Recent comments about “the hacker” character in modern movies and TV has lead me to a potentially uncomfortable realization. Penny Arcade posted a comic strip Monday on the matter. A couple weeks before goldenfiddle posted a chat transcript on the same idea. I think they were both inspired by Die Hard 4, which I haven’t seen, but you don’t have to look far to find other examples. I’ve only seen a quarter or fewer of 24 episodes, but they must be amongst the worst. That show would collapse if it’s weren’t for the constant usage of all-powerful hackers as a plot device. So lame.

And then I realized one of my most favorite and lovable and heroic characters of all time may be the original inspiration for all of these lame followers. I’m afraid R2D2 is the original hacker. He mostly opened doors and fixed space ships in a pretty “hands on” manner, but shutting down all the trash compactors on the detention level is on the edge.