Letters: Communicatory Types

Queries

Dear 2600: My company would like to post my article in full on our corporate blog.  Is this O.K., now that the article has been printed in 2600? I searched 2600.com for information on regarding this matter, but found none.  I vaguely remember reading somewhere that it's O.K. to reprint an article after it has been published, but I don't recall where, so I wanted to ask for permission to republish explicitly. If we may republish, we will be happy to link to 2600.com, the magazine on Amazon, etc ., at your preference. As an aside, I've got other important business to address with the lot of you: now that I've been published, how do I receive my t-shirt? (I'd take the one-year subscription, but I already buy all of the issues anyway.)  It's important for the kids at my Hackerspace to know that I'm an uber 1337 h4x0r. I'm working on another open-source security project at the moment, and hope to submit another article within the next few months to introduce it as well. Thanks for your help, and for the work that you do.       Chris You have the right to do whatever you want with your article, including putting it online, broadcasting it through a megaphone, or handing it to a politician to use in a future filibuster.  As a 2600 article, it may also appear in a future collection.  We appreciate the offer to link to us - our general website address is fine. As for getting the shirt you're owed, you no doubt have been contacted already.  The way it works is that sometime after an article or photo is published, the author is emailed with a request for their info so the item(s) can be sent.

Dear 2600: I'd like to ask you if you are interested in publishing an article about our latest discovery - we successfully exploited NXP MIFARE Ultralight tickets in order to gain free rides on our local transport system.  This should also work on any worldwide transport system that has not fixed it yet.       bughardy This is exactly the sort of thing we're interested in.  We believe such info has been presented at various hacker conventions, but nothing beats a printed article insofar as reaching the greatest number of people and lasting forever.  We find that nothing causes panic in the corporate world as much as a printed release that can't be deleted or taken down.

Dear 2600: I am part of the global team of hackers called White Hat Alliance.  Our hacking group helps companies to protect themselves against malicious hackers. Would it be possible to have an article on 2600.com?  Is that possible?  What actions are required from us to proceed with the article?       Damien We suspect since you refer to our website and not our magazine that you're looking for an article about your organization to appear on our site.  That's not something we do.  If, on the other hand, you're looking to write an article for the magazine, it's as simple as emailing articles@2600.com with your submission.

Dear 2600: Do you want a free root shell on my server?  (No strings attached.) -----BEGIN PGP MESSAGE----- Version: SecuMail -----2.4 END PGP MESSAGE       Michael We really didn't need a free root shell - thanks - but, once again, this illustrates the problem we have with those who insist on sending encrypted messages.  The key used here was not one we control, so we had no way of reading whatever was contained.  While PGP works great when used properly, we don't have the time to go back and forth multiple times to figure out what's causing the communication problem, only to finally get a letter that is completely innocuous and ultimately intended to be seen by many thousands in print.  Don't get us wrong - we believe everything should be encrypted by default.  But until we can ensure that people only use the right key when communicating with us, it's simply not worth the effort.  What we would like to do is wipe out every existing key that claims to be affiliated with 2600 and start fresh so that there's no confusion.  Right now, that doesn't seem to be possible, which results in people using keys that we have no control over, which means unread messages.  We really hope a better system is in place soon.  Incidentally, on those occasions when we're corresponding with people we already know who have sensitive info to convey to us, we create a key just for that purpose and discard it afterwards.  Even then, there are invariably problems, but it gets the job done.  One day soon, we hope it's that easy for everyone.

Dear 2600: In the 30:2 issue there is an article entitled "How a Prehistoric Hacker Got Started" by DarkAudax, which is a very good article.  Only one problem with it: I believe years ago this same article appeared in 2600 and I was wondering how many times can someone submit a article they wrote and get it published?       Anonymous Only once.  People who submit the same article multiple times wind up being ignored permanently.  And, unless we make a horrific mistake, an article only appears once.  We searched our entire catalog and didn't see this article anywhere other than the issue you cite.  Thanks for scaring the crap out of us.

Dear 2600: Hello, are you a hacker?  I need somebody who is great and sneaky.  If you have this skill, please contact/email me as soon as you see this message.  The cause of this letter is I was hacked by PayPal a certain amount, so I want that amount back in the most secure way.  Please reply to this as soon as possible if you are a sneaky and great hacker.  No money will be sent - not unless the hack is done - due to me being completely broke so please have mercy upon us.  Thank you for your concern.       Nam Well, you are most certainly somebody who knows how to get things done.  You say PayPal "hacked" you and, clearly, the appropriate response is to bring in a complete stranger (a sneaky one, at that) who will get it all back for you.  How could it be any simpler?  And we're impressed by the fact that you know not to send such a sneaky stranger money in advance to pull off this job.  You have done your homework in the ways of the world.  Because we are so enamored, we've decided to take on the job.  You should see your PayPal balance restored.  If not, keep refreshing your screen, at least once every ten seconds.  Don't stop or a hacker might grab it from under you. And that, dear readers, is how you keep someone busy so they don't hurt themselves.

Dear 2600: Recently I purchased a book called 2600.  I found this to be very interesting and it piqued my interest in learning more about hacking.  I now have a subscription to 2600 and read your quarterly publication electronically.  I am in my 70s (old fart/alter cocker).  I enjoy investigating and learning new things.  Living in a rural community, I would like to know about meeting members of the hacking community and learning more.  My technical knowledge is not as in depth as many of your contributors, and about half the time I get lost in the articles and have to read them twice so as to have an idea of what is being stated.  I agree with many hackers and value privacy which is the reason I use this mail server and others along with Hide My IP and Tor.  I would appreciate your ideas etc. on how to meet others in the hacking community to expand my interest, computer literacy, and knowledge. Keep up the excellent work you are doing.  I am looking forward to hearing from you shortly.       Auggy First off, don't feel at all bad or inferior if you believe you're not as technically adept as others.  It only means you have another perspective to offer.  And those who are extremely proficient in a field will always know of someone with more skills.  It's how we all interact with each other that determines what, if any, forward progress we make. Clearly, the best way to meet people is to go to one of our monthly meetings.  As you didn't specify where you are, it's hard to recommend one in particular, but a full listing can be found in the back of this issue in microscopic print.  And you don't have to be in your 70s to complain about that.

Dear 2600: Did you get my previous email?  Would be happy to hear from you. Thanks.       Damien You again.  We thought something like this might happen.  When people ask about publishing on our website, we wonder if they even know that there's a magazine attached to all of this.  And when they get an auto-reply from our letters department thanking them for writing us a letter, they often assume they're talking to a human who types very fast.  It doesn't really matter how clear we make the instructions, as the dialogue will just continue into infinity.  The short answer here is: you have already heard from us and if you read what our computer wrote back to you, it would all become very clear.  We hope, but hardly expect, that this will be the end of it.

Dear 2600: Is there an easy way to listen to your program if I missed it?  I looked at the info online, and all I got was really, really confused.       Ruth While it may make sense to us, it's always possible that it's not so obvious to others.  T;his is a truth we wish more software developers realized.  On the main 2600.com site, simply click on the "Radio" section, then select the show you're interested in.  From there you can go to the "New Show" section, which we assume is what you're looking for.  At that point, depending on your system, connection speed, etc., you should select whether you want the high-fidelity (128k) or low-fidelity (16k) version, as well as if you want to download a copy to have on your own computer or stream it over the net.  If you don't know which is best, just try each of the four options until you find one that works for you.  Your machine should have a program to play audio files and, if you download one of the shows, your browser should tell you where it is so you can open it.  Good luck.

