Caveat Task: Hacker Culture

[mikeizbicki]

Reply to this issue with a summary of what you did for the hacker culture task. See the task instructions for details.

[ben-smith23]

RevolutionOS (1pt)

This was a fairly interesting documentary, and I enjoyed learning about the history of Unix and Linux, as well as discovering that they are not the same thing. I was surprised to learn that free software (now known as open source) really had to be marketed as superior to proprietary software, as I mistakenly assumed it had existed and thrived before proprietary software was prevalent.

The Art Of Unix Programming, Chapter 2: History (1pt)

ESR’s telling of Unix’s history makes for a nice complementary piece to RevolutionOS and it was interesting to learn of the role of the World Wide Web in uniting the internet and Unix camps. I wish ESR had spent more time talking about the differing philosophies of Linus Torvalds and Richard Stallman, and how the hacker community aligned with each.

Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years (1pt)

This is a good piece by Peter Norvig and it touches on many notions I have heard throughout my life, such as Gladwell’s 10,000 hour rule, so I do not fundamentally disagree with any of it. However, I wish he would elaborate more on why he encourages specific practices, such as learning a half dozen languages. I understand the usefulness of working at different levels of abstraction, but I imagine that the marginal benefits diminish by the time one learns their sixth language. I'd be interested to hear the perspectives of more experienced programmers on this matter.

Hacker’s Manifesto from Phrack (1pt)

First of all, I love the simplicity of this website and it is refreshing to see a webpage that is only 160 lines of HTML. I’m also amused by how edgy it tries to be - if written today it would come off as satire - but I imagine this captured the sentiment of many young hackers back in the day. This conception of a hacker has become something of a trope now and I wonder how prevalent it is today with computers and programmers being far more ubiquitous in society.

[abizermamnoon]

The Art of Unix Programming (1pt)

I liked the Unix philosophy of keeping it simple and writing programs that require the least new learning from the end user.

Hacker’s Manifesto (1 pt)

I don’t like the bad light that hackers are put under. Not all hackers hack for unethical reasons, such as robbing a bank and not all hackers are bored in school. Many hackers work in the army or spy agencies, trying to save lives by hacking into different systems.

Jeff Atwood’s How to Become a Better Programmer by Not Programming (1 pt)

I think Bill Gates has a point. If a person has 3+ years of programming experience, they should know whether or not they are a good programmer. I like that Bill Gates proposes that 3 years is needed for a person to realize whether they are or aren’t comfortable with programming. This suggests that there is a learning curve with programming, and we should not feel bad if we feel that we are crap in the beginning

Peter Seibel’s Coders at Work : Reflections on the craft of Programming (1 pt)

I read the interview with Jamie Zawinski. I liked how he deep-dived into a few languages and got very good at them. I did not like the idea of building a crappy product at Netscape to stay ahead of the competition. I think quality matters and customers would welcome a higher-quality product more than a crappy one.

[danzhechen]

Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years (1pt)

I think reading this article is especially refreshing under the rapid development of AI tools or AGI. When people training the generative AI models, it basically follows what this article suggests. 1. Feeding as much data as possible. 2. Try to feed the highest quality data. 3. Learn from other models. Even machine needs to learn this way.

What to Study in College (1pt)

I have mixed feeling about this article. Similar discussions have lasted for a few decades, so the arguments in this article do not sounds so new to me. There is no doubt that the importance of humanities has been decreasing while all the computer science departments are extending. I personally think that it is easy to find a correct/wrong answer to all maths/cs questions, regardless of Gödel's incompleteness theorems. However, the real world is too complicated to have any certain answer and that is what the humanities and social science are trying to answer.

How To Become a Better Programmer by Not Programming (1pt)

A very interesting article. I wonder how Jeff Atwood would now comment on the development of project manager and product manager jobs. And that seems to echo with the wider emphasis on so-called interdisciplinary or cross-disciplinary in the world right now.

Hacker’s Manifesto (1 pt)

Also interesting article. Reminds me a lot of A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace. The spirit of Internet or Hackers were considered to consist with freedom, rebellion and anarchy. But after two decades, we have more and more big tech companies playing the role of magnates. Has the spirit of Internet or Hackers changed? I don't know.

[tylerheadley]

WarGames (1 pt)

I thought this film was entertaining, although I found the idea of a teenager accidentally hacking into NORAD and tricking the military into thinking they were under attack by the USSR to be a little too far fetched. It's interesting to see how computers communicated with each other in this time period; I was a bit confused about the phone number thing, but I looked it up and learned that before the internet, computers used telephone lines and dialed phone numbers to communicate.

CitizenFour (1 pt)

I feel like this film spent a lot more time documenting the timeline of how Snowden released his leaks than the actual contents of the leaks, which was interesting but left me wanting to learn more. This film made me realize the extent of government surveillance and control that we are under, and I wonder how this has changed since Snowden exposed the NSA.

Hacker’s Manifesto (1 pt)

I enjoyed reading this representation of what hacker culture was like in the 80's, and I wonder how it has evolved since. It is interesting to think about the gray area of the ethics of hacking and how that has shaped the way hackers view themselves.

Zero Days - Security Leaks for Sale (1 pt)

From this film I learned that "zero days" are exploits in software that were previously unknown. When a hacker finds such a zero day, they can sell it to the creators of the software to help them fix the issue, or they can sell it to other organizations with malicious intent to take advantage of the exploit.

[rachelHoman]

RevolutionOS (2001) (1 point) This documentary delves into the origins of the free software movement, tracing its roots back to the 1970s and the work of figures like Richard Stallman, who founded the Free Software Foundation and initiated projects like the GNU operating system. This was an informative documentary as I knew nothing about this history and I enjoyed learning about the birth of Unix.

War Games (1 point) This movie was interesting but the idea of a high schooler unintentionally hacking into a military supercomputer just in search of video games is a bit out there to me. I hope there are better security measure today haha. The idea that the only winning move in nuclear war is to not play is an interesting topic and one that is still present today.

Jeff Atwood's How To Become a Better Programmer by Not Programming I liked this reading because it talked how programming is more than just coding and doing programming problems. It involves branching out and learning about users, business, industry, etc. It references Bill Gates's perspective that after a few years it's clear what level someone will be at and mediocre programmers won't suddenly improve drastically without changing their approach.

Paul Graham's what to study in college (1 point) I enjoyed reading this article as it gave me a new perspective to my college degree. He said "The best thing you can do in college, whether you want to get into grad school or just be good at hacking, is figure out what you truly like". This really resonated with me as I think in my undergrad years I have been able to explore various fields and understand what I like to do thanks to the liberal arts breadth of study.

[myngpog]

Zero Days - Security Leaks for Sale (1 pt) From this documentary, I learned of the definition of zero days and what they are; which are software vulnerabilities that are unknown to even the developers of them. It was super interesting to hear about how this (and cyber-sec as a whole) creates such a big rift/moral dilemma problem amongst some of the smartest and most talented people. The division of black and white hates and how they can mingle together at the convention was also nice to learn more about/watch.

