# I hate computer hacking in movies... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 20, 2006, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-computer-hacking-in-movies/369515 "2006-08-20T23:59:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-computer-hacking-in-movies/369515/81 "2006-08-24T21:43:43Z")
[QUOTE=Will Repair] War Games - NORAD just happens to have the same voice synthesizer as 14 year-old kid and the computer knows just the right dramatic moment to first (and only) use it. [/QUOTE] I din’t have any trouble with that. In 1983 there weren’t many voice chips on the market. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-computer-hacking-in-movies/369515/82 "2006-08-24T21:45:29Z")
Eh, that floppy-beating rule is obsolete with dirt-cheap flash drives running around. ---
**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-computer-hacking-in-movies/369515/83 "2006-08-24T23:27:57Z")
[QUOTE=dropzone] I din’t have any trouble with that. In 1983 there weren’t many voice chips on the market. [/QUOTE] You didn’t? The entire time everyone is locked in NORAD not once did the computer speak. Not until the BIG DRAMATIC MOMENT. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-computer-hacking-in-movies/369515/84 "2006-08-24T23:49:50Z")
[QUOTE=Will Repair] You didn’t? The entire time everyone is locked in NORAD not once did the computer speak. Not until the BIG DRAMATIC MOMENT. [/QUOTE] Maybe it just didn’t have anything to say before then. ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-computer-hacking-in-movies/369515/85 "2006-08-28T00:02:55Z")
[QUOTE=Gangster Octopus] You’ve never seen hacking until you’ve seen Chloe O’Brian from _24_ hack her way into ANYTHING in a few minutes. If it wasn’t for her the world would have ended a half dozen times already. [/QUOTE] Except one time (she was in the lobby of a hotel, I’m pretty sure) when it took her 20 minutes to find a guy on a list of about 100 passengers. How come when someone is typing a password, it shows up not as the letters they’re actually typing (which would be unsafe) and not as a row of asterisks (which would be realistic) but as a bunch of random non-alphanumeric characters? ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-computer-hacking-in-movies/369515/86 "2006-08-28T00:57:43Z")
[QUOTE=Will Repair] The entire time everyone is locked in NORAD not once did the computer speak. Not until the BIG DRAMATIC MOMENT. [/QUOTE] It actually did speak earlier, when David (Matthew Broderick) was alone in McKittrick’s (Dabney Coleman’s) office. David logs in through McKittrick’s terminal, and “Joshua” speaks his responses. Not that that makes Joshua’s final speech any more plausible later on. ---
**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-computer-hacking-in-movies/369515/87 "2006-08-28T18:22:32Z")
[QUOTE=Bytegeist] It actually did speak earlier… [/QUOTE] Oops. By the way, why isn’t there ever a hacker with alligator clips hanging from his MoDem? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-computer-hacking-in-movies/369515.md?page=4)