AC = Domestic Terrorists?

Miang writes "A video from a recent FOX 11 (Los Angeles) newscast has surfaced on YouTube. In the segment, reporter Phil Shuman investigates so-called "Hacker Gangs" comprised entirely of anonymous users. The segment, which focuses mainly on users at 4chan, 7chan, and 420chan, seems to confuse /b/ raids and motivational poster templates with a genuine threat to the American public. For added FUD, the FOX team inserted an unrelated video of a van blowing up — twice! Presumably, one is intended to equate anonymous posting with domestic terror. The story and video can be found on the local FOX website, so it does not appear to be simply a clever parody." Cringe as you watch this video explain terms like 'LULZ' and show inspirational poster parodies as evidence of the evils of this terrifying "Group".

Comments

"so-called 'hacker gangs'"

[Aladrin]

"so-called 'hacker gangs'"

They're only called that because you just called them that! Jeeez. There are roving gangs of hackers, lurking the backstreets of the 'net looking for sites to spray their graffiti on.

Re:"so-called 'hacker gangs'"

[KoldKompress]

But that's the only way we can get "Truly Epic Lulz"!

Re:"so-called 'hacker gangs'"

[Anonymous Coward]

Just another reason to avoid "conventional" media outlets like this. I know that the report is laughable at best, but for some reason, this story really irked me.

Re:"so-called 'hacker gangs'"

[dwarfsoft]

On the bright side, they did introduce an array of new memes. Internet Hate Machine. Exploding van. Corruption of LOL. The "Secret Websites". "Phone tracking system" instead of Caller ID. Curtains protecting against Anonymous. Not forgetting... A DOG!

Seriously, Fox just made Epic Lulz.

Re:"so-called 'hacker gangs'"

[SP33doh]

yeah, us practical jokers just got called "hackers on steroids", I wonder what the real hackers here feel about that.

btw fox did wtc

Re:"so-called 'hacker gangs'"

[kgskgs]

Don't you guys understand? It's a slam dunk thing.

Re:"so-called 'hacker gangs'"

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't understand this Fox story... They keep going on about groups of hackers and suchlike, but as far as I can see, this is all being done by this guy 'anonymous'. Why don't they just catch him?

Re:"so-called 'hacker gangs'"

[Omaze]

For the same reason they don't just catch the guys who sold the mustard gas to Saddam Hussein.

Re:"so-called 'hacker gangs'"

[LiquidAvatar]

About 16 minutes into the 6th episode of IT Crowd, we can see the inspiration for this "news" story.

"The rioting has been going on all night. The men involved are young, angry, and almost all of them work with computers. In Tokyo, two games designers went on a rampage in a shopping center and frightened a dog. We have heard that a group of software developers has shouted at a bus. The situation is completely out of control..."

Re:"so-called 'hacker gangs'"

[Brian Gordon]

You're obviously new here (er at 4chan). The joke is that Anonymous is a single person with enormous amounts of time on his hands who posts nearly all of 4chan by himself. --~~~~

Re:"so-called 'hacker gangs'"

[Omaze]

What's more hilarious is that you think it's never happened.

Re:"so-called 'hacker gangs'"

[PMBjornerud]

I was thinking the same thing. That news report ran like a freight train of potential internet memes. Also
"Destroy, Die, Attack", "7 different passwords and they got them all", "Gay sex pictures"

But how could you forget Hackers on Steroids?

Re:"so-called 'hacker gangs'"

[Brian Gordon]

Please give verifiable examples of 4channers actually going to old ladies' homes and slitting the throat of her little "emo bitch" child as a prank. No wikipedia

Re:"so-called 'hacker gangs'"

[HomelessInLaJolla]

Nice try at boxing all of reality into one instance of 4chan and one specific threat.

You've obviously not been reading the news lately--say for, oh, the last ten years. Teachers losing jobs, CEOs admitting to message board trolling, online rumors leading to job terminations...

Re:"so-called 'hacker gangs'"

[Brian Gordon]

What's the problem? If these people are flaming on the internet it's their bosses fault for firing them, 4chan isn't doing anything wrong. If you mean that teachers lose their jobs because their bad teaching is exposed through the internet then again 4chan's not doing anything wrong.

Re:"so-called 'hacker gangs'"

[dwarfsoft]

Sorry, I rushed so I could get over to 4chan and download all the amusing pictures they posted up about it. Ever since the online chat game that I'm in has had Town Hall renamed to Internet Hate Machine :D

Re:"so-called 'hacker gangs'"

[Torvaun]

This isn't anti-free speech. You used your free speech. Now the rest of us can use our freedom to ignore you. Being modded down is not a violation of your inalienable human rights.

Fear the wrath of Anonymous!

[Anonymous Coward]

How dare you, Slashdot, call us - Anonymous, a COWARD?!

Yellow journalism at its finest

[Chmcginn]

The fact that it's a Fox affiliate isn't relevant, really. I've seen plenty of stories on local ABC, CBS, or NBC stations that were just as cringe-worthy. Even as computers have become more popular, people who really like (and understand) computers haven't.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[iamdrscience]

Even as computers have become more popular, people who really like (and understand) computers haven't.

Sounds like somebody couldn't get a date for the prom!

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[goodmanj]

The fact that it's a Fox affiliate isn't relevant, really Sure it is. Whether the submitter had a "Fox News Sucks" agenda or not, you need to call institutions out by name when they're acting like morons. ABC, NBC, or Fox, they deserve to have their name in blink tags over this one.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[Chmcginn]

You should point out that the station has some unprofessional, lazy-assed reporters, that's true. But faulting Rupert Murdoch for this is the equivalent of stopping eating at any Wendy's after that finger tip in the chili incident.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[The PS3 Will Fail]

"But faulting Rupert Murdoch for this is the equivalent of stopping eating at any Wendy's after that finger tip in the chili incident."

That chili incident was proven to be placed their by the customer who complained of it. Your analogy fails because the viewer of this particular station did not put this garbage on the air in an attempt to extort money from the station. Analogies only muddy the waters - especially when you choose really poor ones where you either don't know the whole story or are simply not thinking.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[Dachannien]

But if you say FOX enough times in your article submission, people will start to think it's relevant. And really, that's all that's important when you're trying to make someone look bad for someone else's shoddy workmanship, right?

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[Chmcginn]

The point isn't that complicated. An affiliate, like an individual franchise, isn't owned by the overall corporation. I dislike the Fox New cable people as much as most moderates, but blaming this on them is showing that you don't understand how franchises work.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[Chmcginn]

But pulling something like this (blaming the network for an affiliate's messup) just gives more ammo to the defenders of Fox. The network does enough idiotic things on its own, you don't need to manufacture new evidence of their cluelessness & bias.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[brass1]

An affiliate, like an individual franchise, isn't owned by the overall corporation. Actually this affiliate, in the #2 TV and radio market, is owned by Fox Television Stations, Inc. Fox owns (pdf, sorry) 30 affiliates including affiliates in 9 of the top 10 markets. You'll find that NBC, ABC and CBS have very similar station ownership stats.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[The PS3 Will Fail]

Are you claiming that your analogy isn't flawed?

In this news station example - the local affiliate chose to run that piece. In the Wendy's chili example, are you saying that the affiliate also chose to have someone try to extort money form them?

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[TubeSteak]

Sounds like somebody couldn't get a date for the prom! Impossible.
Anonymous always delivers.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[brass1]

But if you say FOX enough times in your article submission, people will start to think it's relevant. The identity KTTV's corporate masters are relevant. Not because the journalism was yellow, but because it's clearly incompetent. The fact that this piece aired without anyone in the station's management asking, "what the F are you talking about?" makes the name of the person who signs the paychecks completely relevant.

I also find it hard to believe that there's no one inside Fox that watches each and every newscast that comes out of LA, if at least look for packages that can be used nationally.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[Chmcginn]

Why are you so fixated on the analogy that you're intentionally missing the point?

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[The PS3 Will Fail]

I'm not missing the point. Your point wasn't that insightful or interesting. My point is that not only did you use a flawed analogy but you also used a flawed analogy to make a point that is incredibly obvious and could have made in a much better manner.

Now, do you admit that your analogy was flawed?

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[florescent_beige]

Absolutely there is yellow journalism involved here.

Let's be honest ok? We all have have deep dark suspicions there are secret organized groups who go around manipulating message boards. An innocuous example is Snakes On A Plane. If you go to cinemamontreal, half the user comments are english, whereas the normal fraction is about 10%. That made me think maybe I wasn't so paranoid after all.

The exploding van is apropos, because people associated with Anonymous did threaten several football stadiums with radioactive dirty truck bombs. One of them is charged with a crime. And lets not forget one of them also left a myspace kid's mom a threatening phone message involving the words "slit" and "throat".

As an amateur psychologist and observer of human nature I'd guess anyone who thinks "lulz" is cool isn't a very sophisticated thinker; this bunch are probably just alienated kids. Still, just because they use the internet and their moniker sounds a little like AC doesn't mean they get my sympathy.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[MrNaz]

Your line of argument doesn't seem to stop everyone else here holding Bill Gates personally responsible for every single Windows flaw.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[kestasjk]

Putting gay porn on someone's myspace page, and making empty threats.. Without the sensationalist journalism it sounds less like a hardened domestic terrorist cell and more like a bunch of teenagers with too much time on their hands.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[Carewolf]

We all have have deep dark suspicions there are secret organized groups who go around manipulating message boards. An innocuous example is Snakes On A Plane. If you go to cinemamontreal, half the user comments are english, whereas the normal fraction is about 10%. That made me think maybe I wasn't so paranoid after all.

What? You are scared of French comments on a French message board?

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[richlv]

rarely seeing any usa tv news os shows, i am always surprised how sensationalist they are. as if audience has no emotions or logical thinking of itself and needs to be spoonfed all of it.

lately, we are also getting some tv shows that are similar in presentation, but, fortunately, those are considered crap by most locals.

i fear that soon all of the things on the tv will be like the one seen here - and i'm not talking about the content, but about a way it is presented. imagine that he is talking in such an exaggarated way when at home or on street... eww.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[SP33doh]

I think you missed it, he meant a GIRL.

not the day of the year that the prom was on, so that it could be raided.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[Mike Van Pelt]

Forget local stations -- Try the CBS Evening News -- They asked to do a story on the Hackers Conference back in 1986 or so, and talked one of the organizers into letting them bring a camera crew on site.

(Note: This conference is using the pre-media-hype definition of "hackers". Many founders of major Silicon Valley companies show up; Jerry Pournelle attends fairly often. It's not even close to a "juvenile delinquent with a computer" type conference.)

The CBS News segment started off "In the hills above Silicon Valley, a revolutionary army plots its next attack on the helpless valley below" and went straight downhill from there.

It turned out they had a pre-written story about the German kids who were trying to find American SDI secrets to sell to the East Germans; the incident that Cliff Stoll wrote "The Cuckoo's Egg" about. What that had to do with this conference is a mystery known, if to anyone, only to the fevered brains at CBS News.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[florescent_beige]

Missed my point. Where did the mass of english comments come from? Not Montreal.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[daeg]

But you SHOULD blame the network along with the affiliate. If a CBS affiliate does something completely asinine, the station managers DO get a letter from the network. It is not in the network's best interest to have their brand tainted with obviously bad reporting. The networks make money from local news stations. If the local station loses viewers, it reduces the network's overall viewer population and will decrease ad revenues. You can't blame the network for the content, but you can blame the network for allowing the content to go unpunished -- e.g., no on-air correction of admission that the reporting was at fault.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[Oktober Sunset]

The answer to this questions and many like it is DILLIGAF.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[Chmcginn]

I'm reminded of a joke.

A sadist and a masochist are marooned on a deserted desert island (with no dessert).

The masochist says, "Oh, it's my dream come true! You can whip me and beat me and hurt me all day long!"

The sadist thinks for a minute. "No, actually, I don't think I will."

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[Chmcginn]

I'll admit they have some cupability after the fact. Still, who is to say there wasn't a "Try not to be so alarmist next time" message sent.

(thinks for a minute)

Wait, nevermind.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[Meccanica]

people associated with Anonymous did threaten several football stadiums

Are you serious? It's not like people who post anonymously all know each other or something. You seem to have fallen into the trap, by buying into the idea that 'Anonymous' is a specific group of people. I'm sorry, it doesn't work that way.

Oh, man. I'm watching the video as I type this (still loading on my dial-up connection, or I'd have watched it first). Oh hell. It just gets worse and worse. Do people not remember that 'anonymous' is a WORD? (wikipedia powers GO! "derived from the Greek word , meaning 'without a name' or 'name-less'"). The video is now making reference to "sites linked with Anonymous!" Oh no! These nefarious ne'er do wells are using the proper word to describe an individual whose identity is not known! Google and I have found a great many sites linked with Anonymous: there's www.alcoholics-anonymous.org, www.anonymousclothing.com, and an extensive collection of their quotes on www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Anonymous.

Jeez, now I'm really getting worked up about this.

they use the internet and their moniker sounds a little like AC

Again, same point. /.'s Anonymous Coward may be an original implementation, but GUESS WHAT. It's not a coincidence that it sounds like Anonymous. It's not a word that was spontaneously invented for the internet. /. didn't just pull it out of thin air.

IT. IS. A. WORD.

I apologize, now, for venting my frustration at you. Don't take it personally.

But discussion of Anonymous as if 'he' were an individual is a joke, just another meme. Just look at the last shot in the video, which I think sums it up. It's another mock-up of an inspirational poster, reading:

"ANONYMOUS - because none of us are as cruel as all of us"

As an "amateur psychologist and observer of human nature", I hope you an understand its meaning- the mob mentality of high-traffic message boards (which are nevertheless out of the mainstream), combined with the relative unimportance of an individual's identity in that environment, results in a higher tendency for unreasonable aggression. Some 'sophisticated thinker' took the time to make it into a joke.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[ResidntGeek]

Snakes on a Plane was an English movie. It's likely many people would default to commenting on it in English, probably without even thinking about it. No conspiracy necessary.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[florescent_beige]

I try, I really do, not to fall into the obvious traps but if I did it wouldn't be the first time. My implied premise is that there's a difference between Anonymous and anonymous. Ok that's splitting hairs I know but it's Saturday so I reserve the right to ride off on wild tangents. Anonymous is a proper noun and anonymous is an adjective. *sigh* I even annoy myself sometimes.

On top of the fact that I'm perched on a darkly obscure distinction is the unfortunate fact that I'm using Fox as a source. That's just asking for it. I know this.

Can I say that .*chan culture understands the label Anonymous to be part of the the tribe's defining characteristics? Along with quasi-code looking language inventions and obscure acronyms and 133+ speak. It looks to me very much like a classic case of group definition by exclusion. Note the enthusiasm someone demonstrated when they proudly declared that anyone showing up in their territory because of Fox has already been excluded as a "foxfag".

Also, while I'd be the very very VERY last person to side with Fox on anything there's an old cautionary phrase that fits: A third-rate professional is always better than a first-rate amateur. So while Fox has ulterior motives and their coverage of everything is tinted red, one shouldn't write off the bare facts they used with a wave of the hand. They are professional information gatherers.

