Hackers Are Doing God's Work

[3113]

Well, at least according to the Vatican...

Computer hackers embody classic Christian virtues, a Vatican publication says, and shouldn’t be perceived negatively. In their passionate commitment to creating, and their openness to sharing ideas, hackers see their online exploits as “a form of participation in the ‘work’ of God in creation,” Jesuit priest Father Antonio Spadaro wrote in the Vatican magazine Civilta Cattolica....Citing the “joyful application of intelligence to problem solving” they demonstrate, and their ingrained rejection of competition, profit and authority, Spadaro said hackers are aligned with the teachings of Christianity.

“Under fire are control, competition, property,” Spadaro said. It’s a mindset, he said, that has “a clear theological origin.”

Full article here.

Of course, you say something like that and you're just asking for this:

Computer hackers broke into the official Web site of the Vatican’s radio station hours after Pope John Paul encouraged the Catholic faithful to embrace new media

Obviously, God is testing the Vatican.

 

[Guest]

*deleted*

 

[TE999]

Does this mean Jesus told a hacker to steal my credit card account numbers?

 

[Stella_Omega]

Does this mean Jesus told a hacker to steal my credit card account numbers?

He bought that stuff for Christ.

 

[TE999]

He bought that stuff for Christ.

Christ needs a 52" plasma TV and a shitload of Wii cartridges? Heaven must be a lot more boring than I thought.

 

[Boxlicker101]

That may be the most asinine thing I have ever read. Hackers are either just nosy people looking for scandal or they are trying to siphon money from bank accounts or steal credit card info or do other dishonest things. I don't believe JC would have looked kindly on any of those activities.

 

[JackLuis]

I wish I had a hacker about now, my desktop crashed and I'm reduced to my o_d _aptop with no "_" key.

Anyone know if XP is Fat, or NTFS?

You never know Box there might be someone out there with the fire of righteousness burning in his heart and sefessy dedicated to human betterment, forsaking a_ _ recompense, down there in the basement. However more _ikey he's using his computer ski__s to get the best porn.

Sorry about the missing _'s.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Christ needs a 52" plasma TV and a shitload of Wii cartridges? Heaven must be a lot more boring than I thought.

'fraid so... Think twice about that afterlife, man, eternity is a very long time...

 

[Boxlicker101]

'fraid so... Think twice about that afterlife, man, eternity is a very long time...

Yeah, but he could just rare back and create a miracle and he would have one.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Yeah, but he could just rare back and create a miracle and he would have one.

Sex. That's my answer to a boring eternity.

 

[rgraham666]

I thought there was no sex in Heaven. Isn't sex, like, evil or something in The Bible. I'm sure it must cuz those preachers on TV are always wailing about it.

And then getting caught doing it in inappropriate place with inappropriate people.

 

[LettersFromTatyana]

I wish I had a hacker about now, my desktop crashed and I'm reduced to my o_d _aptop with no "_" key.

Anyone know if XP is Fat, or NTFS?

You never know Box there might be someone out there with the fire of righteousness burning in his heart and sefessy dedicated to human betterment, forsaking a_ _ recompense, down there in the basement. However more _ikey he's using his computer ski__s to get the best porn.

Sorry about the missing _'s.

I don't know why, and I know this sounds terrible given your computing situation, but I can't remember the last time I've laughed so much at a post.

So, erm, thanks. And I hope you find some nice "l's" soon.

Then again, if laughing at your lack of l's makes me a terrible person, at least I can be sure that I won't go to heaven. Damn, Sister Louise was right all along.

 

[TE999]

Sex. That's my answer to a boring eternity.

Exactly. To quote Billy Joel: "I'd rather laugh with the sinners, than cry with the saints."

 

[Verdad]

The article further says,

Spadaro said hackers shouldn’t be confused with “crackers”— the former builds things and the latter breaks them.

Being clueless about the lingo, I had to check what the hell he meant, and apparently he’s right. Your friendly hacker is about free and open-source software, that kinda thing.

What’s questionable is how well this ethic (as outlined here) agrees with Vatican’s!

 

[3113]

Your friendly hacker is about free and open-source software, that kinda thing.

What’s questionable is how well this ethic (as outlined here) agrees with Vatican’s!

Totally agrees with the Vatican. Never mind all those secret documents and books and such that scholars and the like have to go through all kinds of channels to get permission to examine. Free an' open. That's how the Vatican rolls.

 

[Handley_Page]

I wish I had a hacker about now, my desktop crashed and I'm reduced to my o_d _aptop with no "_" key.

Anyone know if XP is Fat, or NTFS?

Sorry about the missing _'s.

XP uses:- NTFS

 

[TxRad]

Since the computer god is Bill Gates, I ain't sure who's doing what with or to whom.

As an old hacker I can tell you that yes, originally hackers were just knowledgeable people who did things on computers that looked highly suspicious to regular people.

Back before ISP's you had to hack (Back Door) into a college or corporate computer to get on the World Wide Web. You even had to build your own modems most of the time. Back in the day, I made pretty good money building modems out of old Ma Bell phones and blocks of Teflon.

Who remembers Watt Lines and what they were for.

 

[Boxlicker101]

Since the computer god is Bill Gates, I ain't sure who's doing what with or to whom.

As an old hacker I can tell you that yes, originally hackers were just knowledgeable people who did things on computers that looked highly suspicious to regular people.

Back before ISP's you had to hack (Back Door) into a college or corporate computer to get on the World Wide Web. You even had to build your own modems most of the time. Back in the day, I made pretty good money building modems out of old Ma Bell phones and blocks of Teflon.

Who remembers Watt Lines and what they were for.

Hackers weren't always all that harmless, were they? Didn't they sometimes do things like hack into bank accounts and transfer money to their own accounts?

 

[Verdad]

Hackers weren't always all that harmless, were they? Didn't they sometimes do things like hack into bank accounts and transfer money to their own accounts?

In the terminology the Jesuit fellow used, I guess you'd call those crackers.

Whatever you call them, there is a type that engages in criminal activity and a type that promotes free exchange of information. And then there are Assange types, which belong either to one or the other group, depending on whom you ask.

 

[3113]

Back before ISP's you had to hack (Back Door) into a college or corporate computer to get on the World Wide Web. You even had to build your own modems most of the time. Back in the day, I made pretty good money building modems out of old Ma Bell phones and blocks of Teflon.

Clearly, you were doing God's work

 

[TxRad]

Clearly, you were doing God's work

If you say so....

I thought I was just ahead of my time. Not to mention clever enough to figure out how to machine Teflon to close tolerances.

 

[JackLuis]

XP uses:- NTFS

Thanks. I'm trying to set up a boot F_ash Boot Drive and needed to know.

 

[TxRad]

Thanks. I'm trying to set up a boot F_ash Boot Drive and needed to know.

Do you have the original XP disks for the computer. If so you can boot from that and run repair.

 

[Tyro999]

XP uses:- NTFS

Actually, XP drives, physical and logical, can be formatted as FAT, FAT-32, and NTFS, although the default is NTFS. At one time, users upgrading to XP from previous versions of Windows, particularly 3.x and 95, could have needed to use FAT & FAT-32. In all likelihood, unless Jack Luis had a reason to format with FAT/FAT-32 for compatability with ancient DOS, 3.x, or Win95 files/programs, he would have left that Win-XP computer to the default of NTFS.

 

[Tio_Narratore]

Exactly. To quote Billy Joel: "I'd rather laugh with the sinners, than cry with the saints."

and to add Leonard Cohen to the citation list: "...the place was dead as heaven on a Saturday night."