Szyzyg, yep that's my internet alter ego, I use this name on any systems
outside of where I work, Bulletin Boards, Muds, anything where I need a
username. Why do I do this, hey read the....
The Szyzyg FAQ
All those things you wanted to know about Szyzyg but were afraid to
ask because you thought I was really sad
- OK Where did you get such an odd name?
- Many moons ago I had just been introduced to the internet, and after
getting bored with Mosaic I thought I'd have a go at wasting some time
on a MUD. Of course I logged on, and when prompted to give a username for
myself I tried Scott, not surprisingly somebody else already had this username.
So I though for a bit, being an astonomy student at the time I tried to
think of some astronomical term which could be sutably adapted to the name
of a great Knight/Wizard etc. I came up with syzygy, unfortunately my typing
instead came up with Szyzyg and so the name stuck.
- Right So what does syzygy actually mean then?
- The Oxford English Dictionary says, after a bit of cutting...
- A combination of two different feet in one measure, a dipody.
- Conjunction or opposition of two celestial objects; either of the points
(in space or time) at which these take place, esp in the case of the moon
with the sun (new moon and full moon). Cf Quadrature
- A pair of connected or correlative things; spec ( in Gnostic philosophy),
a pair of opposites or aeons.
- a: A suture or immovable union of two joints of a crinoid; the joints
united in this way. B: The conjuntion of two organisms without loss of
identity; insporozoans, close attachment of pairs of gametocytes prior
to fusion.
- How do I pronounce Szyzyg?
- Well since there is no mention of the word in any reference guide you
can pronounce it any way you like. I would pronounce it something like
siz'ay'zig, but usually the name is used over a text connection so you're
unlikely to need to know this.
- Hey I've just seen an episode of the X-Files called Szyzyg!
- No you haven't that particular 3rd season episode is called Syzygy,
as you can see the name makes a lot more sense now. I haven't yet seen
that particular episode, but having seen a list of titles for third season
episodes it's one of the few that has any real meaning.
- Do you have anything to do with ADVENT?
- Ahh you mean the magic word xyzzy? I remember playing a version of
the game in my youth, but I never actually learned how to complete it so
I don't remember coming across the word. Since it's a magic word it's occasionally
used by older hackers instead of other magic words.... I Wonder what would
happen if you said szyzyg?
- Are the descriptions of Szyzyg accurate descriptions of yourself?
- Absolutely, I always make my character descriptions as accurate as
possible, generally 6' tall, 170 lbs, blue eyes, dark hair which is falling
out, lots of body hair everywhere else, a scar on the back of my left hand.
And of course he speaks with a Scottish accent.
- So where can I find Szyzyg online?
- Probably the best bet is the Monochrome
internet bulletin board. You need e-mail to get an account but it's free
and very good for getting fast access to news and information. I'm on the
staff there, in charge of the Science
Fiction section and soon to be Space (and Wierd Science) section. I'm
also an assistantin the Movies Section, and ran the Fantasy Gridiron comeptition
this year, I also supply up to date Core War information to Programing
Penchant and I have a diary which I update regularly. I also have a Spod
index of 89.3, to go along with all my special duties, placing me in the
top 3 users (or sad geeks, take your pick).
There are other similar boards which I have accounts on but they are
visited less often. Szyzyg is often to be found Lurking around on IRC,
I regularly use both EFnet and Undernet
so look me up if you're in those neighbourhoods. #monochrome, #ireland
and #jennicam
are my channels of choice.
- Hey you said Jennicam there! I saw your name on Jennicam.
- Yeah you did, I made a little joke about one of Jennifer's Guests....
here's what happend.....
I think he looks like Andy Cairns From Therapy
- On another note I met the lady herself when we did a TV interview for
Cyber-Cafe in the UK......
- Yeah but I want to meet the man himself (yeah right....) where is he?
- Just click on Back at the bottom of this page and find out about Scott
Manley.
- Are there any other places where the name can be found?
- I submitted a Core
War warrior to the beginner's hill at Pizza. It wasn't particularly
impressive, only reaching 5th place and dying of old age, there may be
a version II released at some point.
- Are you not just some sad nethead who prefers some odd name to his
own?
- Of Course Not! I originally had to choose the name because I couldn't
use Scott, and since I moved from one system to another I've just kept
the name because people identify me with it and I wan't to project a consitent
image. That's why all the descriptions of my MUD charcters always closely
copy my real world existence. It's convenient because I never ever find
anyone else with my name on IRC so I always get my preferred name.
- Hey the Spice Girls must really like you - Listen to Wannabe
- 'I really really really wanna szyzyg-ahhhh' - I'm not convinced.....
But I'll have Geri - you know I've always had something for red hair.
- It's too difficult to spell szyzyg - surely people make lots of mistakes.
- Sure, a lot of people abbreviate me to szy others call me szyzyzygzyzgyzygyzyg.
- Other popular misspellings
- Szygyg - Apparently made a contribution to the Jennicam Newsletter
- Syzygy - Has the strange property of being right and wrong.
- Suzy - An alarming number of people think I'm female
- Zyzzyg - Uses even fewer letters
- Sigue-Sigue Sputnik - I've never actually been called this but I've
always loved the name.
- Why am I reading this?
- I'm not going to answer that, unless it's with the magic word Szyzyg!
BACK
("Who Do You Want To Shark Today" Mono logoBorrowed from gid's
page )