And also .*chan claimed ownership of goatse. That's just plain stupid. Probably evil too.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[florescent_beige]

...Anonymous is laughing at Fox, and at you.

Go ahead. Laugh. I had sex last night. With a girl. Ha ha.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[Paracelcus]

Well of course they are "Fair and balanced" but they are also ignorant, so ignorant in fact that they have no idea just how ignorant they are! And this is something that that I notice in almost all the "news media" the talking heads spew as fact a continuous stream of disinformation, propaganda and just plain lies, night after night.

As an exersize try taking notes on important (politicized) subjects during a news broadcast and afterwards do some REAL research on the subject, then see just how "free" and "independent" our (US/American) newsmedia actually is.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[florescent_beige]

I use cinemamontreal often because I live there. The vast majority of comments are in french, even for the english movies. For the following reasons: 1) people who post tend to be young, and young people in Quebec prefer french because, by law, most are forced into french schools and cannot study english until grade 5(?) b) all english movies must be released in dubbed french at the same time, also by law, the comment boards are for both versions iii) most francophones prefer to see the original english version even if they don't speak english very well.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[Meccanica]

Thank you for a nice calm response to my ranting.

I've had a disturbing revelation in the last hour or so- I actually just tried to defend 4chan. From FOX. I don't know how I wound up on either side of this. Everything I thought I stood for, I have started to destroy.

Really, though, I just get extremely frustrated when I see such careless (or is it careful?) ignorance and stupidity, especially when it is represented as news.

I do my best to distinguish between Anon- and anon-, but I disagree with that old cautionary phrase.

A third-rate professional is always better than a first-rate amateur.

I don't think it fits, and for a few reasons. First, I don't believe that major media groups like FOX really exist for the purpose of informing the public, but rather to turn a profit, and the FUD angle is one of their most used and most valuable tools (A shocking, radical opinion, I know).

Second, in situations like this, they may be better at gathering information than John and Jane Soccerparent, but that's really all they have. They refer to Facebook as Myspace, they add zapping noises to emphasize the virus 'destroying' a computer, and they at least, fail to distinguish between Anonymous as a meme, and plain old anonymous users. Almost anyone who is proficient with computers and internet 'culture' knows roughly six-hundred million times more than the reporters about this stuff, and most geeks have experience trying to communicate it effectively to our more technologically-inhibited friends and family. Nowadays there are so many news sites and blogs (you may have noticed that /. is, for better or worse, constantly linking to blogs), and some of them rise to a very high level of quality. More importantly, the many of them, together, are a resource which can be more useful than any television program.

Huge numbers of first-rate amateurs are better than any third-rate professional. That seems to be the philosophy that has produced Wikipedia, that moderates Slashdot, and that drives so much of the web nowadays. You may not agree with it, and it may not always be true, but here's another way to look at it:

To make something your profession and to do a thing well are not the same anymore, if they ever were.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[florescent_beige]

I like it...subversive, nonsensical, heck, practically surreal. Very George Carlin. And you can never have too much GC.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[Ruke]

"People associated with Anonymous"? Pull your head out from the sand - there is no lurking shadowy "Anonymous" figure that these people associate themselves with. Anonymousness isn't an identity, it's a lack of one. If anything, the proper phrasing ought to be "Certain people associated with the -chans," although I shudder to think of what would happen to your average Fox-News-goer if (s)he stumbled upon one of those sites.

The bomb threat has been blown exceptionally out of proportion - this wasn't a public threat, and was never sent to the NFL. It was someone's idea of a joke, copied and pasted over and over again, to the point where it became background spam - "CopyPasta." This was not shouting "FIRE!!!" in a crowded theater; this was scrawling the word "FiR e" on your basement wall in red crayon, where your nosy neighbor happened to see it and overreact.

Yes, certain people who visit the -chans are bullies. Anyone who's going to call up your mother and threaten her ought to be charged with harassment. However, the vast majority of people "associated with Anonymous" are perfectly harmless, if not a little antisocial.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[Seumas]

Fox News doesn't care if an affiliate reports something like this. Hell, I'm surprised they don't escalate the report and use it nationally. This is EXACTLY the kind of content that the Newscorps' Missing White Girl Network *LOVES*.

Hell, they have the perfect game going. They own MySpace, where supposedly everyone is ripped-off, molested, raped, kidnapped and murdered... and then they also own the news stations that get to sensationalize reports on the rape, molestation, kidnap and murder of the people from their own site. GENIUS!

Seriously, do you think the same network that had its reporter treat that "the pledge should be removed from schools" guy like a piece of crap by asking "WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?!" in a very angry, deriding way of the guy is going to think that an affiliate suggesting that roving gangs are out to kill retarded myspace users who click on everything without any consideration for what they're doing (or infecting themselves with)? I'll be surprised if they don't issue a promotion.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[Meccanica]

I think they will care very much, if you mean wide-scale China-esque censorship. I also think it's not going to happen, at least not much. AFAIK, many many people are quite upset over what they hear about China's internet censorship crud, so I don't expect anything like that is going to be feasible in the US. Besides, it's a little bit out of FOX News Network's control, don't you think? I do believe that most of our 'news programs' make their way by being scary. Making people afraid is both easy and profitable- that's what FUD refers to. Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. It's basically a marketing strategy. It's a way of making your customers feel that they need you.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[Dachannien]

I don't think you can blame Fox News for this, because KTTV is owned by a branch of News Corp that is a sister to Fox News Channel, not by Fox News Channel itself.

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[refitman]

No you're wrong. At no point should <blink> tags be used!

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[malsdavis]

Fox does seems to particularly encourage this sort of sensationalist reporting though.

Pretty much all the channels are getting worse in focusing on simply on viewer ratings rather than reporting of the news-worthy stories in a factual matter but it is pretty hard not to see Fox as the leader of the pack in this degradation of serious journalism.

This is the news organization which devoted several days to live coverage of the Anna Nicole Smith court case after all!

Re:Yellow journalism at its finest

[KDR_11k]

Just use AJAX then.

I ...

[LordKaT]

I ... wha ... ha ... za ... fuh?

Either the words don't exist to describe just how stupid these people are, or I'm too stupid to describe how stupid they are.

And the FOX reporters are worse!

Re:I ...

[phoenixwade]

I ... wha ... ha ... za ... fuh?
Either the words don't exist to describe just how stupid these people are, or I'm too stupid to describe how stupid they are.
And the FOX reporters are worse! Why make a choice?

Other than it being one of the worst "spin" attempts I've seen, I have to admit, it was worth it for the amusement value. visions of a mob of geeks, derringers hidden in their pocket protectors.... Drive by shootings from late model Scooters.....

thanks, everyone, really cheered me up this morning.

Re:I ...

[h4rm0ny]

I'm genuinely having trouble believing this is serious. Can there be people working in a news station that are this ignorant? I watched a couple of spoof news videos on the Onion site last week and this is actually harder to believe!

Re:I ...

[sumdumass]

Yes, It has happened before.

Re:I ...

[Anthony Baby]

This one time, I watched a Fox anchor go on an extended rant about how artificial intelligence research should be limited because it will ultimately result in robot laborers who will one day sue and riot for equal rights and labor protections such as shorter work weeks. It occured to no one on the panel that arguing against giving robots shorter work weeks requires that we first believe robots live someplace and drive to work, and then go home at the end of the day.

It's not just Fox News though. They're all idiots for sure. But I would say the same about CNN and to a lesser degree MSNBC. This is what happens when news becomes 24-hours but isn't really 24-hours and you start hiring lawyers, attorneys, and disc-jokeys to be journalists instead of *cough* journalists.

I'm crazy! I'll do it!

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm serious, you all step back, or i'll blow this place SKY HIGH!

Re:I'm crazy! I'll do it!

[Anonymous Coward]

Alex: Hi is this Fox News? I have a story for you. It's about this website full of evil people harrassing me!

Fox reporter: How did you get this number? Get lost kid we have a war on terror to report on.

Alex: But... butbutbut... They ARE terrorists! They... they.. they once threatened to destroy stadiums with carbombs!

Fox reporter: Hmm I guess we can stretch this enough to make it Fox-worthy. Jackson, get my coat - we may have to blow up a minivan for dramatic footage just to be sure.

Re:I'm crazy! I'll do it!

[Anonymous Coward]

O noes! Didja see how many times Anonymous has posted here!?!?!

Re:I'm crazy! I'll do it!

[loginx]

LULZ... Yep, that sounds about right...

Re:I'm crazy! I'll do it!

[youthoftoday]

.... going by the sinister name of 'Anonymous Coward'...

Re:I'm crazy! I'll do it!

[fatboy]

Back in my day, we used rz and sz, AND WE LIKED IT!

Re:I'm crazy! I'll do it!

[LindaMack]

Don't worry folks - I'll take care of things

Re:I'm crazy! I'll do it!

[Cruise_WD]

roflmao

Dang, I wish I had mod points for that one...

The reason why they blew up the vans

[Anonymous Coward]

They did it for the LULZ!

Re:The reason why they blew up the vans

[skrolle2]

Laughing
Out
Loud

The moar you know.

Re:The reason why they blew up the vans

[adolfojp]

They did it for the "trully epic LOLs"!

Re:The reason why they blew up the vans

[Anonymous Coward]

FOX: Do not want!

Re:The reason why they blew up the vans

[AbRASiON]

I think you'll find it's actually 'epic lulz'

(oh boy oh boy, genuine 'lols' here from me on this whole shambles)

Re:The reason why they blew up the vans

[mediis]

Hello... I am LULZ addict and it is because of you and this program that I am here.

But if you carry out threats anonymously....

[Durrok]

.... you don't get any karma. :(

Re:But if you carry out threats anonymously....

[iknownuttin]

.... you don't get any karma. :(

Yeah, but when you die, you go to heaven and get 42 brand new computers - never used!

Re:But if you carry out threats anonymously....

[Joebert]

Yeah, but when you die, you go to heaven and get 42 brand new computers - never used!

What the hell are they going to get from never used computers ?

Re:But if you carry out threats anonymously....

[click2005]

no... i'm not listening to you.. TFA says you're a terrorist so the GP must be telling the truth

Re:But if you carry out threats anonymously....

[morari]

*Somehow makes it into Heaven, despite it not existing, only to find out that the forty-two awaiting computers are actually eMachines and Compaqs!* :(

Re:But if you carry out threats anonymously....

[Pingmaster]

...So that we can spend an eternity installing Windows Updates

Re:But if you carry out threats anonymously....

[KwKSilver]

More likely Packard-Bell Pentium-Pros with 512MB memory running Vista-Ultimatum. "Patience, Grasshopper"

Re:But if you carry out threats anonymously....

[XMyth]

A Packard Bell with 512mb of ram? What dimension are you from?

Re:But if you carry out threats anonymously....

[Mr_eX9]

Clean hard drives...untainted by the likes of Windows.

Re:But if you carry out threats anonymously....

[Cprossu]

also it wouldn't be a pentium pro, it would be an original celeron 300 (without the cache)

Re:But if you carry out threats anonymously....

[kungfoofairy]

Troll? I guess none of the mods has listened to much Tool.

Re:But if you carry out threats anonymously....

[sumdumass]

Well, the poster is confused about heaven and hell. just like with the 72 virgins, the computers will remain (virgin) never used and that will be the hell of it. 42 new computers that have never been used because they can never be used.

It is like not thinking the rewards through enough and Getting blueballs from thinking something would be good. It sounds like heaven but is actually a hell.

Re:But if you carry out threats anonymously....

[Cheapy]

But if you die and go to Hell, you get 42 Windows98 Machines. With AOL. And Dial-up.

"Heaven: We don't use Windows."

Re:But if you carry out threats anonymously....

[Cafe Alpha]

No you get Vista, Multimedia edition, all of the Blue ray disks that will ever be made, a 70 inch HDMI monitor with full resolution - and only 128 mb of RAM.

Re:But if you carry out threats anonymously....

[Killjoy_NL]

And a HD-DVD player :D

Hackers On Steroids

[LackThereof]

Apparently, the ability to phish myspace passwords from clueless users earns you the title of "Hackers on Steroids" now. OMGWTFHAX!

Re:Hackers On Steroids

[jamstar7]

Meh.

Back in the day, this kid was over visiting me & a buddy and wanted us to teach him 'how to hack'. I reached up on the shelf & pulled down half a dozen books I had there on various subjects, up to & including the old '8088 Assembly Language Programming', all told, about a foot's worth of shelf space, and told him, "Start with these."

Kid: "But WHY do I need to 'start with those'?"

Me: "So you'll know WHY you're doing what you're doing."

Kid: "No thanks."

Kid later set himself up a 'h4ck3rzz bbs' and just skimmed everybody else's work.

There is only one solution for this problem.

[Anonymous Coward]

It is the same solution that will always work: Make a law forbidding anonymous posts. Make anonymous posting on the internets a felony and not an offense, so that only criminals will be posting anonymously.

Death to all those fanatics!!!! And yes, i will post anonymously.

I actually have sympathy....

[Umuri]

I actually have some sympathy for the reporters involved in this, because they have no clue what they're getting themselves in to.

Anonymous is what happens when you give people the ability to act without reprecussions, a good portion of the world turns into total a**holes. And they will surely retaliate, for two reasons. The first being the justification that "oh, we're called domestic terrorists, we better at least do something worth that name now".
The second being the justification "Umm, no. You totally misunderstand what we do here. We're just normal internet stupidity. want a sample? How about everyone in your company? We can do a mass raid if you want"

The second already is happening in droves, if you'll notice their forums.

Now, that said, the people i DON'T feel pity for are the "victims".
The male victim, who fails at trying to be anonymous, now has his name, and his story, all over all of the *chans. All he's doing is trying to get revenge because anonymous wouldn't raid his stupid girlfriend and that they told him he was being a moron. He spends most of his time actively trying to spread dirt on the *chans, including warning potential raid targets, making up lies about what raids actually are.

As for the female victim, her story is similarly stupid, but as I do not know the entire thing with all facts for certain, i will refrain from final judgement and spreading rumors.

But for most raid "victims" in general, their main flaw was that they posted too much personal information online, and made a point of either harassing others, who happened to be anonymous, or whining to anonymous for favors.

I am not anonymous, but it pays to know about them.

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[skrolle2]

If there's anything else the victims have in common is that they take themselves way too seriously.

The internet is a wonderful place, everyone can get their 15 minutes of fame, and more. However, it might not be the fame they want, and trying to control it is absolutely futile. Maybe posting some sob story on your livejournal that everyone on the internet can read isn't such a good idea, maybe posting too much skin on your myspace is a bad idea too. It's as if people forget why it's a good idea to protect your privacy when they go on the internet, and some of these people get burnt by it. I hope they learn something at least.

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[Chmcginn]

actually have some sympathy for the reporters involved in this, because they have no clue what they're getting themselves in to.

If reporters don't take the time to properly educate themselves on something before reporting on it, they're not doing their job, plain and simple. I don't have any sympathy for them - mainly because plenty of grandma & grandpa types who've never even heard of 4chan before that report now think their house will get firebombed if they post to the wrong message board.

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[oohshiny]

Anonymous is what happens when you give people the ability to act without reprecussions,

And "reporter" is what happens when you have sunk so low that it doesn't matter anymore what you say as long as it's controversial.

