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 T Reginald Gibbons hear me.

 Author:  Topic:  Posted:
Dec 05, 2001
 Comments:
Not all hackers are evil. Not all are terrorists. Some like me don't even break laws. They hack only with permission. Please don't add to media stereotyping. You preach free speach on this webpage. Practice it. There are so many untruths in your article its funny. Linux is used by many world class corperations and is certanily not illegal. You have meant it clear that article was not meant as a joke. Therefore I offer to explain any questions without ANY flames. Post if you want to take up my offer.
diaries

More diaries by Yodason
A Detailed Refutement of How to know if your kid is a hacker.


       
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Most disappointing (5.00 / 2) (#1)
by Anonymous Reader on Wed Dec 5th, 2001 at 07:34:12 PM PST
This diary entry sounds like one of those "trolls" that they talk of on Adequacy.org. It's full of spelling errors, and it makes unsubstantiated allegations. Need I say more?


Disappointing? (none / 0) (#2)
by objekt404 on Wed Dec 5th, 2001 at 08:07:54 PM PST
A thought provoking response from an 'anonymous coward'. Truly, it is your response, not the root msg. above that is disappointing. I doubt you (or adequacy) even know what a 'troll' is.

Gibbons 'article' (rant, whatever) is a complete peice of thought trash. I second this callout on Gibbons, not for a flame war, but for honest discussion (IRC room of your choice even).

"the few, the proud, the White hats!"
= This Space For Rent =

 
T Reginald Gibbons (none / 0) (#3)
by Nitro on Wed Dec 5th, 2001 at 08:30:31 PM PST
You are way off base. You have NO CLUE about what you are talking about. You think "hacking" is bad? You know a man by the name of Bill Gates? He invented Microsoft and your security-lacking Windows operating system. You want to know how he made the operating system and all of his money? He HACKED! Hacking is a term used by programmers (the real meaning). "HACKS" were designed to fix bugs in a current program. In the early years of computers, hacking was not only encouraged, it was tought in the elementary schools. I seriously doubt your son knows anything about hacking. You should do ALOT more research on things you know NOTHING about. Oh, and you think mp3's and My Comet Cursor are bad? You should take a look at your windows operating system. You know when you log on to the internet and windows says it has new "updates" for your computer? When you go ahead and update, you are giving Microsoft access to every file on your computer. They can see your internet browser cache (all the sites you visit). So all those porno sites you and your children visit are visible to the entire world. It's funny, but none of the UNIX (Linux, BSD, Solaris, etc) "spy" on the user like Windows does.


 
ROTFL! STFU YUO SUXR!!! (5.00 / 2) (#4)
by elenchos on Wed Dec 5th, 2001 at 08:59:10 PM PST
Yuo 4r a 70741 l4m3rrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

Don't post L1Ez on the NETT! You xuskkk!

LOL! ROTFL! ROTFLMAO!


I do, I do, I do
--Bikini Kill


 
I'm no T Reginald Gibbons, (5.00 / 1) (#5)
by Marshall Badcock on Wed Dec 5th, 2001 at 09:43:39 PM PST
but I don't see what all the fuss is about. The people responding on this forum keep dwelling on the minor details (e.g. LILO or OS/LINUX ), but completely miss the crux of the article. It was clearly not the intent of the author to attack the practice of "hacking." Friends of mine have told me hacking and the OS/LINUX-LILO can even be a good thing, if you don't have a "black heart" (kinda like wicca, in a way).

I believe that many parents have a complacent attitude toward their children's internet and computer habits, same goes for TV viewing. Anything taken out of moderation can be bad.

Teenagers are especially susceptible to cross the threshold where computing habits become dangerous. Many young adults don't practice good judgement and are easily prone to become enamoured with the seedy underground of the internet. Malevolent behaviour on the internet, especially at such a young age, can have drastic effects on a person's life. I certainly wouldn't want to be tailed around by the Secret Service because of my child's online antics.


