The Tapti Hostel is Rocking this QoS

There has been widespread spamming but people forget google works on backlinks.

Hence, it always helps to post links on blogs

so here goes: check out tapti edition of Bang banged Khabba, Khabba banged Bang

http://hostels.iitm.ac.in/tapti/we_win_litsoc.php The Awesome link!!

Another Link to the same Crunchy Awesomeness ->

http://goo.gl/3OCJx

Enjoy Folks!!

Virtually,
CyberPunks

Hacker Ethic and counterculture

The contemporary example using which I would like to discuss the hacker ethic and counterculture would be that of facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. In his college days at Havard Zuckerberg was the quintessential definition of a hacker. The qualities in him were very typical of all the people belonging to this category, he was exceedingly smart and was very good at programming and he was immersed in programming to such an extent that early accounts of his life describe him as being one with the machine. But at the same time the relationship with human beings was the complete opposite of that seen with the machine. He failed miserably to in attempts to get a girlfriend, and generally had very bad and bitter relationship with other human beings. The main reason foe this can be attributed to the face that the he spent so much time with his work that he expected that feedback mechanisms with human beings to be similar to that with the machines he worked with, there was no specific boundary which separated the virtual and real worlds his world views were completely intertwined and interlaced with one another that his dominant world which was the virtual world was slowly taking over his real world and pouring into his real world.
Not only did he fail miserably in establishing intimate relationship with other people but he had absolutely no regard for human sentiment and other people’s feelings. This is clearly illustrated by his first website facemash where he hacked into the Havard registry and downloaded profile pictures of girls and put up profile pictures of any two random girls on his website and asked people who visited his site to rate who was better looking. This clearly shows that he had no respect for sentiments of other people. Following this he attained notoriety in his college and in a sense this made him feel empowered in a certain way because until now the no one knew him and he lead a low profile life but now he was infamous and people were actually scared of him, this gave him a sense of superiority, another instance which shows similarities to other hackers. Even when he had his disciplinary hearing for hacking into the Havard database his response was that he would like to be credited for pointing out the lapses in the security of the system, that he hacked into it for the pure joy of hacking and finding loopholes in the system.
In conclusion what is said here is that hackers like him are always in the middle of an inner conflict that of two worlds the virtual and the real and its not that they are anti social elements its just that they derive an immense amount of joy in beating the system and would go to any lengths to beat it again and again and at the end of the day beating the system is not a means ot an end it is an end I itself.
By
Vivek Subramaniam
AE09B031

Information panopticon and ICT

To understand the information pan-opticon it is first important to understand the general ideas behind the concept of the pan-opticon and then apply it to the information domain. The idea of panopticon originally introduced by philosophers like Foucault was developed as a tool for constant surveillance, the ideology behind this was that in institutions like schools and prisons where it was required that the higher authority should be in constant vigilance. To achieve this the higher authority in both these cases should be on top of any situation literally and figuratively. So these places have to be designed and constructed in such a manner that there exists a location from which the higher authority can oversee the whole institution. These were the ideas of architecture proposed by architects like Bentham who designed many schools, prisons and hospitals. The same idea is carried over even in the factory and the manufacturing line process where the manager has the complete view of the shop floor so that he can maintain certain amount of discipline in his factory and penalize his workers as and when they do not follow the rules.

While talking about the information panopticon  it is important to understand that this is essentially the idea of the panopticon applied to the information domain which is complete visibility of information and information surveillance. This leads to a creation of a system where information is so well organized, stored and kept under surveillance that absolutely nothing goes missing. The only difference in this case is that as the information system is vaster than a system of people it is way more difficult to regulate, so much so that the definition of the ‘higher authority’ becomes more ambiguous as the information becomes more and more accessible. This is exactly what has been happening from the 80’s and is continued even today. The easy accessibility of information which can be mainly attributed to the advances and developments in ICT has led to large scale delocalization of information. In today’s scenario any person can get information to the length that it gives a superiority feeling much the same obtained by jailers and principals. Developments in areas like social networking giving rise to sites like facebook and data mining which lead to the creation of google , have made information so easy flowing that entire lives of people can be accessed by the click of the mouse. Any layman can become the ‘higher Authority’ and can obtain control and survey information about people. The advances in ICT have made this flow very smooth and easy. The main question to be posed here is weather this decentralization is really required and where to draw the line as far as personal information goes, sites like google display the most personal of information about people and their lives to any random person who wants to know about them. This is clearly the violation of personal space because if compared with schools and prisons the inmates there deserved that the level of scrutiny that they were placed under because in the case of prisons they had done something unlawful which had gotten them there and in the case of schools the pupils themselves enrolled in the school, so they themselves made a choice to undergo that level of scrutiny, but in the case of the information panopticon this whole argument is torn apart because any random person can be subjected to intense scrutiny and that too for no apparent reason.

