Webmaster Cookbook

Jowl has been playing this game Runescape and he wants me to check into it more. So I’ve done a little Googling on it and came across this webpage which lists the 10 signs that your son is a hacker. This author doesn’t mention the fact that there are such things as ethical hackers. People who create mods for games, mods for open source programs, etc, they are ethical hackers. Malicious hackers on the other hand … well, I don’t think any parent would want their son (or daughter) to be one of those. Here’s this author’s 10 signs:

1) Has your son asked you to change ISPs?
2) Are you finding programs on your computer that you don’t remember installing?
3) Has your child asked for new hardware? 4) Does your child read hacking manuals? 5) How much time does your child spend using the computer each day?
6) Does your son use Quake?
7) Is your son becoming argumentative and surly in his social behaviour?
Is your son obsessed with “Lunix”?
9) Has your son radically changed his appearance?
10) Is your son struggling academically?

Again, parents should be aware that hacking isn’t necessary bad, not in every case. This type of list makes ethical hackers very angry. Without ethical hackers and generous coders, open source projects would have gained very little to no traction.