Letters: PEER REVIEW

Being Published

Dear 2600: Thank you for selecting my article, and thanks for the feedback.  I knew I'd have to wait patiently, as I realized the "bad timing" of my submission when an issue arrived in the mail the next day! My article was written solely for 2600, so it will not appear anywhere else, nor will I even mention it (not that anyone's asking) until after you publish it. I'll never forget that day (back in the mid-1980s), when a guy in my programming class handed me a copy of 2600, and said "I think you'll like this."       Jim We treat our deadlines much like a city's subway system.  If you miss one, another will be along shortly.  There's no need to stress out over getting an article in by a particular date.  What matters is that you make your article interesting enough to be readable weeks, months, even years into the future.  That's one of the unique things about being published here - people who aren't even born yet will be reading what you've written many years from now and learning from it.  It's what makes the hacking world so incredible.

Dear 2600: Are you interested in coverage of the 2015 BSides Delaware conference?  I have submitted a version of this to [redacted] and can write a different version for 2600.  Please let me know.       R Unless something truly incredible happened that would be of interest to hackers, this isn't really our thing.  Of course, there probably isn't an event or place on earth that doesn't contain something that hackers would find interesting, but if we're just talking about straight news coverage here, that's not our purpose.

Dear 2600: I'm interested in submitting a short story to your magazine.  What kind of rights would you hold as publisher? I've been assured by a subscriber that the story would find a loving audience through you.       M.E. Any story or piece submitted to us remains the property of the writer.  Obviously, it will be printed in our publication, as well as in future digests or compilations that contain material from our issues.  But you're free to sell it, post it online, or spray paint it onto walls if you so choose.  We look forward to seeing what you have to submit.

Dear 2600: I'd like to make a submission for the magazine.  I know you don't take articles from non-subscribers and, while I am a subscriber, I only get the Kindle version.  Not sure if that counts, but here's the article.  Let me know.       Keith Hold on a moment!  Where has it ever been said that we don't take articles from non-subscribers?  You may have that confused with marketplace ads.  Anyone is free to write articles (and letters ) to us, regardless of how or if they read us.  Kindle subscribers are every bit as important to us as paper subscribers, so please don't feel like you're second class in any way.

Dear 2600: We never communicated before, but I would like to establish contact with you and your magazine.  Perhaps you will be interested in news my company has. I represent an IT company developing great applications to quickly recover passwords using video card capabilities.  We finished massive update of our products. Could you tell how can we publish our press release in your magazine to tell your readers about news we have? If this inquiry is out of your competence, we will be grateful to you if you forward this letter to a responsible person.       Denis We are plenty competent to deal with this inquiry, so let us do so here.  The only way we will print someone's press release in these pages is if we are mocking it.  Be glad we managed to restrain ourselves this time.  We are not a tool for marketing products.  However, we have been known to print articles that are attached to projects an author is involved in.  If it's something that hackers would find useful, we have no problem doing this.  Usually, the responses and critiques this generates prove helpful to whatever is being developed.  This kind of thing doesn't generally work for an existing company, though, and attempts to promote products in this way are very easily seen through.

Dear 2600: I was told that two of the payphone images I submitted will be printed in the upcoming issue of 2600.  I tried to find them in your payphone image gallery.  Why aren't they there?       Fred That's a very good question.  It has always been our great desire to have all of the payphone photos we've ever been sent appearing in that section of our website.  It's purely a time issue and, over the course of more than a decade, not one of us has had enough time to give this project the attention it deserves.  Perhaps with some renewed interest, we can figure out a way to get this done.

Dear 2600: I am submitting the attached article for submission.  If there are any editorial comments, please send it back to me for resubmission.  https://drive.google.com/file/...       Maxie Yeah, that's not going to work for us.  In order to submit an article to us, you have to actually send it in, not direct us to go somewhere else to retrieve it.  The address is articles@2600.com - we'll be waiting by the inbox.

Dear 2600: Some months ago, I received a message saying that my article was accepted and it was being edited, but now with two released issues my article has not shown up.  Should I wait before trying to use it in another place?       R Yes, please give it at least one more issue.  Sometimes we get a bit swamped and we're always trying to place articles properly, which occasionally means using them in a later issue to make way for something more time sensitive or which fits the subject matter of the current issue better.  Please keep the articles coming in as an excess of good material is a nice problem to have.

Help!

Dear 2600: I desperately need someone with advanced hacker skills who could help not only locate my stolen cell phone via GPRS, but in addition can also retrieve information stored on it as well.  My cell phone is a brand new iPhone 6s (American version).  If you or someone that you know is interested, please let me know at your earliest convenience.  I am willing to pay good money.  Thanks in advance.       Phil We're not in the business of doing this sort of thing, but we're certain that some of our readers would be able to help with clever suggestions.  This is what our marketplace ads are perfectly suited for.  For future reference, and because it appears you didn't do this, you should enable a feature Apple offers called "Find My iPhone" on your next phone.  This will help you do precisely what you're trying to do now in the event your phone is lost or stolen.  (Be sure to attach a PIN to this feature so that future thieves don't simply disable it.)  As with any feature, this is not foolproof and inaccurate info is often given out.  But it's a start, at least.  Even without "Find My iPhone," you can still retrieve and secure your data if it's stored in iCloud.  Regardless, we suggest you contact Apple to help you track down and/or disable your phone using its serial number.  Good luck.

Dear 2600: Is anything funky going on?  Downloads on your website are like really dogging, and streams are cutting off from the past two Off The Hook shows.  Looks like dial-up speed all day long.       Nanjemoy This is what has happened over the course of the past couple of years.  We expanded our radio show archive to include high-fidelity 128k streams and MP3s, which was a vast improvement over the 16k we had been offering previously.  But this created a huge demand for the shows and resulted in our bandwidth being capped, especially right after new shows were posted.  This meant that people like you were hit with long delays and slow speeds.  We could have gotten a faster connection, but we couldn't justify doubling that expense simply because we were giving away more material for free.  We opened up a torrent connection to help address this, but that didn't solve the entire problem. Fast-forward to this past December, when some wanker somewhere decided to take down our site with a Distributed Denial-of-Service attack.  Rather than help us to address this by tracing and filtering, our provider tried to sell us on a protection racket that, for a phenomenal cost, would help prevent this sort of thing from happening.  We didn't particularly care for that. So, as we have done so often in the past, we went to the Internet where many of our readers and supporters reside and explained what we were going through.  Solutions poured in.  And now, as a result, we have a new connection that is ten times as fast for half of what we were paying.  We're better prepared to deal with future wankers who want to silence us.  We have a much healthier relationship with our provider.  And the bottlenecks have largely disappeared. We seriously want to thank the people who attacked us.  Every time somebody does that, we wind up getting a little stronger and learning just how many friends we have out there.  Those friends are truly how we're able to keep doing what we do and we're honored to be able to share all of this with them.

