7 ms·

I did this in the mid 90s. It was really fun to see inside a lot of rich people's houses, the sort that have libraries so big they need those ladders with wheel

I did this in the mid 90s. It was really fun to see inside a lot of rich people's houses, the sort that have libraries so big they need those ladders with wheels on to scoot around. I was hit on by several bored housewives, including one that answered the door in her open robe. One American woman had brought her inkjet from the USA and I hooked it up to a decent convertor, but it wasn't one that converted the frequency, and the inkjet released its entire content of magic smoke, which incidentally was enough to fill a very large penthouse apartment. I ran her out of the apartment, then I remembered it was still plugged in, so I had to stagger totally blind through the apartment to find the damned thing and unplug it lol That job put me in contact with a criminal gang who went on to supply with me dozens of GBs of stolen hard drives that I used to create what was probably the largest warez FTP in the world and a dump site for most of the top pirate groups like Razor 1911.

quickthrower2 3y ago
Wild read!
KennyBlanken 3y ago
Just a PSA (not trying to harp on parent commenter, just taking their comment as an opportunity to soapbox) but never, ever, every go into a room or building that is getting smokey from something burning. It's how you N+1 the casualty/death count in a fire. Unlike the heroes in films and movies, you don't have Plot Armor. It is incredibly common that people think they can just go back in holding their breath or stay low or cover their mouth with their clothing like in hollywood...but they take a bit of a breath, cough, and suck in lungfuls of the smoke, and are almost immediately incapacitated. A lot of things, like PVC for example, release chlorine gas when they burn, which immediately turns your lung mucus into hydrochloric acid. All the other things in the smoke is incredibly bad for you both short and long-term, too. The smoke is also flammable. Opening a door lets in oxygen, and oxygen + fuel + heat = a fuckton of heat, very suddenly. I really wish that writers would suffer legal liability for shit like showing people entering a building with their shirt over their mouth - it's where people get the idea that they can so that sort of stuff.
- dreamcompiler 3y ago
  Firefighter here. I will walk into a burning building if I'm wearing bunker gear, breathing from a working SCBA, carrying a Halligan or axe so I can chop my way back out if I have to, and my buddy is with me carrying a hose squirting water. Lots of water. Said hose must be attached to a BRT (big red truck) on the other end so that when I can't see shit and my air alarm starts beeping we can crawl along by feeling said hose and follow it back out to safety. Most important, I must have a reasonable suspicion that there are lives inside that might be savable. Without all that, screw it. That building gets to burn.
  - effingwewt 3y ago
    Really appreciate the work you do and the dangers you risk. o7
  - FireBeyond 3y ago
    > crawl along by feeling said hose Smooth bump bump, back to the pump! But yep, absolutely. We will risk a lot, in a calculated manner, for savable life. And I will not send my guys interior on a confirmed empty defensive fire.
- gorlilla 3y ago
  We just had a house fire over the holidays. It started in the basement, I was to the flames in 10 seconds, using an extinguisher another 5-6 seconds later. That failed... I spent another 30 seconds scrambling for anything that might suffocate the flames.... then I had to get out. I was 'upwind' of how the flames were spreading, but was not prepared for the power to suddenly cut out in a room now quickly filling with black smoke. The whole ordeal was 1-2 minutes before I had to evacuate the house and watch it all burn, helplessly. Even a good plan isn't always enough; most don't have any plan.
  - waltwalther 3y ago
    Wow. I am sorry to hear that. Glad you are ok, and hope no one was hurt.
supriyo-biswas 3y ago
> That job put me in contact with a criminal gang who went on to supply with me dozens of GBs of stolen hard drives that I used to create what was probably the largest warez FTP Statements like this seem to agree with the anti-piracy groups' narrative about piracy being closely related to organized crime, a claim that initially seemed questionable to me.
- progbits 3y ago
  That narrative is idiotic, sure pirates might buy stolen drives, same as gangs use knives. Stopping one won't affect the other.
- christoph 3y ago
