Hacker News Reader

Comment by hugh | Hacker News Reader

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.

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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".

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