Dear 2600: I think I was signed up, but for some reason have stopped getting the magazine.  Did my subscription run out?       Michael We are a vast, sprawling enterprise and those who are in the letter reply division really have no idea how subscriptions work.  What we did do, however, was forward your inquiry over to the subscription department.  For future reference, the people at subs@2600.com are well equipped to answer your subscription inquiries.  Also, your expiration date is printed clearly on your envelope, so pay attention to that as well.

Dear 2600: I believe to have in my possession a Blue Box.  Any light that can be shed on its origins would be greatly appreciated.       Jim Well, you do indeed have a blue box, insofar as you have a box that is blue (readers will simply have to trust us on that).  And, it's even a blue box that has something to do with telecommunications.  But it is not a bona fide Blue Box, if that's what you suspect.  Such an item would have been useful to phone phreaks of the past for exploring the old Bell System and making free phone calls using the special multifrequency (MF) tones it generated.  Today, tones are no longer sent down the voice path (what used to be known as in-band signaling), the same tones aren't even used in out-of-band signaling, and the Bell System as we once knew it just isn't the same anymore.  Plus, it's pretty standard for long distance phone calls to be free these days. Still, those old Blue Boxes are highly sought after for sentimental reasons.  But, again, that's not what you have here.  What you've got is a really primitive RadioShack answering machine remote.  This predates Touch-Tone input for answering machines, which gives you an idea of how old it is.  Instead of entering tones, you would simply hold this device up to your mouthpiece and, by pressing one of three buttons, you would control your answering machine while on the road - "control" meaning you could play a message, rewind one message, or rewind the tape.  This used to be considered high-tech back in the day and it was a pretty big deal.  And it would still work if you could track down the corresponding answering machine.  It probably also was more secure than the systems we use today unless, of course, you lost the remote.  We suggest hanging on to this (or sending it to us) as it s a pretty damn cool artifact of technology that once was. RadioShack DUōFONE TAD-112C      RadioShack DUōFONE TAD-312

Dear 2600: Hello, I will be brief.  I am seeking assistance in developing two TV stations broadcasting from an unknown location in the U.S.  Do you have any advice?  I seek funding and know-how and everything from the ground up.  Additionally, I am on welfare (unfortunately), so I am vulnerable and defenseless and broke.       stupedestrian Well, we admire your spirit in taking on this project, which no doubt will be a challenge.  We're not clear if these are low-powered TV stations which you have a license for or pirate stations that you're beginning on your own.  (We're going to assume we're not talking about high-powered commercial transmitters here.) Since the cut-over to digital television signals, starting a pirate station is quite a bit harder than it was before - and it wasn't all that easy then.  This is one reason why pirate radio stations are so much more common.  With digital television, you would have to insert an unauthorized channel into an authorized multiplex or somehow get your own pirate TV digital multiplex.  Even then, getting digital televisions to re-tune and find your unauthorized channel would be difficult.  It's simply no longer as basic as flipping on a transmitter and broadcasting to an unused channel. Now, if in fact you're working on a licensed station, it's still a major challenge, but at least there's the chance of getting some help through grants, volunteers, equipment donations, and the like.  You cannot do this alone, however, so be sure to involve as many people as you can find who share your interests. Perhaps the best advice we can offer is to first come up with some unique and interesting content before trying to start an actual station.  These are each full time jobs and they will both suffer if yo u try to take on too much.  If you come up with something really compelling that could develop an audience, you're that much closer to finding enthusiastic people who will help make that possible.

Dear 2600: I am currently trying to determine the best way or "a way" to enjoy the Off The Hook radio show on my Android or iPod device.  I have in the past used the 2600 radio app that was made available through the Google Play store and also downloaded the show off of iTunes.  I am open to any suggestions.  I will reread the help section and try to get this issue solved.  Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.       Jason We'd like to know more about this "2600 radio app," as we never created such a thing.  (It does sound like a good idea, however, if any app developers want to collaborate on such a project.)  We're big fans of the TuneIn app (apart from the ads they bombard you with), especially if you're trying to listen live.  This app allows you to literally tune in to almost any radio station in the world through your various devices.  There's no better way to learn about a place than to listen to their local radio stations.  And, in our case, it's another way that people can easily hear our programs.  We'd like to learn of others.

Dear 2600: I am looking for an individual that can trace a series of TV shows from 2002 to 2003.  Do you know of anyone that might help me or may know someone that could help my cause?  I would be very grateful if you could pass any information that would help us in our quest for World Peace.       Thomas Let's see if we've got this.  You're saying that finding certain television programs from 2002 and 2003 is somehow going to help us achieve world peace?  We'd sure like to know what shows those are.  Tracing TV shows really isn't the most difficult thing in the world, unless it's something hyper-local that was only seen on a public access channel that long ago.  (And even then, it's likely that tapes exist at that channel's offices.)  So please tell us what specific shows you're looking for that will help save the planet and we'll tell you where to find them.  Unless it's something like Extreme Makeover, in which case you're on your own.

Observations

Dear 2600: I'm tired of people saying that hacking is a benign activity.  Hacking can kill!  The Muskegon Chronicle reports that a man was sentenced to life in prison for hacking his grandfather.  Hacking him to death!  Perhaps it was lack of sophistication on the part of the hacker.  If he had used the appropriate screwdriver and a soldering iron instead of a hatchet, the results might not have been fatal.       D1vr0c It's always been our position that hacking is not in itself a crime.  This may be an exception.

Dear 2600: I'm still trying to figure out all the stuff going on with your recent magazine covers, but the only thing I know for sure is that "latitude" is misspelled. I always love to read the magazine and appreciate the (normally) impeccable editing.  Keep up the great work! P.S.  I also catch Off The Hook via TuneIn Radio as often as possible.  Thanks for that, too.       Mark       Robbinsdale, MN You don't think we would misspell a word for an entire year by accident, do you?  That would be pretty pathetic!  No, we had our reasons.  In fact, if anyone would like to try and guess what those reasons were, please write in.  We'll be sure to share the correct answer here if somebody guesses it.

