I don't understand this obsessions with calling things "hacks."

This isn't a hack. It's an activity. I can't think of any conceivable definition of "hack" that this article would also fit.

It's a hack because it is an unusual or counter-intuitive way of solving a problem. Or meta-solve a problem -- recharge your mental batteries so when you get back you solve your real problem better, if you wish.

This is just as much a hack as articles about exercise or nutrition are a hack. They hack the hackers, who ... hack.

Yes, and that's why it's dumb to call articles about exercise and nutrition "hacks". When all of human endeavor falls under the rubric of the "hack" the word ceases to mean anything.

Hack your commute, take public transit! Hack your next dinner party with parlour games. Delightfully clever key hack keeps all your keys on the same ring. Hack Mexican food with a "burrito" sized tortilla! Hack your brain with REM sleep. Hack the sun with a straw hat. Hack hygiene with silver oxide "deodorant". Hack girls with compliments. Hack your windowsill with a pot of wheatgrass, and hack the sky with the goddamn moon.

It's stupid. Take a walk.

This is top-notch standup material. If I werent so afraid of the repercussions, I'd say you pretty much hacked comedy.

to be fair, programmers overuse the word too. nobody writes code or programs, everyone says "I'm an XYZ hacker" or "I hack on XYZ". the word means nothing, it's just trendy in an odd sort of way.

You need to make new friends.

not sure what you're referring to, but if you're suggesting my programmer friends all say "I hack this/that" I should clarify that I'm mostly referring to bloggers and other web presences, which admittedly isn't really a representative sample. but, putting that aside, I could use some new friends anyway.

To me, hack is a word for a modification you could make that 1) takes only a short time to master/implement, and 2) shows immediate desired results

Thus, learning to play guitar is not a hack, since it satisfies neither criteria, but learning to put some TP into the toilet first when you do #2 in order to prevent splashback is a hack.

'Hack' is the trendy buzzword that marketers use to replace the word, 'tip.' Yeah, quite annoying.

Get a tinier belly with this one weird old hack!

Same thing happened with the term Architecture. Suddenly everything could be "architected".

Yes but that sort of means something, abstraction.

When new things come out or new ideas emerge people just 'hack' them and viscerally create. Hey I need this form, bust it out. Hey I need this renderer, bust it out.

But later as things are more known you might abstract away and say let's take a step back and look at the architecture of this whole thing rather than bust it out in a prototypical fashion (usually because the problem is complex or stuff is broken and a maintenance nightmare with steep technical debt). You might even architect the plan for what prototypes you would make to help solve the problems.

So true things being architected are happening more frequently as a buzz but as systems mature that is usually what happens via abstraction to see the full picture.

Maybe the difference is a 'hack' is something I am doing right now until it works, almost a prototype. Then something 'architected' is what you would do when you think about it for a week or two before starting. Lots of software development for instance starts with hacks/prototypes then architects how to use those to go to production.

Both sides are representations of the poles of creating, of course you can go way beyond either side and eat some spaghetti hacks or go to space with some architecture astronauts.

You could make the exact same argument for art. Certainly a lot of supposed 'hacks' aren't. But someone creating a clever way of doing something in almost any field that makes me think "cool hack" still counts as a hack in my book.

Hacking is finding the exception to the rule. No more, no less.

Well said. This is exactly what I meant.

> Take a walk.

I hacked my feet with shoes so I can walk for longer on rougher terrains.

everything is art. There is nothing that a man or woman can do that is not expression of self.

> It's stupid. Take a walk.

Good idea ;-)

I agree entirely. This needed posted.

I'm gonna hack your face to pieces! (jk, don't call the police)

It's risen to the point of cliche by now. "Hackneyed", one might even say.

Lighten up people, it was a joke... sheesh