# I just got accused of being a hacker! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 20, 2003, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-accused-of-being-a-hacker/214249 "2003-11-20T04:00:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JimSox5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5a626/32.png) [@JimSox5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimSox5)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-accused-of-being-a-hacker/214249/21 "2003-11-21T02:24:14Z")
Hey, I was in that conversation! Well, not **that** conversation, but I was talking to **Flami** while that was happening. That’s not a bad idea, **Una Persson** , but this guy was an idiot/jerk of the first order, and he wouldn’t listen to that kind of logic. Oh, I suggested this thread, too. 🆒 _insert a little victory dance here_ ---
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-accused-of-being-a-hacker/214249/22 "2003-11-21T04:09:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Darkhold \* > \*\*HA! I have HAXOR’D this board taking away your grammer. Spelling is next. \*\* I’d say spelling’s already been destroyed / all shot to hell, given that you managed to misspell **“grammar”** in your post. 😛 😉 > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Zebra_ > \*\*Is it possible that your computer was hacked and is now hacking others? > > You know like someone set up a server on your machine.\*\* I don’t _think_ so… I thought of that possibility myself. Then again, that reminds me of a question I was going to ask: How do you know when your computer is hacked? I’ve also heard that you can get viruses by looking at AIM profiles for some odd reason. Saw something on it today, but I have no idea how that would happen. Any ideas? F\_X ---
**Author:** ![Nightime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Nightime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightime)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-accused-of-being-a-hacker/214249/23 "2003-11-21T04:15:13Z")
I remember reading about this on a site about pranks. It described a whole IM conversation where the person doing the prank randomly accused someone of hacking them. Maybe this guy saw it too. ---
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-accused-of-being-a-hacker/214249/24 "2003-11-21T04:30:43Z")
Well, I didn’t make this up, or take a site as my inspiration. This really happened. And maybe he did, I don’t know… still was pretty unexpected, though. As for his trying to get my information in an unconventional way, there are better ways to do it than that. (IMO) I don’t mind a little derivation from the norm ( 😉 ), but what he did was unacceptable to me. F\_X ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-accused-of-being-a-hacker/214249/25 "2003-11-21T17:48:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ponder Stibbons \* > \*\*Well, it’s no wonder! Look at all the time you spend here on the board posting instead of working … what? Oh, did you say “hacker”? I thought you said “slacker” … > > [Rosannarosannadanna] > Never mind! > [/Rosannarosannadanna] > > 😃 \*\* Emliy Litella. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-accused-of-being-a-hacker/214249/26 "2003-11-21T17:51:15Z")
_Emily_ Litella. Gaudere strikes again! ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-accused-of-being-a-hacker/214249/27 "2003-11-21T18:54:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Emily Litella. I hate it when I get them mixed up!!! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-accused-of-being-a-hacker/214249/28 "2003-11-21T19:04:52Z")
Don’t feel bad, **Ponder**. _Reader’s Digest_ recently got them mixed up, too. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-accused-of-being-a-hacker/214249/29 "2003-11-21T19:40:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sunspace \* > \*\*…and it’s “cracked”, people. Computer crime is “cracking”. \*\* **Sunspace** , can you imagine the firestorm that would have erupted had the thread title been “I just got accused of being a cracker!”? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-accused-of-being-a-hacker/214249/30 "2003-11-21T21:01:27Z")
Hmmm… “cracker, the computer criminal”, or “cracker, the safe opener”, or…? There’s also a derogatory southern-US usage of the word, right? I don’t actually know what that usage means… The “cracker” versus “hacker” blurring is one of my pet peeves as a technical writer. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-accused-of-being-a-hacker/214249/31 "2003-11-21T21:04:00Z")
“Cracker” as in a pejorative for Caucasians. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-accused-of-being-a-hacker/214249/32 "2003-11-21T21:55:14Z")
Maybe not a firestorm, **dan** , but plenty of Dopers would have been confused. I bet the majority of us think “slur” when they see “cracker” while “hacker” gets the point across but annoys a few. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-accused-of-being-a-hacker/214249/33 "2003-11-21T22:33:03Z")
> [@](#): > > “Cracker” as in a pejorative for Caucasians. . There. I didn’t actually know that. I thought it meant, basically, “wilfully ignorant rural inhabitant”. [sub]And of course, I forgot “cracker” as in “snack food” as well.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-accused-of-being-a-hacker/214249/34 "2003-11-22T00:25:40Z")
Well, you know what happens when people get confused when race is an issue. So hacker, although perhaps not technically correct, at least conveys the right image. ---
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-accused-of-being-a-hacker/214249/35 "2003-11-22T04:11:46Z")
Well, he didn’t say that I was a “cracker”… if he had, I would have wondered what he was on. Then again, I habe only a faint acquaintance with the term “cracker” when used in that context. No idea who / what Rosannarosannadanna is, either. I have only a vague knowledge of the whole “Emily Litella” thing, so if someone could explain both of them and the differences… that might help too. 😃 F\_X ---
**Author:** ![tarragon918](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@tarragon918](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tarragon918)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-accused-of-being-a-hacker/214249/36 "2003-11-22T04:48:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Flamsterette\_X \* > \*\*No idea who / what Rosannarosannadanna is, either. I have only a vague knowledge of the whole “Emily Litella” thing, so if someone could explain both of them and the differences… that might help too. 😃 > > F\_X \*\* Roseanne Roseannadanna and Emily Litella are both characters created by Gilda Radner for _Saturday Night Live_ back in the early days. You can catch them on video, probably, or on the SNL reruns on Comedy Central. Roseanne’s tag line was, “It’s always something …” and Emily’s was, “Never mind!” Both uttered after long and usually rambling stories. You really have to see the character bits (usually done on the “news” segment on SNL) to “get” them–but trust me, Gilda was great! ---
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-accused-of-being-a-hacker/214249/37 "2003-11-22T08:04:07Z")
Ah yes, I knew it had something to do with _SNL_. Thanks for the explanation, **tarragon918**. 🙂 F\_X [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-accused-of-being-a-hacker/214249.md?page=1)