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Interview: The Punk Hacker Kid Who Starred on MTV
When the producers of the MTV show Road Rules asked 18-year-old Abe Ingersoll to describe his job, he wrote, "Im a full time systems analyst (a.k.a. "punk hacker kid") for an Internet connectivity company thats run by a bunch of old Berkley hippies." Last month Salon did a feature story about how Abe's hacking (and cracking) skills helped him get on the show and later helped him get close to one of the female cast members. Want to be a TV star? Ask Abe how he did it. Or ask him anything else. Post your questions below. Slashdot Moderators (you know who you are) will choose the most interesting ones. Abe's answers will appear Friday.
hey dere abe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how r u 2day dood i got 4 u 2day a hacking question 4 u 2 answer 2day ok? wh4t iz the format 4 mnemonics/numeric subaddressing on yugopac? what r some arbitrary lcns 4 various sprintnet pads and what do they do? how do u use a pm4 as an outdial dOoOd? SINCE U R A HACKER PLZ ANSWER MY HACKING Q'Z PROMPTLY PLEAZE. THANKS DOOD. - MR. REALHACKER - / PAKISTANI HACKERZ CLUB ----self appointed unofficial MeMbR oF da PAKISTAN HACKERZ CLUB---- [PHC] [PHC] [PHC] [PHC] [PHC] plz reply with some nuis or padz sita is owned ps. u clueless slashdotterz plz dont answer them i want abe 2. yhes i know u think u r all very smart but u r not a hacker like abe. thx.
To all that have posted comments above: These are the professional comments I would expect from /. users... So this is the group of professionals that make linux a great OS. It was to my understanding that the linux community was a giving community that spends countless hours leading linux in the right direction. I see a group of people that truly have NO CLUE. You are idiots, while corporate america goes right along working on other OSes, you on the other hand spend your time flaming. So you know code, you consider yourself a hacker.. Then use your knowledge.. I may not have a question for Abe, but I respect that he admits that he is not a hacker but a cracker. Just a script kiddie. The truth is, we were all once script kiddies until we learned enough to hack. Abe has gone back to school, why cant you give him credit for wanting to learn more. Instead, you act like you are in preschool.. Hey.. Linux Community.. It's time to grow up.. Time to focus on Linux.. GOTO this link.. Interesting article about the linux community.. http://www.zdnet.com/enterprise/linux/news/0,6423, 2315016,00.html Wait... I do have a question for Abe.. What are your plans for College?? What is your major ?? btw.. Congrats on going back to school..
There are several reasons why I don't care to hear this guy's answers to questions:
1. I have no respect for him. Someone does not gain my appreciation or attention by being on television. In fact, I am likely to respect them less.
2. If I want to know how he feels about things, I'll watch tho show or read the interview. The formula for Real World / Road Rules is well-known. He has been sucked into it and has lost perspective on reality. He's simply a pawn. "The Real World" is really quite an ironic title.
3. He will say nothing interesting. I read slashdot for information that is interesting to technical folk (it doesn't have to be technical itself, mind you, just interesting to nerds). This guy has no unique insight. How to use CDC software doesn't count.
4. Slashdot is closely tied with the Open Source community. OSS is involved in subverting the dominant, commercially driven, poorly done products. MTV fits these all perfectly. Why support it?
It's not an issue of hacking/cracking skills. A beginner with good insight is worth listening to . It's a matter of respect and ideals. I respect many of the non glory seeking oss people much more. I'd care to hear their opinions instead -- they have a truly unique perspective.
Would you consider yourself a script kiddie? (why or why not?)
You claim to have been running ProComm Plus on an 8086 toshiba laptop when you were younger. What model laptop was this?
Are you concerned that your cracking shenanigans and illegal actions as a youth were glorified by MTV and will result in other youth emulating your criminal actions?
Do you ever expect to have a normal life now after MTV?
What line of work do you plan to persue after your 15 minutes of fame with MTV?
Would you recommend that others use your tactics of cracking boxes and breaking into future employers boxes and so on to get a job with them?
How did you use Back Orifice to crack the boxes at Bunim/Murray? The Salon article does not make any sense about how you owned the boxes at Bunim/Murray. In fact, the Salon Article sounds like complete BS on this point (BO is not a tool to get in, its a trojan). So how did you really own their boxes?
It sounds like, in the Salon Article, that you were very cynical about the show and realized it was all BS once you broke into their boxes, so why did you join the show after you figured that out?
