MetaFilter posts tagged with hacks

Great Cyber Crimes and Hacks

netbros — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:44:22 -0800

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. WANK Worm MoD Skynet satellite hacked CDUniverse credit card breach Military source code stolen Anti-DRM Kucinich on CBSNews.com ApplyYourself hack 26,000 site attack Hannaford and Sweetbay credit card breach Comcast.net redirected

MIT Hackers Restrained

Kirth Gerson — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:09:55 -0800

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. The MBTA complaint (PDF) The Judge's order (PDF) Robert Cringely on the subject

Nintendo Entertainment System Hacks.

Effigy2000 — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 03:17:16 -0800

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.

head hacks

madamjujujive — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 10:42:37 -0800

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.

Genocide of the Marios

JHarris — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 19:44:18 -0800

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.)

Make sure to clean your logfiles.

flatluigi — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 22:31:54 -0800

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. Protip: Some useful programs and extensions, including a logfile parser, can be found here.

I, for one, welcome our new Wii remote hacking overlords

TimeTravelSpeed — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 16:36:52 -0800

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. I successfully implemented both the white-board, and the VR display and I am just floored. You don't need the Wii for any of these projects. Just the Wiimote, bluetooth dongle, some free software, and an IR light source. I got the VR display working in about 30 minutes (20 of which were spent figuring out that I need the latest DirectX SDK and then installing it). Johnny Lee is quite clever, and will likely make even Nintendo realize that their interface has more potential than previously thought.

And you thought Guitar Hero was cool...

Ufez Jones — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 16:51:14 -0800

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

Bike Hacks

brain_drain — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 12:32:42 -0800

Bike Hacks! Bored with your generic two-wheeler? Check out this collection of funky bicycle modifications. My favorite is the grocery cart.

Corect Seplling Mayd Eesy

alms — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 18:45:10 -0800

How to write a spelling corrector in twenty lines of Python.