Month: October 2026

  • Recycling ANSI art: Tracing the origins of Fire Escape’s logon screens

    Recycling ANSI art: Tracing the origins of Fire Escape’s logon screens

    Whether you call it “ripping” or “remixing”, the BBS scene had a long tradition of adapting and reusing earlier ANSI art. Fire Escape was one of many sysops around the world who often repurposed older so-called “public domain” ANSI art to enliven her bulletin board. She was famous in St. Louis, Missouri, for her meticulous…