Interview



Handle:
Antitrack

How did you come up with your alias ?
Back in 1982, many crackers seemed to have a handle starting with "Anti": Antiram, Antirom, Antiprotect. "Gruds in Space broken by Antiram" gave me the idea to select my handle "Antitrack". This was in 84 or so.

City / Country:
Graz/Austria

Born year:
1969

What was your first computer, and when did you get it?
C64, xmas 1982

How did you get into the scene and what groups have you been a member of ?
First, I bought warez from local lamers (only a very few) then I decided to swap with local dudes, schoolmates etc. Some people I simply met at libraries, some at computer stores, that stuff. Finally I stumbled across local coders ("Malaria", "Yulk"...) that gave me the kick to hunt for more decent people. This way, I stumbled over some TSK members, chatted them up, showed them what I can do and eventually became member... the rest is history... other groups: Cosmos, 711, Legend, F4cg. (Amiga: Energy)

What was the proudest moment in your career ?
In 1987, after constantly learing ASM for 2 years, I broke (just for the fun and for myself) the copy protection of paperback writer. It took me 3 weeks every day some hours, back then - I decided to crack it the hardest way possible, no freezer allowed etc. Realizing that no copy protection could be much better than the one that I just cracked in over 120 tries to go through the whole scheme, I felt pretty proud indeed.

Other exciting moments include the moment when I saw how fast my REU darksqueezer gets (in 1992), cracking cartridge games (Shadow of the Beast), and cracking timex v2 and v3 exactly the typical hard way.

For what specific reason(s) do you think that you are remembered ?
I guess it is supposed to be the quality of my cracks, despite the speed I never wanted to make any compromises on that.

What would you like to be remembered for ?
For the quality of my cracks and my tools :)

What made you stop the scene activity ? (and do you remember when?)
The lack of originals and maybe the lack of motivation (since other computers seem to be so much better). I never really stopped tho.

Thinking back on the good old days, is there anything you regret?
Yeah - I should have been on more parties, and definitely should have tried harded to pick up a girlfriend or two.

What was your favorite
game(s)
Wayout, Hattrick (you still cant beat me on that! :-) Zak Mc Kraken, Pirates, IO, Last Ninja, etc... (too many at all :-)

demo(s)
too many to mention :) some 10 mins glenz vector by "pi"... dutch breeze... etc.

programmer(s) (or programming team(s))
Mr. Cursor, Darkforce, Kris Hatlelid (Pirateslayer boot), Harald Seeley (v-max disk drive routines/copy protection).

cracker(s) (or cracking group(s))
Mister Zeropage, Mr. Z, TCS, Janitor, Mitch/Eagle Soft, 1103,

composer(s)
Galway!! Hubbard, Follin, Jeroen Tel

best composed track(s)
Follin: Spider Man and X-men, SNES
Galway: Green Beret, Highlander, Rambo, Mikie, etc (too many!)
Hubbard: Too many :)
JT: Too many :)
Syndrom/TIA: "black or white" michael jackson remix

event(s) (e.g. copyparty)
Radwar+Venlo Party Dec. 1988
Ikari-Zargon Easter 89

memory(s)
?

Favorite drink ?
Any style of juice, orange juice

What are you doing nowadays ?
I wish I knew. :) They call it studying but I have to find a job :(

What are you doing on your spare time?
IRC/Internet surfing

Is there anything you'd like to say to the public (read: admires)
Yeh - I need a job :) Help me out, will ya please? 6502, 65c816, i486, RCA1802, Z80, 680x0, 8609, PDP11, PIC185cx, Siemens SAB 80c16, Sony SPC700 etc etc excellent asm programming knowledge. Also, inet knowledge: C/Unix programming, net programming, pascal, perl, inet security, firewalls. Furthermore: SGI/Onyx, Computer music/music routine knowledge. Knowledge on Chipcards and Magstripes. :) Cant be all bad.

I am still single, wonder if I ever had a female among the admirers?

What is the meaning of life?
I haven´t got the slightest clue. Have I? :-)