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NAME:
Bil Irving
COMPUNET ID:
BIL
WHAT HE DID:
Spent far too much money & time online! No actually I was
one of those annoying little brats who had to have their finger
in everything. I did a combined web page with Dave (TopCat)
called "FRED" - originally because we had aspirations to be
programmers and had written a few demos together. Later on
our interests diversed and we rarely combined our talents
on anything. I was active on PartyLine and Fed, the latter
being mostly with a character called Deborah whom Gnome will
remember fondly no doubt. I was an ICC committee member, and
helped out where I could in "TECH" chat. I edited the ICC
Sunday news with Gnome which in retrospect might have been
sillier than it was, wrote reviews, articles, comedy pieces,
and just generally had fun.
CLAIM TO COMPUNET
FAME:
Nothing specific springs to mind... Gnome would heap some
award on me at varying points, but then he was like that (hehe,
sorry John, love ya' really :)). I guess if people remember
me at all from then it was just because I was there.... A
lot!
WHAT'S HE
UP TO NOW:
Now... I'm a full time Delphi software developer, working
for a firm in Drighlington near Leeds, writing large multi-user
systems. I'm sharing a house with Jean Thorne,another former
C'netter, ID: JT7, who I met on C'net and kept in touch with
- undoubtedly my closest friend. A few years ago, I got quite
far in re-writing Compunet (yes, really!) on the Amiga - as
a multi-user BBS. It was going to be a commercial product
- and then when the Amiga died, and Uni work took over, it
got thrown on the back burner. One day maybe... (A PC version
wouldn't go amiss Bil!).
OTHER STUFF:
I was quite ill at the time I was on Compunet (when I was
about 16/17) and found it difficult to go out much. So it
was a lifeline for me at the time - I met loads of people,
some of whom I've kept in touch with (see above), and others
I'd like to get back in touch with (calling Al Dukes... are
you there?) and it was a great feeling just to be accepted
as an equal. We take that feeling for granted now we have
the Internet and the power of the written word being the only
criteria by which you're judged, but back then it was really
something. I have to thank Dave (TopCat), my best friend throughout
childhood for introducing me to it all.
TOP THREE
FAVOURITE PROGRAMS/HARDWARE:
Trilogic's "Expert" cartridge (Yes, a man of taste!); what
a concept that was. For bedroom hackers and twiddlers like
me, it was just the ultimate monitor, freezer, cracker and
extracter tool. It was horrible having to unplug it from the
cartridge port to plug my modem in! Wizball was an astoundingly
good game. Really simple on the face of it, but so damned
playable. I was so disappointed with the Amiga version. 3rd
place is trickier. I suppose it was Dave Weaver's (DW28) assembler,
which although basic, never let me down. My coding on the
other hand.....
BETWEEN WHICH
DATES WERE YOU A MEMBER OF COMPUNET:
From about August 1988 till the end.
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BACK TO THE COMPUNET PAGE
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