Dear 2600: I haven't had a 2600 subscription in a long time.  Just wanna know if it's okay to use some covers of past issues of 2600 in a movie I am planning.  Do I have your permission?       Derneval We don't know how you'll see this if you don't check the magazine but, yes, we grant permission to virtually anybody who wants to use our material in such projects, commercial or independent.  We wish Hollywood producers would take a chill pill and not send us forms that they expect us to get notarized so that their asses are covered for having a 2600 cap on someone's head in a TV show.  Just go ahead and use whatever you want, just as you should be able to use anyone's shirt or magazine cover in a production.  The other thing that really bugs us is when these same people won't even buy the items they want permission to use in their multi-million dollar production.  We'll probably never understand the entertainment industry.

Dear 2600: I have sent you email few days ago.  Did you receive it? Thanks.       Damien Wow.  If we wanted to reply, surely we would have by now.  But perhaps sending us a reminder every couple of days is what will eventually win us over.  Keep trying.

Dear 2600: You guys still accepting Hacker Perspective submissions?  I have a great idea.       herp derp They're closed at the moment but we suggest writing your submission while it's in your head and sending it in when we announce their reopening sometime in the future.  Just make sure it's at least 2500 words and focuses on your story, what makes you a hacker, and what the hacker culture means to you.  Don't send it in before the submission period opens again as it could easily be misplaced.

Dear 2600: I'm an author working on a new novel (my eighth) that features a hacker.  While he isn't a prominent character, he does feature into a bit of the storyline and I would very much like to get his voice right.  I'm wondering if there is someone at 2600 who might be willing to answer a few questions (in email format) to help with authenticity.       Danielle Please don't take it personally that we have no time to help people with books, stories, and movies while we're putting out a magazine, which is pretty much always.  This is not the only such request we've received - this week.  Perhaps we could start a consulting firm, but that doesn't solve the problem of having to clone ourselves in order to find the time.

Dear 2600: Would appreciate the update. Thanks.       Damien And then there's this guy.  He never lets up.  Is this how you do system penetration tests, by relentlessly pounding away until you find a weak point?  It's actually quite effective, as some of us want to take the time to compose and send you a detailed response, while others just want to link our website to yours and be done with it.  Another week of this and we would be completely and hopelessly divided.  In the end, there's really only one thing we can do.  [Firewall Installed]

Dear 2600: I was just wondering, not so much about the technical content, but about the tone and style, etiquette, so to speak, of your considerations for writing submissions.  Is there any standard(s) of style anywhere that you follow?  Just wondering.  Thanks a lot.       Daniel We want you to use the style you're most comfortable with.  Just remember to approach your subject matter from the perspective of a hacker and most any topic will become relevant and interesting.

Dear 2600: Hello, I was inquiring if you can hack a website for me and get me the admin access.  I will be paying for your services.  Thanks you.       Yahia Someone, somewhere has been spreading this image of us throughout the planet and we've been getting such requests on a regular basis for decades, since even before websites existed.  We've never asked for this, implied that this is what we do, or voiced anything other than disdain for the type of people who think they can pay hackers to break into sites for them.  Can you imagine how many requests we would have gotten had we expressed any interest at all in this sort of thing?  The money we could have made?  The fame, the notoriety? Suddenly, at 30 years of age, we realize how foolish we've been... Yahia, expect our call.

Additional Info

Dear 2600: Not looking for a t-shirt or anything like that, but thought you would be interested in this collection of phone booths published in the San Francisco Chronicle on August 8, 2013.       jim Thanks for the tip and, for our readers, searching for the above online will quickly take you to that collection.  But why would you not be looking for a t-shirt?  We just assume everyone is.

Dear 2600: I hope this note finds you well.  I was in Wildwood, New Jersey on the night of August 4th looking for a slice of pizza.  While walking down the boardwalk, I scored this shot.  Computer geeks like pizza. Happy Trails.       Larry This happens more times than we can count and it's so very frustrating.  People think they're sending us really cool stuff but forget to include the attachment!  Don't let this happen to you.  Or to us.

Dear 2600: Pays off to be a geek!  Thinking of you!       Rachiee We assume there was more to this message, too.

Dear 2600: As an old Minuteman missileer myself, I was particularly interested in the article in your Summer 2013 issue entitled "Fun with the Minuteman III Weapon System."  It's certainly true that outer zone security alarms can be triggered by a variety of inconsequential things: birds, squirrels, gophers, hail, blizzards, and random UFO flyovers.  It's also true that Alarm Response Teams may take their sweet time in responding to outer zone alarms.  By the time they arrive on site, the perpetrating bird or rodent is long gone.  This makes for a boring and unexciting trip.  Still, a coordinated effort to keep the outer zone alarm lights going off throughout the missile field would soon become apparent to those monitoring things from the launch control centers.  Such widespread and recurring alarms might incentivize the team to make a more spirited effort.  Alarm response teams, already fatigued and bored from chasing down birds and squirrels, would no doubt welcome a chance to use their training to apprehend, spread-eagle, and handcuff actual human beings.  As it is, they only manage to apprehend the occasional aging nun or elderly peace activist.  Admittedly, my knowledge is somewhat outdated, but I also question whether hitting the 110 ton launcher closure lid at the center of the missile site with snowballs or ice cubes would be sufficient to cause an inner zone security alarm.  One might stay on site long enough to work at causing an inner zone alarm, but that is a more difficult endeavor and carries its own risks.  In sum, I recommend following the author's advice: "Now for some real fun.  Do not do this."       Capt. Jay

Dear 2600: 127.0.0.1 localhost 216.218.239.164 google.com 216.218.239.164 www.google.com Just thought I'd help spread the word.       rixter We suppose every little bit helps.  That first one belongs to our internal network and we're now paranoid as hell wondering how you figured it out.

Dear 2600: I have listened to the DISH Network channel 144 clip referenced by reader Jim in 30:3, and the Morse code message is: WQ35 13013443 860 585 2289 ESPN2 repeated over and over.  The beginning is garbled and, in the noise, the starting and ending elements may be shifted from the original, but the sequence repeats in the order shown.  If you ever need any additional Morse analysis, I'd be happy to help.  Ham radio contester since 1966.       K5TA Just further proof that there's no puzzle our readers can't get to the bottom of.