you sir are a complete idiot (none / 0) (#10)
by Darin23 on Thu Dec 6th, 2001 at 12:37:17 PM PST
First off Linux is an open source operating system its far from illegal, now with open source I am refering to the programming code. With any open source program you can get it for free and its not illegal to do so, also it means any person can open the source code and modify it and if they want they can even post it for download and its completely legal. As for your reference to the secret service, if oyu knew anything at all you would know that the secret service doesn't handle cyber crimes such as hacking and other such stupid things, it is actually a special division of the FBI that handles it and want to know something? Those FBI agents that are part of the cyber crimes division the great majority of them are former hackers themselves. As for any concerns about your children becoming hackers, there are really no tell tale signs, the most dedicated, most average looking child can indeed be a hacker. With you supporting this article really shows you know very little if anything at all about the subject. As for me I have room to speak about such things, I am an A+ certified PC Techinician which is a certification that is required by the industry to be an accpeted PC Technician. for more information on this go to CompTIA's Website concerning their certifications with the comments you have made supporting this article you have shown nothing but ignorance and great stupidity, my advice to you is to respond to things you actually know something about


 
OK, (none / 0) (#6)
by tkatchev on Wed Dec 5th, 2001 at 10:08:57 PM PST
Fess up, who left the door to the monkey house unlocked!??


--
Peace and much love...




 
This is idiotic. (none / 0) (#7)
by jeian on Wed Dec 5th, 2001 at 10:15:20 PM PST
I hope that the hacker post of your was a joke. Practically everything you said in there is pure BS.

I will hereby refute it all:

"You could say I'm a model parent."

Modest, aren't you?

"I'm afraid to say, this was the only time I have ever been truly disappointed in one of my children. We raised them to be honest and to have integrity, and Peter betrayed the principles we tried to encourage in him."

At the bottom, I will explain that hacking is not what you think it is, and that there's absolutely nothing morally wrong with it.

"Most American families use trusted and responsible Internet Service Providers, such as AOL. These providers have a strict "No Hacking" policy, and take careful measures to ensure that your internet experience is enjoyable, educational and above all legal. If your child is becoming a hacker, one of his first steps will be to request a change to a more hacker friendly provider. "

If your son want to become proficient with computers, it's impossible using an ISP like AOL. AOL gives people VERY little access to the technical stuff of the Internet.

"Your son will probably try to install some hacker software. He may attempt to conceal the presence of the software in some way, but you can usually find any new programs by reading through the programs listed under "Install/Remove Programs" in your control panel. Popular hacker software includes "Comet Cursor", "Bonzi Buddy" and "Flash". "

There is absolutely nothing in ANY of these programs that could assist in illegal activities.

"Computer hackers are often limited by conventional computer hardware. They may request "faster" video cards, and larger hard drives, or even more memory."

Oh my gosh! How awful! More memory! Where will the corruption end?

"If your son has requested a new "processor" from a company called "AMD", this is genuine cause for alarm. AMD is a third-world based company who make inferior, "knock-off" copies of American processor chips."

I'm offended. I HAVE an AMD processor. And everything you just said is base libel. AMD is a US-based publicly traded company.

"They use child labor extensively in their third world sweatshops"

Are you trying to say that they manufacture delicate electronics using child labor?

"and they deliberately disable the security features that American processor makers, such as Intel, use to prevent hacking."

There is no CPU in the whole damn world that has anti-hacking features built in.

"AMD chips are never sold in stores, and you will most likely be told that you have to order them from internet sites."

Walk down to your local CompUSA and ask them if they sell AMD.

""Programming with Perl" by Timothy O'Reilly" you listed as a "evil hacker" book. Anything wrong with wanting to know technical stuff about computers? Like how to program? Next you'll be telling him, "No C programming!"... well, Windows is written in C.

"If your son spends more than thirty minutes each day on the computer, he may be using it to DOS other peoples sites."

Sure, but most likely he's not.

"DOSing involves gaining access to the "command prompt" on other people's machines, and using it to tie up vital internet services."

No, DoS is an illegal activity that is frowned upon by GOOD hackers, that consists of an attack designed to crash or freeze another system. DOS is an operating system made by Microsoft, BTW. There's a difference between DoS and DOS.

"This can take up to eight hours."

Uh... Right... whatever.

"If your son is doing this, he is breaking the law, and you should stop him immediately."

Only if he's DoSing, not DOSing.

"The safest policy is to limit your children's access to the computer to a maximum of forty-five minutes each day."

What can you do in forty-five minutes? Play a nice game of Barney?

"Quake is an online virtual reality used by hackers."

Actually, it's a game made by a reputable US company, ID software.

"It is a popular meeting place and training ground, where they discuss hacking and train in the use of various firearms."

Depends on where you play.

"Many hackers develop anti-social tendencies due to the use of this virtual world, and it may cause erratic behaviour at home and at school."

