Background!
My "name" is Zike!. I have been a member of various computer groups, maybe mostly associated with FairLight.Anyway, the closer Christmas got, the more nostalgic I became. Thinking back on "the good old days" and all the nice friends one made. The question "What are all those pioneers doing nowadays?" poped up and gave me the encouragement to pursue this project.
Back in 1992 I, together with Ziphoid, released a 48-page underground paper magazine, In Medias Res, in apx 800 copies. In it about 50 C=64 legends (Arnd & MWS of RadWar, Ian & Mic, Janitor, Jeroen Tel, Mr. Z, Mr. Zeropage - just to name a few), were interviewed. The mag was a big success, but shortly after the release I went to the states to study, so the whole project was put on ice.
More people - both C64 and Amiga
Time flies and a lot of things has happened since then. I myself am studying to become a psychologist. So, be nice or I'll analyze you ;-)
Anyway, because many of the C=64 legends where left out, due to time shortage, I would now like to expand the number of persons. Furthermore, I think that the Amiga can be considered as a (semi) legendary computer and will therefore include the Amiga adherents as well. The people interviewed in 1992 were again contacted.
Why Internet?
To get around the two biggest problems, deadline and distribution, I decided to "publish" the mag on the Internet. This allows anyone with internet access to, by a click of a mousebutton, read the interviews and make comments in the guestbook. As a start the mag will stress the interviews, but with time complementary related articles will be included. A lot of people are supporting this project and are eager to contribute. You too are welcome!
Why bother ?
Some of the legends might not have anything to do with computers anymore, but I asked (read: begged) them to find the time to answer the questions anyway. I told them to think about all the people who watched their demos, enjoyed their artistic talent or read all their scrolltexts. They were a great source of inspiration. I even went as far as saying "You owe it to your fans!" Or as Bacchus put it; "It's a way of saving what's left of the teenage computer culture".
Answering the questions
Most of the people were contacted by snail-mail. I sent them a questionnaire, that I wanted them to answer. I told them that "if you find any of the questions strange or stupid, rephrase or simply exclude them. You are also welcome to make up more suitable questions for yourself to answer! There is no limit -the longer answers the better!"
People actively supporting the project
I could not have done this without the great support from Arnd / RadWar, Bacchus / FLT, Big Al, Conqueror / C&Z, Danko, Elric / Agile, Grendel / Byterapers, Irata / Trsi, Jeff Smart, Jeron Tel, Jerry / Triad, Karl XII, Kjer / Horizon, King Fisher / Triad, KjEr / HZ, Martin Galway, Moby, Rowdy / FLT, Strider / FLT, TiW, Watchman / FLT, Ziphoid / Razor and Zin!
"Thanks for your help" also goes out to the following:ABF, Daniel Edberg, Lena Roth, Cecilia Eriksson, Ace Case, Johan, Janne, Stefan and my Tangoteacher!
These were the original questions
·Handle:
·How did you come up with your alias ?
·City / Country:
·Born year:
·What was your first computer, and when did you get it?
·How did you get into the scene and what groups have you been a member of ?
·What was the proudest moment in your career ?
·For what specific reason(s) do you think that you are remembered ?
·What would you like to be remembered for?
·What made you stop the scene activity? (and do you remember when?)
·Thinking back on the good old days, is there anything you regret?
·What was your favorite
-game(s)
-demo(s)
-programmer(s) (or programming team(s))
-cracker(s) (or cracking group(s))
-composer(s)
-best composed track(s)
-event(s) (e.g. copyparty)
-memory(s)
·Favorite drink?
·What are you doing nowadays?
·What are you doing on your spare time?
·Is there anything you'd like to say to the public (read: admires)
·What is the meaning of life?
I also asked if they wanted to include a link or their e-mail address.
Still waiting for many replies
As it has been ages since these pioneers quite the scene, it has been VERY hard to locate them. Because people have a strange habit of moving around a lot, many letters have been returned to me. I therefore turn to YOU for help! If you know how to get in touch with any old computer legend, please don't hesitate to drop me a comment!
Editorial from the first issue of "In Medias Res"
-explaining the name and it's aim:
So, another Illegal, inspired paper mag trying to earn some respect, you think. Well, that is exactly what this is. Make way for "In Medias Res"! In Medias Res you think...What the fuck is that? Another name for "smörgåsbord"? I'll reveal as much as, it's LATIN, but keep on reading and you'll find out! First a little story...
I've always had a dream of making my own pirate mag. It started a couple of years ago, just after Jeff Smart got busted (May 89). But you know how it is, you have a lot of good ideas but then something comes in between and you forget all about it. The next time I seriously thought about doing something creative was after seeing NEWS FROM SYSTEM 4 (a cool product from Subway) die (Mark, the editor, says "It's not dead! I'm just taking a rest..." I say 18 months is a hell of a long break! Mark, you're even more lazy than I was when being active). This time a good boozing weekend in Denmark flushed away all my inspiration... Then, much later after coming back from my first USA-tour, I finally made up my mind - I was going to make a pirate mag of some sort! My intention at that time was to make the best disk-mag, but after a lot of thinking and program designing I gave up! If you don't have a cool routine no one will read it, no matter how good the articles might be.
I remembered Ziphoid having access to this outstanding lazerprinter studio, so I called him up and we decided that we together were going to make the best paper mag around (there are no others) So here we are...
In Medias Res, the first issue! We haven't yet decided when the next issue is going to be released, or even if there is going to be one -It's all up to you! If you like it, let us know! And if you don't,then help us improve it!!
After spending a lot of time reading old Illegals, News from system 4, Criminal and AmigaZine I realized that it takes time to create the perfect mag. Therefore don't expect too much of us just yet. I assure you, we'll get better!
In this issue we put stress on the "Follow up" -What are the old legends doing nowadays. With MWS/RadWar's help we sent out around 80 letters. Some of the addresses were too old -people have a strange habit of moving around a lot. To some of the legends I only had a phonenumber, great I thought, I just have to call them up and get their addresses, but it wasn't that easy, because the few times I was able to call for free (it would have cost a fortune calling them all up directly) they either didn't answer or their (often non-English speaking) parents said they had moved to a place where they couldn't be reached or the assholes didn't wanna give out the new number (I don't blame them. Imagine having a guy calling you up, asking for a dude with a strange alias, years after your son quit the scene!). By the time this mag was printed, answers were still dropping in, but we didn't have the time to squeeze them in, as the deadline couldn't be moved (at the most desperate hours we even thought of calling the organizing groups, asking if they would be kind enough to move the copyparty to a later date, but I guess they would have laughed us in the face...) therefore we ask you not to give us hope, we promise to print the remaining interviews in issue#2.
I could go on forever telling you how we after much hustle finally managed to finish article after article, but I guess that would be too boring to read, so let us therefore return to were we started; What the f**k does IN MEDIAS RES mean, you ask. Well, it's is pretty hard to translate, but I believe you could say something like "Where the action is" or "In the center of the happenings". Now, if you don't like it I understand, it is not that many that would have the guts not naming their product something ordinary. It would be much more simple calling it something in English, but then again, who wants something simple and ordinary?
I would like to thank Jeff Smart for being a great source of inspiration. Yes, I would very much like to have a special J.S. column!
The whole idea of this mag is to try getting the scene back together like in the old days. So I guess you can say it's a sort of a second friendship attempt. Let's see what happens! Now, enjoy yourself!