Grandmaster Ratté

For over 20 years, Grandmaster Ratté has been involved with the hacking/media group "Cult of the Dead Cow", which began its life as a writing collective on dial-up Bulletin Board Systems of the 1980s. Centered around the town of Lubbock, Texas, this group of teenagers wrote informational files centered around the exuberance of youth: heavy metal lyrics, fiction, explosives, and parody. Originally one of a number of founders, "Swamp Rat" quickly became the de facto leader and spiritual head of the group, especially as its ranks swelled with members from around the globe. As the years passed, the membership of the Cult of the Dead Cow included media-savvy members who began promoting the cDc beyond its online presence. As the news media hungered for exceptional "stories" regarding hackers, hacking groups and the growing interest in the Internet, Swamp Rat (now renamed Grandmaster Ratté) and others began making media appearances to fill this need, usually in the name of pranking/using media outlets to promote themselves. The cDc also started moving into quasi-performance art, appearing at hacker conventions as a full-on dramatic show, incorporating actual technical information with humor and musical numbers. Through this period, Grandmaster Ratté held court at the proceedings, dressed in elaborate costumes with references to country, rap, technology and Elvis. With the introduction of the "Back Orifice" software program, cDc began hitting the international stage, causing intense interest on the part of news media organizations with continued surreal performances. With the release of a sequel program "BO2K" in 1999, Grandmaster Ratté reached a worldwide audience full on with their light and sound show at the DEFCON hacking convention in Las Vegas. The Cult of the Dead Cow and Grandmaster Ratté continue to make selected appearances at various technology events, each time focusing on the absurdity of technology and media and garnering attention on a grand scale. Like most members of the cDc, Grandmaster Ratté keeps his personal life out of the public eye, although he is known to have had jobs in the farming, technology, financial and musical sectors at various times.