I already wrote reviews of WizzyWIG Volume 1 and WizzyWIG Volume 2, Ed Piskor’s fun stew of hacking and phreaking history put out in a graphic novel format.  If you didn’t read them or don’t remember the gist of them, it was archivist/historian guy really liked these things, and that opinion hasn’t changed on subsequent reads. I think they’re fun, they capture the feelings on all sides about the modern idea of the hacker/phreak, and they’re just really well done.

Ed has finished Volume 3 of WizzyWIG, this tale of Kevin Phenicle, a legend of hackerdom on the run from the law and the reverberations he brings to society and perception of the technically astute. It’s on sale for pre-order right now, with a release set for January. I ordered three, as usual.

However, Ed has done something which, if you were sitting around saying you weren’t sure about these things, will shut you the hell up. He’s providing volumes 1 and 2 for free on PDF. Personally, I think this is nuts and think you should buy the paper books, but if you were honestly, seriously on the fence and wanted proof, go ahead and grab the .zip from his page and start reading up. If you are of the temperament that likes reading me, you’re going to enjoy these, simple as that.

I brought Ed Piskor to Blockparty last year, where he spoke about his process of making WizzyWIG.  Also in attendance was Emmanuel Goldstein, who was part of the composite character of one of the figures in the book. I was quite happy to have them in the same place:

So what is the problem here? Are you not already downloading that .zip file and ordering your copy? What’s holding you back?

Categorised as: computer history | jason his own self

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