http://hackertyper.com/
http://hackertyper.net/

The premise is simple: You prod the keyboard at random, and 
technical-looking text appears on the screen, as if you're actually 
doing something.

Tools like this are fine as far as they go... but I can't help feeling 
that they could go a lot further.

First of all, there *must* be an Emacs mode for this. Because, let's 
face it, there's an Emacs mode for everything else! :-P

Next, the "text" appears to simply be whatever file the author looked 
most cryptic out of the Linux kernel source code. (Some of these tools 
let you select some other programming language if you wish.)

Rather than typing at random, I think there should be real keyboard 
commands. Because typing randomly *looks* random, whereas if some of the 
keys actually do something, you'd type more carefully and it would look 
more real.

Clearly there should be commands to make windows appear and disappear - 
because if TV has taught me anything, it's that hackers never use the 
mouse, and yet are able to operate complex GUI tools using only a keyboard.

(If this sounds absurd, go use FractInt for a few months, and then 
imagine something like that, but with a real GUI not just ASCII art.)

There should be a "search" option which makes an actual window appear, 
with the data being searched flashing past at great speed - because 
that's how powerful computers search for things. Fingerprints, facial 
recognition, text searches, all of these work by displaying stuff on the 
screen really, really fast, and then freezing as soon as a match is 
found. (Sorry, "hit".)

It strikes me that when typing commands, you type from top to bottom, 
however when editing source code you usually scroll around all over the 
place, inserting text here and deleting text there.

And of course, this isn't 1974. We're not using green-screen dumb 
terminals. There should be syntax highlighting, with 8 colours of ugly 
terminal text. ;-)

Naturally there should be a button to activate that user interface they 
used in Jurassic Park - because apparently that's what "Unix" looks like.

Also we need a button which causes Japanese characters to rain down on 
the screen, followed by "follow the White Rabbit, Neo", and then zoom 
through the digits, Matrix style...

What other features should a *proper* hacker UI have?

Post a reply to this message

Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:
> 
> First of all, there *must* be an Emacs mode for this. Because, let's
> face it, there's an Emacs mode for everything else! :-P

Why would there be Emacs mode for a hacker UI? After all, VI is the
editor for hackers.

> Rather than typing at random, I think there should be real keyboard
> commands. Because typing randomly *looks* random, whereas if some of the
> keys actually do something, you'd type more carefully and it would look
> more real.

True.

> Clearly there should be commands to make windows appear and disappear -
> because if TV has taught me anything, it's that hackers never use the
> mouse, and yet are able to operate complex GUI tools using only a keyboard.

Ohh, that true! One should also be able to turn on/off devices (printers
etc) so that theier physical switches just click themselves.

> There should be a "search" option which makes an actual window appear,
> with the data being searched flashing past at great speed - because
> that's how powerful computers search for things. Fingerprints, facial
> recognition, text searches, all of these work by displaying stuff on the
> screen really, really fast, and then freezing as soon as a match is
> found. (Sorry, "hit".)

Agreed. And when the match found, the system should blink multiple
coloured backgrounds behind "HIT" or "MATCH" while beeping simultanously.

> And of course, this isn't 1974. We're not using green-screen dumb
> terminals. There should be syntax highlighting, with 8 colours of ugly
> terminal text. ;-)

Green screen <3. Having the default fg color configured as green
shouldn't stop from having syntax highlighting, though.

> Naturally there should be a button to activate that user interface they
> used in Jurassic Park - because apparently that's what "Unix" looks like.

You.. are aware of SGI Fusion, are you?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaRHU1XxMJQ

Hmm, I actually have an Octane... :-)

> Also we need a button which causes Japanese characters to rain down on
> the screen, followed by "follow the White Rabbit, Neo", and then zoom
> through the digits, Matrix style...

When you save and quit, the editor should start dropping the digits to a
bucket with the correct filename. It could also zoom to the digits and
follow them to the bucket.

> What other features should a *proper* hacker UI have?

Add 256 to one (random) byte of every IPv4 address.

Post a reply to this message

>> First of all, there *must* be an Emacs mode for this. Because, let's
>> face it, there's an Emacs mode for everything else! :-P
>
> Why would there be Emacs mode for a hacker UI? After all, VI is the
> editor for hackers.

Hehe, depends which university you ask - apparently.

>> Naturally there should be a button to activate that user interface they
>> used in Jurassic Park - because apparently that's what "Unix" looks like.
>
> You.. are aware of SGI Fusion, are you?
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaRHU1XxMJQ

The top-rated comment... is Jurassic Park. ;-)

>> Also we need a button which causes Japanese characters to rain down on
>> the screen, followed by "follow the White Rabbit, Neo", and then zoom
>> through the digits, Matrix style...
>
> When you save and quit, the editor should start dropping the digits to a
> bucket with the correct filename. It could also zoom to the digits and
> follow them to the bucket.

I did a search, there is a surprising amount of prior art. This one is 
particularly pretty:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph2rAZhWuCU

I know Linux used to have a Matrix screensaver, but it was awful. All 
the text was heavily JPEG-compressed so it looked like arse.