You also sound somewhat bitter about the way the show treated you and the way MTV over focuses on violence and conflict in the show. Would you recommend that other people join the show, knowing what you know now about it?
What does Susie think about you now?
--
Python
Python
Someone wake me up when the "real world" gets a clue.
I'm one of the people who suggested Abe Ingersoll as an interview subject on Slashdot. The guy snuck into the unsecured network of the Road Rules producers and used the information he gained to (a) improve his odds of getting on the show, (b) play head games with people on the show, and (c) improve his odds of getting laid while on the show. Millions of TV viewers know the guy as a "computer hacker" or "computer cracker."
Add all of this up, and I think it's worthwhile to see what's rattling around in the guy's head. Besides, he's not much more of an MTV fan than people making comments here, comparing Road Rules to "looking up someone's asshole" in the Salon article.
Some questions:
Rogers Cadenhead (Web: http://www.cadenhead.org/workbench)
Other items picked up from the article: He did work as a systems analyst at an ISP, and he has been on the Internet well before most people heard about it, and was a BBS junkie before that.
In my opinion he has enough cred to call himself both hacker (in philosophy) and cracker (in deed, to an extent). I'm impressed that he has decided to return for school for a Computer Science degree. Too many immature children get riled up over the definition of 'hacker' and neglect to gain a deeper understanding of computer science.
Although I find his website to be a bit over-the-top in vanity (and that's saying much coming from me ), it's not surprising given his age and his recent publicity.
Note: I haven't watched MTV in years, so I've never seen his "performance" but I think it would be naive of someone to think that these "Real World/Road Rules" tv shows are anything but a warped and manipulated reflection of reality.
Personal attacks on the man, coming from people who make assumptions without reading the article, come off sounding like jealousy and reflect much more negatively on the attacker than the attacked.
Interviewing Cast members of Road Rules? Please!
Real World and Road Rules are two shows about a gang of misfits who are forced to live together, and learn how to hate each other. One of them will inevitably get violent and get kicked off the show. At they end of the season, they cry and hug each other and go home. In between it will pretend to deal with real issues, and focus on each cast member's insecurities. I know this because my wife likes to watch it, and I am often subjected to it when I spend quality time with her.
Anyway, If I remember this Abe guy correctly, he was a real jerk who worked especially hard to make life miserable for the other people on the show. I think he was the one who provoked the black girl into hitting him, causing her to get thrown off the show.
Of all the comments I've ever posted, this is definately one of them
"120 minutes" has always been on Sunday at midnight (or thereabouts) the real wonder is that it's still on, and hasn't been replaced by that wrestling clay-figure show.
;-)
the rest of your post is pretty accurate though
Of all the comments I've ever posted, this is definately one of them
The funniest trend on MTV is that they've started doing these shows, documenting the making of music videos that they'll never show, because they stopped showing music videos in like 1992 or something. Except for the countdown show where they show about 30 seconds of a music video.
Of all the comments I've ever posted, this is definately one of them
Why doesn't he just read the questions here, instead of using Slashdot moderators as a intermediary. Not to mention that the Slashdot moderation system is in shambles, but that's a topic for another day.
'Til then, I'll just kick back and wait for some angry youth to ask, "Hey man, how can he call himself a hacker if he doesn't read /. himself?"
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
I read the Salon article, and it wasn't exactly kind to you. Do you think it was fair or a hatchet job?
J
I see nothing wrong with this kid. He's an 18 year old guy, who has a bit more common sense than those around him. He may be a script kiddie, but who's to say that one day he may not be something more?
Look, he did one of the better hacks there is. It didn't involve any "mad skillz" or anything, but mainly a bit of social engineering. He got onto MTV, didn't he? And yes, while MTV may be lame, everyone deserves their 15 minutes of fame. I applaud the guy for doing something he considers interesting. He got to get out of the rut that so many people in this world are in, and see the world a bit. Good for him!
Hell, if I was given the opportunity to do something like that, I'd be there in a second. Even though I do consider both "Real World" and "Road Rules" to be the two stupidest things on TV these days.
---
- Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Hitting people is stupid and primitive. No matter how much of an asshole someone chooses to be, breaking out your drunken monkey style on their asses isn't going to change the way they are.
Reminds me of an anecdote (supposedly true, but who knows). In the US, during WWI, a Quaker was harassed while walking down the street by a group of young men who derided his pacifist beliefs. The Quaker took off his shirt and offered to wrestle the largest among them. The two faced off. The Quaker picked up his opponent and threw him across the street, where he landed heavily. As he put his shirt back on, the Quaker asked the young man, "Do you agree now that violence cannot change the beliefs of another man?"
