hacks

Attention, jailbreak fans: two competing tools might be released in the next couple of days to jailbreak iPhones running 3.1.3--and they might also work on the iPad, which launches Saturday.

Jailbreaking is the practice of hacking an iPhone or iPod Touch to install non-Apple-approved programs and run system hacks. It allows for things like tethering, interface tweaks, and other changes Apple doesn't approve of. Many people don't like being locked in to the "ecosystem" Apple forces its iDevice users to inhabit, and jailbreaking is seen as the cure.

The hacks have been demonstrated and … Read more

Though Internet Explorer 8 was only one of several products hacked in a recent contest, Microsoft is standing up for its browser.

Microsoft's official Windows Security blog on Friday discussed the specific features that were hacked to win the contest, explaining that IE's security techniques aren't designed to thwart every attack forever, but more to slow down the bad buys and make it harder for them to exploit vulnerabilities.

Last Wednesday's annual Pwn2Own hacking contest at the CanSecWest security show in Vancouver, B.C., pitted security experts and researchers against each other to see who was … Read more

We accidentally besmirch the reputation of Danica Patrick, come up with some reasons why Bing might actually work (except for how it apparently means "disease" in Chinese), and take to task the millions of people who are still deliberately clicking on spam.

WSJ on iPad for $17.99 a month, magazines to be at or near newsstand prices? http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/25/wsj-on-ipad-17-99-a-month-magazines-to-be-at-or-near-newsstand/

Gmail to alert users to suspicious activity http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20001078-245.html

Microsoft'… Read more

Here's some bad news for folks who were expecting iPad media subscriptions to be cheaper than the real thing. A report from The Wall Street Journal (on itself), points at a monthly price tag that costs more than it would to actually get the newspaper delivered to your house every day. So much for cheap, digital delivery.

We also talk about the alleged Twitter hacker who leaked those Twitter internal documents last year; getting busted by the FBI; as well as GoDaddy no longer selling .cn domain names in China. Tune in to hear more about these stores and … Read more

On today's show, there's tech news, but there's also the new Sprint Evo 4G, and that's kind of all we can think about. Its big 4-inch screen, its two cameras, its kickstand. Sigh. It's my new boo. Also, though, some stuff about Google, the full text of ACTA is leaked, we have a winner in the Apple vs. Predator video contest, and holy crap, did you see that Evo?

Google co-founder Sergey Brin urges US to act … Read more

Updated 9:13 a.m. PDT with Google comment saying the issue was the result of a bug. In an earlier version, the cause of the sites appearing in Chinese was still unknown.

Google's English-language corporate site was appearing in Chinese, Danish and other languages on Wednesday due to a bug, Google said.

"This is not a hack but rather a bug affecting the language displayed to some users, and we are working to fix it soon," a Google U.S. spokesman said in a statement to CNET.

The Guardian, based in the U.K., reported early … Read more

Do you want an electric car? Survey says...GM turns the entire windshield into a head up display, hacker bricks 100 cars remotely, the first Android -based car is coming, and we rough up the smooth yet muscular Jaguar XFR.

• Jaguar XFR review

• Consumers intrigued by electric cars

• Navigon lets you buy GPS in pieces, like the old days

• Car dealer's ex-employee accused of remote disabling 100 cars

• Aha Radio app streams more than just music in car

With Wilson nursing a flu, Natali Del Conte comes in to save the day and somehow manages to work up the nerve to challenge me to a habanero chili pepper eating competition. Clearly she doesn't know I was president of Edison High School's Fire Eater's Club and eat Scoville units for breakfast. Then again, her last name is Del Conte, which automatically gives her an advantage. May the best Justin Yu win.

Due to the depressing rain New York suffered over the weekend, the three of us spent the last two days indoors--and how each of us passed our time reveals a bit about our personalities. Natali checked out the 3D showing of "Alice in Wonderland" to see if the movie lives up to the hype; Jeff gives himself a pat on the back for finishing three video games in two days; and I discovered the marketing magic that is The Dragulator, a promotional campaign for RuPaul's show "Drag Race" that lets you see how you'd look as a drag queen, and I'm not gonna lie--I make this look gooooood.

It's been a long time coming, but Fandango launched a new "mobile ticket program" today that enables moviegoers to download a scannable bar code to use in lieu of a physical movie ticket.

The service will definitely save time and paper, but it also opens up a whole new world to hackers, who could easily forge a ticket using a fabricated bar code. The program is currently being tested in more than 100 theaters, including a few in NYC, so we'll try it out and bring you a special report soon.

The people at HDR Labs, given the nature of HDR photos, are those who take lots of shots to create one image. A remote control that makes the process easier is important and, to that end, they've created one that uses the Nintendo DS.

This project gives the photographer two extra screens and features that make the camera more useful to these professionals.

The process isn't easy and requires a Nintendo DS (original or Lite will do); a WarioWare: Twisted GBA cartridge; and other parts that will need to be soldered into the cartridge. Check out the project … Read more