Rich Skrenta
Encyclopedia
Richard "Rich" Skrenta is a computer programmer and Silicon Valley
entrepreneur who created the search engine
blekko
.
In 1982, as a high school student at Mt. Lebanon High School, Skrenta wrote the Elk Cloner
virus that infected Apple II
machines. It is widely believed to be the first large-scale self-spreading personal computer virus ever created.
Skrenta graduated from Northwestern University
. Between 1989 and 1991 he worked at Commodore Business Machines with Amiga Unix
. Between 1991 and 1995 he worked at Unix System Labs and from 1996 to 1998 with IP-level encryption at Sun Microsystems
. He later left Sun and became one of the founders of the Open Directory Project
. He stayed onboard after the Netscape
acquisition, and continued to work on the directory as well as Netscape Search, AOL
Music and AOL
Shopping. After his stint at AOL he went on to cofound Topix LLC
, a Web 2.0 company in the news aggregation & forums market. In 2005, he and his fellow cofounders sold a 75% share of Topix to a newspaper consortium made up of Tribune
, Gannett
, and Knight Ridder
. Currently, he heads the startup company Blekko
Inc, an internet search engine
, which began public beta testing on November 1, 2010 and
recently gained Marc Andreessen
as an investor.
He was involved in the development of VMS Monster an old MUD
for VMS. VMS Monster was part of the inspiration for TinyMUD
. He is also known for his role in developing TASS
, an ancestor of tin
, the popular threaded Usenet
newsreader for Unix
systems. In 1989 he started working on a multiplayer simulation game. In 1994 it was launched under the name Olympia as a pay-for-play game by Shadow Island Games.
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
entrepreneur who created the search engine
Search engine
A search engine is an information retrieval system designed to help find information stored on a computer system. The search results are usually presented in a list and are commonly called hits. Search engines help to minimize the time required to find information and the amount of information...
blekko
Blekko
Blekko is a web search engine whose goal is to provide better search results than those offered by Google Search, by offering results culled from a set of 3 billion trusted websites and excluding material from such sites as content farms...
.
In 1982, as a high school student at Mt. Lebanon High School, Skrenta wrote the Elk Cloner
Elk Cloner
Elk Cloner is one of the first known microcomputer viruses that spread "in the wild," i.e., outside the computer system or lab in which it was written...
virus that infected Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
machines. It is widely believed to be the first large-scale self-spreading personal computer virus ever created.
Skrenta graduated from Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
. Between 1989 and 1991 he worked at Commodore Business Machines with Amiga Unix
Amiga Unix
Commodore-Amiga, Inc., in 1990, did a full port of AT&T Unix System V Release 4 for the Amiga computer family , informally known as Amix. Bundled with the Amiga 3000UX, Commodore's Unix was one of the first ports of SVR4 to the 68k architecture...
. Between 1991 and 1995 he worked at Unix System Labs and from 1996 to 1998 with IP-level encryption at Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
. He later left Sun and became one of the founders of the Open Directory Project
Open Directory Project
The Open Directory Project , also known as Dmoz , is a multilingual open content directory of World Wide Web links. It is owned by Netscape but it is constructed and maintained by a community of volunteer editors.ODP uses a hierarchical ontology scheme for organizing site listings...
. He stayed onboard after the Netscape
Netscape
Netscape Communications is a US computer services company, best known for Netscape Navigator, its web browser. When it was an independent company, its headquarters were in Mountain View, California...
acquisition, and continued to work on the directory as well as Netscape Search, AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
Music and AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
Shopping. After his stint at AOL he went on to cofound Topix LLC
Topix.net
Topix.net is a discussion board website. Topix LLC, the controlling company, has its headquarters in Palo Alto, California.Topix began as a news aggregator which categorizes news stories by topic and geography. It was created by Bryn Dole, Rich Skrenta, Bob Truel, Tom Markson, Mike Markson, and...
, a Web 2.0 company in the news aggregation & forums market. In 2005, he and his fellow cofounders sold a 75% share of Topix to a newspaper consortium made up of Tribune
Tribune Company
The Tribune Company is a large American multimedia corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with ten daily newspapers and commuter tabloids including Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida...
, Gannett
Gannett Company
Gannett Company, Inc. is a publicly-traded media holding company headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia, United States, near McLean. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. Its assets include the national newspaper USA Today and the weekly USA Weekend...
, and Knight Ridder
Knight Ridder
Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. Until it was bought by The McClatchy Company on June 27, 2006, it was the second-largest newspaper publisher in the United States, with 32 daily newspapers sold.- History :The corporate ancestors of...
. Currently, he heads the startup company Blekko
Blekko
Blekko is a web search engine whose goal is to provide better search results than those offered by Google Search, by offering results culled from a set of 3 billion trusted websites and excluding material from such sites as content farms...
Inc, an internet search engine
Search engine
A search engine is an information retrieval system designed to help find information stored on a computer system. The search results are usually presented in a list and are commonly called hits. Search engines help to minimize the time required to find information and the amount of information...
, which began public beta testing on November 1, 2010 and
recently gained Marc Andreessen
Marc Andreessen
Marc Andreessen is an American entrepreneur, investor, software engineer, and multi-millionaire best known as co-author of Mosaic, the first widely-used web browser, and co-founder of Netscape Communications Corporation. He founded and later sold the software company Opsware to Hewlett-Packard...
as an investor.
He was involved in the development of VMS Monster an old MUD
MUD
A MUD , pronounced , is a multiplayer real-time virtual world, with the term usually referring to text-based instances of these. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, player versus player, interactive fiction, and online chat...
for VMS. VMS Monster was part of the inspiration for TinyMUD
TinyMUD
TinyMUD is the name of a MUD server codebase, and the first MUD running that codebase. The MUD itself has subsequently come to be known as "TinyMUD Classic" or simply "Classic", or occasionally "DaisyMUD"...
. He is also known for his role in developing TASS
TASS (software)
The Tass newsreader is an open source computer software package that provides a full screen threaded newsreader. It was written by Rich Skrenta, who did not like the rn newsreader and gained his inspirations from the Plato Notes system. The Tass newsreader was later modified by Iaian Lea, who added...
, an ancestor of tin
Tin (newsreader)
tin is an open source text-based and threaded news client, used to read and post messages on the USENET global communications network.-History:...
, the popular threaded Usenet
Usenet
Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
newsreader for Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
systems. In 1989 he started working on a multiplayer simulation game. In 1994 it was launched under the name Olympia as a pay-for-play game by Shadow Island Games.