@NOOw: As a matter of fact, I am not “Pro” or “Against” Skid Row. I was just sharing my view/opinion as an outside observer, obviously influenced (biased?) by what boards I was on and what people I was closest to. I was never a member of any of those groups (except for short “stints” with Vision Factory / Agile / Fusion) so I clearly lack the inside information you were privy to.
My activities in the early 90’s were mostly limited to extensive trading on the US boards (you may remember my name from the rankings on Unlawful Entry / Danse Macabre / Lithium (which used be to our WHQ before they went to Paradox) / Pirate’s Haven / Mirage / Ghetto / Point Blank / Death Row / Zions Hideout etc…), hacking/phreaking and organizing GOD (Global OverDose) and so that’s where I have my recollections from.
I knew Killerette as I was supplying Micro$oft stuff to her group: High Voltage ; I also knew Kimble as I was supplying JAP stuff for his group: Romkids. Both of them ‘paid’ me for my services with cc’s. Ultimately, their respective busts and my name popping up too many times in different (wrong) places inevitably led to me getting a “friendly visit” in 1996 also.
To your points:
1. As you could read in some articles (one of them posted here), Major Theft (Lee) was heavily involved in the MCI-calling cards and was probably channeling some of that money into Skid Row. Subzero is a somewhat active member of this forum ; perhaps he cares to comment? I will take your word for it that Paradox was a biiger and better organized business than Skid Row :). I think I have met Strider/FLT once when he lived in Waterloo/Belgium and given what he turned out to be now, you are probably right he was an excellent organizaer/business man 🙂
2. Wildcard – it’s funny you describe him as a gifted H/P/A. I lived maybe 50km’s away from him, I met him once or twice but never knew him to be a hacker/phreaker ; let alone ‘one of the best’ – I guess it is one of those ironies of life where you find out things about your neighbour 20 years later 🙂
3. Glad we agree.
4. I was citing FNAC as an example as it was where everybody started (Ackerlight / BS1 / Angels?) and was pretty common knowledge. It was actually very interesting to get your insight into the French supplier-“scene” as that was pretty much uncharted domain for me. Flashtro is turning out to becoming the most complete source for understanding some of the mechanics behind the 80/90’s scene :). Clearly, you are still proud of the goals you reached in those days and I respect that ; I did not want to make French suppliers look like “FNAC errand boys”. And yes, Bomberman & Willy were the Prestige-suppliers.
5. I mentioned some of the boards above so no need to repeat and yes, given I traded like a maniac on multiple lines, I was granted special privileges on most boards. I did make the mistake not to trade in Europe a lot as it killed the cards much faster but it also meant I had slower access to stuff that was uploaded in Europe first. I sense you also liked to build up BBS’s from zero’s to hero’s as that was what we liked most at GOD. We would pick a BBS with the right setup (number of nodes), right sysop (with enough cash to keep up with the expansion/upgrades) but that was lacking the support to make it a 0day. We would then start pumping day/night and make it a big/fast board at which point usually a major group “stole” it away. This used to piss me off like hell but in retrospect actually a nice compliment as it is sort of a confirmation of the work we had delivered. Boards that come to mind are
– Hornets Nest (quit the scene)
– Lithium (went to Paradox)
– 11th Hour (don’t remember where it went)
– Concept Elite (disappeared one day)
– Point Blank (quit)
– Zions Hideout (went to Prestige)
Those were fun days and I still think of them from time to time with a lot of nostalgia in mind 🙂 – Those are usually the days I end up on this site, delighted to see messages like yours 🙂
Thanks for your insight & sharing Francois – I hope you get well soon and do check in on this website from time to time and share some other stories for nostalgia’s sake.
A bientot,
Danny