YOUR "HACKER PERSPECTIVE" WANTED

For many years, 2600 has been printing a quarterly column from members of the hacker community called "The Hacker Perspective." It's written by a different member of the hacker community each issue and runs around 2500 words (some insist on 2600 words). The result has been a unique and valuable insight into what makes us as hackers tick, as well as a great way to share our stories and inspire others.

We've often gone a long time between when an accepted column is submitted and when it's printed, as we only come out four times a year and we've sometimes had as many as a dozen columns in the queue. Well, right now the queue has emptied out and we're looking for more submissions. So this is your chance to tell your story and become immortalized in the pages of 2600.

What are we looking for? It's quite simple. Tell us why you're a hacker. What is it that defines a hacker to you? Tell us about your start in life and your early years that led you to how you developed your hacker tendencies and abilities. Did you get in trouble or face other challenges? What is your philosophy about hacking and technology today? And what advice can you give to hackers of the future?

These are just suggestions to help you put together your story. Remember to meet the word length - we can't consider submissions that are too short or that never stop. Please be sure to submit your column to articles@2600.com from an address that you're not going to give up in the months or years ahead. (It could take that long for your column submission to be processed if we get another backlog.) You will receive an auto-reply when you send in your column. And, if accepted, you will receive $500 for your efforts.

Submissions will close if we get a lot of entries, so please send yours in soon if you have a story to tell. We look forward to some good reading material ahead.