Bruce Schneier's opinion on everything


Honestly, we were originally sent this Q&A with famed cryptographer [Bruce Schneier] as a restaurant recommendation (112 Eatery, Minneapolis). Posted last fall on NYTimes' Freakonomics blog it covers [Bruce]'s opinion on nearly everything. Here are a few items in particular that really stuck out to us:
The most immediate threat to the average person is crime - in particular, fraud. And as I said before, even if you don't store that data on your computer, someone else has it on theirs. But the long-term threat of loss of privacy is much greater, because it has the potential to change society for the worse.
What you're really asking me is about the security. No one steals credit card numbers one-by-one, by eavesdropping on the Internet connection. They're all stolen in blocks of a million by hacking the back-end database. It doesn't matter if you bought something over the Internet, by phone, by mail, or in person - you're equally vulnerable.
We already knew he doesn't secure his WiFi (neither do we) and you'll find many other interesting discussions in the article. If you want Bruce Schneier facts though, you'll have to look elsewhere.

Hackers needed, Los Angeles


Hack-A-Day is looking for fulltime contributors in the the Los Angeles area. The details are in this Craigslist ad.

Our friends at Mahalo are also looking for a Systems Engineer, Los Angeles.

Weekend links


Friend of Hack-A-Day, [Dan Kaminsky], started off last weekend right by putting Rick Astley everywhere on the internet. ISPs routinely hijack mistyped URLs and [Dan] showed that an attacker could inject code into any unresolved subdomain, essentially taking over every site the ISP's customer tried to reach. I doubt many companies would be happy to know their websites were being misrepresented.

The week wasn't going so well for another friend of ours as he found himself back in court for allegedly inventing the entire satellite piracy industry.

BoingBoing TV featured the Graffiti Research Lab this week as they prepare for the New York premier of GRL: The Complete First Season. GRL encourages you to pick up your copy today... before they've even started selling it.

While you're over at The Pirate Bay you might as well ask them where to get the leaked copy of Grand Theft Auto IV... or you could just wait a few days and buy it like a normal person. We do recommend you bide your time by checking out the GTA 4 leaked gameplay videos, GTA 4 walkthrough, and GTA 4 cheats.

Continue reading Weekend links

Hack-A-Day is hiring!


It's true, as much as [Will] and I like being a scrappy two person shop with a 'never say die' attitude, and penchant for fist pounding after successful compiles, we need more people (MOAR even). We're looking for a few more contributors to help out with the daily posting, digging up the extra obscure, and especially the how-tos we've started to get back into.

This is a paid, freelancing position that requires professionalism, consistency, and reliability. We want to hear from people that are passionate about software/hardware hacking and growing Hack-A-Day. To apply, send the following to jobs@hackaday.com
  • A short bio about yourself
  • 3 example daily posts written in the style of Hack-A-Day
  • 3 how-to ideas you could personally execute. For examples of work we've done in the past, look here, here, here, and here.
  • A couple sentences on how you would improve the site either through features or content
  • Any additional reasons why you would make a good fit for Hack-A-Day
Please do not send any attachments, especially not pictures of your sweet ride. An aversion to capital letters is not required, but definitely encouraged.

[picture courtesy of fbz]

FIRST robotics regional - KC - 2008


When you're issued safety glasses at the door, you know it's going to be interesting. As promised, I'm checking out the FIRST robotics regional in Kansas City today. The competition is pretty fierce - not quite flame throwing battle bot action, but the kids have put together some pretty serious robots.

Read on for more pics from the competition.

Continue reading FIRST robotics regional - KC - 2008

Visiting the FIRST robotics regional this friday


Just a quick heads-up. I'll be checking out the FIRST robotics competition in Kansas City this friday. It's a robotics comp between teams of high school students - and the prizes include quite a few scholarships. I know we've got some readers who are in the competition. If you see a guy with a Hack-A-Day sweatshirt/T-shirt on, say hi and I might hook you up with some stickers. My day job will be providing real-time video streaming of the event, so feel free to check that out.

Got spam? Let us know


I've been getting a few sporadic reports of SPAM that's supposedly from hackaday.com on it. It's a bit surprising, considering that the only email we send out automatically consists of comment confirmation requests to prevent comment SPAM.

So do me a favor... if you've gotten any, send it along with the email headers so I can track down the source and destroy er make it stop.

ToorCon 9 this week


We're sitting in Chris and bunnie's awesome silicon hacking workshop at ToorCon 9 right now. It's going really great and we'll be posting updates from the conference through the weekend. Let us know if the comments if your going to be here too.

side project: CNCBadges


Want something different for your latest PC? I'm starting to offer custom CNC cut case badges made on my mill. I'm starting off with 1" x 1" badges made from .125" thick 6061 aluminum alloy. The test cuts above should give you a decent idea of what I'm talking about. (The edges are a bit rough because I need to order some proper engraving bits.) I've just about gotten the kinks out, so I'm going to start accepting orders now. Engraved badges are $6 and shipping's just $1 in the US. Everything is very, very beta - let me know if you have any questions.

Eliot said that I could pimp my little venture if I give away some Hack-A-Day badges. So drop a comment - I'll pick five or so at random (unless you're a tool) to receive a free badge with the Hack-A-Day logo. I *might* consider offering Hack-A-Day badges to raise money for the EFF, but it's still up in the air.

Nobel prize hard drive hacking roundup


Ironically, high end gear is moving toward solid state hard drives, but I think it's time for a hard drive hacking roundup in honor of the Nobel prize for physics being awarded for the technology behind todays magnetic hard drives.
We recently saw this awesome hard drive clock - which uses the actual drive hardware to show the time. Then there's the now classic hard drive window - the trick is to create a clean room/box so you can swap out the cover. Let's not forget the hard drive oscilloscope - made from a laser mounted on the oscillating drive arm. Sometimes drives die, so a bit of resurrection may be in order. Locked out? Maybe you should built a lock-picking gun from a junk drive. Some people just like to hide the things.

Defcon 15: Undercover reporter flees


I'm guessing this was pretty widely reported, but an NBC undercover reporter fled after being outed in the opening session. NBC Dateline associate producer Michelle Madigan refused press credentials on four separate occasions, choosing instead to pose as a normal attendee in order to covertly film other attendees. Defcon has a long running tradition of playing"spot the fed", where attendees out people they think are federal agents. The feds play along and it's all good fun. This was entirely different though: the game "spot the undercover reporter" was announced and she fled immediately, only to be filmed "To catch a predator" style.

I may just be a blogger, but I'm wearing my press pass proudly.

Hack-A-Day Meetup (T-Shirts!) on Sunday


Yes. Free T-shirts. Free stickers. At Defcon 15. (No virtual begging.) We'll have skybox 206 on sunday, but we're only planning to be set up around noon for an hour or so. Come get em.

The swag is free, but we'd like it if you'd toss us a buck or two to donate to the EFF.

Mod chip crackdown in the US.

I got quite a few emails about this, but didn't have a chance to check it out until now. It seems that the feds have been raiding various mod shops and individuals who've been doing mods for others. I'm a fan of open, moddable and repairable hardware, so this is sad news to me. There's a first hand account from one of the raided individuals along with a decent commentary on the issue sent in by [xantium].
This might sound a bit strange, but take the time to let your congress critter know what you think about this issue. Don't expect them to understand the technical background, but letting them know that you're unhappy with the execution of the DMCA and that labeling legitimate uses for mod-chip technology as illegal is the equivalent to outlawing home car repair might make a difference.

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