Introduction

Welcome to my blog. Before I begin doing any real posts, I just wanted to address a question that may, or may not, arise: the title "From the Fringes of Society".

This blog's title was inspired by a Kevin Spacey documentary called "Hackers Wanted (aka Can You Hack It?)" in which one of the people speaking refers to hackers as being "on the fringes of society looking in."

So, am I a hacker? The answer to that would depend on your definition.

Contrary to popular belief, the term "hacker" does not refer to someone who illegally accesses computer networks. The term "hacker" originated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with the Tech Model Railroad Club (or TMRC). Yes, that's right, the word originally had nothing to do with computers or the internet. Even to this day, the TMRC still views being called a "hacker" as an honorable title, because originally the term referred to someone who used skill or ingenuity to bring about a modification, or improvement.

The previously mentioned documentary gives a definition that you are unlikely to find in your dictionary: "one who is concerned with exploration, usually of a computer."

Even before computers existed, there were hackers. But what did they hack if it wasn't computers? The telephone system. Hacking telephone systems is also referred to as "phreaking". One particular "phreaker" by the alias of "Cap'n Crunch", referred to as such for his discovery that old Cap'n Crunch whistles were capable of putting out the same frequency tone that telephones used to signal when a line was in use, played part in the development of the pocket calculator and cordless phone.

It can even be said that before the telephone existed, there have been hackers. For example, Heinrich Herz, who discovered radio waves, and then invented the world's first radio communication system that replaced the telegraph. Also, Charles Babbage, who originated the idea of a programmable computer. It could also be said that men such as Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla, Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were all hackers, each in their own respective fields of inventor (Edison and Tesla), physics (Einstein, obvious) and socio-political philosophy (Franklin and Jefferson).

When computers came into the picture, so did programming. When the term was applied to computers, it referred to someone who sat behind the computer for hours on end "hacking away" at a program. The website "Wiktionary" defines a hacker as "A person who hacks...(3)Particularly, one who is consistent and focuses on accomplishing a task or several tasks." They also define a hacker as "A computer security professional" and "one who is an expert at programming and solving problems with a computer."

The term "hacker" goes beyond computers, beyond the internet, and beyond electronics. A hacker is a person who questions whether the way things are is truly the best way. A hacker is a person who is able to look at all angles to find a solution to a problem. A hacker is a person that has a curious personality, and allows that curiosity to get the best of them.

With this said, yes, I am a hacker. I do not write viruses, trojans, adware, spyware, worms or malware. I do not "hack" into computer systems, although I hack my own on a daily basis. Instead, I am a hacker of the philosophical variety; a hacker of music, art, and words. So why are hackers "on the fringes of society?" Simple: because society rejects that which it does not understand. Society will never be able to hack the mind of a hacker, they will never be able to understand the way we think; they will never understand why we, unlike so many people, don't simply take the solutions and ideas given to us as being the best - why we don't live like robots, waiting for further instructions - why when they say "jump", we ask why they can't.

Originally I had intended for this introduction to be just a short paragraph or two, but when I get on a roll, I get on a roll. Thanks for visiting, and I hope you enjoy the content that is sure to come in the near future.