I've spent about 10 minutes reading articles from OP and I have to say he comes across poorly. To be very blunt, OP you come across as a jerk. The funny thing is I'm naturally sympathetic - I don't think what you did is even a crime! For examples:
https://scott.arciszewski.me/blog/2014/03/black-and-white-26...
The total "intrusion" lasted only 23 minutes, according to court documents.
I'd be concerned if someone intruded into my computer for 23 seconds. Attempting to minimize what you're accused of with statements like this will likely turn people against you.
As usual, the game was rigged, and I lost
Sometimes introspection allows us to see that we legitimately lose; that things aren't always rigged against us. It also lets us see that our attitude can be our own worst enemy.
My last semester was erased (which screwed up my taxes for the next year and is probably illegal)
"Woe is me" doesn't play well when you are experiencing the negative consequences of having committed an alleged crime. Also don't accuse others of illegal activities unless you can prove them; it destroys your credibility.
For the digital equivalent of knocking on someone's front door, it swinging ajar, looking in, seeing nobody home, going on my way, and then being put on house arrest
Again, you're minimizing what you did. A more apt analogy based on your own description of what you did would be coming up to a locked door, seeing it is Brand X locks, purposely seeking out an exploit on how to pick Brand X locks, spending time picking the lock and then broadcasting to the world what you did.
I could go on, but the summary is that being a humble and contrite person will often allow a guilty person to go off scot-free. When I was arrested for hacking, that's what happened to me and I was literally let go with no record. On the flip side, rightly or wrongly coming across with a negative attitude can help an innocent person go to jail. Fair or not, that's the world we live in.
https://scott.arciszewski.me/blog/2014/03/black-and-white-26...
The total "intrusion" lasted only 23 minutes, according to court documents.
I'd be concerned if someone intruded into my computer for 23 seconds. Attempting to minimize what you're accused of with statements like this will likely turn people against you.
As usual, the game was rigged, and I lost
Sometimes introspection allows us to see that we legitimately lose; that things aren't always rigged against us. It also lets us see that our attitude can be our own worst enemy.
My last semester was erased (which screwed up my taxes for the next year and is probably illegal)
"Woe is me" doesn't play well when you are experiencing the negative consequences of having committed an alleged crime. Also don't accuse others of illegal activities unless you can prove them; it destroys your credibility.
For the digital equivalent of knocking on someone's front door, it swinging ajar, looking in, seeing nobody home, going on my way, and then being put on house arrest
Again, you're minimizing what you did. A more apt analogy based on your own description of what you did would be coming up to a locked door, seeing it is Brand X locks, purposely seeking out an exploit on how to pick Brand X locks, spending time picking the lock and then broadcasting to the world what you did.
I could go on, but the summary is that being a humble and contrite person will often allow a guilty person to go off scot-free. When I was arrested for hacking, that's what happened to me and I was literally let go with no record. On the flip side, rightly or wrongly coming across with a negative attitude can help an innocent person go to jail. Fair or not, that's the world we live in.