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Beto O'Rourke's hacker name was 'Psychedelic Warlord.' Really.

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Via:  Split Personality  •  5 years ago  •  3 comments


Beto O'Rourke's hacker name was 'Psychedelic Warlord.' Really.
I guess he wouldn't have to ask the Russians to do it for him.

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S E E D E D   C O N T E N T



Beto O’Rourke — yes, the same skateboard-riding, baby faced, recently declared presidential candidate who narrowly lost a senate campaign to Ted Cruz — just added another cool notch to his Gen X-cred belt. According to a forthcoming book by Joseph Menn, and as he reported in Reuters , the three-term congressman once belonged to the legendary hacking crew known as the Cult of the Dead Cow . 

That's right, Beto was in a hacker group. In the 1980s. But before you accuse the periodontal exhibitionist of some nefarious plot to infect Grandma's machine with adware or hack an election, it's worth reading Menn's fine print. Basically, O’Rourke was a teenager, and his relationship to the group mostly involved pirated games and conversations on message boards. 

The book, Cult of the Dead Cow: How the Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save the World , is, as the title suggests, not specifically about O’Rourke. Rather, it's a deep dive into the hacking group jokingly named after a Lubbock, Texas, slaughterhouse. As described by Menn in Reuters, the group's antics were mostly harmless and veered toward what we think of today as hacktivism. 

But there are, however, more than a few juicy Beto-specific details in the Reuters article. For starters, O’Rourke had his own bulletin board named TacoLand. Oh, also, that he wrote under the handle "Psychedelic Warlord." And yes, you can still find some of his writing online. 

Like, for example, this piece where O’Rourke considered a world without money. 

"Think, a free society with no high, middle, or low classification of it's people," he wrote. "Think, no more money related murders, suicides, divorces, or theft. Think, no more families living below a set poverty line or children starving to death because of a lack of money."

Hell yeah, Psychedelic Warlord. Sign us up. 

While these are of course the writings of a teenager trying to figure out his identity, and shouldn't be taken too seriously, O’Rourke did drop at least one nugget of prophetic truth. 

"Remember," he closed out one piece of writing, "we are the next generation, and will soon rule the world."

If only teenage Beto could see himself now. 

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Split Personality
Professor Guide
1  seeder  Split Personality    5 years ago

left10.png?resize=600%2C67&ssl=1 LEFT BIAS

These media sources are moderately to strongly biased toward liberal causes through story selection and/or political affiliation.  They may utilize strong loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by using appeal to emotion or stereotypes), publish misleading reports and omit reporting of information that may damage liberal causes. Some sources in this category may be untrustworthy.  See all Left Bias sources.

Factual Reporting:  HIGH

Notes: Mashable is a news and opinion site that focuses mostly on social media and technology. When covering political issues they have a left bias in story selection. (D. Van Zandt 1/21/2017)

Source: 

 
 
 
Split Personality
Professor Guide
2  seeder  Split Personality    5 years ago

Cult of the Dead Cow: How the Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save the World

Overview

The shocking untold story of the elite secret society of hackers fighting to protect our privacy, our freedom -- even democracy itself
Cult of the Dead Cow is the tale of the oldest, most respected, and most famous American hacking group of all time. Though until now it has remained mostly anonymous, its members invented the concept of hacktivism, released the top tool for testing password security, and created what was for years the best technique for controlling computers from afar, forcing giant companies to work harder to protect customers. They contributed to the development of Tor, the most important privacy tool on the net, and helped build cyberweapons that advanced US security without injuring anyone. With its origins in the earliest days of the Internet, the cDc is full of oddball characters -- activists, artists, and musicians -- some of whom went on to advise presidents, cabinet members, and CEOs and now walk the corridors of power in Washington and Silicon Valley.
Today, the group and its followers are battling electoral misinformation, making personal data safer, and battling to keep technology a force for good instead of for surveillance and oppression. Cult of the Dead Cow shows how governments, corporations, and criminals came to hold immense power over individuals and how we can fight back against them.
 
 
 
Split Personality
Professor Guide
3  seeder  Split Personality    5 years ago
O’Rourke and his old friends say his stint as a fledgling hacker fed into his subsequent work in El Paso as a software entrepreneur and alternative press publisher, which led in turn to successful long-shot runs at the city council and then Congress, where he unseated an incumbent Democrat.

Politically, O’Rourke has taken some conventional liberal positions, supporting abortion rights and opposing a wall on the Mexican border. But he takes a libertarian view on other issues, faulting excessive regulation and siding with businesses in congressional votes on financial industry oversight and taxes.

His more conservative positions have drawn fire from Democrats who see him as too friendly with Republicans and corporations. His more progressive votes and punk-rock past helped his recent opponent, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, portray O’Rourke as too radical for socially conservative Texas.

Perfect, a purple candidate from TX who really doesn't carry what we think of his teenage shenanigans.

 
 
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