content: original essays on “every topic a young netizen can think of,” zone for cyber culture fact: ivgin got thrown out of AUBG for low GPA; low GPA resulted from preoccupation with *bpm.version2
[Zet_maG] >> http://www.ctrl-z.org/magazine created: 1999 by: Ventsislav Zankov and Boryana Dragoeva, artsists in order to: lend free space for coverage of artistic and social home events that are alternative to the official, mainstream, accessible-to-all, bureaucratic, mass culture content: the above fact: the most popular feature of [Zet_maG] is its mailing list
Da Groovie Place >> http://mchell.cult.bg/ created: 1999 because: georgivar was in a weird mood content: heavy thoughts, stories, collection of things (like Makao cornflakes and Sofia bookstores) that somebody thought were amazing plus the reasons why, webplaces worth visiting that georgivar bumped into, quotes, Sententiae Latinae, the things in life that we somehow tend to bypass; proletariat imagery to the fullest fact: georgivar once izbqga ot kazarmata to update the site
axiomat >> http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Barracks/3870/ created: 1999 because: all_losers got into a bad mood and contrived a malicious site. content: thoughts, essays and commentaries on things that get under your skin fact: people like malicious sites
ViSiONS of our minds >> http://visions.search.bg/ created: 2000 because: mono got inspired by *bpm and had a ViSiON to create a network of people with novel art ideas; he also had a ViSiON of publishing his photos somewhere content: visions; all form of digitalized art – images, one .mp3 file, essays; freestyle; keywords – electronic, urban fact: mono has reasons to believe an author who signs her/his stories as Raina Markova is a male
thedezine >> http://www.thedezine.com/ created: 2000 by: pro_01 because: pro_01 wanted a space where he could rave and rant about lame Bulgarian design without anyone making fuss or kicking him out content: site reviews rated R, opinion pieces on Bulgarian web rated R, professional tips&tricks fact: pro_01’s partner dropped the idea when his finals session began
created: 2000 original idea: Zaro because: wanted to have a place where they could publish whatever bugged them content: whatever bugs someone and gets 3 out 4 editorial votes; distributed in categories: Bulgaria, the world, music, films, poems, short stories fact: “Why…Bylgaria” should be read as “Why Bulgaria?” [why they chose to stay in Bulgaria], “Why, the hell why, Bulgaria?!?” [question with varying degrees of anger] and “Why ‘Bye-bye Bulgaria’?”
triptozine – journeys into the known >> http://triptozine.hit.bg/ created: 2000 because: iris makes sites as a hobby content: yellow, with a green staircase :); links to cool designer sites, archive of iris imagination projects fact: iris cannot answer what he meant by “journeys into the known”
Groove Manifesto >> http://groovemanifesto.hit.bg/ created: 2001 because: georgivar figured that young Bulgarians are not comfortable enough with Russian and English and are thus missing great web resources, details: “The Technological Inequality” by Georgi Varzonovtzev, http://groovemanifesto.hit.bg/articles/opinion/divide/1.html content: articles on web design in translation, original writings by Bulgarian professional webdevelopers, georgivar’s subjective opinions, proletariat imagery to the fullest. fact: proletariat imagery is georgivar’s “handwriting” that distinguishes his sites form “the masses;” on the other hand, Bulgarian websites at the time did not have an identity that could suggest to the accidental user, that he is at a Bulgarian/Balkan/post-Socialist site; bonus fact: georgivar thinks the Monument of the Soviet Army is a cult place and no, he is not a despicable junkie.
iMAGESTORIES >> http://www.imagestories.com/ created: 2001 idea: al.drang and miss jezabelle because: al.drang wanted to make a Bulgarian image bank content: images that tell stories fact: miss jezabelle rejected about 20 images by one author, his 21st imagestory was perfect.
Cool magazine >> http://cool.cybernet.bg/main22.htm
created: 1999 by: Cool team because: there is no worse fate in life than not expressing your “cool” content: masturbation, clubbing, rave parties, marijuana… teen to the marrowbone fact: number of issues after a bonus Christmas ’99 issue: 0
United&strong >> http://unitedandstrong.hit.bg/frame.htm created: 2000 by: Jimmy and Jivko because: could not afford a print magazine to serve the Bulgarian hardcore community content: hardcore news, concert announcements, interviews, reviews, hardcore fans’ writings on hardcore and non-hardcore topics – the media in Bulgaria, violence on animals, stage-diving fact: it should be concert organizers’ responsibility to provide United&strong with timely information about up-coming events; they rarely bother.
insinuaciia >> http://www.geocities.com/insinuaciia/ created: 2000 by: insinuator because: it’s nice to have a purely Bulgarian magazine for purely Bulgarian writers content: supposed to be on “literature, music, surf (Internet and water);” meant to be funny; insinuated stories about non-existent places and interviews with non-existent people fact: The Internet surf section existed eight hours and 43 minutes because it contained detailed instructions on how to break into a major corporate site
FANTASY_BG >> http://www.fantasy-bg.com/ created: 2000 by: Raistlin because: Raistlin had an idea to do a chain-writing fairytale; it could only be done online content: fantasy, science fiction, mystery; chain-writing fairytale, 780 pictures in 34 categories, short story contest, fantasy literature and movies updates fact: their “Links” section contains the most comprehensive collection of weird bg websites
MARGARITA >> http://margaritta.dir.bg/ created: 2001 by: margarita because: margarita got inspired by the richness of the Russian web and felt uncomfortable when a Bulgarian search engine returned “no matches found” content: margarita’s interests – precious stones, flowers, religion, fiction, alternative medicine fact: margarita added a horoscopes section when she noticed that the most popular search in the Bulgarian web is “astrology”
Razor >> http://www.razor.hit.bg/ created: 2001 by: Pavel Mihaylov because: wanted to test the attitudes of Bulgarian Internet users toward a new type of media content: men’s lifestyle - oral sex, Laetitia Casta, business cards, beer, hawaian shirts, pc games fact: one member of the crew joined in order to practice his English translating skills