I am so hacked!

When I was growing up, I often heard someone say they were hacked or hacked off. Meaning, of course, that they were irritated. It implied a rather specific feeling, a combination of frustration, surprise, annoyance, disappointment, slight embarrassment, injury. Whatever. I notice that hack also refers to kicking, so maybe that was behind the expression: I felt like someone kicked me in the shin.

 Now, of course, hacked has a whole other meaning in the digital world. Today I got yet another email warning me that someone was trying (unsuccessfully) to get into my Yahoo account. I went to the original account itself -- never, never, never follow a link in such email if you get one, because these are often part of the hacking scam itself -- and promptly changed the password. I feel like I have to do this every few months now.

I suppose it will never end.

"A computer makes it possible to do, in half an hour, tasks which were completely unnecessary to do before."
~ Dave Barry