Now through Sunday, March 3, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will be presenting the "MIT Hall of Hacks" exhibit at the MIT Museum.

MIT has become famous over the years for a unique and inspiring form of hacking, which basically involves sophisticated and clever pranks. Highlights include the famous police car that was placed atop the Great Dome in 1994, complete with a police mannequin and a box of donuts. All kinds of things have wound up atop the 120 foot Dome, such as a working pay phone, a giant R2D2, and a full-size cow made out of fiberglass. But these hacks aren't limited to the physical world: on April Fool's Day 1998, the MIT home page was hacked and replaced with an announcement that MIT had been purchased by Disney for $6.9 billion. Out of respect for the hackers, as well as MIT's 120 year history of this sort of thing, the page was left intact for a full day.

Other famous pranks are being exhibited or documented at the museum. In addition, visitors will be invited to vote for the "ultimate MIT hack" and suggest ideas for hacks of the future.

The museum is located at 265 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

MIT Museum Home Page