496 DEAR HACKER

496 DEAR HACKER

never hide my copy of 2600 or close windows of hacker sites on my PC just because someone is watching or giving me a “weird” look. I just explain to these people what it is I’m reading and why. I tell them that I’m not a criminal learning about computers to steal identities or money from their bank accounts. I explain to them that hackers and phreakers educate themselves on everything having to do with computers/phones because we are interested in knowing how they work, how these systems’ problems can be fixed, and how they can be made better. You guys should do this too. People are only fearful and judgmental of that which they don’t understand. Break these people of their ignorance by being patient and educating them on what the hacker/phreaker community is really about. This is the first step to defeating the media stereotype.

*s00p3r sKri8s*

Dear 2600:

I have been a fanatical reader of yours for a couple of years now and came upon a problem recently. I am currently in basic training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. After missing a couple of issues, I wrote home to see if my parents would send me the ones I had missed.

They obliged and sent them to me. However, when I opened the en- velope here, they were taken from me. I was told that it was almost illegal what my parents did and that my drill sergeant is going to have

a field day meeting them. I am now watched every time I’m around any electronic device, especially computers, and I am hazed all the time for being a “hacker” and an evil, bad person. It’s a shame people don’t understand that the only crime I’ve ever committed is that of curiosity.

Death by Microsoft

A C U LT U R E O F R E B E L S

And these are the values they’re going to be expecting you to defend? Maybe it’s time we sent every drill sergeant in the country a “2600 gift basket.” After all, how many of them could there possibly be?

Dear 2600: At the time I am writing this, I am working on a Pentium 2 computer

that was considered broken by the previous owner. The man is an A+ certified computer tech for a local ISP. I was crestfallen when I heard him say that. I tried anyway to fix this monster. You wanna know what was wrong? Corrupted hard drive. That’s it. Now this guy has more experience than I care to know of. To think that a punk kid can get it running in under ten minutes is quite shocking. I have always been technologically inclined, surrounded by towers of humming beauties. When I was but a small kid, I was on my dad’s lap typing away at a DOS machine. At four, I had my first chess match. At six, I wanted to build robots and have been wrist deep in wires and solder since.

I have the scars from the hot Flux to prove it. I have always had a computer but until recently I never cared enough to learn. I was part of the mindless masses. Now I am sitting here in my own barn full of computers and equipment. I remember booting into a 56K modem for the first time, though my age at the time escapes me. I thank my dad for a lot of this. He taught me how to solder at a young age. I built

a robot at the age of ten, though it was a kit. I never stopped asking questions when I entered my teen years. In fact, that’s when I started asking more and more. I beige boxed my neighbors and ran port sniff- ing programs on WiFi networks I found. I don’t want to harm or cause damage. I bought a CD-ROM the other day for another computer of mine. Sadly, it was broken. But you know what? I opened the case and fixed the piece of plastic that broke. That’s real hacking. I’m 18 now and have learned so much. I have only three 2600 magazines but, let me tell you, the first one I ever picked up changed my life. I went from

a kid who liked to dabble into a full-fledged techno-lover. I can never thank you guys enough. I used to think the Internet was IT. The real deal. No, no, that’s a facade put up by brilliant men. I can only aspire