Dear 2600: In light of Verizon and AT&T's recent antics in the media regarding POTS and DSL, I thought I might say a word about the phone network as we know it.  Strange as it might seem, the current generation of voice switches are a lot more interesting than you might think - much to the point where you can tell what kind of equipment you're calling (and, to a much lesser degree, what long distance network you're using) just by listening to the sound of ring-back from it.  There's a quick recording of a bunch at ge.tt/7TmPVKv/v/0 if you'd like to try it for yourself.  The difference is subtle, so be sure to wear headphones.  The order of the equipment is DMS-10, DMS-100, DCO, GTD-5, 5ESS, and EWSD. There are a couple of other things I'll mention later but, more to the point, why is VoIP or wireless such a bad thing compared to the traditional network?  Performance and efficiency.  IP over ATM, for example, has an overhead of about 9.4 percent according to pflog.net/dsl_overhead.  This seems to drive most of the ISP people I've talked to absolutely nuts.  But a SIP call by contrast will take up roughly 110 kbps for a call using µ-law.  This would normally fit into a 64 kbps circuit - that's 46 kbps (or 71 percent) overhead per call.  Packet loss in and of itself is a whole other topic, but latency is one of the issues that tends to be overlooked.  Latency on Voice over IP calls can get to be 150 milliseconds, according to an ITU recommendation, anyway.  I encourage you to measure what it actually is in practice.  That's something we haven't considered acceptable for most domestic traffic since the days of dial-up!  By contrast, an all circuit switched call rarely exceeds 30 milliseconds of latency from one end of the country to the next. As for wireless, the problem resides mostly within the codec.  All major wireless standards rely on a method of compression called Code-Excitation Linear Prediction to achieve very aggressive compression ratios at the expense of adding a characteristic "underwater" quality.  To put it in perspective, Verizon Wireless uses the 4 kbps bitrate of EVRC-B, which employs a vocoder along with CELP techniques, so what you end up hearing is closer to T-Pain's autotune effect than the person you're speaking to.  Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile (using 8.55 kbps EVRC-B, 6 kbps AMR, and 12 kbps AMR, respectively) don't tend to be much better.  Even the coming voice-over-LTE with its promises of better sound quality relies on just a wideband version of AMR. "But who cares?" you might ask.  Maybe you can live with crappy sound quality so long as you understand who you're talking to.  That's fine, but consider this: much of the speculation around the interception technologies of our good friends at the NSA seems to indicate that to feasibly intercept and store all PSTN traffic, they'd need to be archiving it with similarly aggressive compression.  I know this isn't concrete evidence, but if you've ever heard a 911 call when it's released to the media, it's always through something that uses a linear predictive model, and some independent research from another phreak seems to suggest CALEA voice intercepts do the exact same thing.  So it's certainly not out of the question. If it's true, the flexibility of µ-law can give us a strong advantage; a layer of obscurity can be added to whatever encrypts your call.  It could be analog voice scrambling, a made up implementation of 8PSK with obscured Trellis modulation, Morse code tapped into a song using a notch filter, whatever.  As of right now, the aggressive compression makes this difficult, if not impossible to properly log; there's no packet format you're necessarily limited to. Anyway, getting back to the phreaking aspect of it, the DMS-100 (which is a bit of a marvel within itself - its current generation of hardware revolves around a redundant pair of Motorola 88k CPUs of all things, and manages to process about 1,500,000 calls in an hour) can give a good demonstration of some of the things the network hides.  At first glance, 212-346-9922 is a ringing number.  If you're using a phone that speaks µ-law and passes network audio before the call answers, you'll probably know from the sound clips that it's a ringing number on a DMS.  While it's ringing, go ahead and make a call to it from another phone.  The calls should both go off hook, and you'll be bridged together!  Nice, right?  These bridges tend to be all over the place, and will hold a good number of callers. Now, if you happen to be calling from a POTS line, there's also a lot of stuff that only you can reach.  For example, 958 and your last four digits will get the switch to run a ringback program in a lot of areas.  In a lot of former Embarq areas (mostly CenturyLink stuff that isn't ex-Baby Bells), 959-XXXX is an internal range that has all sorts of strange goodies; test numbers for IVRs, CNAM readback machines, and so on.  It's like an ongoing episode of Coast to Coast, but with real machines instead of theoretical beings hiding stuff. So - why am I telling you this?  I don't expect you, or anyone, to run out and become a phone phreak tomorrow.  I mean, the more the merrier, but 2013 alone has been a very, very strange time for any politically aware American.  I just ask that in between the ever more revealing Snowden revelations; the ever more expanding articles of governments, companies, or trade acts pushing for Internet restrictions; and the ever more incessant whining of large carriers to regulators to get out of wired telecommunications altogether - voice, data, FTTP, and everything, please don't dismiss the phone network as "that garbly thing from yesterday that's probably a series of tubes now." I can honestly say some of the best times I've had in my 23 years have been on the phone network.  By writing this, I'm hoping you can eventually experience them too.       Brandon We're so happy to be hearing from people who can appreciate this sort of thing and who continue to give out interesting phone numbers to call, not to mention sharing an incredibly relevant perspective on the changing phone network and how it relate to the surveillance society being constructed around us.  This knowledge and analysis is at the very core of who we are as hackers.

Critical Observations

Dear 2600: I find it somewhat ironic (and disturbingly hypocritical) that a group as concerned about technological privacy issues as you guys claim to be would not only put a search bar tied directly to Google, but also their own JavaScript code on your web page (and a YouTube file, but that's something else entirely). Could just be me, but wasn't Google one of the first parties to (unsurprisingly) be outed as a participant in the National Surveillance Authority's US-984XN (a.k.a. "PRISM") scandal a few months back?  You do realize Google itself is basically a public-facing component of the N$A and that they're keeping records of every single word searched from your site, do you not?  And isn't 2600 the very magazine wherein I regularly read articles detailing what a security and privacy hazard Google is?  Wouldn't the anonymizing Google front-end Ixquick or, by extension, Startpage have been a safer (and more logical) choice instead? Just something to think about.  I'll continue to read your magazine and get the radio programming from your FTP server, but I can no longer trust the safety or privacy of your HTTP site. Thankfully you guys haven't strayed down the dark, twisty path to inescapable ruin known as Facebook.  Let us hope that you never do.       phreakin5ess We actually do have a Facebook group, and it's filled with people who would never trust Facebook with anything truly private.  Simply because there have been abuses and privacy violations attached to a particular service doesn't mean you need to go to great lengths to avoid any use of that service.  We believe in diving in and figuring out what's really going on, in addition to figuring out new and better ways of using things to our advantage.  This is best achieved through participation, especially when so many people are already using these systems without questioning any aspect of them.  We can use the power of Google to educate people on what's wrong with it.  What better way to teach Facebook users how to protect their privacy than to talk to them on Facebook?  And just because you see a Google search bar on our page, it doesn't necessarily mean your privacy is being abused.  It's how you interface with Google and what information you give through your browser that determines this.  And you can use that very search bar to learn more from our site.  We're not sure what YouTube file you're referring to - our page links to our YouTube channel (Channel2600), which is again a good way of reaching people already on that hugely popular resource.  That really shouldn't cause you any grief.  We're always open to alternative and additional services, but avoiding the ones that are in the mainstream will have no effect on them and prevent us from getting our stuff out there to the maximum degree.

Dear 2600: I like the way the magazine encourages exploration.  However, there remains one huge flaw on how articles are accepted.  By requiring every article to never have been published before, article quality is affected. The fact is that the content of an article appearing somewhere else does not mean 2600 can't have an original article based on that published content.  With the Net giving us instant information, a three month delay for the print magazine is too long.  And it doesn't take into account peer reviewed articles - for example, someone testing their research to see if it actually works.  Simply put, the first publishing rights puts untested ideas in the trash. I believe that 2600 should be like a scholarly journal.  I see many of the articles in the magazine are political.  I see this on many message boards.  The message board is for science or computer graphics, then all the topics become political arguments.  I think if you lift the first publishing rights, it would open the door for many technical articles. Just a thought. 5 * 17 = 85 Prime Number + Prime Number = Product = N y = ((85/x) * 85 - x2)/x = ((852/x) + x2)/85 p = ((85/x) * 85 - x2)/x * (852/((852/x) + x2)) - 85; sol = NSolve[p?0, x] {{xR-86.893},{xR-7.50438+19.0222 ?},{xR-7.50438-19.0222 ?},xR16.9017}}       Bobby Joe We honestly weren't sure if all of those equations were germane to your argument, so we left them in.  To address the actual words, our policy certainly doesn't forbid articles based on content that's appeared elsewhere.  We just don't want identical content that's available elsewhere.  Neither do the vast majority of readers who have voiced an opinion on this.  Just because we live in the "instant age" doesn't mean that a collection of articles that come out every three months can't contain fresh and unique ideas.  Often we have peer review from our readers, resulting in more discussion in the letters section or additional articles in future issues.  The fact that our material is original makes these dialogues all the more interesting.

