Ask HN: Your biggest non-technical hack/discovery • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Your biggest non-technical hack/discovery

#61

Post by flooha » Mon, Oct 12, 2009, 11:26 AM UTC

kyro wrote: post #4

A few of mine: -In college, I found that the card readers to open the gates into the faculty parking lots, and into the inner ring of the campus, didn't really check for anything... other than a physical card in the slot. So 3 years worth of free parking close to campus was definitely great. -I worked at a franchised sub shop for a time, and the music discs we were required to play were pretty horrible. Listening to…

I do the show thing too. I'm not sure how healthy it is, but I always feel great after doing it.

Re: Ask HN: Your biggest non-technical hack/discovery

#62

Post by gstar » Mon, Oct 12, 2009, 11:35 AM UTC

dryicerx wrote: post #37

Chemistry hack. Distilling Alcohol. I wasn't of age at the time, actually was still in high school, and had a hard time getting alcohol, so I decided to make it my self. Designed and built a reflux still with embedded temp sensors, a condenser, and one-way air locked gasoline containers for fermentation. I used sugar and yeast to ferment giving me ~10% abv, then ran it through the still 5-6 times to get ~90% abv... i…

That's incredible - friend of mine and I did exactly that, but in Australia rather than Texas.

We rather over-specced the reflux column (it was about 1m tall, copper, and ran a water jacket pumped from a swimming pool) and we even asked a friend to put samples thru a mass spectrometer to make sure we weren't drinking methanol.

Never thought of it as a hack though, just a cheap way to get booze.

We flavoured it with oak chips and watered it down. Great hackers think alike? :)

Re: Ask HN: Your biggest non-technical hack/discovery

#63

Post by seven » Mon, Oct 12, 2009, 1:34 PM UTC

kyro wrote: post #26

seven wrote: post #25

During chaos communication camp (lots of hacker do camping) 2003 in Germany was one of the hottest days recorded since $longtime. Normal fridges where not allowed on the campside, because of the heavy power consumption. So I built a fridge out of a box, a towel, plastic bottle and a fan. Worked like a charm. Most other hacker who saw this were like: 'Damm, I told my friends this would work...' Execution is all! :) On…

Wow, cool. How did you go about assembling it? brought

Nothing big or special. I punched some holes into the bottle and made it drip onto the towel that was wrapped around the box that contained our snacks etc. Had a fan pointed to the towel. That is all. Evaporative (heat) loss is the keyword.

What made me remember this, was the fact that I was in between about 2000 hackers who probably all thought about this.. but that I was (afaik) the only one who actually did it.

In Nigeria they use more or less the same trick to build simple air-conditioning. Imagine it as a wood box open on two sides with a lot of small brittle branches inside. Water dropping into it. And a fan blowing on one open side.

btw: although mixing up brought and broad is something that I could have found myself and is a result of being sloppy; I always appreciate input on my writing. As English is not my native language, I would guess that my grammar sucks more than my spelling. :)

Re: Ask HN: Your biggest non-technical hack/discovery

#64

Post by dolinsky » Mon, Oct 12, 2009, 2:15 PM UTC

zackattack wrote: post #13

For many years, jamba juice was running a promotion: buy a $25 gift card, get a free jamba juice. So one day I bought a gift card, got my free razmatazz, and was about to head out on my way when I doubled back. Me: "I'd like another $25 gift card please." Cashier: "That will be $25. What is your free smoothie?" Me: "Peach pleasure." And then I would pay with the previously purchased gift card, creating an infinite lo…

while cute, i'll call crap on this :) they specifically make you buy the gift card with a credit card, not another gift card.

Re: Ask HN: Your biggest non-technical hack/discovery

#65

Post by ax0n » Mon, Oct 12, 2009, 3:08 PM UTC

jjs wrote: post #51

ax0n wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree wholeheartedly. My best hack? I can figure out how almost anything works, usually very quickly, by probing for rules. It works for almost anything: mechanical, employment, electronics, etc. Good for social engineering, too. :)

A corollary: most ostensible rules aren't the real rules. Knowing the difference is a form of power.

This is why probing for rules rather than accepting the documented ones works better :)

Re: Ask HN: Your biggest non-technical hack/discovery

#66

Post by Noether » Mon, Oct 12, 2009, 3:19 PM UTC

Nowhere near as awesome as most of these, but I made a magnetic screw-picker-upper out of a broken pair of earbuds and a bottle cap.

Re: Ask HN: Your biggest non-technical hack/discovery

#67

Post by chaosprophet » Mon, Oct 12, 2009, 4:36 PM UTC

Gunpowder on an omelet makes a huge difference to the taste, making it super spicy. (Gunpowder is a mix of red chilly powder, salt and a number of other spices, and is found in many Indian recipes).

Re: Ask HN: Your biggest non-technical hack/discovery

#68

Post by saurabh » Mon, Oct 12, 2009, 6:38 PM UTC

When i was a kid I stuck a crumbled reflective tape to the ceiling to bounce off the remote signals to our TV. I could then just press the buttons without giving a damn where it pointed.

Re: Ask HN: Your biggest non-technical hack/discovery

#69

Post by anamax » Mon, Oct 12, 2009, 9:36 PM UTC

noonespecial wrote: post #35

If you hold a coin halfway into some older parking meters for a while, it will think its slot is jammed and registers "out of order." Most cities won't ticket an an out of order meter. Free parking. All day.

> Most cities won't ticket an an out of order meter.

"Most"? I haven't seen a parking meter in years that without "tickets issued at broken meters" on the label.

Re: Ask HN: Your biggest non-technical hack/discovery

#70

Post by Mz » Mon, Oct 12, 2009, 10:39 PM UTC

Tichy wrote: post #60

Mz wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After being bedridden for 3 1/2 months, I was diagnosed in May 2001 with "atypical cystic fibrosis". My doctor informed me "people like you don't get well -- symptom management is the name of the game". But I have two sons. Since it is genetic, they tested both of them. I told them which child had it and which didn't before they ran the test. My oldest has the same diagnosis I have and had not been on antibiotics for…

Not sure why you were downvoted, except maybe for the ranting.

I was at work all day, so I was unaware of any downvoting. I don't believe I was ranting (unless you mean the remark about the purple polka dotted dancing singing pill). The reality of the situation is as extreme as I describe it. I don't think you can get it across in brief without "hyperbole". I have no reason to believe anyone here would want the long version, with the statistics on death rates (mean age of survival: 37 in the US), drug use (many people with CF are on $3000.00 to $4000.00 per month worth of "maintenance drugs" -- ie when they aren't considered "sick"), frequent hospitalizations (many people are go in once or twice a year for a "tune up" -- ie when they "aren't sick" -- and can be hospitalized multiple times per year as they deteriorate)....and on and on. The statistics are really gruesome.

There is good reason why I get greeted with so much shock and hostility by much of the CF community: The things I say can be done fly in the face of everything these people know to be true. I don't see any reason why my statements would be greeted any more warmly and acceptingly here.