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Apropos of the link, there is a famous paperback book literally named "Steal This Book" written by 1960's counterculture activist Abbie Hoffman. https://en.wik
by cantrevealname 13y ago
Apropos of the link, there is a famous paperback book literally named "Steal This Book" written by 1960's counterculture activist Abbie Hoffman.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steal_this_book https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steal_this_book
Booksellers (who dared sell it) typically kept it behind the counter since the intended audience did steal it.
The antics of Abbie Hoffman were legendary: He once brought the New York Stock Exchange to a halt for several minutes when he threw hundreds of $1 bills from the visitors gallery onto the NYSE trading floor, and all the brokers scurried around grabbing the money. The gallery was separated from the trading floor by bullet-proof glass shortly after his visit.
The book is chock full of hacking techniques, by which I mean using systems (subways, payphones, shelter, society, politics) in unexpected ways. Contrary to popular belief, the content of the book is mostly legal things one can do to live for free.
Reflecting the times, Hoffman's politics are very socialist, not libertarian. However, the book would be well appreciated by HN readers. I'm sure there are free copies easily found on the web.
- p4bl0 13y agoI also thought it would be about Abbie Hoffman's book. I read it in highschool just after Jerry Rubin's Do It!, because Rubin talks about Hoffman's book in his own. To this day Do It! is still my favorite book, and Steal This Book is close to second. It was my first encounter with what I naturally called "hacking" outside of the computer field.
- atmosx 13y agoHere: http://bit.ly/1dW5hyN http://bit.ly/1dW5hyN
- aw3c2 13y agoObfuscated link goes to http://api.ning.com/files/4Xa2-CEC7u86knA5OklTwPaFKUN5km1ZQd5vcvJe5kb-mPrytZA*xrp9Fqa2PG*Px4wEcpQadfj3S0ZFVq8pHS-xBs2hUQ-zrg1iDERX0Mo_/HoffmanAbbieStealThisBook.pdf http://api.ning.com/files/4Xa2-CEC7u86knA5OklTwPaFKUN5km1ZQd...
- arikrak 13y agoI was thinking of the book "Steal this Computer Book" about hacking on the web: http://www.amazon.com/Steal-This-Computer-Book-4-0/dp/1593271050 http://www.amazon.com/Steal-This-Computer-Book-4-0/dp/159327...
- pron 13y agoMany HNers are socialist. Libertarianism is common among the younger ones.
- chris_wot 13y agoThat's because they don't know any better.
- melling 13y agoAny theories as to why? Whatever the truth is, it's even more important to understand why something is a certain way.
- chris_wot 13y agoI put it down to experience. It sounds great, until you actually try to live it for a lengthy period. Ayn Rand, after all, eventually collected social security.
- pekk 13y agoThe argument being that Ayn Rand paid into social security, and was therefore entitled.
- gw 13y agoWas she a hypocrite for buying from state-run food depots when she lived in the Soviet Union, as well? Are free market advocates now obligated to starve themselves before taking money out of a system they were forced to pay into? That's quite a stacked deck of cards you're arguing with.
- specialist 13y agoObservable reality and pointing out logical inconsistencies (hypocrisy) are generally considered fair game.
- utopkara 13y agoThis book has a yogurt recipe! I'm glad that is still legal. But, some things aren't really legal, like stealing food off the delivery guy's car.