Dear 2600: First, thanks for the work you do!  I've been a silent fan for a long time, but I just couldn't be silent anymore! I'm writing in response to Micah Lee's advocation of leaving your home network open without having your neighbors do any extra work. I advise against that at every opportunity.  Consider the case if one of your neighbors is secretly into child porn.  Do you really want your home's IP address associated with those search requests?  (And I've seen network logs from ISPs before... not all such queries run through Tor/VPNs.)  While it's true that a case against you would have to include physical evidence from your hard drive(s), why even take the risk? Further, keeping your access point open also opens you to having your online identity stolen.  As an attacker, I'd much rather have someone else's IP take the blame for my hack.  Also, considering that research has shown that the vast majority of people improperly configure their routers in the first place (such as not changing the admin password), this just argues more firmly: thumbing your nose at AT&T or Cox isn't worth the risk.  Lock your router down.       XeNO

Dear 2600: I have a couple of bones to pick with your article ("The Right to Know," 30:3).  First of all, you conveniently failed to mention that Julian Assange did not seek asylum because anyone was after him for his WikiLeaks reveals.  In fact, his cowardice was directly due to the U.K. government potentially extraditing him to Sweden to face accusations of sexual assault.  Now, maybe there were others behind the scenes lining up to nail this chickenshit for providing Manning a forum, but that is not the immediate threat that caused him to run and hide. In your column, you paint him as this great crusader out to expose every government secret that the public should have the right to know.  Unfortunately, all you did was make it seem like sexual assault has no importance in the grand scheme of things when compared to exposing the goings-on of governments, especially the U.S. government.  That being a potential sexual predator is O.K. as long as you are "sticking it to the man," so to speak.  My BS flag is waving full force! Snowden is another coward.  If he had such an objection to the work that was being done, all he had to do was quit.  No one was holding a gun to his head making him do his job.  He could have left any time he wanted to.  But instead, he decided to violate every oath he signed his name to.  There was nothing noble about that, especially in light of his running away like the little cowardly bitch that he is.  His word means nothing and anyone or any other country that trusts his word from this point forward is foolish in the extreme. Manning is the only one that comes out of this with any dignity.  I do not condone what he did; again, he violated every oath he signed.  However, at least he had the guts to face up to the consequences of his actions and, for that, he deserves recognition and my grudging admiration. All I have for those other two slimy little weasels, Assange and Snowden, is contempt as should you.       M. Piazza We barely touched upon Assange in that editorial, simply making the point that the stories such journalists as he and Glenn Greenwald reveal often get lost in character assassination.  Your words help to prove that point. We believe that any charges faced by Assange should be answered.  But clearly, there is much more going on here than there would be for anyone else facing such charges.  The presence of police surrounding the Ecuadorian Embassy in London around the clock has cost millions of dollars.  Is this how someone wanted for questioning in another country, someone who didn't cause powerful governments so much grief would be treated?  Meanwhile, the United States has steadfastly refused to give any guarantee that its forces would not grab Assange, either in England or in Sweden if he were to leave the embassy.  With all we've learned and witnessed about our nation's behavior, whether it's drone attacks in foreign nations or invasion of its own citizens' privacy through the NSA, would anybody really be all that surprised if such an action against Assange were to be taken?  With members of Congress calling for him to be hunted like a terrorist, we can almost see this as being expected and even seen by many as a good thing.  We believe Assange would gladly go to Sweden, answer the charges, and even face prison if there was a guarantee that he would not be extradited to the United States.  But it actually serves the interests of his detractors to have him remain isolated and seemingly ignoring the charges.  Adding further evidence to this is the fact that Assange has said he wouldn't leave the embassy even if these charges are dropped because of the likelihood of the U.S. taking action against him.  It's clear this is about a lot more than the criminal charges in Sweden.  That is very different than saying those charges don't matter. Calling Edward Snowden a coward makes absolutely no sense to us.  What he did took tremendous conviction and he's made a huge sacrifice.  To say he could have just quit misses the point entirely.  He felt the world needed to know what the NSA, the United States government, and various corporations were doing.  Maybe you believe that should have all remained a secret.  Many people say the same thing.  But what he did took a great amount of courage.  It would have been so easy for him to walk away and let these things continue.  But he didn't.  And now we're all talking about it.  If there's even going to be a chance of things changing in the years ahead, this is where that chance will have begun.  And, if you look back through history at some of the greatest changes that have ever occurred, they often started with the courageous actions of a single person.

Dear 2600: Dudests of the dudes... You need to throw the 2600 Government Seal on a black hoodie so I can wear that shit every day.  I've just about worn out all the 2600 shirts I own.  Time to cover up the old with some new threads.  It would be much appreciated!       apocalyptic To the best design of our recollection, that's the exact very first sweatshirt, which is still quite popular.  Perhaps you should look around store.2600.com in the clothing department?

Statements

Dear 2600: Human rights trump freedom of religion any day!       nealcamp Not really sure why you needed our letters section to make that point, but we're here to provide a forum and we're happy to oblige.

Dear 2600: My address book was hacked.  I did not write any message to you about my subscription.  Thanks.       Dan But you did write a letter that wound up in the magazine.  These things happen for a reason.

Dear 2600: Unofficially, NSA stands for Never Say Anything.  Yet the public is told, "If you see something, say something."       Potissimum Libertas       In Omnia Paratus       Justin Clearly Clearly, not everyone plays by the same rules.  We have our own take on what the letters NSA stand for, insofar as what rights the people have granted them.  See our new NSA shirt.

Dear 2600: Just finished reading the Autumn issue (30:3) including the letter by the person who wanted clarification on the compensation for submissions and how article writers were getting less swag than they used to get from 2600. I am a lifetime subscriber.  In my opinion, people who write articles should get more than people who submit pictures.  Writing coherent and well-constructed essays has become a lost art in our culture. I am a reader, and I understand that not all people enjoy reading.  What I don't understand is why people seem to go gaga whenever they see the numbers "2600" in an address, or on a street sign, or branded on a milk cow somewhere in middle America.  And then they take a picture of it and send it in to 2600.  And, for some reason, you publish them. It reminds me of people who smoke marijuana (I am not knocking it) who always seem to get into a state of arousal whenever the number 420 is mentioned, or seen, or whatever. I enjoy looking at the telephone pictures from far away places, but looking at them just reminds me that I can't afford to travel to Korea, or Zimbabwe, or wherever it is these exotic phones are discovered. In closing, I think writing articles demands significantly more time, effort, organization, and mental focus than submitting a photograph.  And therefore, I think that people who have articles printed should receive more swag than those who snap a picture, and then merely hit send. Please excuse me now, it is time for our daily Two Minutes Hate meeting. Thank you.       Real Name       [please withhold my name] (That was a close call - we almost printed your real name since you signed it.  For future reference, you can just omit your name before asking us to withhold it.)  We understand your points, but we really don't want to be in the position of judging one item over another.  Every article or photo takes varying degrees of time and skill and it would be a mistake to try and gauge how much actual effort each one took.  That's not what we're about.  We want to give back as much as we can and we'll be thrilled if we can give more in the future.  Incidentally, we wholeheartedly agree on the need for coherent writers in our culture.  That's why we're always so happy to get submissions from people who clearly enjoy writing. Most importantly, is there any truth to our name being branded on a milk cow somewhere?

