Mxit's rise and demise

Benedict A55h0le said:
So after I left Clockspeed, but before MXIT was known to me, I told MIH (Naspers) where I worked to create a J2ME app that will use data to compete with SMS. My idea was shot down because they said: "nobody wants to install apps on their phones". A few months later MIH bought a major stake in MXIT.
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Whoops.
 
Gravedigger said:
Source, or it did not happen....
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Source as in source code? Rouxenator has a backup of all swist`s code. Or else just ask Rouxenator, he should remember the 2 games that I built. He will definitely confirm that I built games when I was in clockspeed. I think he might also remember about the task manager app that me and him built. Herman got the idea to build Java games from test data for dev tasks that I added. The top most task in the new app said "Build J2ME games", Herman saw this and created clockspeed with me in it to build J2ME games. Besides me having the idea to build mobile games and to compete with SMS with a J2ME app, I was already telling Herman in my job interview that he should be looking at J2ME if he wants to create something innovative. Herman seemed to like me and hire me, but he told me that Java is too slow and that Swist only does Microsoft and Oracle, no Java. In the end it was J2ME that made Herman rich.
 
Benedict A55h0le said:
Source as in source code? Rouxenator has a backup of all swist`s code. Or else just ask Rouxenator, he should remember the 2 games that I built. He will definitely confirm that I built games when I was in clockspeed. I think he might also remember about the task manager app that me and him built. Herman got the idea to build Java games from test data for dev tasks that I added. The top most task in the new app said "Build J2ME games", Herman saw this and created clockspeed with me in it to build J2ME games. Besides me having the idea to build mobile games and to compete with SMS with a J2ME app, I was already telling Herman in my job interview that he should be looking at J2ME if he wants to create something innovative. Herman seemed to like me and hire me, but he told me that Java is too slow and that Swist only does Microsoft and Oracle, no Java. In the end it was J2ME that made Herman rich.
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Good times indeed - and yes for those that doubt it - me and @Benedict A55h0le go back to 2002 at SWiST although he joined before me.

Herman was very conscious about how anything we might do could be seen by Vodacom because SWiST (and MXIT) would not exist had it not been for what they built for Vodacom. Even short lived features like getting a missed call if you have a message waiting on MXIT (early days feature) was canned because Vodacom was not happy with the traffic it put on their network without it resulting in revenue. Herman had the MXIT guys pull that feature real fast.

I have some SWiST source code somewhere, but lost a lot of it - including the Reginault Penetronaut icon :crying: The copy I made of Visual Source (un) Safe was totally unusable - just like it was on the SWiST domain :ROFL:
 
Rouxenator said:
Good times indeed - and yes for those that doubt it - me and @Benedict A55h0le go back to 2002 at SWiST although he joined before me.

Herman was very conscious about how anything we might do could be seen by Vodacom because SWiST (and MXIT) would not exist had it not been for what they built for Vodacom. Even short lived features like getting a missed call if you have a message waiting on MXIT (early days feature) was canned because Vodacom was not happy with the traffic it put on their network without it resulting in revenue. Herman had the MXIT guys pull that feature real fast.

I have some SWiST source code somewhere, but lost a lot of it - including the Reginault Penetronaut icon :crying: The copy I made of Visual Source (un) Safe was totally unusable - just like it was on the SWiST domain :ROFL:
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That sms app that you built was awesome and caused so much k@k because via the app`s data you saved it was found that Maxzilla was sending director's windows passwords, so you had all their windows log ins exposed via the dude that was responsible for security. It was also found that he was using your app to get bjs from the front desk girl in the swist bathroom. This dude Maxzilla was a spoken out Christian and married. Well done creating such a good k@k exposing app!
 
Benedict A55h0le said:
That sms app that you built was awesome and caused so much k@k because via the app`s data you saved it was found that Maxzilla was sending director's windows passwords, so you had all their windows log ins exposed via the dude that was responsible for security. It was also found that he was using your app to get bjs from the front desk girl in the swist bathroom. This dude Maxzilla was a spoken out Christian and married. Well done creating such a good k@k exposing app!
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That app started out as a GUI for the Vodacom sms.exe but after a couple of months (yet again) Herman was furious because Vodacom was billing us for "non work related usages of SMS gateway". Thankfully I was not singled out, it was just one of those company wide emails. I had to go to everyone using the GUI I wrote and explained that until I release a new version they should rather not use it, since Herman was clearly very pissed off.

Enter Mocadov.... A complete re-write of the app this time using an HTTP post to the then free SMS page on the Vodacom website. That was when I decided, heck if I am doing all this effort I might as well log everything (including messages) to a SQL database on my PC. Naturally I needed some context of who the recipient was so Mocadov had a neat phonebook feature too. :sneaky:

Flippit ou - thinking back to the stunts I pulled off as a junior dev - I am very glad there was none of the RICA/FICA/POPI nonsense back then - else I would be behind bars.