Dear 2600: Just wanted to say thanks for putting out something worth reading.  I picked up a 2600 quarterly a while back and have been hooked ever since.  I love reading all the articles about history and what people have seen or done.  I plan on writing one of my own soon.  But mostly, I enjoy the feeling I get when reading 2600.  I feel like I belong.  I'm not as young as I used to be, and it sometimes feels like the only "hackers" are younger people.  Rest assured, many of us old timers still are with you.  As long as the hacker community can stay just that - a community - then only good things can come of it.  So once again, thank you for making a magazine where everyone of all ages can feel right at home.       k0k0mo The hacker community is indeed ageless.  The perception that it's only a particular demographic is mostly put forth by those trying to sell to that demographic or those who haven't actually explored the true hacker world.  The good part of this is that it's never too late to learn.

Dear 2600: Hola hola!  It has been some time since I've read your wonderful magazine and it is always a delight to read.  I picked up a t-shirt and a hat from your store.  I wear the hat all the time and the shirt is great too!  I wish 2600 the best in the coming new year!       nuclear.decay Welcome back!  We're always being rediscovered by people and we have to wonder how they lost touch in the first place.  The most common reason seems to be trouble finding us at newsstands or in bookstores that have stopped existing.  It's sad to see this trend in publishing, especially when our readers are still actively seeking us out.  The solution is to subscribe and not risk falling out of touch due to mainstream trends.

Dear 2600: Thumbs up for the Mr. Robot article in 32:3.  I was 10 or 12 when Whiz Kids was on the air.  At that time, our world was very different.  Technology was very expensive and only accessible by a few people.  Watching this TV show in 1984 was, for a lot of us, the only way to start to understand the future that was coming without having the opportunity to get in touch with new technologies. Thirty-two years later, Mr. Robot is taking a place that was empty among TV series in a world where technology is everywhere.  This present, where Mr. Robot exists, wouldn't exist without the hacker community that builds bridges and brings down walls.       P While it's mostly laughable by today's standards, Whiz Kids is worth a watch if you can track it down.  They did seem to get the spirit right, even if the tech was often lacking.  There have been so many television programs over the years that have portrayed hacking in a terribly inaccurate manner with pretty much no understanding at all of the technologies involved.  We'd like to hear from our readers concerning the worst and the best that they've encountered.  Each category deserves some recognition.

Dear 2600: I recently read your article about "rewriting history" (32:4).  It described technical aspects of the Internet Archive and seemed to raise concerns about retroactive manipulation of archives, as in George Orwell's 1984. Such a politically motivated "rewriting" of Internet Archive documents occurred in England a few years ago.  In 2013, the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom deleted an entire decade's worth of speeches from its public website.  (Community Note:  Actually, they just moved to the online British Library Archive) I hope this may prove to be informative.       blockeduser That was indeed a remarkably bad thing for them to do.  The fact that they even managed to block access to the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine is telling.  Obviously, they didn't want citizens to remember what was said by the party's own elected officials.  One removed speech by Prime Minister David Cameron ironically said, "By making more information available to more people, you are giving them more power."  Obviously, the powers that be got the message. This kind of thing shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.  Power is always going to be abused by those in power.  Defenses need to be in place to protect us from such revisionism.  Assume it's going to be attempted, and not always in such a blatantly sloppy manner.  Changing a few words within a speech or in an accounting of history could have much more of a significant effect if we let it.

Dear 2600: Am I being paranoid?  Or do governments, corporations, and non-technical citizens seem to be moving more and more towards advocating general restrictions on our privacy and our computers?  The latest attacks on encryption and Tor are just one aspect of this phenomenon.  Other aspects are companies using restrictive DRM software and spying on us via their software.  Let's be honest - to make DRM work and enforce the DMCA, companies need to install malware on our computers.  I just bought a new computer with Windows 10 (wife wanted it) and it comes ready to track my every move right out of the box!  Is Windows an as or spyware?  I'm beginning to wonder. What is really scary is that some people are afraid of computers and that "Internet Thing" and actively encourage more government surveillance.  Terrorists use encryption - therefore we need backdoors in the technology.  What about 3D printing?  Someone could make a gun!  Should it be illegal to make a 3D printed gun or should even the knowledge/ability to do so be illegal?  How do you know what people are making with - out more surveillance of their computers?  That leads to all kinds of free speech messiness.  Will computers become locked down and regulated like other products?  Will it be illegal to "look inside" and alter the hardware or code? Most people go after the new gadgets because they promise to make things easier and more convenient.  Even I like the GPS features of my phone.  People don't want to know how their computer works; they just want to point and click and have stuff just happen.  I guess there is a trade off between ease of use and convenience on the one hand and privacy on the other.  But all this convenience is coming at the high cost of our privacy and freedom.  I'm afraid that in the future, I'll be telling my grandkids that back in the day, one could learn to code without a government license, surf via something called Tor, and even assemble their own computer from parts they purchased themselves.  All before freedom and know ledge became so "dangerous," the people demanded it be controlled.  I like to learn and tinker with technology and other things (don't even get me started on what the EPA thinks of the carburetor adjustments on my lawn equipment).  I guess I just hope that people/society will take the high road, accept some risk, and allow the freedom to create and disc over while protecting individual privacy.  It's a tall order, I know.  But that is why I give to the EFF, encourage Tor, and advocate open-source software to anyone who will listen.  Thanks for publishing such a great magazine.  Your philosophy is what the world needs now more than ever.       Jim L You've hit the nail on the head concerning the current situation.  There is an abundance of really cool technology out there - what we've been enthusiastic about since our very first issue.  But these things don't come free.  There is always a price of one sort or another.  If you don't ask questions and attempt to take control of the technology, then it will wind up taking control of you.  For people who can't be bothered actually learning about how things work or who don't want to experiment and think outside the box, they become dependent and manipulated.  For the rest of us, we will always be looking for alternatives and better ways of accomplishing tasks.  We will always try to break things and to test the limits and to bypass security, as well as bypass intrusions into our own personal lives.  That is how technology and society improve together.  It all falls apart when we become pure consumers.

