Beto O'Rourke's Secret Membership in America's Oldest Hacking Group (reuters.com) 343
One thing you might not know about Beto O'Rourke, the former Texas congressman who just entered the race for president is that while a teenager, O'Rourke acknowledged in an exclusive interview to Reuters, he belonged to the oldest group of computer hackers in U.S. history. From the report: The hugely influential Cult of the Dead Cow, jokingly named after an abandoned Texas slaughterhouse, is notorious for releasing tools that allowed ordinary people to hack computers running Microsoft's Windows. It's also known for inventing the word "hacktivism" to describe human-rights-driven security work.
Members of the group have protected O'Rourke's secret for decades, reluctant to compromise his political viability. Now, in a series of interviews, CDC members have acknowledged O'Rourke as one of their own. Slashdot interviewed members of the Cult of the Cow in 1999 -- which gave bizarre answers.
Members of the group have protected O'Rourke's secret for decades, reluctant to compromise his political viability. Now, in a series of interviews, CDC members have acknowledged O'Rourke as one of their own. Slashdot interviewed members of the Cult of the Cow in 1999 -- which gave bizarre answers.
He would get my vote (fist post?) (Score:4, Interesting)
On this alone. The last Presidential race was a shit show of insane proportions (I voted, but not Dem/Repub).
First post?
Me too (Score:3, Insightful)
I still think his changing his name to pretend to be Hispanic is super stupid, but I relish the thought of a for-real hacker becoming president and having inside access to pretty much every government computer network...
Too bad there is zero chance of a white male of any dirt getting to be the Democratic candidate.
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He never changed his name. Beto is a nickname given to him when he was a child.
Its like when people call you Shithead, it is your nickname.
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Regarding the Dems, it appears the party chooses the candidate... At least that's what happened last time (they gave up the Presidency doing this, they didn't let the people choose, they manipulated the system).
Both parties suck but they have a lock on the elections (read up on the debates, they control who participates).
Dems will win if they put a semi-likable moderate up.
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They just need to pay attention this time. Last time in the secret cabal it was more like "I don't have any friends who hate Hillary, how about you guys? No? Ok, let's nominate her since we all think she's likeable and she's certainly more moderate than Bernie."
Re:Me too (Score:4, Informative)
He wasn't a "hacker," he joined an underground BBS group that was into writing morbid, bloody, and offensive fiction. And sharing pirated games. The group was named the Cult of the Dead Cow. It was just a writing club.
Then a couple decades much later, one of the people from that group released Back Oriface, so they got associated with hacking/cracking. But that has absolutely nothing to do with this guy.
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Or, more to the point, do people honestly believe that Beto carries himself like he-himself is a hacker?
You've got a point. He's not getting plowed and trashing a hotel or anything.
Seriously, how many hackers have you met?
Re: Me too (Score:2)
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Cult of the Dead Cow interview (Score:4)
The September 1999 cover story for the late, great Boardwatch Magazine was my interview with Sir Dystic [starkrealities.com], which took place at the house in the Oakland Hills he shared with a half-dozen other members of the Cult of the Dead Cow.
Note that the link points to my own website, because no other web archive of the magazine from that period exists, afaik. But here's the Caltech Library citation [caltech.edu] for the article, in case you have any doubts about its provenance ...
I want specific policy (Score:2)
Bernie gets my vote because of Medicare for All (among other things). That Bernie's been a civil rights activist is secondary to that.
I look at it this way: I wouldn't vote for Jesse Jackson just because he was a civil rights activist, and I won't vote Beto just because he was a programmer.
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I would have voted for Bernie. Wanted to actually, but didn't have the chance.
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1337 haxor, more like.
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Re:He would get my vote (fist post?) (Score:5, Informative)
She sure as fuck did [usatoday.com].
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>"Her DNA test showed that actually she was correct in believing she had"
Sorry, but her DNA test showed that she had less than the average amount of Native American blood than the average several-generational white American has.
I am so tired of identity politics.
