- 13,643
- North Jersey
- MistaX1
The Conscience of a Hacker Another one got caught today, it's all over the papers. "Teenager Arrested in Computer Crime Scandal", "Hacker Arrested after Bank Tampering"...Damn kids. They're all alike. But did you, in your three-piece psychology and 1950's technobrain, ever take a look behind the eyes of the hacker? Did you ever wonder what made him tick, what forces shaped him, what may have molded him? I am a hacker, enter my world... Mine is a world that begins with school... I'm smarter than most of the other kids, this crap they teach us bores me... Damn underachiever. They're all alike. I'm in junior high or high school. I've listened to teachers explain forthe fifteenth time how to reduce a fraction. I understand it. "No, Ms. Smith, I didn't show my work. I did it in my head..." Damn kid. Probably copied it. They're all alike. I made a discovery today. I found a computer. Wait a second, this is cool. It does what I want it to. If it makes a mistake, it's because I screwed it up. Not because it doesn't like me... Or feels threatened by me... Or thinks I'm a smart ass... Or doesn't like teaching and shouldn't be here... Damn kid. All he does is play games. They're all alike. And then it happened... a door opened to a world... rushing through the phone line like heroin through an addict's veins, an electronic pulse is sent out, a refuge from the day-to-day incompetencies is sought... a board is found. "This is it... this is where I belong..." I know everyone here... even if I've never met them, never talked to them, may never hear from them again... I know you all... Damn kid. Tying up the phone line again. They're all alike... You bet your ass we're all alike... we've been spoon-fed baby food at school when we hungered for steak... the bits of meat that you did let slip through were pre-chewed and tasteless. We've been dominated by sadists, or ignored by the apathetic. The few that had something to teach found us willing pupils, but those few are like drops of water in the desert. This is our world now... the world of the electron and the switch, the beauty of the baud. We make use of a service already existing without paying for what could be dirt-cheap if it wasn't run by profiteering gluttons, and you callus criminals. We explore... and you call us criminals. We seek after knowledge... and you call us criminals. We exist without skin color, without nationality, without religious bias... and you call us criminals. You build atomic bombs, you wage wars, you murder, cheat, and lie to us and try to make us believe it's for our own good, yet we're the criminals. Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity. My crime is that of judging people by what they say and think, not what they look like. My crime is that of outsmarting you, something that you will never forgive me for. I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto. You may stop this individual, but you can't stop us all... after all, we're all alike.
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In this world, this age of the computer, there are two kinds of people. There are the hackers, and then there are all the other people. It is the fate of the hacker to change and shape the world, and be persecuted for it. I am a hacker, not because I break into the computers of other people, or because I pirate software or music or movies that I would otherwise be overcharged for by greedy corporations. I dont write virii, or perform malicious deeds simply because of the adrenaline rush that it brings me. I am a hacker because of what I know, because of what I CAN do, not just what I actually do. I am not the hacker of the media, or the hacker of the past. I am something new, something different. I am not the anti-social geek I once was. I do not fear daylight. I do not fear exercise. I am not a virgin. I am in better shape than you, most likely. I am NOT someone out of The Matrix. You may not even realize I am a hacker. I am a hacker because I understand how and why all the technology that makes our lives so convenient works. When I get bored, I think of new and better ways to do things. I create, I invent. Sometimes, I search fo what is wrong with the existing system. I point it out to the world, so it will be fixed. I might get arrested for this, since it appears to be illegal to try to find things wrong with the system. I improve the world for everyone, and yet I will be punished and treated like a criminal for my troubles. I am smarter than the average person. Where they are content to live out there lives accepting the things they are given, I explore, I question, I want things to be better. I invent. I do whatever I can to improve my own life. If I can help others too, all the better. Everyone thinks I'm lazy, because I dont work hard for things, occasionally I even fail. I'm not. I simply am looking for more than I am being given. Why should I be content with being given the same things over again, or to learn things that I know are flawed, and meaningless, and that I would improve were I not so busy being forced to learn said system? For all the crap I take in life, I remain strong. Some