HACKER HANG-OUTS
PART 8
One of the coolest hacker hang-outs in the States is The L0pht in Boston. Run by the likes of Count Zero, Brian Oblivion, Kingpin, Space Rouge, Golgo13, Alicia, Tweety Fish, and various others, the L0pht is constantly mutating. The L0pht is a warehouse space in an unspecified place in the heart of Boston. Count Zero says The L0pht was started because they needed a place to store all of their equipment and then it just grew into what it is today. Each hacker has his own independent space where he can work on various projects. Last time I was there Kingpin and Brain Oblivion were working on a telephone dialer that runs off a micro-coprocessor and DOOM was being networked up so that you could fight others in the L0pht as well as the fire-ball throwing monsters. I pointed out that they were supposed to be on the same team but Brian insisted that it was more fun if you oppose each other.
The L0pht also has its own VAX, in fact they have two Vaxes. They even have their own domain: L0pht.com. So how do you pay for the electricity to run the VAX? "Well its included in the rent that we don't pay for electricity, it says not to run air-conditioners or drying machines, it doesn't say anything about mini-computers or mainframes so I think we're ok."
The l0pht also has its own WWW site. The last time I checked it they had wired up a camera that takes a new picture every 15 minutes of the corner of the l0pht so you can see what is happening with its inhabitants at various times of the day.
"I mean some people have asked what is the L0pht? And well its like a clubhouse, you know? But its neat too when we have friends over, like visiting from out of town or what ever and they're into computers like we are, there is a place you know, we bring them here and they can sleep here. For our friends and for people we know well, we let them come over here and fool around with our stuff. " - Count Zero
The Inhabitants of the L0pht also hold a grill-a-thon every year. It's kind of like a mini-convention run on a local scale, where the hacker inhabitants of Boston can gather and exchange the latest tech as well as the latest news over a barbecue.
The really important thing about the l0pht is that it is a place where anyone can go and learn. There are manuals of all kinds in the L0pht's library, equipment of every shape and size from stegosaurus Apples to the VAX as well as the RDT BBS system that has been up and running for years. And then there are the inhabitants themselves who are genuinely some of the nicest people I have met in the hack scene.
Check out the L0pht's WWW Server - Its inhabitants have links to everywhere!!:
www.L0pht.com