Slashdot Mirror
Interview: the "Punk Hacker Kid" Responds
Bucko asks:
I read the Salon article, and it wasn't exactly kind to
you. Do you think it was fair or a hatchet job?
Abe answers:
Hatchet job, no. Contorted, yes.
The article was written about four months ago and was passed around between a couple different media outlets before it was finally published on Salon. When I consider how many editors it went through, I can't be too disappointed with the final product.
The hatchet job was the "hacker" verbiage! EVERY single chance I got during the interviews I would correct the writer's inclination to use misuse of the term. "It's cracker. CRACKER! CRACKED! CRACKER! Please don't use 'hacker' or I'll look like an idiot." Back when I filled out "punk hacker kid" on my written Road Rules application I had wanted to sound cool to the technology illiterate casting team. My bad. I've since learned that 'dropping the term', even off-handedly, is painfully equivalent to 'dropping the soap' in flame hell.
GuySmiley asks:
Why does MTV suck so hard?
Abe answers:
I plead the 5th.
antizeus asks:
Do you see fragmentation in the Linux distribution market
to be a good, bad, or neutral thing? Do you think that
the"media frenzy" over Linux tends to harm other worthy OS
projects like the BSDs and BeOS? Do you think that big
business's entry into the Linux market will change the
gift-culture aspects of Linux, or will the businesses in
question adapt to Linux? Or both? What do you think is in
store for humanity in terms of relations between
governments, businesses, and individuals? Do you think that
we should actively pursue colonization of other planets in
our star system at this time, and if not, then when?
Abe answers:
You'll feel better if you take the long view.
Your questions all tie together and fit the theme of "ask Abe" well. One part traveling with peers in Mexico plus two parts juvenile conflict and one part media distortion equals "The Bad Guy"? I digress, yet according to MTV it does. But the media is like a big baby with an infant's attention deficit disorder - it focuses and probably tries to destroy one thing at a time; soon enough it moves on. The role of "big business" is less predictable but I think in the end likely to prove less damaging. For one thing, "big business" isn't as big as it once was; there's lots of money to throw around, sure, but success (a la Silicon Valley housing prices) ultimately leads to failure. Yin to yang.
So right now, maybe the earliest contributors to Linux are thinking about cashing inwives and kids and mortgages can do that to you. But behind them are more young coders who will keep the phenomenon of widely-shared free OS alive. That old joke about Microsoft and the Catholic church isn't really all that funny, but Martin Luther came along. And then when the Lutheran church got fat and dull with official state sponsorship, new generations advocating a kinder, simpler (and less expensive) church came along. Same with operating software, only in a time frame of months, not centuries. The process of creative destruction is inevitable.
True also for our human self-organization. After a few hundred years, we're in a period of decline for the nation-state. Borders are permeable (or fundamentally useless) in the "computer age." I don't know if your question comes from Peoria or Paris and it doesn't matter. There's still fear and a great respect for unimportant divisions among humanity, but there are many hopeful signs that that is changing. Even in a forum like this we tend to challenge each other's ideas without reference to gender, race or religion. That's nice; that's a good model for the development of the world.
Eventually government, business and the individual will not be seen as antagonistic elements but as cooperative strings on the violin of human culture. And when we have progressed as musicians, then we will be free, ready and eager to explore and colonize space.
brianvan asks:
(He had many questions; this is just one of them)
...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?
Abe answers:
Your overall question is a larger issue that deserves more time than I've been given here. I feel strongly about making computers and the Internet a force for promoting greater income equality and educating everybody to their greatest potential, but strategies for doing that are complex.
One important thing is to make a difference in your own communities, and right now I'm a college student. The Associated Students of Cuesta College (ASCC) have an annual budget of approx $100,000. Through involvement with the student senate, I've learned that 4000 of those precious dollars had been partitioned off for upgrades of M$ office for the free ASCC computer lab. I'm going to have to volunteer my own time for setup, and I will likely need to 'convert' an IS administrator or two in the process, but I can guarantee you that while I'm at student at Cuesta, not a dime is going to be spent on M$ products. At least not any student body funds. I'm angling to get the money reallocated to hardware upgrades or making Linux CD's freely available.
This summer BMP brought all of the recent Real World and Road Rules cast members back to LA for a professional three-day public speaking seminar. (BMP's in bed with varsitybooks.com - "For the low, low price of $750 apiece, you can get MTV's backwash live and in person at your local campus! Call BMP's Joffe Agency now at 818-756-5244 and you too can meet the 'punk hacker kid' in person!")
Joking aside, on the onset of this training all eighteen of us were given different topics we could speak on for our final-night presentation. A few hypocritically choose to speak about std/aids awareness or alcoholism. I choose the topic closest to my life, volunteerism. Having had little first hand knowledge practicing the topic, I ended up relating my personal experience from being on the receiving side. You know - planned on exemplifying how important volunteer work really is by telling my welfare and YMCA camp stories. I ended up giving a 1200 person crowd a short introduction to Open Source Software ideology and using OSS as an example of unconventional yet dramatic ways of giving back.
So, save participating in local LUG's and extolling the virtues of OSS to unsuspecting BMP lecture audiences, I'm in no position to make sure the computer age reaches all. At least not yet
asad asks:
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?
