Tag: technology

Hacker Culture Becoming Mainstream?

hacker culture , mainstream , subculture , tech workers

Nga Than's avatarSociological Reasoning

While writing review of two books: The Mastermind and Bad Blood, I noticed that organizations described in them consciously employed hacking as main ways to solve problems. In the case of the Mastermind, the entire enterprise where Paul le Roux built was centered around hack culture. He figured out various loopholes in the American health care system, and exploited those loopholes to sell painkillers on the Internet. In Evan Ratliff’s words, le Roux often hacks his way out of a situation:

Typical of Le Roux, the plan was kind of hack. Just as he had exploited a hole in the American healthcare system to sell painkillers, he planned to take advantage of a dysfunctional government to exploit the resources it couldn’t harvest.

Sitting in his headquarters in the Philippines, he could mobilize more than 1,000 employees across the world to work for his many companies. He hacked his way…

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Marcuse and ‘Technological Rationality’

marcuse , one dimensional man , technological rationality , technology

Freddie Stuart's avatarThe Junction

As we move into an era of unchartered technological growth, it is helpful to revisit the theoretical framework of Herbert Marcuse, who posits thatany debates around the organisation of technical resources must be prefaced with an acceptance that technology is simply the tool of ideology, whether established or revolutionary.

Born in Berlin in 1898, and moving to the USA with the rise of Hitler, Marcuse’s literary fame did not materialise until the 1960s.


In 1964 he published perhaps his most famous workOne-Dimensional Man, which became an inspirational text at the heart of the global ‘New Left’ movement. Unlike many of his academic Marxist contemporaries, Marcuse identified himself closely with the protests of 1968, and became a central figure-head of what he coined ‘The Great Refusal’.

As the 20th century progressed Marcuse, like almost all Marxian literature, fell out of favour amongst the mainstream of academic discourse. The…

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