122 DEAR HACKER

122 DEAR HACKER

Well, they sure do have the lingo down. But if there’s one thing we’ve learned from our encounters with federal agencies, it’s that they know how to spell surveillance. Odds are someone close to you is laughing.

Dear 2600:

I am an avid reader of your periodical and have been involved in computing for many years. I would just like to rant at how annoy- ing it is to see all these “bad asses” who use three’s for e’s and so on. This is ridiculous. This does not help how people view hackers. If we want respect, we need to be professionals at what we do and how we act, including our opinion. Besides that, it is annoying to read. If you think you are worthy of the title of hacker, then you would know not to use the spellings. In addition, before you voice your opinions, make sure you know all the facts. Opinions are valid only if they are researched. Granted, you will not know everything, but at least try to find out as much as possible. Just a reminder, you are not “elite” if you exchange letters with numbers. It is annoying as hell, besides proving your ignorance.

ICE Breaker W311 $a1d.

Dear 2600:

I was flipping through channels and I saw a report on a local news station in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area about “the hacker threat.” The title they used for the main show was “techno terrorists.” I couldn’t believe the backdrop they had as the blacked-out hacker talked—it was the “Free Kevin” image as seen when you first enter the 2600 site. First of all, where did we get the name “techno terrorists” from? Do we make chemical bombs and threaten the free world? Do we massacre world centers without reason simply for giggles? Second, why in the hell did they pick the “Free Kevin” banner?

THE CHALLENGES OF LIFE AS A HACKER

We don’t even massacre world centers WITH reason! Reports like this are all too common and exist mostly to shock and outrage people without actually informing them of anything. When you see crap like this, complain to the offending station and spread the word so the whole world can see what idiots they are.

Dear 2600: Today I was looking to rent the movie Hackers from my local video rental

store and to my dismay, they didn’t have it at all. I went across town to an identical store and they didn’t have it either. At this point I was get- ting suspicious. Why would a video store have so many old and, in my opinion, bad movies, and not have this one movie from less than five years ago? It seemed a little too weird to be a coincidence. I checked two other video stores in my area and after about an hour of searching found it at a Blockbuster. I may just be paranoid but it seems weird that a movie about a group of young “computer enthusiasts” such as ourselves would suddenly disappear from video store shelves soon after Clinton declared war on “cyberterrorism.” My friends think I’m just being paranoid, but

I can’t shake the feeling that all such media will slowly be swallowed by the abysmal vortex of ignorance and the public will be uneducated as to the essence of hacking and will only live with the terrible misconception that is infecting our society. I just thought I would let you guys at 2600 know about this, as it could soon become a problem.

FeuErWanD You can blame Clinton for many things but not finding Hackers at your local video

store probably isn’t one of them.