Abe answers:
Mr. Robin Miller came to me back in July. I sat on his request until August, replying that a position paper on how the Open Source movement is enabling a whole generation of otherwise misguided teenagers would probably be much more interesting. ("Ask who?! You're kidding me!")
I apologize to those who truly deserve the exposure.
When you're on this end of things, Slashdot's so-called "decline into media-whoring pablum" seems more a product of its tough crowd quotient rather than any particular interview or story.
DonkPunch asks:
Explain the universe. Give three examples. :)
Abe answers:
Our planetary system is a spit-drop on a cosmic string which has been growing and unraveling for roughly 18 billion years. In another two billion years, we're going to ratchet back up like a yo-yo.
The earth is a cosmic egg waiting for the right moment to hatch. The chick's going to be a hungry 4-trillion-ton pecker and we're all just feed.
It turns out that hiccups are attempted transmissions from God. When we try to stop, we are actually inhibiting the evolution of the universe.
Python asks:
(Two questions selected from a long list he
submitted)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?
Abe answers:
I would recommend using all legal means available to unstack the deck. Contrary to many folks interpretation of the Salon story, I did not investigate Bunim-Murray Productions Windows/SMB network until the casting process was in it's final leg. I had seen enough of BMP to make a judgment call that they'd probably more impressed than pissed. By that time I'd also returned all four signed copies of the 30-page contract they require of semi-finalists. Perhaps it could be argued in court that by being under contract, and under so much scrutiny from them, my explorations constituted an acceptable behavior.
In the end, I've never used or had any inclination to use ill-begotten information for a malicious purposes. That won't protect my bare ass should MTV come calling with a legality spanking, but at least I maintained some dignity by not publicly airing their dirty laundry.
As for future plans - Every time I walk out of a class, I want to major in that subject. Perhaps Cuesta's better than most community colleges, or I'm just passing through a standard deer-in-the-headlights freshman syndrome. In the long run, computer science and business would be an obvious choice, but communication, psychology and journalism better fits my personality. I want to do it all.
rcade asks:
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:
- If you are on probation for the credit card scam, snooping through Bunim-Murray's network could have sent you to jail. Did Bunim-Murray or anyone else make noise about pursuing legal action against you?
- What bug reports were you reading when you got the idea to employ Back Orifice on the Bunim-Murray network?
- By all appearances, you haven't suffered much in the way of negative consequences for cracking and other misdeeds. Now that you're on the MTV-celebrity lecture tour, are you doing anything to teach the teeming millions that cracking is a bad idea?
Abe answers:
The only comment I got back from Bunim-Murray regarding the Salon article was a smile. I think they may have expected that I'd do much worse, and are just hoping I don't get in bed with a lawyer who's seen "The Fight" before a statute of limitations runs out.
As for bug reports, that's essentially a misquote. I was asked to paraphrase statements about keeping abreast of computer world news in general into something more quotable.
If anyone needs to an example of how cracking is a bad idea and will eventually just cause you to hurt yourself, follow this link [no link was provided -ed.]and set your threshold low.
Next week's interview: Alan Cox
Well, I believe this must have been one of the more difficult moderation jobs done by the /. guys .doc file
You're fingertips must still be raw after weeding through all that flammable material. As for Abe.... nice cover-up on both the ego, and for the misnomers that non-technologically minded Hollywood-types thrust upon you.... Even though I have to say WTF is up with a MS
Didja have to run WINE to get OFFICE to Load up..... BRRRRR the mere thought of that paperclip on a Linux box gives me the willies
-- Life: Hate the Game... Love the cereal
I'm stunned. After reading this I sat for a minute and just stared at the screen. I guess I should have been warned when Roblimo wrote it was sent to them in Word format. I'm looking forward to seeing something from Alan Cox though!
Lame. I can't WAIT for bandwidth to be so plentiful that "underground" music stations do to MTV what email is doing to the postal services, and Icecast has already started on traditional "corporate" radio... (on the company T1, do you prefer commercials on RealAudio or just plain MUSIC on icecast).
. idc?Product=Bill%20Gates%20Asshole%202000
MTV has all the sincerity and integrity of a bleached blonde silicon-enhanced porno whore, and if we don't want the culture they push they'll just keep pushing anyhow...
Anyways, I got this email today:
http://support.microsoft.com/isapi/support/pass
Originally it came to me as a different URL, but in a rare show of bug-fixing Microsoft plugged that one already...
I submit the following to the slashdot audience to be moderated into oblivion...
1. Real Hackers aren't going to appear on MTV because they have long beards, look like hippies, and have spent so little time in the big blue room that they glow in the dark. As such, they are completely "unhip", and will not be appearing on any "hip" TV shows.
2. Let's face it: the life if a geek is boring. We spend all day in front of our computers checking our e-mail, coding, and sitting on our duff doing "nothing". Atleast to the untrained eye. On the molecular level, however, we are quite busy.
3. Ever tried holding a conversation with those tea-drinking, pony-tailed, geek-wannabes? You're more likely to find a fufilling conversation with your toothbrush. If you can get them to stop talking about the evils of eating meat, of course. *ducking and running*
As such, this article is a scam! Repent, heathen! :)
--
I would expect a true hacker to submit an obfuscated Perl script resembling line noise that cleverly outputs his Q&A session as HTML.
Or something.
