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

Evan Bangham ebangham at gmail.com
Tue Mar 15 06:36:25 UTC 2011


Politics|Cooking|Art|Writing != Hacking

Yes, hacking can involve creativity and breaking established norms, but you
can't just use it as a blanket term to describe doing anything that involves
these things.

Also, 'political hacking' is not suddenly a valid and meaningful expression
just because you employ it to describe systemic corruption of the US
political system. Coupling that with an argument from
ignorance<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_ignorance>as you
are doing is a fallacious rhetorical stunt.

The slow food hacking thing I suppose enters the realm of hacking to a
limited extent because it is using chemistry and the like, and I imagine is
subversive in some way. I could say the same about photography and the like
as long as it breaking the established norms of the medium and is harnessing
technology in some way. Traditional fine art however, can never be 'hacked'
because it is just so far removed from the realm of anything related to
technology or science.

I think in many senses I'm being far to accommodating for these expanded
definitions of the term as it is though.

On Mon, Mar 14, 2011 at 6:27 PM, Brian Morris <cymraegish at gmail.com> wrote:

> my feeling is that hacking must involve somewhat underground going
> somewhat radically against the established ways.
>
> an engineer once worked for a big corporation and the hardware hacker
> could beat him to the punch working out of his with garage, perhaps
> even with spare and leftover parts. perhaps the hacker once worked for
> the man but he dropped out. or he never could deal with the
> establishment in the first place, as a self-taught engineer he can't
> get a job but he loves the work anyway so he does whatever he needs to
> do to keep it going. Woz was a hacker.
>
> a hack writer could be someone who writes hack novels just to keep
> writing and not have to wash dishes. but if he is a hacker he uses
> that to finance something that might shake things up.  He is thereby
> refusing to join the establishment / status quo ie to Sell Out.
>
> -------
>
> arguing about whether political hacking exists is silly. we all know
> what has happened the last two years, and who hacked the political
> establishment. if that wasn't a hack I don't know what is. You might
> argue about whether it is on balance disruptive or constructive. (I
> ain't advocating nothing).
>
> the more current events you might argue about whether for instance the
> Middle East has been hacked. But maybe looking at it from that point
> of view might be of some help to the liberators in their efforts or to
> those who would assist them. Well of course hackers in the more narrow
> sense have been of assistance.
>
> For another great political hacker you might consider M. Ghandi.
> Without his stuff what would the world be like today, hmmm ?
>
> You got to have some IMAGINATION.
>
>
> --------
>
> For me Slow Food was hacking. I didn't know anyone else was doing it
> until it had become a Thing. I hope to keep doing it even if it is no
> longer a Thing. It is radical in this culture and in a quiet way that
> hurts nobody.
>
>  Also I think that the concepts of Digital Art need hacking badly.
> This means NO Photoshop, Illustrator, or Flashiness stuff or anything
> similar / commercial / mass-market, actually nice if it could shake
> these people up but so what if it doesn't too bad for them. This stuff
> is leaking all the power from art that should be shaking things up.
>
> Economic hacking is another thing I like. what can you do to escape
> consumerism -- which lends bad politics so much of its power.
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 14, 2011 at 11:14 AM, jim <jim at well.com> wrote:
> >
> >    here's a link to a political event in SF tomorrow
> > (tuesday 20110315):
> >
> http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=113305&id=26488-18847062-2m.k8Gx&t=1
> >
> >    my sense of "hacking politics" is based on the
> > impression that noisebridge is highly open to and
> > welcomes any activities, as long as there's a
> > creative involvement, which is what i understand
> > to be the heart of hacking.
> >
> >
> >
> > On Sun, 2011-03-13 at 22:45 -0700, Snail wrote:
> >> 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.
> >>                 _______________________________________________
> >>                 Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
> >>                 Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
> >>
> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
> >>
> >>
> >>         _______________________________________________
> >>         Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
> >>         Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
> >>
> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> -Snailssnailssnailssnailssnailssnailssnails
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >
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