Peter Norvig's Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years (not 21 days) (1 pt) This article was pretty nice to read; I think it gave me a lot of tips on how I can become a better programmer beyond just taking majoring in it during college. I also liked how he poked fun at all the clickbait book titles as well as gave a shoutout to one of his favorite/best programmers—who only had a high school degree but still went ahead and did amazing things.

Paul Graham's what to study in college (1 pt) As someone who's interested in doing a lot of things and unsure of everything, I found this article very eye-opening; I liked how he not only gave a lot of really thoughtful advice, but even towards the end, when he tells his readers to just do what we love, it seems like he really means it. Even though it's advice that a lot of us has heard before, I think after reading everything he recommends (and don't), it seems like he genuinely really means it. Now whether or not I'm going to do what I love is a bit tricky because between Psych and CS and Writing, I don't really know what I want to do yet

Jeff Atwood's How To Become a Better Programmer by Not Programming (1 pt) This article, very similar to the previous one, was also very eye opening for me. It surprises me how blunt he is with it; especially when talking about the divide between a fraud and someone who's good. But he tells me what I already know, which is that to be good at something, you need to be motivated to learn everything about, and beyond it, and in order to do that, you need to first be interested in the thing you're doing first.

[epaisano]

The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz -- 1 pt I learned that Aaron Swartz was the creator of CC copyrights and that these copyrights only protect some rights and not all. I remember using this tool in CS46 for one of the assignments/labs and learning where this came from was very cool. I was also in awe of his constant desire to make the world a better place.

Don't Talk to the Police -- 1 pt I found this video very interesting because I knew that talking to the police and admitting guilt was not good for your case, but I did not know the amount of tactics they had to make anything you say to them make you look guilty. Even if innocent, they still have tactics to place the blame on you.

How to become a hacker (Chapter: What is a Hacker?) -- 1 pt In this chapter, ESR talks about what it means to be a hacker and how one does not need to be a programmer per se in order to be considered a hacker. Culturally, a hacker is one who builds solutions to common problems to make the world a better place--regardless of the field of study. I learned that the most used definition of a hacker is actually a "cracker" and all that these people do is break things, which does not make them hackers.

How to become a hacker (Chapter: The Hacker/Nerd Connection) -- 1 pt I really like how ESR dispels the myth that one does not need to be a nerd to be a hacker, but it does help as it frees up people's time and energy to focus on hacking. Hacking definitely has the stereotype that the people that participate in it have no life and while it is not necessarily true, hackers find pride in being called nerds.

[Eshaan-Lumba]

How To Become a Better Programmer by Not Programming (1 point) I like the ultimate message from this article which was that in order to become a better programmer, you have to be passionate about your work, projects and product that you are building. However, I disagree with how Atwood states that "you've either got it, or you don't" because I think anyone can pick up programming given the right guidance and environment.

How To Become A Hacker: What Is a Hacker? (1 point) Reading this chapter was very interesting as it dispelled the most common notion/myth that people have of hackers. Here, the author defines a "hacker" as being someone who is interested in building and creating applications for people to use, while a "cracker" is someone who tries breaking things. Hence, the author breaks the common misconception that people have of who hackers are.

Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years (1 point) I really liked this reading as it emphasizes the need for improving critical thinking and design choices in order to become a better programmer, something that takes a lot of time. I also like how it took a dig at the several books and videos on social media that we see today that incorrectly advertise how programming can be learnt in less than a day, attracting several people to the field purely because they think it is easy to master and make money, both of which are not necessarily true.

What to study in college (1 point) I enjoyed reading this article, but as a current senior in my last semester, I wish I had read it at the start of my college life! It was fun reading this article and comparing it to some of the classes I have taken and things I have learned throughout college. I appreciated how he compared some hard assignments to lifting heavier weights, where professors push us as students to learn more and think deeply, potentially making work in our actual jobs seem easier relatively.

[tylerting]

How To Become a Better Programmer by Not Programming (1 point) I agree with Atwood's idea that there is a large gap between great and mediocre programmers. I learned that while constant programming practice can help with getting to be a better programmer but the solution is to be more passionate about what you're doing and to understand why you're doing what you are doing.

Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years (1 point) One of the key takeaways from this article for me personally is that learning to program takes time and this is reassuring, considering I spend 10+ hours on terminal every week. I also liked how he emphasized the importance of making friends and working with programmers of all levels, better and worse, as there is much to learn from both.

What to study in college (1 point) In this article, I liked the phrase “College is where faking stops working.” He implies that the only way to get into grad school or land a job at a big corporation is to do what I love, which resonates well with me. This is because for grad school admissions, standardized test scores or grades do not matter as much and getting to know the professors well enough is the most reliable indicator of success. And to do so, I need to thoroughly enjoy doing what I do.

Hacker’s Manifesto (1 pt) I enjoyed hacker's manifesto. It's interesting stepping into the minds of the "criminals" who were prosecuted for their curiosity. Some shouldn't be prosecuted for their curiosity but that also depends on the severity and intention of the crimes. Overall, I think all hackers should not be grouped together if they each have different motives.

[nati-azmera]

Snowden (1pt)

This 2016 movie depicts the life of Edward Snowden, a former CIA and NSA employee who leaked classified information related to the US government’s spying programs. This movie is one of the most powerful I’ve watched because it does a great job of showing just how much Edward Snowden had to sacrifice after the leaks and it made me wonder how things have chanced since his leaks.

Zero Days- Security Leaks For Sale (1pt)

This documentary mainly talks about “Zero Day” exploits which are exploits in software that haven’t yet been discovered by someone other than the hacker. Once a hacker discovers one of these vulnerabilities, they will usually sell it for a very high price. Perhaps the most surprising thing in the film for me was the fact that a lot of the interviewed hackers did not seem to think that what their buyers do with these exploits is their problem.

How To Become a Hacker (1pt)

I was really fascinated by his article because ESR comes up with a definition of the term “hacker” that I wasn’t previously aware of. Like many other people, I thought the term “hacker” only referred to people who- usually illegally- break into computers and phones and try to exploit vulnerabilities in these systems. However, ESR uses the term to refer to anyone who builds things and users the term “crackers” to refer to people who try to break into these systems, which was very interesting to me.

Hacker’s Manifesto (1pt)

The Hacker’s Manifesto describes how a hacker feels in society. In particular, it states that the hacker is often misunderstood by society and feels bored and unchallenged in school. However, the hacker finds excitement in computers, ultimately finding a community of likeminded individuals online. The manifesto also asserts that hackers have the right to explore and seek knowledge and opposes any system that tries to stifle and/or punish their curiosity. The manifesto concludes by declaring unity amongst hackers and that they will not be defeated.

[sjanefullerton]

Jeff Atwood's How To Become a Better Programmer by Not Programming (1pt)

This article was interesting in that it emphasizes the importance of diversifying your interests, relationships in the industry, and understanding of users. It discusses that there are more important skills to have in addition to programming and technical skills. I found this to be very interesting and think that it applies to many fields outside of computer/data science as well.

Hacker's Manifesto from https://phrack.org/ (1pt)

I really enjoyed reading this article. It was really interesting to see the thoughts behind a hacker put into words. I also learned more about the sentiment and guiding beliefs of hacker culture.

