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B&N Pulls Linux Format Magazine Over Feature On 'Hacking'
New accepted submitter super_rancid writes that issue 154 of the "UK-based Linux Format magazine was pulled from Barnes and Noble bookstores in the U.S. after featuring an article called 'Learn to Hack'. They used 'hack' in the populist security sense, rather than the traditional sense, and the feature — which they put online — was used to illustrate how poor your server's security is likely to be by breaking into it."
That's because Linux is an OS used predominately by criminals to hack machines. I appluad Barnes and Noble for this responsible reaction.
Say what?
I used to pick up my copies of 2600 at a local B&N years ago...
Sad.
"You worthless post!"
-Shakespeare, 2 Gentlemen of Verona, 1. 1. 147
With a title like "Learn to Hack" you're expecting instructions about chopping up things like bodies, not about poor server security.
They'll happily stock martial arts magazines, full of special features about new and exciting ways to hurt people.
No it's not. If a government agency had tried to force them to take it down, that would have been a case of infringement. But as a private entity, B&N can decide what to carry in their product line.
In an age where brick and mortar bookstores are no longer the most economic method to deliver printed matter, and where the needs and desires of consumers can be far more fully met online, needlessly exposing yourself to ridicule and consumer anger is not a good business strategy.
Slashdot: Playing Favorites Since 1997
Crap. I just violated Godwin's Law, didn't I?
Stop being stupid.
I cut my teeth on articles about "hacking". I've used "hacking" tools going back to the one that got Dan Farmer fired, and before. My interest in security was sparked by downloading an exploit for the Solaris eject command. Download, compile, omg! Root prompt!
The catch? I did all those things on boxes I was paid to secure. I've never broken into anyone's systems but my own, and I have legitimate rights to do that. Information is information. It's not "good" or "bad". I have a bookshelf full of books, mostly bought in your stores, that could teach you how to "hack" or how to secure systems and networks. Guess what I've been paid to do for going on 20 years?
If, in the 70's they pulled Esquire Magazine for carrying the article "Secrets of the Little Blue Box", an article that described phone phreaking.
This inspired Steve Jobs to convince friend Woz to design and build Blue boxes, which eventually lead to the founding of Apple... now the biggest company in the world...
Apple started from hacker/phreaker roots, and inspired by an article published in a magazine. Just imagine the damage they've done to the future by pulling this Magazine.
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
they screwed up the meaning not us, why should we come up with a new term because they are computer illiterate.
---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
Scarne on Cards
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/scarne-on-cards-john-scarn/1104279175?ean=9780451167651
Teaches you how to cheat at card games.
Originally produced for the US Army during WW2, it was designed to reveal methods of cheating so a soldier could tell when he was being cheated, just like the Linux Format article.
Understanding bad people is not the same as being a bad person; ignorance is neither power nor protection.
"I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it." : Dogbert
Exactly!
I'm a CRACKER not a hacker. Get it right. (No just kidding..... but I should post that on news sites just to see what reaction I get.)
My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
You can't argue with market realities. You can be smart. rebrand yourselves and build that brand in a respectable manner, or you can be a stupid 10 year old and throw a tantrum and still be associated with spammers and thieves.
Your choice.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
Ah, I see you're a Linux Kernel Developer. "I am technically correct, so I don't have to listen about usability."
Here's an example: swastika. Immediately, you're thinking of 40s era Europe, right?
The Germans used the swastika for 6 years. It's been around for THOUSANDS of years as a Sanskrit symbol, but you put up one little flag and point at it with your arm and suddenly YOU'RE the bad guy.
Sycodon is right, a new term has to be coined, and not hat colours.
---
ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
Is your son obsessed with "Lunix"? BSD, Lunix, Debian and Mandrake are all versions of an illegal hacker operation system, invented by a Soviet computer hacker named Linyos Torovoltos, before the Russians lost the Cold War. It is based on a program called "xenix", which was written by Microsoft for the US government. These programs are used by hackers to break into other people's computer systems to steal credit card numbers. They may also be used to break into people's stereos to steal their music, using the "mp3" program. Torovoltos is a notorious hacker, responsible for writing many hacker programs, such as "telnet", which is used by hackers to connect to machines on the internet without using a telephone. Your son may try to install "lunix" on your hard drive. If he is careful, you may not notice its presence, however, lunix is a capricious beast, and if handled incorrectly, your son may damage your computer, and even break it completely by deleting Windows, at which point you will have to have your computer repaired by a professional. If you see the word "LILO" during your windows startup (just after you turn the machine on), your son has installed lunix. In order to get rid of it, you will have to send your computer back to the manufacturer, and have them fit a new hard drive. Lunix is extremely dangerous software, and cannot be removed without destroying part of your hard disk surface.
The new rebrand is "Security Researcher". I haven't seen that get culture-broken yet.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
Merriam-Webster:
First known use of PREDOMINATELY: 1594
Even if its used predominantly in America, it's a good bet predominately didn't originate here.
"To predominate" is a verb, "predominant" is an adjective. At some point in time, someone built an adjective off of the verb.
My favorite bit of vestigial English preserved in the colonies -- especially in the midwest -- is "gotten."
And it's not a colloquialism; it's used in formal American English.
"What have you gotten?" (obtained) vs. "What have you got?" (possession)
(There's actually another Americanism in a sentence above. We typically say "off of" while the British say simply "off.")
A preposition is a terrible thing to end a sentence with.