But not MS Word. That's no fun.
I couldn't give two ~!@#$% about the Real World/Road Rules or this guy, but the story was interesting. At least it took my time away from these NT device drivers I'm writing. Damn Microsoft DDK..
If I had the chance to ask this guy a question it would've been:
Real World is sometimes interesting, but Road Rules just plain sucks. It was created as an after thought and is totally boring.
"Why didn't you hack your way onto the Real World?"
But I guess I'm too late with that question...
If "Abe" was passing his answers by his "editor(s)", he might have *had* to use MSWord for them to be able to do their thing.
In other words, it might not be *all* his fault...
Nato
Have fun,
Nathan 'Nato' Uno
http://web.unos.net/
Was the comment that next week is Alan Cox's turn! :-)
Congrats, Abe. You've taken a bad situation and made it work for you. That is the secret to success in this world. ;)
Geeky modern art T-shirts
Considering the editors had to screw with this several times, and they are probably mindless M$ using people, I doubt abe had a choice.. even if he sent it raw text they prolly converted it... maybe without even meaning to.
also, can someone find the link that his editors removed? i imaging that i dont want to take a personal machien to the site, due to his security mention, but still...
man is machine
I have no direct knowledge of his programming creds, but he's certainly a good writer. We need that as much as we need good coders, maybe even more. Hacker advocacy so far has been amateurishly pathetic except for a few shining instances. It's time we started winning -- and this guy writes like a winner.
--
Some keywords for the NSA in the Lord of the Rings universe: One Ring bind find Sauron quest Nazgul freedom
...well, where are my three examples?
nmarshall
#include "standard_disclaimer.h"
R.U. SIRIUS: THE ONLY POSSIBLE RESPONSE
nmarshall
The law is that which it boldly asserted and plausibly maintained..
--Colonel Burr 1783
"Punk Hacker Kid" The name should have said enough. Did he attach the .DOC file to a message from AOL? OR MSN?
-vert-
love the penguin
Why does MTV suck so hard?
Abe answers:
The fact that I've been on MTV should be answer enough.
He obviously gives as good as he gets!!
"When you're on this end of things, Slashdot's so-called 'decline into media-whoring pablum' seems more a product of its tough crowd quotient rather than any particular interview or story."
How true, ohhhhh how true...
"That won't protect my bare ass should MTV come calling with a legality spanking, but at least I maintained some dignity by not publicly airing their dirty laundry."
:D !! (I couldn't resist - very sly...)
"If anyone needs to an example of how cracking is a bad idea and will eventually just cause you to hurt yourself, follow this link [no link was provided -ed.]and set your threshold low."
CRUEL!! VERY CRUEL! How can I break it to you Roblimo but the link he is refering to is the comments link following the article. (heheheheee..)
Plead the 5th? What the heck is that supposed to mean? And why does he have to use a team of editors anyway? Isn't he supposed to be a regular person like everyone else? I detect bullshit!
'/me string' sends "* nick string *" to the whole channel. In my case, '/me shrugs' would produce "* BZ shrugs *".
As for what's wrong with just saying "my mind boggles at the concept," there's nothing wrong with it. People get used somewhat used to the sort of shorthand one would use with IRC or other chat software (/me, imho, ttyl, and so on) and begin to use it in other contexts, including those in which it is rather inappropriate. No cure has been found for this yet. :)
I'd be willing to give him slack on the .doc thang if he pleads guilty to using a human editor. My experience is that it's real hard to find an editor who won't microsoft-up your text files when you send it to them to peruse. I had a WSJ guy send me a three-line question as a .doc attachment to an email---argh! Kudos to my Salon editors for respecting my .txt, although it *did* return to me with suspicious microsoft-isms...
[
To me, Abe clearly survived the trial-by-fire. I'm very pleased.
The "cue the foo posts in 3, 2, 1..." posts will commence with no subsequent foo posts in 3, 2, 1...
i actually had my mouse pointed to the wrong window and didn't preview the message.
:)
i was too busy trying to be a dickhead and get the first post no matter how lame it sounded... i deserve the flamebait
signatures are for fools with hands
...on the other hand, anybody who sends a DOC formatted file where plain text is sufficient needs a swirlie.
The "cue the foo posts in 3, 2, 1..." posts will commence with no subsequent foo posts in 3, 2, 1...
Now sending plaintext (or HTML or RTF if one must have formatting) may be a decent idea. That way anyone could read it.
Heh...And people accuse me of being a narcissist. Have you people seen this guy's page?
Bowie J. Poag
Bowie J. Poag
Make Alan sing too! And bring is wife along for the ride.
I'de ask you to put Richard Stallman on MTV as well, but I'm afriad that he'll kill someone (or himself) as soon as he hears the word "Linux". And then the show would never air.
No, I liked him too.
But I am just a girl with a weak spot for hacker kids.
I really don't understand the point of so much inventive whining and bitching. If you really don't care, why bother?
Tina.
Sattinger's Law: It works better if you plug it in.
What a boing interview. About as exciting as a comman brick! Didn't find one iota of content that was the least bit thought provoking. Me thinks we have a Punk Hacker Kid that's looking to make big moola by using buzz words and getting his 5 minutes in the limelight. Boring...
