Monday, September 14, 2015

Hacking Quora

There is this thought that hacking is cool. So, a question appeared on Quora: Can-Adrian-Lamo-hack-Quora? Adrian, himself, answered the question. So did I, on August 29. This morning, I got a note that the answer was locked as Quora Moderation flagged it as not appropriate. Oh well. So, it is reposted here (and deleted it on Quora).
    Ah, a voice of reason? One comment (by Jeremy [note 9/14/15 - this answer is missing]) on Adrian's answer asked why the "cool" response by those who think hacking is of use. But, then, the one retort (Amy [note 9/14/15 - this answer is missing]) said that it is the way to know how something works.

    It is worse than sad. A whole generation without ethics? Many of these are U.S. kids for whom we have people putting themselves and their lives on the line minute by minute so that the kids can, essentially, break the law. Give me a break, even if there are not specifics, yet, stated by law, all of this interest very much is unethical and immoral (of a small "i" so as to quiet the harpers).

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    One could look at it like this. If I know that my neighbor's house is unlocked, ought I go in and make myself comfortable, eat the food, steal, and what have you? Now, at one point, I would have expected most to say no, you do not have the right, and it's illegal. But, now, these kids are saying yes (make yourself at home). This type of thinking is just that.

    Okay, suppose I only go in to "see how his house works" (see the idiocy, yet - the above retort)? Is that okay? Well, not, it's still venturing on the highly unethical. Oh, I know, people seem to have accepted pilfering.

    But, to know how it works? We can determine things like that with thought processes. This whole thing is reductionism gone wild. Gosh, thanks logical positivism? But, perhaps, the focus on code (and who can piss further) is the main symptom of the underlying problem which no one seems to be looking at. Ah, so much work to do.

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    Now, we can see with the Internet, that it was let out very loosely and without proper forethought. To me, Adrian would do much better if he helped with discussions of just what went bad and where did it go bad along this whole trek of stumbling.

    I think that we let the genie out of the bottle, as I sit back and marvel at the idiocy that is driving people daily.

    But, not me. I'm not mobile for one thing (had an idiot box for about a week - enough - I'll try again when I have a clear experiment defined). I have never bought from Amazon or any of the big sellers. I do not look at ads (quite a feat to keep the concentration from that dense bit of nothingness). I distinctly remember the chagrin and pit-of-the-stomach feeling when the marketers started their incursion. There are several things that I do daily to keep myself free from the bonds of the internet-way (are birds free?).

    Now, there are arses who argue that the web is a commercial, marketing space. Say what? The original motivation was communication and then the collegial interchanges related to real thinking and work. Anymore, I am not sure how things ought to go. That they stink to high heaven is the message that needs to be brought to attention.

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    The best thing for me would be to skip around all of the knee-jerk reactions to what is supposedly "cool" and worthy of adulation. I'm a newbie on Quora and will have to filter better.

    But, Adrian being asked a question like this is the first thing that ought to raise a flag. The question is anonymous which makes it even more mischievous.

    Why, questioner, why would someone respond that they could pull a bit of highway robbery (that is a type of pissing contest you expect from young, immature males) without getting caught? You see, getting caught is the problem? Not the actual ignominious deed?

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    Finally, hackers, et al, ought to be aware that some people want to do real stuff via the web and are prevented from doing so by all of the partying that goes on. What all of those partying persons ought to know is that their little bit of glee is supported by all types who patiently put up with their childish antics: those who feed them, those who house them, those who clean up after them, those who bail them out, and those who care for them as they need detox (et al) and medical assistance, and so forth.

    Where are the real contributions from this crowd?
Like I said, it is sad that we have kids wanting to follow in this type of footstep. 

Remarks:  Modified: 09/14/2015

09/14/2015 -- 

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