[pchelpers] Article:You're a hacker and you don't even know it

Hacking is not just about 14-year-old boys wreaking havoc in computer
systems, it's also a method by which businesses canmake money for
themselves and save money for others . . . and they do it all the time

WHEN people think of hacking, they invariably think of the pale
14-year-old kid who breaks into computer systems to wreak havoc. But
before hacking went over to the dark side, it was actually a noble art
of fiddling and modifying hardware or software to create unexpected
results. Just like you can hack your Xbox to turn it into a powerful
media centre, you can hack the business world and make money for
yourself while saving others money, and all in a legal way.

People use hacks all the time but probably don't know about them. The
simple text message is a hack. The technology for text messaging
originally intended it to be used for sending software updates and
configuration settings to phones. Instead other people decided to use it
for another purpose and send each other text updates. Text messaging is
now a multibillion-euro business and has created a huge new market that
was once never imagined.

It is this reimagining, and repurposing of hardware and ideas themselves
that is the philosophy of hacking. In tech circles, a hacker is someone
you have on your team who tweaks your system or manages to do something
with the system that others have said was impossible. In boxed-in
environments where there are few resources, a hacker becomes very
useful.

More here:
http://www.tribune.ie/article.tvt?_scope=Tribune/Business/Technology&id=61718&SUBCAT=Tribune/Business/Technology
-- 
John Durham
Site http://modecideas.com
Server hosted on Ubuntu 4.10
Good advice is like good paint. It only works when applied.



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