Hackers

When I think of Hackers I start thinking of Dante's Inferno and that last circle of hell reserved for only those who have committed crimes so heinous that they have their own place carved all out just for them. In my Senior English class my teacher had us read Dante's Inferno and create our own levels of hell with reasons for each level with those who inhabited them. Being a relatively easy person to get along with, at the time I couln't really think of something I thought really truly deserved it. The obvious answers came to mind like rapists and murders, but they can repent and be forgiven. I wanted someone truly ruthless, and I couldn't really think of anyone so unforgivable I could place there. Well, Mr Ferris, 12 years later I have finally found a group to place in the tenth circle and it is the hacker.

If you know me at all and are reading this, you know exactly what I am referring to. For a good 24 hours or so I was fighting against a hacker who had seized control of my hotmail account and sent emails out to my entire contacts saying I was in Africa and needed help. If you know me, your first thought would be, "why can't her parents or dad help her out?" Your second thought would be, "Either Julya suddenly lost all grammitcal senses or this is not her." Other than the feeling of loss or violation it really wasn't that bad in the grand scheme of identity theft, but I still felt the violation and was pissed off.

There was some good from it all though. In Samoa, the Methodist pastors were ready to rally together and send me some money. When they found out the person was not me they told this person to "Go to Hell." I felt a little honored they cared that much still about a volunteer who was only there for a short 2 years of their lives. Also, the pastor who was upset the most wasn't even the principal from my school. He is the principal of my sister school on a totally different island. In addition, when the email was first sent out, I must have had a good 20 phone calls every fifteen minutes from friends who were pretty sure I wasn't in Nigeria, but wanted to call just to be sure. Marques even got online and found the site I needed to report it.

So, thanks to everyone for your concerns and for the person who did it, enjoy that 10th level...