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____________________________________________________________________ [12:. - [ The sad sorry state of #hacktech ] [Syn] :. ] [synn@postmaster.co.uk] :. ] ____________________________________________________________________ I've been hanging out in #hacktech one or two nights a week for the past two years. Some of you may recognize my nick(s), though I've never had much of a conversation with any of you, except for the odd question here and there. I've spent most of my time in the channel lurking, trying to pick up bits of info here and there, and just generally learning. I've never really contributed anything since I never believed I had anything worth contributing. Two years ago I was an avid coder though I knew nothing about computer hacking, Unix, computer security or anything related to that. Now, I know a lot, with still a lot more to learn. During the past two years I respected a lot of the people in #hacktech since I generally believed they were true hackers, in the real sense of the word. I was wrong. I only realized this in the past couple of months when I made a significant breakthrough in my learning experience. Every hacker and programmer out there as had them. I just had one of those days where all the bits and pieces of information gleamed the past couple of years finally seemed to fit together and everything made much more sense. Since then Ive learned plenty more and continue to learn. I don't think the learning process ever stops. Though I may not be inclined to retrieve Bill Gate's credit info and use it to buy 100,000 iMac's I still would call myself a hacker - in the true sense of the word. What is this "true sense" I'm talking about. Well, I'm not going to go into too much detail here, because there's volumes of textfiles out there detailing this, some of them which I agree with, some of them which I don't, but many, if not all, carry the same basic premise. I think it sums up nicely with this statement. Hacking is the exploration of intelligence and genius, with the maturity to apply it usefully and productively. Einstein was a hacker. He hacked quantum physics. Benjamin Franklin was a hacker. He hacked electricity. Bill Clinton is a hacker. He hacks off. [-- sorry, bad j/k Back to what I was saying; a computer hacker is somebody who experiments with computing systems using their intelligence and oftentimes genius to create and discover new methods, new ideas, and better ways of doing things, with the hope that they have the maturity to use that information usefully and productively. It may not be for the good of society (Einstein's work led to the atomic bomb), but as long as its put to a use which achieves something worthwhile (Atomic bomb helped end World War 2) then its a productive use of intelligence. Again it may not be noble, but at least its use has a purpose. Now, you're probably wondering why the hell I've rattled on for 485 words. What has this to do with b0g and #hacktech? Well, as I mentioned at the start, I don't believe most of the regulars in #hacktech (mainly OPS since I don't know many others) are hackers, in the "true sense of the word". They don't put their knowledge or skills to any proper use. One of the reasons I stayed in #hacktech so long was that when I learned enough maybe I'd have made good friends with some so that we could share information and work on projects together. That hasn't happened since I believe we're on completely different planets here, and you people just don't want to learn. The topics of conversation on #hacktech and in b0g (is this zine affiliated with the channel?) revolve around #dogsex (please, don't embarrass humanity by encouraging these people), calling people gay, constant masturbating and details of your apparent sexual and asexual lives. Anybody who disagrees with anybody is accused of being gay, a script kiddie or anything else under the sun. Discussion of facts and the exchange of information doesn't seem to occur to you people. Megabytes of logs lay testament to this. I've often seen this. "Let's packet the bastard". Is this statement something a hacker would say or an immature kid in front of a PC. Things like this seem to be said and done frequently in #hacktech. That just irritates every cell in my body. You call yourselves hackers but all you do is DoS, insult blacks, and talk about how many times a day you masturbate. I know for a fact that many of you are still in school so I understand this. Lots of kids do that, but let me tell you something from somebody who's been through it all. You're not a hacker. Chances are you never will be. Trust me. I mean it. You just don't have the mentality. I've watched your conversations over two years and I've seen little from any of you. That's just who you are. You have to be born a hacker. It's not something you can learn. You don't want to share information, you don't want to learn. You just want to hang out on #hacktech and if you come across somebody who knows less than you, you try to take advantage of them and ridicule them simply to give your own egos a place to stand. Now, whether you do this because you lack any real influence or power in your every day lives, I don't know. But I do know this. You're not hackers. This doesn't extend to everybody in the channel. I have met a memorable few whom I have a great respect for, most of them know way more than me, some of them are only beginning, but they are all hackers. They know who they are simply by reading this so they needn't feel insulted at what I've said above. What I'm asking for is that you kids out there should mature a little faster. Take a hard look at your level of intelligence, and your wealth of knowledge and ask yourself are you really putting it all to a good and productive use. If you spend most of your skills causing damage, upset, or any kind of nuisance then I suggest you forget about hacking and get a job as a systems analyst or something equally mundane. You may be the smartest person in the world and know every OS and every possible way of circumventing security but if you abuse that knowledge then you are *not* a hacker, and should not be one. For the kids still in school: I have no doubt that some of you know a lot and are very intelligent but you lack the maturity and the mentality to use that responsibly. The computer is too powerful a tool to be used as a weapon, especially if the use of the weapon is simply childish revenge or nastiness. If you can't handle a gun then don't use one. Simple as that. For the hackers: I respect your skills. You know who you are. And lastly, (thank god) This mail will either end up in /dev/null or bandied around the Ops while they fight over who they think I'm talking about. To make it easy for you here's my estimation. Note that since mainly Ops populate #hacktech this primarily applies to them, even though there are a couple of ordinary regulars who also fit into this. 50% of #hacktech are high school kids (not necessarily a bad thing, just that they happen to be the *typical* high school kid, not the smart ones) 25% are administrators programmers for various companies. Average age 23-28. Probably know plenty about computer security but are only interested in securing computers not circumventing security.(nothin wrong with that though). 10% are real hackers. They generally don't say very much since they are generally preoccupied with important stuff and don't give a shit about the gay netsex going on in the channel. 10% are your average curious gimps who usually don't stick around. 5% are Feds. If you want to butt fuck each other over the net then do so, but don't call yourself hackers. If you want to call people stupid for no apparent reason simply that they are discussing a concept new to them which you happen to think you know about already then do so, but don't call yourself hackers. If you want to make fun of stupid script kiddies by imitating them and writing in their style as a joke then do so, but don't call yourself hackers, or comedians for that matter. If you want to DoS or "rm -rf /" somebody because it makes you feel like you have power over them, then do so, but don't call yourself hackers. If you want to insults blacks, jews, or whatever, then do so, but don't call yourself hackers. Hacking is as much your mentality as your skills. It's only when you achieve the right balance of both when you should feel you've earned the title. FIN - Syn b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@! b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@! b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@! b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@! b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!b0g!#@!