Attitude Is Everything in Cyberpunk

This is pertaining to being a cyberpunk, the hacker variety, in RL and on the Net, about cyberpunk and attitude.

<<<Attitude is everything>>>

Just for a moment, let's talk about cyberpunk and attitude. It isn't just about what you can do. It's about what you _say_ you can do. An example: I went to a tech school for a year and I had an older friend that taught me a lot of stuff about computers. I don't know nearly as much as him but because I know where to use it on and who to tell about it, I'm known as a cyberpunk while my friend is still just a computer scientist. Why is that? People only term other by what they know about you. If I predict that I will crash the system at certain time, say like... in 10 seconds, I will be considered an asshole by those who know about it if I tell them. But if I anonymously wall it, I'm considered a cyberpunk. (Wall means to broadcast to everyone.) If I break into someone else's account, pull some stuff off a Usenet group like alt.sex.duct.tape.gerbils, and send it to all the teachers saying "I wrote this." it won't do much good to have it go unknown who did it. That's why aliases are important. You must develop a character who does these 'pranks' so to increase your image. But you, as a person, are only considered a cyberpunk to those who you reveal it. I'm well known for my nickname, Gonzo. My other nicknames are not so well known. I don't want any connection between them. Gonzo is the playful hacker. Another is the deadly hacker. The other is the cypherpunk. If the association was made, zzzzzt, I'm in trouble. So remember, it's not who's the best with a program, computer, phone, etc but who announces it the best WITHOUT GETTING CAUGHT!! If you are good at that, you can be a good cyberpunk.

-- The Great Gonzo