With the integration of cameras, GPS receivers, and more into cellphones, many people take for granted the lightweight, energy efficient technology in their pockets. MIT ties all that tech together to a weather balloon in Project Icarus, where for $150 a prepaid cellphone becomes a high-altitude near-space camera.
posted by mccarty.tim on Sep 15, 2009 - 15 comments

Playing Half-Life with a real gun? The magic of drywall, accelerometers, and geeks. (SLYT.) Courtesy of the good people at Waterloo Labs.
posted by Tesseractive on Aug 20, 2009 - 10 comments

Why Do We Cheat? - The right, wrong, and why of videogame cheating. Go into virtually any gamer's forum, and you'll see the subject of using cheats and game hacks can stir quite a hornet's nest, particularly in online gaming. But even those using cheats in offline games, not wagering against or directly competing with anyone else, will draw the ire from others in the community, possibly because there are different types of players - that is, the difference between what Penny Arcade's Tycho once described as "people who play games in order to excel at them, and those who play games as a conduit to fantasy".
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing on Apr 10, 2009 - 54 comments

There's a showdown in Ann Arbor, MI between geeks and suits. It starts when local public tax-funded parking garages start posting the number of available spaces on their site. A few geeks decide to make it more useful while driving so they code up some asterisk hacks to scrape the page and bridge the web content to a phone and presto! you can call to hear which garages have the most spaces available for parking. Not so fast says the city and they shut down access to the site from the app and stop publishing real-time stats (mostly grumbling about a loss of "control"). Geeks are in an uproar (mostly trying to teach the suits what "public domain data" means). This long ass blog post tells the entire tale from both sides of the fight.
posted by mathowie on Mar 16, 2009 - 55 comments

"We were classmates in high school... And we spoke the plan to go to Yakushima Island. However, the talk swells greatly...We decided to make a camper for a round-the-japan trip. We thought that various equipment was necessary to long trip. However, the bed space has disappeared when various equipment is packed. Then, the idea adjusted to two stories appeared." More on the truck and the trip. (via Dinosaurs and Robots)
posted by madamjujujive on Dec 21, 2008 - 21 comments

The best criminal hacker is the one that isn't caught — or even identified. These are 10 of the most infamous unsolved computer crimes as selected by PC Magazine. However, some do get caught. Here are nine of the most infamous criminal hackers to ever see the inside of a jail cell. PCMag also reached back into the early days of computing and dredged up the most inspiring examples of hacker brilliance they could find. [more inside]
posted by netbros on Sep 30, 2008 - 43 comments

Three MIT students planned to reveal to Defcon how to make counterfeit "Charley Cards" - the electronic passes that allow access to Boston's MBTA transit system. The MBTA sued for a restraining order, and a judge has granted it. [more inside]
posted by Kirth Gerson on Aug 11, 2008 - 104 comments

The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was the most popular console of the 80s but the unstoppable march of time and the introduction of more advanced 16 bit consoles inevitably ensured its demise. But you can't keep a good console down and now it's back, thanks to the work of some dedicated mods out there. But it's not quite how you remembered it. I mean, I don't remember the NES ever coming in the form of a belt, do you? Or a coffee table, for that matter. Those insane NES hackers have even gone and put an NES in an NES cartridge. There's also an NES in an NES controller, an NES in a lightgun, a wooden NES, an NES alarm clock, an NES wallet or finally, an NES guitar. Want to see more? Check this out.
posted by Effigy2000 on Jul 29, 2008 - 22 comments

Russell Higgs has been adorning his face and head with various objects and posting photographic portraits online since July 2006. Dutch artist Levi van Veluw also likes to modify his face by putting things on it and photographing the results.
posted by madamjujujive on Apr 12, 2008 - 11 comments

Remember Super Mario Frustration? Kaizo Mario World is another of those super-hard Mario level hacks, this one of Super Mario World. Someone played through its first level 134 times, with save states, recording all his deaths, then digitally composited them into one trip through the level. The result was Many-Worlds Mario. (For those interested, here's a video of a tool-assisted perfect run of much of the game. Here's the rest. Here's some more.)
posted by JHarris on Feb 3, 2008 - 36 comments

Ever admired those hard-working hackers, toiling away to get you the programs you've always loathed to have? Have you ever dreamt of exploring the innards of someone else's computer but have held back due to those pesky legalities? If you said yes to either of the above questions or just want to play an online hacking simulation, then SlaveHack is the website for you. [more inside]
posted by flatluigi on Dec 23, 2007 - 9 comments

