2014-04-26 10:52:28 -04:00
|
|
|
hack mode
|
|
|
|
|
|
2014-04-26 11:54:15 -04:00
|
|
|
n. 1. What one is in when hacking, of course. 2. More specifically, a
|
|
|
|
|
Zen-like state of total focus on The Problem that may be achieved when one
|
|
|
|
|
is hacking (this is why every good hacker is part mystic). Ability to enter
|
|
|
|
|
such concentration at will correlates strongly with wizardliness; it is one
|
|
|
|
|
of the most important skills learned during larval stage. Sometimes
|
|
|
|
|
amplified as deep hack mode. Being yanked out of hack mode (see priority
|
|
|
|
|
interrupt ) may be experienced as a physical shock, and the sensation of
|
|
|
|
|
being in hack mode is more than a little habituating. The intensity of this
|
|
|
|
|
experience is probably by itself sufficient explanation for the existence of
|
|
|
|
|
hackers, and explains why many resist being promoted out of positions where
|
|
|
|
|
they can code. See also cyberspace (sense 3). Some aspects of hacker
|
|
|
|
|
etiquette will appear quite odd to an observer unaware of the high value
|
|
|
|
|
placed on hack mode. For example, if someone appears at your door, it is
|
|
|
|
|
perfectly okay to hold up a hand (without turning one's eyes away from the
|
|
|
|
|
screen) to avoid being interrupted. One may read, type, and interact with
|
|
|
|
|
the computer for quite some time before further acknowledging the other's
|
|
|
|
|
presence (of course, he or she is reciprocally free to leave without a
|
|
|
|
|
word). The understanding is that you might be in hack mode with a lot of
|
|
|
|
|
delicate state (sense 2) in your head, and you dare not swap that context
|
|
|
|
|
out until you have reached a good point to pause. See also juggling eggs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
