*cue Sonic Youth - diamond sea*

What are my qualifications! State them immediately else face a barrage of stupidity! Too late.

I will dully comply with your requests, but not before commenting upon them. Ad hominem attacks truly are the key to winning arguments, when you're 15 years old. And how can one attack someone you know nothing about? What easier way to "win" an argument than by discrediting your opponent? Using this clever tactic, you've no need to form a coherent argument in reply and there is absolutely no need to thinking at all. Once someone is thoroughly discredited, then that someone's ideas and thoughts are equally void and null. I HOPE MY HEAVY BREATH OF SARCASM ISN'T LOST ON YOU

My qualifications. Computing qualifications? Hacker qualifications? Is there a difference? That is food for thought given to wizeman and wizeman only

-I am not a hacker
-I am not a script kiddie
-I am not a newbie
-I am not interested in computer security (anymore)
-I am no longer involved in computers in any serious way

I got interested in the "hacking" scene at the ripe age of 15. Yes, I was as stupid as you all. I grew out of it (althought I'm sure many of you will argue against this claim.) I used to break into useless foreign systems, then run IRC bots off of them. Yes, I was also into EFNET IRC WAR. I once took over #shells (my efnet claim to fame). I eventually lost interest in computer security, little by little.. Trust me, there are far more interesting venues of knowledge in this world. By the age of 18 (the legal age in my part of the world), I stopped altogether. Computer security was no longer on my list of interest. I avoided it completely.

This is when I got into college. Computer Science, of course. Althought my interest in computer security was gone, my love for computers remained. I got into programming, mainly C/C++. I was at the top of my class for the three semesters that I stayed in this program. My plan was to get this Comp. Sci degree and persue my interests in the field of software engineering, getting a degree from a prestigious university in such. I would have succeeded and no doubt gotten a lucrative job. I'd be set for life.

The problem was that computers no longer made me happy. Spending my time programming stupid applications no longer appealed to me. I'd figure out a clever algorithm, but would hate to appy it. Anything non-theory annoyed me. The ineptness of my classmates annoyed me. I eventually dropped out of computer science in hopes of persuing a field of study more appropriatie to my interests. I'm now heading towards either a career in journalism, political sciences, law, or anything else that strikes my fancy long enough for me to take notice.

I still retain computers as a tool of communication and as an occasional hobby.

Why am I here? Oblio had spoken about his fun times on antionline, so I decided to join and see what the fuss was all about. Yes, you can all be extremely entertaining, in your own foolish ways. My comments in the 'poison' thread still stand. I still firmly believe in what I said, this from experiencing this 'culture' many years ago, and from being in computer science for a year and a half.

KISSES