Hack your drinks at the theater | Hacker News Reader

Hack your drinks at the theater

wired.com

OK, so firstly, "choosing the best out of three options" really doesn't count as "hacking", especially when the best option turns out to be the default.

Secondly, what a terrible experiment. Even if you accept the premise that coldness vs corn syrup is a worthwhile tradeoff, they don't even mention how long they waited before taking the temperature measurement. A temperature vs time graph might make this article worthwhile.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and "hack" my morning coffee, by asking for a cappucino sans live skunk.

if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and "hack" my morning coffee, by asking for a cappucino sans live skunk.

I do recall an interesting post making the rounds a while back about hacking Starbucks' cappuccino. The premise was this: Starbucks has tall, grande, and venti sizes posted on its menus, but if you ask for a short dry cappuccino, you save money and get a better drink.

That seems to fit the spirit of hacking a cappuccino :-)

To be completely fair, I would say that "Hack Your Drink" describes this experiment just as well as "Hacker News" describes these forums. I.e. most of the news here has nothing to do with hacking, but rather, it appeals to hackers. Likewise, this article describes a (rudimentary) way to get the most bang for your buck, which seems to be a very common theme among hacker efforts.

That being said, I would agree that "Hack" may not have been the best choice of words to use to describe the article. I find it interesting that everyone here is attacking Wired's Design Of Experiment for this article. I suppose I read the article in the context that it was a spoof and found it very amusing, thinking like-minded people would as well. Perhaps a new experiment is in order... gauge readers' reactions to an article after priming them with various titles for that article. Maybe I should have titled my submission, "Ice as a Commodity" or "Common Sense Wins Again".

Reactions:

Seeing YC tag: "Ohh, I wonder how they're going to get free soda? It better not be something dumb like 'bring a Nalgene, get a large soda, and share!' Might almost maybe (but probably not) justify going to the theater."

Seeing Wired title: "Ohh, I bet theaters are finally providing 'frozen soda' as ice cubes, so the drink doesn't dilute. Or maybe someone brought in soda-cubes for their favorite flavor? But that would probably melt...this should be interesting."

Reading article: "Stupid."

After writing comment: "You know, there's more 'theater soda hacking' in that comment than there was in that entire article."

Seriously? 3 pictures, poor use of 'Hack', and posted to YC News? The end result being "don't put too much ice in your drink"? This is one of the few times I could downvote.

Well, for some people it is the case that choosing the personally optimal product configuration from the set of options provided by a vendor is considered hacking, even if it does not present a new phenomenon nor does it represent an unexpected benefit.

Personally, I think that anyone over the age of seven has figured out that there is a lot more soda in the cup if you skip the ice, but it is colder if you include some ice.

I'm more surprised at Wired than I am at this getting posted here. When did Wired become this Tired?

Where else are you going to get that valuable "cost per degree of chilling" statistic? From now on, I'm sneaking in my own ice.

The diagram pulled a Verizon and has 1.42 cents in the last image instead of $1.42 or 142 cents.

This is a hack? Seriously, why don't we as a community distance ourselves from this crap?

I hacked my mornings by making sure that the bed gets lots of early sunshine.

I hacked my grocery shopping by buying stuff that's on sale.

I hack my gas mileage by coasting down hills. (Truck has a clutch.)

...Ugh. I'm getting sick to my stomach just writing this.

Every moronic, mundane use of the word diminishes the artistry that it used to represent.

I can see where this will end - "Uh-oh, baby hacked his diaper."

Ah, found it:

"At this juncture, I wish to apologize and formally atone for any role 43 Folders or I have had in popularizing 'hack' as the preferred nomenclature for unmedicated knowledge workers dicking around with their 'productivity system' all day. 43 Folders regrets the error." - Merlin Mann, "Four Years" (http://www.43folders.com/2008/09/08/four-years)

Like more corn syrup for the money is a good thing. It's not exactly good for you. The optimum concentration of corn syrup is either 0M or as little as it takes to satisfy you, which means that you should take as much ice as you want. Unless your goal is to "hack" your insulin receptors.

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