No matter how anonymity may be abused, it's an essential part of a functioning democracy and free society, because if you don't have it, the only people participating in discussions are those with nothing to lose.

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[notnAP]

what happens when you give people the ability to act without reprecussions, a good portion of the world turns into total a**holes.

Are you referring to the hackers, the reporters, or FOX?

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[jmccay]

That still doesn't excuse the hackers. Whether it's just for fun or not, they still may be breaking the law (IANAL). The lack of any clue by the reporters and research teams doesn't change the actions of the hackers. What they did in the two cases mentioned was a form of cyber bullying. What was their reasoning for doing this to these people, "I don't like that you are doing {fill in the here}! So I going to hack your site an ruin you", or whatever their reasoning. Whether, or not, the victims are stupid, or just clueless, is irrelevant, they still are victims. AC can be abused just as much as it is useful. There is something to having the guts to say you disagree with someone and have a polite discourse with them about it. Just because you don't agree with someone, doesn't mean it's right to go an trash their website. That's just childish, and possibly criminal (IANAL).

      In the end, I think AC is abused more than it is helpful. As another poster pointed out, people tend to do more extreme things when they can be an AC. Take that away, and they act nice and respectable. It's like the a school kid who is nice to you when your there, but mean, disrespectful, vindictive, and goes out of their way to cause trouble for you when you're not around.

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[kv9]

mainly because plenty of grandma & grandpa types who've never even heard of 4chan before that report now think their house will get firebombed if they post to the wrong message board. or at least get your minivan blown up.

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[Chmcginn]

I'm not attempting to excuse those who become fuckwads when they can hide their name. I'm just saying the reporter is a twit, as well.

However, arguing that posting anonymously should be forbidden is silly. If they are causing actual harm (stolen personal info, offline harrasment, etc.), we have laws in place, and the police can subpoena the owners for IP address & whatnot. If they're just being an ass, but they haven't broken any laws, there's no need for anyone to know who they are. It might not be very nice, but it's not illegal, nor should it be.

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[Achoi77]

I disagree. Most of the time it's just trolling behavior. No big deal. It just happens we notice the event is magnified because of sheer number. Just think of it as MMO trolling.

A significant number of these events are spontaneous, and the majority of them do not pan out. But when they do, hilarity does occur.

The issue is that there will always be that one or two people that takes it to the next step. Outside of the insults and name-calling, you'll always have one idiot thinks it's gonna be really funny when they try to attempt so and so stunt, but is oblivious to the fact that it's against the law. This is what brings in the police. Or Fox News.

/b/, for most of the time is an inversive self-trolling community. So they keep to themselves. But if/when something causes them to mobilize, they will. Like waking up the beast, it really does take a lot to offend Anonymous, and a good number of items that are offensive of Anonymous would be offensive against society. (like inaccurate news reporting and racial hate sites) But it doesn't happen too often, which is why everybody gets bored and starts pulling off pranks to keep busy.

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[ColdWetDog]

Grandma and Grandpa on 4chan?

A truly disturbing thought. Go to your room. And stay there.

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[jamstar7]

mainly because plenty of grandma & grandpa types who've never even heard of 4chan before that report now think their house will get firebombed if they post to the wrong message board.

or at least get your minivan blown up.

Fooled you!!! I don't HAVE a minivan!!!!!!!!!

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[jamstar7]

what happens when you give people the ability to act without reprecussions, a good portion of the world turns into total a**holes.

Are you referring to the hackers, the reporters, or FOX?

Yes.

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[jmccay]

You just proved the point that people say stuff they wouldn't when they use AC. How is AC any better? Your still being fake (hiding behind AC and not saying something that could be associated with you), and I doubt it just an American thing. Get over your American envy.

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[jmccay]

I didn't actually argue that AC should be forbidden. It has it uses--like when one could face extreme criticism (or worse), but I did say that it can be abused.

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[WhatAmIDoingHere]

Rules 1 and 2.

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[Tore S B]

It's as if people forget why it's a good idea to protect your privacy when they go on the internet, and some of these people get burnt by it. I hope they learn something at least.

That's not the only reason - I was trolled quite a lot after having disagreed with someone in an online discussion about health care. Trolling still is a pretty stupid and mean thing to be doing, no matter what the trolls personal justification might be. Your logic is about as sensible as saying a thief isn't to blame because the house he stole from was ugly.

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[kv9]

Fooled you!!! I don't HAVE a minivan!!!!!!!!! joke's on you funny man. they're gonna go straight for your house.

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[Chmcginn]

Alright, I misunderstood. Although in the case of a lot of /b/tards, they're abusing their right to breathe...

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[gkhan1]

Even more important to a functioning democracy is a free press. Just because FOX employs idiots it doesn't give you license to question journalism itself.

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[Zibblsnrt]

I actually have some sympathy for the reporters involved in this, because they have no clue what they're getting themselves in to.

That's precisely why I don't have sympathy for them. Anyone whose day job (theoretically) involves disseminating accurate or relevant information should know better than to go off that half-cocked. Or, since it's a net-related thing, maybe ask a random fourteen-year-old.

And the affiliate's taking shit for it now? Gee. Cause, I'd like to introduce you to Effect.

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[rw63phi]

Yes, he is "referring to the hackers, the reporters, or FOX".

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[808140]

This is offtopic, re: your sig, but why exactly are you comparing Iraq to a World War? Have things there gotten that bad already? Have I missed something?

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[Omaze]

Is that like saying the idiot with anger management issues and a hugely inflated sense of self-importance who posted anonymously isn't just as much at fault for being the knucklehead who instigated the situation?

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[Draconix]

I used to think like that, once.

Then I grew up.

Welcome to the internet. It's part of the freedom that makes the internet so great, and you can't get rid of it without removing a lot of that freedom. And seriously... in the vast majority of cases, it's only as bad as you let it be. If you do anything controversial (or anything at all, really) you will get trolled from time to time. What separates the men from the boys and the ladies from the girls is whether you understand it's just some people having a little fun at your expense, and is no big deal, or whether you come on Slashdot and whine about it.

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[Omaze]

There's a big difference between being trolled "once in a while" and being trolled at least 2-3 times per post, per message, per IM, per e-mail. Consider yourself lucky if you haven't had the exquisite... privelege... of experiencing that kind of trolling. Don't pretend that it's something that people can just brush aside, though. Some people listen to Mozart and heavy metal, but not everyone wants to plant their head next to a speaker at a major rock concert. Just because you've only had to listen to Mozart doesn't mean that everyone should be overjoyed at having a jackhammer attached to their ear.

And no, it's not part of freedom. Freedom does not advocate being malicious.

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[Tore S B]

It's part of the freedom that makes the internet so great, and you can't get rid of it without removing a lot of that freedom.

Freedom of speech has its limits. Slander is one of them, and for a very good reason. Simply because it isn't easily enforcable doesn't mean it's a good, or even acceptable thing. Because we can't effectively stop it doesn't mean we should accept it.

What separates the men from the boys and the ladies from the girls is whether you understand it's just some people having a little fun at your expense, and is no big deal

"A little fun at my expense" consisted of cracking my machine, dumping images from my webcam, uploading pictures of me running half-naked out of the shower trying to yank the webcam out that I suddenly noticed was flashing - and putting it online, with my real name - promptly getting it to be one of the top hits when googling my name. My prospective employer didn't really think the site was all that funny when she asked about it at the job interview, having googled my name. I'd like to see you see the LULZ in that.

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[Omaze]

So... did they leave it at that? Have you been able to find another job since then? Or did every interviewer for the next five years pass the link around to all of their colleagues in HR departments across the nation? Did the people who cracked your machine decide that they had their fun and that was enough or did they make use of their newfound toy to continue to reinstall new trojans on your system even to this day?

Just how bad was it?

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[bky1701]

Maybe if you spent the time to not leave your system open to everyone on the internet, that wouldn't be a problem. Maybe if you had the sense to unplug the webcam, that wouldn't have happened.

In any case, getting hacked and getting trolled are 2 different things, equating them shows you don't understand the definition of one of them.

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[oohshiny]

Just because FOX employs idiots it doesn't give you license to question journalism itself.

It's a free country and I can question whatever I like.

Even more important to a functioning democracy is a free press.

Of course we need a free press. What we don't need is the kind of career journalists that work at places like Fox and the New York Times and whose job is a conflict of interest in itself.

And, no, places like the New York Times do not employ idiots, which makes it all the worse that their motivation is not unbiased communication of news.

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[DamienNightbane]

plenty of grandma & grandpa types who've never even heard of 4chan before that report now think their house will get firebombed if they post to the wrong message board.

Just as planned... >:3

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[jmccay]

I was attempting to put a realistic picture of the stupid corpse count by CNN, ABC, the Democrats, et. al.. Numbers wise this has been clean. While death is not something to be taken lightly, no war or battle has been perfect. I would hate to think what people would have done in WW2 if we had a daily body count of the dead soldiers. D-Day would have been interesting to watch the news by these people (if they had covered it). There was a political cartoon not to long ago that sums up my opinion of these groups (especially the Democrats who have invest so much in America losing) which basically pictured the Democrats raising a white flag while saying, "hurry up before we win the war."

Re:I actually have sympathy....

[808140]

I understand your perspective -- I guess I just don't see how the Iraq war can even be compared to something like WW2, the latter being a huge and essentially global conflict initiated by the aggressive actions of our enemies, including an attack on our national soil by the Japanese.

Vietnam and Korea are both much closer in size to Iraq, although the number of deaths even in those cases far exceeded the current toll. Of course from a pro-war perspective, the fact that we didn't win those wars makes them a poor choice for comparison.

I guess what I'm saying is that your point -- whose validity I'm not contesting -- is probably lost on those who don't already agree with your position, because they will simply write it off by saying "Sure, more people died in World War II -- but maybe that's because it was a world war."

You know what really irks me about the Iraq war, though? In the 1st Iraq war, we had 500 thousand troops on the ground in Kuwait. That was a comparatively small operation, and we went in and we kicked ass. Now, we've gone in, we've invaded the country, and we're trying to keep the peace in a centuries old religious blood-feud that makes the troubles in Ireland look like a cakewalk, and we're trying to do it with, post-surge, 180 thousand troops.

I mean, seriously -- what were the civvies thinking? Why didn't they listen to the military brass, who know how to make America kick ass? Pisses me off.

PH33R J00R 1337 SKILLLLLLZZZZZZZZ!!!!1!!!1

[Chmcginn]

I've got nothing, really.

Re:PH33R J00R 1337 SKILLLLLLZZZZZZZZ!!!!1!!!1

[Minwee]

I've got nothing, really.

That's just a result of shrinkage from using all the steroids.

We tried to warn you, but you just weren't listening.

Anonymous, not Anonymous Coward.

[Virak]

Two completely different people. Anonymous Coward is a normal Slashdot user who merely has perpetually bad karma. Anonymous is, as the video states, an "Internet hate machine". He is the very personification of the deepest, darkest desires of the Internet. Which, of course, means he spends half of his time masturbating to strange pornography, the other half attacking easily-angered idiots for his personal amusement, and the other other half debating Bush, pedophilia, and quantum mechanics.

Re:Anonymous, not Anonymous Coward.

[Chmcginn]

And the last half doing poor math? :P

Re:Anonymous, not Anonymous Coward.

[LaughingCoder]

So if your math is right, these Anonymous types have 50% more time in a day than the rest of us? No wonder everyone is worried about them.

Re:Anonymous, not Anonymous Coward.

[internet hate machin]

IDWTP. The pornography I enjoy goes far beyond 'strange' and I spend much more than half of my tie masturbating, easily 90% of my time. I do it while doing the other things and just about anything else except for small times when I am asleep.

Sadly,, /. silently truncates usernames to 20 characters.

Re:Anonymous, not Anonymous Coward.

[Virak]

Anonymous's power is so great that he need not abide by logic (and generally does not), but yes, and most often in the context of threads started with this image.

Re:Anonymous, not Anonymous Coward.

[Bastard of Subhumani]

s/Anonymous/Chuck Norris/

Re:Anonymous, not Anonymous Coward.

[Virak]

Of course, the English language has no words for the horrors Anonymous gets off to; I was merely using a rough approximation. (Note, however, that the vastly superior Japanese language has a wide variety of terms for such things, like "kawaii", "moe", and "loli"). And I was speaking of dedicated fap time, not including when you're doing other things.

Re:Anonymous, not Anonymous Coward.

[Luke Dawson]

Which, of course, means he spends half of his time masturbating to strange pornography, the other half attacking easily-angered idiots for his personal amusement, and the other other half debating Bush, pedophilia, and quantum mechanics.

Uhm, which one's the Slashdot AC again?

Re:Anonymous, not Anonymous Coward.

[sexybomber]

So, Anonymous is the US version of Goldstein?

(You know, from 1984. The subject of the Two Minutes Hate.)

Re:Anonymous, not Anonymous Coward.

[bigstrat2003]

That was easy. 26 = 0, I never knew that!

Time to write my old math profs with this new information...

Re:Anonymous, not Anonymous Coward.

[sentientbeing]

26 = 0,
 
For reasonably small values of 26.

Re:Anonymous, not Anonymous Coward.

[teh_chrizzle]

this is the ultimate boogieman story:

1. start with something everyone is afraid of (hackers/terrorists)
2. choose an activity that scares everyone (random violence, hate, abuse)
3. give the group a mysterious yet simple name (the base, anonymous)
4. use common scenarios as examples of the "group's" handiwork (bombings, internet threats)
5. claim the the group operates in total secrecy and without central authority (sleeper cells, anonymous posting)
6. blame the group for things that may or may not be the responsibility of the group in question.

so maybe this group is big, maybe it's not. maybe random assholes just do things and don't take credit for them, and this group does. maybe the media blames this group for things they are not responsible for. it doesn't matter because we will never know because there isn't enough hard evidence to make a decision.

Re:Anonymous, not Anonymous Coward.

[chazbot]

There are three types of people in the world. Those who can count and those who can't.

Re:Anonymous, not Anonymous Coward.

[sumdumass]

Give me a hint here. I guess my math isn't as good as it once was. Whats the answer, I don't think there can be one.

Re:Anonymous, not Anonymous Coward.

[mink]

It would help if you posted torrent links. I mean for research into your deep issues with um.. stuff.

They did bring us HP7...

[rdwald]

Well, 4chan did let us all read Harry Potter 7 five days early...and the video does equate spoiling popular fantasy books with domestic terrorism...so I guess they are terrorists!

Re:They did bring us HP7...

[Yusaku Godai]

I liked how they actually bleeped out the Harry Potter spoiler. It's not like the FCC could fine them for that. Or could they? :P

Re:They did bring us HP7...

[MostAwesomeDude]

it was actually LueLinks that leaked them out. Sheesh, why must LLers always be anonymous outside of LL? Anyway, yes. The leak was originally from a user on www.luelinks.net, who obtained an advance copy from a friend working at a bookstore. He then proceeded to take photos of every single page and leaked them to LL. The LL community then introduced them to 4chan on /b/, and 4chan went ahead and attempted to frame Gaia Online and eBaum's World for the leak and subsequent spoilers.

