[Noisebridge-discuss] [drama] My Hair Is On Fire - Current events that are shaping your rights as we speak

[Snail]

If you are not a hacker, you may just be a hack[er].

BUUURRRN.

Isn't it funny how the word which means an expert at programming could also
mean someone who's unskilled in anything else? Does that mean people not
skilled at computers are hackers regardless, or maybe inexpert people who
can still hack a few working lines of code together are actually doing
double the hacking than an expert? Does that mean I'm simultaneously the
worst and greatest hacker ever, like a cat trapped in a box? WHY IS ENGLISH
DOING THIS TO US.

On another note, Merriam-Webster describes what the population of nb does at
the space (I partake of 3 and 4a myself) in two of their many definitions.
I'm just giddy now:

*hack* (v)
3*:* loaf —usually used with *around*
4* a* *:* to write computer programs for enjoyment

Maybe I should host a breadmaking class, and while we sit around and wait
for the bread to bake, people will wonder, "Are we hacking, or are we
HACKING?" ["loaf"ing]

-The hack writer [The kind of hack writer who's BAD at writing, not the kind
who just writes on commission. -- I don't actually get paid for this.]


To be more serious, I agree with Evan, and also don't. -- For one thing, the
word hack has a robust set of definitions which existed before computers and
can be applied far away from programs and machines [it's horses all the way
down], but I agree that I've seen too many people apply it in a sense that
doesn't actually make sense.

Example: I don't know what hacking politics is supposed to mean based on
this discussion. Are you going to get into politics successfully (general
definition of hack) or you're going to find some sneaky, subversive
(illegal) way to get something accomplished (stretching the definition of
computer hacking to non-computer nouns) in politics? -- I think real
politicians already have us beat on the latter type of political hacking.
Those fuckers.

-Snail



On Sun, Mar 13, 2011 at 8:55 PM, Evan Bangham <ebangham at gmail.com> wrote:

> Attention, you cannot 'hack' politics, you cannot hack political parties,
> you cannot hack politicians, you cannot hack social issues, or fiscal
> policy. Please for the love of everything holey, stop it with this over
> application of the word 'hack'. If you do not write code, design circuits or
> at the very least create mechanical devices, you are not a hacker. Thats
> right, it's true, the jib is up, you're not a Non hacking hacker, not a anti
> hacking hacker, a sub hacker, or anything else. You're not a hacker, plain
> and simple.
>
> If people keep on using the word so loosely it will soon be devoid of all
> meaning and become, semantically speaking, a steaming dead carcass of the
> word it once was. Soon in the not so distant future we'll be saying shit
> like "I need to hack my underwear in the washing machine, because I forgot
> hack my ass when I was on the toilet taking a hack."
>
> I've had a lot of free time lately and I will start repeating this message
> everytime I see the word, or any derivatives thereof applied in a way that
> doesn't follow this simple definition.
>
> On Fri, Mar 11, 2011 at 12:46 PM, Wladyslaw Zbikowski <
> embeddedlinuxguy at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On Fri, Mar 11, 2011 at 2:03 AM, Corey McGuire <coreyfro at coreyfro.com>
>> wrote:
>> > If you care about your right to vote you need to watch this. This will
>> > be the most informative hour of your life:
>>
>> I believe in direct action, not voting; that's why I became a hacker
>> instead of an activist. I don't know (or care) what the fuck you are
>> talking about, but if watching a video on MSNBC is really the most
>> informative hour of my life, please drive to 2475 3rd St and kill me
>> right now. Thanks.
>> _______________________________________________
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>> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
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>>
>
>
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>


-- 
-Snailssnailssnailssnailssnailssnailssnails
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