<s>
Blue	B-Protocol
Board	I-Protocol
is	O
a	O
bulletin	B-Application
board	I-Application
system	I-Application
software	O
created	O
by	O
Martin	O
Sikes	O
(	O
19682007	O
)	O
for	O
the	O
Commodore	O
64	O
in	O
the	O
1980s	O
in	O
Vancouver	O
,	O
British	O
Columbia	O
,	O
Canada	O
,	O
and	O
sold	O
worldwide	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Due	O
to	O
optimized	O
code	O
and	O
memory	O
allocation	O
,	O
Blue	B-Protocol
Board	I-Protocol
boasted	O
very	O
fast	O
performance	O
for	O
a	O
BBS	O
on	O
that	O
hardware	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
fact	O
,	O
Blue	B-Protocol
Board	I-Protocol
was	O
faster	O
than	O
most	O
if	O
not	O
all	O
BBSs	O
run	O
on	O
8-bit	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
speed	O
combined	O
with	O
its	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
character	I-Protocol
set	I-Protocol
and	O
XModem	B-Protocol
file	B-Protocol
transfer	I-Protocol
protocol	I-Protocol
rather	O
than	O
PETSCII	B-Protocol
and	O
the	O
Commodore-specific	O
Punter	B-Protocol
protocol	I-Protocol
sometimes	O
led	O
users	O
to	O
believe	O
that	O
they	O
were	O
calling	O
a	O
BBS	O
running	O
on	O
a	O
much	O
larger	O
and	O
faster	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Developer	O
Sikes	O
originally	O
created	O
Blue	B-Protocol
Board	I-Protocol
for	O
his	O
own	O
BBS	O
,	O
called	O
Blue	O
Hell	O
,	O
which	O
he	O
ran	O
from	O
his	O
home	O
under	O
the	O
pseudonym	O
"	O
Beelzebub.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
later	O
went	O
on	O
to	O
an	O
Electrical	O
Engineering	O
degree	O
from	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
British	O
Columbia	O
,	O
then	O
a	O
long	O
career	O
in	O
the	O
video	O
game	O
industry	O
,	O
including	O
as	O
co-founder	O
of	O
Black	O
Box	O
Games	O
(	O
now	O
part	O
of	O
Electronic	O
Arts	O
,	O
where	O
he	O
worked	O
as	O
a	O
programmer	O
on	O
the	B-Application
Need	I-Application
for	I-Application
Speed	I-Application
series	O
of	O
racing	O
games	O
,	O
among	O
others	O
)	O
,	O
before	O
his	O
sudden	O
death	O
while	O
sleeping	O
on	O
December	O
24	O
,	O
2007	O
at	O
age	O
39	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Among	O
BBS	B-Protocol
software	I-Protocol
available	O
in	O
its	O
day	O
,	O
Blue	B-Protocol
Board	I-Protocol
was	O
notable	O
in	O
that	O
it	O
made	O
creative	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
computer	O
's	O
limited	O
RAM	B-Architecture
space	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
shadow	B-General_Concept
RAM	I-General_Concept
behind	O
its	O
ROMs	O
,	O
to	O
store	O
frequently-referenced	O
data	O
such	O
as	O
usernames	O
,	O
passwords	O
,	O
and	O
message	O
headers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
text	O
of	O
the	O
message	O
bases	O
was	O
kept	O
on	O
floppy	O
disk	O
in	O
RWTS	O
(	O
Read/Write/Track/Sector	O
)	O
mode	O
,	O
bypassing	O
the	O
performance	O
limitations	O
of	O
the	O
1541	B-Device
floppy	I-Device
disk	I-Device
drive	I-Device
's	O
file	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
the	O
entire	O
BBS	O
program	O
was	O
written	O
in	O
6510	B-General_Concept
assembly	B-Language
code	I-Language
,	O
further	O
improving	O
both	O
speed	O
and	O
memory	O
efficiency	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Blue	B-Protocol
Board	I-Protocol
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
BBSes	B-Application
,	O
and	O
probably	O
the	O
first	O
Commodore	O
64	O
BBS	O
,	O
to	O
support	O
features	O
such	O
as	O
voting	O
and	O
one-liners	O
which	O
they	O
called	O
"	O
scribbles.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
