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+++
title = 2600
author = ["Michał Sapka"]
date = 2024-01-12T21:23:00+01:00
categories = ["blog"]
draft = false
weight = 2003
abstract = "Short impression of 2600 magazine"
+++
For quite some time I've been looking for a magazine to read.
In my younger days, reading computer game magazines was the best thing.
Way before the ~~internet~~ big tech ruined everything, polish gamers have already found a safe haven.
In the dark days of post-communistic 90s, we were feeling like living in the future.
And then they, one by one, died.
Killed by "free" sites filled with ads and sponsored content.
It may very well be anachronistic to wait for a review that will not even move on the screen.
But this is exactly what I found to be great about them - slow moving, regular, without much fuss, much more deliberate.
I've been reading quite a few magazines recently, but finally I have found the one which fills me with passion - just like the ones from my childhood.
Now I have something to wait from, to learn from and, well, feel to be a part of it.
I have finally found **2600**[^fn:1].
What is 2600 you ask?
Well, the magazine self-describes as _The Hacker Quarterly_ and it fully shows the purpose.
It's a magazine written, edited and read by _hackers_ that is released since 1984[^fn:2]
Hackers in the _original_ sense of the word - tinkerers trying to expand what is possible to do with electronic devices.
Other than that, the team behind 2600 also organized **Hope**, a hacker-focused conference (known as what Defcon was when Defcon was good. I've never been to either one, so I'm just repeating) and even made a few movies.
They were also very involved in the "Free Kevin"[^fn:3] campaign.
All in all, 2600 encompasses everything that is good about computer-oriented communities, and it rejects the current status quo of closed, surveillance based systems.
It's not that this is the first time I've heard of it, but with the digital version, it finally became economically sane to get familiar.
Funny enough, I've bought my first issue late in December - just a few days before the next issue came out.
After finishing those two, I feel extremely satisfied.
I don't remember when was the last time I wanted to read a magazine from cover to cover.
This is exactly what the doctor ordered.
The biggest shock for me was how _soft_ the magazine is.
On the Internet, all _hackers sites_ focus on the technical stuff.
_2600_ also has some articles that are strictly technical, but there's not much of them.
It is, however, full of _hacker_ culture.
For me, as a _hacker_ much more in _spirit_ than in _abilities_, this is simply wonderful.
It seems that U found what I was looking for a long ass time.
All this, because 2600 is finally available as digital download.
I need to give my data to make the payment, but the PDF comes without any DRM.
Beats paying dozens USD just for shipping by a mile!
Though paying by Monero would be much more l33t.
Finally, as part of [The Email Project](/blog/2024/email-project/) I have emailed the editing team.
A significant portion of these 2 issues I've bought is occupied by letters from readers.
## Contents of Winter 2023/2024 issue (40-4) {#contents-of-winter-2023-2024-issue--40-4}
{{< img-r "2600-40-4.webp" >}}
Cover of issue 40-4
{{< /img-r >}}
- The Road Behind
- The Dark Side of DNA Data
- The BoneBox
- Artificial Intelligence and Creativity
- Career and Gloating in Las Vegas
- TELECOM INFORMER
- Enhance Your Typing Experience With Mechanical Keyboards
- Adventures in Lockpicking
- Ooops; v97.129
- Geo-Distributed Bug Bounty Hunting
- Being a Hacker
- Byte-Sized Justice: A Tale of Hacker Ethics and Copy Protection
- A Quick Intro to Biohacking
- HACKER PERSPECTIVE
- Privacy: Protecting Your Personal Information Online
- The AI Risk Nobody Seems to Mention
- American Shanzhai, Part 4
- EFFECTING DIGITAL FREEDOM
- Quantum Computer Algorithms, Part III: DES Decryption
- GPT Revolution: Reimagining Programming in the Era of AI
- Snitched Out by Tech
- I Fight for the Users
- ARTIFICIAL INTERRUPTION
- Platform Capitalism Can't Surveil Absurdism (and Worse)
- Alzheimer's and AR Tech
- Book Review: Pegasus
- Book Review: Fancy Bear Goes Phishing
## Contents of Autumn 2023 issue (40-3) {#contents-of-autumn-2023-issue--40-3}
{{< img-r "2600-40-3.webp" >}}
Cover of issue 40-3
{{< /img-r >}}
- Memories to Come
- Designing an OpenAI Powered IRC Chat Bot for Fun and Profit
- Cute App, But I'll Use My Own
- Saying Goodbye to an Old (GPFS) Friend
- TELECOM INFORMER
- The Arrival of 2600 Digital Delivery
- Why Aren't You Cracking Your Users' Passwords?
- A Technology Life Story
- Social Engineering is Forever
- Is AI More of a Tool or an Ethical Challenge?
- Quantum Proof Encryption
- But I Don't Want a Copilot
- HACKER PERSPECTIVE
- Diskless Malware
- Hacking the Airwaves
- Adventures in Zero Trust
- American Shanzhai, Part 3
- EFFECTING DIGITAL FREEDOM
- Go On a Journey
- Morbid Curiosity in the Weaponized AI Era
- See You on the C-Drive (A Series of Late 20th Century Fragments)
- ARTIFICIAL INTERRUPTION
- Is 2600 Still Relevant?
- Learn Linux, People!
- WasteTrackers and More
## Meta {#meta}
- Read as PDF on Onyx Boox Note Air 2.
- Issues bought from [2600.com store](https://2600.com) <BR>
- Next up: back to "Hacking APIs". It's great!
[^fn:1]: [Official website of 2600](https://2600.com)
[^fn:2]: that's one year older than me!
[^fn:3]: [How the Free Kevin Movement Changed the Cyber Security Industry](https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/blog/how-the-free-kevin-movement-changed-the-cyber-security-industry)
|
