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Politics Meets Tech

By Robert on January 29, 2015 9:00 PM | 11 Comments

A regular update of my favourite open source text editor revealed something not so regular. The latest update of Notepad++ opened a blank document and started slowly typing these words:

Perhaps techies, many of whom seem to be apolitical but appear to vote left, are slowly waking up to the fact that their preconceived political notions are in error.

11 Comments

james | January 29, 2015 9:20 PM | Reply

Nice I'll have to update! Lot's of us in the tech world Robert but as is so common we all stay quiet for fear of the backlash. I never, ever talk politics at work.

Karthanon | January 29, 2015 9:25 PM | Reply

And the author of the program notes that the Notepad++ site was hacked on Jan 15th with "The message of the defacement accused Notepad++ of inciting hatred towards Islam and accusing Islam of supporting terrorism".

Notepad++ binary wasn't affected.

How saying "Je Suis Charlie" incites hatred towards Muslims is something I can't actually figure out. As for the latter part of the quote from the author? Well, if the shoe fits...

http://notepad-plus-plus.org/news/hacking-npp-site.html

TheTooner | January 29, 2015 10:13 PM | Reply

"...How saying "Je Suis Charlie" incites hatred towards Muslims is something I can't actually figure out. ..."

It's quite simple. Those who associate "Je Suis Charlie" as defiance of Islamist extremists with incitement of hatred towards Muslims must be thinking the extremists are representative of Muslims even while they are saying the extremists aren't representative of Muslims.

old Lori | January 29, 2015 10:29 PM | Reply

Donated some money to this clear-eyed author.

tim in vermont | January 30, 2015 8:16 AM | Reply

I like Notepad++, not sure I would be thrilled to see that come up though. I would have probably deleted it and done a complete virus scan. I guess now that I know what it is, I would just accept it. I do agree with the sentiment though. I just worry enough about using open source software to do my job. Of course it is now impossible to work without open source software, so I guess... "Get off of my lawn."

ramspace | January 30, 2015 12:01 PM | Reply

I've always liked Notepad ++ and now I like it even more.

lance | January 30, 2015 3:00 PM | Reply

*cough* Emacs, thank you.

And herein the 30 year old editor wars begin anew.

Karthanon | January 30, 2015 5:25 PM | Reply

Emacs? Blasphemer!

Vi. Or even ed.

marty replied to comment from lance | January 30, 2015 6:21 PM | Reply

And here I figured you for a vi guy(pronounced like eye-guy). And yesterday's editor wars are mostly defused by configurable editor modes...

In conclusion, everyone else's taste in software is sufficiently bad to warrant their deaths in a nuclear conflagration. Thanks for coming out, I'll be here all week.

brett.mcsweeney | January 31, 2015 12:07 AM | Reply

How about that? I'm a notepad++ user, but I had ignored the recent update, till now. And there is the message!

The Phantom | January 31, 2015 12:19 AM | Reply

"Perhaps techies, many of whom seem to be apolitical but appear to vote left, are slowly waking up to the fact that their preconceived political notions are in error."

More likely they are quickly waking up to the all-pervasive hijacking of the Internet and their own hardware by government these last fifteen years while the techies were SLEEPING. Little facts like there's a back door built into more than half the routers out there -by design- is pretty motivating for your average code monkey.

I'm just reading on Slashdot yesterday that some eggheads wrote a program that defeats airgaps. Techies are waking up to all kinds of stuff these days.

http://phantomsoapbox.blogspot.ca/2015/01/new-computer-vulnerabilities-for-yall.html

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The Phantom: "Perhaps techies, many of whom seem to be apolitical but read more
brett.mcsweeney: How about that? I'm a notepad++ user, but I had read more
marty: And here I figured you for a vi guy(pronounced like read more
Karthanon: Emacs? Blasphemer! Vi. Or even ed. read more
lance: *cough* Emacs, thank you. And herein the 30 year old read more
ramspace: I've always liked Notepad ++ and now I like it read more
tim in vermont: I like Notepad++, not sure I would be thrilled to read more
old Lori: Donated some money to this clear-eyed author. read more
TheTooner: "...How saying "Je Suis Charlie" incites hatred towards Muslims is read more
Karthanon: And the author of the program notes that the Notepad++ read more

Politics Meets Tech

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11 Comments