Jay Maynard (born July 27, 1960) is an American computer programmer,

system administrator A system administrator, or sysadmin, or admin is a person who is responsible for the upkeep, configuration, and reliable operation of computer systems, especially multi-user computers, such as servers. The system administrator seeks to en ...

and the volunteer project maintainer for

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the ...

, a free

emulator In computing, an emulator is hardware or software that enables one computer system (called the ''host'') to behave like another computer system (called the ''guest''). An emulator typically enables the host system to run software or use pe ...

IBM mainframe IBM mainframes are large computer systems produced by IBM since 1952. During the 1960s and 1970s, IBM dominated the large computer market. Current mainframe computers in IBM's line of business computers are developments of the basic design of th ...

hardware. He is known for his self-made

electroluminescent Electroluminescence (EL) is an optical and electrical phenomenon, in which a material emits light in response to the passage of an electric current or to a strong electric field. This is distinct from black body light emission resulting from ...

costume Costume is the distinctive style of dress or cosmetic of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, profession, ethnicity, nationality, activity or epoch. In short costume is a cultural visual of the people. The term also was tradition ...

based on the film ''

Tron ''Tron'' (stylized as ''TRON'') is a 1982 American science fiction action- adventure film written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. The film stars Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer ...

'', which resulted in his nickname Tron Guy.

Internet fame

Maynard created a revealing electroluminescent costume, inspired by the film ''

'', that he could wear at the

science fiction convention Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction genre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expre ...

Penguicon in 2004. He has said that he "hasn't missed a Penguicon, and doesn't intend to". He created a web page of photos of the costume, and of himself wearing it. His page of photos quickly gained a lot of attention on the Internet, after it was posted on

Slashdot ''Slashdot'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''/.'') is a social news website that originally advertised itself as "News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters". It features news stories concerning science, technology, and politics that are submitted and eval ...

and

Fark Fark is a community website created by Drew Curtis that allows members to comment on a daily batch of news articles and other items from various websites. The site receives many story submissions per day and approximately 100 of them are public ...

. In 2006, Maynard appeared in a music video entitled "We Are the Web", for the website of the same name. The video advocates the concept of

network neutrality Network neutrality, often referred to as net neutrality, is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) must treat all Internet communications equally, offering users and online content providers consistent rates irrespective of co ...

. In it, Maynard appears alongside several other

Internet celebrities An Internet celebrity (also known as a social media influencer, social media personality, internet personality, or simply influencer) is a celebrity who has acquired or developed their fame and notability through the Internet. The rise of social m ...

, including

Leslie Hall Leslie Merritt Hall (born November 15, 1981) is an American satirical rap artist and front-woman for the band Leslie and the LY's. She also operates a "gem sweater museum". She is best known for the YouTube hits like "How We Go Out" and "Tight P ...

and Randy Constan. He was also parodied in the 2008 '' South Park'' episode " Canada on Strike". His likeness appeared alongside those of such other Internet celebrities as Gary Brolsma, Star Wars Kid, Chris Crocker, and

Tay Zonday Adam Nyerere Bahner (born May 21, 1982), better known by the pseudonym Tay Zonday or as "Chocolate Rain Guy",Fox News report about Numa Numa also mentions: ...fellow viral video star, 'Chocolate Rain Guy', aka Tay Zonday (Sep 22, 2010)Foxnews.co ...

. In 2010, Maynard was banned from seeing the film '' Tron: Legacy'' in his iconic Tron suit in his local movie theater because of the illuminating lights on his suit. On June 8, 2011, Maynard appeared on '' America's Got Talent''. He received a "no" vote from all of the three judges and did not make it past the audition round. Howie Mandel had him restart his introductory speech over several times, so it was left unclear what his act was going to be. In 2011, Maynard appeared in Duck Products' "Stuck On Duck Video Project", a commercial for duct tape. The ad, made by Ryactive and produced by

Tongal Tongal is a platform for content creation, used by studios, brands and talent worldwide. Founded in New York City in 2009," Tongal is now based in Santa Monica, California. The company maintains an online platform that connects businesses in need ...

, recreates the light-cycle race from ''Tron'' using stop-motion animation, followed by Maynard's appearance in the Tron Guy outfit. The video was featured in ''

Wired Magazine ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fr ...

'' as a "genius idea" and like many of Maynard's previous videos went viral, becoming the tenth most viewed video of all time on

Vimeo Vimeo, Inc. () is an American video hosting, sharing, and services platform provider headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices. Vimeo's business model is through software a ...

. On August 26, 2015, Maynard was interviewed by the '' Scene World Podcast'' in a live video podcast, hosted by Olympronica for the Film & Games Interactions exhibit at the

Deutsches Filminstitut The Deutsches Filminstitut – DIF ("German Film Institute") is an institute for the study of film, based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. History The Deutsches Filminstitut was founded on 13 April 1949 as the Deutsches Institut für Filmkunde (DIF ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. The interview was presented live on

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, and later published as both a video interview on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

and audio

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

References

External links

Jay Maynard
(personal website) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maynard, Jay 1960 births Living people Amateur radio people Cosplayers American Internet celebrities People from Fairmont, Minnesota Internet memes Tron (franchise) America's Got Talent contestants

Internet fame

See also

References

External links