It would appear that our beloved ‘moses’,of #hackuk / #2600uk fame, has gone and got himself engaged. Now living in sunny Perth, Australia, moses is set to marry his fiance, Krysty, in November 2007.
So, from everyone at 2600uk.com and the old school crew of Undernet. Congratulations! :D
Slashdot informs us of an entertaining “hack”…
“….pulled off when Randall Munroe, author of the popular webcomic XKCD, spoke at MIT by invitation of the Lab for Computer Science. MIT hackers dropped hundreds of labelled playpen balls onto the audience from hatches in the ceiling. The labels bore XKCD’s logo as well as the recently discovered 16-byte AACS processing key. At another point in Munroe’s talk he was stalked by remote-controlled mechanical velociraptors; but fortunately he had been supplied with a squirt gun full of grape juice.”
It would appear that Microsoft haven’t learnt from its previous experiences. Working as a consumer IT technician during the release of Windows XP, we found it trivial to load up an XP Upgrade pack onto any system. This was possible as the upgrades to XP were merely full editions with a number of checking systems in place. Buy an upgrade, bypass the checks and install your new version of windows at half the cost.
Vista has been released for about two weeks now and guess what? Its happened again.
The Register reports on Marc Liron of www.instantvista.com and his technique to apply the same strategy to Windows Vista.
From the article.
“In short, all you need to do is delay entering your product key and delay validating your copy of Vista online until the setup is complete. For some reason, Microsoft has decided to allow users to install first and deal with the paperwork later. Simple in theory, although the details of exactly how to do this are a bit lengthy, and we strongly recommend following Liron’s step-by-step instructions linked above. But, in a nutshell, all you are doing is avoiding the traps that MS has set up to cancel the upgrade installation if an authorised version of Windows isn’t already present. If you dodge those traps, you can install a Vista upgrade on any machine, and later enter your product key and validate your copy normally.”
More Information:
The Register - How to install a Vista upgrade on any PC
Marc Liron Article, Step by step guide.
Slashdot is running a story today sourced from Live Science on the patent application of an Iris Scanning technology that could see large scale deployment in the future for advertising and tracking purposes. For anyone who has seen The Minority Report, this will be a familiar scenario.
From the patent application:
“…a system for obtaining iris biometric information includes an array of cameras defining an image capture volume for capturing an image of an iris; and an image processor, coupled to the array of cameras, for determining at least one suitable iris image for processing from the images generated for the image capture volume … A subject within the capture volume is repeatedly imaged to produce a plurality of images of the subject. The plurality of images are processed to extract at least one clear image of the subject’s iris.”
The usual, and agreeable, Slashdot sceptism can be found on the articles comments page
Today saw the launch of the much anticipated Windows Vista Operating System. And along with Microsoft’s latest edition of Windows, came the release of several of the new Sony Vaio notebooks, complete with Windows Vista Home Premium pre-installed.
So we took it upon ourselves to compare the start-up procedure of, what we will dub Windows VHP, to that of the Windows XP MCE found on Sony’s previous range of notebooks. Like new O2 mobile phones, the immediate set-up appears complex but it is rather easy to use. It just takes a little time to get familiar with like any new start-up operation.
The notebook used was the VGNC2S/W. A brand new release sporting a 1.66Ghz Core 2 Duo T5500 processor with 1Gb of DDR2 RAM.
The first screen that presented itself was not dissimilar to the BSOD(Blue Screen Of Death) found on current XP installs, only this time on a black background, notifying us that System Preparation was in effect.
A couple of check boxes and text inputs, and two[2] reboots later. The system was geared up and ready to go. The whole process took about 16 minutes 10 secs; far exceeding the pre-installed start-up time of the older Windows XP MCE operating system (running on the same spec, yet older, VGNC1S/W). We also found that button response was laggy during the set-up procedure.
Perhaps the most noticeable “feature” of the set-up procedure was the boredom. Microsoft have relieved nearly all interactivity between the set-up and the user, consequently resulting in a dull waiting game at the expense of end users. From a technical viewpoint, this could be an advantage of sorts. No longer will computer technicians have to pay frequent visits to an ailing machine in order to proceed with the re-installation of a Windows OS. However, the long waits and constant, idle appearing, black screens will more than likely result in an increase in customer support queries as naive members of the public go about their new computers.
