James "Kibo" Parry

Kibo is also the name of a volcano which contains the highest peak of Mount Kilimanjaro; Kibō (Hope) is also a name for the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) component of the International Space Station.

Kibo Inside

Kibo Inside

Kibo (which he pronounces to rhyme with "eye-so") is the nickname, username and e-mail address of James Parry (b. July 13 1967), a Usenetter known for his sense of humor, various surrealist net pranks, an absurdly long .signature (see here [1] for a version dated 5 May 1994), and a machine-assisted knack for joining any thread in which his nom de guerre is mentioned (to "kiboze"). His exploits have gleaned him a multitude of enthusiasts, who celebrate him as the head deity of the parody religion kibology, centered on the newsgroup alt.religion.kibology.

James Parry grew up and lived in Scotia, New York. He showed early computing skills, such as being able to open up and reprogram ROM video game cartridges such as those for the Atari 2600, but was more interested in graphics and artistic pursuits. In this vein, he initially was a Computer engineering major at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York, but moved to Boston, Massachusetts in 1990 and attended Emerson College, where he studied videography and graphic design. At that time, he also worked as a typeface designer and for the world.std.com internet service provider. He has an artistic eye for typeface and developed several fonts in use today.

Many assume his nickname is derived from the acronym KIBO, although Parry himself has repeatedly denied this. Another rumor has it being short for King Body, a pseudonym he very briefly used on computer forums as a freshman at RPI in the mid-1980's.

Kibo is a supertaster, and has prosopagnosia. He frequently dyes his hair, which as of late 2004 is bright orange.

External links

• Kibo's website
• The alt.religion.kibology newsgroup (via Google Groups)