Traditional Judaism has this really weird (to me, a goy) emphasis on finding loopholes in rules. I always remember these ropes they place around New York City and other places so they can stay "indoors" on, I think it was, the Shabbat, by walking underneath the rope, which is a type of ceiling.
As I understand it, they know God's not stupid and sees right through this sort of thing, but they believe God put rules like "stay indoors on the Shabbat" in place so that He could entertain Himself by watching the creative loopholes humans come up with. Other Shabbat loopholes include putting things on timers the day before, paying a non-Jew to do things that Jews are forbidden to do, or legally transferring ownership of the cupboard full of bread to a non-Jew for the one day a year when Jews aren't allowed to own bread.
And as I understand it, they do this with all things, from a young age. Cultivating this mindset definitely has something to do with their cybersecurity prowess.
> Traditional Judaism has this really weird (to me, a goy) emphasis on finding loopholes in rules.
As an atheist Jew, it's weird to me as well...
> stay "indoors" on, I think it was, the Shabbat
Can't say I'm familiar with that one. What I'm generally familiar with is that you're not allowed to "work" on Shabbat, and the definition of work is extremely broad. For example, lighting a fire is considered work, turning a light switch on creates a tiny spark between the contacts, that counts as fire, so it's work.
This extends to pretty much every electrical device, so for those who observe Shabbat, using a computer or phone, turning the AC on or off, is all disallowed.
As a result there are many workarounds as you've described, timers, non-Jews (though you can't ask directly! You can say "it's hot in here", but not "Please turn the AC on"), fridges without a light bulb inside, and more.
> they do this with all things, from a young age.
Religious families do, to varying degrees. But I've met plenty of extremely talented programmers and hackers who do not follow any of the Jewish law.
Edit: Just noticed your username, I also want to say I really like your projects on YouTube!
'It's due to the shiftiness of jews'. Nice discussion Dang.