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My husband has never battered me, but then again, I've never given him a reason to.
-- Montana Gov. Judy Martz, Jan. 16, 2001

Hackin' in the Bad Way

by Negative Nancy

2000-04-06 14:46:03

So normally you say "hacker" I say "Coolio." I consider myself pretty pro-hacker. Hackers do a lot of neat stuff like annoying big business and keeping information free... blah blah blah. But I think my kinda hackers may want to do a little PR voodoo to make sure they are not confused with the other kinda "hacker."

I'm talking about folks like Richard Timmons, who hacked his family to death in 1997. Both APB Online and the Daily News refer to Timmons as a "hacker," guilty of "hacking." You see where the confusion could arise, right?

Just to recap: Hacking mainframes => Good. Hacking children's heads off => Bad.

I suggest a media campaign to prevent consumer confusion and create a stronger brand awareness for the good "hacker." Press releases and open letters should be sent to new organizations to encourage them to use the less ambiguous terms "Ax Murderer" or "Decapitator" whenever possible when referring to the other hacker. If these measures fail, good hackers may have to resort to copyright suits to prevent the miss-use of their genre lable.

Over.  End of Story.  Go home now.

jared@pigdog.org

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