It wasn't an employer (Score:2)
She was a goofy lefty college chick who wanted to believe she was an Indian princess. She grew out of it. I wish the rest of the country would. Her stance on banking regulation could spare us another recession if we'd only listen.
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My reply to this has disappeared, so repeating:
There's a difference between claiming minority status and writing that you think you have native American blood on a student card. Her DNA test showed that actually she was correct in believing she had, and didn't lie on that either.
She didn't just claim Native American ancestry, she identified herself as Native American. All based on a family story of a Native ancestor several generations ago.
That would have given her 1/8th ancestry? 1/16th? less? Sure if you've got one fully native parent, maybe even a grandparent, but a rumoured distant ancestor? What about those 15 European ancestors. I have Charlemagne as an ancestor, am I Frankish now?
Imagine an actual Native American, dealing with all the discrimination and disadvantage that com
And this has exactly what to do (Score:3)
I'm willing to take a candidate with a few warts when they're as on point with everything else as Warren. She's the one who got us the CFBP. Her opponents in the GOP OTOH are the ones who gutted it. Policy matters.
Also, missing from that little story is that it did NOT advance her career. It had no bearing on her application whatsoever. She was just a dumb college kid who liked to think of herself as Native American. Like when your Aunt tells you she was descended from ro
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Fauxcohontas got into Harvard Law School as a minority hire, due to her falsely claiming to be Cherokee. Harvard proudly touted her as the school's first woman of color. No kidding, this really happened. Without it, does she get in? Who can say? We can only say that when she got in Harvard was desperate for people just like her.
She also contributed recipes to a cookbook called, and I am not making this up: "Pow Wow Chow". Yikes. Can you imagine? That's a career-killer for anyone but a Democrat. What
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Recipes are generally not copyrightable, although passing it off as your own if you knowingly took it from someone else is a crappy thing to do.
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Lighten up Francis.....
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Fauxcohontas got into Harvard Law School as a minority hire
Incorrect. She got into the faculty based on her stellar grades. Neither was her minority status used during her admission.
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Re: He would get my vote (fist post?) (Score:4, Insightful)
Much like with Bernie Sanders and his "trouble with Black voters", those who are desperate to tear down Elizabeth Warren latched onto something that was "not especially popular", exaggerated it into "super UNpopular", and have been obsessively trying to spin it into bring her "major (perhaps fatal?) weakness".
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I tried to go back in time and prevent the Dewey presidency, but look where that left us!
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Trump fans are a friendly sort, no?
Listen, pgmrdlm, promise us that if you plan on shooting up a grade school or something that you'll talk to a counselor first. Please.
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Some people in the USA should learn the definition of traitor, that's for sure.
Re:He would get my vote (fist post?) (Score:5, Insightful)
What has Beto done in his life that makes him worthy of being president? He was a rich prep-school kid who started a failed rock band, did drugs, got arrested, married a rich wife, and failed at everything he tried .... until politics. And then he lost the vote.
Who is this guy and remind me why I should care about him?
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Remember that Trump reset the bar to the presidency very low. Trump didn't do much on his own except manage to go bankrupt in the casino business, which I gather is very difficult to do. He's mostlly just a self promoter ex reality tv star with a penchant for making one-sided deals (he doesn't think it's a good deal if both sides come out ahead). He had zero experience in politics besides inventing the birther conspiracy and some earlier short-lived presidential campaigns (mostly self promotion).
So the curr
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Birtherism was invented by the Clinton campaign. Trump used it later on to troll Obama.
Re: He would get my vote (fist post?) (Score:2)
What has Beto done in his life that makes him worthy of being president?
His weak chin and buckteeth are safe and non-threatening.
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That's racist! You're discriminating against him for being old! somebody should dox this guy!
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Wow, nut job anti-American weirdo is the calling card of the last Republican primary. Everyone these days is anti-American, they're all pro one half of all Americans and anti the other half of Americans.
