I was on the tube this morning, flicking idly through my copy of A Complete Hackers Handbook, which I am reading because I think people should read books like that, whether or not they understand even one tenth of what is in them, and I suddenly notice the guy opposite me. He’s listening to a personal stereo – much too loudly – and my attention was drawn to him by a very familiar piece of music – it’s something from the film Hackers (1995) [Amazon], which is a really dorky film, but one that I really really love. So I’m sitting on the tube, with people milling around in front of me, with people squeezing me in on both sides, and I’m trying to manoeuvre the book into his line of sight, so we can make eye-contact and make a secret “we’re in the know” connection. I try this for twenty minutes. Then he gets off the train.
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