Still aren't sure if the Wii is worth the wait in line? That's okay, the Wiimote is all you need for: Low-Cost Multi-point Interactive Whiteboards Using the Wiimote, Tracking Your Fingers with the Wiimote, and the latest: Head Tracking for Desktop VR Displays using the Wii Remote (extremely cool and the easiest to implement). From the maker of the $14 steady-cam [prev. here], Johnny Chung Lee is taking Wiimote hacking to a whole new level, and giving away all necessary software and instructions for free. Wii games are about to get a whole lot cooler. [more inside]
posted by TimeTravelSpeed on Dec 22, 2007 - 46 comments

With the wild success of the Guitar Hero series, using video game controllers shaped like guitars is nothing new. However, the duo at Modal Kombat actually use guitars as video game controllers. They won't reveal all of their tricks, but you can read a bit about their technology here and at this interview with Urban Guitar. The results are awfully impressive. View the original Modal Kombat here, and their newest installment, the admittedly trippy GuitarKart here. via
posted by Ufez Jones on Dec 3, 2007 - 5 comments

Bike Hacks! Bored with your generic two-wheeler? Check out this collection of funky bicycle modifications. My favorite is the grocery cart.
posted by brain_drain on Oct 18, 2007 - 17 comments

How to write a spelling corrector in twenty lines of Python.
posted by alms on Apr 10, 2007 - 45 comments

Interviews with some early computer people at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
posted by bigbigdog on Jan 1, 2007 - 5 comments

Not only does the Playstation 3 play Blu-Ray discs, it also knocks out the fat!
posted by melorama on Nov 24, 2006 - 28 comments

"The Bible describes how to make ice on the desert. Please describe the procedure and explain how it fits your knowledge of heat transfer."

Your assignment: make ice in the desert. Without electricity. Without extra chemicals. Without extra gadgetry or imports. Oh, and the temperature is about 55 degrees (13C). It can be done, there is science behind it. And yet we seem to have forgotten something that everyone used to know.
posted by jessamyn on Aug 1, 2006 - 43 comments

This video shows how to navigate Google maps by simply tilting your thinkpad. The code is here, a blog post about it is here. I knew the first wave of goofy accelerometer hacks would be followed with better stuff and I can't wait to see what else people do with the sensors. Hopefully someone ports this to the newer macs as well. [via dj]
posted by mathowie on Jun 14, 2006 - 34 comments

I'm a huge fan of clever unintended uses for things, and loloroy's favorites reuses a page/interface I've seen hundreds of times before in a cute way. It may take a second to figure out, but should be worth it [via tmn].
posted by mathowie on May 24, 2006 - 50 comments

Flickr Leech is an API hack that, among other features, allows you to view all the photos with the flickr "interestingness" attribute by date in a single thumbnail page.
posted by jonson on Mar 7, 2006 - 10 comments

Yet another Google Maps hack for the NYC subway system. This one helps you plan your trip from point A to point B, and gives you an estimated travel time. Most locals will quickly find that the routes it suggests usually aren't the optimum, however this may be useful for visitors, at least until Friday morning. In the event of a strike, this is your best bet for some form of direction.
posted by allkindsoftime on Dec 14, 2005 - 20 comments

For the last six months or so, it's been a war between Yahoo and Google to see who can outdo each other. They're often releasing competing products at nearly the same time, but Google Maps has held the lead on coolest map for a while now. Yahoo finally countered today, releasing their beta maps, which work much like Google's, though it uses flash instead of javascript. I kind of like the little video game-style radar map in the upper right to show where you are in the bigger picture and the directions feature closeups on the left pane when expanded. Apparently all the cool API stuff works in it already, and they've released an events browser to show that off as well.
posted by mathowie on Nov 3, 2005 - 60 comments

Mologogo Track any Java/GPS enabled phone through a convienent Google Maps based interface with mologogo.
posted by phrontist on Oct 30, 2005 - 10 comments

If you've ever wanted to know what portion of the US a specific zip code covers, this Google Maps hack is for you.
posted by jonson on Sep 27, 2005 - 11 comments

Abusing Amazon images. And you thought URL manipulation was a lost art.
posted by DrJohnEvans on May 26, 2005 - 27 comments

Man takes apart Google's cookie - Google bites man.
posted by iffley on Mar 9, 2005 - 84 comments

Heard about the IDN browser hack? Try out this test page which should open your eyes (the hack is blocked in IE, ironically enough). Here's a list of all affected browsers, ways to fix this in mozilla inside.
posted by mathowie on Feb 7, 2005 - 64 comments

Sometimes you steal the goat, sometimes you hack the game. But you know you've accomplished something when you get the fans to heckle themselves. [last link QT video]
posted by ..ooOOoo....ooOOoo.. on Nov 28, 2004 - 25 comments

