How the internet was born. Chaos at work. Man’s first God was fire. But it was not enough that our tribe had fire. No, we had to take our neighbors fire too or destroy it. Seriously. Haven’t we evolved past that. I mean 150.000 years have passed and it’s just the same.
How it escaped from the nerds to the masses. When the Amiga came anybody could get that arcade feeling at home. When the internet became widely available an explosion hit our world. One that will echo through history. A global communications and information network was born. Now it’s a vast ever growing, ever changing virtual entity comprised of all human knowledge.
How we all created it. Everyone laid their bricks or brick. No matter the size of the contribution it still enriched the world wide web. And the internet is fueled by information flowing freely.
A very vice man once said: “Information wants to be free!”
Today I shout: “Information must be free!”
It solves problems. Not just communication or distribution of media. But truth – dictators do have a harder time manipulating and controlling people. Excessive monitoring is a problem though. We get to that later.
“In a world where information is the most priced possession any hacker is a god.” No. Not quite. Some are, but most are just a damned inconvenience.
Good or evil – a matter of conviction. Terrorists, fascists, hackers, criminals, freedoms fighters, cyber-soldiers. Just our world reaching out to the internet. Who cares about kilobytes in a terra-byte world? Anybody with a keen eye. Do not fear those motivated by money. They rip your account and they’re done. The dangerous ones are those that are driven. Idealists. Crusaders. A good hacker is someone who creates a tool for the specific job or modify existing tools to solve the mystery in sight. That, and simplicity in design. Last but most important: “Use the source, g33k” Anyway. A hacker is traditionally perceived as someone who has an urge to learn everything there is to learn about computer-networks. Some may be. I don’t know. Me, I’m not. I am an uncompromising manipulating predator relying on stealth and deception. I do it, well, because I can. And it’s about the only thing I’m really good at. And I’m not super good at that either. I just love to create chaos and disorder. Disassemble the walls of society. Stick it to the world.
Piracy. The end of entertainment. No. There has been piracy from the second it was possible to duplicate someone else work. The tape recorder did not become the death of musicians or record companies. The VCR did not bring the fall of Hollywood. When tv became widely available doom prophets claimed it would kill the radio. Apparently it didn’t. But in reality if I take my acoustic guitar and start jamming in public. I’m just rockin’ out hard with “Hell bent for leather”. But if I did not get a written permission to do so I have become a criminal. Piracy do harm the industry but it has always been there. I have become more of a customer over the years due to better income and not always being at the front row of a concert. And I can download right now. Today I usually check out an “internet edition” and the ones I keep I mostly end up buying. Movies, I have a lot. But most of my collection are series from the 80’es and 90’es. And all the new ones I have seen in a cinema. And there is only one way to download most of what I like. Last one downloaded was “Shogun” from 1980. Last “larger” expense was “Diablo 3”. What a rip-off! Blizzard, that was not nice. But to be fair, I did wait from like 2007 for this game so no matter what it could not meet my expectations. Actually. All the things I have done in my life, the things in which I take great pride were never my own. I did not invent a single thing. I merely adapted others work to fit my world. But I did create an alternative. I broadened our world in a very small manner. And I think that that is humans defining attribute. That ability has lead us to this very moment. And it will long after we are gone and all this is but nothing in eternity. Why monopolize it?
If patents had been around when the first shovel came to existence 1 person would sit in a hole protecting the tool and anybody else would look for the functionality of a shovel just as long as it doesn’t appear to be one.
Social media. the newest product? But if we think we are the customer we are wrong. We produce the product. All those intimate details we share, that is the product. You can’t force someone to shut up and you can’t force someone to listen. But that, we all share. That’s the true value of the internet. Here we meet as equals because we meet on the same basis. Same opportunities. It’s quite simple. We deserve equal rights and opportunities. But we are not equal as in a mathematical equation. Some are strong. Some are not. Some are smart. Some are not. Some are hot. Some are not. Some are women. Some are not. Some are men. Some are not. We are not the same. We just have similar designs. We are like a trillion different versions of the same old buggy code.
Innovation? If the only new thing about it is in the form of we haven’t seen you in that dress before, then, who cares. If it has no real value but that of being only for a select few why even care. Does it concern me. No. It does not! So why the fuck do I have to read about it in adds? And they can bill me for my dreams.
Networking. The next big religion. Well. I know God or any God is not in the computer. But the teachings of any religion is very much present on the internet. People connect, share across borders, politics, religion, sex. Here we find understanding, tolerance and acceptance. Groups show you that you are not alone. You are not the only one struck by a terrible curse or having brilliant ideas. You are just a human. No more no less. We perceive the world through the internet. I prefer the written word. I like to construct sentences and see meaning come to life. Also because I have ADHD I can be pretty fired-up about something and that kills the meaning of what I want to say. It’s like counting the bullets from a stuck Gatling-gun.
Commercialization. Assimilation is not integration. Why do we choose the internet over tv as entertainment? Because it is real? Until money becomes the issue? Will it suffer the same fate as cinema, radio, tv? Ending up another pass-time experience? No it won’t. The underground is present on the internet and will always be so. It’s all about alternatives and if you are the only option it’s not really freedom of choice, is it? There will always be some tech-anarchist saying: we don’t want to be a part of that. And some of these people would rather give away their most brilliant ideas for free to benefit the masses. Not just some corporate board members pockets. But these people won’t run adds on prime time tv. You have to look for it. There’s freedom of choice for you. Free means it’s there. It’s available. It’s just not something you’ll find in stores. All human information is there. And it should be. And it should be widely available.
