I think you have the wrong idea of what Phrack is about. It's about exploring technologies that are old, new, whatever. If you want cutting edge, go read full-disclosure where you can read up on the latest XSS bugs being found.
Fortran is very widely used. As is Unix. I don't see anything wrong with having that article in there. Also, if you are hacking something/someone then knowing about all the obscure bits of technology they have is vitally important.
Actually it doesn't have to involve imitation to be mocking.
True, that is one sense (like in "mocking bird")...but it can also be just general derision or taunting, like in " The jelly donut sat there, mocking me."
They posted a couple days ago saying #67 would be released today.
I'm not sure what the deal is; seems like they're having trouble with their website as what would normally be the front page news is a non-functional TOC for #67.
Based on the title, it could also be them yanking people's chains...who knows.
that is some serious bleeding edge shit right there