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The fact that choosing a third candidate is guaranteed to make your vote worthless implies that we don't have a democracy. Also proof that we don't have a democracy is that in Texas and California we're constantly being told that our votes count for nothing in the presidential race despite being the two largest electorates.
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Oh, it's not a good system. But it is the system that exists.
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These days, that could be closer to what the founding fathers wanted than what currently happens. But there is a chance we could fix that by removing Winner Take All. And I think that should be tried before anything else.
And just like that.. (Score:2)
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And the oppositie just gained a butt-load of ammunition. Most of the population doesn't know what hacktivism is and would just hear "hacker" and think "criminal". Although, considering the choices last race that might not be that bad for him.
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Playing to his base and only to his base in a checkbox-ticking manner that inherently makes most people who would not have voted for him dislike him even more.
It worked for Trump.
Beto Created the cDc! (Score:2, Funny)
Beto, better known by his hacker name 0t3b, was not only a member of cDc, but the founder. After flashing an EEPROM with gamma radiation, 0t3b slammed the chip into his arm where the gamma radiation linked the chip to his bloodstream giving him uber-leet superpowers. 0t3b could now hack the gibson using only his voice and gesture controls.
Seriously, watch out for this guy. You think a Russian agent in the White House is bad? 0t3b is literally where Russian and Chinese haxorz wannabees go to learn their
Not a Republican (Score:5, Insightful)
If he was a Republican, you'd be hearing:
- He's the son of a judge
- Went to boarding school
- Dodged burglary and DUI charges
- He married into a Billionaire family
But he's a Democrat, so nothing matters. Different standards. It's so important that he be judged by different standards the media won't even give you the information you need to make any other judgement.
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Re:Not a Republican (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually, it is pretty well spread across Texas. That is why a number of of us are like wtf. The opinion here is he is corrupt:
Abused eminent domain against the hispanic community for his father in law's profit [texasobserver.org]
Has a record of DWI and Burglary [politifact.com]
Re:Not a Republican (Score:4, Insightful)
1. This is literally an article about how he was a hacker - something that Slashdot may respect but most of America thinks equals criminal.
2. What are you talking about, all of those things are not only well-reported, they're well-reported AND well-whined about by Republicans that they're not well-reported.
3. Different standards, right, which is why Beto has had overwhelmingly negative press coverage.
4. Seriously, try to think beyond your partisan prejudices. You've got a narrative, and you're letting it control the things you see and hear.
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Poor critical thinking from a named member, insightful response from an AC. What is going on here; this isn't my Slashdot! Where are my hot grits and Cowboy Neals?
Netcraft confirmed that Natalie's beowulf cluster in Soviet Russia would have the answer to that. But only if it ran Linux.
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1. This is literally an article about how he was a hacker - something that Slashdot may respect but most of America thinks equals criminal.
Yes, now watch how the media narrative changes: It's STEM!
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
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shrieking "due process!!11!"
Who exactly is doing that? Or is it just faux news telling you that everyone is.
Patrick Hope plans to introduce articles of impeachment, and nearly every democrat of consequence has denounced him.
From your favorite lefty news source, the NY Times:
Virginia Lieutenant Governor Faces Eroding Support From Democrats After New Accuser Speaks
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/08/us/politics/meredith-watson-justin-fairfax.html
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Grain of salt, I know nothing about him at all. I look forward to learning though, and it takes time to type this much.
#1 - Son of a judge, he was born into that. Not his fault.
#2-Went to boarding school, not his fault. The well-to-do prep their children as they see fit and are financially able to do so (great reason for Euro medical care and college education systems actually). Even if you starred in Full House.
#3 - Are you an angel?
I wasn't in my younger days, I won't speak to current days.
He openly a
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Not an angel but burglary and DUI? No, nowhere even fucking close to those.
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https://www.politifact.com/tex... [politifact.com]
Yeah, DUI. Burglary, was a charge and was dropped. Sounds like it should have been trespass per the article.
