Hacker

Hacker may refer to:

Technology

Entertainment

Hacker culture

The hacker culture is a subculture of individuals who enjoy the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming and circumventing limitations of systems to achieve novel and clever outcomes. The act of engaging in activities (such as programming or other media) in a spirit of playfulness and exploration is termed "hacking". However, the defining characteristic of a hacker is not the activities performed themselves (e.g. programming), but the manner in which it is done: hacking entails some form of excellence, for example exploring the limits of what is possible, thereby doing something exciting and meaningful. Activities of playful cleverness can be said to have "hack value" and are termed "hacks" (examples include pranks at MIT intended to demonstrate technical aptitude and cleverness). The hacker culture originally emerged in academia in the 1960s around the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)'s Tech Model Railroad Club (TMRC) and MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

Mod (video gaming)

A mod or modification is the alteration of content from a video game in order to make it operate in a manner different from its original version. Mods can be created for any genre of game but are especially popular in first-person shooters, role-playing games and real-time strategy games. Mods are made by the general public or a developer and can be entirely new games in themselves, but mods are not stand-alone software and require the user to have the original release in order to run. They can include new items, modded weapons, characters, enemies, models, textures, levels, story lines, music, money, armor, life and game modes. They can be single-player or multiplayer. Mods that add new content to the underlying game are often called partial conversions, while mods that create an entirely new game are called total conversions and mods that fix bugs only are called unofficial patches.

Games running on a personal computer are often designed with change in mind, allowing modern PC games to be modified by gamers without much difficulty. These mods can add extra replay value and interest. The Internet provides an inexpensive medium to promote and distribute mods, and they have become an increasingly important factor in the commercial success of some games. Developers such as id Software, Valve Software, Re-Logic, Bethesda Softworks, Firaxis, Crytek, The Creative Assembly and Epic Games provide extensive tools and documentation to assist mod makers, leveraging the potential success brought in by a popular mod like Counter-Strike.

Algorithm

In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm (ⁱ/ˈælɡərɪðəm/ AL-gə-ri-dhəm) is a self-contained step-by-step set of operations to be performed. Algorithms exist that perform calculation, data processing, and automated reasoning.

The words 'algorithm' and 'algorism' come from the name al-Khwārizmī. Al-Khwārizmī (Persian: خوارزمي‎‎, c. 780-850) was a Persian mathematician, astronomer, geographer, and scholar.

An algorithm is an effective method that can be expressed within a finite amount of space and time and in a well-defined formal language for calculating a function. Starting from an initial state and initial input (perhaps empty), the instructions describe a computation that, when executed, proceeds through a finite number of well-defined successive states, eventually producing "output" and terminating at a final ending state. The transition from one state to the next is not necessarily deterministic; some algorithms, known as randomized algorithms, incorporate random input.

Medical algorithm

A medical algorithm is any computation, formula, statistical survey, nomogram, or look-up table, useful in healthcare. Medical algorithms include decision tree approaches to healthcare treatment (e.g., if symptoms A, B, and C are evident, then use treatment X) and also less clear-cut tools aimed at reducing or defining uncertainty.

Scope

Medical algorithms are part of a broader field which is usually fit under the aims of medical informatics and medical decision making. Medical decisions occur in several areas of medical activity including medical test selection, diagnosis, therapy and prognosis, and automatic control of medical equipment.

In relation to logic-based and artificial neural network-based clinical decision support system, which are also computer applications to the medical decision making field, algorithms are less complex in architecture, data structure and user interface. Medical algorithms are not necessarily implemented using digital computers. In fact, many of them can be represented on paper, in the form of diagrams, nomographs, etc.

Algorithm (My Heart to Fear album)

Algorithm is the first studio album from My Heart to Fear. Solid State Records released the album on July 9, 2013.

Critical reception

Awarding the album three stars from Alternative Press, Jason Schreurs writes, "As is the case with the bulk of this musical style, the vocals bring it back down to a near-mediocre level." Bradley Zorgdrager, rating the album a five out of ten for Exclaim!, says, "Unfortunately, a lack of inspiration causes the songs to come undone, as many of the parts sound only like a means to get to the next." Giving the album four stars at About.com, Todd Lyons states, "everything binds together into one masterful meditation." Tim Dodderidge, indicating in a 8.5 out of ten review by Mind Equals Blown, writes, "From start to finish, My Heart to Fear’s debut full-length is an energetic, ferocious, cathartic and inspiring metal album."

Kevin Hoskins, giving the album three and a half stars for Jesus Freak Hideout, describes, "this is just metal done well ... but any hardcore fan will be digging this release all summer long." Awarding the album four and a half stars from HM Magazine, Sean Huncherick states, "One good thing about Algorithm is that the band realizes they don’t need to constantly play as fast as they can." Brody B., rating the album four star at Indie Vision Music, writes, "With a few minor tweaks here and there that could have made songs feel more fleshed out I would have had a hard time finding fault with this debut record."