22:17:43 <@root> oscar(2109563) - Error: Disconnected.
22:17:43 <@root> oscar(2109563) - Signing off..
Seemed harmless enough. My ICQ connection disappears sometimes, so on February 2nd I didn’t worry about it when this happened. Hell, I probaby didn’t even notice. However, that’s when the fun ended I guess:
22:17:43 <@root> oscar(2109563) - Reconnecting in 5 seconds..
22:17:48 <@root> oscar(2109563) - Logging in: Signon: 2109563
22:17:48 <@root> oscar(2109563) - Couldn't log in: Incorrect nickname or password.
22:17:48 <@root> oscar(2109563) - Logging in: Signing off..
22:17:48 <@root> oscar(2109563) - Logging in: Reconnecting in 15 seconds..
22:18:03 <@root> oscar(2109563) - Logging in: Signon: 2109563
22:18:03 <@root> oscar(2109563) - Couldn't log in: Incorrect nickname or password.
22:18:03 <@root> oscar(2109563) - Logging in: Signing off..
22:18:03 <@root> oscar(2109563) - Logging in: Reconnecting in 45 seconds..
22:18:48 <@root> oscar(2109563) - Logging in: Signon: 2109563
22:18:48 <@root> oscar(2109563) - Couldn't log in: Incorrect nickname or password.
22:18:48 <@root> oscar(2109563) - Logging in: Signing off..
22:18:48 <@root> oscar(2109563) - Logging in: Reconnecting in 135 seconds..
22:21:03 <@root> oscar(2109563) - Logging in: Signon: 2109563
22:21:03 <@root> oscar(2109563) - Couldn't log in: Incorrect nickname or password.
22:21:03 <@root> oscar(2109563) - Logging in: Signing off..
22:21:03 <@root> oscar(2109563) - Logging in: Reconnecting in 405 seconds..
22:27:48 <@root> oscar(2109563) - Logging in: Signon: 2109563
22:27:48 <@root> oscar(2109563) - Couldn't log in: Incorrect nickname or password.
22:27:48 <@root> oscar(2109563) - Logging in: Signing off..
22:27:48 <@root> oscar(2109563) - Logging in: Reconnecting in 900 seconds..
Never did reconnect. Now, since my password wasn’t changed by me, I’m pretty sure that all the various IM programs I have which have the password stored will have it stored correctly. My first thought when I saw all of this – the next day, mind you – was that there was some global ICQ problem. It’s happened before. That, or maybe ICQ was actively blocking the program that I use – bitlbee – from connecting to the network. But it wasn’t long before I found out that everything was basically fine, except for my account. Tried telling their website that I wanted a new password, only every email address I throw at the site comes back with a “We can’t email a password to that address” error. Which really makes it sound like I was banned or something, but who knows? Their tech support requires you to login before posting a question (cute, really) and it looks like nobody answers questions there anyway. There’s no published information for actually getting in touch with a real person somewhere either. So it looks like, while my UIN exists, and for all intents and purposes is still me (shit, my *photo* is still on there too…) I don’t have an ICQ number anymore. Which annoys me mostly because of the fact that I created that account over a decade ago. And since all the information about that “person” is still looking like it’s me.
So if you happen to know someone at ICQ, or are someone there, drop me a line – I’d love to have my account back, or at least know why all the methods provided for me to get it back aren’t working.