hackers/crackers

[fire_elf20]

ok I am feeling the need to rant here.
I have a character that is a hacker. (loosly based on my job, and put in a highly uncommon situation)
While reading an older thread here on a completely unrelated topic I happened to see something that gets to me a bit. while discussing anti heros in general and what seems to be avoided. the term hacker came up and that writers avoid hackers as characters due to public mood toward the term hacker. however In this comment that public misconception showed up very clear to me. now don't take this to mean I am in disagreement or am in any way upset with said person for saying what they did, it was a fair point and very much hit the nail right on the head.

However. and this is why it bothered me. the term Hacker has gotten a bad rep. due mainly to the way hollywood shows them. but it is wrong. I myself am a techy I work in a highly specialize field and am .... oh my ... A hacker!

what most people see as a hacker is in truth what we deem .. a cracker. the difference is that a hacker works with a company, indivdualy ect. to find flaws in a system point them out and fix them. a cracker is someone that attacts said company ect. with malicious intent.

sorry for the rant I wanted to get that off my chest and to see what others thought of my point.

[fire_elf20]

pardon my spelling lol I just reread my post and wanted to hit myself up the head for my typos

[gary compton]

I've got a friend who works for SOCA. Series Organised Crime Agency. The British FBI.

He occasionally has to burgle houses...legally. He's a police officer. Lifes a bitch.

I see hackers as a useful tool for taking over the world

Any chance you can transfer some cash into my account from... lets say a very rich person who wont miss it.

I'll give you a percentage.

Hack into my email account when replying.

Only joking if you dont want to do it.

[Ursa major]

So hacking isn't what it's cracked up to be?



Sorry - but I couldn't resist. And thanks, fire_elf, for helping us to get our terminology right.

[gary compton]

Originally Posted by Ursa major

So hacking isn't what it's cracked up to be?



Sorry - but I couldn't resist. And thanks, fire_elf, for helping us to get our terminology right.

That was a cracker Ursa major

[fire_elf20]

lol well at least it was good for a laugh

[mosaix]

I take your point fire elf, but on many occasions a term starts out meaning one thing but becomes to mean another by common usage. That's what's happened with 'hacker' and I doubt if it's going to change now.

[fire_elf20]

again fair point it wont change but common usage is rarely correct

[ctg]

Fire_elf20, you do understand that hacking and cracking are state of minds. In both you learn from by doing and you practice those skills to do things that others believe to be impossible. Neither of the skills are bad or evil. But people use them do evil things, just because they can and there's no opposition. However, NOT EVERYONE OF THEM are doing those things. There are many who doesn't venture on the dark side but there are many who actually just do use them to learn what the truth is and they never conduct any harm.

[Ursa major]

Originally Posted by mosaix

I take your point fire elf, but on many occasions a term starts out meaning one thing but becomes to mean another by common usage. That's what's happened with 'hacker' and I doubt if it's going to change now.

But it would still be good if we used the correct terms in our writing.

(And if the difference is not apparent, then why is the character in the story at all?)

[mosaix]

Originally Posted by Ursa major

But it would still be good if we used the correct terms in our writing.

Not sure that's true Ursa, not unless the author goes out of the way to explain the difference, and then it could seem like info-dump.

The last thing an author should do is confuse the reader.

Also there's a point of view that what is common usage is now the correct meaning regardless of how things started out. Who's to say what is correct and what is the incorrect meaning of a word after all? Surely, after a while, it is the majority, common use, view.

[ctg]

I agree with what Mosaic is saying. Author is going to take a helluva a lot of time to do the research, if he or she isn't already in the action, and understand what it means to be a one. How it goes from there, who knows? The world of technology is full of hackers, crackers, spammers, freaks and pure out right hoaxers. Many people are wearing different kind of hats, some white, some black and some sit in the middle wearing all grey. But one thing is common, and it's that mindset. It really drives them forward to know how the system works and where they can bend on the rules. In a way, I guess writers are kind of hackers, even if we don't admit.

[fire_elf20]

very much agreed ctg. the main difference in the whole thing is that crackers hate being called hackers, hackers love the term for the fear it implies. and in the end the difference in terms boils down to an ethical mindsite and difference in how we approach things

[Ursa major]

Originally Posted by fire_elf20

and in the end the difference in terms boils down to an ethical mindsite and difference in how we approach things

Exactly, though ().

With the current fashion for first person and close third person narratives, we do tend to see characters' mindsets, either because they're a POV, or because the POV sees the reactions of other characters. A lot of fiction is about how characters see each other.

Contrast, for instance, how Tyrion and Jaime Lannnister, in ASOIAF, see themselves to the way others see and treat them. Narratives are not just driven by plots (either the author's or those "constructed" by the characters) - they're just as likely to be driven by how characters react to how they see each other. (If nothing else, who you hang out with (i.e. people you're more likely to like) will help to determine what you get to "find out" about - and when.)

(Oh, and something's got to fill those 120k plus words. )