300 lines
15 KiB
Plaintext
300 lines
15 KiB
Plaintext
==Phrack Magazine==
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Volume Four, Issue Forty-Three, File 6 of 27
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-:[ Phrack Prophile ]:-
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This issue our prophile features a hacker who has been around forever,
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who's been there and done that, literally. His handle is Dr. Who.
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When almost everyone was still mystified by Telenet, Dr. Who was busily
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exploring Europe's PSN's like PSS and Datex-P. When the Internet was in
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its infancy, Dr. Who was there with an account on BBN. When the world
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was short of NUI's, Dr. Who discovered and perfected Pad-To-Pad. When
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the world still thought COSMOS was the end-all-be-all, Dr. Who was
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lurking on 1A's. One of the early LODers and one of the longest lasting.
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And to top it all off, a close personal friend. How elite can you get?
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______________________________________________________________________________
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Personal Info:
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Handle: Doctor Who (aka Skinny Puppy and Saint Cloud)
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Call him: Bob
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Date of Birth: February 5, 1967
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Age: 26
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Height: 6'1"
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Weight: 160 lbs
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Computers owned: in chronological order: Apple ][ series, Sinclair ZX81,
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Commodore TRS-80 models 4 and 16, Coco, Atari 512,
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Toshiba 2000sx. I am probably leaving out some.
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How did you get your handle?
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From the TV show, of course - I had a hard time defending it from other
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people, so would sometimes add (413), my home area code, to identify
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which one I was. Skinny Puppy was from the band of course,
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and Saint Cloud was from the location of a system I was playing with,
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in France.
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How did you get started?
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As a kid, I was a radio & electronics junkie. In 6th grade I wanted
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one of those $99 "computer kits" you would see in the back of "Popular
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Electronics" magazine, which had a hex keypad, and seven-segment LED
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display, had 1K of ram, etc...But lusted after the TRS-80 model-I
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when I used it at Radio Shack. I finally got a computer in 1981
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when I was in 9th grade. I asked my parents for a Commodore,
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but they went all out and got an Apple ][+. I took to programming
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instantly, and within a few months had a reputation as the best
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programmer in my school.
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In a 1982 "Popular Communications" magazine article, I discovered
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the world of loops and test tones and started playing with those.
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I later tried to make free phone calls by using a tape recorder
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as a red box but failed, looking back probably due to inadequate
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volume. The seeds had been planted.
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I wanted all sorts of software, but I had no money, and my parents
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wouldn't buy very much. One computer-club meeting, someone brought
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in about 15 disks of pirated software, and I had a chance to copy
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about 4 disks. They guy told me about pirate BBSs, and people trading
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software. In a few of the games I copied, there were numbers to
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different BBSes, and when I was at a friends house on Cape Cod in the
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summer of 1983, we used his 300 baud acoustic modem to call them.
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I remember calling Pirate's Harbor in Boston, and I think we called
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Pirate-80.
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I wanted a modem badly, but they were too expensive. I convinced a
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friend to split the cost with me, and on January 2, 1984 my
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networker modem arrived. That month, in the process of getting warez
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I ran up over $150 in phone bills as there were no local boards.
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I was becoming obsessed with being on the modem, and on the computer
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in general. I was never a good student, and my parents and teachers
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found a way, they thought, to entice me to do my homework - hold
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computer usage over my head. But this just succeeded in making me
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sneak access when no one was looking - during lunch at school, or
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when my parents went shopping at home. Soon they locked the computer
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room (the den, really) when they left, but I used a ladder to get
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in to the second story window until I had a copy of the key. To this
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day I think if they let me indulge myself in my interest, I would have
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become a much more normal computer geek, and done better in school.
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Anyhow, I started learning about codez to appease the huge phone bills,
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and started to learn more about phones & how they worked. The pirating
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fell by the wayside as I became more involved with phreak/hack boards.
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I was fascinated by communications (I always had been) and
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phreaking/hacking opened up new frontiers. My inhibitions in breaking
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the law melted away because it interfered with my enjoyment of
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knowledge - had there been opportunities to pursue this avocation
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without breaking the law, I probably would have done so.
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A hacker was born.
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What are your interests?
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Women: Tall, thin, brainy, blue eyes. It seems as though I
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attract all the psychos. Right now, I am FREE of
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any relationships and haven't decided whether I am
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enjoying it or not.
