Sunday, July 7, 2013

A Message to Haters

So yesterday's post helped me makes lots of new friends and sent me spiraling into a whirlwind of haters.  For my own sake, and to the benefit of haters who should hate me for a good reason, here are some lecture notes:

  1. I like the work of the The Jester.  His work is direct and clean cut.  It isn't random.
  2. I am not a hacker, and I don't speak the language.  If you are going to insult me, use plain English (or be creative and use Latin).
  3. While I adore The Jester and his work, I don't follow him blindly.  I am wicked smart, you see, and am fully capable of forming my own opinions on a whole range of topics. 
  4. I am, politically, a Libertarian.  This isn't a big deep dark secret.  A hundred years ago in college, I interned for both a Senator and a Congressman, and both of them were Republican.  I didn't go into a life of politics as a result. 
  5. My focus is steady; I am not on Twitter, or this planet, to support the work of hackers or politicians; I am on this planet to serve others.  Period.  My passion - the driving force of my career - is to make education accessible to all.  Part of that mission is to educate educators.  My interest in hacking stems from a desire to teach faculty and administrators how to manage "protest" hacking on campus; it has absolutely nothing to do with fan worship or cult following.
So, there you have it. 

To the jackass that thinks he can scare me, let me say this...no, I won't even give you props by mentioning your name.  You are a dolt.  But, fear not, mon cheri, you can call my husband at any hour and tell him about my crush on (the concept of) The Jester.  He already knows, and he thinks it is cute. And, while I appreciate your parenting advice, mind your own business.   But, most importantly, I am not scared of you.  I was raised by a steelworker, a bartender, a gaggle of brothers and their friends...so even though I love kittens, old people, and the color pink, trust this...if you try to come through my front door, you won't go out without a police escort or an ambulance. 

Image Source

24 comments:

  1. Fun times! ;-) I am enjoying your "musings"

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  2. I think you contradict yourself when on one hand you say your interest in hacking has absolutely nothing to do with fan worship or cult following yet you openly state that you adore jester and his work and recently compared him to being a super hero.
    also are you not promoting hacking and the jesters work with these pro jester blogs ?

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  3. Thank you for your post. You'd have to understand my personality to understand that my adoration for the Jester is purely for fun. I don't know the guy (or girl) behind The Jester. He has never ever flirted with me, said anything inappropriate, been suggestive, etc. He has always been absolutely professional and polite when he answers my deluge of questions. He calls me "ma'am" which makes me feel very old. He has always been a gentleman.

    That said, my interest in hactivism only extends to what I think college kids see and perceive. Of the groups they most identify with, The Jester and Anonymous are most visible. I can't talk to anyone in Anonymous because, well, they are all Anonymous. Jester is one person with one focus. He is easier to follow, and he is patient with my (many many) questions.

    I do believe in his spirit, even if I don't understand what or how he does what he does. He cares about this country, and, whether he is right or wrong, it is good to see someone stand up for it without being asked and without expecting fame or fortune.

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    1. isn't it a bit more than "purely for fun" when you are openly supporting and defending him ?

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    2. on one blog you openly stated - "had fun blasting haters with Beth J, Rachel, and Stephanie"
      that is clearly pro-active

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  4. He may have been polite to you but i can see from his blog and tweets he has been outright rude and obnoxious to others.
    Mainly those that challenge his ideas.
    "Not expecting fame or fortune" ??
    I totally disagree.
    He has fame whore written all over twitter and his blog with every link to every press article relating to himself and what he has done. On the individual level this is surely ego driven with all the shameless bragging. "Hey look what i done mom"
    Let's not forget the future book/movie deal/hacker talk circuit money coming more than likely down the road.
    I would like to point out that he does personally seek monetary donations via bitcoin - (at $25 minimum no less)
    Also he is only giving 10% from store sales to WWP as confirmed in his conversation here - http://imgur.com/fuwEvOQ

    Curious to know as to how much money he has made from all this - any ideas ?

