# "hacks" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 14, 2015, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hacks/715008 "2015-03-14T21:44:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hacks/715008/1 "2015-03-14T21:44:18Z")
Look, internet, I know language evolves and all, but you have to stop using this word. You didn’t bypass your kitchen’s firewall when you put [pancake mix in a ketchup bottle](http://www.lovethispic.com/uploaded_images/42951-Pancake-Mix-In-A-Ketchup-Bottle-For-No-Mess.jpg), you just wasted a bunch of time. You didn’t break the encryption of life when you shoved your [iPhone in a toilet paper tube](http://assets.goodstatic.com/s3/magazine/assets/482729/original/135057147899_1.jpg), you just made your girlfriend leave you. I asked your Dad what network you were exploiting when you called [eating cheetos with chopsticks](http://thats-normal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/cheeto-hack.jpg) a “hack”, but all he could say was “I have no son”. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hacks/715008/2 "2015-03-14T21:46:45Z")
…so how do you use an bladed instrument to bypass a firewall? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hacks/715008/3 "2015-03-14T22:01:35Z")
My favorite was when, in a moment of weakness, I followed a link to learn about the “amazing life hack” that New York hipsters were using to make delicious meals. It turned out that they were ordering the meals from a Manhattan-based delivery service, whose website I’d conveniently landed on. Whoah. Delivery food. Amazing life hack, fellows! My wife, however, has the best answer. Whenever she reads “life hacks,” she mentally substitutes, “Hints from Heloise.” ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hacks/715008/4 "2015-03-14T22:06:31Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > My favorite was when, in a moment of weakness, I followed a link to learn about the “amazing life hack” that New York hipsters were using to make delicious meals. It turned out that they were ordering the meals from a Manhattan-based delivery service, ." Is that the one that shows some meal with a fried egg on top with a runny yoke and someone going after it with chop sticks? ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hacks/715008/5 "2015-03-14T22:11:51Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > …so how do you use an bladed instrument to bypass a firewall? Yeah, I know language evolves and all, but it’s time to use a more descriptive word for computer jiggery-pokery. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hacks/715008/6 "2015-03-14T22:26:55Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Is that the one that shows some meal with a fried egg on top with a runny yoke and someone going after it with chop sticks? THAT’S THE ONE! In my defense, I was hungry. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hacks/715008/7 "2015-03-14T22:36:39Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > My wife, however, has the best answer. Whenever she reads “life hacks,” she mentally substitutes, “Hints from Heloise.” Hah! I love those books! And the column, when I can find it. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hacks/715008/8 "2015-03-14T22:47:26Z")
> [@naita](#): > > Yeah, I know language evolves and all, but it’s time to use a more descriptive word for computer jiggery-pokery. I may be one of the few who actually stills calls them POKEs rather than hacks. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hacks/715008/9 "2015-03-14T22:50:43Z")
> [@armedmonkey](#): > > Look, internet, I know language evolves and all, but you have to stop using this word. > > You didn’t bypass your kitchen’s firewall when you put [pancake mix in a ketchup bottle](http://www.lovethispic.com/uploaded_images/42951-Pancake-Mix-In-A-Ketchup-Bottle-For-No-Mess.jpg), you just wasted a bunch of time. > > You didn’t break the encryption of life when you shoved your [iPhone in a toilet paper tube](http://assets.goodstatic.com/s3/magazine/assets/482729/original/135057147899_1.jpg), you just made your girlfriend leave you. > > I asked your Dad what network you were exploiting when you called [eating cheetos with chopsticks](http://thats-normal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/cheeto-hack.jpg) a “hack”, but all he could say was “I have no son”. Sorry, acts of bypassing firewalls, breaking encryption, etc. are “cracks”, not “hacks”. [“Hackers build things, crackers break them.”](http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html#what_is) People starting to use the term “hack” correctly again is a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hacks/715008/10 "2015-03-14T22:56:10Z")
That ship left [a decade ago](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifehacker) or more. Recommended website: > **[Lifehacker | Do everything better](https://lifehacker.com/)** > > Lifehacker is the ultimate authority on optimizing every aspect of your life. Do everything better. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hacks/715008/11 "2015-03-14T23:27:29Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > THAT’S THE ONE! In my defense, I was hungry. To be fair it did look tasty. Well, at least that’s ONE dumbass thing I’ve managed to avoid clicking on. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2015, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hacks/715008/12 "2015-03-15T01:25:18Z")
The word hack existed before computer people began using it. So computer people have no business claiming exclusive right to the word. Let them get away with this and they’ll be complaining next about the way zoologists are appropriating the computer term bug to describe an insect. ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2015, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hacks/715008/13 "2015-03-15T02:24:42Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Let them get away with this and they’ll be complaining next about the way zoologists are appropriating the computer term bug to describe an insect. That insect’s not a bug, it’s a feature! ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2015, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hacks/715008/14 "2015-03-15T04:52:20Z")
You won’t believe response number 14 to this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2015, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hacks/715008/15 "2015-03-15T06:22:40Z")
> [@armedmonkey](#): > > You didn’t break the encryption of life when you shoved your [iPhone in a toilet paper tube](http://assets.goodstatic.com/s3/magazine/assets/482729/original/135057147899_1.jpg), you just made your girlfriend leave you. I love this one. While it does sorta work, it also supposes that you have a handy supply of toilet paper tubes around. And, really, if you can drop $600 on a phone why not go the extra mile and buy some [cheap speakers at Five Below](http://www.fivebelow.com/tech-products/audio.html) rather than relying on bathroom trash to make your phone work? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2015, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hacks/715008/16 "2015-03-15T07:56:04Z")
Today at [Cracked.com](http://Cracked.com) they have [8 Stupid Kitchen Hacks (Tested for Usefulness)](http://www.cracked.com/blog/8-stupid-kitchen-hacks-tested-usefulness/). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2015, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hacks/715008/17 "2015-03-15T07:59:53Z")
i thought hack meant someone who was not good at their profession? or, separately, a cab driver… ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2015, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hacks/715008/18 "2015-03-15T12:57:30Z")
So what do you call a list of programming tips for a mediocre cabbie with a dry cough who moonlights as a prison guard? ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2015, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hacks/715008/19 "2015-03-15T13:20:02Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > So what do you call a list of programming tips for a mediocre cabbie with a dry cough who moonlights as a prison guard? useless? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2015, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hacks/715008/20 "2015-03-15T13:43:24Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > I may be one of the few who actually stills calls them POKEs rather than hacks. Never heard that, for me computer related pokes still mean writing directly to memory in old commodore basic. Hacking as a term to bypass normal function seems like a reasonable use for some non-computer stuff but most life hacks seem like a misuse of a new trendy phrase. Though hacking is now mainly about bypassing security so who knows. Language does change and evolve though so if people like “life-hacks” and it is popular and has little relation to computer hacking or chopping at something then so be it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hacks/715008.md?page=2)