The Hacker Manifesto

If you have never read or heard of “The Hacker Manifesto”, then it’s time to now.

by
+++The Mentor+++
Written January 8, 1986

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 for the 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 call us 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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All Content graciously borrowed from: Mithral.com

Web Review: Wowio

Free books + Free minds

Wowio is a website which allows you to download free e-books, and e-comics. When I first stumbled upon the site, it appeared to be pretty shady. Being my inquisitive self, I still had to sign up. Guess what? It works! This website is awesome.

Basically how it works is, first you sign up for an account. They require a bit more information than I am usually comfortable to give out, for the sign up. The reason behind this, and a major drawback to the site, it only works if you are an American citizen. They require so much information, so they can prove you are who you say you are.

Next, after you receive your confirmation email, you browse their large section for books. Books referring to all of their available novelty. They have a lot of great books. Many are educational. One of these books, is called Logic Puzzles. After you find books you like, you “add to download queue.” You can add as many books as you like to this queue. However, you can only download the top three books in the queue every day. This should be far more than sufficient.

My Rating
This website has a lot of quality content. If you have forgotten, it is completely free! I definitely recommend that you check out this website. If you aren’t a person for long novels, they have plenty of other novelty available. Don’t let that stop you. However, due to the slight drawbacks, that you have to be an American citizen, and can only download three books a day, this website receives:

Overall
4.5 / 5

Top 10 Manga of 2007

Keeping on the list bandwagon, here’s one stating the top 10 Manga of 2007. From what I can find, it appears the rankings are statistically gathered through the amount of sales. Meaning the more sales a certain Manga received, the higher rank it obtained. Moreover, it appears this applies to sales made in Japan only.

All data attained from: The Anime News Network

Top 10 Manga of 07′

Ten: Gintama #17

Nine: Katekyo Hitman Reborn! #13

Eight: D.Gray-man #10

Seven: Bleach #28

Six: Hunter X Hunter #24

Five: Fullmetal Alchemist #17

Four: Naruto #37

Three: Nodame Cantabile #17

Two: NANA #18

One: One Piece #46

All author’s and publisher’s can be found on the Anime News Network site. Or with a simple Google search ^_~

H.P. Lovecraft & Cthulhu

Cthulhu. Known by many geeks as a dark mythical monster, roaming the realms of horror. Although Cthulhu is well known, many do not know the creator, or the significance of said monster.

Let’s begin with the author. H.P. Lovecraft, is a horror writer like non-other. He makes Stephen King look like child’s play. I deeply advise you not to read Lovecraft, if you are not one for real horror. A vast number of his works can be read on the internet. If you enjoy these, I advise you to purchase a book, with a plethora of his stories in it. Online, this could be found at a store, such as Amazon. Although, if you are not one to purchase novelty, the well-known Cthulhu can be found here, in: The Call of Cthuhlu.

Equally important, there is media today which have a Lovecraftian influence. One example of this, is a game called: Eternal Darkness. This is available for the Nintendo Gamecube. The dark, melancholy game feels like it could have been created right out of a Lovecraft short story.

Cthulhu deserves respect. Not necessarily, for what it is, but for who created it. So if you’ve never heard of Cthulhu, or Lovecraft, check them out!

My thoughts overall:

If you are a fan of horror, or are looking to try something new, definitely read up on H.P. Lovecraft. I will state again, his stories are not for the faint at heart. But hey, life is full of challenges. Surviving of one of his stories, just might be one of them.