[Year 12 IT Apps] TJX Hacker Gets 20 Years in Prison

Sun Mar 28 17:33:14 EST 2010

Hi all.  English teacher speaking.  (Not a claim of expertise; just a
declaration of bias)

The movie 'War Games' forever broke the innocent original interpretation of
'hacker'.  I regret the change, just like I regret not being allowed to be
(in the happy sense) 'gay' or use the word 'cum' (in its Latin sense, not
its XXX sense).

'Cracker' would be considered a post hoc attempt to resurrect 'hacker' in
its original sense.  I fear the battle is already lost; 99% of the
population simply does not know or care about the difference: and they win.

English vocabulary is only defined by its current popular usage.  Love it or
loathe it, "alright" will become a legitimate word, "whom" will only be used
by people who don't know when to use it properly, and apostrophes are so
tortured by misuse that it would be kinder to drown them and end their
suffering.

Americanisms like 'color' and 'aluminum' (with the missing final "i" - a
fascinating lesson in industrial history for those who know it) will
continue to infect the rotting corpse of Australian vocabulary until even
pedants such as I (who know when to say "I" instead of "me") have to stop
and think about what is "correct".

And don't get me started on the demise of colons and semicolons.

Sigh.  We may rage against the dying of the light, but realise that there
are still people railing against "tomorrow" instead of "to-morrow".

And even I have started the vile act of verbing nouns...

On Sun, Mar 28, 2010 at 11:41 AM, Roland Gesthuizen
<rgesthuizen at gmail.com>wrote:

> I was curious too about the difference and Donna does raise an interesting
> point so I did some background reading to unpeel Hacking vs Cracking. I'll
> openly acknowledge that it is a hot language debate going on with malicious
> connotations floating about in this brew.
>
> From what I can read, a hacker is one who hacks, in the context of a
> computer this can be by circumventing its security system. Not entirely evil
> if we read up about the work by "white hats" and the more obscure "grey
> hats". There are others who enjoy making innovative customizations or
> combinations of retail electronic and computer equipment. This is also
> described as hacking and it doesnt have to involve bypassing security codes,
> installing mod chips etc. Crikey, my adaptation of a wiimote to play a game
> (still rather badly) on my computer or its adaptation as an interactive
> whiteboard tool is hacking .. so is the RACV chap who "hacked" into my car
> to recover my keys. His work was godly, worthy of a thousands blessings and
> a beer.
>
> We all know the great job that the media does to educate and inform the
> public (tongue firmly pressed in cheek) that the public is hugely unaware
> that different meanings exist. Considering that computer security experts
> embrace all these different uses of the word "hackers", we should similarly
> disassociate security breakers as "crackers", a term that is analogous to a
> safecracker. I don't mince words. As I remind my students:
>
>    - Glance into my open lunchbox? You were probably just curious. I
>    should have closed it and you should immediately tell me when you noticed
>    that it was open.
>    - Steal my lunch without my knowledge or permission? You are a thief!
>    - I will share a slice with anybody who is hungry but only if they ask
>    me nicely FIRST!
>
> Regards Roland
>
>
> On 26 March 2010 10:19, Adrian Janson <janson.adrian.a at edumail.vic.gov.au>wrote:
>
>> >From your link:
>>
>> "In common usage, a hacker is a person who breaks into computers"
>>
>> Therefore hacker.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:
>> itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Donna Benjamin
>> Sent: Friday, 26 March 2010 10:09 AM
>> To: Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] TJX Hacker Gets 20 Years in Prison
>>
>>
>> Cracker please. Not Hacker.
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_%28computer_security%29
>>
>> On Fri, 2010-03-26 at 08:13 +1100, Mark KELLY wrote:
>> > BOSTON — Convicted TJX hacker Albert Gonzalez was sentenced to 20
>> > years in prison on Thursday for leading a gang of cyberthieves who
>> > stole more than 90 million credit and debit card numbers from TJX and
>> > other retailers.  The sentence for the largest computer-crime case
>> > ever prosecuted is the lengthiest ever imposed in the United States
>> > for hacking or identity-theft.
>> >
>> > Read More
>> > http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/03/tjx-sentencing/#ixzz0jE1QpB3a
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/03/tjx-sentencing/
>> >
>> > --
>> > Mark Kelly
>> > Manager - Information Systems
>> > McKinnon Secondary College
>> > McKinnon Rd McKinnon 3204, Victoria, Australia
>> > Direct line / Voicemail: 8520 9085
>> > School Phone +613 8520 9000
>> > School Fax +613 9578 9253
>> > kel at mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au
>> >
>> > Webmaster - http://www.mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au
>> > IT Lecture notes: http://vceit.com
>> > Moderator: IT Applications Mailing List
>> >
>> >
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>> > Teachers Association Inc
>> --
>> Donna Benjamin - Executive Director
>> Creative Contingencies - http://cc.com.au
>> ph +61 3 9326 9985 - mob +61 418 310 414
>> open source - facilitation - web services
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College
> http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au
>
> "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can
> change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret
> Mead
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> Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority and
>  http://www.vitta.org.au - VITTA Victorian Information Technology Teachers
> Association Inc
>

-- 
Mark Kelly
Manager - Information Systems
McKinnon Secondary College
McKinnon Rd McKinnon 3204, Victoria, Australia
Direct line / Voicemail: 8520 9085
School Phone +613 8520 9000
School Fax +613 9578 9253
kel at mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au

Webmaster - http://www.mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au
IT Lecture notes: http://vceit.com
Moderator: IT Applications Mailing List
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