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Celebrating Anonymous: The hackers’ big year

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 17:00:00 +0000

"I love Anon."

The comment, written by a teenage boy at Berkeley High School a few days after the Sandy Hook shootings, came in response to a Facebook post made by my own 15-year-old son.

My son was passing along the word that the hacker collective Anonymous had declared war against the Westboro Baptist Church, that clan of deranged religious fanatics who routinely seek to turn the misery of others into their own grandstanding opportunity.

Outraged at WBC's plans to protest at the funeral of Sandy Hook Elementary's principal, Dawn Hochsprung, on Dec. 19, in order "to sing praise to God for the glory of his work in executing his judgment," Anonymous proceeded to expose the personal information of WBC members -- home and email addresses, phone numbers, etc. -- and started acting as a coordinating center for anti-WBC counter-protests. For teenage boys at Berkeley High, Anonymous' direct action was the epitome of cool.

Anonymous reflects on a “frantic and historic” year

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 17:00:00 +0000

As the year draws to a close and perfunctory 2012 reviews fill the quietened news agenda, one presence seems an almost constant accompaniment to 2012's major news events. When Israel launched a military assault on Gaza in November, while the Assad regime rained airstrikes against the Syrian people, even when the Westboro Baptist Church's planned a predictably vile response to the Newtown massacre -- Anonymous was there.

As Wired's Quinn Norton extensively detailed earlier this year, 2011 and early 2012 presented the sprawling hacker collective with challenges both practical and existential. Hector Xavier Monsegur -- best known as Sabu, a central member of LulzsSec, the arm of Anonymous responsible for the famed Stratfor hack -- was arrested last year and revealed as an FBI informant in March 2012. Dozens of "Anons" across the world were outed by Sabu and picked up by the FBI and Interpol. Sabu's flip to informant not only lost Anonymous some of their most talented hackers, but also eroded the idea of Anonymous as an unbreakable, unfathomable legion. Other faces of Anonymous emerged alongside the cold, grinning Guy Fawkes mask; real, human, flesh-and-blood faces of young men -- like 27-year-old Jeremy Hammond, a social justice activist from Chicago who could face life in prison for his alleged involvement in the Stratfor hack.

Anonymous 2012: a year in review

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 07:39:00 +0000

In 2012, the loose association of tech-based activists protested bullying, LGBT discrimination, corporate media, Israel, Muslim genocide, police brutality, election-rigging, douchebaggery/bullying, surveillance, nationalist education, and of course Internet censorship—expanding both the range of its “causes” and the tools it deployed to defend them.

Of course, it’s impossible to say with certainty which actions "Anonymous" actually pulled off, since its membership is ill-defined and anyone can claim association, not to mention that sometimes Anonymous hacktivists act alone or as part of a subgroup. Even when Anonymous has put out one of its quintessential videos claiming responsibility for a hack or DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service—shutting down a website by flooding it with requests) attack, it hasn’t always turned out to be true.

Given that, below are Anonymous’ “Top 20” for 2012. With its widening arsenal and focus, one can only imagine what these Internet denizens have in store for 2013.

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Salon’s ultimate book guide

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Need a last-minute gift? Or sitting on a gift card and need a great book to read over the holiday break?

You could check out our What To Read Awards for the top-10 books by our Laura Miller as well as our favorite critics. Or, you could get some recommendations straight from the authors of some of our best books of 2012.

As part of a long-standing Salon tradition, we asked the authors of the books that we loved most this year to tell us about a 2012 book they read and loved. Junot Diaz, Gillian Flynn, Lauren Groff, Andrew Solomon, Tana French, Victor LaValle, Jess Walter, Maggie Shipstead and more contribute their picks below. Take the whole story shopping.

David Abrams, author of “Fobbit” (Grove Press, Black Cat)
“Breed,” by Chase Novak (Mulholland Books)

What To Read Awards: Top 10 Books of 2012 slide show

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 16:00:00 +0000

A brief history of the end of the world

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 19:22:00 +0000

The world did not end! That is great news! Besides meaning that we will all live to see the next season of "Girls," today's notable absence of earthquakes, floods and other apocalyptic ephemera connects us to a long, happy tradition of losing our minds about the end of the world. From 2800 B.C. to 2012, a look back at the apocalypses that got away.

