The Good ol' days

BeeP · 6 Oct 2020 at 13:09

I think I started around 1999/2000 with IC24 which cut off every two hours so if I was going to play a CS match I would always cut off and redial just before...I would restart my PC too just to get the best performance lol. I felt like a god when i became a LPB a year or so later on 512k Blueyonder (might have been telewest?)

I've read this site since around that time, most of my time was on MSN or MIRC though. I did use ICQ for a bit too but mainly just to talk to my mate when we played Jimmy Whites Snooker online.

lookitsjonno · 6 Oct 2020 at 15:54

Used to spend hours in Yahoo chat, generally creating a nuisance and kicking people out using various black hat tools

Lots of sites were susceptible to SQL injection in those days too, so used to log in with a usernames like admin' -- and cause all sorts of trouble

Fairly sure most of the stuff I got up to would be illegal in this day and age. Fun at the time though

Kol · 6 Oct 2020 at 16:00

Another thing I remember is when we first got NTL (still dialup), they did a free service but you had to use their software to dial up. If I remember right it was to serve an ad but then someone posted instructions on how to just create a dial up connection and then we could use ICS so more than one of us could be online at the same time.

Then there was the likes of CurrantBun (provided by The Sun?) and screaming.net?!

Maccy · 6 Oct 2020 at 16:38

lookitsjonno said:
Used to spend hours in Yahoo chat, generally creating a nuisance and kicking people out using various black hat tools

Lots of sites were susceptible to SQL injection in those days too, so used to log in with a usernames like admin' -- and cause all sorts of trouble

Fairly sure most of the stuff I got up to would be illegal in this day and age. Fun at the time though

Still many a site out there with admin/admin when you try website.com/wp-login :eek:

Nasher · 6 Oct 2020 at 17:16

It wasn't all that long ago that sites were made to start using https :/

Before that it was trivial to hack some of them, including Facebook. They only started using encryption in 2013 I think. All you needed was wireshark to get someone's login details if they were on the same network as you. Uni and any public networks were a free for all.

People just didn't want to know about internet security (and still don't). But they would if they knew someone was actually messing around in their accounts. Hotel wifi often still has huge security holes. Sometimes you can connect straight in to their servers or routers, even other people's devices

Theophany · 6 Oct 2020 at 17:59

Best few quid I've ever spent was on 1Password. Sure 2FA is nice and all, but let's see you bruteforce a 55 character password.

Downside is it autofills my payment details on OcUK, which is the last thing I need...

iamdjdz · 6 Oct 2020 at 18:41

Anyone remember the Kelloggs cereal game that came on different CDs in different packs? Or toys in cereal in general. But that platform game gave hours of entertainment. Even demo CDs on gaming mags would keep us occupied for ages!

Deleted member 77746 · 12 Oct 2020 at 18:49

Theophany said:
Downside is it autofills my payment details on OcUK, which is the last thing I need...

With last pass you can tell it not to autofill per request

Theophany · 12 Oct 2020 at 20:33

Bouton Aide said:
With last pass you can tell it not to autofill per request

Fair, but at least this way I can pay for a new graphics card and believe that some day it will arrive!

Deleted member 77746 · 12 Oct 2020 at 21:30

Theophany said:
Fair, but at least this way I can pay for a new graphics card and believe that some day it will arrive!

Very true! Make sure you get a new 50XX lineup Zen 3/Zen4 mind.

Jamauk · 12 Oct 2020 at 22:39

Not the internet, just the good old days of I think Windows 98 and Microsoft Office, the paper clip “Hey, it looks like you’re writing a letter”!

I think it was Windows 95 when I first connected at 28.8 kb/sec. As I said in a previous post, the battle to use the phone line either interrupting a call by a dialling tone of the modem, or having the internet cut off when someone tried to make a call. Also running a cable across the living room from the PC to an adapter on the socket to split the phone cable. I didn’t bother with antivirus back then, it just slowed the computer down and I wasn’t planning on going on any infected sites, ah, how naive.

Tephnos · 13 Oct 2020 at 14:37

sanaxe1 said:
Can anybody remember Freeserve? Was my first Internet provider.

Lol yeah, from Freeserve to Wanadoo to the Orange merger.

Digital X · 13 Oct 2020 at 18:35

Yep I was on Freeserve.

subbytna · 15 Oct 2020 at 16:44

I remember hosting chat rooms like Joe Hollywood etc. I used a geocities website with basic HTML to have a "Joe Hollywood Gallery pics" and it really started to take off, then geocities died off and I lost the site.

EDIT: Found it on waybackmachine
https://web.archive.org/web/20010603221620/http://www.geocities.com/subsonikspeas/

Haha, memories

subbytna · 15 Oct 2020 at 16:45

Lycos
Bogusmail (great for pranks)

etc

Chrisc · 15 Oct 2020 at 16:59

subbytna said:
I remember hosting chat rooms like Joe Hollywood etc. I used a geocities website with basic HTML to have a "Joe Hollywood Gallery pics" and it really started to take off, then geocities died off and I lost the site.

EDIT: Found it on waybackmachine
https://web.archive.org/web/20010603221620/http://www.geocities.com/subsonikspeas/

Haha, memories

Ok thats brilliant!!

Troop · 16 Oct 2020 at 10:44

Microsoft zone, Wireplay and Barrysworld , god the phone bill from Wireplay @£1.50 an hour playing EF2000.
Most time on the MS Zone playing Fighterace, my first betatesting game in 1996.

Wireplay playing Airattack took years of my life! flying 109k S&Bing, Handle there was Xup flying for the ACES.

Good days then for sure.

mk1_salami · 16 Oct 2020 at 12:53

I used to spend way more time on OCUK forums than I do these days. I spent many countless hours catching up with them. I was active for quite a while 'pre-nuke'. My first foray into the online world would be with Compuserve or AOL dial-up. You'd spend forever waiting on the homepage loading!

I got into UT99 heavily and probably spent upwards of 5 hours a day playing it at a pretty high level. ICQ was good, and also Quakenet on IRC. Winamp was awesome. Back when it took 20 minutes to download a single song from Napster or Limewire.

flame696 · 16 Oct 2020 at 18:40

I used to use chatagogo and msn messenger

englishpremier · 16 Oct 2020 at 19:30

This thread disappoints. I was expecting to find loads of references to Tubgirl, Goatse, and Meatspin.

On a more serious note, Facebook killed off the MSN in the late 00s. That was great for just random chat to girls at school/uni. Messanger and Whatsapp isn't nearly the same.

ICQ was more file sharing in the 90s, particularly questionable material.

Also used to spend hours on Yahoo chat. Probably the best unintentional dating site.

I remember that with Allcomm's dial up number was local, and with Telewest cable all local calls were free. We had a second line installed just for internet. Took the cable company some time to change that.