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MTV Hacker Saga Gets Worse
weld writes "Now Shamrock, one of the MTV hackers portrayed as involved in some sort of criminal behavior, has posted a letter saying he made it all up. He now wants to come clean. He made it all up to dupe MTV because he knew all they wanted was criminal hacking stories. The journalistic integrity of this "special" is under serious question now. HNN has posted
Shamrock's letter to the hacking community. " Check out our original story on this to get the full details.
I think that /. and the rest of the online geek community should just move on from caring about what MTV thinks. As this sort of lifestyle moves farther into the limelight, this sort of thing is just going to get worse. We don't post enquirer articles that say computer programs predict the future, why should we post this junk? But maybe if the Enquirer was online....
-- Moondog
...`//|-|3|\| 14/v\0|~5p33|< `//i11 fi|\|411y |~3p14<3 3|\|91i5|-| ?
Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
He really didn't say anything useful except that "MTV is bullshit" in more ways than I can count. I guess the critical issue is this: he never really gave me a clear indication of what he thinks a hacker is. Maybe there's something I'm just not drawing a conclusion from based on the fact that I didn't watch the MTV thing and don't really consider HNN to be a hacker resource by any means (mainly because aside from looking at cracked pages and trivial things like this link, there's nothing tangile I ever see on there that I don't see on Slashdot first.. and how is cracking a hacker thing? maybe I just haven't stared at HNN long enough to get it.. but then, my time is already monopolized by "other" things). I think he'd get more credibility points if a) he defined what he thinks a hacker is and b) he spelled better/used proper English (sorry, low blow I know, but hey..).
~ Kish
I could only manage to read a few paragraphs of this before I had to stop. The spelling was terrible, the grammar was terrible. In short, it looked as if he didn't bother to read what he had wrote before submitting this.
I know I am off topic with this, but this is just one example of low standards of grammar and spelling endemic throughout this community. At the very least, can't people run spell checkers? Why are geeks so bad at this?
By the way, loose != lose. I left a couple of errors in this post, because everyone knows the rules of spelling and grammar flames, but the question still remains. How can people be so good with code, where the smallest errors can make the biggest difference, and still write so poorly?
That's possibly the worst attitude towards journalism I've ever seen. Are you serious?
So what about after you've played with them? What then? I'll tell you - then everyone who reads or sees this media that you've faked is lead to believe that it's true. This MTV special wasn't meant to be a joke for hackers, it was meant to be a story to give outsiders insight into what the life of a hacker is like. I don't have any pity for MTV for bungling it, but for you to place all of the blame on them is ridiculous. This kid lied. You can't blame the victim for being a victim.
It's the same argument over and over again: Who's fault is it when a cracker breaks into your system? Your's for leaving it insecure? Or his for breaking the law and trespassing in a private network? Only now it's "Who's fault is it when a crappy broadcast goes over? The networks for believing the people they interview? Or the interviewees for lying through their teeth and making a mockery of the whole issue?"
The entire thing makes me sick.
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"You can't shake the Devil's hand and say you're only kidding."
ROTFL..
Was there ever a doubt that this 'kid' was making it up? You could TELL he really, REALLY wasn't the real thing.. I just wrote it off as me steroetyping the kid, but apperently my first guess was right..
-- I'm the root of all that's evil, but you can call me cookie..
Do not take this dangerous piece of advice seriously.
Many people will tell you to think when you watch television. These people will also tell you to eat while you're swimming and run the hair dryer in the shower. This stuff just doesn't mix, people.
Do you wonder why people think The King of Queens is funny? Do you ask yourself what engineering know-how Lincoln brings to the design of sport-utility vehicles? Was your favorite new show cancelled after two episodes? These are all warning signs.
High-level thought while watching television is the number one cause of TV tuneout today. Don't become a statistic -- stay on the couch, where it's safe.
This message brought to you by the National Association of Broadcasters, the Ad Council, and the guys who make those little green drool cups.
phil
His random spelling of any polysyllabic word must have assured them he had street cred.
Do we have any reason to believe this retraction?
-=Best Viewed Using [INLINE]=-
Do you think Shamrock really has worse spelling and grammar than Hemos, or did he Hemosize his article to get Hemos to post it?
/. it sounded exactly like entertainment, not a documentary. When was the last time someone turned to MTV for their journalistic capabilities?
/. but the server isn't serving up the other replies for the moment. The best thing slashdotters could do is ignore this, or at least name and shame MTV.
So, the guy hacks MTV, pulls one over on them, and now is trying to explain himself to the hacking community. Something is fishy.
Shamrock and his coworkers need to get together and present every fact of their side of the story. Dates, places, names of MTV flacks, what got said, what got rejected. If they do that, then I will have more confidence this was a real media hack, and not some snotty wannabe script-kiddie who pulled a fast one and found himself in shit.
