Upgrade Your Xbox 360’s Hard Drive on the Cheap

PCWorld:

“Microsoft expects you to pay close to $200 to upgrade your Xbox 360’s hard drive from 20GB to 120GB. That’s about $150 more than a 120GB SATA drive actually costs. But with this slightly tricky hack, you can save a bundle while boosting your game console’s storage capacity to hold more music, video, and other media files.”

FULL ARTICLE

Global hacker ring exposed — what it means

Boing Boing:

“The CBC’s SearchEngine podcast delved into the GhostNet story that broke yesterday, in which the University of Toronto’s CitizenLab discovered and revealed a spy-ring (apparently of Chinese origin) that was gathering intelligence from sensitive government, military and NGO computers in over 100 countries. CitizenLab’s researchers managed to gain access to the control server for these spy-trojans, and got an unprecedented look at the extent to which these machines were compromised (for example, they saw the spymasters activating the cameras on compromised machines and watching meetings and other sensitive communications).

SearchEngine and CitizenLab went well beyond the news coverage and had a fascinating discussion about what this means: how it signals a turning point in the ongoing militarization of cyberspace, and whether this demands a comparable peace movement for the Internet. It was one of the most fascinating things I’ve heard said about the Net this year, and I think I’ll be listening to it again, just to get a good crack at it.”

Podcast #27: exposing the world’s biggest cyberspy ring

MP3 Link

Apple used a jailbroken iPhone in one of their patents!

HAHAHAHA….classic!

iPod Touch Fans:

Quote:

Originally Posted by engadget Uh oh Apple — it looks like even your attorneys are dirty, thieving jailbreakers. Tipster a|e§ was poring through that iPhone biometric security patent application we posted earlier and noticed that the images show a jailbroken phone, complete with Installer.app, SMBPrefs, and the iWood Realize theme from the iSpazio repository. We’re guessing the fine folks at Kramer, Levin Naftalis & Frankel are going to have some ’splainin to do on Monday morning — but at least they get to run apps in the background.

[Source]

Fallout 3 Case Mod

Can I have this, like now?

Ripten:

“If you plan on playing Fallout 3 on a PC, then this old school case mod, made to look like a 1960s television set, has got to be the way to go. Decked out with hardwood paneling, the foundation for this bomb shelter essential is a Soviet TV receiver REKORD, 1961.”

Hackers Warn Texas of Coming Zombie War

i09:

“Over the weekend, Austin, TX drivers received some important warnings
from their road signs about the impending zombie invasion. And the
hackers who did it may know something we don’t about the undead.

The
road signs, which normally warn drivers about traffic conditions,
displayed these warnings: “Zombies ahead . . . the end is near . . .
run for cold climates!” Some signs also warned of Nazi zombies. While
city officials claimed to FOX News that the tampering could lead to
jail time, nobody is going to get in trouble for warning the world
about zombies. The company that owns the signs, Sterling Construction,
would have to file a complaint with police for any legal action to be
taken. Sterling owner Wayne Haggard told local KVUE-TV, “It’s Austin.
We have a sense of humor. Let it go.”

Though Austin officials
claim that an act of direst hacking was required to tamper with the
signs, sign-hackers say that isn’t true. Most of these signs, including
the ones owned by Sterling, have a default password. Anyone can walk up
to the sign, type the default into the control panel, and reprogram it.

There is a reason why some say default passwords are a hacker’s
best friend. However, I would argue that our pranksters haven’t really
done an impressive hack until they’ve either brute forced a non-default
password, or figured out a way to route internet traffic through the
signs. Come back to me with your “sign hacking” when you’ve turned one
of these road signs into a zombie computer,
OK? That way, instead of flashing “Zombies ahead!” the sign would flash
its normal message but send the “Zombies ahead” warning to your iPhone.

Not that I am advocating anything unlawful. I am just trying to suggest a better zombie warning system.