By  

Vivek Subramaniam 

AE09B031

THE HACKER ETHIC:-

What is a hacker:-

A hacker refers to a member of a certain sub-culture/movement/counterculture, originally from MIT, that explores the world of technology and ICT. They aim to override the structural paradigm of the information panopticon that exists in networks today so as to access all the information within the network, just for the thrill of the hunt.

All internet users feel the need for privacy and anonymity, so as to express themselves more freely; but hackers possess the ability to take over the panopticon and expose these users. Thus, hackers are often referred to as being a part of a counter-cultural movement and is often feared.

The Hacker ethic:-

The Hacker Ethic describes the values and philosophy that are standard in the hacking community. The general principles of hacker ethic include sharing, openness, Decentralization, free access to computers and world improvement. Hackers feel the need to explore and understand the way the world works. They often compare the thrill of the hack on similar lines as of the old text-based game of 'Adventure'. Hackers also believe that all information should be free for them to fix, improve and reinvent systems. A free exchange of information allows for greater overall creativity. In the hacker viewpoint, any system could benefit from an easy flow of information.

A Hacker is also an advocate of decentralization, and believe that the best way to promote the free exchange of information is to have an open system that presents no boundaries between a hacker and a piece of information. They also believe that Hackers must be judged by their hacking, not criteria such as age, race etc. They also have a very different outlook on beauty, and appreciate art for their intellectuality, and not their sensuality. They believe that art can be created on a computer.

A classic example of a hacker would be Richard Stallaman. The co-founder of the GNU project, this man was a huge advocate of freeing software to the masses. GNU (expanded being GNU is Not Unix) is a unix-emulator and is still used widely across the world and is a free software. Stallman also inspires Linus Torwalds (another hacker) to introduce the open OS of Linux. In fact, Stallman was such strong anti-copyright views that he coined the term 'Copyleft', which declares an item/software open for people to modify for their own satisfaction. Though there is no open record that confirms that Stallman adhered to the other rules of the hacker ethic, one can safely say that unlike most other hackers, he was not a loner; considering the fact that he was one of the founders of the hacking culture in MIT and created the society that is now shrouded in mystery.

-Amit M Warrier

EE09B004

References:-

1) Wikipedia

2) Sherry Turkle

INFORMATION PANOPTICON AND IT'S IMPACT ON ICT:-

A Panopticon refers to a circular building with a observation tower in the center of an open space surrounded by an outer wall made up of cells for inmates. The purpose of a panopticon is to increase the security through the effectiveness of surveillance. The inmates cannot observe the actions of the other fellow inmates, but everyone's actions can be surveyed from the panopticon. Although this style of architecture could be used for various institutions such as schools, factories and the like, Bentham specifically uses a prison as an example. The inside of the tower, though, cannot be seen. It individualizes and leaves them constantly visible; never knowing when they are being observed. The occupant is always “the object of information, never a subject in communication.” This type of design can be used for any population that needs to be kept under observation, such as: prisoners, schoolchildren, medical patients or workers. A classic example of a present day panopticon would be the audience of the reality show 'BIG BROTHER'.

An information panopticon refers to the same, except that the architecture now refers to an information network; wherein each member's actions are hidden from the other members, but there exists an overseer of all that happens on this network. This concept is used even in the workplace; a classic example being our IITM moodle website wherein the administrator can summon any information with regard to any aspect within the network. Information and Communication Technology is impacted greatly by the information Panopticon. With regard to the internet (the most classic example of ICT), users can remain anonymous (or use an alias) while viewing a large amount of information. The Internet redefines the Panopticon, as the vast information is open for all to see. Thus, present day ICT is focused not in creating new networks, but in encrypting existing ones and modeling the internet to be more and more of the 'Panopticon' that Bentham and Foucault had in mind. Privacy of the internet users has become the prime mission of present day ICT.

A good example for an information Panopticon is the Chinese internet. Ever since the inception of Commercial internet in China, the government realised that this could lead to contact with the western world and western ideas of democracy and anti-communism. Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China is conducted under a wide variety of laws and administrative regulations. There are no specific laws or regulations which the censorship follows. In accordance with these laws, more than sixty Internet regulations have been made by the People's Republic of China (PRC) government, and censorship systems are vigorously implemented by provincial branches of state-owned Internet Service providers, business companies, and organizations.

