[PLUG] ATTBI to Comcast switch

[Matt Chorman]

I will answer for him.. :-) Anyone wishing to add may do so. Sorry for the
off-topic post, but this needs to be responded to.

> <Jeme-snip>
> Script-kiddies are suburban, bored, and anti-social.  The suburbs are
> pretty much designed to turn out these kinds of people.

FACT:
Have you ever been a kid growing up in suburbia?? I spent most of my teenage
years in Salem, Oregon and in Provo, Utah (don't cry for me portland.) I,
and every damn last person I've known in similiar environments, can vouch
for this. There will be no "hard" proof, other than looking at economics. Is
it feasible to put large stadiums/many theaters/recreational activities in
less-populated environments? They won't make money. You need a population
base. If things are close enough together that you can walk/ride bike is
that really suburbia, or is it an urban environment?

Sure, some kids get through it ok. I also knew kids who grew up in the worst
possible circumstances (you don't want to knw) who are in college, "doing
okay."

Some of this is speculation. Some of this is looking at things like
Columbine High. Enough said.

> It IS a surprise that more aren't certifiably psychotic (or maybe that's
> what all the medication is for).

Surgeon General David Satcher announced in 1999 that 20 percent of the
population -- one in five Americans -- is mentally ill and in need of
treatment. A recent UN study puts this number at 30 percent - sorry, I don't
have a link for this (saw it on CNN). People seem to forget this, and seem
to forget that crime, imprisonment, and institutionalization are on the
rise. Is this number decreasing or increasing? You be the judge. Look around
you. 1 out of every 5 people you know is crazy (on some level.) Does this
REALLY suprise anyone?

> I suppose it might make sense that kids try to scan other people in
> their close proximity (IP, speaking) in an attempt to gain access to or
> information about their neighbors (which is a gross misunderstanding of
> the scale of the cable business model, but I digress...).

This may be partially true.. As a teenager I was dialing the BBS circuits
(anyone remember capricorn rising in salem? i loved that place.) and didn't
get net (slip) access until 1993 - none of my neighbors had this and I
wasn't interested in scanning establishments.

I *think* (being one of those disillusioned, bored, and anti-social teens at
one time) it is a combination of A. Boredom and B. Curiosity and in some
unusual cases C. A need for destruction (much like graffiti and vandalism).
The cable networks give you a guaranteed pool to search from. I just did a
scan for port 80 on my local /24 net and found 2 dozen web servers, most
IIS. The odds are just greatly increased when you have a "bigger pool" to
fish in.

> An adult would probably know better than to scan folks on his own network
because
> the complaints are more likely to result in a suspension of service.

Hahaha! I just did that, but I don't do it regularly. And I know some pretty
dumb adults. Most adults get their kicks out of porn sites.. Teens can't
watch porn with their parents around, but how many parents know what the
output of nmap looks like, or what it is for? Ahh, my child is doing
technical things and expanding their brain! :-p

>  An adult is paying the bill... a suburban kid is just fucking with Mom
and
> Dad's connection and they'll just go to anothe provider (in the kid's
> mind).

On top of that, most kids don't realize that there are consquences for
electronic vandalism/trespassing.

Let me know if any of these are not the "hard facts" you are looking for and
I will do research for proof..

M