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ABC News' The Answer Geek Defends Hackers
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There are two ways to write error-free programs; only the third one works.
There are two ways to write error-free programs; only the third one works.
Love the Geek (Score:2)
The gent who writes that column is, in my estimation, not only a good writer, but a solid example of a hacker as well. Unlike many, however, he's decided to take the time and explain all of this high-tech stuff to average folks. And he's darn good at it.
If only the rest of the hackers out there felt the same way toward the mainstream media AND the "clueless" masses, you might find that hacker/cracker misconception start to fade.
Of course, that's just my opinion.
BTW, that particular column is at least six months old, if not older.
hacker? (Score:1)
Torpedos, Away! (Score:1)
Hackers, crackers... (Score:1)
If I need something done quick, and only once, I'll make a quick hack. If I find that I'm using the same hack frequently, I'll switch hats, and redesign/rewrite the thing to be more generalized and robust.
Great! (Score:1)
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?
Cheerios! About time. (Score:1)
Perhaps we really shouldn't worry about the label. Just think of what some other professions have to got through! Like Lawyers and cops.
But the one part of the article that got me was a claim that the profession would grow at a rate similar to other professions. I know this is not true. In fact, despite the number of jobs in technology fields, fewer kids are going to school to study cs, ee, or comp e.
The news media image of geeks - a response (Score:5)
--BEGIN--
The news seems to be focusing on the fact that the two Littleton, Colorado killers were "geeks". That they were outsiders. That they were different.
As a teenager, I attended both a junior high and a high school that were very clique-ish. If you weren't a jock or socially active (or a wannabe), you were subject to ostracism and abuse. Jocks felt free to heap ridicule on the geeks and the geeks were powerless to stop it. School administrators chose not to see the problem. Coaches actually encouraged the behavior.
Please understand that, in no way, am I condoning the murders in Littleton. Nor do I consider violence an acceptable response unless you are acting in defense of yourself or your loved ones. What I am trying to point out is that the stereotypical image of geeks was, in a way, the seminal cause of this tragedy. That image is promoted by Hollywood and is currently being reinforced by the news media. That image and the baggage that accompanies it can be the cause for a great deal of pain when you are young and trying to grow and find out who you are.
No, I'm not placing blame for the murders on the media. That responsibility lies solely on the two murderers and their parents. I faced similar problems growing up and, I'm proud to say, overcame them and feel that I am stronger for it. What I am saying is that being labeled a geek or a nerd gives society free reign to shower you with ridicule and abuse. And now, with the Littleton tragedy so fresh in everyone's minds and with the Media reinforcing the image of geeks as "different" or "outsiders" and therefore not to be trusted, the abuse and ostracism can only increase.
I am a geek. I have grown up with that stereotype and the abuse, both physical and emotional, which accompany it. But I am also a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a boss, an employee, thirty-something, brown haired, average build, ticklish, a romantic and many other labels. No single one of these labels defines who I am. Even looking at me through the combined filter of all of these labels won't show you who I am because you are still filtering me through your labels. You're not seeing me as I actually am.
Calling someone a 'Geek' or a 'Nerd' is prejudice. It differs from racial or sexual prejudice only in kind. Anytime you choose to place a label on a person to the exclusion of everything else that person is, it's prejudice. And that is something that we've had far too much of in this country.
With that in mind, I'm asking you to put aside your prejudices. Look at people and try to see who they really are. Don't filter your perception through the labels that society puts on them. As members of the Media, I challenge you to brush off your reputations as unbiased observers and reporters. Look at all sides of this issue...and all the others...and report facts. Report the truth. Ungarnished, unbiased and unfiltered.
Take a look at and report on the Web Site that I've included a link to and report on the other side of the story. Look at your handiwork and see if it's good. Help educate and inform the public. People don't need any help holding on to our personal prejudices and biases. What we need from the Media and from the entertainment industry, is help opening our minds to the wonders and truths that surround us in everyday life. We need help seeing that every person is special and that we should like or dislike them based on their individual merits, not on the labels that they wear, regardless of whether that label reads black, white, rich, poor, Catholic, Protestant, jock or even geek.
