Analysis: Beto O’Rourke’s hacking universe, explained
By Philip Bump Philip Bump National correspondent focused largely on the numbers behind politics Email Bio Follow March 15 at 3:22 PM Running for president casts a bright spotlight in the shadows of candidates’ pasts. That’s a good thing, of course, allowing voters to learn about the people who are contending for the most important position in the country. But it doesn’t always mean that particularly salacious things are uncovered. Sometimes what’s uncovered is something … unusual.
Thanks largely to movies, the term “hacking” is broadly understood to refer to nefarious activity focused on theft or other illegal acts. In a broader sense of the word — in the sense used by O’Rourke’s group — it means something more like “mess around with.” Hacking things together. Coming up with a hack that solves a problem. And, sure, getting past barriers by messing with code.
How much of this is familiar to you will depend on how old you are. You may, for example, remember modems, little boxes attached to your computer or built into it, into which you’d plug a regular phone landline. The modem converted a signal that could run over a phone line into one that a computer could recognize.
To discover new bulletin-board systems, one would hear from other BBS users, see ads in computer publications or learn about them from messages on other bulletin-board sites. At the bottom of one of the essays O’Rourke wrote for Cult of the Dead Cow, for example, are instructions on how to connect to a specific bulletin board.Remember, too, that long-distance phone calls — generally calls outside your own area code — were often expensive.
At the time O’Rourke was involved, Cult of the Dead Cow was focused on writing, according to the Reuters report.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Analysis | The Trailer: What Beto O'Rourke's entry means for the 2020 raceIn this edition: Betomania, bad polls for every Democrat, and presidential candidates voting to take their own (theoretical) power away.
Read more »
Analysis | Power Up: Beto-mania leaves some Texas Democrats feeling jiltedSome say he failed to use his star power to buoy other Democrats running in the state.
Read more »
Beto O'Rourke gets a familiar cover treatmentCNN News, delivered. Select from our newsletters below and enter your email to subscribe.
Read more »
At SXSW, Beto O’Rourke still not saying whether he’s running; Klobuchar not interested in tech-bustingBeto O’Rourke attended the premiere of “Running with Beto” at the South By Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, with his wife and daughter. He repeated that he’s made up his mind about running for president and plans to let everyone know soon.
Read more »
'It's a bit much': Beto drags out his 2020 tease at South by SouthwestBeto O’Rourke took his 2020 campaign tease to South by Southwest on Saturday — and even by Austin's eccentric standards, the act was getting weird
Read more »
Beto O'Rourke drops f-bombs, snaps at staff, stresses out in revealing new documentaryThe Texas Democrat attended the premiere of an inside look at his campaign against Sen. Ted Cruz as he ponders a possible presidential run.
Read more »
Beto O’Rourke’s campaign comes to life in a darkened theater, for better and worseA documentary on his 2018 Senate campaign grimly details the cost to his children, as the former congressman prepares for an expected presidential race.
Read more »
Opinion | What to watch for when Biden and Beto launchOpinion: What to watch for when Biden and Beto launch
Read more »