It's got nothing to do with being a Republican (Score:3)
The reason you can't get any straight answers out of him on policy is because voters are tired of the Establishment. If Hilary hadn't cheated and if her buddies at MSNBC hadn't orchestrated a campaign to ignore Bernie we'd be saying "President Bernie" right now and passing Medicare for All.
The Establishment doesn't want to pay for you and me to
Windows Hacker!?!? (Score:5, Funny)
Oh great he's a Window's guy... No way I can vote for him now...
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Hey, some of us used Windows in high school too. Oh, wait, Linux was released during my college orientation week. Nevermind, as you were.
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Oh great he's a Window's guy... No way I can vote for him now...
To be fair - what else were they going to hack?
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To be fair - what else were they going to hack?
SunOS. SunOS had a TCP/IP stack and a version of NFS running in 1985 [ece.ubc.ca].
BFD... (Score:2)
Was his involvement in the group from the days when high school kids (or younger) could wreak havoc with Windows using a Word Basic macro? If so, then who cares?
I just read his wikipedia.... (Score:2, Insightful)
Comment removed (Score:3)
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Well, he is young, he is apparently VERY social media savvy.....and decent looking guy.
That alone will prompt a ton of millennial to vote for him even before he starts pushing for socialistic type issues.
I'd be worried about him....
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Enough of the "Beto" stuff (Score:2, Troll)
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Re:Enough of the "Beto" stuff (Score:4, Informative)
He is just about as Latin as tuna casserole.
The word "tuna" actually derives from the Spanish word "atún". And, while it's the wrong latin, casserole does have Latin etymology.
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There a photo of him here from when he was 5 or 6 wearing a shirt that says "Beto", a shortening of Robert.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politic... [go.com]
So it was an "assigned" nick name that stuck.
My sons name is Wilbur but we call him Wib. This was my grandfather's name and nickname, but the nickname is the only thing people that knew him called him. My middle name is Wilbur as well (I use the full word, not the nick name, it's a first name sort of change).
"Beto" just makes the hair (Score:2)
Beto may very well win since he is a darling of the left/media.. Only then will we find out who he really is.
All I know is I won't vote for him, but that hardly matters.
Just my 2 cents
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Pretty sure it's just the first you know of (Score:2)
But hey, you n00bZ think that 2K of RAM is small.
Big plus from my viewpoint (Score:5, Insightful)
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Finally someone who might get technology. On that alone, I'd give him a chance FFS... instead of being stuck with the pontificating tribe elders who only see a 'series-of-tubes'.
That hacker status is a double edged sword. It could be just as easily used to promote him as being tech savvy as well as being used to demonize him for being one of those scary hackers who wants steal your kidneys via the interwebs.
Personally I am on the "great .. he has a clue" side of the fence when it comes to technology.
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Back Orifice! (Score:2)
I remember Back Orifice. I hooked up Doom to Back Orifice with some custom C code. doom Hack. You could kill monsters that represented processes on remote machines.
Joseph Elwell.
Early April Fools? (Score:2)
Ah... (Score:2)
Now I want to punch him square in the mouth. It's personal, b&tch.
What was his screen name? (Score:2)
Hack the Planet! (Score:2)
Hack the Planet!
Lame (Score:2)
and we should care why? (Score:2)
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It doesn't seem like its a hard disqualifier. Mudge was at CDC and L0pht and went on to DARPA and Google.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
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Security clearance for certain things is a given with the job. Like getting a desk in an office setting. I know a few people that most would think could never get a high security clearance.
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Does the POTUS need to get security clearance the way any other government employee would or do they get it for free by being elected? I'm pretty sure by admitting you were involved in computer hacking would jeopardize that.
As all classified information is only classified under the authority of the POTUS (i.e. under an executive order), if you get elected to the presidency, you ARE THE authority and can grant yourself any and all accesses to classified information. So, your election is your clearance, effectively.
This also means that the POTUS can declassify any information they wish any time they chooses. It's all classified under his/her authority anyway.
