(Evil, evil Ian. I'm not going to resize your pictures forever. -Brad)

Many people who have problems communicating with others turn to the computer because they do not want to be rejected in the flesh, many times from the experience of dealing with assholes that don't give a damn about the person they are hurting. I think telling these people to get a life is a little harsh. To me it's like telling people who love projection and do it as a hobby that they have no life. I'm not speaking of people who nessesarily write virus's...just people that use the computer in excess in general. I have many friends who are not good at communicating with others...YES, they program for fun! BELIEVE IT! It's a hobby, something they love, just like loving projection.

Don't take this post as me condoning virus writing in any way, that is not what I'm talking about. I just think the comments that Darren wrote were a bit too harsh.

Case in point is way back when for about three years while I was unable to properly care for myself when I suffered second and third degree burns on my hands and was unable to just go out and have a life. The computer was my life. This was at the dawn of voice activated computers, and I had just such a neat tool. It was my life and blood and how I kept up with the world.

Another time was during my brain cancer days. I was then unable to care for myself in public and spent most of my days on the computer in order to stay in touch with the outside world.

I have gotten past all my difficulties in life, for the most part. I still have problems with my hands, like I cannot hold onto a glass or a pencil. I have memory problems like I cannot remember peoples names that I have known my whole life, it takes me around five to ten seconds to recall most things people know by heart.

I get to socialize these days, I always have been able to. But geuss what, I also suffer from severe depression and anxiety. I get panic attacks and I hate to be in large crowds. How do I deal with it? I do stand up and perform on stage. I work in insurance now and make cold calling a thing of importance for me.

My point is that not all people are able to beat the blues. Most people resort to this thing, the computer. It is the one great equalizer that helps connect us all, no matter if you use it five minutes or all friggin day.

There are those lost in it, and they COULD become obsessive and vengeful, but those are few and far between. It is so easy for anyone to laugh at those that find the computer a necessary tool of life.

It used to be meeting ANYONE from the internet was a big joke and was just for losers. I have met my future wife on the net. Why not in a bar? DO I HAVE TO ANSWER THAT? Do I really want to hook up with a bar fly, a church lady, or even worse, the secretary at work? I met this fantastic woman (who bears a striking resemblance to wednesday addams) over the internet. The internet makes it possible to lay it all out there, true or not, and do it without getting hurt. We were able to find each other this way, and otherwise it never would have happened.

So the computer is a good thing, and I am glad to have it a huge part of my life.

I know many "computer people" that would rather sit on the internet and do whatever than go outside and play football, nothing wrong with that, just a lifestyle, a lifestyle that is new and foreign to most of mainstream America.

As for hackers, many do it for the simple pleasure of obtaining something that is forbidden, others for notorioty within the hacking community, some believe if they can write a good enough virus collection and become known they will be assured a position within a top software security company for big bucks.

I can assure you that Symantec, McAfee, etc are not writing this stuff, I have several contacts in the security community that laugh whenever people bring that up. They do however hire "security consultants" former hackers that enlighten them as to the current happenings and techniques being used within the underground hacker community.

two hackers, became very famous. In fact it was thier own hacking that helped create two very large computer type companies, Microsoft and Apple.

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were hackers. They hired hackers. Hacking helped create the computers we have now. Hackers now help create the newer computers that come out in the future. Hackers are not evil, just virus writers. Well not even then. Some virus writers do it to prevent someone else from writing that virus and loosing it on the internet community. It is the ones that loose them that are evil. But yet after years of minimum security prison, they are assured consulting jobs with high end computer type companies.

So where do I write some viruses and make some sawbucks?