Excessive monitoring and logging. The death of the internet? No, I do not believe that. There will always be ways to hide your identity and traffic. I don’t think we should worry about all that information the governments and intelligence services of the world has stored and analysed. At least we shouldn’t fear what it could be abused for. Science fiction does that job very well. We should worry what it is actually used for. Because every time the subject comes up those with knowledge of what is happening say: “I can’t go into that.” Or they simply say nothing. I think it’s funny that when someone mentions the idea of investigating, say the financial sector, the medical sector, whatever, these sectors always come back with an answer saying we’ve already looked into it, there’s nothing to raise an eyebrow over. But when the talk falls on vpns, encryption, darknets, the like my defense is mandatory all of a sudden. And I say: yeah, I use encrypted connections. I even try to push my non-geekie friends to at least encrypt their mails and use a proxy when getting not-supposed-to-be-free stuff. So, yeah. It’s only the true innocent who doesn’t have a problem with somebody looking over their shoulder. Innocence is something we grow out off. Sadly.
CyberWar? Well. We do know a lot about methods, strategies, software because this is a very public war. We are all wired into the battlefield. We see the results all over the world. Only one way not to get fucked hard in the a-hole: be open of your methods and tools. Don’t reveal specific details. But always bare in mind that everything that must not get out in the open always end up being out in the open and then it is just to late to deny or cover it up. Damage done. Your opponent dealt you a devastating blow. In reality CyberWar is won or lost by the support of your people. When you loose your way and start thinking inwards for protection your own people become the enemy and then you have lost all. But really: This is one of those things I personally think should be considered one of life’s great lessons: “If it’s on a computer, eventually, it will get loose.” You want privacy and safety? Two words “Go offline”. But with the public very much aware the pursuit of pre-empetive retaliation is not worth the thinking. As stated earlier it’s a public war. And if you are righteous – on the side of good – you must put great distance between you and your foe. You can’t say we are the good guys and then do something far worse than your opponent. Lie! Deny your people the truth. Feed them shit that keep them aggravated against some unseen force. If you become the very same thing you wowed to destroy you have lost. Personally I would love to go back to ancient times in questions of war. When armies met on some distant battlefield. When generals lead the battle on the field. Then politicians could have their profitable wars. And those who would could seek out honor and fame. And the rest of us would just have peace.
Threats lurking: big data – and by big we are talking beyond comprehension, we’re talking more drives than I can fit in my shoe closet. Backup is not possible for these systems. The amounts of data are too large. The complexity to vast. And there is not a source-tree that get you back all that data stockpiling over the years. And data is money. I mean erasing it would accomplish nothing more than aggravating ones peers. But to manipulate it that is the key. Example: I don’t like my bank. I write a virus (actually a dbms-trigger) that alters updates in the database so that at a glance everything checks out but when the annual books are reviewed all hell is loose. Not good for a bank to deliver the annual report with notes. It could be a good tactic to annoy intelligence services data retention too. Poison13 would be a good name, I think.
cloud-computing: all your personal info in the hands of a private cut-throat corp. nice. i don't mind that some company knows what i'm buying for dinner because i use an reminder on a cell. but when they start to harvest that data to sell to add-companies to spam me i think it's too much.
Always near. With tablets killing off the remnants of the old way of thinking computers you have your board with you. When you get home it connects to your wireless keyboard, tv or tvs, stereo or whatever. I don’t know about you but I can’t wait! Wireless audio and no fans or static chip-noise to make the slightest impact on the sound… Not that I would actually be able to hear it since I mostly play Metal on a Marshall 100w tube-amp on 11.
But how did it all start for me? Well, it started when I fell in love with computer games. I had this urge to cheat so I learned assembler, debuggers. My first steps as a hacker was taken.
But I think that future generations will see themselves as inhabitants of a planet due the nature of the Internet. I think world-parties will arise. It already have with “Pirate Party”. Maybe one day we will begin to see ourselves as unique individuals in a collective with our slogan being:
one planet
one world
one people
“Don’t explain the logic. Share the dream, your vision. Let me discover it’s wisdom on my own. That’s where the magic’s at. In comparison, the rest is merely tedious details.”
I got the inspiration for this book partly by the media sector’s – lead by record- and movie- companies – relentless efforts to control how we use media. Also Al-Jazeera’s “Controlling the web” gave some inspiration. So did videos and tweets posted by individuals and groups. They be commentators for tech magazines. They be hacktivists.
I won’t make any links or references to anything. If you disagree or don’t believe me look it up yourself. Don’t rely on my word or my sources. Find your own. That is what the Internet is there for.
This is not a hint. This is an open comment on the affairs of the world today. It is my way of saying that I am tired of politicians caring more for corporate profit than the rights of the people they serve.
Any actual or insinuated name references or reference to any one person, group of persons or any brand is purely intentional and deliberate. so if you don’t like me calling you greedy, self-righteous (like me), ignorant, whining (again like me) or arrogant… Well, we are. And we’re dicks!
If this pisses you off write a book. I did…
*** and by "book" i mean a written text larger than one page :-)
