Nov 08

First iPhone worm rickrolls jailbroken phones

Posted in: Apple, hack, iPhone, Today's Chili

We sort of knew this would happen as soon as we heard about that iPhone wallpaper hack in the Netherlands — a hacker named ikex has created what’s apparently the first iPhone worm, and it’s currently infecting jailbroken iPhones across Australia. The “ikee” worm, as it’s being called, takes advantage of the fact that jailbroken iPhones with SSH installed all have the same default root password of “alpine,” and once in the system it changes your wallpaper to an image of Rick Astley and then tries to install itself on other jailbroken iPhones on the network. Sophos says it hasn’t confirmed any infections outside of Oz, and to be clear, this worm can’t get to stock iPhones or jailbreak owners who haven’t installed SSH — but if you’re running a hacked phone we’d say you should change that root password just to be safe right away. Get to it, kids.

[Via PMP Today; thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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First iPhone worm rickrolls jailbroken phones originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nov 08

Latest iControlPad prototype bulks up, gets handled on video

Posted in: controller, hack, jailbreak, mod, Today's Chili

It’s been a while since we last got an update from ZodTTD on his iControlPad iPhone controller accessory, but this latest prototype looks like it was worth the wait. The controls have been moved from the sides of the phone to a more comfortable-seeming bottom placement with dual analog sticks and rear-mounted triggers, and the whole thing’s gotten bigger and badder — there’s even an internal battery for charging your phone as you play. ZodTTD says actual shipping hardware is coming soon — just make sure you change that default root password if you decide to jailbreak and grab one, mkay?

P.S.- ZodTTD says another video featuring psx4iphone and a “pretty sweet Wipeout XL demo” is coming shortly on his YouTube channel, we’ll keep you updated.

Continue reading Latest iControlPad prototype bulks up, gets handled on video

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Latest iControlPad prototype bulks up, gets handled on video originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nov 06

Guitar Hero and Rock Band drums combine for ultimate MIDI kit (video)

Posted in: diy, hack, mod, Music, Today's Chili, video

We’ve seen our fair share of Guitar Hero / Rock Band drum kit mods, but without exception, this one is our fav. Tipster (and tinkerer) Jordan has taken the time to wire up a Guitar Hero kit and a Rock Band kit in order to create the most bodacious set of MIDI skins this planet has ever seen. Using a combination of Osculator, JunXion Lite and Logic, he was able to rig up the Rock Band pedal to operate as a high-hat pedal, while reprogramming some of the heads to act as cymbals. We’d bother explaining more, but we’ll just point you past the break and advise you to watch (head to 2:20 if you’re short on time!).

[Thanks, Jordan]

Continue reading Guitar Hero and Rock Band drums combine for ultimate MIDI kit (video)

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Guitar Hero and Rock Band drums combine for ultimate MIDI kit (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nov 06

DIY sewable iPod remote takes just ten minutes, will absolutely warm your heart

Posted in: Apple, controller, diy, hack, ipod, mod, Today's Chili

Okay, so we fully anticipate that creating the downright adorable object you see above will take far longer than ten minutes if you a) don’t have a stash of circuits and fabrics laying around and / or b) you’ve never done anything like this before, but for seasoned DIYers, this is about as easy as it gets. The “10-minute sewable iPod remote” can actually be any character or design you feel like making, as the crux of this project relies on the circuit chip that is actually fitted inside the dock connector. From there, you just connect a few strands of conductive fabric, attach your kitty cat (or dragon, as the case may be) and begin to enjoy your homegrown iPod remote. Hit the read link for the full how-to, but only if you’re immune to cuteoverloaditus.

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DIY sewable iPod remote takes just ten minutes, will absolutely warm your heart originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nov 03

Dutch hacker seeks out jailbroken iPhones for fame and fortune

Posted in: hack, iPhone, iphone 3g, Iphone3g, jailbreak, Today's Chili

Jailbreaking an iPhone certainly brings many benefits, but it’s also fraught with some peril, as amply demonstrated by a Dutch hacker who decided to go snooping around for vulnerable jailbroken iPhones in the Netherlands. While he apparently didn’t actually swipe personal information or cause any damage, he was able to find some jailbroken iPhones with SSH running, which allowed him to display a message saying “Your iPhone’s been hacked because it’s really insecure! Please visit doiop.com/iHacked and secure your iPhone right now!” A noble gesture of a white hat hacker? Not exactly, ’cause that site demands €5 for the “fix” to let folks go back to using their phone securely — or it did until the hacker apparently had a change of heart and posted the instructions for free, along with an apology for his misguided moneymaking scheme.

