fandomhigh | Basic Computing Class #11 [Tuesday, Period 3, 3/25]

Class was in the computer lab again, but today Mike was furiously typing at one of the computers. Without saying a word, he waved at the students to indicate that they should take their seats at their workstations. After a few moments, they would see an instant message pop up on their screens.

"70d4y we'Re 90in' 70 Le4rN H0w 70 sPEeK iN leE7 SPEEk."

Mike waited a moment to watch the students react before he started tapping at his keyboard.

"'Leet Speak' is used by some advanced computer users. There's several different theories as to how it originated. Some parts come from common misspellings, other pieces come from attempts to beat text-based filters. Leet speak also gives users a sense of community. It lets them differentiate themselves from n00bs, or newbies. And in turn, those n00bs feel like they're part of this community when they finally learn to understand and use all those weird words. Phr13ND2, 70d4Y \/\/3'r3 g01N' 70 L34Rn H0\/\/ n07 70 74LK L1k3 N00b2. Or, friends, today we're going to learn how not to talk like n00bs."

Mike sent the students a link to a website on l33t speak made easy and waited for the students to talk to him.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

A2 u dO

H|_|H? \/\/H@ 12 h3 54Y1|\|'?

54Y 17! Try "talking" to Mike or the others in l33t speak.

I|\| 4 |\|0R|\/|4l Ph45HI0|\|.

Mike is looking pretty amused by the end of class.

|\/||\/||\/|, YU|\/||\/|Y H07 Ch0c0La7E.

The l33t speak translator is just way too much fun.

my head, it hurtz.

Cassandra Cain.

Cassandra had a difficult enough time reading regular English. Who's bright idea was it to make this even more complicated? She mostly just stared blankly.

F3rr1s Bu3ll3r

The blank stare told Mike everything he needed to know. "It is a little weird when you first look at it," Mike reassured her. "That's what makes it so popular, I guess. When people start throwing around leet speak, it scares off most people. That's why we're covering it today in case you run into it again."

The frown didn't go away. "Why make it harder to read?" Wasn't writing all about communicating?

"It scares people off, except for those few that understand it. It's like a secret code," explained Mike. "However, it's not a very good code because it's one that we can break. All it does it replace ordinary letters with symbols that look similar."

I...
uh...
that is NOT a redhead. SOrry.

Here, have shirtless icon.

Cimorene of Linderwall

Basic Computing Class #11 [Tuesday, Period 3, 3/25]

Sign In [3/25]

Lecture [3/25]

Say It! [3/25]

Talk To Mike [3/25]

OOC [3/25]

Re: OOC [3/25]

Re: Sign In [3/25]

Re: Lecture [3/25]

Re: Sign In [3/25]

Re: Lecture [3/25]

Re: Lecture [3/25]

Re: Lecture [3/25]

Re: OOC [3/25]

Re: OOC [3/25]

Re: Sign In [3/25]