Welcome

[LackThereof]

I, for one, welcome our new anonymous overlords!

Re:Welcome

[KoldKompress]

If only we knew who they were...

Re:Welcome

[Tatisimo]

Click here for the true identity of annonymous, so that we may crown him our Overlord. OMFG!!!!!!11!!11!11

lolz

[wwmedia]

lolz! what where Fox news smoking!

Re:lolz

[skrolle2]

It's not Fox News, it was Fox 11, a local channel in LA.

Re:lolz

[homer_ca]

Yeah, this is the local Fox station, and they always run these Special Undercover Reports hyping up the latest thing to fear. They've done the usual stories: biker gangs, street racers, underground raves/after hours clubs, and then my favorite, house parties in the 'hood with underage drinking, fighting, and girls getting wild. Wow, thanks for the newsflash. Pathetic.

Re:Hahaha... and I thought Slashdot was funny...

[skrolle2]

They bought a dog. How are you gonna get past their dog? Huh? Huh? Didn't think of that, did you?

When the bits hit the fan......

[innatetech]

Just wait until Bill O'Reilly finds out about tentacle pr0n.

Shock News Flash - FOX panders to stupid people

[Ash Vince]

Errrr, oh shit everyone knows this already. Maybe I should slip back into my coma.

I am not a number

[Midnight Thunder]

I am neither a number or a named individual. Fear my anonymity. f0x 4r3 10s3rs ;)

Re:I am not a number

[Midnight Thunder]

I am neither a number or a named individual. Fear my anonymity. f0x 4r3 10s3rs ;)

Damn, too fast to post. Damn this is what you call an unmasked AC - oh well.

Re:I am not a number

[gEvil (beta)]

Midnight Thunder (17205) wrote: "I am neither a number or a named individual."

Did this video come out on 4/1?

[b0s0z0ku]

(Not the YouTube posting date, but the creation date). *Sigh*

Re:Did this video come out on 4/1?

[pimpimpim]

I get what you mean. I also have the feeling, as things as absurd as this seem to come up ever more frequently, that reality has become mixed with a heap of April Fools jokes. Unfortunately without the joke part, instead unhealthy more of the fools part.

Re:Did this video come out on 4/1?

[b0s0z0ku]

If you must use the American format at least say "April 1st". Otherwise the rest of the world is left wondering what's special about the 4th of January.

Next time, I'll say "prima aprilis".

Cheers,
-b.

You got a bunch of people

[iminplaya]

right here on Slashdot who feel the same way. "I ignore ACs" "I don't respond to ACs" "I mod ACs to -6". I think it's sick. Those people are closed minded so-n-sos. Well, all you ACs out there, I DO respond if the comment is worth responding to. I don't care where it comes from. I derive value from the comment itself, not necessarily the author. Don't let anybody shut you down. Use whatever abilities you have to be heard.

Re:You got a bunch of people

[joto]

We are all more or less anonymous here on slashdot. Very few people know who hides behind a username. The problem with ACs isn't their anonymity, it's their lack of identity. It's the same thing people are discussing about certain muslim women covering their face. Not only are they anonymous (most everyone in a big city is, even if they tell you their name (which could be fake)), but they also lack an identity. If you met her later, you wouldn't be able to tell if it was the same woman, or somebody else. This makes people feel uneasy about talking to such a person, even if she is a nice religious woman, and not a bank-robber (although bank-robbers have been known to use burkas as well).

It is no doubt that anonymity, and certainly, lack of identity, leads to antisocial behaviour. If people are to be held responsible for their actions, they need to be recognized by the people around them. That's why every discussion group on the Internet is full of people behaving antisocially, from flamers to trolls to crackpots, most of those people would have shut their mouth if it wasn't for the fact that they are anonymous. People who also choose to lack an identity (such as AC) are usually even worse, and seldom worth listening to.

There is nothing wrong about being scared of anonymity. What is funny about the Fox 11 coverage isn't that they claim anonymous Internet users can behave badly. What is funny is that they compare this to actual real-world terrorism, which, to take it mildly, is quite a different matter.

Re:You got a bunch of people

[iminplaya]

Well, this is FOX we're talking about here. It's all about ratings. And FUD, like lesbians = ratings. Personally, I'd rather see more lesbians.

Re:You got a bunch of people

[iminplaya]

The person behind the first (it was Japanese) board of this form argued that often good posters with real lives don't post as they cannot be bothered to waste time registering, while poor posters with no lives and huge egos will register. With no name you cannot develop a reputation to fuel your ego.

Right on. And it also needs to be pointed out that many good ideas will never be heard if the author is forced to identify himself. They will simply clam up or create a false ID. In addition to the ratings angle, this is attempt to get the public to go along with up and coming anti-anomitity laws, and given Clinton's and the democrats history of pushing things like clipper chips and back doors(Paradoxically, MnCain was the hero in that case in helping to defeat it), you can bet Hillary will push for it when she gets elected. This is your future if you allow it.

Re:You got a bunch of people

[RealGrouchy]

What is funny about the Fox 11 coverage isn't that they claim anonymous Internet users can behave badly. What is funny is that they compare this to actual real-world terrorism, which, to take it mildly, is quite a different matter. Yeah, but Fox has been doing this ever since they discovered the "terrorism" escape clause to Godwin's Law.

It's also not just the local affiliates. As [url=http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/index .jhtml?ml_video=90419]Stephen Colbert*[/url] pointed out on Wednesday night, [url=http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/07/16/bill -oreilly-smears-yearlykos/]Bill O'Reilly[/url] accuses the Daily Kos of being "radical" for allowing uncensored comments on their website.

(*Sorry if the direct link doesn't work. Blame Comedy Central, not me!)

- RG>

Re:You got a bunch of people

[RealGrouchy]

(Reposted - I spend way too much time on phpbb forums!)

What is funny about the Fox 11 coverage isn't that they claim anonymous Internet users can behave badly. What is funny is that they compare this to actual real-world terrorism, which, to take it mildly, is quite a different matter. Yeah, but Fox has been doing this ever since they discovered the "terrorism" escape clause to Godwin's Law.

It's also not just the local affiliates. As Stephen Colbert* pointed out on Wednesday night, Bill O'Reilly accuses the Daily Kos of being "radical" for allowing uncensored comments on their website.

(*Sorry if the direct link doesn't work. Blame Comedy Central, not me!)

- RG>

Re:You got a bunch of people

[AusIV]

I generally ignore ACs, because often the ACs are complete trolls. If they happen to get modded up into the range of posts that are viewable to me, I read them and sometimes respond.

But ACs aren't the extent of anonymity on Slashdot. You go by the nickname iminplaya. I assume that's not your real name. All I know about you is that you have 6,309 posts on slashdot, I can easily find the last 24 if I'd like, and somehow after 6,309 posts you've managed to avoid getting a karma bonus.

The same is pretty much true with me. Even though I seem to be the only 'AusIV' on the web, I still have a great deal of anonymity. Someone who knows me might be able to track what I say (and I keep that in mind), but I still have the wiggle room to say what I want on the web without being concerned it's going to piss them off and they're going to hunt me down in real life.

Re:You got a bunch of people

[HomelessInLaJolla]

Well, sure, in principle I agree with you. But don't you think there are limits? If you see one guy walking down the street, and another guy shoulder checks him flat, that's funny. If you see one guy walking down the street and, next time he says something, someone hits him with an egg, that's funny.

But when you watch ten people follow the same guy around, day and night, for years on end, tossing eggs on him whenever he opens his mouth to order a sandwich, and shoulder checking him at irregular intervals that average to about every five seconds...

Don't you think that guy should have a right to mow them all down with a machine gun?

Let's be honest.

Re:You got a bunch of people

[hairpinblue]

You're not being honest.

Re:You got a bunch of people

[value_added]

We are all more or less anonymous here on slashdot. Very few people know who hides behind a username. The problem with ACs isn't their anonymity, it's their lack of identity ...

Interesting points of view. I'm wondering, though, can't the opposite be just as true?

For example, how would it appear if I call you joto? To me (and probably to thousands of others), "joto" isn't a name but an alphanumeric string that appears on Slashdot. Granted that while there are many like it, that one is indeed yours so I won't object if you find some attachment to it. ;-) I'd wager that you'd feel slightly uncomfortable, and everyone else, to the extent your "name" is even noticed, "joto" means next to nothing.

Similarly, when reading a message on a mailing list or newsgroup subscribed to by thousands of people, aren't you put off by someone who starts his message with "Dear List" or "Hello Fellow Users"? Or the waiter putting his customers on a first name basis?

I'll agree that a lack of identity (or "formal introduction" for us old skool types), can and often does invite antisocial behaviour. How to explain the ease with which we can send a message to a perfect stranger and starting bitching at him or her about some issue?

Re:You got a bunch of people

[joto]

I just want to point out, that lack of a "formal introduction", is not the same as lack of identity. Even if you haven't been formally introduced, you can still point to "that red-haired guy over there", and recognize him the next time you see him. And by noticing the label "value_added", I can remember you for future conversations.

Re:You got a bunch of people

[jeffasselin]

I use my real name on Slashdot, strange as it may appear to some. I've used nicknames elsewhere, but I rarely if ever hide myself, someone could easily find my real name from those common nicks I use.

Re:You got a bunch of people

[Dunbal]

Don't you think that guy should have a right to mow them all down with a machine gun?

      So long as he posts the pics I...umm, never mind.

Re:You got a bunch of people

[RAMMS EIN]

``What is funny is that they compare this to actual real-world terrorism, which, to take it mildly, is quite a different matter.''

That's not funny, that's FOX trying to plant ideas in peoples' heads to further the FOX leadership's political agenda. This is very serious business. And no, I'm not willing to assume an innocent explanation in this case. FOX has been doing entirely too many things that help certain groups of people at the expense of liberty and democracy for me to assume anything but them doing it deliberately.

Re:You got a bunch of people

[iminplaya]

...how would it appear if I call you joto?

Te lo mando a la chingada cabron :-)

Re:You got a bunch of people

[iminplaya]

Posting as an AC eliminates the possibility of ad hominem responses.

I wish that was so. Posting as AC is the basis of the ad hominem for many. As pointed out in the stupid sigs they use. They believe the comment has no value because it was posted by an AC. That is the essence of the term.

Re:You got a bunch of people

[Omaze]

Well that and the simple fact that maintaining a significant amount of signal in ignorance is an open invitation for it to be used against you. I wish that everyone could have the unique experience of being mobbed by a group of people posting routinely as Anonymous Coward, such as the thread leading to this post where, seemingly, the same AC has been able to post at fairly regular 10 minute intervals all day long. Try doing that with a legitimate user account.

Maybe Slashdot should allow Anonymous Cowards to post but only after logging in with an actual account.

That thread that I mention is either one AC who's obvious abusing the system or a group of ACs who are obviously abusing the user.

*cue AC tirades of "conspiracy" "paranoia" and "It's all your own fault!"*

Re:You got a bunch of people

[iminplaya]

:-) I have a very easy time of keeping words and actions widely separated from each other. I will forever believe in "Sticks and stones..." So the machine gun never crosses my mind for even a microsecond. Take a look at how I respond to the recent swipes some ACs have taken at me. I'm still waiting for a response from them. Basically all I can tell them is, "Pull my finger". And it's over. I have just as much fun with them as they try to with me. Honestly, they mean nothing and are soon forgotten. Hell, they could be people from my fans list for all I know. I cannot, will not take it seriously. They are more than welcome to do as they please. They are only words. If they come at me swinging a machete, well, obviously that's another thing entirely, no? So, please, put the gun down. If I want to be shot at, I promise that you'll be the first to know.

Re:You got a bunch of people

[Omaze]

That's all very well and good as long as they've never been able to reach you outside of message boards. While you are correct to be carefree in your position it's disingenuous to pretend that they couldn't get to you the same way they have gotten to others. If anything you should be thankful that the others were there lest you may have become a target of primary interest.

Re:You got a bunch of people

[iminplaya]

How have they "gotten" to others? With more words? Or real action? I will concern myself with the action taken, regardless of the motivation.

Re:You got a bunch of people

[Omaze]

How have they "gotten" to others? As a matter of fact, have you read TFA?

As a matter of anecdote, have you read this post?

As a matter of psychology, are you familiar with the known effects of being subjected to deliberate, daily, hourly, per post, harassment?

As a matter of reality: are you seriously claiming that no group of malicious ACs has ever taken things "over the line"?

As a matter of history: do I need to specifically find instances where rumors and gossip which began on the internet have had real world effects for teachers, students, and even food distributor CEOs?

As a matter of entertainment: do you suppose that, in the movie 'Hackers', there was no real world basis for the scenario of ruining the credit, telephone, and life of the agent (who, in the movie, was a knucklehead... but still)?

I'm just asking people to be a little bit more honest than,"Well, it never happened to me, so that means it doesn't happen or was obviously something the victim should've just ignored."

Re:You got a bunch of people

[iminplaya]

As a matter of fact, have you read TFA?

The truth is...there is no article :-) It was a video, and yes, I did watch, as painful as it was.

...there was no real world basis for the scenario of ruining the credit, telephone, and life of the agent...

And those are actions taken based on false information. And it is those people who actually deny credit, service, work that I will hold accountable. They are the guilty party here. Do it that way, and people will act more responsibly. And just maybe they won't be so quick to judge others. It's not a matter of personal experience. I will go after those who act against me. They are (ir)responsible. They are the lazy, negligent ones, and they are the ones who should suffer for it. The problem will clear up as soon as we all get on the same page. It is worth repeating that you should go after the sinner, and ignore the serpent.

Re:You got a bunch of people

[HomelessInLaJolla]

Well, yes, I agree that we'd all be better off if the very fabric of our society could be woven with a brighter thread of "don't believe everything people tell you". The fact is, though, that our society isn't woven with that very bright color--and the color becomes both dimmer and more subjetive as you look up the ranks of people who have authority. You _might_ be a terrorist? The FBI has an obligation to investigate you. You _might_ be a pedophile? The authorities have an obligation to investigate you? That pr0n you looked at _might_ have contained a 16 year old? Looks like you're a pedophile, but only if they were watching you ahead of time, while the ten thousand other people who downloaded the same video are free and clear. You might be an anarchist? The FBI has an obligation to investigate you. You _might_ be suicidal, especially after all those trolls have been hounding you for so many months (and look! we have the logs to prove it!)? Your employer has an obligation to keep you on a short leash and under a tight watch.

That there are flaws in the authoritarian segments of the society still doesn't excuse the actions of the people who act with deliberate malicious intent.

You _might_ have weapons of mass destruction? Well, "mustard gas" wasn't a weapon of mass destruction when we sold it to you--but it is now--sorry about your luck.

I'm just asking people to be a little bit more honest with themselves about what it is they're actually doing and, until we can get all the wrinkles ironed out of the obviously flawed authoritarian segments (and we know they'll just jump right up to correct their oversights and vest the power they've illegally abused back into the general population straightaway), then maybe we should also begin considering a more productive method of aiding those who did get targetted because the "blame the victim" mentality, while it's fun for someone who's never had to experience such a situation, only leads to bigger problems.

