I am Privateer. The inside story of an SH3 Modder

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Jeff-Groves

I do believe it is a good tale needing to be told.
I hope as I go along any one will correct me as needed.
It's a pretty good story to be honest.

We know what motivated this! Don't leave out the 'well-heeled' nut-case that U encountered in Sacramento... and get a ghost writer( Ms Zaske) like I did: That way your thoughts remain lofty; but your I's are dotted; T's crossed; and vowels properly umlauted!

[Jeff-Groves]

I came from a small town in Ohio. My family, like many of ours, was not rich by any stretch of the imagination.
My father worked in a steel mill in the early days. Then would come home and spend hours in the garage working on cars late into the night.
I was always attached to my father as he was and is a great man. He always had time for me even as he struggled to provide for us.
In a lot of ways that ingrained the work ethic I have today. Be it real life or my Modding work.
My Mother was an avid reader. Television was not a given as it is today. She ingrained in me the wonders of a good book!
I still can read a book in a single day where others may take weeks to read the same book.
She was one of the best at pushing me for what seemed natural talents to me.
Combined? They gave me the ground work and determination to be the best I could be at anything I tried.
I can recall going to school in hand me down clothes and other kids laughing at me and pointing out that i was wearing thier old stuff that was donated to goodWill and such.
That pretty much created my some what anti-social personnality that has a lasting effect to this day.
I spent most of my time reading and drawing when the other kids were outside playing football or baseball.
I was reading about WWI, WWII, and anything Sci-fi! Then I'd draw the tanks and planes and such.
When the space race started and Star Trek came out? I saw the future! And I mean that in a literal way.
One way or another I was determined to be a part of all that.
My father paid to get me into the NASA club and I had all the models and posters that came with it.
That was when I first learned there were, infact, real computers!

[Jeff-Groves]

From the 60's space race and up to the later 70's? I spent many hours reading everything I could get my hands on about the computer revolution.
Dad had taken courses and was now a Machinical Engineer with a better job and access to manuals to some of the early mainframes and such IBM was putting into place.
He'd bring those home to learn and I'd get my sneaky hands on them.
I was VERY quick to become a Master Hacker!
Now back then? Hackers had an Honor Code that has long been forgotten by those that call themselves Hackers today.
I went under different names back then and I'll not discuss what those names were for obvious reasons!
We used some really nice home built devices to get free long distance calls and such. And attached to some of the early systems?
It didn't take many of us long to be inside Company, schools, Banks, and even Govt systems.
The very early days of what is now the Internet!
We had a Golden Rule back then. Do no harm. Leave no trace.
Seems that is out the window for some years now. And that does include some tools for SH3/4 which I will explain as I ramble on.
Roughly about that time Pong came out. Holy crap! That took my breath away as it was just a simple Game you hooked to your TV!
Computers had came into our homes and I needed to know how the heck did they do that?
I was off on a whole new learning experience now!

[Jeff-Groves]

I taught myself all kinds of early programming languages, bought and built Heath kit computers.
Dumpster dived behind Companies to recover system parts thrown away and even infiltrated places to gain what I wanted.
No. What I NEEDED to complete a drive I had and still have!
I became an expert with Hex Editing on my own and some help from others that had my passion and drive to be a part of all this really neat stuff!
Back then? If you could hex edit? You could do nearly anything you wanted IF you were good enough.
It's becoming a lost talent or trade now days if you understand what I mean.
I'd graduated from High school in 1976 with a not spectaculer record. I didn't care about that then and don't give a hoot about that today.
They did not teach me what I wanted to learn so I did nothing but cause trouble just to get time off by getting kicked out.
They never expected I could pass all exams and get that diploma! LMAO!!
I was soon in the regular work force of factory workers.

[Jeff-Groves]

Worked in the factory, had a wife and child, went to concerts, did drugs and was just a Child of the 70's.
But there was always the itch. the burning desire to be more then i was!
I had this burning desire to prove to myself I was more then just the sum of my day to day life.
Then it happened. I caused my divorce and went into a deep depression.
I tried to cover it by all the parties but it got worse.
Until my brother decided to enlist in the Air Force.
I made the decision to see if I was a Man and enlisted in the Army and go AirBorne!

[Jeff-Groves]

I went to Columbus Ohio to take the silly test to become an AirBorne Infantryman for 2 reasons.
1 was just to test myself
2 was that I had seen that the 82nd would be going to Egypt!
I always had this thing about the Pyramids and wanted to see them.
I completed the test in less then a half hour and turned my papers in.
It didn't take 15 minutes to be called out of the test room and be face to face with several very stern looking Guys!
They asked if I'd like to go into Intellegence! WTH? I regret that I turned that offer down today!
But hind sight being what it is? Oh Well!
I did jump into Egypt and got to see the Pyramids. Even went inside.
That just convinced me that We don't know as much as we think we do!
I spent my enlistment mostly alone. Reading my books and teaching myself even more about computers.

[Jeff-Groves]

I did my time and after discharge? I again connected with past contacts.
I was driving up and down the east coast at the time and We hatched a plan.
We started checking out some really big Companys and used old tactics.
It wasn't long that by dumpster diving we had floppy disks full of information!
Most floppies back then were of the 8 inch type and they'd cut them with scissors thinking they were destroyed!
We became experts at Data recovery with those disks. We also made alot of money to see that that data was never released!
Some of us ended up in the business of data recovery or data protection.

Still it wasn't enough for me.
I found an electronics surplus store near me that had rooms full of old computer stuff!
It was like walking into Fort Knoxs to me! The parts, on thier own, were worthless.
With all I knew and the years of manuals I had gathered?
It didn't take me long to assembly junk into working Units.
As nearly no one wiped drives back then? I soon had a data base that shamed a bunch of Companies out of some nice change.
Make it go away and I'll pay was easy money back then but we were smart enough to know that would never last forever.
I, like many others, retired from that sort of business as the ropes grew tighter.
Get out while the getting is good we decided.