Given that Abe oviously uses linux, as stated in the interview. I would be willing the bet that the MS word document was not his fault. Obviosly as he is probably still under contract with BMP(does anyone know what BMP stands for?) they most likly forced him to give them the article first, then edited it, then sent it onto Rob directly in Word format, without giving it back to Abe for finalization.
Just a quickie.... Why does this kid need a gang of editors? I am always interested in interviews even if it's someone I don't have any clue about [like this guy]. If he is a l33t hax0r l1nux dud3 why does he need editors to make sure he says "the right thing" he isn't a politician... he isn't even famous. I am just confused as to why he needs a "team" to talk to us... Linus or Alan or any of our gods don't have outside people editing them... why him?
Blocklevel: Practical Information Architecture
No kidding.. I've been trying to get a piece aired here on Slashdot for two friggin weeks, offering free hosting space on a monster-sized server for Linux community projects.. Something that could really help alot of people. Apparently, Abe and his spiffy skydiving adventure takes greater precedence, however.
I could launch into a diatribe here, about there being two types of computer geeks..But I think its already abundantly clear to all of us where Abe falls. This guy has no less than 9 pictures of himself on his homepage..you figure it out.
Bowie J. Poag
Bowie J. Poag
Cox can wait a week or two. Gvie the people what they want; it's high time for Ask Puck.
think
- spell check master
Why is someone that has been on MTV important? Does that automatically give someone more precidence over someone else? I would rather read an article from an average Joe Linux user on the street, that hasn't given me a reason to think he is an asshole.
Millions of people saw this "computer hacker" on TV, and thousands more read about him on Salon. If a Slashdot interview can cut through the hype and figure out the guy's ratio of substance to bullshit, I think that's worthwhile.
I don't understand the notion that Slashdot should only interview admirable people. This is a news site; it isn't a religion. By interviewing Ingersoll, Slashdot provided a much more complete picture of the guy and his abilities (or lack thereof) than Salon did. If this site can debunk a few more hacker/cracker myths propigated by the mass media, more power to them.
You are.
...
Bitchslapped? Give Rob a bitchslap from bitchslapped.com.
>MTV has all the sincerity and integrity of a
>bleached blonde silicon-enhanced porno whore, and
>if we don't want the culture they push they'll
>just keep pushing anyhow...
I know quite a few "bleached-blonde silicon-enhanced porno" stars/whores who would be quite insulted to be associated with MTV.
You should apologize!
I currently have no clever signature witicism to add here.
Sorry Abe, you are not a hacker. Hacker is not a term that you can claim for yourself. Hacker is a badge of honor that has to be bestoed on you by others. Real hackers don't have to call themselves hackers. They know they are and other hackers know they are. It is not a thing, it is a state of being, a level of enlightenment.
But you are on the right road, I think. One day someone might call you hacker and it will be true. When/If that day comes, you will know it. You won't need Mtv, you won't need to Slashdot. It will just be, you will know it and that will be enough.
But sadly, that days isn't yours yet.
Damn! What the hell are they putting in cold pills today. That reads like something out of Zen and the Art of Modercycle Repair.
I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
Does that mean he couldn't get into
Cal Poly SLO's CS program?? A hacker -
hurumph!
Have you compiled your kernel today??
Yeah, it bugs me when people bitch about "Cracker" like a bunch of politically correct weenies. The fact is that although all "hackers" are not "crackers", most "crackers" (I wouldn't call script kiddies crackers) are also "hackers" by virtue of their computing skills.
Ditto re:AGE. Whence I was growing up in West Virginia, a cracker was something I munched on while hacking.
...or one of my neighbours.
...or both. (ObFacetiousHomoErotica)
--
#19845
Considering the people that I know that read slashdot and call themselves openminded I think the questions this kid got are pretty good. If your gonna be open minded don't bash something because it's mainstream. A lot of people to day want to be in some sort of underground movement because they think being underground is cool. Listen to your heart and don't think that just cause the kid is on MTV that he's a sellout looser no he was just a kid with a good scam to be on tv. I think it was a pretty good scam myself. So think about that one a little bit and don't be so quick to jump on someone's back.
Or more likely, he talks sh*t about MTV, they stop signing checks or use a clause in that 30-page contract to take him to court.
+&x
Come on, Real hackers use their hard drive and a tiny magnet to write documents
...as tempting as it is to flame the unholy hell out of this guy, (and believe me, I KNOW!) You've gotta admit that he was a good sport about the whole thing.. I'm not so sure that I would have taken all the flames in stride as well as he did. Besides, he did rip a few zingers of his own..
Slashdot's so-called "decline into media-whoring pablum" seems more a product of its tough crowd quotient rather than any particular interview or story., indeed! He also managed to deflate antizeus' attempt at a mocking question by mocking it himself... You'll feel better if you take the long view. Ouch! Smacked that condescending question volley right back in his face, eh?
...as tempting as it is to flame the unholy hell out of this guy, (and believe me, I KNOW!) You've gotta admit that he was a good sport about the whole thing.. I'm not so sure that I would have taken all the flames in stride as well as he did. Besides, he did rip a few zingers of his own.. Slashdot's so-called "decline into media-whoring pablum" seems more a product of its tough crowd quotient rather than any particular interview or story., indeed! He also managed to deflate antizeus' attempt at a mocking question by mocking it himself... You'll feel better if you take the long view. Ouch! Smacked that condescending question volley right back in his face, eh?