Peter Norvig's Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years (not 21 days) (1pt)

This emphasized the importance of practice long-term commitment, dedicated effort, and learning by doing (I have always found this approach to be the most useful in any stem subject). Again, I can see this sentiment applied to other fields or hobbies people partake in -- everything takes time to learn.

Chapter One of Antipoligraph.org's The Lie Behind the Lie Detector (1pt)

This chapter discussed the invalidity of polygraphy (comparing it to practices like phrenology and graphology). It showed examples and testimonies to show how it lacks theoretical foundation and scientific validity. I enjoyed reading this chapter and have heard this before, however, I do still enjoy watching the lie detector tests on youtube.

[vitorvavolizza]

Paul Graham's "What to Study in College" 1pt I really love this PG essay. It shows how important it is to follow deep and interesting paths. I agree that the best way of learning how to code is to actually build stuff. I really like the idea cultivated by PG in the essay that the best way to acquire meaningful knowledge is by tackling complex problems.

"Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years" by Peter Norvig: 1pt Peter Norvig basically challenges the whole 'learn to code overnight' culture. His take on long-term dedication being key to getting good at programming is a very interesting take. I also agree with this take because I believe the best way of getting good at something is by spending thousands of hours in whatever you are doing.

"Hacker's Manifesto" from Phrack: 1pt This piece is just classic—kind of a blast from the past but also super relevant to today’s talks about internet freedom and privacy. It's raw and kinda edgy, and really shows where a lot of today’s hacking culture came from.

"Mr. Robot" Season 1 : 2pts My favorite TV show! The way Eliott gets roped into the underground hacker group fsociety to erase global debt is super clever. Without giving anything away, this season is filled with lots of plot twists and is super addictive. If you're into thrillers and are into tech, this is a must-watch!

[oliver-ricken]

Zero Days - Security Leaks for Sale (1pt) What I found most interesting about this documentary was the difference in motivation between white hat and black hat hackers. Specifically, the monetary incentive for black hat hackers to find zero days is much higher. As seen in the film, building communities of hackers that use their skills for good seems to be the only way to prevent all hackers from using their skills for bad.

Don't Talk to the Police (1pt) At first, I didn’t think I believed Prof. Duane’s argument at all. Then, as the lecture went on, I started to understand his points, which were all very compelling. After reflecting on the lecture for a bit, I agree with the sentiment that it’s always a bad idea to unintentionally (and unnecessarily) incriminate yourself. You always have the right to a lawyer, and are not legally obligated to speak with the police. However, I think much of this is still circumstantial. While this contrasts with the main argument in the lecture, I can think of some situations where I would probably talk to the police. For example, if I’m pulled over for going 5 mph over the speed limit, chances are that I’m more likely to walk away with a warning if I’m friendly and honest with the officer. If my first reaction is to plead the 5th and refuse to talk to them, then chances are that I’ll probably walk away with the ticket.

How To Become a Better Programmer by Not Programming (1pt) I really enjoyed this piece by Jeff Atwood, and agree with his main argument. When thinking about the impact that an engineer can have at a company, passion will mostly always surpass skill in importance. I think this is because when someone is passionate about something, they care about it enough to understand all the moving parts that relate to that thing. A programmer passionate about environmental sustainability will always have more impact than one who just likes to code at an environmental startup, for example.

Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years (1pt) The quote that resonated with me the most in this article was “a little learning is a dangerous thing.” This immediately reminded me of our Posix Shell module of this course, where I quickly learned that having a superficial understanding of the Shell actually means nothing, and can have disastrous consequences. This piece also reminded me that “there is a ‘computer’ in ‘computer science.’” I frequently neglect execution and run time when creating programs, and this was a good reminder of the importance of thinking about how long it will take my code to run when creating it.

[meghnapamula]

Total: 4 points

The Lie Behind the Lie Detector: Chapter 5 (1pt) I liked this task because it was about a topic that I find interesting and is relevant since police and law units use lie detectors today. It was interesting to learn that polygraphy (the methodology behind lie detectors) actually doesn't have any scientific basis. It was especially interesting that people are aware that the system is flawed, and that there is a grievance procedure for people who are falsely accused, yet the system remains in use.

Phrack Magazine: Hacker's Manifesto (1pt) I thought this task was interesting as it showed the emotions behind some of the people who are involved in the hacking community. I got the sense that some of these people carry a sense of frustration with the state of the world and feel they are treated unfairly for what they do. I had not really thought about this before, and I am glad it made me consider this perspective.

Paul Graham's What to Study in College (1pt) As a college student, I thought this article was particularly interesting. I enjoyed the way it was written and I liked reading his takes on different majors as well as the part about the difference between class and industry. The article reassured me in my decision to pursue this major.

ESR's How to become a Hacker (1pt) I liked reading this in conjunction with The Hacker's Manifesto from above. In this article I learned how hacker culture is really focused on efficiency and I see this reflected in the way our class is taught as well. Overall I learnt about the importance of both efficiency and passion through this task.

[rajabatra]

The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (1pt) I learned about the story of Aaron Swartz. I enjoyed learning about how Swartz built stuff without the idea of making profits but instead for creating more access to the internet. He did this through many creations including creative commons, rss, making the law public, and reddit. I was surprised at how much politics was involved in building technology as shown in this video.

History of Gnu, Linux, Free and Open Source Software (1pt) I learned how linux and open source software was built under the idea that all software should be open and accessible for people to use without liscensing. I also learned how microsoft began the idea of proprietary software. One thing that I found really interesting was the open source definition, and the 9 rights that define it.

The lie behind the lie detector (1pt) I read chapter 4: Polygraph countermeasures. This reading was very interesting to me as I did not know how many small things go into consideration when taking a polygraph test. It was helpful for me to read this as if I ever need a polygraph test, I know some countermeasures including bringing a book before the test, the different mind games an interrogator can play, and being able to identify control questions.

Hacker's Manifesto (1pt) I found this manifesto to be written almost like a poem. I appreciated how it shared the point of why hacker's are not evil through a story. As well, the article was concise and succesfully made me empathize with hackers.

[henrylong612]

Don't Talk to the Police (1pt) I didn't realize that not talking to the police is always a dominant strategy. It's kind of crazy that "bad" things you say to the police can be used against you but "good" things you say to the police are hearsay. I wonder if this advice also applies to testifying on the stand. I also wonder if this applies in traffic stops where being cooperative can sometimes get you out of a ticket.

The Cathedral and the Bazaar "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" (1pt) I appreciated the analogy between the cathedral and bazaar development types. I think I often take a more cathedral development style because I tend to prefer trusting myself rather than delegating tasks to others. That said, I can see whty Linus Torvalds's bazaar development style can be incredibly effective.

The Cathedral and the Bazaar "The Mail Must Get Through" (1pt) It makes sense to me that most great softwares come from "scratching a developer's personal itch." Most of the more interesting pieces of code I've written have developed out of this. The idea that good programmers know what to write and great ones know how to revise will become much more pertinent in the age of ChatGPT.

