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Why oh why couldn't I have been brought up in a white, suburban, upper-middle class family with my own computer and a highspeed internet connection. Stories li

by eogas 16y ago

Why oh why couldn't I have been brought up in a white, suburban, upper-middle class family with my own computer and a highspeed internet connection. Stories like this always make me bitter, but good on the kid for making the most of his upbringing.

mahmud 16y ago
WTH? MOD consisted mainly of poor Brooklyn kids; in fact, some of them were members of street gangs, and taught themselves to hack on school computers. From nowhere to the cover of magazines .. The wikipedia article sucks, but the lore is out there and well known: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_of_Deception http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_of_Deception
- nkassis 16y ago
  Thanks! Now I get what the hell Hackers (the crappy 1995 movie) was trying to portray albeit really badly.
  - xentronium 16y ago
    OT: Funny how perceptions differs. I liked the movie for its entertainment value, even though it was naive and used cliches about hackers.
    - deleted 16y ago
      [deleted]
- eogas 16y ago
  And good on them, for making the most of what they had. I'm pretty sure I made the most of what I had, I just didn't grow up in a situation that encouraged hacking. At the age this kid (in the original story) is fixing bugs, I was experiencing the internet for the first time. I didn't grow up with computers at my disposal. My grade school used Apple IIe's, over 10 years after they came out. I didn't grow up around other kids who were interested in computers. I didn't even grow up around adults who were interested in computers. I didn't know that there was such a thing as being interested in computers until I was about this kid's age. Rest assured, I started tinkering in 8th grade, and taught myself various programming languages all through high school. At this point, I made the most of what I had. I just didn't get the ridiculous head start that some kids are allowed. This isn't to say that I'm not satisfied with the way my situation played out. I could have never used a computer until college, and I'd be going for a degree in History or something. It's so ingrained in my mind that I want to do this for the rest of my life that I can't imagine what I would do if I hadn't been interested in computers and programming. And I'm glad for this. And I'm glad that there are kids in high school who know way more than I do. So when I say it makes me bitter, it is solely a cathartic response to something that doesn't really concern me. Would I like to have grown up in a better scenario? You bet your ass. Does it matter now? No. It's not a damn race.
clistctrl 16y ago
To be fair, you can get a pretty decent computer today for < $500. That is still quite a bit of money if you're poor, but its a far reach from the $2000 you might have paid several years ago.
- mahmud 16y ago
  I bought the laptop that I am using now, the one I have used for the last three years, and earned with all my income during that time .. I bought it for $300, in 2007.

by eogas 16y ago

mahmud 16y ago

WTH? MOD consisted mainly of poor Brooklyn kids; in fact, some of them were members of street gangs, and taught themselves to hack on school computers. From nowhere to the cover of magazines .. The wikipedia article sucks, but the lore is out there and well known: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_of_Deception http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_of_Deception

nkassis 16y ago
Thanks! Now I get what the hell Hackers (the crappy 1995 movie) was trying to portray albeit really badly.
- xentronium 16y ago
  OT: Funny how perceptions differs. I liked the movie for its entertainment value, even though it was naive and used cliches about hackers.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
eogas 16y ago
And good on them, for making the most of what they had. I'm pretty sure I made the most of what I had, I just didn't grow up in a situation that encouraged hacking. At the age this kid (in the original story) is fixing bugs, I was experiencing the internet for the first time. I didn't grow up with computers at my disposal. My grade school used Apple IIe's, over 10 years after they came out. I didn't grow up around other kids who were interested in computers. I didn't even grow up around adults who were interested in computers. I didn't know that there was such a thing as being interested in computers until I was about this kid's age. Rest assured, I started tinkering in 8th grade, and taught myself various programming languages all through high school. At this point, I made the most of what I had. I just didn't get the ridiculous head start that some kids are allowed. This isn't to say that I'm not satisfied with the way my situation played out. I could have never used a computer until college, and I'd be going for a degree in History or something. It's so ingrained in my mind that I want to do this for the rest of my life that I can't imagine what I would do if I hadn't been interested in computers and programming. And I'm glad for this. And I'm glad that there are kids in high school who know way more than I do. So when I say it makes me bitter, it is solely a cathartic response to something that doesn't really concern me. Would I like to have grown up in a better scenario? You bet your ass. Does it matter now? No. It's not a damn race.

clistctrl 16y ago

To be fair, you can get a pretty decent computer today for < $500. That is still quite a bit of money if you're poor, but its a far reach from the $2000 you might have paid several years ago.

mahmud 16y ago
I bought the laptop that I am using now, the one I have used for the last three years, and earned with all my income during that time .. I bought it for $300, in 2007.