Late Start

I can't say when I became a hacker. No true hacker can look on a calendar and say, "That's the day when I decided to become a nerd that was more turned on by IP tables instead of women." Being a hacker, so I'm told, is about the mentality more than the actual act of hacking. Its like a true artist. They are just born that way. Also, there are lots of people that think that they are artists, but only a few that truly are. Now, in the art world, its not how popular that determines if you are an artist, but rather your acceptance by the community at large. The same if true for hackers. There are dozens of copy-cat hackers that claim to be "hackers", but are shunned by the community at large. Most of these are called Script-Kiddies, Crackers (not to be confused with a CRYPTANALYST, who breaks codes), and any number of genital insulting names that the community comes up with.

I didn't know that I was a hacker until another hacker came along and told me. I at most thought hackers were kewl, but I labeled myself as a computer enthusiast or a coder or nerd. Then I met a friend, now my Mentor, who I hadn't seen since Jr. High. He was networker for a company in town and a student of one of the colleges. We got to talking, and it didn't take long for us to realize that we had similar interests. With out asking, he took me under his wing and started teaching me about hackers. He didn't throw me programs or hacking how-tos, but rather ideas and encouraging discussions. Pretty soon I had taken my first step into the Hacker's Realm.

I will say, I might have started becoming a hacker soon, back in high school, if not for two reasons - my willpower, and my parents. Back in school I was an unmotivated individual when it came to anything except my three loves - gaming, reading and writing. I liked computers well enough and did lots of programing, but when you get limited in resources you tend to loose hope. My parents weren't the greatest encouragement. They saw my miss guided love of computers (through video games) as nothing more than a video game addiction. If they had just pushed me into computers more, then I might have moved faster. I did know that I was different when it came to computers - I broke every Internet filter my dad put on the computer, and I could fix most windows problems without a second try. I even setup our wireless without asking for help. But I could have gone farther.

Now that I'm out into the bigger pond of the world. I realize how far behind I really am. But thankfully I have my Mentor, and the community to help me catch up. Still, I look upon my early years as miss guided laziness - Time I'll never be able to claim again.
--The Student



You build atomic bombs, you wage wars, you murder, cheat, and lie to us and try to make us believe it's for our own good, yet we're the criminals. -- The Mentor