While I'd like to agree with this statement, I can't. It's just a wild guess, but I'd say /. is pretty much preaching to the converted. Most of us here have at least half a clue what the difference is between "hacker" and "cracker."
Sites that are visited by the unwashed masses are probably the only place any useful debunking could occur. But that just isn't happening, and I doubt it will anytime soon.
Therefore, I'd suggest that /. isn't really the forum for this drivel at all. But, of course, The Geek Compound is free to post what they will and I'm free not to read it if I don't want to.
At least crappy articles like this sometimes produce some pretty humourous responses from /. readers :)
For all the bellyaching about Abe I have to say his answers read better than most any Jon "I want to be a 18 year old hacker" Katz.
No matter what you have to dump on this kid, he went and went where he wanted and used whatever tools he could to do it...More power to him. Would that more you loud mouthing do nothing "geeks" did the same. then maybe we would not have the general LACK of any real ACTION or WORTH here.
In an age where 90% of the people talk loud and do nothing it is refreshing to see some one go out and kick some crap around. True he made some mistakes, true it was MTV (play the DK's "MTV get offf the air" here), and true he did play badly with terminology (which he cops to if you actualy read the aswers).. but he DID SOMETHING.
Get off your fat code induced lard asses and go take a bit out of lifes pie.
Poor little clams! Snap! Snap! Snap! Poor little clams! Snap! Snap! Snap! Poor little clams! Snap! Snap! Snap!
I can't believe he used M$ when in his interview, he said that no M$ products would be bought with that Cuesta program while he was there.. traitor.. grrr
Insert mind here.
Any why, praytell, a devoted Linux user? I am getting really sick of this sudden assumption that because one uses linux they are tech savy and computer gurus. The fact is just like another OS the bulk of linux users know just enough to get by.
F /...
---
Openstep/NeXTSTEP/Solaris/FreeBSD/Linux/ultrix/OS
--- I do not moderate.
[PHC] [PHC] [PHC] [PHC] [PHC] [PHC] [PHC] [PHC] y0h
i h4ve 4 msg 4 u br0th3rs
my n4me i$ m1$tEr REALHACKER (mr. realhacker).
=========MR. REALHACKER=====================
1 4m beg1nn1ng 2 th1nk th4t aBe troOly h4z no sk1ll wh4t$oEvr. 1 k4nt kw1te expl4in y 1 b feEl1ng th1s w4y, 1tz supErn4tur4l. l1ke tHe kuRdz f1ght1ng w1th thE pKk f1nd1ng 0ut th4T abDoOl4h oc4l4n 1z a sp1nlEsS k0w4rd fac1ng ex3cut1on, we muSt b str0ng wh3n wE f1nd 0ut our her0 aBe 1z t0t4lly klo0le$s.
1f U r w1th mE br0th3r$ plz me3t mE hEre 2n1ght aT 11pm EST:
NUA : 02080 57040540
my n4me 1z MR REALHACKER
P4K!ST4N H4CK3RZ KLUB
W0RLD D0M!N8N 1999
OFF!C14L PHC M0TT0:
f mountd
f imapd
f named
f ttdb
f statd
f cmsd
PHUCK > 0-D4Y!!!!!!!!!!!!
[PHC] [PHC] [PHC] [PHC] [PHC] [PHC] [PHC] [PHC]
#include slammer.h
greetz 2 DOCTOR NUKER
and MISTER_SWEET
Did he say he Back-Orificed Bunim-Murray Productions? Wasn't BO released August 98? The show aired around that time or earlier. The filming must have been at least 4 months before that. Auditions must have been for about 6 months?
BULLSH*T
e quickly discovered a significant security flaw in the Bunim/Murray network -- namely, that it had no security. The company was running various incarnations of Windows, which, according to Abe, contained gaping holes. Abe doesn't hang out or correspond much with the hacker community -- "I'm not a typical hacker!" he insists -- but he does read "bug reports," in which hackers list the flaws they've discovered in software programs and operating systems. Drawing on that information and several hours of trial and error, Abe found a point of entry. Then he made a quick stop at Cult of the Dead Cow, an active hacker site, where he downloaded a copy of Back Orifice, a "remote control" program that allows someone like Abe to operate a Windows 95 machine from any location via the Internet.
I think this whole hack thing is a lie.
Linux is only free if your time has no value. Windows is only free if you threaten to use Linux.
Actually Microsoft Word is a very nice word processing program. Every piece of software has its purpose.. and NONE of them are perfect. Sure there are little annoying parts of Word, but overall it does a nice job. And yes... the fact that it is readable almost on every machine is a good thing. I am not supporting the Microsoft Monopoly.. but I do believe we need a common platform, such that we do not have such boundaries such as not being able to display word documents on a UNIX box (at least easily) and vice versa. I think that most people that are into a LINUX as the only way to go.. arent being fair to all the other Operating Systems? Linux has its problems too.. try setting up ppp connections. It takes two minutes in Windows.. But anyways.. my whole point is everything has its purpose. Its all a matter of tastes. Why flame people for liking Microsoft Products?
that Alan will be the next interviewed.
