Feb 29, 2016
Surfer Bob, Warez Sysop
"Surfer Bob", real first name Carlos, ran The Pipeline BBS, an Atari bulletin board system that offered warez for download -- pirated software.
This interview took place on January 28, 2016.
Teaser quote:
"He didn't have anybody to back him up but he had a stun gun ... he had that in his pocket, and he walked up to Shlomo and grabbed him ... took out the stun gun and just, like, sparked it in his face."
Oh MAN, did this bring back some memories! Ran a board. Check. Ran up phone bill to $800. Check. Learned to phreak, giving certain neighbors some pretty incredible phone bills. Check. Traded software day and night. Check. :)
This was a great interview and a reminder of the good old days. Exciting times, to be sure.
I used to run a BBS (Swashbuckler, later The Temporal Fixation) I used to call the Pipeline BBS when I was around 12 or 13. My parents got a $400+ phone bill when our rent was only $185/month. Wow did I take some grief for that! I still remember the phone number to this day.. 805-526-5660. No need to look it up. Haven't called it in 30+ years.