Dear 2600: I always enjoy the articles by "The Prophet."  Not only are they interesting and amusing, but they are always quite accurate. I would like to take issue with one thing in an otherwise accurate history of cellular systems around the world.  It is not true that analog systems were not widely deployed in Europe.  The U.K., as The Prophet notes, had TACS, which was basically AMPS in the 900 MHz band (instead of the U.S. 800 MHz band).  But France and Germany had their own systems.  Perhaps the most widespread was NMT (Nordic Mobile Telephone) that was implemented in, you guessed it, the Nordic countries of Sweden, Norway, and Finland, in both the 450 MHz and 900 MHz bands. The problem wasn't that Europe didn't have analog.  The problem was that they had too many incompatible systems.  By comparison, the U.S. at that time had a single analog system providing good national coverage and roaming with other AMPS systems in Canada, Mexico, and elsewhere in Latin America.  Although some European analog systems survived for a while, most countries were happy to trash their analog systems.  GSM wasn't perfect, but it provided pan-European coverage.  It's a grand irony that North America went in the opposite direction, splintering into three major camps, as The Prophet rightly describes.       D1vr0c The author says he was looking at "widely" in a user adoption sense, and not the geographical area deployed.  But you are correct that there were multiple incompatible analog systems deployed across Europe, even - if we want to look really far back - including a 150 MHz system in the Soviet Union.

Dear 2600: It is surely not a coincidence that "2600" is the numeric job category of a "U.S. Marine Corps Basic Signals Intelligence/Ground Electronic Warfare Operator."  See www.mosdb.com/army/2600/mos/1385 for verification.       D1vr0c That does seem scarily on target.  Look at this job description: "Conduct collection, analysis, production, and dissemination of collected data and intelligence.  Set up and operate communications and/or electronic equipment, prepare reports, conduct preventive maintenance on assigned equipment, and assist in the operational control and management of SIGINT/EW personnel, equipment, and facilities."  It's kinda what we already do with the Marines.

Dear 2600: I have been looking through your site and found from this page www.2600.com/dvd/docs/2001/0126-speech.html a link to ietf.org (the Internet Engineering Task Force).  This got me thinking about the history of the Internet and how it has changed.  I then found this: www.evolutionoftheweb.com which shows the timeline of how things have changed on the Internet and I thought you may like this resource for your site.  I also came across a company that provides connectivity for businesses using Internet phones, something I had no idea existed other than Skype.  So I thought I would give you that link as well, as it might be helpful to your visitors: www.idtexpress.com. Please let me know if this was useful.  Also, I'm on the lookout for resources people need in your industry, so if you have any ideas, please let me know.       James Thanks for the little tour of links.  We think that would be a great premise for a column.  Each link has to lead to another, all of which together wind up telling an overall story. We're not sure what kinds of resources you're referring to, but we suggest stopping by a meeting or coming to a conference to make connections that will likely help in your endeavors.

Dear 2600: I happened upon 2600 Magazine's Freedom Downtime Easter Egg page while doing some searches for something I found on a DVD. I saw your modified "FBI Warning" while watching a completely unrelated DVD.  I think some clueless film editor who didn't speak any English stuck it on a movie and didn't realize what it actually said! I'd appreciate it if you could confirm that this is what the Easter Egg looks like.  I'm just completely baffled by this.       Dave That is indeed our FBI warning, which many people never bothered to actually read since it looks just like every other FBI warning at the beginning and end of videos and DVDs.  Nothing would be more awesome than having this message inadvertently copied onto films worldwide.  You see, our warning wasn't from the FBI.  Rather, it was to the FBI, and it read as follows: FBI WARNING ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES TAKE NOTE - THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE WILL NOT BE ABUSED FOREVER. WE HAVE STRENGTH IN NUMBERS AND THE CONVICTION OF OUR BELIEFS. THE FILM YOU HAVE JUST SEEN IS ONE OF MANY WAYS OF SPREADING THE MESSAGE. WE WILL CONTINUE TO PUBLISH MAGAZINES, HAVE MEETINGS, DO RADIO SHOWS, USE THE INTERNET - AND MOST IMPORTANTLY - WE WILL BE WATCHING YOU.

Dear 2600: I write this after learning of the further Balkanization of the Internet by countries outside the United States.  Brazil and Germany are now actively trying to segment their Internet to exclude the U.S. I think this is a great idea on one hand, as it will cut off the federal government from stepping on any grounds it wants in order to arrest someone who violated U.S. laws with or without any knowledge of such laws. On the other hand, what is being done is digital line drawing, similar to the invisible lines we abide by in real life which divide the people into continents, countries, cities, towns, neighborhoods, yards, and rooms.  Further, it will lessen the exposure to people in those countries of the culture and learning experiences they otherwise would enjoy had the Internet they use not have been restricted.  We see what is happening in countries like China and the Middle East where the governments shut down parts of the Internet at will. How many would agree that it's time for a new Internet made by ourselves and not one by companies whose pockets are filled with the hands of governments?  Is this possible?  Who would support it with content?  Would it be subject to criminalization in a manner consistent with the view that things like Bitcoin and Liberty Reserve are supposedly versions of money laundering?  If it were to be made, open source or not, would there be a way to do so without government agents being able to surmount it? Perhaps even a discussion of such a topic will soon be considered a conspiracy by the U.S. government to exclude it from regulating something that will not only end up crossing state lines but international borders as well.  I advise everyone who reads this and who is involved with pen-testing, online businesses of any kind, or peer- to-peer sharing to research the Commerce Clause and Congress' infinite ability to cite it at will in order to prosecute anyone in any country under federal jurisdiction. There's a book called Gray Hat Hacking by Shon Harris that everyone should read, which covers in depth the 18 U.S.C. 1030 laws.  People should also acquaint themselves with LexisNexis and Premise which is where paralegals and attorneys go to research case law.  Learning how to read case law is quite a good skill for anyone in order to know if they're involved with anything that could land them in heat with Big Brother. If you think you're involved with something that you might get in trouble for, but don't know whether or not laws exist to cover it, research it now.  Better to be safe than facing the unrealistic amounts of time that the federal government dishes out like candy. After we have safeguarded ourselves, we should then consider legally creating a new Internet, free of senseless regulation and snooping by the powers that be.       Metaknight While such an endeavor is certainly technically possible, you can bet the authorities would be watching it very closely because of the potential power it would hold.  The Net as it stands now appears to be under the control of governments, but there is actually much that they regret not having more of a handle on.  This whole freedom of speech default attitude, concepts like the Streisand Effect, or the inability to shut down little annoyances like Tor or encryption - if the powers that be had understood the potential from the very beginning, the Internet today would be far less open and much more a tool of control over individuals.  That said, there is much that could be done in a newly designed Net to minimize government control and commercialization much further than the present levels.  Perhaps that's what the growing darknets will mature into.  There's definitely much potential there.

