The creature awoke, and saw before it in this arrogant, ignorant, overly litigious salesman, this one Adam Goldstein, what? A threat? An invader? A disease, perhaps? Whatever it saw in him — in his hubris and disdain — it reacted. It reacted at once, and in the only way it knows to react… with absolute, unrelenting prejudice.

I began watching this creature raise itself up to power from the very beginning, and it has been, and will no doubt continue to be, an truly terrifying and amazing sight. Across hidden chat rooms and forums the singular entities that form the collective whole began to move. To organize. It’s feelers reaching out, testing, prodding, digging. It’s poisoned fangs and glittering claws sharpening themselves against the grindstone.

And then, poor fool, the man who had lived his life with confidence that he could intimidate anyone and everyone who stood in his way made his first, terrible mistake. He lashed out, he became self righteous and tried to fight a force of nature

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A hacker claims to have infiltrated Steve Jobs’ Amazon.com account, and he’s hoping to sell the CEO’s private information to journalists.

The hacker, who calls himself “orin0co,” claims he fooled Jobs with a phishing scam to gain access to his Amazon account. Jobs’ account history suggests he’s a shopaholic who has purchased 20,000 items from Amazon in the last 10 years, the hacker claims.

“I got myself a hold of this information,” the hacker wrote in an e-mail sent from a secure Hushmail account to Cult of Mac’s Leander Kahney. “No one else has it. I didn’t misuse it, otherwise Mr. Jobs would long ago change his login detail, wouldn’t he?”

“Almost everyone forgets a Web site password once in a while. When you do, you click on the familiar Forgot your password? link. As an experiment, Thompson recently asked a few friends for permission to “hack” into their bank accounts. Using only information gathered from Web sites such as Facebook, he found his way in to each account within minutes”

Several hackers began posting on an epilepsy forum pictures of rapidly-flashing images.

“The breach triggered severe migraines and near-seizure reactions in some site visitors who viewed the images,” writes Wired. “People with photosensitive epilepsy can get seizures when they’re exposed to flickering images, a response also caused by some video games and cartoons.”

The FBI is investigating the breach.

But since it was mainly confined to the internet, I didn’t give it too much thought. Now, the group has decided to organize real-life events, and it’s getting really creepy. Watch the Youtube video calling for a protest on Feb. 10th embedded below. Beneath the video you’ll find the text of it.

These rules do not represent the writings and ides of any one person. Rules may vary depending on your location.

The following video is intended as guide for Anonymous preparing to engage in their first real-life public demonstration. It will also provide a refresher for those of you who have experience with this modality of petition.

The purpose of the demonstration in a modern western society is to convey a message to the public. In keeping with this objective, Anonymous has drafted 22 rules that Anonymous can follow in order to assure epic win and no loss of hit points on your part.

Rule#0: Rules 1 and 2 of the internet still apply. Your memes are not, at this juncture, something that the real world can appreciate. Although meme speak between fellow Anonymous is acceptable, focus on the targetand keep it to a minimum.

Rule #1: Stay cool.

Rule #2: Stay cool, especially when harassed. You are an ambassador of Anonymous.Although individuals trying to disrupt your demonstration will get onyour nerves, you must not lose your temper. Doing so will harm the protest and tarnish the reputation of Anonymous.

Rule #3: Comply with the orders of law enforcement officers above all else. Doing otherwise is harmful to the demonstration as a whole and may compromise your performance as a human being. Do not request badge numbers unless you are being treated in a very abusive manner, as doing so will anger officers.

Rule #4: Notify city officials. Most jurisdictions either have rules about public protests, or would prefer to be notified that they are taking place. Know the rules for your jurisdiction and abide by them.

Rule #5: Always be across the street from the object being protested.

Rule#6: In the absence of a road, find another natural barrier between yourself and the target of protest. Doing so will make it more difficult for individuals hostile to your cause to come and harass you.

Rule #7: Stay on public property. You may be charged for trespassing if you do not.

Rule #8: No violence.

Rule #9: No weapons. The demonstration is a peaceful event. Your weapons. You will not need them.

Rule #10: No alcohol or pre-drinking. Violating this rule may easily precipitate a violation of rules 1 and 2.

Rule#11: NO graffiti, destruction, or vandalism. Rule #12: If you want todo something stupid, pick another day. These should be self explanatory. Violation of these rules during a demonstration will tarnish the reputation of Anonymous, harm the demonstration itself and leave you vulnerable to attention from law enforcement.

Rule#13: Anonymous is legion. Never be alone. Isolation during a protest marks you as a target for handlers who wish to provoke an angry reaction from you and other hostiles. In keeping with this principle…

Rule #14: Organize in squads of 10 to 15 people.

Rule #15: One or two megaphones per squad. A megaphone is helpful for maintaining the overall cohesion of a demonstration and spreading your message.However, too many will confuse the public and render you hearing impaired.

Rule #16: Know the dress code. Forming a loose yet reasonable dress code for protest members will help to maintain cohesion and get the public to take you seriously.

Rule #17:Cover your face. This will prevent your identification from videos taken by hostiles, other protesters or security. Use scarves, hats and sunglasses. Masks are not necessary, and donning them in the context ofa public demonstration is forbidden in some jurisdictions.

Rule #18: Bring water.

Rule#19: Wear good shoes. Following these rules will assure your comfort during the demonstration. Keep in mind that demonstrations may often bequite lengthy.

Rule #20: Signs, flyers, and phrases. Have yours ready. Make sure that signs are large enough to read. Also ensure that the text on your signs and your phrases are pertinent to the target ofthe protest.

Rule #21: Prepare legible, uncomplicated andaccurate flyers to hand out to those who wish to know more regarding the motivations behind your actions.

Finally, Rule #22: Document the demonstration. Videos and pictures of the event may be used to corroborate your side of the story if law enforcement get involved.Furthermore, posting images and videos of your heroic actions all over the internet is bound to generate win, exhorting other Anonymous to follow your glorious example.

If you follow these simple rules,the success of your action is virtually assured. However, keep in mind that the success of the demonstration as a whole hinges on the good behavior of all those who participate. Ignore these rules at your own peril. Follow them, and victory will be yours.

We are Anonymous.
We do not forgive.
We do not forget.
And now, we are expected

Watch Sean Hannity get swarmed by Ron Paul supporters in the Youtube video embedded below:

via makinglight

1. The Virginia Pilot publishedsome brilliant photojournalism recently.

2. This graphic novel predicts where citizen journalism will be in a few years. Oh, and apparently Dan Rather will still be alive and kicking then.

3. If you’re a newspaper sports writer who is worried about recent job cuts within the industry, there may be a lifeboat for you within ESPN. Quite a few journalists have jumped ship. (via Romenesko )

4. A really cute girl sings a song about Digg.com.

5. At the risk of being accused of hyperbole, if you were to describe these tactics to convict AP photojournalist Bilal Hussein to someone without mentioning the name of the government engaging in said tactics, that person would likely predict that the government in question was a dictatorship.

On that note, have a Merry godless Christmas!