I got to read that.
after having read a bulk of the comments posted in regards to the .DOC file, i found myself so compelled to present an argument that actually DEFENDS microsoft. in a way i'm kind of pissed off that this is considered sacrilege, but i'll live with it for now. MS Word is actually a useful word processing application that works well! i will, however, agree wholeheartedly with those who believe the previous versions (prior to '97) were more stable and had a greater functionality than the current releases. honestly, Word IS the only reason i still have NT installed on my machine (WINE -- at least the version i tried -- didn't work with the NT registry)...perhaps i'm making it more of an issue than it warrants!
.DOC file...plain text would've been just fine (and probably would've saved the /. crew the time involved in opening it)
*my 2 cents*
-raj jr
"why can't we all just get along?"
ps: he should've anticipated these comments about the
You get to use a hard drive and magnet? I have to use a box of iron filings, a hammer, the ground, and the Earth's magnetic field.
Kids these days -- think they're tough.
-Billy
No, actually it's vi and a toothpick.
--
Hard drives? REAL hackers write directly to the RAM each time with a 9 volt battery and paperclips....
Wow, that almost made sense....
You know there are more important thigns to worry about than the perceived sin of using MS Word.
If a product is good use it. I like Word, i used it from my dos days. Word 2000 is a different story.
You know if you are going to bas hsomething do so on merits, if someone attempts to better the prducts commend them, don't bash them more. But i am moving off topic. My point is so what if it was sent in a word format. Truth is a word format is probably the most common text document format used in the corporate world.
this space for rent
I couldn't even finsh this piece of trash!....I Got 1/2 way through it and this loser is asked his position on the linux stance and his opinions of the future and he's fscking talking about emptyV!!!!
/. actually submitted qustesions to this L-user and
I am Insulted and offended that:
a)
b) someone actually thought L-user kid was actually a somebody!
always from the heart of my mind!
-Ravage
-- "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."- Albert E.
A real hacker should be able to speak in binary code. It'd take a long ass time to say a sentence, but its more effecient than MS Word.
-------
PovRayMan
prm@alignment.net
----------
Check out my blackbox styles
I think I'll go read the docs on this API - might be fun.
Does anyone remember Mili Vanili?
...created by the media...hyped by the media...presented by the media...hyped more by the media...turned into stars by the media... and then discoverd as fakes by the world.
Consider what this kid had - good looks, an interesting personality, and ultimately just enough skills to make some producer want to mold him into a "type."
I'd insinuate he never hacked into MTV...
I'd say that if you remember when the MTV site was "hacked" last fall with what looked like a notable hacker's name sprawled all over...MTV responded by saying that it was a publicity stunt for one of their new VJs....It's a money maker, some kid with computer skills - hyped as a hacker - the whole geek population hopefully will be desperate enough to watch the show...
Plus if the kid gets figured out, what's the worst that happens to MTV...they say "we didn't know." He's just another pawn in their market.
MTV nowdays is not about the musicians. It is about the money. I was "lucky" enough to be selected (forced) into attending a Recording industry/MTV PR talk (last year) on record companies. They freely admit that they push and push and over inflate artists until they are no longer liked. Think about it...which generates more profit for the higher ups, new bands or old bands? I bet this kid was used just the same. He didn't call himself the "Punk Hacker Kid." MTV did. He was just typecast that way...
It's not that I think that the kid isn't full of sh**, its that I think that someone else has been packing away the burrito's too...probably MTV.
You say you want a revolution?
I don't drink tea though.
I know what you mean, however. My high school contained a number of punk hacker wannabes.
They made me sick. We never bothered each other at first, but then they started asking me questions.
"Hey, you know how to program?"
"yeah."
"What language?"
"Well, C is my main one."
"I'm going to learn C++, it's way better."
"Rrrreally." I wanted to ask if he thought it was better because of the "++." But, I'm not usually one to stir up shit, unless it's *really* deserved.
Another time, when I was learning x86 assembly, a friend of mine who was a very proficient coder (he was severely into crypto) told me that I'd see some really great tight asm examples in virii. He gave me a bunch and I found some more. Learned a hell of a lot. The morons somehow found out that I had quite a collection and asked me if I could give them some.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because you'll probably try to run them on the school computers or some of your little bbs enemies computers. Then when you get in trouble, you'll tell them I gave them to you. You obviously have no interest learning tight asm, so the answer is no."
They didn't like me very much after that. It wasn't like they were hard to find or anything. This was a time when pirate sites,etc went up for a loooong time and few incoming directories were protected or even checked. It wasn't hard to find them. Sometimes an archie search would reveal one and it would still be there when you got to it.
If they couldn't figure that out....
Gods.
This kid couldn't crack a book. He couldn't crack his butt, much less any computer whatsoever. But he obviously can smoke crack.
What a bunch of media-whored trash. (Not slashdot.) "Running it by the editors" means "I'm being told what to say so they get free marketing." I don't believe a word he said.
He's a teenage punk without a clue who believes that just because he says so, everyone should crawl on their hands and knees to do his bidding.
The kid is being so used and abused by the media it's sick. And what's sad is I bet he's loving every minute of it, because this is his chance to look like a good guy and prove he knows his shit.
Well, he knows shit, but not much else. That much is certainly visible. The kid isn't paid to know anything, folks. The kid is paid to be a propoganda tool. He is a known name and a celebrity. In other words, a media tool. Not much more. Certainly not a philanthropist, and most definitely not a 'cracker' or 'hacker.'