The Cathedral and the Bazaar "The Importance of Having Users" (1pt) It's interesting that open source code makes a program more rather than less resistant to bugs and vulnerabilities. While it seems counterintuitive, it makes sense that having a bunch of other people testing the code would make sure that all the bugs got fixed.

The Art of Unix Programming "Culture? What Culture?" (Just for kicks 1) It's interesting that the words "culture," "art," and "philosophy" are used in reference to Unix development. As a student at a liberal arts school, I often consider my coding classes separate from my more humanistic, cultural, and philosophic classes.

The Art of Unix Programming "The Durability of Unix" (Just for kicks 2) Given the transience of most softwares, it is surprising and impressive that Unix has remained around for so long. I'm sure that a lot of this is because Unix is an open source software, as described in some of the chapters above.

[GusAlbach]

Mr. Robot Season 1 (2 points) This first season of the show was definitely the best, with the world still very unknown to Elliot's character and some answers slowly figured out throughout... who is fsociety? the dark army? Mr.Robot? This season also felt the most "hacker culturey" of the seasons, with the whole plot being focused on a hacker-culture type scheme, that was made to feel compelling and easy to get behind.

Mr. Robot Season 2 (1 point) This was a very good season, Elliot's mental struggles really took center stage, and his reliability as a narrator became more and more questionable. The "real-world" / big picture impacts of the first season also become more and more interesting, and almost saddening as the "evil" forces of the first season don't seem to have truly been defeated. One of the more powerful moments in the series happened in this season... While most events are explained by advanced computer science, Angela's experience playing a video game left me aware of other forces at play.

Mr. Robot Season 3 (1 point) I think what struck me about seasons 3 (and 4) was the nerfing of the dark army. What particularly felt strange to me was the amount of freedom Elliot was afforded in this season, without being as closely watched by the entities who did in season 2. I thinkI particularly liked the night and day sort of manipulation Elliot goes through in this season, it made for a very interesting plot, while also painting a very accurate portrayal of DID according to an article I read after finishing one of the seasons.

[milesba4]

Zero Days (1 point)

This documentary was really insightful. I learned about “Zero Day” exploits and how hacking culture transitioned from being driven mainly by hobbyists to being driven by malicious black hat hackers. The two scenes that stuck with me most are the one where a hacker describes a method of finding vulnerabilities called “fuzzing”, and another scene where a young hacker describes how he found a vulnerability in an e-commerce website that allowed him to purchase items without being charged a price.

RevolutionOS (1 point)

It was interesting learning about Bill Gates’ impact on proprietary software and how he essentially sparked a counter-culture which is what we now know to be the free software movement. Prior to watching this documentary, it was my impression that he was admired by the majority of older programmers. Furthermore, I have a lot of respect for Richard Stallman, as he took on the challenging task of writing software that was up to par with existing proprietary software and did it purely for what he felt was the greater good, not for personal gain.

Teach yourself programming in 10 years (1 point)

I agree with most things stated in this reading, however I struggle to understand why one should learn half a dozen programming languages simply for programming principles when these concepts could be learned with less effort. However, I see a lot of experienced programmers agree with this statement from the text on hacker news, so it must hold some truth to it.

What to study in college (1 point)

The “Grad School” section was very relevant to me, as I’m going to be working full-time as a Software Engineer after undergrad, but I’m considering further down the line going to grad school. Similar to Paul Graham, I’d only go to grad school because I “want to learn more”, but I'm just not that interested in research.

[JTan242]

Revolution OS(1 point) I found it interesting how Richard Stallman led the early free software movement and was the founder of the GNU Project which allowed for a free Unix-like system. I admire Stallman's values as he promoted transparency, cooperation, and freedom within the community.

War Games(1 point) Though it is clear that hacking into a military supercomputer seems far fetched in today's standards, I wonder what exactly the security measures were back then and if this situation would have been conceivable.

Zero Days(1 point) I found this documentary intriguing as it introduced me to the many types of hackers and their methodologies. One thing that particularly surprised me was the idea of cyber warfare through idea state-sponsored hacking, where large infrastructures are targeted and espionage is conducted.

The Internet's Own Boy(1 point) This documentary was interesting as I learned the history of JSTOR and how millions of academic articles were accessed and released to the public. Though in a different sense, I admire Swartz's contribution to internet culture and promoted open access to information.

[lbielicki]

The Cathedral and the Bazaar

A Brief History of Hackerdom I found the origins of the Free Software Foundation (created by Richard Stallman) interesting, especially since I wrote a philosophy thesis examining the moral justifications for intellectual property, and I began my project by looking at FOSS in particular (although I ultimately changed my topic to be more broadly about propertizing ideas). I feel like the utilitarian/economic riposte to the typical argument that IP spurs innovation came through strongly in this section, especially with the comment that quality of crowdsourced work comes from a “sort of rapid Darwinian selection on the mutations introduced by developers” (16).

The Cathedral and the Bazaar This chapter outlines the “quiet, reverent cathedral-building” style of development versus the “babbling bazaar” of open-source development. In particular, I was struck by the comment on debugging that bugs are “shallow” when there are thousands of co-developers, and Linus’ Law can be understood as “debugging is parallelizable”, although originating a project in bazaar style is more difficult.

Homesteading the Noosphere This chapter began with a discussion of the different levels of zealotry– again, I found this interesting because of my thesis topic. The anti-commercialist perspective that commercial software is theft/hoarding reminded me of the argument that taking ideas out of the commons is taking away opportunities for others.

The Magic Cauldron I liked the discussion of the value of the software versus the valuation of the work, and also the discussion of the value of the information itself as access changes. I felt that the discussion of the Tragedy of the Commons was a bit tired, but I appreciated the perspective that there isn’t a large free-rider problem with scaling users or with contributors. I also found the section on “closing source” interesting because it makes a reply to the arguments about security and protection of company secrets

Afterword I wanted to add a brief note about the afterword because Raymond touches on other materials like books and music. Although he opens by saying that we should approach issues one at a time, it seems like he returns to the economic/utilitarian argument in the end when he says that these other materials don’t need to be debugged or maintained, so access to co-developers is unnecessary, and therefore the projects aren’t hurt by being “closed source”. So, ultimately, I found this book a good source for discussing the utilitarian reasons for open source, but not beyond into deeper moral justification (although this isn’t a failure on Raymond’s part, just outside the scope).

[baron-zeng]

5/4 points

(1 point) Don't Talk to the Police The lawyer's argument for why to never talk to the police is very compelling. I learned that there is no way talking to the police can help because everything you tell the police is hearsay and can only be used against you. The police officer's analogy about experience gap between boxers being similar to when police interview suspects was interesting. Police Officer analogy about experience gap in boxers too.

(2 points) Season 1 of Mr. Robot I really enjoyed the first season of Mr. Robot, especially the uniqueness of the characters. On the computer science side, I thought it was interesting that despite Elliot's technical prowess with the computer, there were many things he could not do without physically tampering with the servers.

(1 point) Peter Norvig's Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years (not 21 days) I think what Peter Norvig is saying about learning by doing through tasks that are of the appropriate difficulty makes sense and applies to many other areas too. It was surprising to see how much he emphasized collaborating with other programmers across different stages and different settings. It makes sense why this would be helpful though.

