Hasta La Gadget!

Even big corporations like Sony can find it hard to escape their reputation. The company reached out to Koushik Dutta, an Android hacker known for being the main developer behind the custom-firmware app ROM Manager and the firmware hack Clockwork Mod, and invited him to interview for a job as a software engineer. But, thanks to Sony’s ongoing legal battle with fellow hacker George Hotz (Geohot), Dutta snubbed the company, saying that he “could not in good conscience work for Sony.” Ouch. Looks like Dutta isn’t too enthusiastic about helping out with the Xperia Play.

Thankfully for him, Dutta doesn’t seem to be exactly hurting for a job. AppBrain, an app store for Android, shows the $5 premium version of his ROM Manager app selling between 50,000 and 250,000 copies.

Sony sued Geohot and other hackers earlier this year for releasing the system’s root key, allowing people to run programs on the device not authorized by the company. The fight between the corporation and the hacker is anything but a typical boring lawsuit, captivating the Twitter-verse and leading to Hotz’s rap debut. Today’s news only goes to prove that this will be a very involved, very public battle for Sony to fight.

[via Geekosystem]

[Photo by Flickr user Mad House Photography]

Open-source hardware has brought us things like an NES controller for iPad and a tweeting toilet, but folks over at Seeed Studio, purveyors of various DIY parts, are trying to do some serious good in the world using their hardware-hacker mentality. On their blog, the company has put out an open call for developers and hobbyists to collaborate on an open-source radiation detector that could help the residents of Fukushima Prefecture in Japan deal with the ongoing nuclear accident.

The comments section is awash in suggestions on how to build the thing, from this article on making a random number generator with a geiger counter to this site with schematics for building the world’s smallest radiation detector. According to a commenter from a hackerspace in Tokyo, there’s already an effort there to create a network of homemade radiation detectors using Arduinos around the city, with 10 of the custom Arduino-compatible add-on boards ready for testing.

With radiation already detected in milk in Fukushima, it seems like the open-source hardware community might be able to really make a difference for the people of Japan with this project. If you’re a hardware hacker yourself, head on over to the comments thread on Seeed or Hack-A-Day and join in the discussion. Otherwise, just marvel at the fact that the same device that made a thirsty houseplant tweet might save lives some day soon.

[via Hack-a-Day]

Remember when Sony sued Geohot and demanded that YouTube hand over the user info of all the folks who posted comments to Geohot’s PS3 jailbreak video? Well, score a victory for SCEA, as the judge overseeing the case’s jurisdictional discovery process has ruled that Sony can get what it wanted — information from: Bluehost (who hosts Geohot’s website) regarding who downloaded the jailbreak, Twitter regarding any tweets made by Hotz, Google Blogspot regarding comments made on his blog, and the aforementioned YouTube user data. Keep in mind that Sony’s getting this information to show that many of the downloaders and commenters are from Northern California and that Hotz’s hacking efforts were aimed at Californians — meaning the case should remain in the Bay Area instead of moving to New Jersey where Geohot hacked his PS3. With this new information at its disposal, Sony’s better equipped to oppose Hotz’s motion to dismiss in a hearing early next month, but this doesn’t mean the company will succeed in its bid to keep the litigation a West Coast affair. We’ll have to wait and see if this latest victory helps Sony win the war. Stay tuned.

Judge in Sony vs. Geohot orders YouTube and others to give up users’ personal info originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 07:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If art always seemed a little bit too passive for your liking, we have a little something that might change your mind. Wall artist Alexandre Farto has been creating images without paint, pen or charcoal, opting instead for very precise explosions. He places charges into a wall and then detonates them, blowing off bits of plaster to create large murals, with the contrast between the exploded bits and intact wall forming the image. 

The murals can be found around London and Moscow and are part of a series called “Scratching the Surface”. His site contains images of other pieces he’s made with explosives, as well as links to his other works (mostly of the more tame, non-volatile variety).

The artist, also known as Vhils, collaborated with the musician Orelha Negra to create a video of the creation of the pieces, explosions and all. Watching the bits of plaster fly off the wall, leaving behind a simple slogan or picture is honestly breathtaking, especially given how carefully targeted these blasts had to be to make this happen. Can’t help but think that required art classes would be a bit more fun using his technique. Check out the video after the break.

[via Hack-a-Day]

Remember that Microsoft Rally Ball demo from a few days ago that showed Windows Phone 7’s integration with Xbox? Well, the gang at Supertouch has stolen a bit of Ballmer’s thunder with a new Kinect hack that lets you hurl digital orbs at your Kinect-controlling friend using an iOS device instead of a WP7 handset. The graphics for the game and the iDevice controls aren’t nearly as pretty as Microsoft’s cross-platform gaming solution, but the end result is pretty much the same — flingin’ balls with a phone while your friend dodges them courtesy of Kinect.

Meanwhile, Frog Design has added a Human Tetris game to the Kinect’s repertoire where players perfect their Vogue-ing skills by striking a pose to match an approaching cut-out on screen. Finally, all the shape-shifting fun with none of the goofy silver jumpsuits. Vids are after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent these in]

Continue reading Kinect hackers give us iOS-friendly dodgeball and Human Tetris

Kinect hackers give us iOS-friendly dodgeball and Human Tetris originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 Feb 2011 12:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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