Comments on: Autism and the Hacker Manifesto http://www.shiftjournal.com/2010/01/22/autism-and-the-hacker-manifesto/ Neurodiversity: autism and Asperger considered in light of social and evolutionary changes; "autistic" explored as a legitimate way of being in the world. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:37:56 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Mark Stairwalt http://www.shiftjournal.com/2010/01/22/autism-and-the-hacker-manifesto/comment-page-1/#comment-173 Mark Stairwalt Sat, 23 Jan 2010 18:03:45 +0000 http://www.shiftjournal.com/?p=1190#comment-173 Thanks again abfh for filling in some gaps; I didn't feel I had the space to tackle the uses and misuses of the word hacker, but ReadWriteWeb had an excellent thread on it not long ago, Since When Is "Hacker" a Bad Word? "... by and large, the hackers I've known and loved have gone on to have brilliant careers in infosec, network administration and even startup-building and application programming. Does the word hacker need a PR facelift? Do we need to educate folks in the real world about what a hacker is and does?" http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/open_thread_since_when_is_hacker_a_bad_word.php Thanks again abfh for filling in some gaps; I didn’t feel I had the space to tackle the uses and misuses of the word hacker, but ReadWriteWeb had an excellent thread on it not long ago, Since When Is “Hacker” a Bad Word?

“… by and large, the hackers I’ve known and loved have gone on to have brilliant careers in infosec, network administration and even startup-building and application programming. Does the word hacker need a PR facelift? Do we need to educate folks in the real world about what a hacker is and does?”

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/open_thread_since_when_is_hacker_a_bad_word.php

]]> By: abfh http://www.shiftjournal.com/2010/01/22/autism-and-the-hacker-manifesto/comment-page-1/#comment-170 abfh Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:11:22 +0000 http://www.shiftjournal.com/?p=1190#comment-170 The Hacker Manifesto is somewhat outdated, in that it was written at a time when online access was metered by the minute and the criminal status of hackers came from (in most cases) finding creative ways to avoid being billed for their extensive computer usage. As you accurately point out, society is just as afraid of disruption now as it was in those days. Today we have unlimited Internet access for a relatively small monthly fee, but those who feel driven to spend long hours online learning about our world still are treated as dangerous outcasts by way of new diagnostic categories and autism stereotypes, even though no crimes are being committed. Mainstream society still refuses to recognize the legitimacy of our way of life. The Hacker Manifesto is somewhat outdated, in that it was written at a time when online access was metered by the minute and the criminal status of hackers came from (in most cases) finding creative ways to avoid being billed for their extensive computer usage.

As you accurately point out, society is just as afraid of disruption now as it was in those days. Today we have unlimited Internet access for a relatively small monthly fee, but those who feel driven to spend long hours online learning about our world still are treated as dangerous outcasts by way of new diagnostic categories and autism stereotypes, even though no crimes are being committed. Mainstream society still refuses to recognize the legitimacy of our way of life.

]]>