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Hardware Hacking In The WSJ
NaDrew writes "The Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece called "So Your Roomba Vacuums ... Does It Also Take Pictures?" (No reg. req.), profiling a couple of hardware hackers. Phillip Torrone has modified a laptop-brained robot to follow his Segway, which he is modifying to follow a pink ball. He's also modded his Roomba with a built-in Webcam. The article goes into a bit of the history of hardware hacking, from the CueCat to Andrew 'Bunnie' Huang's Xbox hacks."
With the help of small digital video cameras, Mr. Torrone is modifying the Segway to automatically follow a pink ball.
:)
Better make sure you don't walk around the house naked or the Segway will chase your nutsack.
Here.
C8H10N4O2 | Developer > Code
I do a search on the article, and it doesn't mention spying, big brother or anything like that. Paranoia, paranoid and such aren't mentioned either. So where do you get this stuff?
So you haven't read the article. Not that I expect slashdotters to do that. Don't dismiss the article because of what articles might have gone before. It is actually a pretty positive article, not that you'd know, because you didn't read it.
The article even has a nice picture of a wok skimmer operating as a parabolic antenna.
These people do not act on behalf of a 'hacker community', they do stuff because they want to. Are you seriously suggesting that someone somewhere should stop their hobby because you are afraid it will somehow, lord knows how, reflect indirectly on _you_?
To be honest, to the extent that there _is_ a 'hacker community' to which you belong, it's more likely to be given a bad image by Slashdot postings from tinfoil hatted eccentrics with extreme self-image issues.
Whence? Hence. Whither? Thither.
Did you read the article? How was that marked as "Insightful"? The article is about what makes the tech industry Great. Innovation. The article focused around people that had problems or issues with current technologies, and decided to invent something to better their lives (okay, so the Atari Gameboy, probably wasted more time). I think rather than externalize their actions, they bring a whimsical nature to technology that is often times unnapproachable by other people. Cmon, the computer inside of a beer case? Why not? How is that going to harm anything?
If we all accepted the norm and did things only as we've been told, the state of technology will never change. What about if some "search and rescue" company sees the roomba with the webcam and says: "Eureka! A way to make a cheaper disaster search vehicle".
You can have your high-brow ways. I am going to continue to innovate and play around with stuff ina "juvenile" way.
Sig it.
What do you define as a "greater purpose?" Can't someone hack a Big Mouth Billy Bob Bass Singing Fish just for fun? Do you not appreciate hacking for the sheer joy of it?
Consider some of the shows that are popular on TV these days. Shows like Orange County Choppers, This Old House or Curb Appeal. (OK, popular may be a strong term, but they do have a following.) Even Trading Spaces is about people modifying everyday objects for artistic or even frivolous reasons. Although though none of those shows are about "computer" hackers, they're all about hacking everyday objects into new and interesting forms. I'd say hardware hacking has gone mainstream, even though most people might not call it that.
I personally consider this form of hacking to be an art form. It may not be "art" in the "hang-on-the-wall-in-a-gallery" sense, but art has always been defined by the artist (and to a lesser degree the patron) and not necessarily by Webster. I think there's already plenty of greater purpose here, and I don't think this is as off-putting to as many people as you might think.
John
roomba with a view?
thank yiou, All be here all week!
Don't forget to tip your sysadmins.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Phil Torrone has an actual, flesh in blood wife?! Are we sure that's Phil Torrone's wife, or one of the robots he put together by beowulfing sixteen PocketPC's, a Garmin eTrex GPS, three Aibos, a Roomba and a Segway together?
Trolls lurk everywhere. Mod them down.
I'm a bit confused. Why do people that mod their vacuums reflect negatively on you? Of course it's another thing if they're breaking into the IRS or something, because most people don't distinguish crackers from hackers.
"...altered the hardware to such an extent that paranoia regarding the hardware is necessary."
What extent would that be? You're modding it yourself. Why in the world should you be scared then? Only a scriptkiddie wouldn't know what's going on inside his own "creation".
"...hackers in general become more and more externalized from society."
Right, because only a hacker can look at a Roomba that takes pictures and think "Hey, that's pretty neat."
What pranks were discussed? In the article they talk about guys that bypassed intrusive marketing schemes, put a lock on a refrigerator (a very cool one at that), and made a profit undercutting prices on drives that a company was making a killing on. Where are the sophomoric pranks (also the cams in sororities)?