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As all classified information is only classified under the authority of the POTUS (i.e. under an executive order), if you get elected to the presidency, you ARE THE authority and can grant yourself any and all accesses to classified information. So, your election is your clearance, effectively.
Exactly. There was more than a bit of whinging about this fact when Bill Clinton was in office. I heard repeated many times "he would never have gotten a clearance if he wasn't elected president."
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POTUS only gets mid-level clearance. He's mostly a figurehead for the masses, not a Constitutional CiC.
The Espionage Act of 1917 saw to it that the bureaucracy implemented compartmentalization and took actual control.
But go vote and get a sticker ... you're totally in control.
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Immediate family members of the President don't need security clearances but are considered to have be authorized to have full clearance. This is usually just spouses but historic
Re:Cult of the Dead Cow... that takes me back (Score:4, Insightful)
and his thoughtful and nuanced policy positions
What exactly are those? I went to his website https://betoorourke.com/ [betoorourke.com] which contains absolutely nothing on his positions. There are only links to a store (one of which is placed prominently), applying for a job in his campaign, and a donating to his campaign. Is this serious?
This guy isn't exactly giving me a reason to even consider him as a serious candidate. Also, he couldn't even beat the Zodiac killer [wikipedia.org] so by the transitive property of politics that I've just invented, he wouldn't unseat Trump, so I'm not interested.
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What exactly are those? I went to his website https://betoorourke.com/ [betoorourke.com] which contains absolutely nothing on his positions.
Beto is as useless as Kate's boyfriend in the movie Hackers. His entire job is standing on tables making captain obvious proud with motherhood and apple pie rhetoric.
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Off the top of my head he advocates for - decency in the way we treat eachother
Let's just deal with that one point. Advocating for feeling good is not a policy position. Every sane person wants that. How does he propose to legislate how we treat each other?
Re:Cult of the Dead Cow... that takes me back (Score:5, Informative)
Between this, skateboarding as an adult, and his thoughtful and nuanced policy positions I think this Beto guy is pretty good.
Being a Texas voter who was paying attention to his policy positions as he lost to Cruz, I can tell you his positions may be nuanced, but they are NOT thoughtful. What they are is focus group tested, trite policy statements which when you press them are really just a mishmash of liberal talking points. Once he gets off his stump speech scripts, he totally breaks down on content, so if you press him on details, he doesn't have them to give... Or more to the point, won't actually be pinned down on the details, because the devil is in the details and there is no way it works when you start talking detail.
However, Beto.. AkA Robert... Does have a stage presence that is hard to match. He comes across as a natural on stage, plays to the audience well, looks good and knows how to give a speech. Reminds me of Dan Quale. He will appeal to the young crowd with his hobbies and stuff, but where the trappings are good, the substance is kind of bland.
However, the issue here is will he win the primary. I think the answer is no, not this time around. I see him finishing up at best #3, behind Sanders and Biden, but I'll not be surprised he's out long before the likes of Warren and Harris. So Beto is in this for 2024, everybody knows he's not got a prayer in 2020.
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Look at the quotes from his speech yesterday. He was off script and sounded exactly like Trump.
Seth Meyer even read his transcript in Trump's voice: https://youtu.be/CuXlBSuQbMo?t... [youtu.be]
Re:Cult of the Dead Cow... that takes me back (Score:4, Funny)
Look at the quotes from his speech yesterday. He was off script and sounded exactly like Trump.
Seth Meyer even read his transcript in Trump's voice: https://youtu.be/CuXlBSuQbMo?t... [youtu.be]
So you're saying that Beto is eminently electable for 2020?
This is my problem with Beto (Score:3)
To be blunt, if I wanted another right of center candidate I've got Harris for that. But Beto knows this. He's not running for President, he's running for the VP on a more progressive ticket. He's Biden 2.0.
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I too was expecting the Chaos Computer Club, since it looks like they predate CDC by about 3 years. Did the writer not even do a minimal amount of research before submitting the article?
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Well, in my defense, I was making the mistake of posting before 1st cup of J.