MethoD steps out of the shadows of lore

LincLinc OwnerDetroit Icrontian

Out of nowhere someone pings our Twitter account tonight. Just signed up for it a few months ago in April.

Stop the presses. The MethoD?

As his tweet says, this utter myth whipped up Icrontic 3.0 back in 2001, the version that greeted many of our oldest old-timers until the day it all came down in 2003. There was an abrupt transition of a week or two during which there was no main page to the site at all, only a forum, and in that moment is when I got Internet-angry enough ("hey! where'd my news page go!?") to register for my very first forum.

He was some nameless, self-described Internet script kiddie that crossed paths with Mortin back then. The only contact info we had was an AIM screen name, and he was never online. Seeing him in the "Who's Online" section of Icrontic was like watching a spectre drift thru the site - no one would believe you, and no trace was ever left. I think he made 5 posts ever, and only in the staff forum.

It's possible I was mildly obsessed with the mystery. I didn't know a damn thing about the web, was DYING to learn about it, and here was this person spitting out this incredible website and then disappearing like it was nothing. I just couldn't believe it.

And then one day my freshman year of college, MethoD was suddenly on AIM.

I pounced. I pumped him for information for at least an hour and he humored me, describing some of the architecture of the site and dropping knowledge bombs (this was the first time I ever heard of object-oriented programming) like it was nothing. My mind was blown. And then he was gone, and I never heard from him again.

Until today. And he was two years younger than me the whole time. Dammit.

I won't say our brief encounter changed my life per se, but if the definitive moment of the direction of my life was choosing to move to Michigan a become a web developer in 2007, then this guy was largely responsible for steps 2 & 3 of 15 or so along the way.

And the real clincher is: The most mysterious person I ever ran into on the Internet, the last true enigma of our lore, signed up to Twitter with a username of first name + last name + birth year and then casually waved.

The Internet, how does it work.

SonorousDontCallMeKelsoprimesuspectChoochcolaBuddyJRyderZanthianRahnalH102GargUPSKingpinMassalinieMethoDEMT

Comments

  • ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian

    I once managed to speak with him. I felt like I was being schooled by a god. Revered!

    ZanthianLincGargMethoD
  • SazbeanSazbean Paladins. Lawful good & violent about it. Chelsea, MI Icrontian

    You young whippersnappers are so lucky these days

  • QCHQCH Ancient Guru Chicago Area - USA Icrontian

    WOW... :thumbsup:

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