SOURCES:

Dallas News (with clip from KVUE-TV of the signs)

FOX News

Mac Pro Ultra Mini made out of broken MacBook and aluminum enclosure

Boing Boing:

“By cramming the still functioning guts of a waterlogged MacBook into
an aluminum external hard drive closure and melting a whole lot of
solder, the guys over at WolphBite managed to create their own Mac Pro
Ultra Mini. It looks great: I want one.”

My New Mac Pro Ultra Mini [Wolph Bite]

The Job is a Lie: Valve almost lured Half-Life 2 source hacker with fake job interview

Boing Boing:

“Just a friendly reminder: if you’re going in for a job interview with Valve Software (the creators of the Half-Life series, Portal and the upcoming Left 4 Dead), make sure they aren’t charging you with any felonies. The job offer might not quite be on the up-and-up.

After the secret source code for its then-unreleased
shooter Half Life 2 showed up on BitTorrent in 2003, gamemaker Valve
Software cooked up an elaborate ruse with the FBI targeting the German
hacker suspected in the leak, even setting up a fake job interview in
an effort to lure him to the United States for arrest…

In March, several Valve managers staged a 40-minute “job interview’
with DaGuy over the phone, in which the hacker confirmed that he was
Gembe. Gembe detailed how he’d cracked the company’s network, first
entering through an account that had no password, then ramping up to
root access using remote CGI exploits and scanning software.

After the interview, the then-21-year-old Gembe sent the company his
résumé. “Well, I really hope you hire me,” he wrote. “I’m no bad guy,
just a little misguided.”

Newell passed the resume along to the feds, then invited Gembe to
travel to Seattle for a follow-up interview in person. “We pay for all
interview related expenses (travel, hotel, food, etc. …) as well as
relocation expenses (pretty standard for the game business).”

Eventually, the hacker’s spider sense weakly tingled, and he
refrained from flying to Seattle to let Valve and the FBI arrest him.
What a maroon.”

Valve Tried to Trick Half-Life 2 Hacker Into Fake Job Interview [27 B Stroke 6]

The Ergonomic Steampunk Keyboard

Twould be hard as hell to type on, but boy is she pretty…

Boing Boing:

“Datamancer — steampunk modder and long time Jake von Slatt
stoogeling extrordinaire — has released his latest keyboard mod. It
began its life as a rare IBM Model M-15 split ergonomic keyboard,
before it was fitted with the usual steampiunk flourishes of burnished
brass, acanthus-leaf etchings, violet LEDs and typewriter keys, with a
lovely little trackpad in the center and a soft burgundy wrist pad. I
quite like it, although I’m struggling to conceptually link Victorian
technology with ergonomic design.”

Ergo 1 [Datamancer.net via Slippery Brick]

Battlestar Galactica PC, a masterpiece with stunning attention to detail

Holy frak…

DVICE:

“Here’s a PC case mod that’s worthy of the name Battlestar Galactica.
This liquid-cooled work of art has a numerous video screens, a side
window hidden by a servo-controlled door, and a slot-loading DVD drive
that lets you see its disc spinning through its semi-transparent front.

We’re especially impressed by the LED-lit landing strip on top,
ready to accommodate a squadron of Mark VII vipers. It even looks like
the case has taken a few hits from the nuclear weapons of the Cylons.
Check out the gallery and you’ll see all the spectacular details
incorporated into the masterpiece by case modder Boddaker, and then hit
Continue for a video of the case in action.”

Linksys WRT54GL turned RC monster truck

Boing Boing:

“Jonathan Bennett is calling this $5 dollar RC car — a Linksys
WRT54GL and a Panasonic Bl-C1A network camera soldered to its guts — a
“WiFi Robot.” I call it the only RC car I have ever wanted: it can be
driven wirelessly by laptop from up to 500 meters away. A miniature
Linksys monster truck to vroom around the neighborhood: it’s so
appropriate. The WRT54G series always has been the Big Foot family of
routers.”

WiFi Robot [JB Projects]