Computer pioneer, invented Xmodem and co-invented BBS
Ward Christensen
Ward Christensen and the First BBS
Born
(1945-10-23) October 23, 1945 (age 78)
West Bend, Wisconsin, United States
Known for
first bulletin board system (BBS) XMODEM Protocol
Ward Christensen (born 1945 in West Bend, Wisconsin, United States) is the co-founder of the CBBS bulletin board, the first bulletin board system (BBS) ever brought online.[1] Christensen, along with partner Randy Suess,[2] members of the Chicago Area Computer Hobbyists' Exchange (CACHE), started development during a blizzard in Chicago, Illinois, and officially established CBBS four weeks later, on February 16, 1978. CACHE members frequently shared programs and had long been discussing some form of file transfer, and the two used the downtime during the blizzard to implement it.[3][4][5]
Christensen was noted for building software tools for his needs. He wrote a cassette-based operating system before floppies and hard disks were common. When he lost track of the source code for some programs, he wrote ReSource, an iterative disassembler for the Intel 8080, to help him regenerate the source code. When he needed to send files to Randy Suess, he wrote XMODEM.
Jerry Pournelle wrote in 1983 of a collection of CP/M public-domain software that "probably 50 percent of the really good programs were written by Ward Christensen, a public benefactor."[6] Christensen received two 1992 Dvorak Awards for Excellence in Telecommunications, one with Randy Suess for developing the first BBS, and a lifetime achievement award "for outstanding contributions to PC telecommunications."[7] In 1993, he received the Pioneer Award from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.[8]
Christensen worked at IBM from 1968[9] until his retirement in 2012. His last position with IBM was field technical sales specialist.
In May 2005, Christensen and Suess were both featured in BBS: The Documentary.[10]
^Zelchenko, Peter (30 October 1998). "Jack Rickard, editor of Boardwatch magazine, saw it coming". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
^Metz, Cade (2019-12-20). "Randy Suess, Computer Bulletin Board Inventor, Dies at 74". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
^Barry, Rey. "The Origin of Computer Bulletin Boards". Freeware Hall of Fame.
WardChristensen (born 1945 in West Bend, Wisconsin, United States) is the co-founder of the CBBS bulletin board, the first bulletin board system (BBS)...
XMODEM is a simple file transfer protocol developed as a quick hack by WardChristensen for use in his 1977 MODEM.ASM terminal program. It allowed users to...
the user logged off. The first public dial-up BBS was developed by WardChristensen and Randy Suess, members of the Chicago Area Computer Hobbyists' Exchange...
("Computerized Bulletin Board System") was a computer program created by WardChristensen and Randy Suess to allow them and other computer hobbyists to exchange...
also known as YAM, it was formally given the name "YMODEM" in 1985 by WardChristensen, author of the original XMODEM. YMODEM extended XMODEM in three ways...
bulletin board entered the information age when software developers WardChristensen and Randy Suess launched the first public dialup bulletin board system...
poker game with friends that were praising the BBS software created by WardChristensen. Becker said he could do better and founded eSoft, Inc. in 1984 based...
optionally date and time, since WardChristensen designed XMODEM to start at block 1, leaving block 0 available. Christensen suggested Forsberg call his protocol...
board system (BBS) ever brought online. Suess, along with partner WardChristensen, whom he met when they were both members of the Chicago Area Computer...
Remote file sharing first came into fruition in January 1978, when WardChristensen and Randy Suess, who were members of the Chicago Area Computer Hobbyists'...
Derek E. McDonald. CBBS – The first ever BBS software, written by WardChristensen. Citadel RBBS TBBS Excalibur BBS Maximus Mystic BBS Celerity BBS Citadel...
Xmodem a point-to-point binary transfer protocol by WardChristensen. February 1978 – WardChristensen's CBBS becomes the first Bulletin board system. BBS...
pressure suit Alicia Chong Rodriguez – American engineer and inventor WardChristensen (born 1945), U.S. – Bulletin board system Ole Kirk Christiansen (1891–1958)...
Jennings, Jim Warren, Andrzej Smereczynski 1993: Paul Baran, Vint Cerf, WardChristensen, Dave Hughes, USENET developers (accepted by Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis)...
Carmack – first-person shooters Doom, Quake Vint Cerf – TCP/IP, NCP WardChristensen – wrote the first BBS (Bulletin Board System) system CBBS Edgar F....
online for people who owned a microcomputer and a modem. Developed by WardChristensen and Randy Suess of the Chicago Area Computer Hobbyists' Exchange (CACHE)...
Boardwatch Computer Shopper textfiles.com BBS: The Documentary People WardChristensen Randy Suess Chuck Forsberg Tom Jennings Steve Punter Jason Scott...
extension of XMODEM to add filename support and batch transfers. XMODEM WardChristensen 1977 Public domain Very simple protocol that saw widespread use and...
1973 to 1974. Donna Christian-Christensen worked as a physician, first in the emergency room and later in the maternity ward. She then served as medical...
software, information, news, data, and other messages with one another. WardChristensen invented the first public BBS in the late 1970s, and another (named...
laureate who has been called "the father of the Green Revolution" WardChristensen - co-founder of bulletin board system (BBS) Ophelia Dahl – American...
M. Brooks educator and representative to Wisconsin State Assembly WardChristensen computer pioneer and inventor of XMODEM Kerry G. Denson U.S. National...
of Mark Hofmann and Steven Christensen repeatedly told the detectives that they had been present when Hofmann and Christensen received telephone calls from...
murderer. In November 2010 in Skara, he murdered his girlfriend Helle Christensen and ate parts of her body. He was committed to a mental health institution...
joined by drummer Juice Welch and bassist Ethan Christensen. Christensen was later replaced by KJ Ward. In June 2018, the group won a "battle of the bands"...
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