The term Hacker is generally reserved for skilled computer programmers or technically proficient computer security experts. There are also references to the term applying to anyone who is curious about anything and seeks to gain knowledge about something.
Generally, the term hacker is used by information security people within the discipline and the media to portray criminals.
It may be the case that the term is now being used in other areas of culture outside of our technical field: Lifehacker and Faithhacker.
Lifehacker generally deals with technology, although it will include tips on doing other things efficiently (such as how to take a Navy shower).
Faithhacker, in my opinion, is the first popular reference to use the term hacker outside of a technical pursuit (and in a religious context too!).
Popularity: 4%
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I don’t think the scope is expanding… I think the scope is returning to where it originally was. A hacker is someone who hacks… Practical English tells us that you can’t really argue that. What is a hack? Think about how many times you’ve heard people use hack outside of computers… I hear it all the time. “I can’t hack the heat”, “Well it’s a hack job but it will do”, “He shouldn’t be on stage, he’s a hack”, “Get me the hacksaw”. Hack is a fairly common word that’s been around a lot longer than computers.. I can remember growing up around tradepeople, not IT Enthusiasts, and hearing hack all the time… primarily in the form of “It’s a hack job but it will do”… So a hacker was someone who came up with a quick fix for a problem… This is where the computer term came from… So LifeHacker fits in with the original use, I don’t know Faithhacker but perhaps it does as well.. While it’s become common to accept it as a “computer term” it still has plenty of uses outside of the IT world… and while it may not be common place to look at a tradesperson and say “Wow you’re a hacker” they still do hacks… making them one even without the word being spoken.
@Tyler
You’re right when you claim that the word hack has been used in English for awhile, not just in a computer sense.
I’m not talking about the word itself, I’m look at its connotations.
As quoted by you, “hack job” , a “stage hack”, “hack the heat” are all uses of the word hack, but not the connotation that we understand the word “hack” as it applies to IT and information security folk (in the *original* sense, not the criminal sense).
It’s this computer connotation — the notion of someone pushing limits of knowledge and understanding – that *may* be spreading.
Do you see any other uses of the connotation to which I am referring?
The word ‘Hack’ in its most common form is a reference to journalists, in particular, not very good ones.
The media gets it correct! CNN uses the term hacker in a way that does not reference computers security!
An example of the term hack used for exploration, as opposed to criminal intent:
“While the Elmo project worked mostly as a demonstration, around 500 participants had the opportunity to take part in other workshops. For various supply fees, they could build a snow globe or musical instrument from recycled toys and other junk, outfit his or her own bike with retro reflective safety tape or hack iPods — broken or not — to discover new purposes for the ubiquitous gadget.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28300535/