Sincerely,
John S. Coxen
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=99/04/25/143
--END--
Hackers, crackers... (Score:1)
The author's description of a hacker as somebody that makes furniture with an axe is probably correct entymologically; it reminds me of watching those guys at state fairs with chain saws attacking a log the size of Hulk Hogan's leg and creating a pretty statue while everybody else just gawks. But you probably wouldn't want your living room to be populated by that kind of furniture.
Hackers are good for getting a job done quickly, and even artistically.
In my experience, it is usually best for a larger project if you team up a hacker and a software engineer with more experience... the hacker will be chomping at the bit trying to write the code, and the engineer will be starting off with a real design. Usually the hacker will end up facing a brick wall while the engineer will have a pretty good design ready for the two of them to code. If the hacker is willing to learn his/her trade, such a pairing will usually end up with two pretty competent engineers.
There's a time and a place for hacking code. There's also a time and a place for good design. And there is no place for a "cracker" in my world. [smile]
--
"Cracker" == "criminal"? (Score:1)
Would you also argue that a person who steals things from stores, one who steals money from his company, and one who kills the innocent should all be best described as "criminals"? Personally, I find it more informative to describe them as "shoplifter", "embezzler", and "murderer". Why, then, not have a to describe those criminals who break into other people's systems?
There's a time and a place for hacking code. There's also a time and a place for good design.
As someone often described as a "hacker" who's spent a large portion of the last few weeks on design work, I see no reason to consider hacking and design to be mutually exclusive. But that's probably just an indication that, of the many different definitions of "hacker" that are out there, I don't go by the same one as you do.
Sad to say... (Score:1)
How many films have we seen where the computer geek is described as a 'hacker'. Or the action of breaking into a computer system is described as 'hacking'.
GOOD! (Score:1)
It's just a name, anyway (Score:2)
sed s/hacker/cracker/g cnn.old > cnn.new
The article will be just a misinformed as it was before. The President will make the same speeches, the media will spread the same FUD and every hacker will have the same hassles as he/she had before.
The message the media and the public at large have to learn is not an english lesson, it's a simple idea...
Technology is not a bad thing.
Re:hackers vs. crackers - media is into easy (Score:1)
I think I got the hacker/cracker thing right in a story [forbes.com] I wrote last summer.
True, there are few reporters that care enough to make the distinction, but our numbers are, I think, growing.
-Josh McHugh
even sadder... (Score:1)
hacker? (Score:1)
Let us say that hackers may not _necessarily_ bad coders. Can?
hackers shmakers.. who cares (Score:1)
If any of you guys were hackers you'd just agree with me that as a whole, they are a buncha geeks that are up to no good. I dont see why everyone gets all touchy about it. You dont have to be a pasty nerd that sits on the computer all day, you are to blame, not "them".
The internet is one of the few places in the world where you dont have to worry about stuff like this.. you are spoiling a good thing.
-X Con
hackers vs. crackers - media is into easy (Score:2)
My background is not in journalism but in UNIX and network admin. I too get frusterated when clueless editors use a term that oversimplifies. Case(s) in point: hackers, computer viruses, etc.
But that's what the media does. They have to wrap issues into neat, tidy packages and present them to the masses. Otherwise they'll lose their audiences and ratings. It's wrong, yes. Will they ever change? No.
And I'm quite sure that we, the hacker community, are not the only group that has this complaint. Every field has had run-ins with the media. Just peruse the list of corrections in your favorite local rag and you'll see what I mean. Personally, I'm constantly complaining to my editor because he will often edit my articles for "brevity" and lose the meaning in the process. Then the flame mail rolls in. Arg.
The flood of email I've received from
Jack Valko
aka The Answer Geek
Re:The news media image of geeks - a response (Score:1)
2 adjusted OK one may be about to go down in personal flames in a jet and my old biplane is struggling to carry enough water to put out flames- recent communication lines reopened-will be using slashdot to keep rusty doors open in cranium area still cabable of thought.
Discovered you through my favorite NERD
PS I Am a surviving older version NERD Thank you for articles
hacker? (Score:1)
Most "hackers" don't have any clue about software design....