10 Signs that your son is a hacker.

[KarenH]

Originally Posted by Gabe

There is a serious danger that has not been mentioned, and that is SOMEONE WILL TAKE THIS ARTICLE SERIOUSLY.
If you read this entire thread you realize that it took a lot of thinking before someone pointed out that this was a JOKE. If took this many intelligent individuals at ChiefDelphi...

The problem with satire is that sometimes its humor is a little too subtle.

I'll probably get some people mad for posting this, so I'll try to say it nicely. Intelligence isn't everything.

Lately I've been having conversations with different people who are striving to see students trained in critical thinking (one chat in particular was about why a would-be engineer should be able to critique literature).

A lot of media attention has been given to "functional literacy." But there are different kinds of literacy. Many kids enjoy reading story books and novels, and can quickly read piles of books straight through (think Hardy Boys). Good for them!

But to be ready for high school and beyond, these same kids have to learn that a different approach is required for reading textbooks. This may seem silly to naturally talented scholars, but I once encountered a case where a student tried to read her textbook like a novel. She missed important information because she ignored the bold type--the chapter subheadings--and the information was not presented in the body of the text. As a result, she couldn't understand her lessons.

Moving ahead to the "critical thinking" level--this is where a lot of people think their English classes are a waste of time. But, as was alleged in one of the above-mentioned conversations, millions of students are spending a lot of time on the Internet. They instantly download pages, then zip right through them like the pages are pulp fiction. They don't read critically. They don't read between the lines. They don't ask hard questions, such as: "What is this author REALLY trying to say?" "What are the author's credentials?" "Is it reasonable to regard this as a trustworthy site?" "Are there serious logical or factual errors?"

Those who fail to pay attention as they read will be sitting ducks for anyone who wants to take advantage of them. Inattentive readers can be easily misled or manipulated by advertisers, news media, forwarded e-mails-- even by people who may get involved with FIRST to achieve their own private agendas rather than to benefit the community. Sloppy readers can easily misunderstand someone, and make fools of themselves with their off-target responses.

Satirists generally expect their audience to be intelligent--AND they expect them to be paying attention. Most people who enjoy satire would feel insulted if the author made the humor blatantly obvious to even the dullest near-literate stumbling around the Internet. Part of the fun of satire is that it starts out appearing serious, but the deeper in you get, the more you get a strange feeling about what's being said...then you begin to chuckle, and maybe end up roaring with laughter. (Unless you disagree--then you might be hopping mad.)

I think the piece of satire that is the subject of this thread is just about right-- neither too subtle nor too obvious. I remember a prank played on CD some years ago where the author DID make it too subtle. A lot of people believed it, and quickly became very upset. A reader had to be fairly Internet-savvy to catch on to the single clue that clearly betrayed the stunt. On the other hand, the "hacker" article is packed with clues everywhere in the page.

[GaryVoshol]

Originally Posted by Gabe

There is a serious danger that has not been mentioned, and that is SOMEONE WILL TAKE THIS ARTICLE SERIOUSLY.
If you read this entire thread you realize that it took a lot of thinking before someone pointed out that this was a JOKE. If took this many intelligent individuals at ChiefDelphi, then what will happen if a parent goes around the Internet and comes across this article?

Several years back, the BBC did an elaborate April Fool's joke story about the plight of the Italian spaghetti farmers - and people believed it. Years before that, "War of the Worlds" was on the radio - and people believed it.

People will believe lots of things they see and hear. Guess what? That's their problem. They have to develop critical thinking skills. They have to know they can't rely on a single source. They have to know anyone can post anything they want on the Internet, but that doesn't make it true.

Satire can be subtle - indeed, subtlety is what makes satire work. Figuring it out, despite it being tricky, is what makes it funny. And really good satire will have an underlying point to make, usually something totally opposite the apparent obvious message.

[Branden Ghena]

Tawnos luvs LUNIX!!!! It's 1337!

[Cuog]

Also a little on AMD it stands for
American Micro Devices

For the article I was starting to get concerned that this guy was serious and that there were amny people out there reading that areticle beleiveing every word.

[Elgin Clock]

Originally Posted by Cuog

Also a little on AMD it stands for
American Micro Devices

Nope.. It stands for Advanced Micro Devices as shown in the webpage blurb here:

http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...,GGLD:en&q=AMD

[Branden Ghena]

Originally Posted by Branden Ghena

Tawnos luvs LUNIX!!!! It's 1337!

This is why I find this thread so hilarious. I don't actually know what I was possibly thinking two years ago, and I honestly believe that I didn't know what linux was at the time. Silly sophomores.

Note: My username used to be tawnos23 so the Tawnos part sort of makes sense.

[Xavier Brandall]

I like how it's always "You're son". Is the heinous stereotype of girls not being able to use technology so strong here that it restricts the idea of hacking only to teenage males? Girls, I hereby encourage you to hack this guy's system and mess with his mind. Feel free to dress monochromatically and suceed in school while you're at it.

[Loki1989]

I am most definitly a hacker bi need more RAM and a new harddrive i run linux and i am getting a C++ book soon and i know every program on my computer i dont need them to hide.

[Compnerd]

I guess that means that i am a hacker... Or just a nerd, who likes having a fast computer... Everyone needs memory

[DCA Fan]

Popular hacker software includes "Comet Cursor", "Bonzi Buddy" and "Flash".

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Best line of the article.

[Zyik]

If Flash is hacker software, we're all screwed. Best line ever.

If I didnt know allready that would have pointed out "Joke" right away.

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Kristian Calhoun

I just read this article, and found it to be somewhat ridiculous... 10 signs that your son is a computer hacker

According to this list, I'm a computer hacker because I use Optimum Online instead of AOL, asked my parents to purchase me an AMD processor, which they did, and spend way more than 30 minutes a day online.

What are your views on this article? And accordingly, in which ways are you considered to be a "hacker"?

Thanks for the laugh - thankfully it's a joke (Linyos Torovoltos - ha) - I think that self-described bestest parent ever is so far to the right, he fell off the edge of the table.

[TetraBot]

2. Are you finding programs on your computer that you don't remember installing?

Your son will probably try to install some hacker software. He may attempt to conceal the presence of the software in some way, but you can usually find any new programs by reading through the programs listed under "Install/Remove Programs" in your control panel. Popular hacker software includes "Comet Cursor", "Bonzi Buddy" and "Flash".

Flash 4 Hackers? That's one I've never heard of
I hope this guy's joking. The Article is really funny though. My family got a few laughs out of it.
If anybody has any outrageous articles like this one, please post it here. I'm interested in seeing what other people have to say on such topics.

[Edit] I think that guy spelt Linux wrong!!!

[Cuog]

Originally Posted by TetraBot

] I think that guy spelt Linux wrong!!!

He did

It is satire but what is sad to me is that some uneducated parents may believe it and thats when problems happen.

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by Cuog

It is satire but what is sad to me is that some uneducated parents may believe it and thats when problems happen.

How is this any different than an uneducated person watching the Colbert Report and thinking that's the truth?

We all know that show is just truthiness.