[srl]

> I sometimes keep track of hackers and learn of vulnerable websites and infrastructures

You're on a website called "Hacker News", for starters. Am I the only one who's had to deal with related idiocy when on a public computer? (Also, using PuTTY with the default black screen can get you kicked out of places for "hacking".)

[pmiller2]

>(Also, using PuTTY with the default black screen can get you kicked out of places for "hacking".)

Has this happened to you or anyone you know?

[srl]

It's happened to me as stated.

Back in public school, I had a friend who got banned from using the computers for several months for VNC'ing into his home computer. Because it was "hacking" - no other rationale, no complicating factors.

To use the car analogy: it's like getting arrested for using a remote to unlock your car instead of a physical key. (Or, more accurately, like getting your license taken away for several months. Which may make even less sense.)

[noonespecial]

Me. I actually have an apple script to turn all of my terminal sessions black on white for public spaces because it looks more "friendly(1)" that way.

A bunch of terminals tailing logs in color looks like hacker scenes in movies to the uninitiated. People have asked me, most impolitely, what the hell I was doing.

1) Like Microsoft Word.

[rohansingh]

A long time ago, in a public school, the librarian reported me for using a "hacking program" called "FTP".