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Dumpshock Forums _ Shadowrun _ Shadowland is Real

Posted by: Fix-it Jan 20 2007, 03:31 AM

It's Called http://www.wikileaks.org

Assuming the US doesn't torpedo it once something juicy gets posted.

thier first article is a rather interesting piece on the United Islamic Courts and http://www.wikileaks.org/inside_somalia_v9.html

now they just need to add the comments system, and we're set for the next 60 years.

Posted by: Herald of Verjigorm Jan 20 2007, 03:41 AM

Looks interesting so far, but I bet it'll be taken over by at least one US political philosophy within 3 years (more cynical guess: 5 weeks) and any useful leaks will be squelched and/or adjusted until it sounds like a campaign ad.

Posted by: Fix-it Jan 20 2007, 03:44 AM

Agreed. my bet is two months.

the major problem will be if it is run as a true wiki, will be the horrendous edit wars, and submission of false materials.

Posted by: SL James Jan 20 2007, 08:05 AM

Shadowland-style BBSes (which is, after all, what it originally was) have been around for decades.

This... This is cute, but otherwise meaningless in the grand scheme of things.

Posted by: hyzmarca Jan 20 2007, 10:17 AM

Shadowland-style BBS have been around for decades, but they are a dying breed. It used to be if you knew the right phone number you could grab everything from recipes for crystal meth to instructions on how to get make free long distance calls (which was very useful since the BBS was probably in another state). These days, practically no one hosts dial-up BBSes anymore and even fewer people frequent them. The WWW is simply far more convenient. Some of the big hacker BBSes were hit be the FBI and the Secret Service and a few 14-year-old white boys were treated like the world's worst terrorists (due partially to the fact the government believed that cyberpunk books were nonfiction), and this has made those who would host similar sites rather wary. The old exploits are gone and the old holes have been plugged. Even the crystal meth formulas may not work due to changing ingredients in many over-the-counter products.
All in all, the Internet is a much tamer and much more corporate place than it was back then, and it has more porn.

Posted by: ShadowDragon8685 Jan 20 2007, 07:22 PM

QUOTE (hyzmarca)

<snip>
All in all, the Internet is a much tamer and much more corporate place than it was back then, and it has more porn.

All hail the porn, the bringer of complacancy.

Posted by: Moto42 Again Jan 21 2007, 07:13 AM

Pornography, the new opiate for the masses.

Posted by: Nikoli Jan 21 2007, 11:33 AM

Well, it does tend to cut your post time in half....

Posted by: SL James Jan 21 2007, 11:41 PM

Well, they're not all BBSes anymore, but a significant number seem to be in Arabic.

Posted by: BrianL03 Jan 23 2007, 03:54 AM

QUOTE (SL James)

Well, they're not all BBSes anymore, but a significant number seem to be in Arabic.

I can't say I keep track of the respective numbers, but in Western media, the Arabic ones are overly reported due to high-profile terrorist activities.