That brings to mind the time you spoofed an email to the graphics designer - what a beautiful disaster that gave off.

Thanks, Herman, for making all this tomfoolery possible. You certainly would not have approved. But it was good times nonetheless.
 
Rouxenator said:
That app started out as a GUI for the Vodacom sms.exe but after a couple of months (yet again) Herman was furious because Vodacom was billing us for "non work related usages of SMS gateway". Thankfully I was not singled out, it was just one of those company wide emails. I had to go to everyone using the GUI I wrote and explained that until I release a new version they should rather not use it, since Herman was clearly very pissed off.

Enter Mocadov.... A complete re-write of the app this time using an HTTP post to the then free SMS page on the Vodacom website. That was when I decided, heck if I am doing all this effort I might as well log everything (including messages) to a SQL database on my PC. Naturally I needed some context of who the recipient was so Mocadov had a neat phonebook feature too. :sneaky:

Flippit ou - thinking back to the stunts I pulled off as a junior dev - I am very glad there was none of the RICA/FICA/POPI nonsense back then - else I would be behind bars.

That brings to mind the time you spoofed an email to the graphics designer - what a beautiful disaster that gave off.

Thanks, Herman, for making all this tomfoolery possible. You certainly would not have approved. But it was good times nonetheless.
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I forgot about that email spoof I did. I remember some other funny stuff you caused like the sexual harassment case and the "after work photo shoots" with the front desk girl, that was funny as hell, you are the most entertaining colleague I ever had, good times! We were naughty af but always wrapped in style!
 
eye_suc said:
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I am not sure, the games I built was J2ME games. I built the Moonbuggy game for Clockspeed. I don`t know what they did with the games, it might be that they redid it in html.
 
Benedict A55h0le said:
I forgot about that email spoof I did. I remember some other funny stuff you caused like the sexual harassment case and the "after work photo shoots" with the front desk girl, that was funny as hell, you are the most entertaining colleague I ever had, good times! We were naughty af but always wrapped in style!
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Ah yes - so many front desk girls. I saw it as one of the company perks. Had a pretty good success ratio, only 1 out of 5 complained - another career success for me.

What are the odds we will inherit something for being the masterminds behind MXit ?
 
Benedict A55h0le said:
I am not sure, the games I built was J2ME games. I built the Moonbuggy game for Clockspeed. I don`t know what they did with the games, it might be that they redid it in html.
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I still have the source code for game bots Trivit (useless and out of date quiz database by now) and the more successful CalcIt - which was like the Old Mutual Maths 24 but way more fun. Should not be to hard to run them on a website.
 
Rouxenator said:
Ah yes - so many front desk girls. I saw it as one of the company perks. Had a pretty good success ratio, only 1 out of 5 complained - another career success for me.

What are the odds we will inherit something for being the masterminds behind MXit ?
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0% Chance of that. I later on spoke to that db admin guy that we know (forgot his name, I think Conrad), and he told me that MXIT owed him like R600k and that it was still owed after he left MXIT, never got it.
 
Benedict A55h0le said:
0% Chance of that. I later on spoke to that db admin guy that we know (forgot his name, I think Conrad), and he told me that MXIT owed him like R600k and that it was still owed after he left MXIT, never got it.
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You know everyone at SWiST got paid out a pretty hefty sum when MXit became their own thing and left SWiST Group? Everyone except me and "Sersant Saaiman" that was the security expert - he told me that when we were on a trip to Microsoft in Sandton. He was not happy about it.

But yeah, I heard towards the end things got pretty hairy. Thankfully the team comprised of very talented people all round and they found something else soon.

I feel pretty sad about Herman not being with us anymore, he was an inspiration. Would have finished ahead of me in the final Transkaroo after we spent a long time riding together for a long stretch after he had his crash.... I think that was probably the last time we spoke in person. Tremendous endurance considering the pain he was in.

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Rouxenator said:
You know everyone at SWiST got paid out a pretty hefty sum when MXit became their own thing and left SWiST Group? Everyone except me and "Sersant Saaiman" that was the security expert - he told me that when we were on a trip to Microsoft in Sandton. He was not happy about it.

But yeah, I heard towards the end things got pretty hairy. Thankfully the team comprised of very talented people all round and they found something else soon.

I feel pretty sad about Herman not being with us anymore, he was an inspiration. Would have finished ahead of me in the final Transkaroo after we spent a long time riding together for a long stretch after he had his crash.... I think that was probably the last time we spoke in person. Tremendous endurance considering the pain he was in.

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Wow, I did not know he passed away. Was it the fall?
 
Mxit was fun.
Met my wife via the app after getting her details from a friend.
I used to be a moderator and provide support on their forum with the same username.
 
Rouxenator said:
No, thankfully the fall was way back in 2017.

He passed away yesterday morning after being diagnosed with pancreas cancer a few years back.
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Sad to hear. He gave me my 1st opportunity to get a real job in IT without me really knowing anything back then. I will always be grateful for that.
 
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