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This page contains all of the posts and discussion on MemeStreams referencing the following web page: Nothing to fear but complexity itself. You can find discussions on MemeStreams as you surf the web, even if you aren't a MemeStreams member, using the Threads Bookmarklet.

Nothing to fear but complexity itself
by possibly noteworthy at 4:46 pm EDT, Sep 15, 2007

Over my many years at Salon — in my role as the geekiest of our editorial management team — I found myself often being asked whether some particular problem we were having with our site or our email system or something else might be the result of “hackers.”

Most of the time, I spared my inquisitors the lecture on the history and proper use of that term. Except in a tiny number of cases where there was specific evidence suggesting at least the possibility of some sort of foul play, I’d simply remind everyone how many different things could go wrong on any digital network, argue that the odds favored the likelihood of some sort of malfunction rather than malfeasance, and suggest that everyone should relax (except for our sysadmins, of course, who were busy trying to diagnose the problem).

The author of Dreaming In Code comments on John Schwartz's recent NYT article.

I note in passing that an EE Times article in 2004, Experts worry that synthetic biology may spawn biohackers, didn't generate the same kind of reaction.


 
 
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