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    Replies
    1. Well, I am not an expert on trolling, but, from my limited observations of the tweet chatter, it appears that people are rude to Jester first and then he responds in a like manner. There have been several people that has spoken up and respectfully disagreed, and I didn't see him attack any of those people. The old adage, "you get what you give" has applied in almost all cases that I have witnessed.

      I don't have a problem with him making money from his brand. That is the American Way. I don't think he gets a fortune, but it isn't any of my business what he makes. His fame exists only in Pixels; no one in real life knows he is Jester, so what kind of fame is that?

      I think we expect people like Jester to be martyrs or Mother Teresa figures. He is not a martyr or a saint, so we should stop treating him like he should behave like one.

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    2. I think that a few have asked the jester some important questions but he writes them off as trolls i did notice that some of his tweets are being deleted and he is censoring so perhaps you did not see them - also notice that people cannot post comments on his blog.
      You have no problem with him cashing in on his name under the guise of patriotism and to support the troops ?
      Like i said earlier it's an ego fuelled by the fame generated by press stories etc. that feeds on itself not exactly a physical recognition hollywood style fame which will no doubt come later.
      No he is not Mother Teresa but that is no reason not to lift his game and try harder - pulling him up on his behavior is a positive as i see it.
      I don't think it's too hard to achieve basic manners.

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    3. I cannot speak for the Jester's manners or his plans for future fame. I don't care if Jester sells tee shirts. What he does with his brand and his money is his business. I can only speak about what I do under my name, and, as far as that goes, I always have manners and all of my work in education has been open access and open source.

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    4. but you originally hailed him as someone who is not in it for fame or fortune - now after you have been enlightened that he is personally benefiting from this financially - you dismiss it and say you don't care

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    5. beth you can block people on twitter if you don't like what they are saying

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  5. C'mon Beth if he cared about this country he'd recognize people's right to the first amendment and also the rule of law when it comes to breaking into other's computers.
    "wether he is right or wrong" - you can't be serious .....

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    Replies
    1. Is your question whether or not I am serious?

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    2. It's more in regard to the fact you have not as yet determined wether or not he is doing right or wrong when so many examples have been given as to show why he is wrong

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    3. My job is not to determine whether what he does is right or wrong. The courts will decide that if the time comes. I am neither a judge nor a member of the jury. In his blog, he seems to recognize that his work is not legal and he seems willing to accept whatever consequences extend from that work.

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    4. disagree - you must have judged what he is doing as right or you would not be defending and supporting him.

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  6. stop acting like a giggly schoolgirl with a crush and start asking him some tough questions and we'll see if his demeanor towards you is still the same
    if you need those questions let me know but first you'll need to remove those rose colored glasses !

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    Replies
    1. I have asked him tough questions, and he has answered them honestly and appropriately. But, before I can ask him those questions, I have to read the blog. If he has answered the question in the blog, he will send me back to it. As a teacher and student, I get that. He doesn't have time to recapitulate his positions over and over. So, my questions for you are this:

      1. Did you ask him for new information that furthers the conversation or did you give your opinion and ask him to change his to meet yours?
      2. Were you respectful and sincere in your approach?
      3. Did you clarify your intentions?

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    2. your response automatically assumes a negative interaction was initiated

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  7. "His work is direct and clean cut. It isn't random" -
    you obviously didn't read the page on his blog where he incorrectly outed the guy as being a member of Lulsec - how precise and clean cut was that achievement ?
    http://bit.ly/18OkEtg

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    1. In this paragraph, clean cut means "with purpose." I have never made claims about his skill set, as I am not qualified to judge hacking skills.

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    2. sorry but i took clean cut as accurate
      regardless of your knowledge of his skill set what are your thoughts on incorrectly outing that gentleman - seems like a pretty big mistake to me

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    3. Truthfully, I don't know enough about the situation to make an intelligent comment. In general, though, I think all hackers make mistakes. This is why I care so much that college students understand the ramifications of hactivism.

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    4. The situation is clearly outlined on his blog page that is why i gave the link so you could investigate it for yourself.
      I think it's improper to generalize that incident as "hackers make mistakes"
      This was a very serious mistake and amounts to a modern day "digital" lynching

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