Hackers Essays (819 words) - Hacker, Hacking,

Hackers Computer Hacking Explosive growth in the computer industry over the last decade has made new technologies cheaper and simpler for the average person to own. As result, computers play an intricate part in our daily lives. The areas in which computers affect life are infinite, ranging from entertainment to finances. If anything were to happen to these precious devices, the world would be chaotic. Computer hacking is a dangerous crime that could total chaos for the entire world. Some hackers act on revenge or just impersonal mischievousness. But whatever their motives, their deeds can be destructive to a person's computer. An attack by a hacker not only affects the victim, but others as well. One case involving a notorious hacker named Kevin Mitnick did just that. Mitnick is a very intelligent man. He is 31 and pending trial for computer fraud. When he was a teenager, he used his knowledge of computers to break into the North American Defense Command computer. Had he not been stopped, he could have caused some real national defense problems for the United States (Sussman 66). Other small time hackers affect people just as much by stealing or giving away copyrighted software, which causes the prices of software to increase, thus increasing the price the public must pay for the programs. Companies reason that if they have a program that can be copied onto a disc then they will lose a certain amount of their profit. People will copy it and give to friends or pass it around on the Internet. To compensate, they will raise the price of disc programs. CD Rom programs cost more to make but are about the same price as disc games. Companies don't loose money on them because it is difficult to copy a CD Rom and impossible to transmit over the Internet (Facts on File #28599 1). Hackers have hit one company in particular, American On-line, hard. The feud started when a disgruntled ex-employee used his inside experience to help fellow hackers disrupt services offered by AOL (Alan 37). His advice became popular and he spawned a program called AOHell. This program, in turn, created many copycats. They all portray their creators as gangsters, and one of the creator's names is Da Chronic. Many also feature short clips of rap music (Cook 36). These programs make it easy for people with a little hacker knowledge to disrupt AOL. These activities include gaining access to free accounts, gaining access to other people's credit card numbers, and destroying chat rooms. The loopholes for hackers and freeloaders may be closing, however. America On-line is reluctant to discuss specifics of its counterattack for fear of giving miscreants warning. However, many software trading rooms are being shut down almost as soon as they are formed. Others are often visited by 'narks' posing as traders. New accounts started with phony credit cards are being cut off more promptly, and other card-verification schemes are in place. AOL has now developed the ability to resurrect a screen name that had been deleted by the hackers, and is rumored to have call-tracing technologies in t he works (Alan 37). Hacking is not just a problem in America. All across the world hackers plague anyone they can, and they're getting better at it. In Europe they're known as Phreakers (technologically sophisticated young computer hackers). These self-proclaimed Phreakers have made their presence felt all the way up the political ladder. They managed to steal personal expense accounts of the European Commission President Jacques. They revealed some embarrassing overspending. They said it was done to protect the public from wasting their tax money. The European judicial system sentenced them to six months in prison (PC Weekly 12). This punishment might seem harsh, but not to Bill Clinton. He has appointed a task force to try to enforce laws on the Internet. The new laws would try to strengthen copyright laws by monitoring information being transferred and if a violation occurred, a $5,000 fine would be implemented (Facts On File #28599 1). Clinton thinks this will protect businesses as well as consumers by keeping copyrighted material at a reasonable price. The only exception would be that libraries would have the right to copy for purposes of preservation (Phelps