Bored? Flame Wars got you down? Got extra Hardware? This guy has an idea what you can do with some of those old hard drives. Or maybe you would fancy a 3 D Display? And these guys have my favorite summer project of all. (Props to Boing Boing)
posted by jopreacher on Aug 5, 2004 - 7 comments

How to hack a vacuum cleaner.
posted by tcp on Jul 14, 2004 - 8 comments

It's the equivalent of "You can play the CD on three designated CD players that support the DRM. Like, it will play ONLY on xyz brand cd player and only three of those that you pick. Yes, you have to stick to that brand of cd player (the iTunes player, the supported OS of iTunes, no unix support in sight) and too bad if you have a fourth one in the bedroom. It's not gonna play in your second car's player either. Nor in the kitchen. Nor on your neighbor's player. Nor can you trade it on the used market when you're tired of listening to it. "
"They finally found a way to sell you some wind. Even better, they will restrict the direction and force in wich the wind will blow, how often and where it will happen..."

As "DVD-Jon" Johansen goes to retrial, a backlash is rising in the media & community towards Apple's DRM (digital rights management), a week after this same kid created an open-source program that lets users copy the songs that they bought onto other sources.
posted by omidius on Dec 2, 2003 - 28 comments

OMG! HAX!!
posted by srboisvert on May 18, 2003 - 19 comments

How many cats does it take to screw in a light bulb? Anything to help the cause of Infinite Bandwidth Everywhere for Free... via WebMonkey
posted by dg on May 13, 2003 - 3 comments

Comic Thief Confronted Notorious Boston joke thief confronted, makes the Boston Herald, causes buzz, makes the comedy trade magazines. Why is the confrontation of a hack comic newsworthy? Because it almost NEVER HAPPENS.
posted by basilwhite on Dec 18, 2002 - 4 comments

Congress is about to consider an entertainment industry proposal that would authorize copyright holders to disable PCs used for illicit file trading. "The measure would permit copyright holders to perform nearly unchecked electronic hacking if they have a "reasonable basis" to believe that piracy is taking place."
posted by mathowie on Jul 23, 2002 - 40 comments

Washtech.com hacked The Washington Post's tech site was hacked yesterday. Here's the text (via FuckedCompany) that appeared after the hack and before the WaPo crew shut the site down. As of tonight, it is still not back up at its own domain. Not sure why this gives me glee. I just wish one day someone could hack something and leave something profound in the way of a message.
posted by brookish on Jan 29, 2002 - 6 comments

Striking back at hackers
"LaBrea" is a free, open-source tool that deters worms and other hack attacks by transforming unused network resources into decoy-computers that appear and act just like normal machines on a network. But when malicious hackers or mindless worms such as Nimda or Code Red attempt to connect with a LaBrea-equipped system, they get sucked into a virtual tarpit that grabs their computer's connection -- and doesn't release it.
Is this an ethical use of network resources, or just vigilante justice? What other methods have you used to strike back at hostile software?
posted by TheChump on Sep 20, 2001 - 9 comments

MSNBC hacked. That faith-based missle defense thing again. Check it out, good-looking hack. I might put up a mirror if it gets changed.
posted by lbergstr on Feb 28, 2001 - 13 comments

Furby finally hacked. Although it's not on the original processor, this isn't too bad.
posted by plinth on Nov 26, 2000 - 2 comments

AIPAC Hacked, Credit Card numbers exposed. This morning the Web site of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee was defaced by Doctor Nuker of the Pakistan Hackerz Club. I didn't think anything of it which was why I missed getting the mirror the first time around. Apparently this is a pretty large organization according to my co-worker, a former Washingtonite. It's the biggest American Jewish lobbying organization in the US from what I hear... which is going to piss people off when they realize their credit card information was leaked in the defacement.
posted by bkdelong on Nov 2, 2000 - 0 comments

Western Union's site is down, as hackers have accessed their "secure" database. Western Union's only suggestion so far is to tell all customers to cancel their credit card accounts. Is anything really secure on the internet? Do you trust amazon to hold your credit card numbers, Wells Fargo to keep your checking account private, and Kozmo employees not to pilfer your credit card numbers for fun?
posted by mathowie on Sep 10, 2000 - 8 comments

Stirring up the chum again, Slashdot has posted their Top 10 Hacks of All Time. Covering everything from Edison's lightbulbs to the AK47 to the Apollo 13 mission, the post-article commentary is lucid as always.
posted by grant on Dec 14, 1999 - 0 comments

Hack Furby. 'Nuff said.
posted by tdecius on Sep 29, 1999 - 0 comments