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Microsoft foils Xbox hackers with new Config
randomizer9 writes was among several readers who noted that Microsoft has changed the configs on the XBox and really messed up the hackers who have been trying to coax the box into being divx players, linux boxes, microwave ovens, white noise generators and so on. Kinda doubt the conspiracy angle, but it certainly is annoying.
Let's see... MS updates their bios and changes some of their chips. Now the boxes can't be hacked. The next thing you know someone will post a story about how the new boxes can be hacked which will be followed by the horror that the next updates will defeat those hacks. Oh the humanity.
Because god forbid that we actually run custom software on a piece of hardware we supposedly 'own'..
It really *IS* a case of "It's not a bug-it's a security feature".
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts."
How long until we see this headline "Hackers foil Microsoft's "new Config" with new Modchip"?
Yes. Are you new here?
The first web page with detailed instructions on "How to hack the XBox MkII" has just been by M. Joe Schmoe, of Peoria, Ill.
Film at 11.
The right to offend is far more important than the right not to be offended. (Rowan Atkinson)
It's not illegal for you to customize your XBox, but that doesn't mean that MS should make it easy. I don't like the fact that Microsoft refers to this as "increasing the security of the XBox," but I can see why they use that term over "decreasing the usability."
However, the XBox is no longer really that good a deal as a generic X86 box. You can get hardware from Walmart.com for $200, and they even pre-install Linux on the machine.
There isn't really a reason to buy an XBox, unless of course you absolutely have to play Halo.
"Eventually Microsoft will run out of digits (as in the fingers & toes)."
And then they'll use another part of the male anatomy. But that's nothing new - they've been fucking their users for years.
Maran
She meant JOB security, namely hers and other MS employees.
No, really, security is just their new buzzword. "We're all working on security now."
If Bill had called for MS to increase their twinkie awareness, then no matter what they were doing, they'd call it a twinkie. "We changed the EULA." Why? "Because we're always working to increase the level of twinkies in our products."
(In Walmart)
Walmart-Guy: May I help you?
Me: I'd like to buy a toaster.
Walmart-Guy: Sure, we've got the X-Toaster right here for $50!
Me: A toaster for $50? What's so great about this toaster? The slots for the bread are razor thin.
Walmart-Guy: Well, you'll notice that you can get expansion slots for different sizes of X-Bread.
Me: What if I want to use my own bread?
Walmart-Guy: You can't use your own bread.... but it does a really great job of toasting with the latest thermal technology.
Me: Okay, I'll try it.
(At home...)
Me: After trying that crappy, hi-calorie, low-output, nausea-inducing XBread, I want to put my own bread in the toaster. All I need to do is fiddle with it...
I should just be able to make the slots bigger myself. Great Zok! I couldn't wedge the bread in here if I wanted to... and the thermal coil unit has no cooling device... and what's this DRM scanner doing in here? That explains why my regular bread wouldn't toast - if it can't find the digestable GUID-strip in the bread, it won't even toast!
Two weeks later the toaster explodes from a heating malfunction. Several "reboots" by using the toaster knob to toast the bread satisfactorily failed to address the problem with the toaster itself.
Moral of the story: Go back to Walmart, get a $199 Linux box and use it for Linux. Do not buy MS Bread or MS Toaster because it means they can make more MS Crap with it.
This space for rent.
there's a damn about to burst
Dam right it is!
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My other computer is your IIS server.