Hacker Archives & Digital Freedom
"The Net is vast and infinite." — Ghost in the Shell
Explore the culture, history, and media that shaped hacker ideology and cyberpunk aesthetics.
In the golden age of computing, before the corporate takeover and surveillance state, hackers were explorers. The underground buzzed with modems, green phosphor terminals, and the thrill of breaking into systems—not for profit, but for knowledge.
When David Lightman accidentally hacked NORAD's supercomputer, nearly triggering World War III, audiences got their first glimpse of what hackers could do. WarGames wasn't just entertainment—it was a warning and an inspiration.
Launched in 1985, Phrack became the definitive voice of hacker culture. Written by hackers for hackers, it published technical articles on phone phreaking, network security, exploit development, and the philosophy of digital freedom.
Robert Tappan Morris released the first internet worm that infected ~10% of all internet-connected computers. Was it malicious? No. A research project gone wrong? Yes. It led to the first felony conviction under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Morris went on to become an MIT professor and Y Combinator partner.
Cyberpunk films don't just entertain—they predict. From Blade Runner's neon-soaked dystopia to The Matrix's simulated reality, these films explore the intersection of technology, humanity, and rebellion.
The definitive cyberpunk film. Neon, rain, replicants, and questions about what it means to be human.
Anime masterpiece. Neo-Tokyo, biker gangs, psychic powers, and government conspiracies.
What is consciousness? Can machines have souls? The ultimate cyberpunk philosophy.
Reality is a simulation. Wake up, Neo. The red pill awaits.
Data courier with a brain implant. Based on William Gibson's short story.
Cyborg warrior. Junkyard city. Dystopian future. Visual spectacle.
From social engineering to zero-days, these films capture the thrill of the hack—sometimes accurately, sometimes hilariously wrong, but always entertaining.
"HACK THE PLANET!" The most stylish, least accurate hacker film ever made. We love it anyway.
The best hacker film you've never seen. Social engineering, cryptography, and a killer cast.
Sandra Bullock vs identity theft. Your life can disappear with a few keystrokes.
German thriller. Hacker collective. Mind-bending twists. Surprisingly accurate.
Michael Mann directs Chris Hemsworth as a hacker. Flawed but ambitious.
Before the internet, before personal computers, there was the phone system—and hackers found a way to make it sing. Phone phreaking was the art of exploiting vulnerabilities in the telephone network to make free long-distance calls, explore switching systems, and understand the hidden infrastructure that connected the world.
In the 1960s, AT&T used in-band signaling—control tones traveled over the same lines as voice. A tone at 2600 Hz could disconnect a call without hanging up, giving you control of a trunk line. The blue box generated these tones, allowing free calls anywhere in the world. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak sold blue boxes before founding Apple.
John Draper discovered that the toy whistle in Cap'n Crunch cereal boxes produced a perfect 2600 Hz tone. He became known as Captain Crunch, one of the most famous phreaks in history. His exploits inspired a generation of hackers who saw the phone network as a playground for exploration.
Unix was born in 1969 at Bell Labs. Linux arrived in 1991 when Linus Torvalds, a Finnish student, wanted to create a free Unix-like kernel. Together, they became the backbone of hacker culture—open source, customizable, and powerful.
Linux isn't one OS—it's hundreds. Each distribution (distro) has its own philosophy, package manager, and community. The choice of distro reveals your hacker identity:
Stable, user-friendly, APT package manager. "It just works." Perfect for servers and beginners.
Rolling release, cutting-edge, pacman package manager. "I use Arch, btw." For hardcore minimalists who build from scratch.
Corporate-backed, DNF/YUM package manager. Latest tech, SELinux security. Enterprise favorite.
Penetration testing distro. Pre-loaded with 600+ security tools. The hacker's Swiss Army knife.
A series of hands-on tutorials covering Linux fundamentals, distro selection, text editors, and shell basics. Each tutorial teaches what to run, why it matters, and how to remain lawful and reversible while you learn. Cypherpunk catechism in black-on-amber.