on sunday morning i finished the fugitive game. litman’s account of the mitnick story seems more accurate than markoff’s story - i’m going to reread bits of takedown to jog my memory on that account (shimamora and markoff) of the story. litman’s account jive’s more with my own understanding of the story. i had always heard that mitnick was more of a “script kiddie” than a true hacker. his “gift” was not technical hacking but “social engineering”. (he even has a book coming out on the topic.) i’m not saying mitnick didn’t commit crimes, but it’s amazing how much bs markoff was allowed to print. anyway it’s a really good book and litman’s manner is an easy read - if you like that sort of subject matter.

also, in reading the book, i’ve also watched the movie “takedown” a few more times and continually find faults in the movie. i think only the old time movies are acurate portrails of the technology and hackers - “wargames” and “three days of the condor”. being a geek, i do try to own (or have aquired) all the hacker flicks - “hackers”, “swordfish”, “antitrust”, etc - but nothing seems as “real” as those two. “sneakers” was pretty good though.