Free Essays on Final Solution

One of the greatest enigmas surrounding the Holocaust and more so, Nazi Policies towards Jews is uncovering when and how Hitler’s Final Decision evolved. The readings for class, Christopher Browning’s â€Å"The Decision for the Final Solution†, Karl Schleunes’ â€Å"Retracing the Twisted Road† and Lucy Dawidowicz’s The War Against the Jews, 1933-1945, presented interesting outlooks answering no only the nature of how the Final Solution was formed, but also the time line with which the plan would be followed. The major underlying question is if the systematic murder of the European Jews was formulated before World War II or during it. Was the destruction, removal, and annihilation of the Jews part of his overall plan for the German empire? This debate between the Intentionalists (Hitler had the idea of removal/murder all along) and the Functionalists (Other solutions towards anti-Semitism did not work; murder was the only option) is verbalized in the opinions of the three authors. Dawidowicz is an ultraintentionalist and argues that as early as 1919, Hitler had decided to exterminate the European Jews (Browning, 97). Schleunes argues that although Hitler had voiced, as early as 1919, his wishes to exterminate the Jews from Europe, he continues by stressing the different meanings of the word exterminate. Exterminate can also mean emigrate, or removal from Europe – not necessarily murder. He continues by arguing that there was no centralized â€Å"extermination† of Jews for a long time until the late 1930s. Upon failure of all the different, independent methods to remove the Jews, extermination through murder seemed to most feasible to the German cause. Browning, in his article, presents both extremes than offers an insight of his own as a â€Å"moderate functionalist†. He does not deny the significance of Hitler’s anti-Semitism, just argues that the conscious extermination of the Jews was not derived well in advance (... Free Essays on Final Solution Free Essays on Final Solution One of the greatest enigmas surrounding the Holocaust and more so, Nazi Policies towards Jews is uncovering when and how Hitler’s Final Decision evolved. The readings for class, Christopher Browning’s â€Å"The Decision for the Final Solution†, Karl Schleunes’ â€Å"Retracing the Twisted Road† and Lucy Dawidowicz’s The War Against the Jews, 1933-1945, presented interesting outlooks answering no only the nature of how the Final Solution was formed, but also the time line with which the plan would be followed. The major underlying question is if the systematic murder of the European Jews was formulated before World War II or during it. Was the destruction, removal, and annihilation of the Jews part of his overall plan for the German empire? This debate between the Intentionalists (Hitler had the idea of removal/murder all along) and the Functionalists (Other solutions towards anti-Semitism did not work; murder was the only option) is verbalized in the opinions of the three authors. Dawidowicz is an ultraintentionalist and argues that as early as 1919, Hitler had decided to exterminate the European Jews (Browning, 97). Schleunes argues that although Hitler had voiced, as early as 1919, his wishes to exterminate the Jews from Europe, he continues by stressing the different meanings of the word exterminate. Exterminate can also mean emigrate, or removal from Europe – not necessarily murder. He continues by arguing that there was no centralized â€Å"extermination† of Jews for a long time until the late 1930s. Upon failure of all the different, independent methods to remove the Jews, extermination through murder seemed to most feasible to the German cause. Browning, in his article, presents both extremes than offers an insight of his own as a â€Å"moderate functionalist†. He does not deny the significance of Hitler’s anti-Semitism, just argues that the conscious extermination of the Jews was not derived well in advance (... Free Essays on Final Solution One of the greatest enigmas surrounding the Holocaust and more so, Nazi Policies towards Jews is uncovering when and how Hitler’s Final Decision evolved. The readings for class, Christopher Browning’s â€Å"The Decision for the Final Solution†, Karl Schleunes’ â€Å"Retracing the Twisted Road† and Lucy Dawidowicz’s The War Against the Jews, 1933-1945, presented interesting outlooks answering no only the nature of how the Final Solution was formed, but also the time line with which the plan would be followed. The major underlying question is if the systematic murder of the European Jews was formulated before World War II or during it. Was the destruction, removal, and annihilation of the Jews part of his overall plan for the German empire? This debate between the Intentionalists (Hitler had the idea of removal/murder all along) and the Functionalists (Other solutions towards anti-Semitism did not work; murder was the only option) is verbalized in the opinions of the three authors. Dawidowicz is an ultraintentionalist and argues that as early as 1919, Hitler had decided to exterminate the European Jews (Browning, 97). Schleunes argues that although Hitler had voiced, as early as 1919, his wishes to exterminate the Jews from Europe, he continues by stressing the different meanings of the word exterminate. Exterminate can also mean emigrate, or removal from Europe – not necessarily murder. He continues by arguing that there was no centralized â€Å"extermination† of Jews for a long time until the late 1930s. Upon failure of all the different, independent methods to remove the Jews, extermination through murder seemed to most feasible to the German cause. Browning, in his article, presents both extremes than offers an insight of his own as a â€Å"moderate functionalist†. He does not deny the significance of Hitler’s anti-Semitism, just argues that the conscious extermination of the Jews was not derived well in advance (...

Lagaan Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Lagaan - Movie Review Example Instead the villagers were told to deposit their lagaan as soon as possible. In a mocking mood, Captain Russell (played by Paul Blackthorne) threw a challenge to the farmers, that if they can defeat the British soldier's team in the game of cricket, they won't have to pay any lagaan. Bhuwan, the leading character played by the producer actor, Amir Khan, accepted the challenge. Initially, most of the villagers laughed at Bhuwan for accepting such a challenge, but gradually they saw in him a ray of hope and started preparing for a game - called 'cricket'. The film is interspersed with some musical dance sequences, the trademark of Indian movies in particular. Gauri, played by Gracy Singh is the female lead in the film. She is in love with Bhuwan, and keeps encouraging him during the preparation for the game of cricket. But, Elizabeth Russell, the better half of Captain Russell somehow develops a soft corner for the villagers and their issues and in the process finds herself attracted towards Bhuwan, which is of course not liked by Gauri. But, the storyline of the film is so strongly built around the main subject, that nowhere does it appear to leave the main course. Therefore such anecdotes only provide some refreshing changes while highlighting the humane side of the story. Captain Russell gets an earful from his bosses, for having allowed the villagers an esca