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Cars: Cars are the greatest things. I love them. Art,
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Machine & House - The only possession I have that
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encloses me. I got my license later than most people,
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and have learned to enjoy the freedom wheels bring,
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especially for someone who lives in a rural area.
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Right now, I own two cars, one running (barely) and
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entirely generic, the other one very unique, beautiful,
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and broken. The story of my life!
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Food: I hate fish & chicken, love hot food. Not a vegetarian
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in the least. But don't eat much, I am too busy.
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I survive on Coffee.
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Music: I have been 'alternative' for a while now, kind of
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Gothic, sometimes I dress that way, sometimes I don't.
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Favorite bands: Joy Division, Skinny Puppy, old Cure,
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but I have been starting to like Techno more and
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also Classical. Go figure.
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Favorite authors: Ayn Rand, Ann Rice, Robert Anton Wilson, George Orwell,
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Douglas Adams, J.G. Ballard
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Favorite Book: Atlas Shrugged
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Favorite Movies: Brazil, 1984, The Holy Grail, Heathers, Blade Runner,
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Max Headroom, Slacker, Subway, Drowning by Numbers, Dune
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Favorite TV: Doctor Who (of course), The Avengers, Miami Vice,
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Hawaii Five-O
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What am I?
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A slacker, a hacker, a writer, a romantic, a twenty-nothing, a lost
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poet, a New Englander, an American in the truest sense of the word,
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a girl-chaser, a connoisseur of cheap champagne & expensive beer,
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a dilettante, a smoker of cloves, caffeine addict, an atheist,
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a discordian, a libertarian of sorts, a cynic, a procrastinator,
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a conversationalist, a fast driver, an oldest child, a criminal,
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a watcher of fire & water, a lover of love, a believer in the unpure,
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a trekkie, a whovian, an anglophile, still an undergraduate, jealous,
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mischievous, a perfectionist, a believer in the essential
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good in mankind, and probably a mortal.
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What are some of your most memorable experiences?
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The worst day of my life - 3/11/86 - getting busted, and not knowing
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what for. My parents called up my high-school and left a message for
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me to call home immediately. When I did, they informed me that the
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Secret Service and TRW (Hi Mr. Braum) had been in our house and removed
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everything. A nosy neighbor saw the whole incident, and within days our
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entire town knew about the raid.
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Some three and a half years later they pressed charges. So much for
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due process and right to a speedy trial.
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Good days:
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5-91 - Being all fucked up in NYC with my girlfriend and Bill from RNOC;
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10/9/84 - My first TAP meeting. Expecting to meet Mark Tabas but
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meeting his father instead. Tabas had run away from home, and his
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parents found some notes indicating that he might turn up in New York
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at Eddie's for the TAP meeting. Tabas' dad hopped on a plane to NYC,
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rented a car and staked out the meeting. Everyone inside, already
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convinced that they were under surveillance, became very aware that
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they were being watched by some guy in a suit and a rental car.
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Eventually, he came inside and asked if anyone knew where Tabas was.
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We said "Who wants to know?" To which he gave out his business card
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letting us know he was Tabas' dad and just worried. Tabas was not
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even in New York.
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The whole summer of 1985 - staying at home, hacking and loving being
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a computer geek. Four days straight on an Alliance Teleconference once,
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being woken up each morning by blasts of touch-tone!
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Philadelphia Cons, back in 86.
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West 57th St. - a few seconds towards my 15 minutes of fame.
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KP+914-042-1050+ST
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Discovering Pad-to-Pad.
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McD: Becoming an XRAY Technician. (Dr. Bubbnet)
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MSK ../tdas
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NET-LINE-20245614140000.
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Wallpapering my room with Sprint Foncard printouts
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Most of the rest of my most memorable experiences are in my love life,
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which is none of your business!
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Some People (and/or BBSes) To Mention:
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My favorite BBS of all time was Farmers of Doom. Also memorable were
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The Legion of Doom, Osuny, WOPR, Black Ice, and lots more.
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My favorite boards were the ones where there was a lot of activity, and
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a lot of trust between the users. While a board that doesn't crash
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all the time is important, an expensive computer does not a good
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board create.