"No!" he grunted as he got up.
"I've proved my point, then," replied the Quaker, and he walked off.
Besides, their dragon style just might beat your tiger style.
What was that movie?
sexy fool!
rooooar
Dear so-called punk so-called hacker kid,
Do you feel that having a Slashdot interview about an 18 year old who got to be on MTV is sad evidence of Slashdot's decline into media-whoring pablum? I mean, sure there are countless programmers, writers, artists, thinkers, or developers with something intelligent to say, but dude, have any of THEM been on MTV?
Stuff that matters indeed.
Chicks are by far the most entertaining systems to hack. I highly recommend it. You don't even need good hardware, just good hacking skill, which is probably why most h4x0rs can't hack chicks. Scripts don't work on them.
--- A Jesus Fish eating a Darwin Fish only proves Darwin's point.
Explain the universe. Give three examples. :)
Save the whales. Feed the hungry. Free the mallocs.
"The guy's an asshole." What an image. But remember that the image you saw of Abe was carefully crafted by a team of MTV drama specialists. Thousands of hours of footage was condensed into a small package that was packed full of things to draw an emotional response. I can't say that Abe's an asshole. I can't say that he's a really cool guy, either. If I were put into the same situation, I'd question how c00l I would end up looking after MTV carefully crafts a dramatic spin upon my personality.
Hell, most of the people who responded to this topic probably don't know what pablum means.
pablum n 1: a form of cereal for infants [syn: Pablum] 2: a diet that does not
require chewing; advised for those with intestinal disorders [syn: soft diet,
pap, spoon food] 3: worthless or oversimplified ideas [syn: pap]
Obviously, he was reffering to the cereal.. (duh)
Questions for Abe:
/. people who can't stand this topic - grow up. So what it has nothing to do with REAL computers, it's interesting nonetheless. If you don't like him, or you don't like this interview, then don't write about it. Jesus said it best when he said "You who have done no wrong cast the first stone." (who cares if I mangled the quote, it's cause I don't go to church anymore) Also, don't be as stupid as MTV would want you to be and realize the fact that any of the stuff on that show should be taken with a grain of salt. I hope the moderators come back with a vengeance and deduct points from all these "MTV sux" posts.
If they're good for anything at all, I think that one of the better aspects of "The Real World" and "Road Rules" is that they are about watching and helping young people improve and mature into adults. It seemed that at the beginning you were immature, abrasive, and somewhat anti-social, and that's just about the nicest way for me to say it. Not to say that you were the Antichrist, but some people have a knack for rubbing people the wrong way and they suffer unfair social consequences because of it. It also seemed that one of your personal goals for the experience was to try to become mature and learn how to interact with people better, which I felt was very respectable of you. Did you feel that you achieved any maturity from your Road Rules trip? Do you feel that the Road Rules trip helped you move beyond some of your difficulties with your personal interactions, or was the whole thing such a terrible mess that you went home without any positive social improvement whatsoever? Do you feel today that you still need to work on improving your social interactions with others?
Also, you're a person who had a rough childhood who happens to be good at computers. What are your thoughts on making computers and the Internet accessible to the "financially challenged?" What can people do to make sure that no one misses out on the computer age, including those who are poor and/or homeless?
Finally, do you think that Bunim-Murray purposely casts volatile, disruptive, and downright dangerous people in its shows? Or do you think that they're totally oblivious to any clues that someone might be violent, dirty, offensive, an alcoholic/drug addict, sick, anti-social, destructive, irresponsible, dishonest, highly immature, mentally ill, etc. Seems to me that making normal people live with the worst-of-the-worst is no more like the REAL world than living in an absurdly beautiful and expensive house for free.
Oh and to all you
I look forward to reading your responses.
-- $SIGNATURE
Have you ever written any code ? Done aything computer related beside using compiled code written by other people ? Do you even know what a compiler is ? Do you plan on learning anything else beside running scripts ? What do you plan on doing 5 years from now when every high school student can run scripts ? Are you embarassed at all about your performance on MTV ?
Vidi, vici, veni. (I saw, I conquered, I came)
Why does MTV suck so hard?
"It used to be about the music, man", but now it is just ads, screaming, and blowhard documentaries.
Hey, leave comments about my mother out of this!