School’s out, and if your child is acting, well, suspiciously while on his or her summer holidays, there’s a chance he could be making some cash on the side – as a computer hacker. Here are the top-10 signs your child has entered this nefarious business:
1. Your phone bill lists 1,987 household
lines.
2. Your son tells you that his private interview with the secret service agent was for a social studies class essay at summer school.
3. You receive mail addressed to Phil E. Phreak.
4. The kid cheers Lex Luthor whenever a Superman movie runs on TV.
5. The CEO of a major telecom provider appears on your doorstep, sobbing uncontrollably and begging forgiveness.
6. You find a copy of Phrack magazine hidden under the underwear in your son’s bedroom dresser.
7. The kid asks for a Novell Access Server for his birthday.
8. The little silver-coloured wheel on your electric meter spins so fast it flies off, slices your neighbor’s elm tree neatly in two and flattens a tire on a Chevy Monte Carlo three blocks away.
9. Your son’s English teacher calls, sounding really curious, to ask why the kid selected the Edmonton phone directory for his monthly summer school book report.
10. He names Robert Morris Jr. as his “”ideal role model.””
Online poker mis-fortune
“You got to know when to hold’em, know when to fold’em,” goes the famous poker adage. But sometimes, an errant mouse click works just as well.
Robert Guinther, 65, landed a seat at the World Series of Poker tournament in Las Vegas recently when what he thought was a $10 (U.S.) on-line poker tournament turned out to be a World Series of Poker satellite tournament with a $100 entry fee. The Texan eventually discovered his error, but by that time it was too late to back out. No matter – he went on to win, defeating 180 other competitors and earning a spot in the annual World Series of Poker no-limit Texas hold’em poker championship.
The big-money tournament involved more than 6,600 players who either qualified by winning a satellite tournament or paid the $10,000 entry fee.
However, it seems Guinther’s luck didn’t last. At the tourney in Sin City, he finished out of the prize money, which means he actually ended up losing $100. Looks like every white and fluffy cloud has a stormy lining.