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There are a lot of people who I would like to mention that have helped
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me greatly and who I have known for a very long time:
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Lex Luthor - Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean people
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AREN'T out get you.
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Mark Tabas - He really does look like Tom Petty.
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Bill from RNOC - Should sell used cars.
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RC Modeler - I hold you wholly responsible for the Clashmaster incident :)
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Tuc - Well, he's just Tuc. What else can you say?
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X-Man - Is he an FBI agent yet?
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Karl Marx - Only person I know with his own dictionary entry.
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Next: the social register.
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Mr. Bigchip - Who is that? (I'm sure you are all asking)
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The Videosmith - (see entry for Luthor, L.)
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Parmaster - Should have followed Lex's advice.
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Kerrang Kahn - His accent is finally gone.
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Terminal Man - So long and thanks for all the codes. (This man
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knew The Condor?)
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The Marauder - Has taken up permanent residence on IRC.
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Shatter, Pad, Gandalf - PSS Junkies. What those guys wouldn't
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do for an NUI.
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New York - Don't Mess With Texas
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Everyone Else - Sorry I couldn't think of anything clever to say.
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One I would like single out is Erik Bloodaxe, who I have known over the
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phone for 9 years now, but will meet for the first time at this year's
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Summercon, if I get there. [Ed: He didn't make it]
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Also: for you hackers that have disappeared from my life, you who had
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my number, my parents' number has never changed, you can contact me
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through them if you like, I would love to hear from you.
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How do you see the future of the Underground?
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It's not going to go away. There will always be new challenges. There
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are always new toys for curious minds. There may be a split into
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several different, only partially interlocking 'undergrounds' involving
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different types of technological playing. In spite of Caller-ID and
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advanced security functions of the new digital switches, there will
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still be many ways to phreak around the phone system: taking advantage
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of the old Crossbars in remote areas, and by finding some of the
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'pheatures' in new switches.
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Hacking on the Internet will always be around despite who controls the
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net, though I am sure there would be a lot more destructive hacking if
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the mega-corporations take it over. Security of systems is more a social
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problem than a technological one, there is always a segment of the
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population that is gullible, stupid, or corrupt. There will always be
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some smartass out there making trouble for the Organization. Constantly
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evolving systems and brand new systems will present security holes forever,
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though they may be harder to understand as the systems grow more complex.
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With more computers networked there will be a lot more to play with.
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Socially, I am worried about the huge wars that have developed,
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LOD v. MOD, etc. While hackers have always been contentious, as well
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they should be, the ferocity of attacks has me somewhat stunned. I will
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leave out blames and suggestions here, but I will just make the
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observation that as any community grows large in size, the intimacy
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that it enjoys will be diminished.
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When the underground was small, isolated, and revered as black magicians
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by outsiders, it was as though we were all part of some guild. Now that
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there are many more people who have knowledge of, and access to, the
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hacker community, there is little cohesiveness. I see this getting
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worse. The solution may be tighter knit groups. But an outbreak of
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wars between mega-gangs could be a real catastrophe.
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The cyberpunk aesthetic seems to have captivated the underground.
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Some people have to be aware that the community was here before William
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Gibson was patron saint, and that most of us still can't successfully
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"rustle credit" - which means this is a hobby, not a profession.
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Will this change? Slowly, I imagine. The trendies will get tired and
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find something else to pretend to be, (maybe dinosaurs, given
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the current popularity of Jurassic Park), and only the hard-core hackers
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will be left. Some of us may, in time, turn into computer criminals,
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to which I am indifferent, as it won't be me. The current cyber-hysteria
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has attracted a whole bunch of trendy fakes, and is distracting us from
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what originally brought us, most of us anyway, to hacking/phreaking in
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the first place - the insatiable curiosity, the dance of the mind
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unbounded.
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Will the hype die? Time will tell. Sometimes I get so sick of the crap
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I see on IRC that I wish someone would give me back an apple IIe and
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an applecat 212, and set me back down in 1984. Just call me
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over the hill.
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Any end comments?
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Hacking is the art of esoteric quests, of priceless and worthless
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secrets. Odd bits of raw data from smashed machinery of intelligence
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and slavery reassembled in a mosaic both hilarious in its absurdity
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and frightening in its power.
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-----------=?> Doctor Who <?=----------- |