Dear 2600: Here in my cell with my latest issue of 2600, I'm pondering hacking, how it relates to me, my world around me, and the human community.  Let me start at my genesis.  Before I was one, I was bucking the restrictions placed on me.  I do remember escaping from my crib - the baby powder five drawers up was not a problem to me.  The world was a place for me to fix, modify, or overcome.  My past is filled with things like when I was 13 (also my lucky number) and I took apart a working mower.  Putting it back together again, still working, was not a problem.  It was just hacking hardware when I rewired my American Jeep Eagle that had the wiring harness catch on fire.  A mechanic told me, "You cannot use the color red for every wire!"  I knew it would work, never a thought otherwise.  I was different (ADD, dyslexic, autistic, whatever) when growing up.  Now I'm only called "socially awkward."  Some say that I'm a hacker - if they're nice. If we want something in prison that is not available, we make it.  We are sold stuff that does not work right, so we improve it all ourselves [hack, hack].  To be fair, the powers that be (prison, courts, and government in general) as a rule hack.  Will they hack the law?  They hack justice.  How is it that people support South Carolina?  They don't admit rejoining the Union after the Civil War.  It's the common position because South Carolina Department of Corrections no longer gets federal money, many of the people believe they no longer have to obey federal law (they don't get the money because they fail the standards).  Admittedly, I'm one who also doesn't agree with some of my federal government's laws.  I just don't make a habit of hacking reality.  For the government, it's nothing to have court transcripts modified.  It is money, just money.  Prisoners are big money.  The hacking of prisoners, food, or medical care happens because prisoners don't have the ability to protect themselves.  My point is that hacking is in our DNA.  The question is how do we use (or not) this innate ability? The world's in need of enlightenment.  We are a world of hackers - rich, poor, strong, weak.  The octopus uses a coconut shell, the primate the stick - only they hack.  The strong hack to be stronger and the weak to survive.  This does not have to be the future.  The world calls prisoners a lost cause and says we should just stay in prison.  But for myself, I will not be put down.  What is the advantage of remaining anonymous, quiet, and compliant?  I'm 283022 (that is me, James Anderson), geek, activist, technophile, hacker, and conspiracy theorist. Pen Pal action is the last freedom denied us.  It does not make them money (we can correspond, but cannot place an ad).  Please, if you would, take into careful consideration what is reported about prisoners (it's worse).  Contact with the outside world is carefully regulated.  They would prefer we correspond via the for-profit email system.  They make 25 cents each way by using offenderconnect.com.  Every message is electronically scanned and stored.  All regular mail is read or just thrown out.  I do not know which is worse, having our snail-mail read by intellectual rejects or email electronically scanned for security related words.  Only the dialetic will learn the truth. The system does not have to fear the reform to come.  All can have a voice.  The problem is of a simple nature - thinking is not our problem.  It is our loss if we don't engage when we can.  Quite often, it's the reality of a situation that both discourages us and calls us to action.  The power historically has been with the money, but technology and the hacking community can and will change things.  Let's embrace our DNA for making things better and strive.  Money will no longer be the same for me, but other things will - stepping up and trying to do the right thing, maybe Gray Hat work.  This is more than a philippic account.  Hacking is in our DNA.       Sypherone       aka James Anderson #283022       Tyger River Correctional Institution       200 Prison Rd.       Enoree, SC 29335

Dear 2600: Behold, the great goddess Liberty, the god who failed, because, as the real God said, "Every nation which turns its back on me shall be turned into hell," and will you know why?  Because, as the N.T. teaches, God is truth and love, and if you say you do not believe in God, you are a hypocrite and liar and coward, and one day, which is called the Day of Reckoning, the true God will be our judge, not the god of the Kabbalah. Both left and the right are wrong because Jesus alone is right.  Sin is the rule among men, but Jesus is the exception who proved the rule, and Jesus told us beforehand what would happen: "Those who sin are slaves, and slaves have no rights."  Therefore, the left is wrong because Orwell was right, and so I write you this, because hell isn't cool.       John Somehow, Hell seems a lot cooler now after reading all that.

Dear 2600: I just found out today I can say to my Amazon Echo, "Alexa, play Off The Hook podcast" and it will play it via TuneIn .  Way easy and now I can listen to Off The Hook whenever I want with just a simple voice command.  Now to get it to read 2600 to me with Audible...       RAMGarden We believe Alexa can do this as well if you have us on your Kindle.  We'd like to hear more about these kinds of developments.

A Breach of Note

Dear 2600: Of possible interest, I am attaching a letter received from the Office of Personnel Management.  Feel free to publish the letter.  It is authored by the U.S. government, so is in the public domain. OPM is an independent agency of the U.S. government that manages various personnel-related services.  In my case, several years ago I was required as part of some contracting work to obtain a security clearance from the U.S. Department of Defense.  This clearance required providing a whole lot of information, which is mentioned in the letter: fingerprints and police reports, details on family and correspondents, travel history, and, of course, personal identification information including Social Security number, address, prior addresses, mother's maiden name, and similar things. As is typical for a security breach, I received an offer of three years' identity theft protection, free credit reports, etc.  I think this is the fourth time I've received such an offer from a compromised organization.  In this case, however, protection was described as automatic, and covering my family. The letter mentions there are currently no known exploits for fingerprint data.  This is the most fascinating aspect to me.  Consider that there are over five million people in the U.S. with security clearances.  How many of those have physical access to secure facilities?  Could fingerprints be part of how a sophisticated intruder would try to gain illicit access to such facilities?  Either by spoofing the biometrics for a fingerprint scanner at a facility (i.e., a fake fingerprint, as we see in the Mission Impossible movies), or to perform social engineering to get a new ID card or other access token.  Luckily, retina prints were not required, since those are also used for two-factor authentication for secure access to facilities. I thought this letter would be interesting to share with other 2600 readers, due to the unusually deep nature of information that OPM collects.  For your average credit or background check, or online storefront, typically there is not much more than a credit card, SSN, address, and password.  OPM, however, has in-depth information for millions of people who, in many cases, are employed in roles with great trust. Unfortunately, the deep trust of providing such information was evidently not met with commensurate security around the data collected.  Moreover, there is every indication in my case that data was kept long after the clearance was granted, and, in fact, after I left the role that required the clearance.  Indefinite retention of data means that if misuse did not occur this time, perhaps it will occur next time the systems are breached.       Estragon You can bet if there are no known exploits for fingerprint data currently, there will be in the fairly near future.  We're surprised this breach didn't get more attention, as it shows yet another level of insecurity from those we entrust with sensitive info.

