3 ms·

pg: would you show an example of an impressive answer to the question about hacking a system to one's advantage?

by ptn 16y ago

msg 16y ago
How about Dick Hamming's thing at Bell Labs about crediting programming help in scientific papers? (from You and Your Research) I also did a second thing. When I loaned what little programming power we had to help in the early days of computing, I said, "We are not getting the recognition for our programmers that they deserve. When you publish a paper you will thank that programmer or you aren't getting any more help from me. That programmer is going to be thanked by name; she's worked hard." I waited a couple of years. I then went through a year of BSTJ articles and counted what fraction thanked some programmer. I took it into the boss and said, "That's the central role computing is playing in Bell Labs; if the BSTJ is important, that's how important computing is." He had to give in. You can educate your bosses. It's a hard job. In this talk I'm only viewing from the bottom up; I'm not viewing from the top down. But I am telling you how you can get what you want in spite of top management. You have to sell your ideas there also.
philwelch 16y ago
I'm not pg, but this is probably the best place to tell one of my favorite stories. The highway navigational signs in LA are notoriously confusing, especially this one sign in particular which didn't make sufficiently obvious an exit onto I-5. So some local took note of the sign and started to work. He found out exactly what paint colors to use, cut some sheet metal the right way, and made a North I-5 shield. Then he made himself a counterfeit Caltrans (California highway department) uniform, went to the sign, and altered it with the counterfeit shield to point out the exit. (He even made the shield dirty, to make it seem like it had been there for some time rather than being newly installed.) It was nine months before the highway department even noticed--and when they did, they didn't even change it back. It stayed up for years until the sign was completely replaced--complete with this guy's alteration. I don't know if that qualifies as hacking a system to one's advantage, or even as a hack, but I think it gets at the underlying personality trait. Links: http://www.good.is/post/the-fake-freeway-sign-that-became-a-real-public-service/ http://www.good.is/post/the-fake-freeway-sign-that-became-a-... http://www.ankrom.org/freeway_signs.html http://www.ankrom.org/freeway_signs.html
- gabrielroth 16y ago
  Scores high on chutzpah, obviously, but it lacks the element of self-interest that I think was part of what Sam Altman was going for.
- jeromec 16y ago
  I'm a L.A. native, and I had no clue about this. Great story! I found a video detailing the events from your links: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1442683884005576315#docid=-722413983410000836 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1442683884005576315...
jasonkester 16y ago
Here's one: I used to work as a salaried employee for a consulting firm. I'd record my hours on a timesheet so that they could bill the right clients, but anything over 40 hours a week was ignored on my paycheck. The understanding was that if ever your hours dropped below 40, you could bill an overhead number to make up for the difference, thus the fairness of not getting paid for overtime. So a year in, I only managed to find 35 hours of work one week, so I called up HR and got that overhead number to put down for those extra 5 hours. Next day, I found myself in a meeting with my boss and his boss, being put on some form of probationary "hourly" status, working part time until I could get my workload back up to speed. I could work as few as 24 hours per week, and I'd only get paid for the hours I worked. So naturally things picked up and soon I found myself working 50 and 60 hour weeks again, and amazingly, my new "hourly" status meant I was getting paid for all of them. HR sent up the necessary paperwork to get me back onto "Salaried" mode and I told them I'd get it right back to them. 1 month later, they sent that paperwork again, and I apologized for letting it go on so long. Next month, my boss delivered it by hand and I promised to "get right on it." Finally, after 180 days of billing 60 hour weeks and getting paid for all of it, I found myself back in that same room with my boss, his boss, and now his boss, all of whom wanting to know why I hadn't filled in that paperwork. I laid out the math for them. Silence... Then uncontrolled laughter from all hands. Congratulations, son. But how about we fill out that paperwork right now?

pg: would you show an example of an impressive answer to the question about hacking a system to one's advantage?

by ptn 16y ago

pg: would you show an example of an impressive answer to the question about hacking a system to one's advantage?

msg 16y ago

How about Dick Hamming's thing at Bell Labs about crediting programming help in scientific papers? (from You and Your Research) I also did a second thing. When I loaned what little programming power we had to help in the early days of computing, I said, "We are not getting the recognition for our programmers that they deserve. When you publish a paper you will thank that programmer or you aren't getting any more help from me. That programmer is going to be thanked by name; she's worked hard." I waited a couple of years. I then went through a year of BSTJ articles and counted what fraction thanked some programmer. I took it into the boss and said, "That's the central role computing is playing in Bell Labs; if the BSTJ is important, that's how important computing is." He had to give in. You can educate your bosses. It's a hard job. In this talk I'm only viewing from the bottom up; I'm not viewing from the top down. But I am telling you how you can get what you want in spite of top management. You have to sell your ideas there also.

philwelch 16y ago

I'm not pg, but this is probably the best place to tell one of my favorite stories. The highway navigational signs in LA are notoriously confusing, especially this one sign in particular which didn't make sufficiently obvious an exit onto I-5. So some local took note of the sign and started to work. He found out exactly what paint colors to use, cut some sheet metal the right way, and made a North I-5 shield. Then he made himself a counterfeit Caltrans (California highway department) uniform, went to the sign, and altered it with the counterfeit shield to point out the exit. (He even made the shield dirty, to make it seem like it had been there for some time rather than being newly installed.) It was nine months before the highway department even noticed--and when they did, they didn't even change it back. It stayed up for years until the sign was completely replaced--complete with this guy's alteration. I don't know if that qualifies as hacking a system to one's advantage, or even as a hack, but I think it gets at the underlying personality trait. Links: http://www.good.is/post/the-fake-freeway-sign-that-became-a-real-public-service/ http://www.good.is/post/the-fake-freeway-sign-that-became-a-... http://www.ankrom.org/freeway_signs.html http://www.ankrom.org/freeway_signs.html

gabrielroth 16y ago
Scores high on chutzpah, obviously, but it lacks the element of self-interest that I think was part of what Sam Altman was going for.
jeromec 16y ago
I'm a L.A. native, and I had no clue about this. Great story! I found a video detailing the events from your links: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1442683884005576315#docid=-722413983410000836 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1442683884005576315...

jasonkester 16y ago

Here's one: I used to work as a salaried employee for a consulting firm. I'd record my hours on a timesheet so that they could bill the right clients, but anything over 40 hours a week was ignored on my paycheck. The understanding was that if ever your hours dropped below 40, you could bill an overhead number to make up for the difference, thus the fairness of not getting paid for overtime. So a year in, I only managed to find 35 hours of work one week, so I called up HR and got that overhead number to put down for those extra 5 hours. Next day, I found myself in a meeting with my boss and his boss, being put on some form of probationary "hourly" status, working part time until I could get my workload back up to speed. I could work as few as 24 hours per week, and I'd only get paid for the hours I worked. So naturally things picked up and soon I found myself working 50 and 60 hour weeks again, and amazingly, my new "hourly" status meant I was getting paid for all of them. HR sent up the necessary paperwork to get me back onto "Salaried" mode and I told them I'd get it right back to them. 1 month later, they sent that paperwork again, and I apologized for letting it go on so long. Next month, my boss delivered it by hand and I promised to "get right on it." Finally, after 180 days of billing 60 hour weeks and getting paid for all of it, I found myself back in that same room with my boss, his boss, and now his boss, all of whom wanting to know why I hadn't filled in that paperwork. I laid out the math for them. Silence... Then uncontrolled laughter from all hands. Congratulations, son. But how about we fill out that paperwork right now?