-Amit M Warrier

EE09B004

References:-

1. Wikipedia
2. Discipline and Punish by Foucault.

Risks and Responsibilities

During the second world war computers were more of a means to an end kind of devices, they had specific tasks ad executed them, they were a social product rather than a social change. Technology after the second world war did not get closure there were infinite possibilities foe technology and the number of applications were infinite. The present situation is similar in many ways except that today the possibilities are at a much higher levels and the potential for technology is also much higher. It is such a situation that the responsibilities of the designers and inventors comes into question because the flip-side of any technology should be well thought of and counter measures against it should be taken. This is because in todays scenario the sciences are so well connected and interlinked that developments in one field can mean a world of new possibilities for the other and in such situations the application of any technology should be forseen and all possible side effects considered.
The contemporary example chosen here to evaluate the risk and responsibility here is the electoral voting machines or the EVM's. Now just like any other piece of technology this was a product of the necessity counting votes by placing ballots was getting extremely strenuous and though this process was error free but the shear magnitude of the votes to be counted resulted in the introduction of these machines. The procss of implementation fo this technology was also not clean and corruption free, it was promoted by lobbyists who had their own intrinsic gains and benefits and who exerted a respectable amount of influence over the government. This is where the ethics of the technology comes into play, a machine which decides the fate of billions of people in a country is promoted and controlled by a group of individuals this is making a complete mockery of the whole democratic process as such. Another important facet is that in this process citizens who vote place their entire trust in a machine which is essentially a third party entity and due to this their entire trust in the democratic system is compromised, this is because these machines can be rigged and manipulated using very basic knowledge and the fact that this tremendous risk of jeopardizing an entire democracy was not forseen by the designers is mind boggling. The designers of such systems which are so crucial to the functioning of entire nations should act in a much more responsible way and should realize that their technology can affect lives of a larrrge number of people and should see through all possibe loopholes before giving the go ahead in the implementation of such technologies.
So in conclusion, when compared with the technologies of the cold war like the sage defense system, the EVM is similar in the sense that it is of national importance and ends up affectin each and every individual of the country and these should be designed by level headed scientists who take into account all possible effects and take responsibility of their product.
By
Vivek Subramaniam
AE09B031

The Hacker Ethic – with reference to Adrian Lamo

Hackers. We’ve heard a lot of things about them – some say they are a danger to the computing society and others see them as potentially useful citizens with bright minds. Hackers do what they do either for personal gain or to find and repair flaws in a system. Hackers, themselves, follow what they call the Hacker Ethic. Based on whether the hack is considered legal or illegal, hackers are dubbed “White Hat Hackers” and “Black Hat Hackers” respectively. Adrian Lamo, a present-day hacker, helps us understand better the terms Hacker and Hacker Ethic.

Adrian Lamo – an introduction

The name Adrian Lamo came first to light when he broke into the systems of major organisations like New York Times, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Bank of America, Citigroup and Cingular. Lamo's intrusions consisted mainly of penetration testing, in which he found flaws in security, exploited them and then informed companies of their shortcomings. He did the same thing what White Hat hackers would do when hired by a company to do penetration testing, but was called an illegal hacker since he did so without the companies’ permission.

When he broke into The New York Times' intranet, things got serious. He added himself to a list of experts and viewed personal information on contributors, including Social Security numbers. Lamo also hacked into The Times' LexisNexis account to research high-profile subject matter.

For his intrusion at The New York Times, Lamo was ordered to pay approximately $65,000 in restitution. He was also sentenced to six months of home confinement and two years of probation, which expired January 16, 2007.

In 2010, Lamo got involved in a WikiLeaks scandal, this time not as a hacker. He reported to the US authorities that Bradley Manning leaked tens of thousands of pages of classified US government data, including the infamous video footage of the July 12, 2007 Baghdad airstrike incident in Iraq. Although a supporter of the WikiLeaks website, Lamo believed that Manning was endangering national security, which is why he reported Manning.

The Hacker and the Hacker Ethic

From Lamo’s example, we see that hackers do not always hack for personal gain. Some feel a religious ecstasy from their technological adventures. The fact that Lamo reported security flaws back to the companies he hacked into reveals that Lamo was indeed just trying to find flaws in the system and trying to help the companies. Of course he must have felt a deep sense of satisfaction by successfully breaking into the world’s largest computer systems, but his intentions were genuine.

Hackers are defined by their recklessness and deep obsession with technology. They don’t care about what will happen if they get caught as long as they accomplish in what they do.

One of the most important features of the Hacker Ethic is the belief that all information should be free and available to all. This was why Lamo supported WikiLeaks. In spite of that, he reported Manning – which shows in him a sense of responsibility, too.

Hackers also believe that computers are an extraordinary tool and will change our lives for the better, as they can be used in countless different ways. The Hacker Ethic is against decentralization of technology. Hackers feel that technology should not be encapsulated within the shell of a small organization, but should rather be shared with the people. Only then is technology at its most useful. Just think of it – had it not been for hackers like Steve Wozniak, the personal computer couldn’t have seen the light of day.

By Pranav R Kamat

References:

1. Wikipedia – Adrian Lamo

2. The Social Meaning of the Personal Computer: Or, Why the Personal Computer Revolution Was No Revolution by  Bryan Pfaffenberger