(1 point) ESR's [How to become a hacker] The wide breadth of skills that the author recommends you develop in order to become a hacker is surprising. Not only do they recommend multiple programming languages, they also recommend working with open source software and writing HTML. I liked the section on "Hacker Attitude" because it provided insights into how a hacker should "think" and not just how a hacker should "act".

[Yugi00]

Peter Norvig's Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years (not 21 days) (1pt) I really enjoyed how this article explained that programming is not something that can be learnt to a useful or meaningful degree in a day. Instead it takes a lot of time, patience, and determination to continue improving year after year and to become a great software engineer. I also enjoy how the article references these "Learn Programming in 24 Hours" books since many people in this day and age have come to believe that programming is something that can be learned on the spot and be used as an easy way to make money, when in reality it will take at least a couple months to be a somewhat proficient programmer and a few years to be a true pro.

Don't Talk to the Police (1pt) This lecture was very interesting to me as it demonstrated how many people in the US do not truly understand how police questioning and investigations work. The lecture shows how important it is to remain silent when being questioned, at least until a lawyer is present, so that you can be completely protected, even if you are 100% innocent since anything you say can and will be used against you.

ESR's How to become a hacker (1pt) One major point in this article that I found very interesting was that someone can't really become a "hacker" unless they fully believe in what it means to be a "hacker" and they actually live/behave in a way that demonstrates these beliefs. I also found it interesting that there was essentially a roadmap showing how to improve your overall status as a hacker and also how to get more "brownie" points from people already in the hacker community.

Hacker's Manifesto (1pt) I really enjoy how The Mentor describes the life of a hacker and how they came to be back in the 80's. Hacker's have come to be seen as these evil entities that break software or destroy lives because it's fun to them. However, the original hackers came from individuals that felt life was boring and repetitive, and instead discovered a way to express their constant curiosity through the use of computers and programming.

[gibsonfriedman]

The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (1 point) This documentary on Aaron Swartz taught me a lot that I didn’t know such as his creation of CC copyright law. I thought it was really cool that Aaron always wanted to make the world a better place and even went as far as suing the Supreme Court to gain rights for public domain. I also thought that his determination to make the world a better place was impressive given the extents he went to in his pursuit of open source knowledge for everyone.

Snowden (1 point) I really liked how this movie showed the early life of Snowden and how he became a CIA and NSA employee as well as how he started to slowly question the government he worked for more and more as he became more ingrained in their spying programs. This movie did a really good job of showing how much Snowden sacrificed to do what he thought was right for the American people and it left me with a lot of questions on how things might have been different if it weren’t for people like Snowden making large sacrifices for the good of the public.

Paul Graham’s What to study in college (1 point) I really liked the way this was laid out by the author. It was well written and interesting to read and also gave a lot of insight into the academic world that would be really important for someone looking to pickup new skills in coding but unsure where to start or what to even approach first by giving good guidance in a variety of areas that a coder might be interested in exploring.

How to Become a Hacker - What is a Hacker? (1 point) This chapter was really interesting as it created a new definition of a hacker that I wouldn’t have associated with my preconceptions of what a hacker is. I also really liked the way it talked not only about technical skills that a hacker might need but also the cultural aspects of hacking and what might make one hacker better than another.

[MSH-11]

Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years by Peter Norvig: Peter Norvig's "Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years" advocates for a long-term, deliberate practice approach to learning programming, highlighting that true expertise takes a decade, not days. I appreciated the realistic perspective on the time and effort required to master programming.

Paul Graham's what to study in college: Paul Graham's essay offers practical advice for computer science students on becoming effective hackers by engaging deeply with programming and tackling challenging problems through personal projects rather than formal assignments. I liked the emphasis on learning through real-world applications and the candid discussion on the value of different academic fields and personal exploration.

How To Become a Better Programmer by Not Programming by Jeff Atwood: Jeff Atwood's article, "How To Become a Better Programmer by Not Programming," argues that becoming a truly great programmer transcends coding itself, emphasizing the importance of engaging with broader interests and understanding the context in which software is used. I liked how it challenges the conventional grind and pushes for a more holistic approach to personal and professional development in programming.

Hacker's Manifesto by The Mentor: The "Hacker's Manifesto" provides a profound insight into the psyche of hackers, emphasizing their curiosity and drive for knowledge over malicious intent. This piece challenged my preconceptions about hacking and highlighted the ethical and intellectual aspects of this culture. It’s compelling how it portrays hackers as misunderstood innovators rather than mere troublemakers, urging a reevaluation of societal views on hacking.

[giffiecode]

1. Paul Graham - What to study in college Paul Graham states that you don't even need to enter college to start becoming a hacker. You can do this by contributing to open-source project or start your own project. He emphasizes that working on hard projects out of interest would teach a hacker more than school projects.

2. Jeff Atwood's How To Become a Better Programmer by Not Programming Atwood emphasizes the importance of knowing programs in the context of users and product. He quotes Bill Gates to prove the points that after a few years of programming, the programming skill is basically set and noone can become a better programmer by keeps grinding on programming.

3. ESR's How to become a hacker Hackers view the world from a problem solver's perspective - the world is full of interesting problems to be solve and no problem should be solved twice. Hackers greatly value the freedom of creation and hates repetitive work. Programming is mostly in English no matter where you are in the world.

4. Teach yourself programming in 10 years Interest and passion are very important aspects of becoming a good programmer. Learning computer science for programming is like learning about color and pigment for painting - it wouldn't make you a great programmer immediately but is helpful if you start painting a lot. Reading others programs help you to become a better programmer as well

[AvidThinkerArsum]

1. RevolutionOS (2001) (1 point):

A fascinating documentary about the history and development of the open-source software movement, tracing its roots from Unix to the emergence of Linux and GNU. I was impressed by the interviews with key figures like Richard Stallman, who founded the Free Software Foundation, and Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux. I also liked learning how the open-source movement has reshaped the tech industry, emphasizing the importance of community, collaboration, and transparency and just generally how massive its impact has been.

2. War Games (1983) (1 point):

David's accidentally gaining access to a military supercomputer that nearly triggered global conflict showcased to me how much of an impact hacking can have? It also introduced me to the security concerns associated with computer networks and the need for robust cybersecurity measures. Besides that it was interesting to learn how hacking techniques have evolved since the early days. Also, comparing winning moves in scenarios (I forgot which one) had me thinking about similarities to the Nash Equilibrium in Game Theory.

3. Peter Norvig's "Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years" (1 point):

I appreciated the idea of improvement through dedication and hard work. Norvig's critique of the idea of mastering programming quickly comes across as just. He suggests learning by doing, writing significant programs, and learning from successes and failures, with informative feedback loops and repetition. The roadmap offered for success was also helpful. Key amongst them was the idea of working with others (collaboration) and learning multiple languages (individual versatility/rigor).

