This is not the world we know．The World is controlled by computers．Men and women can be seen, but they are following the orders given to them by machines．The machines were designed by mad scientists．but at some point even the mad scientists were taken by their super inventions．

　　Does this scenario sound familiar?You have probably read something like it in magazines or science fiction books, or seen it in a science fiction film．Why is the film so popular?One of the reasons is undoubtedly that it reflects the fears of many people; fear of the unknown, fear of what is not understood or, at least, fear of something that is only partially comprehended．This fear is perhaps not very different from the way witches and black cats were feared in the Middle Ages．

　　The fact is that every day it seems that computers take control of another area of our lives．Some factory jobs fire now done by robots and the robots are controlled by computers．Our bank accounts are managed by computers．At the airport．our tickets are issued and our seats fire assigned by a computer．Certainly, many of these operations are made more efficient by computers, but our admiration is sometimes combined with feelings of insecurity．And this insecurity is caused by the fact that we do not know how computers do these things, and we really don't know what they might do next．

　　But we can find out how computers work and once we understand them, we can use computers instead of worrying about being used by them．Today, especially in the United States, there is a new generation of computer geniuses who know exactly how computers get things done．These young men and women, usually university students, are happy to sit for hours, sometimes for days, designing programs, not eating, not sleeping, but discovering what can be done by the wonderful slaves which they have learned to dominate．These computer geniuses, or“hackers”as they call themselves, have learnt to exploit me computer and constantly search for new tasks for their machines．

　　Hackers are in no danger of being taken over by a supercomputer which they may invent．They already have their computers under control．One computer program which was designed by a hacker became honorary member of the United States Chess Federation．Another ex-hacker, Steven Jobs, former owner of Apple Computer Company, used his computers to make him a millionaire before he was thirty．With such knowledge on the human side．It seems we have little to fear from machines．

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