On Tue, 24 Jul 2001, Ethan Dicks wrote:
> > It's set to air Wednesday (tomorrow) at 10pm on The Learning Channel.
> >
> > http://tlc.discovery.com/tuneins/hackers.html
> >
> > It features John Draper (a.k.a. Cap'n Crunch, a.k.a. freaky weirdo whom
> > you should cross the street to avoid)
>
> I have met John Draper in San Jose at party at a VR convention in 1993. It
> was an interesting experience. He certainly qualifies as a freaky weirdo.
He's not a bad guy, or an intentionally bad guy. He just has, let's say,
weird tastes, and a very disconcerting and off-putting way of expressing
it towards you. I am flattered whenever anyone expresses an interest in
me, but I'm not into guys and I'm definitely not into the Cap'n Crunch
type :)
Anyway, a point that is underlying this is that we fail to realize that
these folks we read about or have read about all our lives are humans too,
with their own faults and quirks and oddities (and perversions). If you
ever have the experience of meeting a living legend and finding out they
are just human like you (or maybe less so :) you'll understand. I've met
a lot of computer legends as a result of the VCF and it is not often that
the expectations I had for how that person is in real life are realized.
So now I don't go in with any expectations other than that person is
human.
The one person who I expected to be the weirdest was Clifford Stoll
(author of _The Cuckoo's Egg_ and _Silicon Snakeoil_). He is a bit weird,
but nowhere near what I expected. It works both ways, you see :)
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
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International Man of Intrigue and Danger
http://www.vintage.org
Received on Tue Jul 24 2001 - 14:21:53 BST