A, post set-up, shutdown / start-up took 0.32 seconds and 2 minutes 57 seconds respectively. At nearly 3 minutes, this again exceeded the previous XP set-ups.
Once fully loaded a number of changes suddenly become apparent. The interface looks more polished, more stylised and a feature bar presents itself down the right hand side. For Linux users, this simply comes across as Microsoft’s take on the GKRellm application, only geared more towards media. Features include RSS feeds, a slideshow of you photos, system performance and a large clock face. The standard clock is still present in the System Tray, bottom right.
Upon your first start-up, you are presented with the Windows Vista Control Panel. If you thought that XP made a mockery of the control panel with its grouping of actions, then Windows VHP is certainly taking the piss. Again grouped by function; Power, System, Devices and so on, the new control panel offers access to configuration elements by including them as single line sub links. Stacked under the parent icon, these small pieces of text are sure to raise concern with older or impaired users, as targeting the mouse can become a chore. Along the top of the control panel is a “Bread Crumbs” style navigation, so you know where you are and where you came from.
To anyone but a keyboard cowboy, the familiar Menu Bar will appear to have been abandoned. However, by pressing the ALT key, the menu will magically appear as if from nowhere. Unfortunately there is nothing to inform you of this.
Further, by initiating the wireless switch, Windows VHP on the test machine actually sought and installed the hardware for the card. On a pre-installed machine, this is nothing but ludicrous.
One of the boasted features of Windows Vista is its new “Aero” interface. This appears to be nothing but a new set of colours, transparent window frames and a bucket of redundant widgets. Hovering the mouse over programs in the taskbar reveals a small thumbnail of said application, likewise the Alt-Tab quick window replacement tool displays a preview of the application. This is further achievable via a third method. Vista Flip 3D. What once was considered a fully interactive 3D interface now becomes nothing more than a 3D Alt-Tab. It looks nice, and would be preferable of Alt-Tab in many instances.
Flip 3D
However, unlike Alt-Tab, you have to wait for the Flip 3D animations to subside before firing up the desired window making the whole affair slow and tedious for developers and power users alike.
There are, however, some nice features. The new and improved Image Viewer offers the user a choice of actions across the top of the window, ranging from burning images, editing and emailing, although the lack of “Send To..” was a gripe.
And the new implementation of Windows Explorer displays folder content in a more 3D manner, showing the contents spilling from its containing icon. Again this is merely aesthetics, and quite possibly the bain of any 14 year old surfing their image collection as their parents walk by.
Whilst using Windows Vista, you cant help but feel that Microsoft has borrowed something from other operating systems and just added gloss. The Control Panel is reminiscent of that of Linux and the YAST2 panel, the explode/implode of windows reflecting Mac OSX
All in all, to the average user, Windows VHP is nothing but a glossy, confusing mess. It looks sexy, there’s no question about that, but it lacks any form of intuition and finds numerous, more time consuming methods of achieving the same goals.
From Slashdot:
“Security researcher Alex Ionescu claims to have successfully bypassed the much discussed DRM protection in Windows Vista, called ‘Protected Media Path’ (PMP), which is designed to seriously degrade the playback quality of any video and audio running on systems with hardware components not explicitly approved by Microsoft. The bypass of the DRM protection was in turn performed by breaking the Driver Signing / PatchGuard protection in the new operating system. Alex is now quite nervous about what an army of lawyers backed by draconian copyright laws could do to him if he released the details, but he claims to be currently looking into the details of safely releasing his details about this at the moment though.”
I came across a very interesting story on Slashdot yesterday. Having studied Advanced-Level Psychology, I am well versed in the Milgram experiment (Wikipedia); An experiment performed in 1963 by psychologist Stanley Milgram. Much TV coverage has been given to Milgram clones over the past number of years, yet the original experiment remains the subject of some debate.
Milgram placed subjects in a room with another person in an authority role. The subject was then given instructions to question a third person (confederate), located in a second room. Upon receiving an incorrect response, the subject was to shock the confederate in increasing doses. The confederate, at no point, actually received a shock, but was instructed to act as if they had.
The aim of the experiment was to “measure the willingness of a participant to obey an authority who instructs the participant to do something that may conflict with the participant’s personal conscience.”
