No metaphors. Just a thumping good book that I read back in '87 or '88 and absolutely loved. I've got sort of a romantic appreciation for the era of computing spanning early 1960s to mid 1980s, and this was the first book I came across that really get behind the minds and the personalities that drove the genre.

The rest of the story: http://product.half.ebay.com/Hackers_W0QQprZ1754026QQtgZinfo

Other good reads of the genre, and I'll note that none of them are books about technology- they're books about people:

The Cuckoo's Egg: http://product.half.ebay.com/The-Cuckoos-Egg_W0QQprZ259728QQtgZinfo (this one is just utterly awesome- Cliff Stoll is the man.)

Masters of Deception: http://product.half.ebay.com/Masters-of-Deception_W0QQprZ26326QQtgZinfo (This one is about hackers of the more modern (criminal) sense, but was interesting to me since I grew up on the fringes of the stuff this book talks about)

Takedown: http://product.half.ebay.com/Takedown_W0QQprZ1089223QQtgZinfo (As a teenager, Mitnick was basically a rockstar figure to me. I finally met him a few years ago at the Premiere network ops center, and it turns out that he's a total douche. Still a good read, though.)

 

Those were all great books, there was a time I read everything about the 80-90's hacker/phreak subculture. The last one I read on the subject was "Where Wizards Stay Up Late" and is about the origins of the intarweb.

Raise your hand if you were online before the WWW. I remember getting online the 1st time with TRS-80 Model 4 and a 300baud modem. I could read and type fast than that setup. Met my wife on a BBS

Wow I was a dork, but now I'm cool and drive a Miata and have tattoos.

 

On before www. Anyone phreakers here? Still can't believe some of that stuff worked on Ma Bell. Too bad it's obsolete.

 

Not me, I'm just a casual surfer. A PC noob I guess. I've had my computer for less than 10 years. Still a good read, though. Had me hooked from the first paraghaph.

What is that? Another new avitar? Quacker Part II...Son of Quacker!

Love it!

Rubber ducky, your the one...you make bathtime so much fun. Sorry ,I got carried away.