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.
Author: Will O'Brien805 Articles
The Defcon Badge
I made it over to pre-registration earlier and scored my badge. It’s a pretty interesting piece of work by [kingpin]. It’s got 95 SMD leds forming a matrix display. The top and bottom icons on the badge are touch sensitive buttons. It’s got selectable modes, programmable text scrolling, a pre-set POV mode and adjustable scrolling speed.
Update: I started digging through the CD they’re handing out at registration and found the schematics, BOM, layout, everything. I’ll have it posted as soon as it finishes uploading over my evdo connection. The board has provisions for wireless, 3 axis accelerometer, serial interface and it’s using a Freescale QF16 processor. (I tried looking up the chip number earlier, but utterly failed)
Update 2: I’m putting interesting defcon files up here. All the badge info I have is online. I noticed a confidentiality notice on one of the files, I’m assuming that it’s ok to distribute since they’re distributing this freely on the conference CD. If I hear otherwise, I’ll have to pull it.
Black Hat 2007 No-Tech Hacking With Johnny Long
[J0hnny]’s at Blackhat and Defcon this year with his talk on “No-Tech Hacking”. It’s a fun talk that boils down to this: loads of information can be gathered using low tech methods. A small digital (or film) camera is ideal for shoulder surfing, identifying weaknesses, and assessing strengths.
The talk is pretty amusing – the commentary on the example shots is priceless. The concept has gone over so well at the cons that [J0hnny] has contributed a chapter to a book on risk management. You can grab a sample chapter here. It looks like he’ll be running his talk at 8pm on Friday at Defcon. From the sample chapter, I’d say that the book should be pretty good. It looks like a good introduction to social engineering and using your wits to defeat obstacles (like corporate security).
How To Overclock A Casio Fx-9750G Plus
[Visceroid] could only find overclocking resources online for TI calcs. He spent some time under the hood of his casio fx-9750G plus and sent in a write-up for us. I gave it a quick edit, but here it goes:
I opened up the calculator, which reveals the board with the processor on it,
with the RAM, ROM, CPU and a few other surface mounts visible.
The graphics are underneath and the buttons are also underneath on an underlying board.
The main batteries, backup battery and serial port are connected on the underlying board, and I also have access to them.
Getting Ready For Defcon 15
Just stoking up a bit for Defcon 15 later this week. [Eliot] and I’ll both be there.
My personal coffee stash is down to a single selection of Ethiopian Yirg, so I probably won’t enter the coffee wars. (But I might stop by and add some Hack-A-Day swag to the pot for the winner.)
The final speaker schedule looks really good. It’ll be difficult to decide which talks to visit. The DefconBots event should be interesting. I’m hoping to see some original hardware creations.
Looks like wireless cracking is still one of the most popular topics. Hack-A-Day friend [Aaron] of Midnight Research will be presenting the latest on wicrawl.
Oh, and just prior to Defcon, the Pwnie Awards will take place at Black Hat.
See you in Vegas!
SIP For The SMC WSKP100
[sprite_tm] made my morning by sending in his latest work. After opening up his new SMC WSKP100
Tiny Oscilloscope
This little o-scope is built entirely using valves (tubes), built by [Ian Wilson] and [Hans Summers]. [Hans]’ site covers everything from monitor gutting to a Z80 viscometer, it’s worth taking some time to poke around. Thanks to [Elliot] for sending in this one on the tips line.