The dynamic that we're looking at is, really, no different than bullying on a first grade playground. The problem is that, on a first grade playground, kids forget and move on to second grade rather quickly. When this sort of thing happens to someone in their twenties or thirties, though, we're talking real impacts.

Re:You got a bunch of people

[AusIV]

I use my real name on Slashdot, strange as it may appear to some. I've used nicknames elsewhere, but I rarely if ever hide myself, someone could easily find my real name from those common nicks I use.

Pretty much the same here. My nick is derived from the name I go by - Austin - and my suffix - IV. I've been using the same nick for at least 8 years. Anyone who wanted to search the web for my nickname could probably find my last name, e-mail address, home town, where I went to high school, where I go to college, who I've dated, what I look like - just about anything there is to know about me.

Point is, just because someone like iminplaya posts consistently from the same nickname, they're not much less anonymous than someone who posts as Anonymous Coward.

Re:What's the Background?

[Chmcginn]

I understand that Fox News isn't really news,

It's not FOX's national news that did this report, it was a local affiliate. Check out your local ABC or NBC station for more examples of idiocy.

simply wow

[gEvil (beta)]

Wow. That's all I can say about that piece. Just wow...

First off, wasn't the Harry Potter spoiler clip in the middle of there taken from the Daily Show? (I could swear that's John Oliver's voice).

Second, the tool with the MySpace account--it's clear to anyone that has any idea about anything that he simply ended up with a virus/keylogger installed. "Anonymous" got his passwords from that and the virus got spread to his friends. Woooooh, that kinda shits been happening on the internet for forever now. He simply appears even more foolish for not having even that much of a clue (hell, my grandparents are aware that there are viruses and nasties out there).

What I find most disturbing about this is that if anyone sends Fox 11 an email/letter/phone call/whatever explaining to them how far off base their piece is, they'll just treat it all as threats that further back up their claim. Truly truly sad....

Re:simply wow

[HomelessInLaJolla]

Second, the tool with the MySpace account--it's clear to anyone that has any idea about anything that he simply ended up with a virus/keylogger installed...He simply appears even more foolish for not having even that much of a clue Oh, you didn't read the backside of the story. He knew that there was a keylogger installeda and every time he tried to ask anyone for help with it he'd just get a new swarm of "conspiracy theorist", "paranoid", and insults.

It was like the joke that never ends.

Re:simply wow

[HomelessInLaJolla]

there are an assload of assholes just waiting to get in a lengthy flamewar with you and then take it to the next level once you've gotten tired of it. I think it's the part about forwarding a daily digest to their boss, their HR department, their family, their friends, and anyone who lives within a 50 mile radius of them that's the problem.

I've got balls of steel

[zolf13]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p_OuMW4bfE

They clearly missed that one in their report - so much aggression.

HA!

[iminplaya]

As long as they get this kind of press, they'll never get bored. The FOX story is a great recruitment piece.

Re:HA!

[Netsplitter]

Exactly. This has been one of the most entertaining things to have happened in a long while. It's being discussed on nearly every board (there's 35 if you don't count the BBS) where it would usually only be isolated to one. If anything, this is seen as a great victory. We got FOX to say "LULZ" on television, and that's pretty damn awesome. Apart from that, I can't say what Fox are in for with regards to their messageboard and blog feature thing. They've had to close them because they got spammed, and I suspect they won't have those back for at least another year without them being vandalized. (Yes, someone will always check and notify everyone once they're back -- it's been done before with many other targets.) When you become Anonymous' enemy, you're really in for a rough time on the internet. Oh well, their loss, and more entertainment for us.

Re:HA!

[florescent_beige]

...The FOX story is a great recruitment piece.

Quite. And if it occupies the kids who have nothing to do because their divorced moms and dads are too busy working to pay for their BIG STUPID PICKUP TRUCKS then I'm all for it. Keeps them off my lawn.

Re:HA!

[Anonymous Coward]

No way. People who are showing up because of the fox news story already have the label "foxfags." We don't want them there.

Re:HA!

[iminplaya]

We don't want them there.

Whoa! Am I detecting trouble in paradise? Those discussions must be fascinating. *sigh* Everybody's at war.

Re:What's the Background?

[skrolle2]

There is a place on the internet called 4chan. It is an imageboard, where you can post pictures of.. stuff. There is a lot of porn on it. There is a lot of very weird porn on it. There is a lot of funny pictures, and people modifying them to become even funnier. It's home to a lot of anonymous posters that enjoy poking fun at idiots on the internet.

You might learn more here:

http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/B
http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/Image:B_summa ry.jpg
http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/4chan
http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/Image:4chan-v enn-diagram.png

If you think tubgirl, lemonparty and goatse is funny, this is where they came from. If you think lolcats and ORLY is funny, this is where it came from.

Also, the biggest crime you can commit is to ask for information, just like you did. You clearly need to lurk moar.

Re:Hahaha... and I thought Slashdot was funny...

[Joebert]

They have a plan.

/b/ is mainstream

[Anonymous Coward]

Seriously, /b/ is so mainstream now, it beggars belief. Here is a Slashdot article that mentions it in passing without so much as stopping to explain the term. This was always going to happen. A group of people focused around memes, with a subset of them bent on spreading these memes to other sites? There is no more perfect recipe for notoriety than that. Rules 1 and 2 have completely failed, just as miserably as they would fail in a real-life fight club (where did those new members come from anyway?).

It's a shame really. For a short while, /b/ was a great little internet phenomenon. Anonymity, with all its baggage, and somehow no lawsuits. Now, though, the old guard is quickly moving on. Anybody who's frequented the site can attest to this.

As for the FOX clip... pure garbage. Most /b/tards call images "pictures", and directories "folders", and get confused between wallpaper images and desktop screenshots. The /i/nvasion people are a little closer to "hacker gangs", but even then, the "hacking" only ever amounts to SYN flooding and MySpace phishing.

Despite my pessimistic tone, I predict that "Anonymous" will continue to grow. As more and more attention is given to these "secret websites", more and more people are clamoring to become "hackers on steroids". This new Anonymous will be larger, with more brute force at his call, but at the same time stupider, and less apt to create entertaining content. And paradoxically, he'll be less anonymous than before. I see threads where a bunch of high-schoolers recognize each other based on posted photos and local memes. They greet each other by name and socialize. On /b/.

They say that raiding /b/ is liking pissing in an ocean of piss. But what if the people doing the raiding aren't pissing? What if they think this is a kickass beach where they can hang out and go for a swim with their friends and not worry about taking a piss while they do? It's not cancer, it's a full-on mutation.

Re:/b/ is mainstream

[skrolle2]

Ah, Paradise Lost, the oldest story of them all.

It will always happen, if something is really good and funny, news of it will spread, more people will come, and for every new person that comes, the original will be somewhat diluted, less good, less funny. Some people are true creators that add value, most are just consumers unfortunately. But people move on, and there will be a new place as good as /b/ was, it probably exists even now, but you and I don't know about it, and *if* I knew about it, I sure as hell wouldn't tell you. :-)

Re:/b/ is mainstream

[Anonymous Coward]

/b/ is well-known among people who are familiar with the Internet as a culture, and not just that thing you use to download porn and music, but it's not quite mainstream yet. It doesn't really matter at this point anyway, /b/ as it once was is long dead, never to return.

While some people point to the invasions as the beginning of the end, I think there were far more contributing factors, of which the invasions are a relatively minor contribution. The most obvious problem is that there are only so many quality posters: eventually, as it continued to grow, the average new user got progressively worse, dropping the quality of the board as a whole significantly. Another important, yet often overlooked, cause is the mods, or more specifically the lack of mods. In the /b/ of old, the moderators were highly visible and thus had a significant effect on the board, whether it was through publicly banning idiots, wordfiltering anything they felt like, abusing their power to force a meme, or whatever else. And of course, there's the eternal problem of moot being a gigantic faggot who fucks everything up.

But though one could debate the many possible causes behind it, at this point it can't really change the massive failure /b/ has been for the past (at least) 20 million or so posts, and will be until 4chan is dead.

Re:/b/ is mainstream

[freeweed]

/b/ is well-known among people who are familiar with the Internet as a culture

No, it's not. It's well-known to people familiar with 4chan, apparently.

Remember kids, your little corner of the Internet != the Internet as a whole.

Now will someone PLEASE explain just what the hell this /b/ and /i/ nonsense is all about? Preferably someone over the age of 18? Preferably without resorting to terms like "gigantic faggot"?

Re:/b/ is mainstream

[TheoMurpse]

Tell me about it. I can't go to a single article on Digg without reading, "I did it for the lulz," and, "Pool's closed due to AIDS." Heck, about a year ago I saw someone post a comment here, non-AC, that was of value in the scientific discussion, but they had slipped a couple 4chan quotes in, such as, "It's over 9000!"

And agreed, 4chan hasn't had a truly great meme like Raptor Jesus in a long time. /is Anonymous, but not AC

Re:/b/ is mainstream

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

/b/ is a cesspit. A conglomeration of all that is disturbing, perverted, juvenile, inane, humorous, annoying, offensive, shocking and vile. The site is much worse than the sum of its parts.

And yet..... I'm glad it's there. I'm glad that there still exists a place where people can be offensive, racist and rude in all manner of ways. Frankly, the place warms my heart because of its simple honesty. It doesn't pretend to be anything other than the asshole of the internet. It even revels in it. I can respect that kind of honesty.

Ultimately, the /b/tards are more human than the legions of Politically Correct hypocrites that plague our modern society. Humanity isn't always in the images of angels or gods. Sometimes we're altogether more earthly beings, and places like /b/ should serve to remind us of that. If /b/ did not exist, it would be necessary for someone to create it, because /b/ is a part of what humanity is.

To finish off, anytime I have browsed /b/, despite the form of the post and their extreme vulgarity, I never get the vibe that the place is filled with genuinely evil individuals spewing hate and bile. It seems to me that the /b/tards are rather more akin to jesters, or cynics than to Nazi's or the KKK. /b/tards are more likely to laugh and deride such people than side with them. The site seems to be more playful than malicious.

I can see the hypocritical legions of politicians, reporters and busybodies rallying to condemn /b/ as hell on earth, and I can see the /b/tards laughing and mocking them as they do so. But the possibility of the /b/tards being cowed and broken by such a crusade frightens me, because I think it's entirely possible that they will be sought out and persecuted by our modern witch hunters. To me, /b/, ugly as it is, represents our freedoms, and if it falls, I can't see how anything else truly worthwhile in our society can resist being torn down as well.

Sites like /b/ are proof that our society still free. Perversely, its continuing existence akin to an eternal flame of liberty (A flame which no doubt /b/ would collectively attempt to fart on). If it gets snuffed out, I for one won't sleep soundly at night.

Re:/b/ is mainstream

[Zekasu]

/b/'s actually quite well known, to anyone who's been on the internet for awhile.

I'll start by calling it the cesspool of the internet; it's where all the waste from the tubes go to die.

That being said, /b/ is the one who brought things such as Caturday (Not "lolcats") into existence, and also sveral motivational posters. There's actually a lot of internet culture that spawns form that cesspool, which is to say the least, ironic.

If you want to find out what /b/, or /i/ is, I recommend going there yourself. (... Not on your work computer, either.)

[The author is in no way responsible for the aforementioned post whatsoever. What one does with the aforementioned information, etc. is solely the responsibility of the doer.]

Re:/b/ is mainstream

[Daniel Dvorkin]

/b/'s actually quite well known, to anyone who's been on the internet for awhile.

No. It's not.

I've been on the internet since before there was such as thing as the WWW. I've worked as a Web developer for several years. I've done large amounts of research online for a wide variety of personal, professional, and academic purposes. I've wasted God-knows-how-many thousands of hours on Usenet, Slashdot, and many other online forums. And until today, I had no idea what /b/ was.

"The internet" is a big place. And with comments like yours, you indicate that your understanding of this vast, complex world is about as deep as Ted Stevens'.

Re:/b/ is mainstream

[basscomm]

/b/'s actually quite well known, to anyone who's been on the internet for awhile.

Erm, I've been 'on the Internet' for over 10 years at this point, and this is the first that I've heard of /b/. Judging by this thread, its ubiquity might be somewhat overstated.

Re:/b/ is mainstream

[Anonymous Coward]

Just because ***YOU*** haven't heard of it, doesn't mean it isn't well known in general. I, for example, had never heard of Paris Hilton, until I heard about her jail antics on the radio recently.

Re:/b/ is mainstream

[zombie_striptease]

The statement you quoted from GP is spot-on, whether you like it or not. Being aware of the internet as a culture has nothing to do with how long you've been working with computers or any sort of indicator of technical acumen in general. My brother was involved with computer programming and the internet a good 6 years before me, and yet I've always been the one to introduce him to the internet's memes and trends (from All Your Base to the O RLY owl) just because of the differences in our focuses. Calling /b/ well-known among a subset of people that doesn't include you is in no way a slam on you. The fact is that many of those who give even a cursory amount of attention to the masses (forums, comments, et al) have heard somewhat of /b/. Hell, if you'd bothered to read /. comments at -1 (say, when you had mod points) anytime in the last year, it's almost certain you would have heard of /b/ before today.

Re:/b/ is mainstream

[Omaze]

I've always been the one to introduce him to the internet's memes and trends (from All Your Base to the O RLY owl) How are you so sure that he didn't come across them long before you did--and simply didn't feel they were worth noting?

Because, just like /b/, they're not. Not everyone _needs_ to be exposed to that kind of crap.

Re:/b/ is mainstream

[Akki]

1 and 2 were never real rules anyway. 34 is the only true rule.

Re:/b/ is mainstream

[zombie_striptease]

...I know because the first time I made an All Your Base reference, he didn't have a clue what I was talking about. I explained its origins and widespread prominence as a pop-culture reference, and when he expressed skepticism that he could miss something so common, I surfed around to some random examples on sites he himself frequented while he watched over my shoulder.

It's absolutely true that these things aren't going to hit off everyone's radar, and that's fine; I'm trying to figure out what part of my post could have been taken to mean that I'm looking down on anyone who doesn't dick around on internet forums.

(For the record, my brother eventually decided he was pleased to know about All Your Base and gleefully continues to reference it far past its coolness expiration date.)

Re:/b/ raids?

[skrolle2]

I think u need to lurk moar.

READ the /. Comments ONLY!

[sciop101]

The original article (and YouTube segment) is boring and stupid!

bigger example please...

[3seas]

Like how about the war drum banging that was done on deceiving many americans to support the war on iraq?

I believe it was fox national that would pull stuff like using split screens showing one thing, the narrator talking about another thing and a small box showing someone speaking in another language.

It made it appear that it was all related like the non-english speaker was talking about the larger picture being shown while the narrator appeared to be a translator. But none of them were related. And this happen daily in the build up of getting american support behind Bush.

Anyone with half a mind would see thru it, many didn't. Fox tried to make it obvious, as other networks also contributed in less obvious ways. There was even the setting up of what was called the "clear channel network" composed of TV and radio station.

Propoganda!!

Why did they do this?

Anthrax threats.....

I understand the person they tried to blame sued and got more then Richard Jewel did for being publicly accused of the 96 olympic centennial bombing..