day, the world will respect me, and what I have done. Some day, I will make a difference. Some day, I will get paid to do the things I was once criticized for. Some day, you will see that I was right all along. I dont want to wait for some day, however. I demand that you respect me. I demand that you respect my intelligence, and that you treat me as I deserve to be. I am not your better, but I am your equal. I am not your servant. Just because I am good at things does not obligate me to help you with them if you're not, particularly when you simply choose to exploit me, rather than figure it out for yourself. If I help you, it is because I want to be nice, and helpful, not necessarily because I enjoy it. Not all hackers are identical. Some of us are good at math, some arent. Some of us are good with hardware, some are good with software, some are just good with ideas. I am not the computer geek of the past. I am a hacker of the new millenium. Hackers run the world now. We control, we create, and we maintain the technology that you all depend on. You need us more than we need you. Without us, civilization as you know it would collapse. That is why we deserve your respect. That is why we demand it. We are students, we are teachers, we are janitors, we are businessmen, we are goths, we are punks, we are trendies, we are rich, we are poor, we are everywhere. Hackers of the world, unite. Hackers of the world, demand the respect you deserve. Hackers of the world, hack the planet.
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In this world, this age of the computer, there are two kinds of people. There are the hackers, and then there are all the other people. It is the fate of the hacker to change and shape the world, and be persecuted for it. I am a hacker, not because I break into the computers of other people, or because I pirate software or music or movies that I would otherwise be overcharged for by greedy corporations. I dont write virii, or perform malicious deeds simply because of the adrenaline rush that it brings me. I am a hacker because of what I know, because of what I CAN do, not just what I actually do. I am not the hacker of the media, or the hacker of the past. I am something new, something different. I am not the anti-social geek I once was. I do not fear daylight. I do not fear exercise. I am not a virgin. I am in better shape than you, most likely. I am NOT someone out of The Matrix. You may not even realize I am a hacker. I am a hacker because I understand how and why all the technology that makes our lives so convenient works. When I get bored, I think of new and better ways to do things. I create, I invent. Sometimes, I search fo what is wrong with the existing system. I point it out to the world, so it will be fixed. I might get arrested for this, since it appears to be illegal to try to find things wrong with the system. I improve the world for everyone, and yet I will be punished and treated like a criminal for my troubles. I am smarter than the average person. Where they are content to live out there lives accepting the things they are given, I explore, I question, I want things to be better. I invent. I do whatever I can to improve my own life. If I can help others too, all the better. Everyone thinks I'm lazy, because I dont work hard for things, occasionally I even fail. I'm not. I simply am looking for more than I am being given. Why should I be content with being given the same things over again, or to learn things that I know are flawed, and meaningless, and that I would improve were I not so busy being forced to learn said system? For all the crap I take in life, I remain strong. Some day, the world will respect me, and what I have done. Some day, I will make a difference. Some day, I will get paid to do the things I was once criticized for. Some day, you will see that I was right all along. I dont want to wait for some day, however. I demand that you respect me. I demand that you respect my intelligence, and that you treat me as I deserve to be. I am not your better, but I am your equal. I am not your servant. Just because I am good at things does not obligate me to help you with them if you're not, particularly when you simply choose to exploit me, rather than figure it out for yourself. If I help you, it is because I want to be nice, and helpful, not necessarily because I enjoy it. Not all hackers are identical. Some of us are good at math, some arent. Some of us are good with hardware, some are good with software, some are just good with ideas. I am not the computer geek of the past. I am a hacker of the new millenium. Hackers run the world now. We control, we create, and we maintain the technology that you all depend on. You need us more than we need you. Without us, civilization as you know it would collapse. That is why we deserve your respect. That is why we demand it. We are students, we are teachers, we are janitors, we are businessmen, we are goths, we are punks, we are trendies, we are rich, we are poor, we are everywhere. Hackers of the world, unite. Hackers of the world, demand the respect you deserve. Hackers of the world, hack the planet.
some of it
