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Jay Maynard (born July 27, 1960) is an American
computer programmer A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software. A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...
, system administrator and the volunteer project maintainer for Hercules, a free emulator of IBM mainframe hardware. He is known for his self-made electroluminescent costume based on the film '' Tron'', which resulted in his nickname Tron Guy.


Internet fame

Maynard created a revealing electroluminescent costume, inspired by the film '' Tron'', that he could wear at the science fiction convention 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 and Fark. 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. In it, Maynard appears alongside several other Internet celebrities, including Leslie Hall and Randy Constan. He was also parodied in the 2008 ''
South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...
'' episode "
Canada on Strike "Canada on Strike" is the fourth episode in the twelfth season of the American animated television series ''South Park''. The 171st episode of the series overall, it first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 2, 2008. In the epi ...
". His likeness appeared alongside those of such other Internet celebrities as Gary Brolsma,
Star Wars Kid ''Star Wars Kid'' is a viral video made in 2002 by Ghyslain RazaI ...
,
Chris Crocker Cara Cunningham (formerly Chris Crocker; born December 7, 1987), is an American transgender Internet personality, songwriter, recording artist, YouTuber, and former pornographic film actor. , Cunningham's videos had received a combined 50 m ...
, and Tay Zonday. 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 ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distribut ...
''. He received a "no" vote from all of the three judges and did not make it past the audition round.
Howie Mandel Howard Michael Mandel (born November 29, 1955) is a Canadian-American comedian, television personality, actor, and producer. Mandel voiced the character Gizmo in the 1984 film ''Gremlins'' and the 1990 sequel '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch''. I ...
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, recreates the light-cycle race from ''Tron'' using
stop-motion animation Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...
, followed by Maynard's appearance in the Tron Guy outfit. The video was featured in '' Wired Magazine'' as a "genius idea" and like many of Maynard's previous videos went
viral Viral means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). Viral may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spread a marke ...
, becoming the tenth most viewed video of all time on Vimeo. On August 26, 2015, Maynard was interviewed by the ''
Scene World ''Scene World Magazine'' (abbreviated ''SWO'') is a disk magazine for the Commodore 64 home computer. The magazine has been released regularly since February 2001. History ''Scene World'' was founded in November 2000 by several Commodore scene ...
Podcast'' in a live video podcast, hosted by Olympronica for the Film & Games Interactions exhibit at the Deutsches Filminstitut in Frankfurt, Germany. The interview was presented live on Twitch, and later published as both a video interview on YouTube and audio podcast.


See also

* List of Internet phenomena


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