Johnny Long: Secrets of the Hollywood Hacker

June 4, 2006

If you know good tech, you can smell bad tech from a mile away. Bad tech is the stuff that makes you laugh out loud in a theater when all the "normal" people around you thought something k-rad just happened. The stuff that makes real hackers cringe, furious that they missed their true calling: the cushy life of a Hollywood "technical consultant". Then again, maybe Hollywood got it right, and the hackers have it all confused. Judge for yourself as Johnny slings the code that quite possibly explains what, exactly those boneheads must have been thinking. If you can piece together the meaning behind the code, and guess the pop culture reference first, you'll win the respect of your peers and possibly one of many dandy prizes. Either way you'll relish in the utter stupidity (or brilliance) of Hollywood's finest hacking moments. Johnny Long is a "clean-living" family guy who just so happens to like hacking stuff. A college dropout, Johnny overcompensates by writing books, speaking at conferences and hanging around with really smart people. Johnny is currently working on the final third of the coveted "Hacker Pirate Ninja" title, which has thus far evaded even the most erudite of academics. Johnny can be reached through his website at http://johnny.ihackstuff.com"