Oh, sure, it was sent in Word.doc, but that's probably because of his editors and his laziness. He probably originally wrote it in MS-DOS Edit or pico so he could prove he was cool. But editors will have their way.
And they're going to have their way with him the rest of his life, or till he's no longer useful. Which'll probably be a few months at best, till they start a *new* season of 'Real World' or 'Road Rules,' neither of which strike me as accurate in the least. I mean, c'mon. Gimme a freaking break. I have watched these shows.
I don't know any 18-24 year olds that live in gigantic beachfront mansions, get everything paid for, and just have to act like assholes in front of cameras to get a paycheck.
And they wonder why people call it 'EmptyV.'
-RISCy Business | Rabid System Administrator and BOFH
your company here.
shelby != ford
word.doc Please ...what bullshit!!!! WE KNOW THE REAL DEAL
It took me two minutes to set up ppp in Linux, using kppp in RedHat 6.0. It was easier than Windows(honestly). I also liked the fact that the GUI displayed the commands it was sending while it was attempting the connection (AT something etc). On Windows I only get a dialagoue box thing, but I don't see the actual commands that are being sent. A fairly small thing, but I like it for trouble shooting and such. Kppp also conveniently displayed my dynamic IP, which Windows does not, which was crucial at the time as I wanted to test a couple of things.
As to your general point, yes MS does have *some* decent applications. IE5 is OK, and I liked Encarta when I was younger. I personally think they do a much better job on the consumer side applications than they do with the OS, utilities and server stuff.
The only reason all cover-ups appear to fail is that you never hear about the ones that succeed.
The sad thing is that, disregarding everything else, Abe's responses showed 1000% more literacy skills than 95% of the material we get on Slashdot these days. It's nice to share teccie values with other people, but for that pleasure we sure do have to slum it in a literary and logical downmarket a lot of the time.
/. coolness is measured by the frequency of occurrence of "sux" and "u own me", it's time to worry.
Is Slashdot becoming the MTV of techdom? Heck, we used to deride Usenet, but now it's starting to look decidedly upmarket in comparison. When
"The question of whether machines can think is no more interesting than [] whether submarines can swim" - Dijkstra
An honest answer like "MTV sux because they no longer show videos and just do crappy shows like Road Rules" would be self incriminating, since he has been a "contributor" to Road Rules.
- bridgette
Personally, I think that *some* of Microsoft's products have no equals in quality in the land of Linux...
For example, Dev Studio is pretty remarkable in it's integration, ease of use, and speed... yes some linux IDE's are coming a long way, and yes many people prefer to type make, but there are more people that done and would prefer not to... these are the people writing the "killer apps".
The Microsoft Office suite is also an amazing piece of technology... it seems that every release keeps getting more and more bloated as time goes on (Office 2000, from what I heard is a POS, which is why I still run '97, but anyways)... and yet it's still responsive, easy to use, and feature full. Unfortunately with something like Koffice, or AbiWord, etc... you run into limited functionality and buggy implementations even more often then MSOffice (which is scary)...
Microsoft may be a easy target to hate, but for many things they are more realistic. Lay users and most developers WILL NOT use command line tools unless they have to. (fact of life). Linux is making HUGE strides in the right direction, but it just takes time.
-Chris
btw, I have linux installed on two machines at home, and greatly enjoy it's stability and functionality... I'm not a linux basher, and I'm not bashing linux here...
RTF is a nice format, hell even txt or html would be better than the ever change word file format.
...so much for 'inventive'.
The "cue the foo posts in 3, 2, 1..." posts will commence with no subsequent foo posts in 3, 2, 1...
I actually feel guilty after reading that crap. What a shameless waste of electrons.
What happened here?
Who here actually watches (or cares about)MTV?
Why all the hype over this chump?
Was this done intentionally to mock this poor sucker?
I don't get it. It seems so random...
pronoblem
The guy says he's a "cracker" not a hacker. What
is this doing on Slashdot? Why should we care
what some cracker says? We might be interested
in someone who had some real talent, but then they
wouldn't be broadcasting on MTV, would they?
Let's face it, "hacking" is the real description. Crackers are just punk kids who think they know something, "hacking" requires real skill. Whether you use it for good or evil is an ethical question, the same skill applies. Hackers are the people with skill and "crackers" are the wanna be's.
I would rather read something from Alan Cox any day rather than something from some idiot who's been on MTV. Although, I wouldn't want to piss Alan off, since he probably could hack into and trash the system's I'm responsible for if he choose to. Of course, "crackers" can now download
scripts to do what they can't do themselves.
Flame me if you will, but this guy is a "cracker" (hacker wanna be) and doesn't deserve the bandwidth expended to carry his responses.
You just wish your ID was as low as mine! I used to be proud to have such a low id, but not so much now. Slashdot most
That's quite true, but in the absence of someone coming up with more appropriate labels, "upmarket/downmarket" does at least hint at the idea and the problem.
Technical people tend to be somewhat more intelligent than the norm, simply because the subject matter requires at least a degree of mental skill. Why then do a rising number seem to relish wallowing in the level of proficiency in communication expressed in Softley's 'Hackers'?
