Ethical Hacking

Information is power. Information is already managed in huge amounts by global corporations who use it to make money.  But information still expands to fill all available space, to use all available resources, and to propagate itself.  We call this "good". It comes in the disguises of entertainment, of education, and of religion.  It is as real as food and water, but we often glibly dismiss information as being unimportant.  We eagerly embrace "free" offers that require only that we provide some information to the supplier.  We pay attention to surveys, and consider the exchange of opinion valuable to further the goals of democracy and freedom.

Yet this same information is often used as a tool against us.  Financial institutions are gradually replacing hard currency with "soft" credit that is easily manipulated for the advantage of those that already have most of it.  And, the user becomes part of a large database that tracks our social habits.  This can result in a reduction of choices.  Why would a company (or government) serve a small segment of the population when the possibility exists, with the aid of technology, to serve a larger group?  And wouldn't profits be better if diversity could be reduced? By conditioning people to consume the things that are most profitably produced, wouldn't the pie become larger for us all?

Probably.   If you would like to live like a herd of e-cows, go ahead and support the information needs of the mega-corporations.  They'll be glad you did.  But if you are a different kind of animal, look behind the curtain of the internet.  Examine the structure, and how it supports itself.  Learn about packets and bits, protocols and processes.  Learn about how it started.  Watch the big companies act as predators, circling the herd faster than bovine brains can follow, concealing themselves as a media company, then popping up as a heavy goods manufacturer or money lender. Newer simpler point-and-grunt interfaces are popular with the massses.  Fortunately, there are always a few people, often with ancient, feeble computers, who have more of a finger on the  information pulse than do most of the latest induced-fad internet teat suckers.

I can't abide by vandalism of information or of property.  But if you surround enough people with an ugly, restrictive, and inhospitable environment, vandalism will be their defense. So, look around. Exchange information one-to-one..  There is more to the internet than dot-coms, and there is more to computing than Microsoft.  You'll also find a lot of good people enjoying the pursuit of freedom and happiness.