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Why would a laudable social initiative like this be titled as "hack" in HN submission. I don't mean that "hack" here has a negative connotation, but the title h

by sateesh 17y ago

Why would a laudable social initiative like this be titled as "hack" in HN submission. I don't mean that "hack" here has a negative connotation, but the title here stretches the definition of "hack" too far.

silentbicycle 17y ago
A couple months ago, Merlin Mann (an American blogger) apologized for largely starting the trend of calling damn near everything a "hack" by heavily overusing it on 43folders.
roundsquare 17y ago
I can think of two reasons to call it a hack. 1) Its an unexpected and clever way to get a toilet. You can think of it as hacking the culture (where marriage is highly valued) or the men (who really want to get married). 2) The OP wanted to post this here and wondered how to make it look like "HN material." (If I'm wrong, please let me know, just what popped to mind).
akkartik 17y ago
Look at meaning #7 in the hacker dictionary Hacker: One who enjoys the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming or circumventing limitations. (http://www.ccil.org/jargon/jargon_23.html#TAG833 http://www.ccil.org/jargon/jargon_23.html#TAG833) I think a creative way to kill two very different birds -- the status of women, and the state of hygiene -- qualifies.
- sateesh 17y ago
  As the article mentions "No Toilet, No Bride" was a campaign with some funds from government that was used to increase awareness of sanitation in rural India. The innovative thing about this program was linking needs to improve awareness about hygiene. Many of the social initiatives/programs launched in India target basic needs to improve awareness. A few I can think of at the moment are : a. Midday meal to children attending schools (feed the hungry, provide education) b. National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme (provide employment and let the people do something helpful (building roads, canals etc) for the village/community) I am no expert in this area and it seems to me that many of social schemes/programs have this mix of targeting the needs to spread awareness. Would then all these social schemes be qualified as "hack" ?

by sateesh 17y ago

silentbicycle 17y ago

A couple months ago, Merlin Mann (an American blogger) apologized for largely starting the trend of calling damn near everything a "hack" by heavily overusing it on 43folders.

roundsquare 17y ago

I can think of two reasons to call it a hack. 1) Its an unexpected and clever way to get a toilet. You can think of it as hacking the culture (where marriage is highly valued) or the men (who really want to get married). 2) The OP wanted to post this here and wondered how to make it look like "HN material." (If I'm wrong, please let me know, just what popped to mind).

akkartik 17y ago

Look at meaning #7 in the hacker dictionary Hacker: One who enjoys the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming or circumventing limitations. (http://www.ccil.org/jargon/jargon_23.html#TAG833 http://www.ccil.org/jargon/jargon_23.html#TAG833) I think a creative way to kill two very different birds -- the status of women, and the state of hygiene -- qualifies.

sateesh 17y ago
As the article mentions "No Toilet, No Bride" was a campaign with some funds from government that was used to increase awareness of sanitation in rural India. The innovative thing about this program was linking needs to improve awareness about hygiene. Many of the social initiatives/programs launched in India target basic needs to improve awareness. A few I can think of at the moment are : a. Midday meal to children attending schools (feed the hungry, provide education) b. National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme (provide employment and let the people do something helpful (building roads, canals etc) for the village/community) I am no expert in this area and it seems to me that many of social schemes/programs have this mix of targeting the needs to spread awareness. Would then all these social schemes be qualified as "hack" ?