Tell us how you successfully hacked some (non-computer) system to your advantage - peter_d_sherman
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peter_d_sherman
There's a question on YCombinator's application, "Please tell us about the
time you most successfully hacked some (non-computer) system to your
advantage."

Idea: I think it would be a great idea to take all of the past answers of this
question, audit them to make sure they are legally and publicly acceptable,
then get permission from the people or person making the submission to make
their answer to this question public, then publish all of those answers on a
web page where users could see them/compare them/vote on them, much like HN...

I think this could become a great resource for

a) Systems Theory Generalists

b) People who want to understand systems better

c) People who want to understand how some systems can be and are gamed;

d) (Non Computer) Systems Engineers/Systems Security Experts

e) Generally creative people who are interested in observing how other
generally creatively people think and approach problems.

Comments?

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PaulHoule
Advantage play in gambling situations where the odds are not clearly defined.

For instance, at my son's school they regularly have raffles where you can put
a ticket in a bag to enter a raffle for one of various items. You can see how
many tickets are in the bag and know what the odds of winning are.

I always walk away from that with at least one if not two prizes by picking
things that are desirable (to me) that have few tickets in them.

I used to think my sister-in-law was impervious to the laws of probability
because she plays video slots at the casino. Then she noticed there was a
promotion where you could put losing scratch tickets into a pot at the casino
and she saw how many entries there were, realized it was a winning bet, and
she and my mother in law bought $200 of scratch tickets, of which they won
about $100.

They won a trip to Las Vegas which was worth upwards of $1200 so it was a good
deal.

I win at the racetrack by using the "odds to win" to find mispriced place and
show bets. Basically you sometimes find that the payout for a horse to show is
more than 1/3 of the payout to win but you have three chances to win, so
sometimes it is a "can't lose" situation.

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100100010001
You can steal gas from a car by putting a hose in the gas tank. I’m pretty
sure everyone knows this “hack” so maybe you should clarify your question.

~~~
peter_d_sherman
Clarification: The hack or hacks must be ethically acceptable...

