hmm.... I guess the "fair" thing would be for it to count as late, although I wish that wasn't the case.
I struggled to figure out what the "hack a system to your advantage" question really meant (given that I read that pg essay a while back on what "hacking" "really" means, although the question seemed to be referring to the other meaning contextually) and now I found out that I was wrong......
Could've had a pretty good answer for it, too. ho-hum.
"He said to ask about a time when they'd hacked something to their advantage—hacked in the sense of beating the system, not breaking into computers. It has become one of the questions we pay most attention to when judging applications."
A question in the YC application asks about a time you hacked a system to your advantage, and is explicit that hacking does not solely refer to programming
The new question from the yc application "Please tell us about the time you (...) most successfully hacked some (non-computer) system to your advantage" filters me out right there, so far I can't think of anything. How about you? I love that kind of stories, and I suppose giving them away now won't hurt the applicants chances?
I can only imagine that my whole live is a kind of hack: I hacked my girl-friends brain so that she actually went out with me. I hacked my own brain so that I managed to learn Computer Science, exercise regularly and eat reasonably healthy. I twisted my CV in the right way to land that job etc. And so on... But I guess that is not quite what YC is looking for... But I mean, people's life are essentially an attempt at optimizing their standing in the system, are they not?
I guess I am also not quite the "real world" systems hacker, because often it seems to entail taking advantage of somebody else? Ever since I read "The Art Of Intrusion", I remember it's lessons in all sorts of situations. Like today I was standing in line for cinema tickets, which were likely to be sold out before my turn. It would have been fun to try something, but not really fair towards the other queuing people. Not that I had a really great idea, but who knows, something might have worked (art of intrusion style, discover name of some employee of the cinema, then call cinema and pretend that person was supposed to reserve some tickets for me - one idea).
I'm struggling with the following question for my YC application:
'Please tell us about the time you, dirkdeman, most successfully hacked some (non-computer) system to your advantage.'
It must be the language barrier, but I have no grasp of the meaning of 'hacking a non-computer system'. What does this mean? A 'system' like taxes, governement, school or a company you work for? Or is it something more trivial, like making a beer cooler out of Lego? Does anyone has an example of this to put me in the right direction?
It took me a while to figure this out but I think YC are particularly looking for answers to that question that result in a win-win, ie where you hacked a system to your advantage, and to everybody else’s advantage.
I understand your position, as you see a 'hack' as a quick and dirty trick to make things work; but in this instance, hacking is taking on its more pure form of manipulating something according to the rules of the system it exists in, in a way that was not originally understood or intended :)
This question is originally from the YCombinator application and I think it's really interesting. The title is a bit chopped down, the original question reads: "Tell us about the time you most successfully hacked some (non-computer) system to your advantage."
> My definition of a hack is to add value to the an existing system by modifying a property, not changing a zero-sum situation in your favor.
That seems like a nice definition of hack, but I don't think it's completely accurate. For example, if a college only accepts a certain number of people and you come up with clever way to get accepted, that's changing a zero-sum situation in your favor, and I would still call it a hack.
I agree, however, that the hack seems a little wrong. More clever would have been for the friends to grab another table, set it up opposite the original one with room for two lines, and then switch half the pizza boxes to the other table. (This works better than being on both sides of a single table because the way pizza boxes open typically blocks access from one side.) Another possibility would be to just grab a box each and carry it down the line offering pizza to everyone starting from the front.
For every rule, there is an exception which helps to prove the rule. Yes, hacking is sometimes necessary and is frequently a more efficient use of your time in the short term, but it should always be asked: "will I understand this hack next year?"
Where is the line on "What is your most successful hack of a non-computer system" question? What would you consider clever and what would be over the line?
I struggled to figure out what the "hack a system to your advantage" question really meant (given that I read that pg essay a while back on what "hacking" "really" means, although the question seemed to be referring to the other meaning contextually) and now I found out that I was wrong......
Could've had a pretty good answer for it, too. ho-hum.
reply