But given the shallowness of MTV, it is not surprising some illiterate kid could take them for a ride. Didn't see the show myself, but from descriptions here on
I expect a lot of "told you so" here on
the AC
Hemos is like...sci-fi fans;he thinks technology is cool, but he hasn't bothered to understand the science it's based on
They wanted a big story on it, and interviewed a few bands, who fed them all sorts of crap they made up off the top of their heads. Of course the article had nothing to do with reality. That was hilarious.
;-)
We can't beat 'em, we may as well play with them.
Indeed.
But what I'm intrigued by is the effect that this lying, this proliferation of falsehood just to get attention, has on the large floundering-around-pathetically part of society. Just think of all the people who'll read this kind of stuff and believe it. And not only that, they'll quote it to others and remember key phrases in the backs of their minds, mulling over it intensely periodically for brief periods of time, spout some jibberish out, and continue with their thoughtless lives. Fish! They're all fish!
Let the flames begin....
Insert mind here.
Should this tip us off that this isn't worth front page on Slashdot? Most of the posts are about how stupid MTV or this "hacker" is. Hemos, take Foogle's advice and move on to "more serious news". (Resist the temptation to moderate this up :)
This is a hack in the most classic sence of the word. If I had thought of this and thought I could get MTV to produce my own production I'd have jumped on it in a heartbeat, the only thing I'm angry about it that I didn't think of it first. Obviously his vision didn't come across and that's probably why the tone is so apologetic, it was something of a failure but I love the concept, reality hacking is the best :) :)
I produce video and it's frustrating, any independent film maker will tell you that starting out, you lie, cheat and steal to get the actors, props, editing equipment, you'll spend hours playing rope a dope with police sending them back and forth between people who "have the permit" and try and get your shot in one take before they kick you out. This was almost slick
Reality time: Shamrock was trying to look cool. He knew he was going to be on one of the most popular networks in America and he took advantage of that fact. Don't believe for a second that this was all crafted out from the beginning. Well actualy it was, but not with the intention of making MTV look bad - it was meant to make him look "3l33t".
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"You can't shake the Devil's hand and say you're only kidding."
All code and no slashdot makes meersan a dull gal, you know.
We want endless gardens of data, where the bits can flower, flourish and reproduce. -- Andy Mueller-Maguhn
Shamrock simply asserts without corroborative evidence that, "We faked it."
If you were a lame-brained criminal and realized you had been caught on camera, isn't it possible that one of your alibis might be, "Hey, I was just foolin' ya, to make y'all look stupid."
Personally, I would like to believe Shamrock's story. Any organization that would retain someone like Jesse -- a person so amazingly annoying that he can cause nose bleeds at 300 yards -- is, without question, in serious need of reality adjustment (not to mention attitude adjustment). But until I see some corroborative evidence (such as a detailed timeline or affidavits from the police officers), I'm going to take this story with a grain of salt.
Schwab
Editor, A1-AAA AmeriCaptions
have fun
You misunderstand. If we are to take Shamrock's message as true, MTV showed an almost aggressive disinterest in their desire to actually educate them about the hacking/cracking scene. Had Shamrock et al. persisted in trying to get their story right, MTV would simply have moved on to another group of people who were willing to give them what they wanted.
In other words, MTV had already written the kind of story they wanted to broadcast, and were simply shopping for willing bodies to put in front of the camera. This practice is exceedingly common, and has a long history. CBS News did a very similar hatchet job over ten years ago on a gathering of highly respected computer luminaries, including RMS, Donald Knuth, Lee Felsenstein, John Gilmore, and others.
These days, the media calls this "journalism." We know it better as Infotainment.
Schwab
Editor, A1-AAA AmeriCaptions
Gee, somebody faked hacking for MTV's fake special on hacking so that people with a fake understanding of technology could fake comprehension of the hacker culture. I'm sensing a trend.
kill -9 mtv
Unbreakable toys can be used to break other toys.
C'mon folks. We're criticizing MTV for having low journalistic standards. Is this for real? IT'S MUSIC TELEVISION for crying out loud. I don't care how "polished" the programs are, nobody in their right mind should take anything on TV (much less MTV) at face value. People keep complaining about how the media "brainwashes" people or frames the range of discussion along safe lines or whatever Chomsky'esque criticism happens to be in vogue these days. Well how about this: when you watch TV - THINK a little bit. It's not that hard. But I'm preaching to the converted. Victor "silence - I'm watching television" Ng
The bottom line is that Shamrock intentionally misrepresented himself in order to get on national TV. That's so utterly pathetic, that I can't even believe anyone would go to bat for him. I'm no fan of MTV - not at all - I just think that this script-kiddie is trash and shouldn't be treated as if he had some sort of lofty goal in doing all of this.
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"You can't shake the Devil's hand and say you're only kidding."
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"You can't shake the Devil's hand and say you're only kidding."