  Back in the VCD/SVCD/DVD/PS1/PS2 days, piracy was absolutely heavily interwoven with organised criminal gangs. I couldn’t comment on the current state, but I’d be surprised if there was enough money in media piracy for organised crime to even glance at it, given the vast and easy profits now available in narcotics and fraud. “HK silvers” were industrially pressed and printed CDs and DVDS you could buy in any market street in SE Asia. Later they started flooding into Europe. For a few years you’d often see illegal DVD sellers outside supermarkets in the UK with all their warez spread out across the pavement for sale. There was even a local enterprising porn DVD seller in our local area that went around all the local pubs flogging pirated porn DVDs to the inebriated chaps just before closing time. Illegally pressed pirate disks that he purchased from another criminal who mass illegally imported them for resale. These weren’t disks he burnt off with his home PC. Many of the large FTP sites when I was involved in the piracy community 20 or so years ago certainly seemed to have nefarious links as well if you dared to look or think (so you generally didn’t). Sure, some were just illicitly set up on fast college/university networks by enterprising students, but there were certainly many running around that time that were funded by organised crime. *edit - I mention above I doubt organised crime is interested in media piracy now, but on reflection I suddenly realised how I’m probably quite wrong on this. There are plenty of illegal IPTV services (re streamed PPV, commercial channels, streaming providers) being illegally sold through the same people & channels as narcotics.
  - 3y ago
detourdog 3y ago
I specialized for a while in NYC as someone who get a network of Macs connected to the internet with an ISDN line. I know exactly what you are talking about.
PaulHoule 3y ago
In the late 1980s I had a friend who was a bit of a thug who ran a BBS that you could download any pirate software you wanted if you paid a monthly membership fee and also worked in some kind of computer warehouse where he would occasionally nick a hard drive and sell it for much less than retail. His apartment was saturated with tobacco smoke and he always had a copy of Atlas Shrugged around.
peterpost2 3y ago
>I was hit on by several bored housewives, including one that answered the door in her open robe. When you applied for the job did they list this under the benefits?
- qingcharles 3y ago
  It was mentioned by my predecessor who was then my boss lol. I thought he was joking...
wnolens 3y ago
I did window cleaning in the 2000s and went inside many rich folks homes. It was my favorite part of the job. But I had a much different experience. They were kind, more humanizing than middle class housewives, and very proud of their homes which were often fully custom to their spec. Most had built a successful business. Perhaps my curiosity went a long way to flatter them, or they saw themselves in me - young and hustling.
- lannisterstark 3y ago
  >They were kind, more humanizing than middle class housewives Honestly most "rich rich" people I've come across are like that. Most "snobby" rich people are not honestly that rich at all, comparatively, or are very new money etc. (think of "dude who sold their startup for 20 million").
  - rainonmoon 3y ago
    An ex worked in luxury travel. She said you could always tell rich-rich from newly rich immediately. The first group would shop for value and look for experiences. Money was like water for them, plentiful but unexceptional. The latter would just hit everything with the biggest number next to it.
    - razakel 3y ago
      I've heard the same. The dude with the Ferrari, Armani suit and Rolex is not as rich as he wants you to think.
smith7018 3y ago
I also did this in the 2000s and while it was fun to peer into their lives, the amount of porn I was forced to see on elderly people's machines was... not great. Especially during those rare occurrences where they wanted to watch what I was doing to "learn how to use the computer." Just awkward all around.
- thelittleone 3y ago
  Found same on laptop of an insurance company CFO. Had to ignore it.
  - lozf 3y ago
    Yup, C-level execs changing file extensions from .avi to .xls etc. lol.
    - alienthrowaway 3y ago
      I found a stash of porn in C:\Windows\System22 - it caught my attention because I figured it had to be some malware.
  - qingcharles 3y ago
    One of the directors backed up his laptop by copying all his data to a network folder that we primarily used for development. Was looking for a specific image and found whole folder of photos of my boss (director's very, very attractive wife) naked. I had to tell him before anyone else found them. He just grinned, asked if I'd seen them, and then deleted them.
- qingcharles 3y ago
  It's weird, I must have repaired hundreds of computers. Hundreds of backups, reinstalls, but never once did I come across any porn. This was around 1995 though, so it was very early days of the Internet, and pre-digital cameras. Now, in the early 2000s I had to buy dozens of smartphones to test out an SMS relay (SMSC). I bought them all on eBay. Like 70% of them had homemade porn of the owners on them still...!
sandworm101 3y ago
So non-manufacturer repair of electronics lead to vice, criminality and exploding ink cartridges? Don't anyone tell Louis Rossmann. He has whole videos about that being a myth.
ByHookOrCrook 3y ago
No you didn't get hit on - americans in the mid 90s were racist toward chinamen
- _lvbh 3y ago
  I’m confused. Where does he say he’s Chinese? Also, I would be willing to bet not everyone was racist. 1990s wasn’t too far back
matheusmoreira 3y ago
> I was hit on by several bored housewives, including one that answered the door in her open robe. Not sure I believe that.

quickthrower2 3y ago

Wild read!