No comspiracy needed. just one person with enough clearance at the US military base in teh US that the anthrax came from.

Even an idiot would realize how the politics of the country would play off the anthrax story.

It was an intentional threat against the media to get them to play the war drums in support of US attacking Iraq.

Bim Laden and Saddam are not the same person, regardless of what most supporting the war believe.

There is more that has not been told together, but it has been told and the information is findable on the internet.

911 was the result of extreamist using a genuinely real event Americans were seriously guilty of, as an excuse to do what they did, and the excuse was real and verifiable enough that it certainly helped the extreamist to promote a following of fools to help them.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2704stock market.html

That's a lot of money that is not going to just appear out of no where and vanish into nowhere.

What other financial things happened in the 90's?

The dotcom boom and bust... money came from somewhere to finance business with out a product or service... easy come easy go... for those who were able to get out in time.

For those who didn't get out in time... enron, worldcom and the likes, hiding their losses from the gamble.

Can Americans say they are sorry? Credit card interest rate dropping to 0% was an attempt. As the world bank offered to make a loan to south east asia countries like indonesia [80% muslim by CIA reports] where the trillion dollar bet drained financials badly, but with an interest rate.... that offer fell flat.....

The information is available, but no-one has yet put it together and communicated it to the masses. And whats his name "ferinheight 911" only provided distraction from the simple occums razor of "follow the money"...

Asking someone if they trust the news media is like asking them if they are stupid.

Networks use news as a vehicle to sell advertising space to. On a slow news day they will take an any hill and make it sound like a mountain to attract viewers. See how bad the ants are to home owners....

Up next on FOX...

[Luke Dawson]

Sen. Ted Stevens addresses the Congress about the dangers of homeless people sleeping in the internet tubes.

And you're surprised?

[edwardpickman]

You expected fair and balanced reporting from Fox News? Ever watch Fox News before? They're the first news service in history to qualify in the dramatic series category for the Emmy Awards.

Re:And you're surprised?

[Prof.Phreak]

Also consider that a few days ago, their FTP server was terrorized by all those anonymous users downloading their images directory :-/

Re:Hahaha... and I thought Slashdot was funny...

[nowhere.elysium]

Careful with your mockery... that dog is one 133t h4xx0r.

/huh?/

[Chris Pimlott]

Undefined terms in Slashdot summaries are indicative of poor editorial quality, not necessarily widespread familiarity. I have no idea what "/b/" is, let alone the rest of /terms/ used throughout your post. You seem to know what you're talking about; care to provide some background for us?

Re:/huh?/

[Chris Pimlott]

Google strips slashes out of search queries. So, no, a search for "/b/" or "/b/ raid" is not very helpful.

Re:/huh?/

[Soul-Burn666]

Wikipedia
Urban Dictionary
Encyclopedia Dramatica
Uncyclopedia

Enjoy!

Re:/huh?/

[internet hate machin]

http://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q =/b/&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Three results down it suggests 4chan and provides 3 results for 4chan.

If you just search for the string "b" you do not get results for 4chan.

Fox 11 Trolled

[nitehawk214]

I dont know who that "Former Anonymous" they had on there was. But he is now the greatest Troll in internet history.

Congratulations, sir. You have my undying admiration for having the balls to do a RL troll the likes of which I have never seen before.

Re:Fox 11 Trolled

[Dunbal]

Funny, my ocean of piss is still full of piss.

What's wrong with people.

[iamdrscience]

How is it that after all these years, there are still people who don't realize that nothing that happens on the internet is real? That hot chick you've been chatting with? There's a 95% chance she is a dude and a 5% chance that she is fat, ugly and crazy. That dude who told you he would slit your whole family's throats and shit down their esophaguses because you like original Star Trek better than the Next Generation? He's 12 years old. Porn sites that say their girls are having sex for the first time? They're lying. That e-mail you got from a guy in Nigeria who wants to give you money? You're not going to get it.

ad infinitum.

Re:What's wrong with people.

[Neeth]

So... what you are saying is not true?

Re:What's wrong with people.

[Lord Ender]

That hot chick you've been chatting with? There's a 95% chance she is a dude and a 5% chance that she is fat, ugly and crazy

That may have been true ten years ago. Today, myspace, facebook, and other "social" sites are more popular with women than men. Yes, you really can meet real women online. Just make sure they aren't Chris Hansen before you meet them :-)

Re:What's wrong with people.

[Omaze]

there isn't anything to stop Anonymous from calling up someone's work and getting them fired, harassing their victim's family, putting up fake pages or message posts under someone's name to fuck up their reputation (and thanks to google and the practice of searching someone's name when they submit a resume that is becomming much more of a factor).

Maybe, back in the days before usenet, what you did on the inter net stayed on the internet; but at this point too much spills over into real life and it's a danger.

When innocent people can have their lives ruined by an anonymous mob it's no different because it's people hiding behind a computer and causing trouble on the internet than it would be if it were people wearing sheets and burning crosses. Well said. Well said.

Isn't this what HomelessInLaJolla has been trying to say for almost a year? Isn't this what SilverspurG tried alerting people to in the year before that? Isn't that exactly what maximilln tried bringing to notice in the year before that?

I'm just sayin'... It's not as if I have any personal experience being on the crap end of the stick.

*cue the AC posts screaming "conspiracy" "paranoia" and "It's all your own fault!"*

AC/DT -- LOLZ 0x07'z

[Joebert]

I'm rolling thunder, on your myspace page
I'm messin it up like a hurricane
My LULZ is flashing, across the web
You switched to Linux but I switched to deb
I won't leave no pictures, won't spare no drives
Nobody's usin, firewalls right
I got my 0x07'z I'm gonna get LOLZ
I'm gonna get ya, MSN or AIM & get ya

LOLZ 0x07'z
LOLZ 0x07'z, you got me pinging
LOLZ 0x07'z, your latency's high
LOLZ 0x07'z

On to us!

[Anonymous Coward]

Shit lads, they're on to us! Quick, everyone start using our real names so they can't track us!

internethatemachine

[iocc]

http://internethatemachine.org/ exists already :p

Conservative Fear

[Anonymous Coward]

As we've had to see for the past seven+ years, there is absolutely NOTHING which conservatives don't live in terror of.

It's little wonder groups like Al Qaeda are outmaneuvering Bush and the other conservatives: the Bushites are so fearful, they only know what they can see from their "undisclosed location". Conservative = coward.

Cowardservatives!

Re:Conservative Fear

[Chmcginn]

I agree... as long as you preface all "conseratives" in the previous post with "neo-".

Re:Conservative Fear

[Charles W Griswold]

As we've had to see for the past seven+ years, there is absolutely NOTHING which conservatives don't live in terror of.

It's little wonder groups like Al Qaeda are outmaneuvering Bush and the other conservatives: the Bushites are so fearful, they only know what they can see from their "undisclosed location". Conservative = coward.

Cowardservatives!

"there is absolutely NOTHING which conservatives don't live in terror of" you say? Hmmm, I consider myself to be somewhat conservative, and yet there are quite a few things that I don't live in terror of. For instance, I'm not at all scared of bunny rabbits. Well, perhaps if I met the bunny rabbit that was featured in the absolutely terrifying documentary "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", I might be scared, but I certainly hold no fear of your average garden-variety bunny rabbit.

Oh, yeah, plush Cthulhu toys. They don't scare me. Well, as long as they're not the plush Cthulhu slippers of course, but that goes without saying.

Kiwi fruit. Sure, they scare me, but I think that "terror" is pushing it a bit far. I might cross the street to avoid one, but I've never yet run screaming from a Kiwi fruit.

In conclusion, I would like to state that your characterization of conservatives as being terrified of absolutely everything is not only inaccurate, but comes close to li . . . libe . . . written slander. Sorry, I've always been terrified of that word.

Re:Conservative Fear

[Anonymous Coward]

For instance, I'm not at all scared of bunny rabbits. Well, perhaps if I met the bunny rabbit that was featured in the absolutely terrifying documentary "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", I might be scared, but I certainly hold no fear of your average garden-variety bunny rabbit.

I guess you haven't seen any Skittles commercials lately. Bunnies are creepy.

Re:Conservative Fear

[Anonymous Coward]

"there is absolutely NOTHING which conservatives don't live in terror of" you say? Hmmm, I consider myself to be somewhat conservative, and yet there are quite a few things that I don't live in terror of. For instance, I'm not at all scared of bunny rabbits. Well, perhaps if I met the bunny rabbit that was featured in the absolutely terrifying documentary "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", I might be scared, but I certainly hold no fear of your average garden-variety bunny rabbit.

Oh, yeah, plush Cthulhu toys. They don't scare me. Well, as long as they're not the plush Cthulhu slippers of course, but that goes without saying.

Kiwi fruit. Sure, they scare me, but I think that "terror" is pushing it a bit far. I might cross the street to avoid one, but I've never yet run screaming from a Kiwi fruit.

In conclusion, I would like to state that your characterization of conservatives as being terrified of absolutely everything is not only inaccurate, but comes close to li . . . libe . . . written slander. Sorry, I've always been terrified of that word. Are you aware of the fact that Fox News just broke a story reporting that the NSA has discovered a plan by Al Quaeda to unleash upon the unsuspecting US public an of an army of Cthulhu slipper wearing bunny-rabbit ninjas armed with hand grenades disguised as kiwi fruit? Unfortunately this discovery was only made a few seconds before a delegation from FAKFG, the American Federation of kiwi fruit growers, arrived to present president Bush with a fruit basket. Apparently president Bush was seen running out of his oval office, screaming loudly, the moment he saw the delegation. According to this same Fox News report the incident was triggered when a malicious hacker sent the FAKFG delegation an E-Mail from the White House mail server requesting that they show up in bunny-rabbit suits and wearing Cthulhu slippers but this has not been confirmed by White House sources yet.

Re:Conservative Fear

[MSTCrow5429]

I think someone is confusing Fox News Channel with a plain old Fox news station, member of the mainstream media. 80% of FNC staff are Democrat, so if you have a problem with FNC, you're probably too far off the deep end to be relevant.

Re:Conservative Fear

[dgbrownnt]

It's really a shame.

First off, you have a news station who adds a bit too much drama to their report, making it bigger than it should be. In turn, when this hits the web, it becomes a lambasting of the people who were victimized here.

Yes, these aren't 'hackers on steroids' or anything. The report is just talking about groups of malicious internet users -- I'm sure many of them have no skills and are at best script kiddies. The point is that there are people running around harassing people. Your typical slashdotter may feel the need to make fun of the mom that found a need to get a security system and a dog, but that's EXACTLY the kind of reaction most of our parents would have if confronted with calls of death threats, posting of family members pictures and addresses online, and notices for people to do bad stuff to them.

What you have are groups of people who do have fun being assholes to the rest of the internet. Terrorists, no. But it is a problem, none-the-less. So go ahead and laugh at the people that these assholes victimize. I, for one, don't think it's funny.

Re:Conservative Fear

[Tatarize]

He pulled it out of his ass.

A lot of reporters are actually democrats, they just don't have any real control over what gets on the air. As such, we get massive biases toward the right. As shown by a number of studies. My favorite was the PIPA study which found that the more Fox News a person watched, the less they knew about world affairs during the lead up to the Iraq war.

Re:Conservative Fear

[Genda]

I sympathize with your compassion for anyone who is the victim of malicious mischief. I was quietly sitting in my dining room, next to a window, when a BB shot by some young punk broke the window and left a nasty welt on my arm. That said, I wouldn't call the FBI, and I don't think a couple years in Gitmo, are required (though the mental image does have certain appeal) as appropriate punishment for said miscreant(s).

The point here isn't the victims. It's not even the perpetrators... there have been pimply faced, antisocial, teenagers all the way back when young Ogg climbed up a tree and dropped a prehistoric rotten egg on Mrs. Umars head then promptly fell out of that tree laughing his furry protohuman butt off.

There's this E-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N thing going on, and we're supposed to be rising to higher levels of intelligence and social functionality... the FOX NEWS folks (and there fearmongering minions) would have us devolving back into stupid brutes who club one another insensible at the slightest provocation. Kids are stupid... they do stupid things... don't any of your remember the stupid things you did in the throws of puberty? It's truly the human condition. Guide them if you can, talk to them because you must, spank them if you absolutely have to, but let's not cure adolescent inanity with the threat of thermonuclear deterent. The punishment cetainly doesn't fit the crime, and god knows once the hormones subside, and the frontal lobes develop a little more, most of these young jerks will mature into perfectly descent human beings. We just need to focus a little more on what's of real importance in the world and stop knee jerking at the sound of ever "BOO" emanation from the desk of FOX NEWS, because if you knee jerk long enough, all you're doing is Goose Stepping...

Re:Conservative Fear

[HomelessInLaJolla]

most of these young jerks will mature into perfectly descent human beings It's been my experience that these young jerks will grow up into adult jerks and, as long as their family and social position grants them the money to keep _their_ house and home secure, they'll continue to hound, harass, harangue, and ruin the lives of anyone they can just for "LuLZ". Many of those young jerks who grow up to be adult jerks move into managerial positions, have security clearances, join the military and then receive the default respect and admiration of their fellow citizens. They'll work in HR and decide the salaries for the people they victimize. They'll work in banks and decide whether or not you qualify for a home loan. They'll own new car lots and decide which way to spin your credit report when you want to buy or lease a new vehicle. They'll work in the police department and decide how hard to crack down on you for that speeding ticket. They'll work in the FBI and decide, for themselves, whether or not it's truly ethical to start sifting through the government records concerning the guy down the street whose kids they don't like. It turns into one big invitation for a blanket abuse of authority.

And what does authority do when it's caught making a huge mess of things? "Oh, sorry about that. We'll launch a Congressional inquiry and get back to you in twenty or thirty years when anyone who cares, except you, has forgotten about it."

Re:Conservative Fear

[Seumas]

80% of FNC staff are Democrat, so if you have a problem with FNC, you're probably too far off the deep end to be relevant. More than 80% of Bill Gates' employees aren't millionaires. So what? Does it really matter what the guy who fetches Sean Hannity's coffee or operates the cameras is? What matters is the Charlie Daniels rah rah rah crap that spews out of his mouth and you are being entirely disingenuous to suggest that because there may be a lot of non conservative employees at FNC, FNC is itself not almost entirely conservative.

I'm sure you'll counter with "But CNN is filled with a bunch of baby killing, god-hating liberals!", but you'd be wrong. I suspect you have heard of Lou Dobbs and Glenn Beck at least, right?

There's nothing wrong with slanting your news for the conservative angle if you're up-front about it. I watch FNC and CNN and CNBC side-by-side all day long, but at least I am aware of the slant that I'm viewing as I do so. If you don't think that 95% of FNC programming is conservative and aimed at the conservative slant, you're too far brainwashed to be relevant.

Re:Conservative Fear

[MSTCrow5429]

I'm 99% sure I saw this, but as I cannot find any source or citation at this time, I am withdrawing this figure.

Re:Conservative Fear

[MSTCrow5429]

FNC is center-right, not conservative. I can point you to some conservative media, if you'd like.

Lou Dobbs is a populist.

