duntemann.wbst@Xerox.ARPA (04/12/84)
lordy, you folks ought to know better than to get bent out of shape by anything you read in analog. i gave it up for lost when bova published "minotaur in a mushroom maze" seven or eight years ago. as long as a tale feels right to stanley, he'll print it. the satellite spinup was a kind of a surprise, tho... and as for hackers...well, consider that the media needs a word for "computer criminal." the press has pretty much decided on "hacker," and the press will have its way. after all, the press devcided that three mile island was a "disaster" even though nobody got hurt, and decided that nuclear power was too dangerous to develop, even though it's never provably injured anyone. the word "hacker" will quickly drop out of legitimate use, just as "gay" vanished from use (as in "lighthearted") twelve or fifteen years ago. for a replacement word i reocmmend "mxyptlk," which was a mischievous sprite in old superman mags. reporters lack sufficient smarts to spell anything that subtle. the cost of a free press is..a free press. jeff duntemann duntemann.wbst@xerox