More on the definition of 'hack'

To go along with yesterday’s post, here are two stories that were shared with me:

First, Ben Popper of Betabeat realized that he had been using the term hack incorrectly, and mostly fixed his usage in his article “Hacked to Death: A Brief History of Tech’s Most Two-Sided Term”.

Second, David Goldman of CNN demonstrates the common incorrect usage in his article “The cyber Mafia has already hacked you”. Showing their ignorance, CNN even includes the incorrect usage in the headline.

As I have been telling people for years, the proper usage of the word hack is an important shibboleth separating those with competence in computers and technology from posers. Remember, hacking is not the same as cracking, phreaking, or any of their script kiddie relatives.