Says who? Your own small inexperienced brain?

"If your son is using Quake, you should make hime understand that this is not acceptable to you."

I myself frown on violent video games, that's acceptable to me if you don't like violence. I have no qualms about saying that Quake is a violent game.

"You should ensure all the firearms in your house are carefully locked away, and have trigger locks installed. You should also bring your concerns to the attention of his school."

What are you? Some kind of anti-Constitutional liberal? Are trying to say that guns, inanimate objects, somehow corrupt kids and make them want to kill people?

"BSD, Lunix, Debian and Mandrake are all versions of an illegal hacker operation system, invented by a Soviet computer hacker named Linyos Torovoltos, before the Russians lost the Cold War."

This is the part that makes me wonder if you are joking. BSD was developed at the University of California at Berkeley. I myself use it. And it's Linux, not Lunix, you fool. And you will find nothing on the Internet about "Linyos Torovoltos." It's Linus Torvalds, a Finnish computer science student who now works at Transmeta.

"These programs are used by hackers to break into other people's computer systems to steal credit card numbers."

Do you even know what you're talking about? Windows can also be used for such things. They're just operating systems.

"They may also be used to break into people's stereos to steal their music, using the "mp3" program."

Same with Windows. MP3 is not a program, but a type of sound file.

"Torovoltos is a notorious hacker, responsible for writing many hacker programs, such as "telnet", which is used by hackers to connect to machines on the internet without using a telephone."

Oh, he is? Who said so? And he didn't write telnet.

"Your son may try to install "lunix" on your hard drive. If he is careful, you may not notice its presence, however, lunix is a capricious beast, and if handled incorrectly, your son may damage your computer, and even break it completely by deleting Windows, at which point you will have to have your computer repaired by a professional."

Earth to you! AOL doesn't run Windows at all. Neither does Yahoo. And they get along just fine. Actually, that makes me a professional, I've repaired my computer that way so many times...


"If you see the word "LILO" during your windows startup (just after you turn the machine on), your son has installed lunix. In order to get rid of it, you will have to send your computer back to the manufacturer, and have them fit a new hard drive."

Simply not true.

"Lunix is extremely dangerous software, and cannot be removed without destroying part of your hard disk surface."

That's funny, I've only done it about 5 times.

"9. Has your son radically changed his appearance?"

This may seem strange, but really, is there any evidence linking illegal activities and strange dress styles?

"I encourage all parents to read through this guide carefully. Your child's future may depend upon it."

I agree. If your child wants to become a computer professional, this guide hampers him in every way possible.

"Hacking is an illegal and dangerous activity, that may land your child in prison, and tear your family apart. It cannot be taken too seriously."

Now, to the meat and potatoes.

A white-hat hacker is someone who is fascinated with the technical workings of computer systems. - not someone who breaks into computers and steals CC numbers. That's a black hat hacker.

So, reading your article, I must conclude 1 of 3 things:
1) You're making a joke
2) You're not sane
3) You're bored and want attention
4) You're just uninformed.
Please watch what you're saying next time.

Who am I?
I'm a 15-year-old WHITE HAT hacker from FL. I'm a Kernel of the Cyberarmy, a group that promotes the use of computers for good things only.

Jeian


Jeian, have you been drinking alcohol? (5.00 / 1) (#9)
by elenchos on Wed Dec 5th, 2001 at 10:50:50 PM PST
Have you?

Do you realize that you just wrote a 1,426-word refutation to someone who agrees with you, and not the guy you are trying to refute?

And how good are your refutations? One of them is "Simply not true." Is that an argument? Oh, I believed the sky was blue, but some guy on the internet posted "Simply not true" and that settles it. Perhaps a fact or two, eh?

Or this refutation: "Uh... Right... whatever." Are you telling me that "Uh... Right... whatever" is convincing? When you find yourself in the dock before the judge (and I fear you will find yourself there sooner than you think) and the prosectuing attorney says he has evidence that you "hacked" into private property and caused millions of dollars in damage, created mayhem and directly aided TERRORISTS like Al Qaeda with your Anti-American Hacking, what will your defense be?

"Uh... Right... whatever."

Enjoy life in the joint.


I do, I do, I do
--Bikini Kill


 
I believe it's spelled "Lunix" (none / 0) (#8)
by Thon on Wed Dec 5th, 2001 at 10:36:47 PM PST
Apparently some people need to practice what they preach.


"I undrestand"

 

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