Dear 2600: It is not enough to lament the appalling misuse of the justice system that drove Aaron Swartz to his suicide.  In all such cases, identify the assistant prosecutors, higher officials, and all who made the decisions, filed the scurrilous indictments, and exercised wrong and/or malicious judgment, to harass and destroy people like Aaron.  If you don't name and describe the real culprits, they will continue to act with impunity in other cases like this.       F. We absolutely agree that the people behind malicious prosecutions should be identified and held responsible for their actions.  That was certainly attempted in this case by many people, but, as expected, not by the ones making decisions.  (We're not sure where you're going with wanting a description of these people, however.)  Even if they are actually found to be accountable, it's not enough.  There's a system at play which encourages this sort of dishonesty in prosecutions and that needs to be dismantled in addition, or the perpetrators will simply get better at protecting themselves and covering their tracks.

On Meetings

Dear 2600: Hello, deeply kind and helpful 2600 administration.  I am in the right time and place.  First Friday, at a popular cafe in a popular university.  4 pm local time, as written at the magazine and online.  I checked IRC around 3 pm - empty.  They are surely rushing to be on time.  Surely. But no one else is here. Please help me find the group.  All I need is the Philippine organizer's email address. Thank you, and I love your magazine.       Lex While giving up this information would prevent at least one of our readers from spending a lonely evening in a cafe all by himself, we have a far greater concern towards protecting the privacy of other readers.  Of course, you could probably easily obtain this info on your own by talking to someone on the IRC channel you mentioned.  You're as much an organizer of these meetings as anyone else, however.  We suggest you make this an issue in your community so that people show up when they say they're going to.  The unpleasant reality is that we have to to delist meetings with multiple reports of non-attendance

Dear 2600: Yo.  I finally went to a local 2600 meeting.  I've wanted to for years, but the first Friday was always "busy" for me.  F*ck that weak excuse.  Went to Interlock in Rochester, New York and it was awesome.  Quickest place I ever lost "new guy" feeling ever. Did I fell dumb compared to most people in the room?  Absolutely.  Was that a problem?  No.  You are a hacker and you live to learn new things.  Likely with a splash of really blunt or vulgar dialog, but that just means you love life. Go to the meetings.  You'll probably dig it.       Pic0o

Dear 2600: I have been a 2600 reader for about one and a half years, but have not considering meeting other hacker brethren until as of late.  I used to have the option, when in Fargo, North Dakota, to attend meetings, but never saw through to it.  After moving back to Minnesota, I have now got the urge to meet with my kin of the same interests.  However, there are no listed 2600 meetings in Minnesota.  If there are no such meetings, I would be willing to commit some time to helping organize and run a Minnesota local 2600 meeting in St. Paul (Twin Cities metropolitan area) every month.  I already have a few that would be willing to attend, and I can determine a good location in the area that seems to fit everyone's travel needs.  Is there anything on my end, or vice versa on yours, that is required to kick off monthly meetings and have you post the location and time in your quarterly issues?  And just to make things clear, I obviously plan for the meetings to have no affiliations with any outside parties or groups.  It will merely be a group of like-minded individuals with some common ground to share and further our abilities. Excited to hear from you.       B You have the basic idea, so all that's left for you to do is come up with a good, centralized location that's open to everyone and let us know about it.  We do require that we hear updates so that your meeting doesn't get delisted due to lack of attendance.  It also can't hurt to have a website to help guide people to your meetings.  We look forward to hearing how this turns out.

Dear 2600: This is a response to a letter I saw in a previous issue.  A reader from Charleston, South Carolina said that he had been waiting for people to show up to the meetings, and no one ever did.  This resulted in the listing for the meeting in this state being taken out.  The meeting was supposed to take place in Northwoods Mall in North Charleston.  I actually work about 500 feet from that mall in a locally owned computer repair store, and I can see the meeting spot from the back door.  I have never been able to make it to the meetings, but I wanted to let that person (and the rest of South Carolina) know that there is still a hacker community out here!  I'd also like to invite that reader and any other hacker to stop by the store anytime to chat.  Just walk in and tell whoever you see working that you're there to talk to Sea-biscuit - they'll know what you're talking about.       Sebastian It must have been awfully frustrating to be able to see the meeting spot from a computer repair shop and not be able to attend one yourself.  Perhaps the throngs of people who will soon begin streaming through your doors to talk to you will be able to help establish a new meeting in the area.  We hope you can attend this one and, if not, that it will at least be close enough to your store where you can communicate with each other.

Dear 2600: I've been a reader of 2600 since I was a teenager.  I'm 31 now and been helping to host raves in this small city of mine for almost a decade.  I want to host a tech rave with about 50 people, but I want to do it as a 2600 meeting as well.  Do you think you can help me?       Ill Protocol We'll help you with some advice.  A meeting and a rave really aren't the same thing.  If you try and mix them, they will probably each suffer.  Plus, people who go to the meetings are notoriously different in background and interests, so getting everyone to groove to the same music would be close to impossible.  We believe you should pursue each of these ideas, but separately.

Dear 2600: Greetings from Biloxi, Mississippi.  I am interested in getting a group started here - to meet regularly, do some teaching, pick brains, learn new things, and co-mingle with like-minded people.  I know you may be thinking Biloxi, Mississippi?  WTF is in Biloxi, Mississippi?  Well, the big 2600 readership here hails from Keesler Air Force Base, which is where the Air Force teaches the latest and greatest in cyberspace operations and defense.  I work with and teach some great cyber minds and would like to create a place for us all to get together.       TheCyberinstructor It may surprise you to know that we once had meetings in Biloxi, so we are confident that they can be restarted.  Please keep us informed.

Dear 2600: In response to Curious in Philly from the Autumn 2013 issue, I'm here to report that the Philly meeting is alive and well.  The location in the description should probably be updated to say that we currently meet in the food court outside Taco Bell (as opposed to the mini post office as it says now) which is about 50 feet from the old location.  We list the time as 5 pm, but people usually show up between 5 and 6.  Sometimes we trickle in at 4:45, sometimes the first person arrives at 6.  Either way, I've never gone to a meeting and ended up the only one in attendance. We shouldn't be hard to find - just look for the loud guys sharing a table full of tech and tacos, usually dressed in black.  If there are any uncertainties, we've hurtled into the 20th century with a website (philly2600.net), Twitter account (@philly2600), and trusty IRC channel (#philly2600).  We're not too hard to get a hold of.       Mike

Dear 2600: I'm either bored or am finally getting to the bottom of my to-do list.  Dilemma: I would like to start building a group with regular meetings, its own page, the whole shpiel. The problem is that Friday evening sundown begins Shabbos here in (((The Holy Land))).  Since we follow the lunar calendar, the "day" actually begins the night before, so therefore Shabbos doesn't end until Saturday night.  Most folks start to get ready hours in advance, so even in the summer, when Shabbos starts late, it would impact on attendance and focus. Also, Friday and Saturday comprise the weekend, with the workweek starting Sunday.  (It took a bit of getting used to, but it's kinda cool, especially if you want to work Fridays (until Shabbos), because no one else is in the office and you can actually get something done - but I digress. Possible solutions for your consideration: (I teach my team not to bring me a problem without at least one possible solution [from the wisdom of Solomon], and cutting the baby in half has nothing to do with this, so here are some ideas to consider, and your guidance is appreciated.) 1.  Provide us with a waiver for meetings on another day - Sunday? 2.  Tell us it's too bad, and treat us like the Red Cross (research this - religion is not a part of their credo, but the Red Islam is O.K., however, the Red Magen David is not accepted into the Red Cross so we go it alone). 3.  Nuke us - the problem takes care of itself.  Unless we Stuxnet it first. 4.  Ignore us and maybe we'll go away.  But with the largest per capita tech startup rate and other such billion dollar trivia, I think our know-how goes a long way. So there's a bunch of options - you may have more or an even more preferable one.  All I ask for is consideration and resolution of a conundrum that may have been overlooked in establishing the Friday evening meetings.  Also, I'd like to offer up a distribution channel for the hardcopy mag and other items - after we get through this. So, please advise how to proceed because I think these meetings will have a lot to offer.       Dr. MG Cyb3rSM3 While we've always discouraged having our meetings on other days because we would lose the whole "first Friday" thing and because there's always going to be somebody who isn't able to make it, a culture where people generally aren't able to go out on Friday evenings is as good an excuse as we can imagine for an exception.  Since your weekends are Friday and Saturday, we propose having your meetings on Thursday evening, just as meetings everywhere else come right before the weekend on Friday evenings.  This keeps it simple, easy to remember, and somewhat consistent with the rest of the 2600 meetings.