4. Paul Graham's "What to Study in College" (1 point):

Overall, I agreed with Graham. Graham emphasized studying math for its intellectual benefits and for providing valuable metaphors, and I guess also by extension its amazing ability for abstraction. As a math major (who has constantly been told that math majors don't get jobs) I really do feel that math and math classes provide amazing benefits to its students when it comes to critical thinking, rigor, analytical abilities, and communication. The advise for CS students with regards to focusing on challenging projects or problem solving also resonated with me. Though I have done stuff like this in the past, I did like to do more for sure.

[KentaWood]

RevolutionOS I found the documentary very cool, especially learning about the distinct histories of Unix and Linux, and the origins of the free software movement by Richard Stallman. It was particularly interesting to discover Bill Gates' significant impact on proprietary software, which inadvertently fueled the free software counter-culture.

How To Become a Better Programmer by Not Programming Bill Gates emphasized that advancing as a programmer involves much more than just coding; it's also about managing relationships and understanding customer needs. His insights reveal that a successful career in software development requires a blend of technical skills and people management, highlighting the importance of a well-rounded approach to professional growth.

How to Become a Hacker I found it cool to learn about the real essence of a hacker, is not just someone who breaks into systems but a problem-solver who contributes solutions to the community, allowing others to tackle new challenges. And how labeled hackers as innovators who share their discoveries to continually advance and evolve within their communities.

Paul Graham's What to Study in College I really liked what Paul Graham says in this article. Throughout the 45 minutes of reading, I found myself clicking through the references and other articles he mentioned, discovering cool stuff about the different options and what each entails. Especially as someone who has considered grad school, I found it interesting to get a look into what that might look like.

[agemeda]

Unix Chapter 1. Philosophy It’s interesting to see the word philosophy being used in conversations around technology, but it makes sense that a program with so much impact would eventually have its own culture and philosophy. I enjoyed how the author was transparent and spoke upon Unix’s flaws before talking about what it does right, if anything it makes the program more impressive. The philosophy is clear and easy to follow unlike other subjects, and I noticed that these philosophies are also reflected through the style of writing/website (ie, transparency, clarity, simplicity).

Origins and History of Unix I was not familiar with how Unix was created so I was interested in this section. It's interesting to see that the early versions of Unix were very similar to todays structure. To know that it was created to this extent and began the widespread use of open-source scripting really shows how impactful this software was. You could really see how the developer community began to grow due to their willingness to collaborate and eventually evolve to create their own culture/philosophy.

Zero Days - Security Leaks for Sale With how sensitive cyber security can be at times, it doesn’t surprise me that it is so taboo to discuss or even identity as a hacker. How you can’t really become a successful one unless you find the right person or site, even today. Finding just one bug, or a zero day, can give one person access to softwares beyond their imagination, and they just sell them off to other people for their own use. It’s interesting how cyber security seems to be less strong as a defensive mechanism with being fought with an offensive malware product. Kind of insane how these people are unashamedly showing their faces while being connected to all of this stuff.

How To Become a Better Programmer by Not Programming I think this is great advice, not just for programming but for life. Due to the nature of our capitalistic society, we often feel that taking breaks from our work is inherently bad for our productivity and therefore our progress towards improving. “To truly become a better programmer, you have to to cultivate passion for everything else that goes on around the programming,”Something I value in my studies is focusing on a creative and artistic perspective, even in math and CS/DS classes, and I believe this article is focusing on the value of these types of different perspectives. Diversifying your interests and experiences, as well as taking breaks will reflect in your work in all aspects.

[adamzterenyi]

Don't Talk to the Police (1 pt) This talk was incredibly interesting. While I knew that it is almost never beneficial to speak to a police officer, to understand why––e.g. hearsay––convinces me of this idea. James Duane is also a great speaker. My favorite example was a quote from a suspect's interview where he said "I never liked the guy", possibly providing incriminating evidence with one slip up. We are, indeed, fallible and anything "can be possibly used against [us]". I liked the boxing match analogy too.

The Cathedral and the Bazaar, chapter "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" (1 pt) Cool chapter. The analogy of the cathedral and bazaar feels very true to me. I believe I emulate the cathedral style, but sometimes I don't understand the ornamentation I may add to my code and spend too much time on it, to the detriment of the end product.

The Cathedral and the Bazaar, chapter "The Mail Must Get Through" (1 pt) The last paragraph of this chapter, which referred to Carl Harris' trusting the author enough to hand over the project he had developed to the author, reminded me of the XZ Utils hack that almost happened, and how the human aspect of coding and coding culture is so important. Otherwise, the point of the chapter being that the itch you have as a programmer, and finding the optimal path to resolving it, is a feeling that must be respected.

The Cathedral and the Bazaar, chapter "The Importance of Having Users" (1 pt) This chapter made a good point about the idea that open source software, when used widely, will inevitably receive its fair share of bug-identifying, solution-suggesting, and idea-sharing, therefore improving the software.

[westondcrewe]

The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (2014) (1pt) I found it very interesting how Aaron was constantly pointing out and combating issues he saw with the early expansion of the Internet, but his true motivations were entirely optimistic. It is somewhat funny to see that the JSTOR “hack” was a simple Python script because of how the documents were stored on the site.

CitizenFour (2014) (1pt) I like how because Snowden couldn’t be in the military, he found other ways to serve his country. I also was amazed by the level of confidentiality/security involved by even meeting with Edward Snowden, but it makes sense given what he did to the NSA. Lastly, the whole scene in which Snowden and Greenwald communicate my written messages in the same hotel room is so dramatic and amazing that it really happened.

Season 1 of Mr. Robot (2015) (2pts) It is cool to see that a lot of these “hacking” icons, real or fictional, become revered for very radical actions. The obvious (and kind of lazy) comparisons I think of when watching Mr. Robot are Joker (which of course came after season one of the show) and Fight Club. It is interesting to see those unstable outcast character tropes imposed onto a hacker, a role more typically associated with the more tame “nerdy sidekick” archetype.

[abraryaser02]

(6/4 pts)

Don't talk to the police (1pt)

Super interesting video that gets referenced quite a lot, but I had personally never watched it. Criminal law is super intriguing to me because it really makes absolutely zero sense sometimes. How can someone who's completely innocent serve decades in prison? Well, this video was a great answer. Point 6 was especially interesting because sometimes the police can make mistakes in recounting the conversation they have with you, but their mistake will put you in more danger than themselves. It's just better to stay silent.

Teach yourself programming in 10 years (1pt)

Norvig's emphasis on learning how to code in 10 years/10,000 hours is refreshing to say the least. In a society that values productivity and capital over everything, it is refreshing to have someone encourage us to slow down. I learned React in a month for a project vs Python during my first CS class over a span of a few months, and I can definitely say that I have a much clearer understanding of Python.

Season 1 of Mr. Robot (2pts)

I used to be a huge fan of Rami Malek when I was a kid so I think I had watched some episodes of the show and treated it mostly like a superhero show because of how foreign the UNIX commands looked to me. Upon rewatching, it was definitely interesting to see how powerful they actually are and definitely a bit trippy to know what some of the commands do. For example, in episode 1 when he saves the company from the DDos attack, he types

$ ps aux | grep root | cpuset
$ astu trace -pid 344 -cmd
$ astu -ls ./root/fsociety/ -a

maybe astu is their version of sudo?