Re:Conservative Fear

[OakDragon]

I agree... as long as you preface all "conseratives" in the previous post with "neo-".

And replace all "conservatives" with "liberals."

Re:Conservative Fear

[Charles W Griswold]

I guess you haven't seen any Skittles commercials lately. Bunnies are creepy. Good point. I'll have to add "singing bunnies" to my list of Bunnies Not to be Trusted.

Re:Conservative Fear

[dzurn]

What that report actually found was that people who watched Fox News did not believe the "misperceptions" that the PIPA study took as an obvious fact, disregarding any shades of grey in the truth of the preceptions.

Not about how informed they were, but whether they happened to believe the particular tropes that PIPA picked out. Proving, I guess, that people sometimes differ in their interpretations of the same "evidence".

Some contemporaneous comments:

http://www.patterico.com/2004/05/09/the-pseudo-jou rnalism-of-the-ilos-angeles-timesi/

Origin of the Story

[Mendy]

According to /b/ (which usually means you should treat it with a pinch of salt) the guy being interviewed complaining about things is called Alex Wuori, a former visitor to the site who ended up with a grudge against it and contacted the news station. They probably got all their "facts" from him explaining the sensationalist outlook.

mod up parent.

[innatetech]

perfect encapsulation; preserve for posterity.

Invading MySpace?!

[morari]

So it isn't so!!!

Just another day at FOX

[smchris]

I'll wait for the John Stewart commentary on the meth-induced violence of lesbian biker hackers with AIDS who worship Satan and piss on flags while chanting "Hillary, Hillary".

FOX "news" is for fools. Old story. But I sometimes wonder whether they are happy to be the outrageous scapegoat of the left because it takes the heat off all the untrue crap on the other networks' "news". Seriously, the other networks are just puppies, kitties, drug commercials and 10 minutes of government propaganda too. Don't take my word for it. Count it up some day. That's where the real story is. FOX is beneath the contempt of any thinking person and only serves as fodder for dark comedy.

Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory

[griffjon]

Not to mention that this is wll known theory worked out by Gabe and Tycho; Normal Person + Anonymity + Audience == Total fuckwad.

Nothing new here people, move on.

Good Lord

[jayhawk88]

There's a 7chan? God help us all...

Re:Good Lord

[NeuroManson]

I hear it goes all the way up to 420 chans dontchaknow :slowpoke.jpg:

haha

[Danzigism]

"A video from a recent FOX 11 (Los Angeles)," *closes browser window*

American News Never Surprises Me....

[xdancergirlx]

but this was a bit over the top. I am glad that it wasn't on the Fox national news (foxnews.com) and not even on the Fox Los Angeles news (myfoxla.com). Correct me if I am wrong but the "MyFox Investigates" is just a tabloid-esque sensationalist wing of FoxLA that produces fun, outrageous shows just for ratings. Sort of like talk radio. At least that is the impression I get by looking at the other "scoops" on the Fox 11 Investigates Page. For example, see Beauty Disasters where people get bad haircuts.

Not that I am denying that the American mainstream news continues to blur the line between "news" and "tabloid", it hasn't gone quite this far yet... I hope.

Anonymous cowards unite!

[Anonymous Coward]

We're all the same person anyway. I'm with me!

OMG

[PacketScan]

HAHAHA what out anonymous is going to get you..
Does fox not know that anonymous has been a name people have used since the inception of the internet?
To the education internet freaks this is funny as hell.

The limits of stupidity

[Frozen Void]

*headpalm*

Harassment

[HomelessInLaJolla]

seems to confuse /b/ raids and motivational poster templates with a genuine threat to the American public Motivational poster templates... that's what we're calling harassment now?

Is that the same as, if he's down, kick him... if he doesn't move, kick him harder?

I suppose it's just un-American to think that we don't have a right to mob a citizen for fun and entertainment.

Re:Harassment

[mink]

This make me think of Red Army and it's attempts to strike a blow at the Agatean Empire
"Extra Luck to the People's Endeavor!"
"Mildly Unpleasant Conditions to the Forces of Oppression."
"Make Considerable Sacrifice for the Common Good"
"Unpleasantness To Oppressors When Convenient"

Yeah, I have a story like that (AC for a reason)

[Anonymous Coward]

Back in college, there was a Direct Connect server on campus. A friend of mine ran it, and I was known to be involved with it. I think we had about 3TB shared, among 200 users online at any given time.

Anywho, a reporter for the campus rag decided to do a story on it. She first called the kid who ran it, and scheduled an interview. She then called me, at which time I told her that this reporting would be a bad idea, and that she won't be getting information easily. She got a little upset from that. When she interviewed my buddy, she ended up crying. He's a nice guy, but apparantly she was extremely upset that people didn't just give her information.

Later on Sunday, we had a kind of technology club meeting, and like 4 new guys were there (15 or so semi-regulars as well). We did not discuss p2p at the meeting, but after, we talked about this as of yet unpublished article. I referred to the reporter as a dumb broad, at which time one of the new guys yelled "THAT'S MY GIRLFRIEND!" I thought to myself, aww, crap, here we go. I talked him down after 20 minutes or so, but I swear, half the dweebs there thought we were going to brawl and bolted. It was kind of an anti-climatic ending really.

This is the same rag of a paper that printed this from the IT departement chair after some faculty computers were comprimised:

According to (IT guy), the hackers were members of the Internet Chat Relay (IRC) network, a group of people who are out to "make mischief and manipulate other people machines," (IT guy) said.

"Primarily they do it to steal personal information or cause mischief such as attacking other computers or deleting files," (IT guy) said.

AC = Harmful to private corporate interests

[unity100]

thats what it is. ah, and harmful to their paid administrative counterparts.

Re:Hahaha... and I thought Slashdot was funny...

[ajlitt]

+1 topical
+1 BSG ref
+1 Sony bashing

Re:what a load of BS ..

[deftcoder]

Yeah, I liked how he went from a 'hacker' to just another tool who was butthurt about Anonymous getting his real life information.

Re:What's the Background?

[Anonymous Coward]

tubgirl and goatse have been around *far* longer than 4chan has even existed. But yes, they do represent the mentality of the place.

Why FOX hates Anonymous

[polemon]

There is only one way to make an Image board attack an individual: You tried to fool around with them. I bet this FOX-Guy who was browsing the 420chan /i/-board that was visible on one of their shots, is a -channer himself. He tried to use /i/ to attack his neighbor, co-worker or whatever, and they told him ANONYMOUS IS NOT YOUR PERSONAL ARMY. So he went >:(, looked for some ASPLODIN' Partyvans and made this article. YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG, etc.

Re:What's the Background?

[dctoastman]

Ah yes, an elitist bastard. How do you do?

4chan is not the place where all this gets started. 4chan is the place where all this collects. Due to 4chan having a rather large population, it is more than likely that most soon to be popular things on the internet will pass through the place.

These things then become popular on 4chan and outside of 4chan simultaneously and independently. 4chan then takes the credit for making it popular. For proof that 4chan cannot propagate a meme, look at Cracky. No one outside of 4chan cares.

Don't mistake your fishbowl for the ocean.

Hahaha... Oh wow.

[Kratisto]

I really couldn't believe he said "The truly epic LULZ..." I could have soiled myself with laughter.

Re:Fox 11 Trolled - retraction

[nitehawk214]

I believe I stand corrected. While ED is best taken with a salt mine, the closer things are to irl lulz, the more the facts/article goes up.

Please correct me if I am wrong... So a /b/tard decides the image boards are his personal raiding army, becomes a target and has a fit about it? Then, instead of just dissapearing and letting the hoard find a new target of the week, he tries to sabotage them; resulting in an escalation.

Either way, Fox 11 is a bunch of jag offs for even trying to get involved. Did they think they were breaking the story of the century, or was it just a slow news day?

That's what she's talking about.

[twitter]

[Poster: frustrated because not enough people understand computers] Idiot: Sounds like somebody couldn't get a date for the prom!

She got invitations but they were all from idiots.

FOX poll

[PMBjornerud]

Did anyone bother to vote in their related poll? I found the current standings hillarious! :D

Have you ever been hacked, phished, or been a victim of computer crime?
Yes. 1.78%
No. 6.35%
Victim? I'll leave it at that. 91.87%

Total number of votes: 13968

Re:FOX poll

[Dunbal]

Explanation:

      Anyone who has used a Microsoft product has felt like a victim of a computer crime.

Re:What's the Background?

[houghi]

That does not realy issue the point made.

Someone mod this guy up.

[Proofof. Chaos]

Whoever modded it troll doesn't know a joke when it sits on his face and beats him with a whip.

Re:Someone mod this guy up.

[Shadowruni]

Oh.... sounds kinky.... lulz!!!

"... Hackers on steriods..."

[Zekasu]

I'm actually surprised this took a day to get on /., and as far as the "anaonymous" reign of terror goes, as far as they would go is maybe sending a couple hundred thousand empty boxes to your address through the USPS.

I personally don't think that in any way they deserve being called an "Internet Hate Machine".

Of course, I personally think that which Anonymous is was exagerrated by their undercover information (whose name isn't hard to find). ... I for one thank Fox for it's completely unbiased newcasts!

Corporate terrorism at its finest

[twitter]

As an amateur psychologist and observer of human nature I'd guess anyone who thinks "lulz" is cool isn't a very sophisticated thinker; this bunch are probably just alienated kids.

Alienated? Is that the nice word for asshole? The world is full of them. Most grow out of it.

You don't have to go very far to find paid assholes. M$, telcos, the RIAA are all engaged in some very rough and ugly astroturfing and cracking.

They people raising the alarm over ACs are those who want an exclusive power to harass. Broadcasters, telcoms and software companies are used to having these powers and backing them up with the entire legal system. They want to exert and extend that centralized control over the internet and anonymity is incompatible with that. Eliminating our privacy and freedom to hamper assholes won't limit those who control the switches. They will continue to harass those who annoy them. When the rest of us have lost our freedom and privacy, the assholes will act with impunity.

Even Greater Fuckwad Theory

[twitter]

Normal Person + Anonymity + Audience == Total fuckwad.

There are several counter examples of this law, but it is generally applicable to normal young men.

Just remember that someone will always have anonymity. People who run telco have phone anonymity. People who broadcast have broadcast anonymity. People who run newspapers have print anonymity. Restrictions on publication in any of these forms of communications simply gives the total fuckwad a larger audience. As anyone can verify by watching "classic" broadcast TV, the fuckwads don't even have to have talent when they have power.

The greater fuckwad theory is:

Total Fuckwad + Larger Audience = Bigger Fuckwad

Freedom minimizes annoyance because it limits the relative power of abusive people.

The other reason they blew up the van.

[twitter]

They did it to scare people and equate words with real violence.

I'm sure they had a good laugh and had a good high five. That's the way bullies always act.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Unclear to non US people

[Gonoff]

Is this an American joke? Please enlighten me.

If that sort of report came from my country - UK - I would read it as sarcasm, but I generally find sarcasm uncommon in anything from the USA.

Of course, if this is for real, it could just be showing how unutterably weird the US media is!

Re:Unclear to non US people

[AiToyonsNostril]

I'm still not sure whether Fox is not a huge hoax perpetrated on unsuspecting neo-cons in order to make them appear even more ridiculous than they are in reality. But, unless that's somehow true, yeah, this is Fox crack journalism (pun unintended) at play.

To put in in Brit terms - it's as if The Sun suddenly took over the UK media and developed a love/hate relationship with T&A and a severe paranoia of any and all carbon-based life forms and domestic appliances. Oh, and started masturbating to the Union Jack.

FOX

[Mazin07]

I hope FOX got enough LULZ out of their asploding mini-van

WTF?

[WhatAmIDoingHere]

Rules 1 and 2, newfags.

It's scary to see pictures on the TV...

[Bob of Dole]

That you host on your site!

The Anon posters shown in the vid: 1 2
And the "We're discussing penises, do you want to join?" image.

ah!

[revxul]

Damn Anonymous Coward!!!

Privacy = Terrorism

[PMBjornerud]

As we've had to see for the past seven+ years, there is absolutely NOTHING which conservatives don't live in terror of. I'm more worried about the connecting "anonymity" with "terrorism". Anonymity causes people to be jerks, but it's also great for free speech.

Cue suggestions to track people by name and number online, to prevent this kind of terrorism. The police state and crackdown on piracy fits lovingly well together.

Yes, that's a bit on the paranoid side. I'm bored.

Re:Privacy = Terrorism

[Seumas]

What good is free speech if you can only exercise it online? We're in a world that increasingly views all forms of free assembly as potential conspiracy and has so many surveillance cameras running in public that they could easily identify people who assemble (even entirely peacefully) and anyone who wears a mask or otherwise "disguises" themselves to avoid the cameras in public is committing a crime...

I think the idea that we have truly free speech right now is incorrect. Or rather, that you can have free speech without risk of being targeted for your speech. After all, dissent is terrorism.

Re:what a load of BS ..

[wwahammy]

The piece from Fox was stupid as hell. It was ill informed and hideously overblown. At the same time, it bothers me that you're so quick to blame the victim.

Have you considered using a 'computer' that isn't so easily compromised by 'computer hackers'.

That's as ridiculous as asking a burglary victim why they didn't put in a deadbolt. Whether they made the safest choice doesn't matter, whoever compromised their "computer" broke the law.

Because you are using MS Bisto

Same point as above. Just because its easy to get into the house doesn't make it any less illegal. (Oh and calling it MS Bisto... that's real good, you worked hard on that one didn't you?)

If people phish your password and use it to access an account of yours, they are breaking the law. If they trick you into giving them access to your PC, they are breaking the law. If they make death threats against you, they are breaking the law. I don't see why punks like this should get a free pass just because they're computer geeks.

A few weeks ago

[omaha_boy]

Fox News (Bill O'Reilley specifically) did a segment on "gay gangs" which are roaming the streets of Washington, D.C. with "pink pistols". Even had an "expert detective" describe this activity. Too bad the expert turned out to be a rent-a-cop from a fast food restaurants. Oh, and even better, the whole story was debunked by several non-journalistic organizations. Funny how outside agencies have to do the reporting for Fox News to get the story right, isn't it?

Get enough public outcry and...

[StreetStealth]

...you can pass panic legislation like South Korea's legislative response to outrage over internet bullying. Just start with investigative reports like the above.

Re:What's the Background?

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, it's ebaumsworld and gaiaonline.

"lol"

[Zaphod2016]

Weer in teh interwebs, haxing teh news corp!

Re:what a load of BS score 2 redundant :)

[rs232]

"The piece from Fox was stupid as hell. It was ill informed and hideously overblown. At the same time, it bothers me that you're so quick to blame the victim"

Have you considered using a 'computer' that isn't so easily compromised by 'computer hackers'.

"That's as ridiculous as asking a burglary victim why they didn't put in a deadbolt. Whether they made the safest choice doesn't matter, whoever compromised their "computer" broke the law"

No, whoever sold me the 'computer' should be prosecuted. And apparently this 'hacker' did decide to investigate them. Now the're after his momma, for shame. What kind of a locksmith is it who can't secure his own front door.