Thoughts of HOPE

Dear 2600: Hello, is there any minimum age for attendance?  Specifically, would my 16-year-old nephew be allowed in?       Larry It's funny how many variations of this question we get asked.  Some people think they won't be allowed in if they're not a 16-year-old.  Others believe we have all kinds of nasty policies.  Our conferences have no age restrictions, so your nephew has nothing to fear.  But we suspect he already knew that.

Dear 2600: Will tickets be required for an 11-year-old to The Eleventh HOPE in 2016?       Scott Generally, if a kid is big enough to take up a seat, they need a ticket.  Toddlers, especially those being trained as lockpickers, generally slip through the cracks.  Infants are free, but are subject to the screaming baby surcharge that is applicable during talks.

Dear 2600: Please, please, please limit the number of tickets.  I love the conference and I'm a "the-more-the-merrier" kinda person but it's extremely un-merry to have to wait in elevator lines and get to sessions 10 or 15 minutes early in order to get a seat.  It's stressful to spend the conference fighting one's way through a throng rather than just enjoying the talks and company, or to have to decide whether to go downstairs for food knowing you won't be able to come call upstairs for hours. Last time, the overflow-overflow overflowed and people had to just huddle around laptops in the mezzanine to watch the keynote.  I had friends who sat through two or three talks in the main hall just to keep their seats for The Big Guy's talk, which is especially unfortunate for people who may have actually wanted to see those talks but couldn't because of all the campers. Anyway, I've already got my ticket and I plan to pitch a workshop again this year, so obviously I love the conference and am going to come no matter what, but I wanted to share my two cents. Thanks and I can't wait to make my pilgrimage to the HOtel PEnn again this summer!       Sequoia While we know this is an issue, there is no one solution.  If we limit the number of tickets based on capacity for our most popular talks, then there will be far less people at the talks that aren't as popular.  Fewer people would experience the conference as a whole, which is always a great deal more than anyone particular talk.  The overall price would have to be jacked up as well to cover costs.  We have to judge our capacity based on the entire space, every bit of which we strive to make interesting and worth spending time in.  So if you're able to make it into a talk you want to see, great.  If not, we hope you'll find something else in the conference space to interest you.  It's all a part of the experience and we simply can't guarantee that everything you want to do and see will be possible.  We've made tremendous progress setting up high definition video feeds for those who can't get in.  We are always looking for suggestions on ways to do it better.  Having less interesting talks, however, is not going to be one of the options.

Dear 2600: Hi - I'm planning to come again to HOPE in July.  Will there be press tickets?  (I'm happy to pay, as last time.)       Sequoia Our press policies will be announced on our website (hope.net) as the conference draws closer.  Believe it or not, media outlets have been asking us for press passes to this event since mid-2015.

Dear 2600: I noticed in the message on the store it says that tickets are non-refundable but transferable.  My question is this: I had purchased a ticket to the last HOPE, but a family emergency came up last minute and I couldn't attend.  At that time, I wasn't aware transferability was an option.  Would it be possible to transfer my ticket credit from the last HOPE to this one?  I imagine your system keeps track of tickets purchased versus who actually walks through the door. I know this question sounds stupid and, to be honest, I'm planning on flying to New York for the conference regardless.  It's a shot in the dark but I thought I'd ask.  I'll scan my old emails for the purchase confirmation of my HOPE X ticket.  If this isn't possible, I completely understand, thank you for your time, and I'll see you this summer anyway!       Daniel We sympathize but we have to stick to our policy.  Transferring an unused ticket to another conference is basically a refund and if we did that, it wouldn't be fair to the other people who didn't get a refund and/or took the time to transfer their ticket.  We make this policy clear from the start and have helped attendees resell their tickets whenever that becomes necessary.  Needless to say, this is a lot more than you would get from most any other event that requires tickets.  We hope that makes sense to you and everyone else.

Dear 2600: Where can I find an audio archive of all HOPE events?       Jason You should be able to find it all on our various HOPE sites from 1994 on.  We have yet to stick it all in one easy to download spot, but that's something we should be able to manage in the near future.  Technically, you can find all of this on Channel2600 on YouTube, but that also has all of the video.  Something neat that's fairly recent is that all HOPE sites can now be reached with their Roman numeral preceding hope.net, so i.hope.net is our first conference and xi.hope.net is The Eleventh HOPE.

Just Asking...

Dear 2600: I don't have a copy of 2600 on me.  I am in a store and took a snap of the number 2600.  Can I send it to this email or is there another?       John H. We're not trying to be smart alecks here, but this scenario is a bit much.  You're in a store at the moment you're writing this and have taken a picture of something (for the back cover, we presume) with our name on it.  O.K., fair enough.  So you write to our letters email address in order to submit a letter which obviously won't come out until our next issue is printed wanting to know if it's O.K. to send that picture there?  Won't you be out of the store long before this letter appears in print?  Can't you just find out what the right address is (articles@2600.com) when you get to wherever your copy of the magazine is?  And if you have access to the net from inside the store (which you obviously do since you're emailing us from there), can't you look up that info almost instantly anyway?  Again, we're not trying to be nasty.  But we find it funny when people treat us as if we were an online forum rather than a printed magazine.  We have nothing against the former.  But that is a different animal entirely.

Dear 2600: I wrote into your letters section way back in the 31:1 (Spring 2014) issue about my now former experiment: the XE-2600b malware interceptor it took me only a nanosecond to realize that I needed to create in order to understand.  So with the help of your code section and GitHub, I am now teaching myself six languages in order to birth my own code-based life forms to study.  Thanks again for all the hard work.  The reason why I'm writing is there has been a lot of talk about the Deep Web.  I'm relatively new to the dark side of the web.  Is the Deep Web real and how can one access it?  Keep up the great work - you guys are truly the ayatollahs of computer control.       flames Not sure that's how we want to be viewed, but to each their own.  With regards to the Deep Web, which you've probably heard about through the mass media, consider that 99 percent of anything with actual substance that they report on in soars far over their heads.  Please don't use them as your source for anything of true importance.  Yes, there are hidden areas of the Internet that require skill and perseverance to access.  There are also people who know how to remain anonymous.  The media will only focus on the most evil applications of these concepts.  There is so much more than that, however. Consider the Deep Web as something analogous to an unlisted phone number.  It's there if you know what it is, invisible if you don't.  Unlisted phone numbers don't frighten us and neither should websites that can't be found in a search engine, which is basically what the Deep Web is.  Not everyone needs to play the Google game. What many people mean when they refer to the Deep Web is actually something else known as the Dark Web.  Since you mentioned "the dark side of the web," we believe that may have been what you were asking about.  The media tends to use these two terms synonymously, which is simply wrong.  The Dark Web simply requires particular types of authorization, software, or encryption in order to access content.  It scares the hell out of the authorities because they can't control it.  But that's the nature of the beast, just like digital files are susceptible to being copied, despite the wishes of those who fancy themselves in charge. Yes, the Dark Web is used to facilitate criminal behavior on occasion.  But there are so many ways to fight criminals without having to be privy to their every thought.  Those who believe outlawing or controlling the technology is the only way to gain control of the situation are sadly mistaken.  In actuality, the real nightmare would begin if they ever succeeded. Before anything like that happens, we suggest readers dive into the Dark Web and use it to its full potential - where the good far outweighs the bad.

