Creative Writing: The Big Scoop Essay, Research Paper

Creative Writing: The Big Scoop

Hello, my name is Jack Williams. I am a reporter you have been hearing a lot

about and this is how I gathered my information for my article on “Computers,

Hacking, And USA’s Citizens” that has been causing so much uproar in many states

and even in the government. Recently, people have claimed that I fantasized

everything in the report and that I should work in the fiction field in stead of

journalism, so here is the exact way I received my information for my story. I

will start from the top and I will try not to miss a detail so you can fully

understand me. It was the first Friday of July and it was like any typical

midsummer evening at 6:00pm. The sun was still out shining down, just turning

red for sunset. It was not especially hot, but it was still tee-shirt weather.

I walked down the rather clean street towards the Citicorp building, thinking

excitedly about what was going to happen at the meeting and about what

information I could receive from this expierence. It was not long before I was

standing in front of the modern Citicorp building. The building exterior

consisted of mainly large glass windows which provided a very vivid reflection

of the neighboring buildings, almost camouflaging its presence on the block. I

thought of how the buildings appearence is suiting for what is happening inside

at that moment. I casually walked into the revolving glass doors that stood at

the base of the building. There were plenty of stores to my left and right.

They ranged from candy stores selling snickers bars and almond joy to fast food

restaurants selling burgers and french fries and all of the had people inside of

them, spending the money they just withdrew from the nearby ATM machines and the

tellers upstairs. It was the tipical gimick to make people spend their money,

let them have easy access to it, so it was nothing surprising to me. I continued

to walk towards the back of the building looking at all the stores to my sides

until I reached the very back of the building, right in front of Barnes & Nobles.

I saw a crowd of people standing there, all of mixed ages and nationality.

None were alike. These were not the normal people you would picture as vivid

computer lovers or people who liked to hack. People exchanged disks everywhere

in sight. There were all types of people sharing information about everything

from the latest computer security weakness or newest computer virii to what new

programs were released today. Forty year old men and women in suits and ties

standing, talking, and exchanging information with kids age ten to fifteen who

were dressed in skater outfits. In other places people from foreign countries

spoke with Americans overlooking their differences. They all shared the same

interest in hacking and computer technology. They live in their own world where

dollars mean nothing and disks mean everything. I casually walked into the

crowd towards a man who seemed rather interesting to me. He was a tall man,

about 30. The man was wearing Levis jeans, a clean white tee-shirt that said

“duh?” in large straight black letters, and a large red and black side bag full

of printed papers. He handed me some paper and told me in a semi-happy voice to

take a look at that and that it would explain everything. I threw the paper

into my bag saying to my self that this guy belongs in a mental institution if

he actually believed that one piece of paper could explain the whole hacker

world and I walked on to the other side of the room. There was a kid standing

there in the normal baggy pants and tee shirt working on a toshiba laptop.

Wanting to get the information I needed for my story, I walked over to the kid

and asked him what he was up to and to my surprise he asked me in a deep voice

if I was affiliated with any law enforcement agencies such as the F.B.I. or the

C.I.A.. I said to myself why would I be with a law enforcement agency, but to

get information, I tried to play it out very casually and said told him no, but

if I was, I don’t think I would tell him. He said to me that by law, I would

be required to tell him the truth on that question if I was a member of a law

enforcement agency. I was shocked becuase I did not know about that. He asked

me again if I was a member of a law enforcement agency, and I replied that I

wasn’t. He said that he didn’t think I was but he is always better safe than

sorry. At this point I thought this guy was off the wall crazy or a really well

informed kid, but again I reminded myself about the story I was writing. I

asked him what he was doing in a nonchalant voice and his response astounded me.

He said he was trying to hack a computer server. It was not so much the idea of

hacking a server, because I knew everyone in the meeting was looking to do that

or to learn how to do that, but it was the way he said it. The way it flowed

was as if it was nothing special, nothing that did not happen everyday. This

kid seemed to be my story standing live in front of me. I played as what

hackers, phreakers (people who play with telephone companies), and software

pirates call a lamer, which is someone who is a complete computer idiot or knows

very little. I asked him if he tried to break into computer systems often and

he replied everyday and that he was usually successful on all of them. He just

continued typing his unix commands which went way over my computer training. I

figured that he was entranced enough with his hacking that I would be able to

ask him a few more questions. I proceeded to ask him about how many American

kids and adult like to hack and or phreak, what percentage of hackers were kids

and how many were adults and the like. The responses were astounding and I

checked with other people on these answers and they turned out to be

frighteningly correct. When I asked him, why hackers do what they do, he

grabbed my bag and pulled out the paper the man had given me earlier and rudely

said that I should read that and leave him alone. I could tell that I had

outlived my short welcome being a lamer, so off I went into a secluded corner

and read the document which the man had given me. It was written by a hacker

called the mentor just a few days before he was sentenced to a jail term, I

believe it was a fifty year term so he entitled it The Mentor’s Last Words. It

told me about what goes on in a hacker’s mind and why they do it. It also

showed me what hackers really are; they are not really criminals, at least not

all of them. They are curious and seek knowledge. According to them and this

document the true hacker never destroys, just looks. That is the essence of the

United States Hacker. He is neither male nor female. He does not age nor does

he have a nationality. People must realize most of these people will never meet

anywhere except in a virtual chat room and will never hear each others voice.

They have no choice but to judge people by what they do and not what they look

like or by their age.

The Citizen’s view of hackers is completely distorted. All you see is what the

government wants you to see and by know even the most sheltered of American

citizens know how deranged the governemt can be. We are afraid of hackers

becuase we don’t understand them and I don’t blame you becuase that is human

nature to fear what you can not explain. What my article was trying to present

was the truth about hackers because the amount that you know is a joke, plain

and simple. This is where I received my story from. Yes it is depressing that

more and more people like to hack and phreak, but in a way, it is also good.

Now quite frankly I don’t care if you believe me or not and probably if you do

believe me you will say you don’t because you are scared to believe me, but that

is a battle I can’t put to words as a story nor can I fight it for you. So,

having finished my explanation, I say good night and thank you for coming and

listening.