it	O
reserved	O
a	O
small	O
block	O
of	O
the	O
C64	O
's	O
memory	O
space	O
for	O
external	O
programs	O
that	O
could	O
include	O
additional	O
file	O
transfer	O
capability	O
,	O
or	O
rudimentary	O
games	O
that	O
presaged	O
the	O
door	O
games	O
that	O
would	O
become	O
enormously	O
popular	O
on	O
later	O
BBSes	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
all	O
user	O
accounts	O
and	O
message	O
headers	O
are	O
stored	O
in	O
the	O
C64	O
's	O
limited	O
RAM	B-Architecture
,	O
which	O
had	O
to	O
be	O
shared	O
with	O
the	O
program	O
itself	O
,	O
the	O
program	O
only	O
supported	O
up	O
to	O
nine	O
message	O
areas	O
and	O
nine	O
download	O
file	O
areas	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
First	O
,	O
the	O
program	O
itself	O
had	O
to	O
be	O
loaded	O
and	O
run	O
,	O
then	O
the	O
RAM-resident	O
user	O
and	O
message	O
data	O
had	O
to	O
be	O
loaded	O
,	O
and	O
then	O
the	O
disk	O
had	O
to	O
be	O
replaced	O
with	O
the	O
message	O
text	O
disk	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
the	O
primary	O
drive	O
was	O
the	O
double-sided	B-Architecture
1571	B-Device
,	O
Blue	B-Protocol
Board	I-Protocol
could	O
use	O
both	O
sides	O
of	O
the	O
disk	O
,	O
one	O
for	O
the	O
message	O
text	O
and	O
one	O
for	O
download	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hard	O
drives	O
that	O
interfaced	O
as	O
floppy	O
disks	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
device	O
number	O
and	O
CBM-DOS	B-Device
compatible	O
command	O
set	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
peak	O
of	O
Blue	B-Protocol
Board	I-Protocol
's	O
popularity	O
(	O
the	O
latter	O
half	O
of	O
the	O
1980s	O
)	O
,	O
many	O
Blue	B-Protocol
Boards	I-Protocol
were	O
in	O
operation	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
software	O
was	O
widely	O
pirated	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
8-bit	O
computing	O
fell	O
into	O
decline	O
,	O
so	O
did	O
Blue	B-Protocol
Board	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
availability	O
of	O
more	O
powerful	O
hardware	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
,	O
Macintosh	O
,	O
and	O
entry-level	O
PCs	O
made	O
feasible	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
more	O
powerful	O
BBS	B-Protocol
software	I-Protocol
in	O
high	O
level	O
languages	O
without	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
the	O
kind	O
of	O
extensive	O
optimization	O
employed	O
by	O
Blue	B-Protocol
Board	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
Blue	B-Protocol
Board	I-Protocol
was	O
instrumental	O
in	O
the	O
social	O
development	O
of	O
online	O
culture	O
in	O
Vancouver	O
which	O
relied	O
on	O
text	O
messages	O
and	O
email	O
rather	O
than	O
file	O
downloading	O
,	O
so	O
it	O
remained	O
perfectly	O
suited	O
for	O
that	O
purpose	O
long	O
after	O
the	O
C64	O
platform	O
became	O
obsolete	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
not	O
unusual	O
in	O
the	O
early	O
1990s	O
to	O
find	O
Blue	B-Protocol
Boards	I-Protocol
still	O
thriving	O
while	O
BBSes	B-Application
run	O
on	O
far	O
more	O
powerful	O
computers	O
languished	O
or	O
were	O
relegated	O
to	O
shareware	O
file	O
depositories	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
real	O
death-knell	O
to	O
Blue	B-Protocol
Board	I-Protocol
was	O
the	O
rise	O
of	O
multi-line	O
chat	O
systems	O
,	O
starting	O
with	O
DDial	O
and	O
progressing	O
to	O
STS	O
and	O
MajorBBS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
not	O
known	O
whether	O
any	O
Blue	B-Protocol
Boards	I-Protocol
are	O
still	O
operational	O
today	O
.	O
</s>