KennyBlanken 3y ago

Just a PSA (not trying to harp on parent commenter, just taking their comment as an opportunity to soapbox) but never, ever, every go into a room or building that is getting smokey from something burning. It's how you N+1 the casualty/death count in a fire. Unlike the heroes in films and movies, you don't have Plot Armor. It is incredibly common that people think they can just go back in holding their breath or stay low or cover their mouth with their clothing like in hollywood...but they take a bit of a breath, cough, and suck in lungfuls of the smoke, and are almost immediately incapacitated. A lot of things, like PVC for example, release chlorine gas when they burn, which immediately turns your lung mucus into hydrochloric acid. All the other things in the smoke is incredibly bad for you both short and long-term, too. The smoke is also flammable. Opening a door lets in oxygen, and oxygen + fuel + heat = a fuckton of heat, very suddenly. I really wish that writers would suffer legal liability for shit like showing people entering a building with their shirt over their mouth - it's where people get the idea that they can so that sort of stuff.

dreamcompiler 3y ago
Firefighter here. I will walk into a burning building if I'm wearing bunker gear, breathing from a working SCBA, carrying a Halligan or axe so I can chop my way back out if I have to, and my buddy is with me carrying a hose squirting water. Lots of water. Said hose must be attached to a BRT (big red truck) on the other end so that when I can't see shit and my air alarm starts beeping we can crawl along by feeling said hose and follow it back out to safety. Most important, I must have a reasonable suspicion that there are lives inside that might be savable. Without all that, screw it. That building gets to burn.
- effingwewt 3y ago
  Really appreciate the work you do and the dangers you risk. o7
- FireBeyond 3y ago
  > crawl along by feeling said hose Smooth bump bump, back to the pump! But yep, absolutely. We will risk a lot, in a calculated manner, for savable life. And I will not send my guys interior on a confirmed empty defensive fire.
gorlilla 3y ago
We just had a house fire over the holidays. It started in the basement, I was to the flames in 10 seconds, using an extinguisher another 5-6 seconds later. That failed... I spent another 30 seconds scrambling for anything that might suffocate the flames.... then I had to get out. I was 'upwind' of how the flames were spreading, but was not prepared for the power to suddenly cut out in a room now quickly filling with black smoke. The whole ordeal was 1-2 minutes before I had to evacuate the house and watch it all burn, helplessly. Even a good plan isn't always enough; most don't have any plan.
- waltwalther 3y ago
  Wow. I am sorry to hear that. Glad you are ok, and hope no one was hurt.

supriyo-biswas 3y ago

> That job put me in contact with a criminal gang who went on to supply with me dozens of GBs of stolen hard drives that I used to create what was probably the largest warez FTP Statements like this seem to agree with the anti-piracy groups' narrative about piracy being closely related to organized crime, a claim that initially seemed questionable to me.

progbits 3y ago
That narrative is idiotic, sure pirates might buy stolen drives, same as gangs use knives. Stopping one won't affect the other.
christoph 3y ago
Back in the VCD/SVCD/DVD/PS1/PS2 days, piracy was absolutely heavily interwoven with organised criminal gangs. I couldn’t comment on the current state, but I’d be surprised if there was enough money in media piracy for organised crime to even glance at it, given the vast and easy profits now available in narcotics and fraud. “HK silvers” were industrially pressed and printed CDs and DVDS you could buy in any market street in SE Asia. Later they started flooding into Europe. For a few years you’d often see illegal DVD sellers outside supermarkets in the UK with all their warez spread out across the pavement for sale. There was even a local enterprising porn DVD seller in our local area that went around all the local pubs flogging pirated porn DVDs to the inebriated chaps just before closing time. Illegally pressed pirate disks that he purchased from another criminal who mass illegally imported them for resale. These weren’t disks he burnt off with his home PC. Many of the large FTP sites when I was involved in the piracy community 20 or so years ago certainly seemed to have nefarious links as well if you dared to look or think (so you generally didn’t). Sure, some were just illicitly set up on fast college/university networks by enterprising students, but there were certainly many running around that time that were funded by organised crime. *edit - I mention above I doubt organised crime is interested in media piracy now, but on reflection I suddenly realised how I’m probably quite wrong on this. There are plenty of illegal IPTV services (re streamed PPV, commercial channels, streaming providers) being illegally sold through the same people & channels as narcotics.
- 3y ago

