seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from Hong Kong SAR China
seen from United States
seen from Maldives
seen from Hong Kong SAR China
seen from Australia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Brazil
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from Russia
seen from Yemen
seen from Georgia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Singapore
seen from United States
Not an April 1 joke! After severe downtime and a catastrophic database failure, Max Goldberg brought internet fixture https://t.co/V5mGAhJGmo back to life, rewritten to work with modern browsers, restoring new site creation and the complete archives. https://t.co/BNmt095Us0 pic.twitter.com/HdtcvvUZMh— Andy Baio (@waxpancake) April 1, 2020
http://twitter.com/waxpancake
Blockchain will ReImagine Value, ReDiscover Trust, and ReAlign Community. Blockchain will EnSlave Non-Believers. http://pic.twitter.com/OHEDVgCVnm
— Andy Baio (@waxpancake) May 3, 2016
Starting June 1, AP is lowercasing the internet and web. No ruling on odd future. https://t.co/Artb0wlyKF
— Andy Baio (@waxpancake) April 2, 2016
(waxpancake)
The Origin Story of Waxpancake
What name do you use on the Internet?
"waxpancake" since around 1995.
Do you keep the same name everywhere?
Everywhere it makes sense. In places where my real name makes more sense, I’ll sometimes use “andy” or “andybaio.” But for the most part, on social networks and the like, I use “waxpancake”.
Where did it come from?
It dates back to the mid-1990s, I’d been using “Fink Ployd,” and then “Flyp Doink,” on dialup BBSes, but the namespace on the web was much more competitive. I decided to pick something I knew nobody else would choose, and have stuck with it ever since.
What does it mean to you?
It’s a fictional band name I made up inspired by vinyl records: wax pancakes, get it?
Why did you choose it?
Really, I was just looking for a name that was completely unique when I first got online and wouldn’t conflict with everyone else.
Do you ever think of changing it?
All the time. I’ve seen many of my friends drop their handles in lieu of their real names on Twitter, and I’ve reserved @andybaio, but can’t bite the bullet. Old habits die hard.
Why do you / don’t you use your real name?
I use my real name, along with my “waxpancake” screen name, virtually everywhere. I’ve grown pretty comfortable with people knowing my real name—I’m effectively a public figure, and had to abandon any hope of privacy in the mid-2000s. The exception are weird little Internet communities where using your real name is culturally dorky, or a potential liability.
What was your first internet screen name?
I used “Fink Ployd” when calling BBSes for years, and when I first got onto FidoNet and then Usenet, I started using “Flyp Doink,” making the mature leap from a spoonerism of “Pink Floyd” to one of its anagrams. But when I got to the web, the namespace was so crowded with the rest of the known universe that I decided to pick something that nobody else ever would. I’m still, as far as I know, the only “waxpancake” online.
What is your favorite name you’ve seen in your travels across the net?
Probably my friend, Dave Rutledge. On Twitter, and everywhere else he can register it, he’s a single underscore character: @_. His wife Barbara is two underscores, @__, and they had the foresight to register @___ for their child.
Whose origin story would you like to hear next?
How about Maggie Vail aka magicbeans? I know it’s her DJ name, and she uses “magicbeans” everywhere, but I’ve never heard the story behind it.
Now that people have heard your story, where can they go to find out more about you?
My home online is http://waxy.org/ and I’m pretty active on Twitter at http://twitter.com/waxpancake.
#weaponofchoice #waxpancake
XOXO Festival: Kisses, hugs, and inspiration
I had the great pleasure of attending XOXO Festival in Portland last weekend. The amount of love... the respect... the kindness... was powerful and impossible to express in plain text -but I'm going to try anyway.
Before I got there I combed through the attendee list. I thought that it would feel incredibly intimidating being surrounded by so many successful individuals. Being there though, it never felt that way. Sure you felt the pure feeling of power and creativity in the room, but somehow, everyone felt leveled and just happy to be there. I talked with people who, when I found out what they had accomplished, made me jump out of my skin. It was like, "Oh, you made that thing I use everyday... wait WHAT?".
I also was able to go up to and talk to people who I've admired for a long time. I was able to talk with Dan Harmon and even played Johan Sebastian Joust with him (which involves hand-to-hand combat. Yeah, I almost pooped my pants). I was able to shake the hand of Ron Carmel who co-created, in my opinion, one of the greatest video games of all time.
I claimed a front row seat the entire conference, didn't miss a single talk, and was grateful just to take the entire thing in. I can't begin to describe the overwhelming inspiration. There was a tangible amount of wisdom, drive, knowledge, and passion that I could feel in my bones. To sit there, letting it all soak in, and fill me throughout was... so big. I was content to let it sink into my pours and drift into my soul. After every talk I just kind of had to take a deep breath and say "wow."
Besides the conference, the plethora of fringe events were a sight to behold. From incredible exclusive arcades to open house ice cream parties, there was not a moment of down time (or time for me to sleep for that matter, thank you Stumptown). Not to mention the arcade, music, and film curated specifically for XOXO, all of which were the stuff of dreams. To quote a tweet from a fellow Greendale Human Being I met before Dan Harmon's talk: "the fringe schedule makes it look like a sleepover party for rich, nerdy twelve year olds"
This wonderful event was put together by two fantastic Andys: Andy Baio and Andy McMillan. Andy Baio is my uncle and he is also my boss (I am his intern). He has inspired and helped me accomplish amazing things. I realized recently that almost every footstep I take into my future career he has either inspired, helped me reach, or encouraged me to do things that changed my perspective. He's so incredibly generous and patient with his time and has managed to push me forward in many aspects of my life. There were the small things that changed my life forever, like telling me to buy a GameCube instead of a PS2 as my first home console, or turning me on to Comic-Con. But also larger things, like the act of taking me on as his intern last year and working with him to build Playfic. Andy wasn't the only one overcome with emotion during his standing ovation. Since I could remember he's been inspiring me to become who I am today, and for that, long after XOXO has faded into a glorious memory, I am fortunate to know that Andy Baio will be my guide and mentor.
Last weekend I would call one of the best weekends of my life. I feel inspired and ready to do great things.
XOXO
PS...The food carts and bathrooms rocked.