The Internet's Own Boy (1pt)

I first learned about Aaron Swartz a few months ago on Twitter (now X) when Zlibrary got banned. For context, Z-libary was a resource that furthered Swartz's initiative of making all scholarly knowledge public by making all e-books written all over the world downloadable. The banning of applications like Z-library and TikTok (although one would argue banning TikTok is conducive to learning) often reminds me of JSTOR's conduct towards Swartz. It's especially hurtful to see such coorporations essentially treating learning as private-equity business.

What to study in college (1pt)

I definitely wish I read this before coming to college. Graham's recommendations are spot-on, except for his slightly problematic views on the social sciences due to their ability to be influenced by intellectual fashions. Not very sure whether I agree or disagree. But the primary reason I wish I had read this was because I have recently been developing a likeness for math after having to forcefully take a lot of math classes packaged as CS classes in Pomona (e.g. Algorithms, Discrete Mathematics, etc). Had I read this essay before deciding what to major in, I would have definitely double majored in Math and Computer Science.

[pangsark]

Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years (1pt) I really liked this article as it showed the reality of programming in being an almost lifelong journey of learning. It visited many of the common themes in mastering a skill such as the 10,000 hours rule as well as learning by doing. I really loved the analogy of reading How To books and how it still is nothing compared to personal experience. In the end, I wish Peter described the types of projects or paths in programming you can take in this 10,000 hour journey.

What to Study in College (1pt) Although I had mixed feelings about some of the things Paul Graham was talking about, overall, this was an enjoyable read. I loved how blunt he was sometimes when it came to categorizing certain subjects and paths of learning. Even though, it did seem generalized at times, I did love the fact that the foundation of his argument was to follow what you loved and using college as a platform to do so. I also loved in the Hacking part of following your own projects and problems that you find interesting rather than prioritizing coursework or an assignment.

How to Become a Hacker (1pt) Before I started reading this article, I had no idea what hackers even meant. But after reading some of the chapters within this page, I realized that the root of hacking culture is wanting to solve hard problems. In many different articles, they described hackers as just people that wanted to solve hard problems and one of the ways to do so was by programming. I loved how this article similar to Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years emphasized the point that it is a life long process and almost like learning a natural language.

How to Become a Better Programmer by Not Programming (1pt) I was intrigued by the article's title as the previous readings has been all about how learning how to program was a long process that required actual time coding. However, after reading, I realized that in order to become a good developer, it is important to not only spend time programming but to "cultivate passion for everything that goes on around the programming. " I loved this line because it bridged the gap between hackers being problem solvers and skilled programmers for me; in order to solve the hard problems, you need to learn about the people facing the problems, the industry, and maybe even the business that can come out of it.

[amyyu116]

Hacker’s Manifesto (1 pt) The hacker’s manifesto gave me a really interesting insight on what it was like to be a hacker back in the day and what their sentiments might have been. I felt as though there was a lot of feelings of isolation among hackers for being interested in computers, which might have been stigmatized back then. I think I can definitely see how this might have been the case as attitudes towards being tech-savvy have evolved a lot over the years.

CitizenFour (1 pt) I feel like this film was interesting but left me really curious about what other things the government could do and while staying completely under wraps. I also felt as though beyond just the situation with the NSA, the documentary gave insight on how Snowden perceives the world because of his background since he had to be very careful to maintain his privacy in the documentary.

The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (1 pt) This documentary gave a really different perspective from what most people think it means to be a hacker. Most people picture cyber crime, but I really think Aaron was hacking in a way that was meaningful and promoted a lot of good activism even though he could have definitely used his genius and talents for his own personal benefit.

Zero days - Security leaks for sale (1 pt) This documentary taught me about the various markets for “Zero Day” exploits (i.e., white, grey, black markets). It definitely offered a different presentation of hackers than the previous two. It shows that hackers can’t really be generalized to good or bad, and it’s all up to the individual’s intentions for whether someone would want to weaponize an exploit or let it be fixed.

[luisgomez214]

Hacker’s Manifesto: I learned that there are a few hackers who are upset that the name hacker gets a bad rep. Some people are hackers for good reasons. I enjoyed the lesson of not judging a book by its cover.

Basics of the Unix Philosophy: I learned that Unix has established a philosophy that is built on simplicity, efficiency, and maintainability. It reminds me of all the coding classes I’ve taken where my teachers/professors remind us to write “good” code.

War Games: I enjoyed comparing/learning how different our knowledge of technology has changed over the years. It made me reflect on my life and how at that age I did not know much about coding up until now. It was interesting how it embodies both the ethics and philosophy behind technology.

Zero Days: It seems as if a lot of these have to do with the ethics and philosophy in technology. I learned about zero day exploits which are just exploits in computer programming or in this case cyber programming. I enjoyed the overall storyline because it was engaging (nuke aspect) but also informative (learning about programming).

[irajmoradi]

The Hacker Manifesto:

I think this article provides me with a more fundamental understanding of how hacker culture came to grow in terms of the focus of skepticism towards authority, having a strong sense of independence and decentralization, as well as strong focus of learning.

How to become a hacker:

This article gave me a better understanding of what it means to be a hacker and to become one. Humbleness, communication, as well as a deep desire to learn and figure out stuff for yourself being one of the primary components of this.

Art of Unix Programming, History:

The main interesting thing I was suprised by was that despite computers being run on massive machines that only organizations had access to, unix still was able to gain a distinct userbase/culture that was more of an independent vibe than corporation based despite access being not individually controlled.

Cathedral and Bazaar:

It is cool to see the difference that came from the prior development of unix, which had a more centralized development strucure, and linux, which embraced decentralized development more. The idea that linux showed that such development can still create a functional system gives me insight into the importance of linux.

[ains-arch]

Phrack - Volume Three, Issue Thirty-one Article 7 - Tymnet Security Memo Tymnet, Inc. provided an old-style dial-up type public network (TYMNET) and private B2B networks and got yoinked by the move to the internet. The document outlines how they'd handle security incidents on their network for their customers, and emphasizes that the end users are responsible for handling the legal aspects. I thought the most interesting part was when they explained the process for their customers instigating a wire tap and trace to find the originating device's phone number.

Article 8 - Phrack World News, Part One The first report is about Operation Sundevil, when the Secret Service served a bunch of search warrants as part as an investigation into computer crime. They seized computers, BBSs, and telephone test equipment because it is 1990 when the online was actually just phone lines and nerds. I liked the perspective of the author to contrast with the press releases, because they were definitely not a fan, calling it a witch hunt targeting "any kid with a modem that calls a BBS with an alias."

The second report is about the Army's interest in paying small businesses to develop computer viruses and infiltration plans. I liked seeing the perspective that developing viruses would be a bad idea because they'd also be a threat to friendly computer systems. The report mentions that there were only about 60 known viruses circulating at the time.