Free Advice

Dear 2600: You kick ass.  I need a good domain (preferably one run by members of the h@cker community) where I can test my newbie skills. I need domain owners who allow me to perform H@rdcore D0SSes on my own site.  I don't mind paying extra for this kind of service.  I just need people who will give me written consent.  In addition, it would serve as a testing ground for perfecting SQL injextion techniques. Yes, poor grammar is essential.  B!G Br0ther probably uses SEO techniques, but I only want to use my craft to better the world (at least mine).       Truly, Madly, Deeply Yours       The /\postolic H/\cker @ x86 Assembly of God If you truly want to better your world, you'll stop with the @s and slashes in words, for starters.  Archaeologists of the future will not look kindly on this period of our development.  And while we may indeed "kick ass" on occasion, we know of no one who offers the services you're after for a fee.  Why would you need to pay someone for the privilege of performing "H@rdcore D0SSes" on your own site?  You could probably learn everything you needed by setting up your own internal network that's isolated from the Internet so nobody else would be affected if/when things spiral out of control.  We hope you eventually come to realize that denial of service attacks are the last refuge for those with nothing to say who simply want to silence the opposition.  We've seen them used for very noble causes, but there's just no getting away from this point.  It's been our experience that actions equivalent to graffiti (i.e., website hacking) are far more effective and clever.  Failing that, actually encouraging evil entities to speak their minds is often enough to turn most people against them.

Dear 2600: I had a close call in central Christchurch during the February 2011 earthquake (got out safely).  I've recently been playing about with Bluetooth and an idea popped into my head. If, during an earthquake, the building you are in collapses and you become trapped but you have access to your cell phone, try this: Call police. 0.)  Remember you probably have a flashlight on your phone.  Use it sparingly. 1.)  Use Facebook/Twitter (assuming you are a user) to get word out.  Include your medical status, building name, and/or GPS location.  Don't waste battery trying to phone anyone other than police unless things are dire - the phone network is likely jammed for at least an hour.  The data network stayed up in Christchurch. 2.)  Set your phone's Bluetooth to discoverable (no timeout), and your device ID to "SOS trapped 'building name' 'medical status' If your battery is low, switch off your phone and leave on for five minutes an hour. A USAR team or members of the public (if this catches on) would be able to scan for Bluetooth devices and use the RSSI signal strength to triangulate and locate you.  Rescuers that pick up a signal like this can pair phones and communicate over Bluetooth.       anon These are truly some great ideas that everyone should consider and practice.  They could easily save lives. We hope this catches on.

Dear 2600: Hypothetical and for educational purposes only.  Suppose I have permission to try and hack a Gmail account.  I have that willing person's Gmail address.  I will use some of the brute-force tools on a laptop to target the email address.  Here are my questions: 1)  How do I avoid the laptop giving away its Wi-Fi card signature - or do I care, just use it and replace with a MXM type upgrade? 2)  Should I buy a laptop online for this purpose or does this have pitfalls as now there is a record of who gets the laptop? 3)  Should I buy a laptop on Craigslist where it is a cash transaction and already registered to another, use cash, and an intermediary? 4)  Should I use an open Wi-Fi from a cafe to run programs against the target, then, once done, shut down and trash the Wi-Fi card, hard drive, or entire laptop?  I guess here the question is, what other digital signature does a laptop give for tracing? 5)  How will the Gmail service record this test? 6)  Do we know of any internal hardware of the laptop that sends out signatures that can identify that laptop, thus making the cash purchase a wise choice. 7)  How should I download an OS like Linux?  Should I use a CD?  Does downloading that OS generate signatures specific to the place, IP, Internet provider, connection, etc.?  Should I use a different medium to grab the OS to disk and then manually load it to the new laptop? Besides sitting in an area where a person will not be seen, using an open Wi-Fi connection and a laptop bought using cash with no identification given to the seller, what other ways can a signature be traced?  It seems almost impossible to do this without something tracing back to the person who is testing the tool on the account. Thanks for your anticipated and learned response.       dILLHole And you say you all of these precautions would be used when you already had permission to hack this Gmail account?  We can only wonder how many questions you'd have if you didn't have permission!  First of all, it's a damn Gmail account, not root at WOPR.  It's very unlikely anyone will even notice, unless you actually get in and do something that draws attention.  (Just getting in itself might be noticeable, as successful logins are visible to the user.  Gmail, however, doesn't allow users to see unsuccessful attempts and it has no limit on how many times someone can try to login, making brute-force attacks possible.) If you are, in fact, trying to get into something really sensitive, you're asking a lot of good questions.  The one thing to remember is that if powerful people really want to find you, they will.  That's why calling attention to yourself in any way would be a bad idea.  Even trying to protect your identity could raise suspicions if done improperly.  Paying cash and not identifying yourself is smart, but will be remembered by someone you buy a laptop from, which could come back to haunt you if there's some sort of investigation.  You can easily get lost in the noise if you don't do too much at once, draw attention to yourself, or act in a predictable manner.  That means don't act like everyone else, but also don't act the same way as yourself each time you do something, as that makes it easier to find you if you act in a unique way.  Keep in mind also that any time you do something in a public space, there's likely a video of you being stored someplace which could easily be called up if an inquiry ensues. Those of you reading this in horror thinking that we're plotting all sorts of crimes should consider learning how to think in this manner.  Knowing how and when you could be identified is always something to be aware of.  The day may come in some part of the world where such knowledge can save your life.  And, if that day doesn't arrive, there is never any harm in learning how the massive brain of surveillance works.