detourdog 3y ago

I specialized for a while in NYC as someone who get a network of Macs connected to the internet with an ISDN line. I know exactly what you are talking about.

PaulHoule 3y ago

In the late 1980s I had a friend who was a bit of a thug who ran a BBS that you could download any pirate software you wanted if you paid a monthly membership fee and also worked in some kind of computer warehouse where he would occasionally nick a hard drive and sell it for much less than retail. His apartment was saturated with tobacco smoke and he always had a copy of Atlas Shrugged around.

peterpost2 3y ago

>I was hit on by several bored housewives, including one that answered the door in her open robe. When you applied for the job did they list this under the benefits?

qingcharles 3y ago
It was mentioned by my predecessor who was then my boss lol. I thought he was joking...

wnolens 3y ago

I did window cleaning in the 2000s and went inside many rich folks homes. It was my favorite part of the job. But I had a much different experience. They were kind, more humanizing than middle class housewives, and very proud of their homes which were often fully custom to their spec. Most had built a successful business. Perhaps my curiosity went a long way to flatter them, or they saw themselves in me - young and hustling.

lannisterstark 3y ago
>They were kind, more humanizing than middle class housewives Honestly most "rich rich" people I've come across are like that. Most "snobby" rich people are not honestly that rich at all, comparatively, or are very new money etc. (think of "dude who sold their startup for 20 million").
- rainonmoon 3y ago
  An ex worked in luxury travel. She said you could always tell rich-rich from newly rich immediately. The first group would shop for value and look for experiences. Money was like water for them, plentiful but unexceptional. The latter would just hit everything with the biggest number next to it.
  - razakel 3y ago
    I've heard the same. The dude with the Ferrari, Armani suit and Rolex is not as rich as he wants you to think.

smith7018 3y ago

I also did this in the 2000s and while it was fun to peer into their lives, the amount of porn I was forced to see on elderly people's machines was... not great. Especially during those rare occurrences where they wanted to watch what I was doing to "learn how to use the computer." Just awkward all around.

thelittleone 3y ago
Found same on laptop of an insurance company CFO. Had to ignore it.
- lozf 3y ago
  Yup, C-level execs changing file extensions from .avi to .xls etc. lol.
  - alienthrowaway 3y ago
    I found a stash of porn in C:\Windows\System22 - it caught my attention because I figured it had to be some malware.
- qingcharles 3y ago
  One of the directors backed up his laptop by copying all his data to a network folder that we primarily used for development. Was looking for a specific image and found whole folder of photos of my boss (director's very, very attractive wife) naked. I had to tell him before anyone else found them. He just grinned, asked if I'd seen them, and then deleted them.
qingcharles 3y ago
It's weird, I must have repaired hundreds of computers. Hundreds of backups, reinstalls, but never once did I come across any porn. This was around 1995 though, so it was very early days of the Internet, and pre-digital cameras. Now, in the early 2000s I had to buy dozens of smartphones to test out an SMS relay (SMSC). I bought them all on eBay. Like 70% of them had homemade porn of the owners on them still...!

sandworm101 3y ago

So non-manufacturer repair of electronics lead to vice, criminality and exploding ink cartridges? Don't anyone tell Louis Rossmann. He has whole videos about that being a myth.

ByHookOrCrook 3y ago

No you didn't get hit on - americans in the mid 90s were racist toward chinamen

_lvbh 3y ago
I’m confused. Where does he say he’s Chinese? Also, I would be willing to bet not everyone was racist. 1990s wasn’t too far back

matheusmoreira 3y ago

> I was hit on by several bored housewives, including one that answered the door in her open robe. Not sure I believe that.