488 DEAR HACKER

488 DEAR HACKER

Dear 2600:

I was just curious whether you had heard anything about the start of

a campaign to unify the hacker community with one logo? I would

be interested in writing an article about this (and also know there are t-shirts already available with the proposed logo at www.shirtsbymail. com). I am not an excellent writer but am just proposing the idea and wondering if you had heard.

Chris

If hackers were all part of a major corporation, it would make sense to have this sort of standardization. But fortunately they aren’t. They’re a very diverse group of individuals who share some common values but have many different perspec- tives and ways of doing things. This means many logos and other forms of art to express who we are.

Dear 2600:

I need help. I stay at a college dorm at a small private university in south Florida and they regulate the network like Nazis. Today they blocked all ports and servers for IRC. Last year they blocked kazaa, tesla, winmx, etc., etc. I am not a computer guru when it comes to such technical aspects as networks and servers, but I do know more than the average PC user. Please give me some advice or link me to

a tutorial where I can configure a backdoor so I can chat on IRC or download music. I understand that universities don’t want students sharing files, but to tell us what and where we can download or chat seems unethical. Today I made an appointment with the director of my dorm. Earlier I tried getting appointments with the dean but I was redirected further and further down the ladder of authority.

alex aka Suge A number of people will tell you that it’s the university’s network and they can do

as they please. But this is only partly true. You are, after all, an important part of the university and your money helps to make this network possible. So your input should not be ignored. The fact that so many people accept this is why it seems

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

expose the ignorance of your school’s policy. It might open some eyes and make a difference.

Dear 2600: I’ve been reading 2600 for several months now. I first started reading it

after a recommendation from a tech friend in my office. His comment on it: “I know of three places in this area that sell it. I always pay cash and I never buy from the same place twice in a row.”

The way I figure it, this sounds like good advice to me. Our mutual Uncle Sam seems to realize that, since he can’t stop or kill the hacker movement, because it is for the most part a freelance phenomenon,

he had better track it as best he can. I’d advise those buying 2600 to be careful in the manner in which they

purchase it, unless they want to end up on a Homeland Security watch list. I would wager that subscriptions, directly from the magazine and away from third-party interests like Amazon.com, to be a safe bet for anonymity, but for myself I’m not taking any chances.

Stone Wolf If you really believe that this kind of surveillance is ongoing, then the best way

to battle it is for as many people as possible to jam up the lists. Our engaging in subterfuge simply strengthens the hand of those who want us to hide and be perceived as criminals. This is why we have our meetings in open places, why we have the magazine available to anyone in the world, and why we don’t shut any- one out who expresses a desire to learn and share information.

Dear 2600:

I was at Hastings today and they had some of your zines near the main checkout aisle. So I picked one up and decided to stay and read some