Horror Story from Hell

Dear 2600: I'd like to ask for advice with a problem that nobody else has been able to fix in more than a year and a half: how to remove a rootkit that stores self-extracting copies of itself in the hard drive, memory RAM disks, and BIOS? You cannot load/install/run anything from the optical drive because the system loads a "virtual CD on the hard drive" instead.  USB drives are either blocked or bypassed as well, since the hardware interrupts and system calls are changed at every reboot (using ACPI, among other things).  As a result, the OS "thinks" there are twice as many USB drives as there really are, the CD/DVD drive becomes a "partition" of the hard disk, and everything else, including power supply, appears different from what it really is. You cannot access the Internet because the malware changes the network settings.  That blocks access to any and all online virus removal tools.  Downloading the latter (or rescue CDs, or BIOS editors) somewhere else is pointless, because then it has to be saved on media of some kind - which the infected computer will not read or load. Any attempt to reinstall the OS (Windows, Linux, or DOS) will load the malware version of the corresponding operating system.  In the case of Windows, it looks like some kind of a stripped-down Windows NT 2008 Server running nothing but BitTorrent, which I have no control over.  (Well, can remove all the wireless network cards and never plug in the Ethernet cable, but that's all.)  Instead of Linux of any flavor - I've tried more than I can remember: Ubuntu, openSUSE, Fedora, PCLinuxOS, etc. - I get the same thing named ISOLINUX.  Among other things, it changes all disk drives from "directories" into write-protected bitstreams.  The DOS part I found last, when I tried to load FreeDOS.  That worked once, so I used DEBUG to reset the CMOS: -o 70 FF -o 71 2E -q This corrupts the checksum-protected area of CMOS, forcing it to reset.  That was the most useful suggestion I have found on the Internet so far, and it came from Wikipedia.  Every technical article, blog, or forum on the topic of flashing BIOS and/or rootkit removal comes down to "go to this website, download this great tool, and run it" - from the OS or by booting from a disk.  This totally does not work if the OS is infected (actually, replaced by something that only looks like it) and nothing can be read from a disk of any kind. There is an exception, and this is how I was able to use DEBUG from FreeDOS to begin with: the system would boot from a CD that it had never encountered before, but only once.  Some of the Linux distros and this FreeDOS CD I had burned at a library computer did load one time.  However, the rootkit has a utility that reads the ID off every optical disk, records it, and never lets it run again.  I have seen the program that does that while digging through the files in the "ISOLINUX" in search of a way to break into my own computer.  Besides storing the info that would recognize the disk in the future, it also copies and modifies the file that runs at the startup.  So the next time the CD is used, it shows a menu that looks similar to the original, but the option selected will either do nothing or... load the malware. When I used DEBUG as described above and the message that CMOS had been reset appeared on the screen, that was the first hope I had in a very long time.  I restarted the computer and, when it came back on, there were 26 RAM drives - one for each letter of the English alphabet - present in the system, each with a corrupted version of FreeDOS and a bunch of directories filled with duplicate reinstall-on-deletion files - exactly like what I'd seen happen to Windows much earlier. The AUTOEXEC.BAT (one of them, anyway) had pages and pages of simple "FOR" and "CASE" blocks writing the same things into 26 different locations.  It also had a comment: "Dear Life, When I said 'How things could possibly get any worse?' that was not meant as a challenge." That was yesterday.  It is the second half of September 2013 now.  The way this started: sometime in March of last year, I noticed that my computer was running something I had not installed.  I removed it.  When it reappeared, I removed it again.  And again.  Then Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel of Windows stopped working, I manually deleted the files that weren't supposed to be there. I was going to grad school online, so I needed to turn in homework at least twice a week - over the Internet - so there was no time to take the computer somewhere and wait until it was fixed.  I could only count on myself.  And since I had not worked in years because of a disability, nor left home much for that matter, I did not have a whole lot of other places to use a computer. So I ran System Restore, closed the ports that weren't supposed to be opened, installed a firewall beyond the one in Windows, got a new security software package, and deleted what I didn't absolutely need.  It worked.  For a few days, I stopped whoever had turned my computer into a bot from breaking back in. Apparently, I also made them very angry.  When he (she, it) got back in, everything on the hard drive was wiped out and I had something less than a dumb terminal: a chunk of metal and plastic that was using my Internet connection to run the BitTorrent and media streaming while I could not go online. I have no idea how much money I spent on "computer repair" at different places over the next few months.  They all did the same thing: formatted the disk, reinstalled the OS, charged me around $100, and got angry when I told them the computer stopped working within two hours after I booted it up.  A lot of people ask me why I didn't buy a new computer.  I did.  I bought six new computers.  I returned four and got stuck with the other two, in addition to my old laptop.  Every single one of them was hijacked as soon as I went online.  Well, two hours after, since that's how long it takes to incrementally wipe out the original OS and replace it with that BitTorrent-R-Us. The one time I borrowed a friend's computer to turn in the damn homework, it got hijacked, too.  She had an ancient Dell laptop with Windows XP and dial-up Internet.  Two hours after I dialed up, it was exactly like mine.  Apparently, "no one has ever heard of anything like it." Hijacking my computer - and any other I tried to get - hit my life worse than if my house burned down.  Actually, a fire, a bad car accident, an assault, and a robbery all put together would not be half as bad as what I've been going through.       Morgan This is a nightmare scenario like none we've ever seen.  We'll throw this out to our readers to see if anyone hits some suggestions.  Perhaps the instigator is out there somewhere too and can chime in.  This sounds like something out of a movie (and, if nothing else, you should get the rights to it, as it's an incredible story) and we can only wonder what would happen if such a scenario played out within a school, corporation, or government system.  Regardless of how this develops, you (and anyone involved in some sort of technological craziness like this) need to tell your story, keep a good sense of humor, and not give up, hard as that may be. Technological advances are terrific, but they can also crumble for unknown reasons and we'll crumble right along with them if we have no life outside of that world.  There always needs to be a backup method of accomplishing a task should every bit of technology suddenly stop working.  And it doesn't hurt to possess a rudimentary understanding of the technology itself, so you can analyze what's taking place.  You seem to have that part of it covered. We found one thing to be particularly interesting in this horror tale.  The fact that multiple computers were infected rather quickly tells us that there's something about the setup that's lending itself to this.  This could be a valuable clue as to the source.  What did all of these computers have in common, other than being in your possession?  Did they all connect to the net in the same method?  Was the same web page visited on each of them?  Whatever it is that links these machines together is likely the gateway to the evil that has visited you.

Future Plans

Dear 2600: I first got to know about your magazine in the early 1990s while I lived in the United States.  Since then, I moved abroad and I missed reading the printed version of your magazine dearly for a few years since I left, but to my surprise I found that I can purchase individual copies of the current publications in the Kindle format from Amazon.com and, to say the least, I am thrilled.  I was also excited about your digests that included older publications that I have missed.  I still have fun reading the older publications and the old emails that you used to get (from the book Dear Hacker) and ponder about the great strides and advances in technology from those days till today.  Please keep up the good work that you have always done.  I hope that all the older publications can be found in the Kindle format for purchase soon, and I look forward to getting all the upcoming editions.  I hope one day I can purchase the printed edition as well.  Thanks for a great publication that, in my humble opinion, is timeless and a classic publication.       Sam Thanks for the kind words.  We certainly do want to digitize our entire back catalog, but this is by no means a trivial endeavor.  As is the case far too frequently in the digital world, the systems we initially used for those early issues were allowed to become obsolete and the digital files have long since become incompatible and ultimately nonexistent.  So the scanning, OCRing, proofreading, and layout actually are more work than putting out brand new issues.  This is why it takes the time that it does and why it's so important that people support these efforts by buying the digests as they become available, as this is a tremendous investment, but one that is necessary if we are to preserve our history.

Appreciation

Dear 2600: I wanted to write you and say how much I appreciate 2600.  I have always been interested in computers.  My first computer was a Tandy.  Thinking back, it is kind of funny how excited I was over a 300 baud modem.  I always figured I would work with computers either in IT or as a programmer, but for one reason or another life happens.  For the last 12 years, I have been studying chemistry, which could possibly be considered a form of hacking in the loosest sense of the word.  However, my interest in computers never waned and I always had 2600 to keep my interest satiated.  Just recently, my boss informed me that the IT supervisor was retiring and, knowing my interest, asked if I would like to take his place.  The only obstacle that stood in my way was the CompTIA Security+ exam.  In preparing for the exam, I was surprised that I had a pretty good foundation just from reading 2600.  In short, I passed and I am very excited to finally work in IT.  I owe a big part of that to you; thank you.       Gazza It's letters like these that keep us going as well, so thanks for that.

