Crackers and cheese
What do you
think of when I say these two words? Perhaps you go into panic because you
realize that your identity at this very moment could be stolen without ever
receiving notice, or perhaps your stomach started growling thinking about that
light cracker with your favorite cheese. Both of these thoughts are accurate of
only one word I have posed to you. According to “Hacker vs. Cracker” on
techrepublic.com, Chad Perrin’s believes that you must differentiate clearly
between the word Hacker and Cracker. So let’s take a look at these two words
and what they really mean.
Hacker
The word
hacker does not mean what the general public and journalists use it as today.
Instead, the word hacker started out as a complimentary term used at MIT,
meaning to understand fully the technology and taking that technology beyond
its limits. Yet, somehow this term has taken on a derogatory meaning, and many
believe it is unsalvageable. Perrin believes that it can and should be
redeemed. “I believe it's still useful to differentiate between hackers and
security crackers, though, and that terms like "malicious security
cracker" are sufficiently evocative and clear that their use actually
helps make communication more effective than the common journalistic misuse of
‘hacker.’” So what is the alternative? Well, Perrin believes that “cracker” is
the correct term.
Cracker
According to
Perrin, the term for someone who “someone whose purpose is to circumvent or
break security measures,” in other words a “security cracker.” This term would
give clarity to the difference between someone who is a technological data
genius, and someone who is out to brake and overthrow sensitive data. Perrin
goes on to say that when talking “about malicious security crackers, I use the
term ‘malicious security cracker’ -- and in an article that talks about hackers
in the classic sense of the term, I try to differentiate clearly between these
two uses of the term ‘hacker.’”
Hacker and cracker
Both groups of
men are technology geniuses, and both have a desire to expand the boundaries of
technology. Yet, there must be a distinct difference between the one that does
it for the sole understanding of the internal workings of computer networks and
one that is simply there to destroy, leaving a considerable amount of damage
and stolen data. Perrin urges us to know the differences between these two words
and use them correctly as well.
What do you
think? Do you believe that the classic use of the term hacker is dead and we
should accept that? Or is there a need to differentiate between “hacker” and
“cracker?”
And for those
of your who thought this was going expound on the backstory of the classic
cheese and crackers snack. I have included a short snippet into how cheese and
crackers came to be.
History of crackers
and cheese
The history of
how this staple snack/appetizer combo came into existence is a fascinating one.
In order to understand completely, we must go back in history. Before the
1800s, bread and cheese with ale was known as the staple “plowman’s lunch,” but
bread does not keep for very long. To make this combo preserve better for ocean
journeys and explorations, hardtack was born. Made of flour and water, hardtack
was a hard, thick, square biscuit. Not the most desirable of lunches, but it
served its purpose with cheese throughout the Civil War and to many that
explored the unsettled regions of our country. It wasn’t until 1801 that
crackers as we know them today were created and according to bostonglobe.com, “a
retired sea captain-turned-baker named Josiah Bent of Milton . . . started
rolling the dough much thinner than hardtack, and by the 1840s and ’50s, bakers
were adding shortening and yeast, which lightened the texture and quickly made
them popular.” From the poor man’s dessert during the depression to the closer
of an elaborate meal for the most privileged, cheese and crackers has been a
staple item since its infancy.
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