Hacking

Another week, another blog. Not my favourite past time but I'm conforming...slowly. So hacking, definitely had the image of a pubescent teenage boy tapping away at the keyboard - pre lecture. I now understand theres a little more to it. I like the fact that ethics plays a major role in the 'hacking' world, it makes the person behind the screen seem a lot more 'normal' slash easier to understand. In this weeks reading Thomas writes of Steven Levy's definition that hackers behaviour is based on the belief that computers could be used for "constructive social change." This meaning that hackers, back in the day, aimed only to access computers to judge on anothers skill and to broaden thier knowledge of other networks to improve the general accessing of information. The same beliefs still stand today as there are two major rules that seperate a 'hacker' from a 'cracker' - to never act maliciously (destroying data etc) and never to hack for financial gain. However, Thomas does discuss how the stereotype of the naughty hacker has come about, because the crimes committed are not physically visible, it can make anyone who isn't tech-savvy wary of a hackers intentions. Erika also informed us of the early interent adopters, one of which was banks - the temptation is blatant.
The whole 'hacking' culture remains very foreign to me (I have trouble logging into blogger...) but I did find it surprisingly interesting. Peace