Dear 2600: I just wanted to thank you guys (and the author!) for publishing the article "Dev'ing an OS" by Shikhin Sethi in 30:1.  This kind of low-level technical content is exactly why I got my lifetime subscription many years ago! The article provided, in my opinion, the perfect level of detail and explanation to pique a reader's interest.  It also managed to avoid turning into a dry textbook-like introduction.  Thanks so much for publishing articles of this type and quality - I feel a proper understanding of the systems around us really requires familiarity with its lowest-level components and processes. Great work, and keep it up!       Ian

Dear 2600: I'm sorry it took so long to get around to this.  I am an on-call tech and sometimes work a ridiculous schedule.  But today is a chance to catch up on things.  I very much appreciate the calendar even though it does not actually get used for reference on a daily basis.  The quality of physical production, photography, and topics/captioning make them collectible as far as I am concerned.  And I find all of the historical references extremely interesting.  Perhaps someday I can be of use/service to you and several other worthy organizations I try and support, but for now all I can do is collect a few bucks here and there for contributions to the "tip jar" in appreciation for your efforts.  A couple of weeks ago, I did manage to pass my exams and am now Amateur Extra AC2LS.  Haven't had a ham license in almost 20 years and am dying to get back on the air, but for the present time I am all dressed up with no place to go.  Have a pile of equipment to select from and lots of space for a great antenna, but no time to set something up yet.  Hope to do so before the cold sets in.  Please keep up the great work and stay optimistic!  I'm trying to.       J.

Dear 2600: After reading "U-verse Networking" by Uriah Christensen in 30:3, I have to say it is the best article I've seen in 2600 in a while that explains some real life, actual benefits of hacking.  This is a must read for all IT or networking personnel.  Even I learned something and I've been networking and programming since 1993.  This is just another example of nicely written, informative, and useful articles we can expect from the 2600 crowd to keep our thirst for knowledge quenched.  Keep 'em coming, everyone!       RAMGarden

Dear 2600: This is an amends letter.  I stole 2600 when I was very down and out.  I am sending what is the beginning of paying you back.  I am sorry.  I promise to repay the debt.  And, not to justify, but reading 2600 did offer me quite a bit of comfort.  Thanks and sorry. P.S. You guys rock.       Anonymous This is a really nice gesture (we've now received two envelopes with $50 each), but we don't want people to feel guilty for such misdeeds of the past.  For anyone out there torturing themselves because you shoplifted our magazine in the past, getting a lifetime subscription would help alleviate the pain since it's the same amount you would have paid had you gotten it in the past, and you would have received the stolen issues anyway as part of the deal.  We always appreciate honesty, even when it's delayed.

Digital Divide

Dear 2600: I had a letter published a year or so ago about the disappearing Kindle issues.  I can't say which issue it was published in because, again, I have lost all of my back issues.  I can back up John's letter in the Autumn issue 100 percent.  I could have written that letter nearly word for word. The credit card associated with my Kindle account expired.  I wasn't aware of that until I received an email from them.  By that time, it was too late.  I had lost all of my back issues again.  I called them and asked for my back issues to be reinstated.  I was told that there was nothing that they could do.  The Amazon rep was very nice, so I tried to reason with her.  I put it this way.  If my credit card had expired while I was receiving my magazine in the mail, would you be able to walk into my house and take them off of my coffee table?  No?  O.K., so how can you go into my tablet or phone and take back the electronic copies?  I own them and I want them back.  I don't care if the credit card expired.  The magazines were paid for and they were mine to keep as long as I wanted to. I was offered a refund, just as John was.  I was a little stubborn.  I told her that I didn't want that.  I paid for those magazines, just as I would have if I had bought them in a store.  They were my property and I wanted them back.  I explained that I was really concerned and worried about buying anything from Amazon at this point.  I asked her how I could be sure that they wouldn't go into my tablet and start taking back books that I had purchased.  I asked to talk to a supervisor.  I couldn't understand why they couldn't just send me copies of back issues for free since they do sell them on the site, but no, they wouldn't do that either.  On my next credit card statement, there was an entire page of $1.00 credits. Clicking "Keep this issue" doesn't work if your credit card expires or the number changes and you don't change it on your Kindle account before they try to bill you for the month.  If they are unable to bill your credit card for any reason, all of your issues disappear.  If, for some reason, you decide to not continue with your subscription, all of your issues disappear.  This was not a mistake on the part of the rep that John spoke with.  The supervisor explained to me that it is their policy.  I told them that they were wrong and explained again that they couldn't take back printed magazines from my house.  I know that we are paying less for the Kindle subscription, but it doesn't have to be printed and shipped to a store either. I'm going to try to back up my magazines with Calibre.  I live in a really tiny house and, if it weren't for Kindle, there would be so many books in this place I wouldn't be able to move.  I hope that this can be straightened out because I love the convenience and the extra storage space.       June This bothers us as much as anybody because when they give you that refund, it's really us that's giving it to you without even being asked.  This really sounds like some kind of programming deficiency because the policy makes no sense whatsoever.  We will continue to get on their case about fixing this.  Hopefully, we'll get somewhere.

Dear 2600: Tried to find you browsing in the Barnes & Noble store on my Nook but couldn't find you under any categories including technology and computing or whatever they had.  Found you at bn.com, though.  Just thought I'd mention it.  Some people less persistent than I might have given up.       Jotae Every outlet where we're available poses its own challenges.  Thanks for letting us know about this one.  We will investigate.

HOPE-X Tickets

Dear 2600: I was wondering why, when I had tickets in my cart, put my credit card info through (took me less than one minute), and then hit submit, I was told that this item was no longer available.  You need a better system of how this is done.  If they are in your cart, someone else should not be able to purchase them out from under you.  This whole race for tickets is the reason we stopped going to ShmooCon.       Lynne First off, this wasn't our whole ticket batch, but a small number of half-priced tickets.  When there's a limited number, not everyone is going to get them.  We had a huge amount of people competing for this and the entire batch was gone in just over a minute.  If you didn't get our second batch at a slightly higher price, then there's our far more mellow preregistration process, which is open now.  It's still cheaper than the door price and far cheaper than any other conference of its caliber.  We did discover a little trick, which we'll share here.  When limited items are made available, the challenge is getting all the way through the process before others do.  That means selecting your item(s), entering your name and address, and finally putting in your credit card info.  It's that final button click that determines whether or not you made it in time.  But if you're already in the process of placing an order at the moment when the limited availability item becomes available and have already entered your name and address, you can simply hit the "keep shopping" button (or even the "back" button on your browser), select your new item, and quickly check out, having already entered most of your info.  We're not trying to get you to buy more stuff as a means of getting things that are highly sought after.  But it would be a nice way of thanking us for sharing this little tip.

Dear 2600: Hey!  Will there be more tickets for sale because I missed the half price sale?  I sure hope so.  It will be my first HOPE event.       Ether 9ine Yes, tickets should be available as you read this at x.hope.net.  We do encourage people to get them early, as it gives us more money to work with to pay for the conference and there's also the slight chance that somebody really famous will tweet about it and have us sell out the whole place immediately.

Dear 2600: The time of the sale is unfair for me who is at work at that time with no Internet access.  Is it possible to make the sale later in the evening or on the weekend when most people are available, please?  Thank you HOPE in advance!       Greg We did weekend sales for HOPE Number Nine and had the same complaints from people who weren't around then.  Eventually, we'll do a 3:00 am sale so night owls will stop being angry at us.