"If people phish your password and use it to access an account of yours, they are breaking the law"

That's the thing about crooks, they don't obey the law. What responsibility do the people that designed such a phishing friendly computer bare. Which would be more effective, a twenty year felony charge or a secure desktop that can't be compromised by clicking on a URL or opening an e-mail attachment.

what a load of BS .. (Score:2, Redundant)

Just to be fair

[benhocking]

You don't have to go very far to find paid assholes. M$, telcos, the RIAA are all engaged in some very rough and ugly astroturfing and cracking.

I see in your list you have the "usual suspects". Now, I have no desire to defend them, but I'd like to point out that even one of my favorite companies has resorted to similar tactics.

Sometimes they're real, but nuts

[Anonymous Coward]

That hot chick you've been chatting with? There's a 95% chance she is a dude and a 5% chance that she is fat, ugly and crazy.

That's usually the case. But twice I've met incredibly beautiful, hot women on Craiglist who turned out to be real. They were both really wierd, though. Especially the tattooed fetish model, who is striking but too self-destructive.

Also Sprach Comic Book Guy:

[NeuroManson]

I don't have an emoticon for what I am feeling!

Here's your attention

[HomelessInLaJolla]

What took you so long?

The only thing worse . . .

[xsadar]

The only thing worse than the local fox affiliate's dramatization of the story, is the attempted anti-fox spin in the /. blurb. I mean, yeah it's exaggerated and poorly done, but it's just a news story by a local fox affiliate. Who cares?

This must be rectified...

[Forty Two Tenfold]

Fox News' FTP Password Anyone?

You post as Anonymous Coward

[hairpinblue]

You like it. It'd be so much easier if you would sign up for an account so that I could monitor your every post.

Re:overrated-MOD TO OBLIVION

[toQDuj]

Well, no. You have it wrong there.

Anonymity is a prime ingredient for a functioning democracy. Take camera surveillance. People are going to be scared to do anything out of the ordinary, for fear of being flagged as a peculiar guy (and thus much more likely to be caught doing anything illegal, even the mundane stuff like throwing something on the ground instead of in the trashcan). This fear prevents anyone from questioning the status quo, and thus a "democracy" results in everyone agreeing with the current government.

B.

Whole Foods Case is Not the Same

[twitter]

even one of my favorite companies has resorted to similar tactics.

A single person saying things is nothing at all compared to what big dumb companies do through PR firms and other proxies. "Normal advertising" where supposedly "normal" companies like American Express, Home Depot etc, hire crackers to install push adserver viruses and trojans, is just the tip of the iceburg. Pretending to be popular support of a thing you are trying to sell (Zune) or badmouth (OSX) is bad enough. More disgusting efforts seek legislation that's bad for everyone:

• ATT targets Net Neutrality
• Microsoft targets antitrust trial
• Supporting political pets

The web is changing the way public opinion works. It's giving companies like Whole Foods a voice they never had before and it's taking away the power of broadcasters. The broadcasters seek to "harness" the internet and will use their money to keep as much of their power over public opinion as they can. It's a doomed effort because they can't hire enough PR people to do the job.

I don't like it

[hairpinblue]

Way to connect two completely unrelated things, there. If Slashdot had a "No AC" button, you'd have a point, but then you'd just sign up for more junk accounts and use your other ones to mod yourself up.

Not the Same

[benhocking]

I agree it's not the same; however, the CEO is not the same as "a single person", either. Sure, a CEO is, technically, a single person, but it is definitely much more embarrassing when that single person is the CEO.

Fox News is

[DynaSoar]

the 8 ball of the masses. Religion may be the opiate, but Fox News combines the cocaine of emotionally charged "reports" with the mind numbing heroin of constant bombardment, and self-inducing insistence that the user continue using. I quit watching them when the 14 year old stole a Cessna and ran it into a Florida building, and they used a graphic of a 747 as seen from just below the belly, like it was about to fall on you, in a fit of 9/11 fear mongering.

Recall the Daily Show commercial when Jon Stewart claims that 30% of people get their news from The Daily Show and then yells "DON'T DO THAT. WE MAKE IT UP."? I want to yell back "WE KNOW THAT. SO DO THEY. YOURS IS BETTER."

Oh they're good!

[Lavene]

Look up the victims car on the Internet, hit Delete ... and BOOM! That's how good hackers they are. I know because I've seen on the net.

oh man

[botkiller]

That video is priceless.

Look out internets! The anonymizer is coming for YOU.

Taking Fox News seriously is kinda like getting married in a D&D game - it's kinda novel, but what good will it do you in real life?

Re:/b/ raids?

[WhatAmIDoingHere]

WTF? Rules 1 and 2, assholes.

Good Times

[nonymous]

Wasn't `Anonymous' also responsible for the Good Times Virus?

Re:Fox 11 Trolled - retraction

[pilot1]

Please correct me if I am wrong... So a /b/tard decides the image boards are his personal raiding army, becomes a target and has a fit about it? Then, instead of just dissapearing and letting the hoard find a new target of the week, he tries to sabotage them; resulting in an escalation. Yep, you got it. Alex is both the Former Anonymous Turned Good and the guy whining about his myspace getting hacked (even though he was the one to post it to /b/). And the woman in the video? His mother. Very convenient that Fox didn't mention that these seemingly separate cases of "internet terrorism" are all the same case, isn't it?

Fox Trying to get revenge?

[ReK_42]

Am I the only one who thinks that this report might be related to the Fox FTP incident less than a week ago? (http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/23/12 10255) The Fox account of the incident states "No user information, e-mail addresses or other personal data were ever comprised" (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,290633,00.htm l). However, according to the blogger linked in the above /. article:

"...later published on Slashdot exposed sensitive content to thousands of members of the public today. The data included names, phone numbers, and email addresses of at least 1.5 million people."

And to take a 3rd, independant source as confirmation, the register, a good british IT news/review site, has this to say (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/26/further_d ata_loss/):

"...the FTP account that was discovered provided access to records for around 1.5 million individuals, along with access to sensitive ZDNet business documents."

I say Fox has pointed the FUD-guns at Anonymous because of this incident. Let's get some free (liberal, as Fox would call it) media aware of this and point the truth guns right back at Fox.

Upset

[wackoyoshi]

Fox must still be upset from last week when their FTP password was discovered.

Even Victums are Anonymous Internet Hate Machines

[Bushido Hacks]

If this is Phil Shuman's way of getting a job at Fox News, then he should be fired.

Apparently, Shuman didn't do his homework on the people that he interviewed or who he was writing about nor did he understand the volatility of how "anonymous" would react to suck hateful bias.

Leave it to a Republican News Anchor to once again put egg on his face and the company that he keeps.

The October Terror Threat against NFL teams was yet another example of the fearmongering, as it was linked to a Wisconsin grocery cleark. The petty behavior of one news reporter from last year stated "Fortunately the Ravens aren't playing this week." Heaven forbid something terrible happen to Ray Lewis DURING A BYE-WEEK!

This news story has gone completely out of control.

"Shuman has kicked the beehive and now the bees are swarming all over the place.

If you want to get honey from bees, don't kick the beehive." --Anonymous

It's a trap!

[The Iso]

Did anyone else notice the blurred appearance of David's ex-girlfriend? I think "she" may be anonymous!

Newfags are Signing Up!

[Sneakernets]

Fox11 just did what Anonymous couldn't. Advertise for their cause.

People are joining the *chans like crazy wanting to be a part of the Anonymous Army.

Thank you, Fox News. They're newfags, but they'll do. They'll do quite well.

SAGE

[rjamestaylor]

SAGE SAGE SAGE SAGE SAGE SAGE SAGE SAGE If your don't get it, you weren't meant to. SAGE.

Reminds me...

[aldo.gs]

For added FUD, the FOX team inserted an unrelated video of a van blowing up -- twice! Presumably, one is intended to equate anonymous posting with domestic terror.

Reminds me of an episode of The Office (US), when Michael asks for a volunteer to select the name of a drug, and then tell to the workers a tragic story (not necessarily related to drugs).

Re:Conservative Fear, citation

[MSTCrow5429]

I have found the source. I gave an incorrect figure. 81% of Fox News Channel employees contribute to Democrats, not 80%. See http://www.anncoulter.com/cgi-local/article.cgi?ar ticle=192, second bullet. Presumably, this figure is also present in Freedomnomics: Why the Free Market Works and Other Half-Baked Theories Don't, by John Lott.

Re:Fox 11 Trolled - retraction

[nitehawk214]

Yep, you got it. Alex is both the Former Anonymous Turned Good and the guy whining about his myspace getting hacked (even though he was the one to post it to /b/). And the woman in the video? His mother. Very convenient that Fox didn't mention that these seemingly separate cases of "internet terrorism" are all the same case, isn't it?

Fantastic... I love the internet.

I'm a victom too!

[svunt]

You people laugh all you want...I've been in hiding now for six months, after receiving credible threats from the terrorist group "LOLCATS"

Oh WOW!

[WeeBit]

They need to work some on blowing up vans though, their producer, sucks. Replace him/her maybe? Their Technical adviser needs to grow up, and then go to school. Fiction maybe? That would explain it.

Oh come on

[el_munkie]

Like the lefty rhetoric over the last seven years has been about love and happiness. Example: Twice, Charles Rangel (D) has introduced measures to reinstate the draft. What human impulse does that play to, exactly? And the hyperbolic predictions of an Orwellian state, Bush not stepping down in January 2009, and the like, what does that say about what motivates leftists?

*Two* people.

[Grendel Drago]

No, no. Anonymous is actually *two* people. You and the one other guy that's posting, you know?

(Also, given the '~~~~', do you hit some kind of internet trifecta for being on Slashdot, 4chan *and* Wikipedia?)

Re:*Two* people.

[Brian Gordon]

It comes of having more than 3000 edits on signed pages alone (and that being 3/5 of my edit count) it gets to be habit before hitting submit you type "--~~~~" I have a similar problem with gmail chat (the only IM I use) ... I start all my lines with "t" since I have t bound to chat in counter strike :)

Re:Hahaha... and I thought Slashdot was funny...

[Jesus_666]

I found that part rather pitiable, too... Not only did they have to buy an electric security system but also a dog. A dog! OH LORD, WHY WON'T YOU HAVE MERCY ON THEIR SOULS!

Re:Conservative Fear, citation

[Fulcrum of Evil]

Do you have a real source? Right wing hatemongers don't count.

Re:Conservative Fear, citation

[OakDragon]

Of course it counts. Coulter was quoting from John Lott's book, "Freedomnomics." I have not looked at the book, but it should have footnotes.

But I'm guessing for you, it's hatemongers all the way down, eh?

The real domestic terrorists are in DC

[Anomolous Cowturd]

Today's terror alert level brought to you by the letter W and the color orange!

Re:Conservative Fear, citation

[Tatarize]

Oh, pulling it out of somebody else's ass? Ann Coulter? Really? Wow, you should have said you pulled it out of your own ass.

Also, you're making a distinctly different claim than she claims the book made.

-- "Even employees of Fox News, which is widely regarded as a conservative channel, donate 81 percent of their contributions to Democrats."

81% of contributions are made to Democrats is the claim. 81% of employees donate to Democrats is a massively different claim (really MASSIVE). In fact, I would be astounded if 50% of run of the mill employees donated to anybody. Also, note that the claim is "81 percent of their contributions" - beyond the obvious problem the book has of lumping most charity organizations as "democrats" even though they are just non-profit and work toward the common good. There's the problem that Democrats are usually poorer and get by with large numbers of small donations. If you looked at my donation history you would find roughly 4 donations toward "Democrats" -- if you think that it is anywhere close to one $5000 donation, you're kidding yourself. The vast majority of donations are grassroots little 25 and 50 dollar donations.

And again, they aren't the ones making the decisions. They are the working stiffs, the camera men and wardrobe people... they are the nuts and bolts who work to put food on their tables. They aren't the ones who supply Fox News with their trademark bias. And number of donations is a completely stupid metric.

Lies, damned lies, statistics and this idiotic bullshit.

Re:Conservative Fear, citation

[Fulcrum of Evil]

No, I just read some of her books. I had to stop after a couple pages - the bile was just too much. Fact is, given her reputation for distortion and outright lies, she has zero credibility.

Provable fact: conservatives are more fearful

[Rudd-O]

Conservative and religious fears have been documented in the past. Jack up the fear factor of bunnies enough, and you can get a conservative to vote for banning all rodents any day.

I, for one, welcome our new Anonymous overlords.

[Rysc]

This is so stupid.

I have just realised something :3

[shish]

Fox News = Brasseye.

The trouble being, Brasseye is filed under "Satire" and Fox calls itself "News"...

Extreme Disappointment

[Uberwabawaba]

I have to say I am incredibly disappointed in this post and some of the responses. This group is sending death threats and threatening to blow up stadiums, if that is not the definition of 'terrorism' then I cannot imagine what is. I am suspicious of the motives of those who would defend a group like this.

Re:overrated-MOD TO OBLIVION

[Rudd-O]

The U.S. bill of rights was an anonymous document at some point.

And you're an ignorant moron.

Re:they are harmless!

[Uberwabawaba]

Every single thing you said in this post are assumptions. You stated absolutely nothing that is factual unless of course you are actually a part of this group. While I admit they are probably are a bunch of social rejects the problem is you only have to be wrong once, and as soon as some innocent person actually dies people like you miraculously just fade into the shadows. As the old adage says, "Its only funny until someone gets hurt"

Re:they are harmless!

[Hann1bal]

actually yes i was one, but a real "Hacker" not these so-called script-kiddies that just fool retards and the computer illiterate

Re:Conservative Fear, citation

[MSTCrow5429]

If you're going to treat people that disagree with you like this, especially when they fulfill your implied requests for citations, you don't belong here.

Re:Conservative Fear, citation

[Tatarize]

>>If you're going to treat people that disagree with you like this, especially when they fulfill your implied requests for citations, you don't belong here.

I can scoff at your comments, laugh at your citations, and rip your sources apart. I mean, honestly, defending Fox News via Anne Coulter reporting on a hack book. Even if you hadn't gotten your facts completely wrong, you were still in error.

Also, where do you get off? If I'm going to respond to that kind of asininity, so heartlessly, I don't belong on Slashdot?

First off, have you read Slashdot? Secondly, I didn't treat you poorly. I said you pulled it out of your ass. That isn't *that* rude. In fact, I daresay it's accurate. I feel I demonstrated my position aptly enough to show that "81% of employees of Fox News Employees donate to Democrats" is flat wrong (and not supported by the citation either). I also provided a number of good reasons why the claim should be disregarded in it's original form as well. However, I didn't address you! I addressed the argument! I addressed the claims! I addressed the source! I addressed the meat of what you said. I didn't treat you personally with any disrespect. Your beliefs, however, have done absolutely nothing to earn my respect.

To which you come back whining like I beat you with a rusty pipe. You are not your beliefs, learn to tell the difference. I reserve the right to address a person's belief, doubly so if they are part of a group focused on defending an ideology which has lead us into a worthless, unneeded, and intractable war.

Have a good day.

Brilliant!

[godfra]

As the baboon said, I lol'd.

Re:Fox 11 Trolled - retraction

[mink]

I'm amazed that no one gave FOX his little rant about raping and killing the classmate.