Interesting Hacks To Fascinate People:
The MIT Gallery of Hacks

The word hack at MIT usually refers to a clever, benign, and "ethical" prank or practical joke, which is both challenging for the perpetrators and amusing to the MIT community (and sometimes even the rest of the world!). Note that this has nothing to do with computer (or phone) hacking (which we call "cracking").

Recent News

[3/24/98] The lights on the MIT Green Building were turned on and off in the form of an Oscar[tm], supposedly to celebrate Good Will Hunting winning an academy award. Reports indicate that the story was covered on Channel 5. This practice of putting images on the Green Building in lights is called "greenspeak".

[1/21/98] A huge "paper airplane" (about 15 or 20 feet long) is currently hanging in the middle of Lobby 7. A note nearby claims that the structure is an entry for the upcoming IAP Paper Airplane Contest. Photos and more information will be available shortly.

The new Athena dialup computers are named after hacks. The machines are biohazard-cafe.MIT.EDU, scrubbing-bubbles.MIT.EDU, no-knife.MIT.EDU, mass-toolpike.MIT.EDU, cathedral-seven.MIT.EDU, mint-square.MIT.EDU, buzzword-bingo.MIT.EDU, department-of-alchemy.MIT.EDU, ten-thousand-dollar-bill.MIT.EDU, and contents-vnder-pressvre.MIT.EDU. Just recently added is grumpy-fuzzball.MIT.EDU, the Last of the DEC Dialups.