A blog about hackers in novels and movies.
Hacker Review of Source Code, the movie (2011) Image from Wikipedia. The movie Source Code came out in 2011. It was written by Ben Ripley "on spec" which means he wrote it speculatively, hoping someone would make a movie out of it. Despite its very hacker fiction:y title, it's not heavy on hacking or even software. But it is imaginative in what may be possible in the intersection of computers,…
Review of I, Robot – the First Three Short Stories (1940-1942) Isaac Asimov is a legend in science fiction. He wrote hundreds of books, averaging between 1,000 and 1,700 published words per day during his most productive years. In 1990, two years before his passing, Asimov said something beautiful that I hope to be able to say one day: "I have had a good life and I have accomplished all I wanted…
Generative AI in Writing, and the NaNoWriMo Conflict You might not follow what writers are discussing online. But let me say that it's been a week of rage, accusations, and deleted accounts. I'll begin with the recent conflict and then move on to deeper thinking on generative AI in writing and the arts. The NaNoWriMo Conflict of September 2024 Longtime readers of my newsletter know that I love and…
Hacker Review of Ghost in the Shell (1995) I've been longing to dive deep on this modern classic. Ghost in the Shell was originally published as a manga by Masamune Shirow in 1989-1990. It entered the wider pop culture with its anime (animated movie) release in 1995, directed by Mamoru Oshii. The anime is a combination of several of the manga pieces put into a tight timeline. The Wachowskis were…
Review of Hackers, the movie (1995) The Hackers movie is a true classic and much more alike the real hacker community I know. Underdog mentality, queers, cyberpunk, elitism, and pranks. Spoiler Alert : Yes, spoilers below. Hacker Rating Hacker Realism: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ Hacker Importance for the Plot: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ Hacks: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ The Wiz Kid Hacker The movie starts with flashbacks to when very…
Review of Minority Report, the movie (2002) I remember how much I loved the combo of Tom Cruise action, futuristic computers, and dystopian plot when I saw the Minority Report movie for the first time. It's still a great movie. But it has a very different story arc, plot twist, and ending than Philip K. Dick's short story. This hacker review covers Steven Spielberg's 2002 movie Minority Report .…
Review of The Minority Report, the book (1956) This hacker review covers Philip K. Dick's original 1956 short story . My next blog post will feature Steven Spielberg's 2002 movie and we can compare the two. Spoiler Alert : Yup, lots of 'em below. Precrime and Precogs The Minority Report takes place in a future where law enforcement is able to predict and prevent serious crimes. It's called…
Review of The Matrix Revolutions (2003) This hacker review concludes the original Matrix trilogy. You may want to start with my hacker reviews of The Matrix and The Matrix Reloaded . Spoiler Alert : Don't read this if you want to watch The Matrix Revolutions spoiler-free. Hacker Rating Hacker Realism: ⭐️ ⭐️ Hacker Importance for the Plot: ⭐️ ⭐️ Hacks: ⭐️ ⭐️ The third movie was released the same…
Review of The Matrix Reloaded (2003) December last year, I published my hacker review of The Matrix . It's time to work our way through the sequel! The Matrix Reloaded was released in 2003 and written and directed by the Wachowskis . Spoiler Alert : Don't read this if you want to watch The Matrix Reloaded spoiler-free. Hacker Rating Hacker Realism: ⭐️ ⭐️ Hacker Importance for the Plot: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️…
The Origins of Cyberspace Spoiler Alert : The below text goes into detail on William Gibson’s short story “Burning Chrome.” Cyberspace As 1960s Art and Architecture The word cyberspace started out as something quite different from what we know it as today. Atelier Cyberspace was created in the 1960s by Danish artist Susanne Ussing and her partner architect Carsten Hoff . Here’s what Hoff said…
Review of The Matrix (1999) I'm super pumped for the fourth Matrix movie – The Matrix Resurrections – to be out late December. So it's about time I publish a hacker review of the original movie! The Matrix was released in 1999 and was written and directed by The Wachowskis . I still remember my excitement watching The Matrix the first time. Oh boy. The special effects were mesmerizing, the clothes…
Review of Sneakers (1992) Sneakers is one of the golden trio in silver screen hacker fiction. It was directed by Phil Alden Robinson and written by Robinson, Walter Parkes, and Lawrence Lasker. Parker and Lasker also wrote the script for WarGames which makes them legend in this field. Spoiler Alert : Yeah, there are spoilers below. Hacker Rating Hacker Realism: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ Hacker Importance for the…
Review of Johnny Mnemonic (1981, 1995) A 1981 short story by William Gibson and a 1995 movie directed by Robert Longo and written by Gibson. Spoiler Alert. Yeah, there are spoilers below. Hacker Rating Hacker Realism: ⭐️ ⭐️ Hacker Importance for the Plot: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ Hacks: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ Rent or buy on Amazon , Apple , or Google . The Short Story The short story is just 22 pages in paperback and…
Hackers, Crackers, and Cybercriminals What is a hacker? I call myself a hacker because I find pleasure in pulling off a neat hack. I also get impressed and inspired by great hackers. But I’m not a criminal and criminals typically don’t impress me. What gives? A Hack Job Hacking, as in a hack, has existed in English since around year 1200 and refers to a rough cut, blow, or stroke; a shoddy job in…
Get (Back) Into Reading A couple of years ago I pitched my work-in-progress hacker thriller to an agent and mentioned that tech geeks will want to read it. "How's that going to work out? People in tech don't read," was the response. It both annoyed me and made me sad. But maybe she was right? After all, I had only just gotten back into reading myself. As my satisfaction of reading has grown, I've…
Access Denied and Hard Hacker Fiction ACCESS DENIED Something you often hear computer security experts scoff about is “Access Denied” blinking on a screen when a movie character is trying to break in to a system. I assume everyone who reads this uses computers regularly and log in to numerous services. We never see those full screen Access Denied messages, do we? Authentication is the most…
Review of WarGames (1983) There’s nowhere better to start this blog than with the movie that seriously got me into computers: WarGames from 1983, directed by John Badham and written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes. Spoiler Alert. Yeah, there are spoilers below. Hacker Rating Hacker Realism: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Hacker Plot Importance: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Hacks: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Rent or buy on Amazon , Apple , or Google .…