Slashdot Mirror
Forbes Offers a Sympathetic Portrayal of Hackers
selain03 sends us to Forbes for a surprisingly tolerant article on the recent Defcon. The reporter spoke to several of the event organizers and faithfully conveyed their characterization of the community as motivated by curiosity about technology. The article quotes a Department of Defense cybercrime guy: "Run-of-the-mill individual hackers are just noise as we try to focus on the real problem. We have to investigate every threat, but we're often dealing with ankle biters." A refreshing perspective to read in the mainstream media.
whether it's basic hacks or super high level, new ones that seem godly doesn't really matter actually. It's a big convention that basically says all computer systems are insecure by nature and everything is hackable. Well duh! A bunch of guys get together and show off new ways to remind everyone that computers aren't safe. They might as well be holding a fire isn't safe convention and holding conferences at it where they light random things and fire to prove their point. Ooh, look at me, I can light an entire couch on fire in 3 seconds, I'm so cool! It's the exact same thing at hackers conventions. Lots of people get together and talk about stupid and simple and super complicated and hard ways to do something everyone knows is possible and they pretend like they're the coolest, most special person on earth for it.
Google's Super Secret Search Algorithm: SELECT @search_results FROM internet WHERE @search_results = 'good'
I should change his screen saver to a naughty pic of Barbara Bush for that. And his mouse it gonna be those Dinosaurs Purple ones. Yeah yeah!
The average guy walking down the street cringes at the prospect of being kicked in the balls, much less having his nuts surgically removed; but some testicle owners want nothing more than to become geldings.
"I feel very glad to have my balls cut off," says Rick, a 45-year-old Seattle, Washington, resident who fantasized about being castrated most of his adult life. "It feels good to have a huge empty area between my legs. I'll be happy if I never have another orgasm."
And then there are those extreme eunuchs for whom deballing is simply not enough. A nullo is a neuter who has also had the shaft of his penis removed, leaving only a urethral opening and scar tissue where a dingaling once hung. Nullos are also called smoothies, although purists insist that a true smoothie is a nullo who has also excised his nipples.
Steven is a Canadian who travels extensively in western Europe, visiting dungeons in search of the perfect dominatrix; for Steven, castration would be a dream come true.
"I'm looking for a dominant woman who would enjoy extreme forms of cock-and-ball torture--up to and including castration and removal of the penis," Steven says. "My penis is a nice size--a little more than eight inches long and five inches in circumference. If I could find a dom who would be into it, she would be welcome to keep [my cock and balls], of course."
***
History books remind us that eunuchs were trusted harem guards in Ottoman Turkey, and that they were slaves in ancient Rome. In the Assyrian empire, neuters sat at the highest levels of the court and were responsible for granting or withholding access to the emperor. Castration is still practiced by the Hijras, a religious sect in India that claims more than a million members.
At various points in its history, the Catholic church has also dabbled in castration, most famously by cutting off the balls of prepubescent choir boys. The resulting castrati were prized for their high singing voices. (Contrary to popular belief, an adult's voice does not become high-pitched upon castration--the procedure must occur before puberty sets in.)
Historical precedent stops well short of explaining why a sane man would want to have his balls removed. For transsexuals, castration is a crucial step on the journey to becoming women; but many eunuchs have no desire to be women, at least in the literal sense.
A substantial faction of nutless wonders are masochistic denizens of fetish dungeons who view their testicles as the ultimate sacrificial offering for their mistresses.
"I'm just a natural-born submissive," explains Derrick, a German eunuch who lives in Australia. "I was born to submit to beautiful women while they laugh and spit at me, because I'm an ugly, fat slut with a little dick and no balls. It drives me crazy when a dominant lady offers cruel, merciless verbal and physical humiliation--maybe she cuts my dick off and throws it in her glove compartment."
"Many of us like the humiliation and total frustration of being completely feminized and used to serve the female sex with a completely useless set of male genitalia," adds Boyjulie, a eunuch who frequents Internet chat rooms devoted to the topic. "To have a cock which does not function, but which is available for punishment and for torment by females, must lead to exquisite humiliation and mental torture."
Leonard, a nullo from the Midwest, believes that castration allows slaves to better worship their S&M (sadomasochism) mistresses.
"If a guy has his cock and balls removed, he's only good for about one thing," says Leonard. "And if it's for a mistress, let's just say he gets a lot better with his tongue."
The ultramasochist is one brand of castrato; Gianna E. Israel, a psychologist who specializes in gender counseling and is the principle author of Transgender Care, believes that the sex maniac is another.
"These individuals suffer an unremitting libido, which interrupts their day-to-day functioning and relationships," Israel explains.
It's okay; it's normal to be jealous of people who can do things you can't.
I've been curious about the results of the Own The Box competition.
Did any boxes not get owned? How many?
How did the various OS's on the box fare?
Does anyone have any link to the results?
= 1440 NetBSD Let's keep to all over America counterpart,