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Date:      Mon, 5 Jul 1999 01:55:48 -0500
From:      "G. Adam Stanislav" <adam@whizkidtech.net>
To:        W Gerald Hicks <wghicks@bellsouth.net>
Cc:        freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: how to start to be a hacker?
Message-ID:  <19990705015548.B238@whizkidtech.net>
In-Reply-To: <199907050304.XAA00502@bellsouth.net>; from W Gerald Hicks on Sun, Jul 04, 1999 at 11:04:01PM -0400
References:  <19990704115215.B220@whizkidtech.net> <199907050304.XAA00502@bellsouth.net>

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On Sun, Jul 04, 1999 at 11:04:01PM -0400, W Gerald Hicks wrote:
> That was the big one for me, specifically the Apollo program.  To me it's
> a shame that todays children don't seem to have anything to compare with
> the heroes we had pitching for science.

Yes. I remember in my early teens fantasizing about marrying Gagarin's
youngest daughter. :-) [For the sake of the younger generation here:
Gagarin was the first man in space.]

> Growing up in Mississippi during the sixties meant a few other things
> to me too.  Although the repression we experienced under the racist state
> government certainly does not compare to that in Czechoslavakia of 1968,
> it did further motivate me to pursue science and technology if just to
> escape the ignorance that prevailed there.

Repression is repression. And ignorance is ignorance. Your experience is
just as real as mine.

With all the repression we experienced under Communism, they at least did
encourage the study of science. The lack of that is one thing I will
never understand about the US. It seems that people like Jerry Falwell
are more respected than NASA. So are psychics and astrologers.

Back home it was the exact opposite. For example, the two most popular
teen magazines were dedicated entirely to science and technology. In
high school, we had at least two periods of math every single day
(although that was not the case with every HS, we were specialized in
computer programming, it even says so on my HS diploma).

By the way, July 4 is the day that always reminds me of August 21, 1968.
For some inexplicable reason the sound of fireworks always makes me
shiver. Sometimes it is so bad, I have to lie down in bed and cover
my ears with pillows. It is only the sound. If I am actually *watching*
the fireworks, I enjoy the spectacle. But if I am home and only hear
the sound, it horrifies me.

> I wouldn't trade my experiences of that period, but I certainly would not
> want to turn the clock back either.

Yes, same here.

Adam


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