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