On 03/16/2012 11:42 AM, Warp wrote:
> Invisible<voi### [at] devnull>  wrote:
>>>>>      OTOH, how do you define "hacking"?
>>>
>>>> I think the necessary criterion is that it's any activity requiring
>>>> technical knowledge and skill.
>>>
>>>     It may be necessary, but not sufficient. I can write a program that
>>> calculates the mandelbrot set, but that's not usually considered hacking.
>
>> Well, I would consider that hacking. But I guess the fundamental point
>> is that the word lacks a coherent definition...
>
>    One rather usual characteristic is figuring out how something works
> (usually something related to computers, and usually more specifically
> something related to software) and using it or modifying it in an unusual
> and unintended way.
>
>    "Hacking into" a system usually means figuring out how to get past
> security measurements by studying how it works and what its weaknesses
> are. However, that's only one of the many things that are considered
> hacking.
>
>    Writing a program that does something mundane isn't usually considered
> "hacking".
>

Don't you think substituting "hardware" for computer related is a 
possibly a better fit in the above context?

Back in the day we had the "top" spectrum analyzer ... and our closest 
competitor would buy one of our boxes and reverse engineer large 
portions of the instrument. I remember going into production and finding 
their order, and tagging the box, so we could follow it through the 
process. I was like we made DARN sure it was tuned to the tightest 
tolerance possible, and dared them to replicate. We had them over a 
barrel with certain proprietary micro circuits. Single source for those 
components. Once they came out with their new model, we'd in turn buy 
one of there boxes and take it to the lab to see if we could catch them 
in any copy-right violations.

Doesn't something like that fit the term "hacking"?

Jim

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