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Hacking Medeco locks

The Last HOPE conference, now being held in New York City, is as much for people interested in hacking the real world as it is for computer techies.

One such real world presentation on Friday was called "Undoing Complexity--From Paper Clips to Ball Point Pens." Despite the title, it was about hacking high-security electronic locks from Medeco. (The paper clip in the title is a reference to using one as a way of bypassing one type of security in Medeco locks.) The presentation was very well attended, SRO in a large room.

The presenters, Matt Fiddler and Marc Tobias, … Read more

Protecting against Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, RFID data attacks

NEW YORK--Using a laptop, cell phone headset, building access badge, credit cards, or even a passport can make you a walking target for data thieves and other criminals, a security expert warned at the Last HOPE hacker conference here late Friday.

In a frightening but entertaining session entitled "How do I Pwn Thee? Let me Count the Ways" (pwn is hacker speak for "own" or control), a hacker who goes by the alias "RenderMan" explained how most people are at risk and don't even know it.

By now most people probably know they … Read more

Defensive computing at a hacker conference

If there were ever a place for Defensive Computing, it's at a hacker conference.

So while attending the Last HOPE conference, a number of my previous postings came to mind.

First, there was the list of available Wi-Fi networks (see below) at the conference which, at times, showed four computer-to-computer networks (using the Windows XP terminology). These networks, also known as ad-hoc networks, are not governed by a router. While they may be set up on purpose, they are more likely to be accidental creations on the part of nontechnical computer users, or a purposeful trap set by someone … Read more

Team debuts electronic-hacking how-to videos at HOPE conference

NEW YORK--Want to know how to build your own cell phone charger? How about putting an old-fashioned pay phone in your home to make voice over Internet calls?

A team of do-it-yourself technology gurus are creating a video series that will show you how to hack everyday gadgets to get more--and novel--uses out of them.

Limor Fried, who owns the Adafruit Industries electronics building business, and Phillip Torrone, senior editor at Make Magazine, are calling their series "Citizen Engineer." They debuted it at the Last HOPE conference here on Friday.

The video series demonstrates how to create the … Read more

Listen to the 2600 hacker conference

The seventh Hackers on Planet Earth conference, organized by 2600, starts Friday in New York. If you can't be at The Last HOPE, you can listen online.

Radio Statler (the hotel hosting the conference used to be called The Statler) will be broadcasting from radio.hope.net. The station will be live from 10 a.m. ET Friday until the close of the conference at 8 p.m. on Sunday.

There isn't a published schedule, most likely because there isn't an unpublished one, either. Plans are to stream the keynote presentations and other popular seminars, interview some … Read more

San Francisco IT worker arrested in hijacking of city network

A network administrator for the city of San Francisco has been arrested on charges of taking control of the city's computer network and locking administrators out, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Terry Childs, 43, was due to be arraigned on Tuesday after his arrest Sunday. He remains in jail on $5 million bail.

Childs, who has worked for the city for five years, is accused of tampering with the new Fiber Wide Area Network after allegedly being disciplined for poor performance. He is accused of electronically spying on his supervisors and their attempt to fire him, according to … Read more

Get the iPhone 2.0 Firmware early

As is being reported by almost every blog on the planet, the direct link to iPhone 2.0 firmware has been uncovered in some XML related to the new version of iTunes.

This link is unwarranted and only for geeks folks, but if you want to see how it works, check out Brian Tong's video on CNET TV.

Here's the link : http://appldnld.apple.com.edgesuite.net/content.info.apple.com/iPhone/061-4955.20080710.bgt53/iPhone1,2_2.0_5A347_Restore.ipsw

Update: Many people are reporting problems with the unofficial iPhone firmware. If you're having issues or just want … Read more

CNET Live - Episode 61

Veronica Belmont from Revision3's Tekzilla and Sony PS3's Qore show stops by to talk about what she's up to and engage in an impromptu Buzz Out Loud reunion.

Watch the show on CNET TV.

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Play real media files in Linux with Helix and in Linux and OS X with MPlayer

You should be able to get Verizon or Sprint to unlock a … Read more

Insider Secrets: How to stream Netflix movies directly to your Xbox 360

Don't feel like dishing out $100 for the Roku Netflix player? Well, if you have an Xbox 360 and a Windows Vista PC, you don't have to.

Last week we reported about this amazing hack and now we're showing you how to do it! It comes courtesy of Lifehacker.com and takes about 20 minutes to set up.

Streaming Netflix movies isn't the only thing you can do with this connection--once your Xbox 360 is added as a Media Center extender, you can stream pictures, music, or video from your PC to the console as well. … Read more