Sunday, 22 December 2013

Anonymous, Friend or Foe? Part 1



In this chapter, which I shall attempt to do in two parts, I will be exploring the hacking group known as 'anonymous', from there chaotic creation myth, to some of there more prolific, higher profile operations. I will however leave the moral judgements in the minds of the reader to decide, I will however endeavour to give a fair and true account of some of there deeds. 

Now you can't begin to converse on Anon's conception, without the now infamous website knowns as '4chan', from the outside perspective it would appear as nothing more than an image board, to post amusing Gif's of cats and questionable anime ;) and although it is that to, it is oh so much more. Hard as it is to believe, this is where it all began; 4Chan was relatively unique at the time (early 2000) for it's complete anonymity. As it provided complete, uncensored freedom, to share any information with others anonymously, on almost any subject, linked only by a continuing thread. This melting pot of self-governance and meme creation, was the ideal environment for individuals that were formally ostracised socially in society for being 'abnormal' to be accepted, into a real community and gain that sense of belonging that we all crave.
















It's worth articulating that at this preliminary stage, this was not a active movement in the sense that it is viewed today; as an aggressive political movement. They may have had the technological skill, but there was no unified agenda to speak of, just a collection of like minded individuals with adjoining interests. 
'Habbo Hotel' is one of the most famous, early examples of anonymous coming together as an effective group, working collectively to complete a common objective. Habbo Hotel was pre-cursor to MMO's games like World of Warcraft and Skyrim, stylistically it resembled an early revision of The Sims. It proved extremely popular as a social networking site, as you could customise your avatar and socialise with others in fanciful imagined scenes, such as bars and restaurants. In late 2006 anonymous for reasons that are not entirely clear; probably racial in origin, as Habbo's avatars were critiqued widely for being completely monochromatic, they began a series of attacks on Habbo hotel, crashing the main forum and invading the game with thousands of identical black avatars. Forming themselves into swastikas and blocking entrances into the players pool, spawning numerous memes.


Then in January 2008 everything changed, code named 'Project Chanology' this campaign would come to define the movement. The conflict was sparked over a highly controversial and widely mocked interview with Tom Cruise, where he was attempting to promote the church of Scientology. When they ventured to recall the interview, causing several legal battles with any website that hosted the chastised footage, Anonymous reared into action as they were in consequence, from their perspective at least, attempting to censor the Internet. At this stage Anonymous made their first public statement, and set out in effect, their manifesto of operations e.g. "cover your face, do not use weapons".
 

What followed was one of their most sustained onslaughts against an organisation they have ever undertaken, and in numbers not before seen in previous campaigns. As well as receiving considerable media coverage, the movement itself began attracting sympathisers from various demographics, not just the nerdy/geeky archetype any longer.

Mass protests occurred outside Scientology centres in major cities around the world, all wearing Guy Fawkes masks, which are now become synonymous
with anonymous (Sorry could not resist), this was the first time they were used in this political context. Anonymous flooded their official phone lines, ordered thousands of pizza's to there addresses; crippled there websites using a DOS ( denial of service) attack. More amusingly they had also managed to configure 'Scientology' as the main search result in goggle when users inputted 'dangerous cult'. The hacktivists also managed to obtain and release confidential Scientology documents that could be freely downloaded online.

Personally I believe that in this era of diminished personal freedom and expression, combined with our increasing dependence on all forms of technology. Anonymous were inevitable; an unavoidable response from a whole disfranchised generation, as all conventional forms of political process have little or no effect. Anonymous provides a real chance to have a measurable effect on something, on anything! That's not to say it's entirely positive, their methods are often contemptible can you deny there anarchistic tendencies. Stay tuned for the next episode.


Finally, I'll leave you with this little gem, hard to watch I know.




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Chanology#Internet_activities








Sunday, 15 December 2013

5 Things about growing up, that your mother never warned you about



There are many humorous changes surrounding maturity that take place in the human body, such as hair in strange places, love for uninspired musical drivel, and indeed a complete unawareness surrounding physical appearance i.e. the ability to dress oneself. But that's not the purpose of today's meanderings, my focus is on true unflinching adulthood. When you finally hang up your vintage stundent-ee boots, lay down your liberal/socialist banner and join the ranks of the main streamers


1. "There's no where to go anymore"
Let's start the list with this, the most popular gripe of my generation, of course there are! The only difference is that were no longer aware of them. We must face the fact that a whole other generation has risen up beneath our feet and usurped our throne, CROM!!!!!!!!!!!!!




2. "Music isn't what it used to be"
This is a personal favorite of mine, and a mistake repeated by every generation past and present, presumably since the first neolithic man collided two rocks together in a rhythmic fashion, and thought it sounded boss. This misguided notion states that their particular 'scene' is somehow more authentic, and has some sort of 'innate' truer meaning. There has always been, and always will be immensely talented musicians of all epochs; it's merely the case that it gains some sort of higher transcendental meaning to you because of you youth.
 Listen up, maggots. You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else.-Fight Club

3. "Didn't I used to be interesting?"
No, you merely have the time now to introspect, to recognize the vacuous waste land in your personality. No longer are you distracted by the continual buffet of superfluous activities we had on offer, we are now, at last, forced to reconcile our idealized self image, with realities grotesque interpretation. But do not despair! Use this as an opportunity to grow, to reinvent yourself, to cultivate the personnel attributes that you desire, the person that you want to be. The alternative is a depressingly meaningless existence, spent fantasying over time past. Or as my old lecturer used to hurtle across the class room:
'Nostalgia is like heroine for old folk.'

4. "I'm unfulfilled, baby or marriage?"
Okay, so you have finally got that job you hate, with a person you can tolerate, bored, what's next? I can't be the only one who has noticed the worrying trend of engagement related 'statements'. Because nothing says eternal love like a temporary 6 month engagement, and if that's not your game how about bringing a new to this sphere of knob jockeys. Now I have nothing against children, It's my job actually, but seriously ladies...has some form of mass synchronization of your wombs taken place? To some, a baby is like an accessory, to a perceived lifestyle or yet another form of competition over ones peers. Creating life is a tremendous privilege, not a right just because you find yourself human.

5. "Hipsters!"
For those readers thinking I've been a tad pessimistic in this installment, we could do a lot worse. You could be this guy, dressed as lumberjack for some reason, despite never actually doing any form of physical work. The extent of his actual exertion being the lifting of some sort of pretentiously over priced cocktail drink. While simultaneously, tucking into his bowl of fair trade sourced hummus; immediately followed by numerous quasi-political rants about a some middle eastern conflicts they know nothing about, while comparing shopping tips for even skinnier jeans. I'm puzzled as to why this affliction claims so many of us, perhaps if we could locate hipster patient zero we could finally end this pandemic.

(Notice that authentic axe look)