Article 9 - Phrack World News, Part Two The first report is about CERT, which unlike TYMNET, is still kicking. Author is, of course, not a fan and calls them "internet police." They started as a team that would help resolve individual computer security incidents, particularly in the research community. Early internet history is fascinating to me for many reasons, not least of which is that sometimes it seems like the actors involved knew they were building prototypes that so many would follow, and sometimes they talk about the internet like it's 50 nerds with punched cards. We definitely still talk about computer "viruses," but it's interesting how the metaphor is used to explain how a security exploit was handled like an infection.

Next report is a follow up on Sundevil. Reprint of USA Today quoting comments calling hacking a "kind of malicious hobby... interested in testing their skills against security measures." I just hope everyone had fun.

Article 10 - Phrack World News, Part Three This one felt a bit like tuning into the series finale of a show I've never watched. It's a record of the Legion of Doom busts, told mainly through Usenet posts. If I followed correctly, a group of hackers stole BellSouth's 911 operations software (or possibly just operating information?) and published it in Phrack and distributed it on BBSs. Don't keep copies of illegal software seems like a good rule, but I also do love that from day one, the only law that mattered online was copyright. It's also kind of wild to me that the government can just, like, steal the computer labeled "BBS" and your community implodes. This very much felt like reading flavor text in a zombie game.

[vibhuk10]

How to become a hacker (What Is a Hacker) (1 pt): I was interested to learn about hackers versus crackers and how hackers are creators and problem solvers while crackers just want to break into things. Also, I liked how they talked about how the culture and community surrounding this shaped the term "hacker".

How to become a hacker (The Hacker Attitude) (1 pt): In this chapter, I learned about the hacker attitude which includes solving problems and innovation with an emphasis on freedom and cooperation. I also was intrigued by how much they stress the importance of having this attitude in order to succeed as a hacker along with skill and hard work.

How To Become a Better Programmer by Not Programming (1 pt): After reading this article, I learned that being able to branch out and gain a plethora of interests and skills outside of programming helps improve yourself as a programmer. It emphasizes understanding what you are really doing when u are coding, highlighting how code is just a small piece of the larger process of programming.

The Art of Unix Programming (Chapter 2. History) (1 pt): After reading this chapter, I enjoyed learning about how UNIX was inspired by the Multics project and developed on the PDP-7 and was a portable operating system with the creation of C. I was interested to learn about the collaborative culture that went behind the early development of UNIX.

[elissayz]

How to Become a Better Programmer by not Programming : I found it interesting how Atwood described the attitude that someone who aims to become a better programmer should have. While it is important to cultivate a passion for coding and areas of interest it is also important to look beyond those areas and try to improve yourself as a developer beyond fine-tuning your technical skills.

ESR's The Art of Unix Programming (Ch.1): After reading Chapter 1 of The Art of Unix Programming, one part that really stuck out to me was the part about balancing clarity and complexity. While it is important to keep in mind the maintainability of what you are writing, if the future maintainers will struggle more to understand your program then it may not be worth implementing complexities for an increase in efficiency.

The Lie Behind the Lie Detector Ch.3: Chapter 3 of The Lie Behind the Lie Detector discusses how people controlling the polygraph use trickery to instill fear in the subjects. I found it interesting just how often the polygraph operator is lying or at least omitting parts of the truth I would have expected that a machine that is supposed to be able to determine the truth could do so regardless of most conditions but getting the subject to believe the lies are such a crucial part of the way the machine works. As noted in the area discussing validity many judges highly overestimated the times someone lied based on the best alone, this makes me question how accurate this can be.

The Lie Behind the Lie Detector Ch.4 Chapter 4 of The Lie Behind the Lie Detector discusses ways that people can get around falling for the lies of the polygraph test (aka countermeasures for someone taking the test). The two types of countermeasures discussed, behavioral and chart-recording manipulations, involve differing levels of deception but I think it would be helpful for those who are going to be taking the test to know this information. Overall, this chapter allowed me to understand just how much a polygraph test can impact your life and just how flawed the process is.

[justinchiao]

Hackers Manifesto It was very interesting to read about hacker mindset from 1986 and compare it to now. There is a rebellious tone which is strange to hear because where I’m from in the bay area, computer science is seen as a “safe” choice or even expected by some parents. However I do think there are still students in middle and high school that feel similarly to the author particularly since computer science curriculum at high school is typically still very basic.

The Mail Must Get Through I learned that good developers should be using existing code. I have felt guilty about using code from stack overflow or from api documentation, so having affirmation that its really not a bad thing to do was nice. I also noticed that Eric Raymond would give credit to developers of the projects he mentioned in the chapter so I will practice this in the future.

Release Early, Release Often I found it interesting that open source allows projects to be available in states other than stable because users are also aiding development. In a way Linus’s model is similar to crowdfunding where its not necessarily one huge contributor that reaches the goal, but a ton of contributors making smaller contributions. Unlike a business, that’s limited in resources, at least in the example, theres is no shortage of human capital.

The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz I was amazed by his contributions to projects like creative commons and rss at such a young age. His dedication to making information of any kind available was very inspiring and yet somewhat disheartening because a lot of the information he worked to free is still behind paywall. While I’m not shocked by the government and agency conduct in his case, it is still tragic how it affected him.

[eoinoconnell04]

Caveat Task: Hacker Culture

All of the following are from https://phrack.org/:

The hacker’s manifesto (issue 7 phile 3) (1 point): This felt more like a poem or short story, explaining the mentality that goes into someone becoming a hacker, starting with being disinterested in school and then finding that computers and hacking satisfied their curiosity that school didn’t. I found it interesting how the author wrote that “You may stop this individual, but you can’t stop us all,” as I am wondering who the intended audience is of the manifesto.

Blowguns (issue 2 phile 4) (1 point): This article outlines the directions to make a toy Blow Gun out of common materials. I found this article surprising because most of the other articles are very technical and this seems out of place as it is not related to computers.

False Identification (issue 4 phile 3) (1 point): This article provided directions on how to make your own fake id, and advice for how to use it without getting caught. This article illustrates the part of the hacker culture that prides itself on being able to break rules without getting caught.

Making shell bombs (issue 3 phile 3) (1 point): This article was a lot more disturbing than the others as it gave directions to make a “Shotgun Shell Bomb.” The article explained how it is very effective as it is surprising and impossible to trace, and how it explodes when hitting somebody or pavement near someone.

[mmendiratta27]

Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years (1pt)

I liked his emphasis on collaboration and thought his point about working on projects after programmers to be especially interesting. I never thought about that as a method to learning and will try to do more of it in the near future.

What to Study in College - Paul Graham (1pt)

I always thought breadth of CS knowledge was more important than depth, but Graham suggests otherwise. He places a lot of emphasis on working on difficult problems through independent projects or research.

The Hacker’s Manifesto (Phrack) (1pt)

I really appreciated the essence of the Manifesto, as coders often get a bad rep for being shady or untrustworthy. Movie culture definitely hasn’t helped this, but I hope to use tech to create a lot of good in the world and break the negative stereotypes around hackers.

How To Become a Better Programmer by Not Programming (1pt)

I understand the general message that the author is trying to get across – that just coding won’t be enough to become a good hacker but rather a curiosity about all things around coding. However, I disagree that you can’t improve even after a few years, as I have felt most of my coding growth coming recently even though I have been coding for a few years.