When the word hack was first uttered at MIT, it had nothing to do with computers - it referred to doing something sheerly for the pleasure of the intellectual pursuit. (OK, and to prove how clever you are.) Essentially, a hack was an old-fashioned prank. The first documented hacking group, Dorm Goblin, threaded a 35-foot telegraph pole through the Senior House dormitory in 1928. A few months later they coaxed a cow onto the roof of the East Campus dorm. (Note to copycats: Cows will walk up stairs, but not down.) Since then the escapades have gotten bolder and more technically challenging. In 1983, one adept crew deployed tarps in such a way that a 26.5-foot radome antenna atop a 23-story office building became a huge smiley face. Good hacks are nondestructive and fast to set up. The best leave removal instructions for the school's official Confined Space Rescue Team, aka the Hackbusters. This underground major is brought to light in Nightwork: A History of Hacks and Pranks at MIT (MIT Press, $20) by institute historian T. F. Peterson (or IHTFP - Google it for the punch line). Find more information at hacks.mit.edu.
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