It *sounds* trivial to do, but it's actually quite hard to make this 
look really nice...

>> What other features should a *proper* hacker UI have?
>
> Add 256 to one (random) byte of every IPv4 address.

Ooo, that reminds me... My boss found a video clip from some TV drama or 
other. One girl asks why she can't access her email. The other says 
"have you tried using the IP address?", and proceeds to type four 
numbers, none of which is less than 250. (Why the **** have you 
memorised an IP address anyway?!)

This gives me an idea... Such a sequence of numbers is a potentially 
valid DNS name - assuming there's a TLD called 572. If we could set one 
up, that would MESS WITH PEOPLE'S MINDS! (...and probably reveal a bug 
or two in the various software for parsing URLs.)

Post a reply to this message

Eero Ahonen <aer### [at] zbxtnet> wrote:
> Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:
> > First of all, there *must* be an Emacs mode for this. Because, let's
> > face it, there's an Emacs mode for everything else! :-P

> Why would there be Emacs mode for a hacker UI? After all, VI is the
> editor for hackers.

Well, it depends. After all, Emacs was pretty much created by Unix gurus
(which, in a sense, could well be called "hackers") for Unix gurus.

(After all, "hacker" in the most purist sense is someone who is extremely
knowledgeable and skilled about computer systems, how they work and how
they can be used, even in very unusual and unintended ways. For example
a Unix admin who knows the system thoroughly, has a very good understanding
of not only how the system works but also how it has been programmed, and
can even write things like a kernel module in a sitting, can very well be
called a "hacker.")

Emacs was most certainly not written with the average grandmother writing
an email to her grandson in mind.

Many argue that calling Emacs a text editor is a misnomer, really. What
Emacs really is, is an elisp interpreter with an integrated text editor.
If you know elips, you can make Emacs do almost anything (that elisp
supports.)

-- 
                                                          - Warp

Post a reply to this message

Le 07/07/2013 13:49, Warp nous fit lire :
> Well, it depends. After all, Emacs was pretty much created by Unix gurus
> (which, in a sense, could well be called "hackers") for Unix gurus.

rather Lisp gurus. Emacs is an operating system all by itself (or nearly)

Post a reply to this message

Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:
> 
> The top-rated comment... is Jurassic Park. ;-)
> 

Yes, yes it is. I was just thinking the other day that I should watch
the first 2 again, haven't seen them in ages.


> Ooo, that reminds me... My boss found a video clip from some TV drama or
> other. One girl asks why she can't access her email. The other says
> "have you tried using the IP address?", and proceeds to type four
> numbers, none of which is less than 250. (Why the **** have you
> memorised an IP address anyway?!)

If you use them enough, you'll just simply remember them. At my first
real job (which I quitted in 2002) the main DNS server was
194.252.199.200, for example.

> This gives me an idea... Such a sequence of numbers is a potentially
> valid DNS name - assuming there's a TLD called 572. If we could set one
> up, that would MESS WITH PEOPLE'S MINDS! (...and probably reveal a bug
> or two in the various software for parsing URLs.)

Ohh, I do like the idea. But can the domain- or hostnames contain only
numbers? Hostnames ones wasn't allowed to start with one, but AFAIK
that's overruled now.

Post a reply to this message

Warp wrote:
> 
> Well, it depends. After all, Emacs was pretty much created by Unix gurus
> (which, in a sense, could well be called "hackers") for Unix gurus.
> 
> ...

I clearly should have used a winking smiley, so here you go: ;).

> Emacs was most certainly not written with the average grandmother writing
> an email to her grandson in mind.

Just to be fair and honest, neither was VI.

Post a reply to this message

On 07/07/2013 1:57 PM, Eero Ahonen wrote:
> Warp wrote:
>> >
>> >(which, in a sense, could well be called "hackers") for Unix gurus.
>> >
>> >...
> I clearly should have used a winking smiley, so here you go:;).
>

If I say, hacking to me is a rough, dry cough. Should I use a smiley ;-)

I also use hack as meaning "cope", as in I cannot hack this job.


-- 
Regards
     Stephen

Post a reply to this message

On 07/07/13 14:52, Stephen wrote:
> 
> If I say, hacking to me is a rough, dry cough. Should I use a smiley ;-)
> 
> I also use hack as meaning "cope", as in I cannot hack this job.
> 
> 

Now I'm getting really hacked off :-D

-- 
The level of my sarcasm depends upon the level of your stupidity

Post a reply to this message

On 07/07/2013 3:00 PM, Doctor John wrote:
> On 07/07/13 14:52, Stephen wrote:
>>
>> If I say, hacking to me is a rough, dry cough. Should I use a smiley ;-)
>>
>> I also use hack as meaning "cope", as in I cannot hack this job.
>>
>>
>
> Now I'm getting really hacked off :-D
>

Yes the real meaning. :-)

-- 
Regards
     Stephen

Post a reply to this message