[Via TUAW]

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Dutch hacker seeks out jailbroken iPhones for fame and fortune originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nov 03

GSM Palm Pre unlocked with a little Rebel assistance

Posted in: hack, o2, palm, pre, Today's Chili

It’s not exactly the native unlock we’ve been waiting for, but those of you in Europe dying for a Pre unshackled from O2 will be happy to know that the Rebel Simcard II is now compatible with Palm’s first webOS device. The £10.99 / $17.95 accessory card slots in between your carrier’s SIM and the Pre’s SIM slot, bypassing the Pre’s network locks and allowing full access to voice and data services including 3G. Sadly, the Pre doesn’t have the radio support to make this work in the States on anything but EDGE, but at least it’s a start, right? Video after the break.

[Thanks, Ji]

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GSM Palm Pre unlocked with a little Rebel assistance originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 31

Laziness on the move: robot plays Rock Band on the iPhone

Posted in: arduino, hack, mod, robot, Today's Chili


Why confine your nerdy sloth to your living room, where large robots mime fake guitar and serve you sloppy mixed drinks? Take that zest for the sedentary life with you on the road by having one of your robot ninjas steal this iPhone Rock Band robot from its ingenious creator, Joe Bowers. The Arduino-based device uses ambient light sensors to detect the falling notes and then taps out the music with some conductive foam attached to some squeaky fake fingers. Joe did a fairly detailed write-up, and even uploaded his code, so there’s presumably nothing stopping you from actually doing something with your life and building one of these with all that free time you’ve saved up by hacking your way through all the console-based guitar games. Video is after the break.

[Via Daily Mobile]

Continue reading Laziness on the move: robot plays Rock Band on the iPhone

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Laziness on the move: robot plays Rock Band on the iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 30

Print your own circuit boards with an Inkjet (and a modicum of skill)

Posted in: diy, hack, mod, Today's Chili
Remember yesterday, when one illustrious modder whipped up a head-mounted computer that featured a printed circuit board of his own design? The fabrication method he used was called direct-to-PCB Inkjet printing. An economical (if laborious) alternative to professional production, the process includes: designing your circuit, printing it out on a transparency, flickin’ on some lightbulbs, washing things out in abrasive chemicals, and waving a magic wand. While it’s not for the timid (nor simple enough to go through in great detail here) the kids over at Instructables have been kind enough to put together and post one of their award-winning step-by-step guides on this very subject. So, what are you waiting for? Hit the read link and get to work.

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Print your own circuit boards with an Inkjet (and a modicum of skill) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 30

NVIDIA ION LE hack adds DirectX 10 support, raises interesting questions

Posted in: hack, mod, nvidia ion, NvidiaIon, speculation, Today's Chili, windows 7, Windows XP, Windows7
If myHPmini forum member runawayprisoner is to be believed (and why not?), rather than featuring some sort of dumbed-down hardware, the sole difference between the NVIDIA ION and the XP-friendly ION LE is that the latter has DirectX 10 support disabled in the device drivers. Indeed, when the full-blown ION drivers are hacked to recognize the ION LE device ID, not only do you get to run DX10, but performance increases markedly as well. Of course, DX10 is Windows 7 only, but you should conceivably be able to take your ION LE machine, install Windows 7 and the driver hack, and get on with your life (and save a few bucks in the process). Why bother with the charade, you ask? Theories abound, but we think it’s a pretty good guess that NVIDIA is merely adhering to Microsoft licensing requirements here, and that in the long run crippling an existing chipset is cheaper than developing an entirely new one for an OS that’s likely to be phased out sooner than later.

[Via SlashGear]

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NVIDIA ION LE hack adds DirectX 10 support, raises interesting questions originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 29

Homebrew head-mounted Linux system for telepresence, looking silly

Posted in: hack, Linux, mod, Today's Chili

Sure, viewable eyewear (such as that made by Vuzix) might look like fun, but even with the display balancing on the bridge of your nose you need to find a place to wear that video source. What our man Pascal Brisset did is design a Linux system around a Gumstix Overo Fire computer-on-module, a Vuzix VR920 head-mounted stereoscopic 640 x 480 display (complete with 3D tilt sensor and 3D magnetic compass), WiFi, and Bluetooth modules — the whole shebang resides in (and on) the eyewear, just the thing for secure telepresence and augmented reality applications (or just extra-private web browsing). And he did it all for under a grand. In order to implement his design, Pascal had to design and custom manufacture a digital-to-analog video converter board using direct-to-PCB inkjet printing. As Hack A Day notes, one can easily question the wisdom of “a pair of microwave transceivers and a LiPo battery strapped directly over one’s eyes and brain,” but that’s the price of progress, right?

[Via Hack A Day]

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Homebrew head-mounted Linux system for telepresence, looking silly originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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