"The question of whether machines can think is no more interesting than [] whether submarines can swim" - Dijkstra
nuff said
-- Life: Hate the Game... Love the cereal
It's very interesting, I've been thinking about this for a while.... :wq at the bottom of all my pages :))
I used to use Scripsit which had it's formats saved in txt. Then to Apple Works and a brief flash with WordPerfect back in the early 80's...
With a little bit of tweaking, these Text based formats were pretty easily transferable, If you could get the DOS's to agree... NewDOS ProDOS TrsDOS MS-DOS et al.
Then came the "AGE OF INDIVIDUALITY" Apples/Macs couldn't talk to "PC's" easily,(Or should I flip that around the PC's couldn't read the Mac Discs easily?) WordPerfect and MSWord were battling on that front, Claris was having a field day with MacLinkPlus allowing Cross-platform processing,
meanwhile all the people still using vi,pico,and emacs were going "WTF is the fuss about"..
I used to use *embarrased* Netscape Composer for my word processing, this was for 2 reasons, I could always backup my docs on a server, I did everything I wanted, and there was no annoying assistant.
Now I'm back to the promised land of using vi(m) for just about everything, unless I'm stuck on a Windows or mac, then I'll usually use Notepad or Simpletext (but I keep getting
HEY ROB, how about a poll on favourite file formats for word processing!!!!!
But hey I digress, and I need another cup of coffee
Thanks for shopping S-Mart
-- Life: Hate the Game... Love the cereal
You must learn to free yourself from the bonds of the editor.
Yeah, but which editor? Emacs? Pico? Copycon?
We're talking about word here, you need to use jupiter's magnetic field to write a document
The problem with Abe, and I hope every sees this, is that he's basically trying to glamorize the *worst* sort of behavior and the *worst* possible sterotypes of geekdom. At best he's a wanna-be, trying to pass himself off as a "hacker" when he's really just a script kiddie(or less), and at worst he's a petty criminal, that got his job by breaking into his future employers computers - and is glamorizing the lifestyle of a cracker.
Some role model. No matter how you shake this out, he's the worst possible role model for an geek to emulate. However, this is precisely the image that most of the media has of "hackerdom", and Abe *and* Slashdot are just dragging it into the sewer to fester further. I'm teribbly disappointed in Slashdot for all of this, and frankly I'm a bit disappointed in myself for expecting Abe to answer my questions honestly.
All this has done is further damaged the popular image of real hacking (you know, writing code!) and further solidified the image of geekdom as a bunch of criminals willing to go to any length to get whatever they want: Women, Money, Jobs, etc. The ends does not justify the means. Yet Abe, MTV and Slashdot have just demonstrated that it does. And helped to educate a new generation that all you have to do to get whatever you want is become an Elite Uber-Haxx0r like Abe.
Most of you are not suprised by Abes non-responses and the silliness of the whole thing. I admit a small part of me did expect more, and was willing to give Abe the benefit of the doubt. Further, I think rather highly of Malda and Slashdot and expect alot from them. Hence, my misguided belief that this would not be a total waste of time and that perhaps Abe was on the level. I was wrong.
As a result of this nonsense, my trust level in Slashdot just went down a few notches. I hope Malda picks some real interviewees that actually have some relevance to the Slashdot community (like Alan Cox) and have something *useful* to contribute. Even on the best side of things, all Abe did for the geek community is portray an unrealistic and damaging stereotype of a "hacker". I suspect that he did far more damage to himself and the image of hackerdom that either he, or his fans are willing to admit. Good luck trying to a job that requires *trust* in the future Abe. The corporate world is past the sexy allure of "ex-hackers", and makes a point of not hiring them now. Perhaps college will clue you into the fact that cracking boxes is still a crime and the real world looks *down* at such irresponsible and illegal actions. Split hairs all you want on this point Abe, but you're only fooling yourself. You have seriously damaged any chance you ever have at being taken seriously or at being trusted.
Further, I understand that the Slashdot guys get alot of stuff to go thru every day and will make mistakes like this one (perhaps they're experimenting with a new sub-culture site for the stimulation starved!), but this Abe fellow is a lame excuse for anything geek - you really need to work harder to keep the quality of this site up. Your funded now for heavens sake! This isn't just a hobby anymore, its a business with customers.
I'm washing my hands of the whole thing and chalking it up as a silly digression into hype. Thanks for proving my point Abe. You're a media Whore and thanks MTV for proving that you are still the vast wasteland of the airwaves.
Now can we get on with some *real* interviews of some people that have actually contributed something useful to the world - and not waste our time on negative stereotypes and wannabes?
--
Python
Python
Maybe it's just me, but I climb up telephone poles and wave magnets over the lines.
I bring along a flourescent tube for output. Yah, it's text based, but it runs ttyquake.
--
QDMerge 0.21!
how to invest, a novice's guide
He is going to a community college. That's why. Just imagine what his questions looked like BEFORE the editors got them.
Sorry, we can't all be rich and go to MIT like "real" hackers.
I'd love to throw down $30,000 to take general ed. classes, but you know... I'm just not as cool as you.
(Trite moral: real hackers don't need to go to prestigious school, nor do they need a degree. They need to know how to hack. Community colleges are a great place to get your general ed. requirements, or just hang out while you figure out what you're doing with your life.)
-- I can't think of anything witty to put here. Sorry.