Dear 2600: I just picked up the Autumn 2015 issue from my local Barnes & Noble and wanted to ask a couple of questions: Why does every issue contain the usual "How do I set up a meeting in my town" letter(s)?  This is a question that has been answered, ad nauseam, in almost every issue. This isn't the only question that appears in print in almost every issue, so the main question is: Can you do an FAQ in the print version that answers the common questions so that more print space can be devoted to letters that are actually interesting?       Tom You do know that if we print an FAQ in the print version that it would take up the same amount of space than if we just answered the individual question?  But your point is taken - there is a degree of repetition sometimes that can be dispensed with.  It's our hope that some new bit of information is conveyed whenever we address these issues.  Incidentally, you'll be happy to know that two other people asked the same question as you and we opted not to print their letters, which makes it possible to print this next one instead:

Dear 2600: Thank you for your magazine.  I would like to subscribe for three years (and I live in Portugal).  Does this subscription include the digital edition as well?  I like the physical copy, but I also have an Android and a Kindle, so that would be nice.       sergio Subscriptions are separate based on how you choose to receive them - Android, Kindle, paper, etc.  You can get everything we've ever published (and ever will publish) digitally with The Hacker Digest lifetime subscription.  For those who want the best of both worlds, you can combine that with a lifetime subscription to our printed edition which gets you all future issues on paper and everything past and future digitally.  We call that the Double Lifetime.  (We never would have guessed we'd be offering something with a name like that.)

Dear 2600: Has anyone looked into the new digital license plates the States are adopting?  They say it transmits a signal with all your information.  It would be nice to see a hack published.       JRJ It sure would.  What is happening with license plates is of great concern on a number of levels.  It would have been unheard of even a few years ago for police cars to drive down streets, instantly gathering the plates of everyone parked there, as well as everyone who's driving in the vicinity.  It's a tremendous invasion of privacy, yet another one that we seem to have accepted without much question.  Now add to that some new digital features that will be tested in California next year and all sorts of controls are possible.  A plate could instantly be changed to indicate in large letters that it's expired or that the car it's attached to has been stolen.  Perhaps a social network of sorts will develop where cars/drivers get the equivalent of Yelp reviews and you'll be able to identify the good drivers and the bad drivers without their having to prove themselves. Sure, a lot of people won't see any problem with this.  It all makes our society more honest and transparent, doesn't it?  People should get tickets for going one mile an hour over the speed limit or for jaywalking or for simply not telling the truth.  The problem with these progressions is that they don't ever stop.  Before you know it, you're accountable for literally every movement you make, every word you say, every mistake you commit.  Privacy an d anything outside the rules become unacceptable and we soon forget what it was even like to not have our every movement open to scrutiny.  We're seeing it already online. We need to be very cautious on how we introduce such "improvements" to any aspect of our lives.  When privacy is the tradeoff for convenience, we must think carefully if it's really worth it.  We need to be able to have the freedom to make our own choices, and not have any liberty removed because of some misperceived crisis.  These things very rarely go the other way, so making these changes in our lifestyles is by no means trivial. The best method of weighing benefits versus risks is to imagine what such tools would allow a truly malevolent government to do.  Maybe that's not our reality today and maybe we won't even see that in the foreseeable future.  But eventually, this power will fall into the hands of those who will use it to persecute and abuse.  Now is the time to ask how much of this power we want to give them. And yes, any such system will be hacked.  You can count on it.

Dear 2600: Regarding the 32:4 cover, why is the house sideways and the question mark on the latest issue backwards?  I figured it was Kim Dotcom's house.  And is it really a puzzle or are you just joshing about?  Before I get sucked into trying to solve it and fail high school?  And if I solve it, do I win something?  Many thanks.       S. Mateen Sometimes a picture is just a picture.  And sometimes not.

Dear 2600: Hello, does 2600 have a newsletter with the articles?       Florin_Ercu Yes, we're dabbling in that.  Stay tuned.  Or perhaps we should say turn on the damn set and then stay tuned.

Dear 2600: I would first like to compliment you on your excellent customer service.  I experienced a problem and it was handled immediately.  Thank you again. I have some questions I feel couldn't be answered in a better place than here with 2600 Mag. My first question is about software development.  I have always been interested in development.  I have purchased many programming books and have access to others.  I have books on C++, Java, and Visual Basic.  The question is, what are the two most used languages for development across different platforms (Android, Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.)?  Or what language would be good for the future? I noticed mention of Python, more than once in fact.  Is this a popular language that is more widely used than others?  I was also wondering about .NET Framework.  Is it still commonplace or have developers moved on?  I have several Visual Basic .NET books, but don't want to dive into study if it is no longer the norm.  Please forgive my ignorance.  I have very limited resources for information.  I appreciate your contribution to my education. I would like to close this letter with a final thought, if you will.  I believe that knowledge and education is power.  I believe the hacker is a person of intelligence and observation, a person who believes in an individual's freedoms and opposes those who consider themselves "The Elite" and those that are brainwashed to fear what they don't understand.  I believe it is part of our mission to deliver truth and unmask the lies we are all force fed every day. That being said, I was amazed by the number of individuals who didn't understand the simple concept of a meeting.  When I was out in 2008, the 2600 website was clear.  There are meeting guidelines.  Follow them.  There is no "leader."  If you have two or more people, you have a group.  If it is successful, keep 2600 posted. It appears some of us really need to sharpen up our intelligence and observation skills before trying to apply ourselves to starting a group or to hacking for that matter. Thank you 2600 for a great magazine. "Do-ocracy - rule by sheer doing!"       KingBoogieSwag We can't predict the future, but we can say that if you go with mass trends, you might be safe but you're unlikely to break away and do something phenomenal.  By all means, learn the basics, but only if you have a genuine interest.  Greatness comes from passion, not conformity.  At press time, the most popular programming languages (in order) were: Java, Python, PHP, and C#.  But that's from one study and, even if all studies concluded the same thing, this is rather meaningless.  We suggest, if you're sure that programming is even your thing, that you try and learn a little bit about a bunch of different languages and see which one you enjoy working with the most.  Even if you pick the 12th most popular one, you'll accomplish far more there if you are into it than if you go along with the pack and can't stand it. .NET Framework is still somewhat big with the Windows crowd, but we're not going to get into the pros and cons here.  Suffice to say, if it's something you're comfortable learning about and working with, you'll have much to do.  And even if it goes down in flames, it will lead you to something else. We really don't mind dealing with some confusion regarding meetings.  It simply means that more people than ever are interested, including those for whom the concept is entirely new.  As long as they're willing to listen, we're happy to explain.

