Phrack is an online magazine written by and for hackers. Phrack was first published in 1985 and originally covered topics related to phreaking, anarchy, and cracking. The magazine has often been considered a handbook and manifesto for hackers, praised for its ability to keep a finger on the pulse of hacker culture.
For the first ten years of its publication, Phrack was largely associated with telecommunications fraud. By and large, the magazine provided material to phreakers. In 1989, one of the magazine's editors, Knight Lightning, was arrested and charged with access device fraud and transportation of stolen property. The arrest came after the 24th issue of Phrack, which included a document related to the inner workings of the Enhanced 911 (E911) emergency response systems – a system used by 911 dispatchers in North America to pinpoint the location of callers.
It wasn't until the release of articles such as Smashing The Stack For Fun And Profit did Phrack become a more security-oriented magazine, closer to the definition of hacking today.
Issue #68 of Phrack magazine includes a piece titled Happy Hacking. Written in 2012 by an anonymous contributor, the article delves into positive psychology and a term the author refers to as "hacking happiness".
The writer describes a study that measured the happiness levels of two parties: one group of people who had just won the lottery, and a second group who had recently become paraplegics. As expected, the group that had recently won the lottery demonstrated higher levels of happiness. However, the surprising part comes when the same group of people are evaluated again several years later. Astonishingly, the paraplegics are now the ones that demonstrated higher levels of happiness, which can be reasoned by their overall experiences and stronger bonding with friends and family. This is in contrast to the lottery winners, who overwhelmingly experienced distrust for family and friends and dissatisfaction with material wealth.
The anonymous author goes on to explain the unhappiness felt by security professionals and journalists. The two professions, while quite different, share similarities in that "reaching the top" often involves compromising personal values for career progression.
In the conclusion of the article, the writer encourages readers to think about what personally brings them happiness. They recommend being open to different career paths, such as software development, music, and art. Security and hacking can always remain a hobby. It all comes down to how and where you derive your happiness from.
http://phrack.org/issues/68/2.html#article
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