The following was pulled from Slashdot, and describes the same experiment being performed against a computer character; with surprising results;
Considered unethical to ever perform again with humans, researcher Mel Slater recreated the Milgram experiment in a immersive virtual environment. Subjects (some of whom could see and hear the computerized woman, others who were only able to read text messages from her) were told that they were interacting with a computer character and told to give increasingly powerful electric shocks when wrong answers were given or the ‘woman’ took too long to respond. The computer program would correspondingly complain and beg as the ’shocks’ were ramped up, falling apparently unconscious before the last shock. The skin conductance and electrocardiograms of the subjects were monitored. Even though the subjects knew they were only ’shocking’ a computer program, their bodies reacted with increased stress responses. Several of the ones who could see and hear the woman stopped before reaching the ‘lethal’ voltage, and about half considered stopping the study. The full results of the experimental report can be read online at PLoS One. Already, some (like William Dutton of the Oxford Internet Institute) are asking whether even this sanitized experiment is ethical.
Happy Christmas to everyone still plugging away at the UK Hack Phreak scene. We hope to further our efforts over 2007 with more tech papers and articles, and some interesting community based projects.
Happy Christmas & a Happy New Year :D
Robbed from slashdot, philba writes informing us that home theaters may become the new jurisdiction of our MPAA overlords. The MPAA is lobbying to make sure that home users authorize their entertainment systems before any in-home viewings.
From the article: “The MPAA defines a home theater as any home with a television larger than 29″ with stereo sound and at least two comfortable chairs, couch, or futon. Anyone with a home theater would need to pay a $50 registration fee with the MPAA or face fines up to $500,000 per movie shown.”
Original Post : Slashdot - MPAA Goes After Home Entertainment Systems
From the BBC:
Motorists who get stopped by the police could have their fingerprints taken at the roadside, under a new plan to help officers check people’s identities.
A hand-held device being tested by 10 forces in England and Wales is linked to a database of 6.5m prints which police say they will save time because people will no longer have to go to the station to prove their identity. Whilst officers promise prints will not be kept on file but concerns have been raised about civil liberties.
Bedfordshire are the first force to use the equipment, which is being distributed among the forces in Essex, Hertfordshire, Lancashire, North Wales, Northamptonshire, West Midlands and West Yorkshire, as well as to British Transport Police and the Metropolitan Police, over the next two months.
It is primarily aimed at motorists because banned or uninsured drivers often give false names, although pedestrians could also be asked to give prints if they are suspected to have committed an offence.
Police Minister Tony McNulty said:”The new technology will speed up the time it takes for police to identify individuals at the roadside, enabling them to spend more time on the frontline and reducing any inconvenience for innocent members of the public.”
Under the pilot, codenamed Lantern, police officers will be able to check the fingerprints from both index fingers of the suspect - with their permission - against a central computer database, with a response within a few minutes.
“The handheld, capture device is little bigger than a PDA,” said Chris Wheeler, head of fingerprint identification at the Police Information Technology Organisation PITO. “Screening on the street means they [police] can check an identity and verify it.”
Currently an officer has to arrest a person and take them to a custody suite to fingerprint them.
Electronic safeguards
The device will be used with the Automatic Number Plate Recognition team, who identify vehicles of interest.
If a vehicle is stopped, police will be able to identify the driver and passengers. At present about 60% of drivers stopped do not give their true identity.
Inspector Steve Rawlings, based in Luton, said it takes two sets of fingerprints and the fingerprints are not retained.
“The encounter can be 15 minutes on the roadside rather than three hours in the police station,he said.
The device has an accuracy of 94-95% and will be used for identification purposes only, say police, and there are electronic safeguards to prevent misuse.
It sends encrypted data to the national ID system using GPRS - a wireless system used by many mobile phones.
More than 6.5 million fingerprints are cross-referenced and sent back to the officer.
Mark Wallace, who represents the civil liberties group the Freedom Association, told BBC Radio Five Live that he had concerns about the scheme.
“I don’t think we should be reassured by the fact that at the moment it’s voluntary and at the moment they won’t be recorded”, he said.
“Both of those things are actually only happening in the trial because the laws haven’t been passed to do this on a national basis compulsorily and with recording.”
Original Article : BBC News - Police to fingerprint on streets
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