News from Meetings

Dear 2600: Regarding the San Telmo meeting in Buenos Aires, I want to tell you that it's very active and many hackers are coming.  There is a solid community around this meeting point, some old school and some of the new generation.  Happily, these are good times for our community.  I was surprised to find in the last 2600 that there is another official meeting here in Buenos Aires.  This is the first time that we have here in Buenos Aires two official 2600 meeting points.  I hope our community continues growing and expanding beyond our main city here in Argentina.  In order to get in touch, we have implemented something very simple: a WhatsApp/Telegram group of the people who go to our local 2600 meeting.  This is really helpful in organizing and knowing how many people are going every Friday.       Pablo 0       Buenos Aires We'd like to know if other meetings make use of similar (or different) technologies.  They can greatly help in the organizational process.  On the subject of two meetings in the same city, this isn't something we normally do, but in this case the two locations are separated by a good distance so we thought we'd give it a try and see how it played out.  We hope both meetings keep us inform ed on their progress.

Dear 2600: I have tried twice to attend the meeting in Lausanne (Switzerland), but twice I found nobody. Your listing says: "In front of the McDo beside the train station.  7 pm."  (I have to point out that the only "McDo" near the train station is in front of it, not beside it.) Does it still exist or have I looked in the wrong place?       Fernando For those unfamiliar, "McDo" is apparently how people in France and Switzerland refer to McDonald's.  We'll look into the situation.  People not showing up on two occasions is a problem if that's indeed what happened.  As far as we can tell from looking at maps, being in front of the train station can also be seen as being beside it if you turn 90 degrees.  We're not going to agonize over the particulars - and we believe you're going to the right place.  We hope to hear back from a Lausanne attendee as to the status of this particular meeting.

Gratitude

Dear 2600: I have many things to say, so even though this may seem like a lot, it's the long-story-short version, or, as me and my brother call it, the "OUTTE" version or "OnceUponaTimeTheEnd."  I'll funnel it into two categories: Thank You, and the reason for my gratitude. Firstly, I'd like to explain that when I was younger I had a very stressful learning disability that I didn't fully understand until I hit my late twenties.  When I was in school, I had what is now known as ADHD, but that isn't all.  Now we know that there are many methods to the madness behind learning.  I call it madness because when I was younger, it wasn't hard for me to retain the information, but the things I learned were in little pieces, which can be very frustrating. Now that I've matured (somewhat), I've learned that learning is not the same as "receiving" the information, but in the application of what you've observed, the successful application of what you've observed.  I was a hands-on learner with ADHD.  Imagine that fresh hell.  Focusing on one subject was like trying to catch a light brown moth fluttering amongst a swarm of brown moths that were slightly darker.  But once I had it in my hand, I was able to keep it in the jar. Like I said, retaining the information was the easy part, but it had to interest me, and I had to do it.  But over the years, and after being called "slow" or the "R" word (which pissed me off to no end), I started trying to hack my thoughts.  I realized that I only had bits and pieces of information, but my memory was intact.  I looked up many subjects regarding different methods of learning and, with what I found and what I later discovered about ADHD, I was able to, without medicine, find out how to focus on things that interested me. In movies and in the news, people were always talking about hackers and how they were bad, but I realized that you can hack just about anything, and that it isn't wicked or supernatural.  Although hacking is mysterious to some, I've come to realize that it's nothing more than reverse engineering something that vexes you, so that you can gain an understanding of how it works, how you can improve it to better your life, or how to even help others.  This publication has taught me that if the need is there, a hacker can create a wealth of applicable solutions and, while I'm not saying that my methods of understanding how to focus would be beneficial to others, they've helped me tremendously. I've also started dabbling in tech, and there aren't any meetings in my area (which is a bummer), but I've found a way to focus my energy and my inability to focus.  Computers!  Although programming and many things can be stressful if you have a deficiency with regards to your attention span, it kind of boxes you in and is the perfect environment because there are always things to learn about the origin of some piece of tech, or an innovative way to simplify or improve it. I'm a bit of a dummy when it comes to this kind of stuff, but every day I've been presented with challenges, and trying to figure things out can take me hours to days of continuous research, reading, trying (failing), and as frustrating as something may be, it's well worth it when you figure it out.  Right now, I'm trying to learn Linux.  That started me trying to learn Python, which started me trying to figure out how to block my face from unwanted selfie-bombs (when someone tries to take a selfie with you and you don't want to - yes, that's happened to me - I hate getting my picture taken ), which led to me trying to understand how cameras work, which I figured out but then developed a curiosity for digital cameras and their inner workings, knowing that they didn't use the film with photosensitive chemicals on it, then finding out about infrared to block out areas, etc.  (That's what it's like in my head constantly.)  But with all that, and trying to figure out a way to avoid getting my face in pictures by people I didn't know, I've found not only a solution, but a hobby!  My hobby is reading about the evolution of technology and computing systems from the time of punch cards up until now.  I'm always in my room reading and trying to learn new things, I'm hardly outside, and the only way you can get a selfie-bomb with me (not saying anyone wants one, but the one time it's happened was more than enough for me) is if you break into my house, run into my room, and do it.  (I cover all my camera lenses and disconnected my input audio devices, paranoia - just a bit.) So I would like to thank 2600 for always keeping up to date and interesting information in their publications, and I will soon be ordering the complete back issue set, as well as keeping up to date with current issues.       (I don't have a cool nickname) Me If we only received one letter this year, this one would make what we do worthwhile.  By embracing learning, you've opened up a universe that so many never would have found.  The realization that we can play a part in helping people open some of these doors is tremendously empowering to us.  Thanks for sharing all of that and we hope to hear more of your many discoveries in the future.