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Blue Glow TV Awards: Top 10 Shows of the Year

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 14:30:00 +0000

The Blue Glow TV Awards: Top 10 Shows of 2012

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 14:29:00 +0000

This year, we launched our first annual Blue Glow TV Awards. We assembled a panel of judges by cherry-picking among our favorite critics in print and online, and then we asked them to rank their top five favorite shows of 2012. We assigned 10 points to the No. 1 choice, 9 to No. 2, et cetera. For those judges who offered 10 selections, because they had a lot of love to give: We just took the top 5 from their lists. For the two voters who could not choose favorites and opted out of ranking altogether, we assigned 5 points to each of their selections. From the results, we compiled this definitive list of the 10 best shows of 2012. Note: "The Walking Dead" and "Game of Thrones" are tied.

(ABC Family): 11 points

The Week in Pictures

Sat, 15 Dec 2012 13:59:00 +0000

From election fights in the Ukraine to unrest in Syria, here's what dominated the headlines this week

Slideshow: Gay couples get married in Washington

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 17:11:00 +0000

Same-sex marriages in Washington state officially became legal this week

Meet this season’s 10 TV scene-stealers and scene-killers

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 20:30:00 +0000

Every TV show has a lead actor or actress — but then there's everyone else. Supporting characters may not sell the show, but they're integral to what makes a series good or bad, funny — or so, so not funny. Herewith, a slideshow of the five best and five worst supporting actors on relatively new TV shows (or, as in the case of Bobby Cannavale, in new parts on longer-running TV shows) from Danny Castellano to Sgt. Brody's son. (And yes, basically every one on "2 Broke Girls" could have made this list, but that seemed too easy.)

The Week in Pictures

Sat, 01 Dec 2012 13:59:00 +0000

From construction in Brazil to explosions in Syria, here's a look at what dominated the headlines this week.

Even losers go to Disneyland

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 15:15:00 +0000

Many wondered how GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney would fare after the election. Much to America's surprise, Romney has been doing a lot of stuff that the 47 percent might do: Watching "Twilight" with his wife, hanging out at Disneyland and pumping his own gas, for example. And he seems to be having a good time (well, except while pumping gas).

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Election Day pictures

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 10:30:00 +0000

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Hurricane Sandy: A slow recovery

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 17:01:00 +0000

If you have recovery pictures from Hurricane Sandy, please share them with Salon via email at readermail@salon.com or Twitter.

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Sandy up close

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 19:48:00 +0000

Be sure to share your photos with us via email or Twitter.

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Susan Isaacs loves a rogue: Here are her nine favorites

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 20:43:00 +0000

It's not all Jane Eyre out there. In her sweet, honorable, slightly passive-aggressive way, Jane was as perfect as a protagonist can get while remaining interesting; in fact, she's one of my favorites. But most characters are more morally ambiguous. And some are just plain bad – somewhere between nasty and bad to the bone.

In my new novel, "Goldberg Variations," I have four narrators. One, Gloria Goldberg Garrison, is a real stinker. Not evil, mind you, but cruel to amuse herself and others. She’s the sort who seeks out your most sensitive area so she can know precisely where to stick in the shiv. Gloria made me uncomfortable enough that during the writing I had to soothe myself by thinking: Hey, Dostoevsky probably didn't think Raskolnikov was a sweetheart.

What do these bad guys offer us? A chance to pray for their redemption? A safe way to relish sin? I’ve liked or loved so many novels that had main characters who either made morally questionable choices or were downright evil. The entire noir genre is theirs.

Still, beyond the Chandlers and the Hammetts, here are my “Naughty Nine,” first-rate novels that feature a gamut of no-goodniks.

Weird news: Baldness is strength

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 20:14:00 +0000

A new study from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School found that men with shaved heads appear more dominant than similar men with full heads of hair. Based on research looking at dominance and non-verbal behavior, the study found that men with no hair at all are perceived as more masculine, dominant and even taller. However, bald men who do not shave remaining wisps of hair are perceived as the least powerful of all.

Check out our slideshow of individuals who seem to support and challenge this study.

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Today’s news in pictures

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 20:04:00 +0000

Pennsylvania ID law halted, U.S. Border Patrol agent killed, Iran's currency plummets

World leader speeches you missed

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 21:19:00 +0000

A slide show of General Assembly addresses that didn't make the headlines