Geohot Joins Facebook As Product Developer

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Geohot Joins Facebook As Product Developer

Posted by timothy on Sunday June 26, 2011 @03:49PM from the bet-it's-a-fun-resume-to-read-through dept.

Numerous sources are reporting that famed iPhone and PlayStation hacker George Hotz, better known as Geohot, has taken a job at Facebook in product development; Make Magazine and others report that he'll be working on iOS apps.

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Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by elucido · 2011-06-26 15:49 · Score: 3, Interesting

Facebook is the last company I would have expected him to take a job from. This is like as if he took a job working at Sony.
How should we interpret this? Ah well I don't care. He should get what money he can get while he can get it.
1. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-26 15:52 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  He's just doing it for the lulz...
2. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-26 16:05 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Doing what you love, vs. doing what you love and getting paid for it.
  Gee. What a hard choice to make.
3. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by cgenman · 2011-06-26 16:05 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Interpretation 1:
  Change the system from inside. Nothing changes without a decision from someone inside, and the easiest way to get that is to get a man inside.
  Interpretation 2:
  Facebook pretty much allows friends to communicate with eachother. It's mundane, and looks pointless outside of a particular circle of friends. But it is the democratazation of communication, man.
  Interpretation 3:
  "Boy that's a big bag of cash."
  
  --
  The ______ Agenda
4. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by BoogeyOfTheMan · 2011-06-26 16:09 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Well, I'd imagine he has quite a bit of lawyer bills to pay right now so a good paying job is probably a good idea for him. I don't see how you would think it equates to working for Sony. Facebook didn't take him to court.
  They're saying that he is going to be working on the iOS app, so at least he is doing something he knows. After thinking about it, I'm surprised something like this didn't happen sooner. He knows iOS pretty well, it only makes sense that he would get a job somewhere making apps for it, and Facebook is one of the bigger companies with a more hacker friendly attitude.
5. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by shentino · 2011-06-26 16:12 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  I don't know how he could presently have huge lawyer bills when he had 10 grand in spare change to boot over to the EFF.
  Being the hacker that jailbroke the impenetrable PS3 his math skills can't be that bad.
6. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by crafty.munchkin · 2011-06-26 16:12 · Score: 1
  
  Pardon my ignorance, but since when did Facebook have corporate ties to Sony?
  
  --
  ... wait, what?
7. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by Short+Circuit · 2011-06-26 16:47 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Just because you don't like company A, and you don't like company B, doesn't mean that someone else working for B is like him working for A from his perspective.
  My understanding is that the distaste for Sony came from it trying to lock out developers and hackers who wanted to put their own stuff into the PS3 ecosystem. Facebook lets developers in*, the developers are just not allowed to take users out.
  * Seriously; it seems every third week,at some point navigating to facebook.com lands me on some kind of phishing page or scam poll. It'd be a lot easier for FB to avoid that kind of vulnerability if they were far more draconian about developer access.
  
  --
  tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
8. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by spagthorpe · 2011-06-26 17:54 · Score: 1
  
  True. And if anyone knows how to bypass your phone's security settings and get your contact list or anything else it wants, then he's probably the man as well. Not that Facebook would be interested in violating your privacy or anything.
  
  --
  WWJD -- What Would Jimi Do?
  (Smash amp, burn guitar, take home the groupies)
9. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by wvmarle · 2011-06-26 17:59 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Hacking iOS and hacking the PS3 is quite different from developing end-user apps for it.
  They both require coding skills, and knowledge about software - yet when creating an app you're supposed to follow the guidelines, add a nice looking UI to it, etc. I see coding as a tool, no more. A tool to get something done. Building an app with nice UI means you need some UI skills. Building an app that hacks the underlying OS means you have crypto and system analyses skills.
  I'm writing an app for Android myself, but I don't know much about the technicalities of Android under the hood, nor do I see much of a need for anyone to deeply understand the OS. Google has nicely abstracted that for me through their API kit. No need to know how memory is allocated exactly, or how and when an app is closed automatically (other than knowing it may happen).
  I'd more expect this guy to end up in the computer security field.
  But as you say, the pay is probably good. Very good. It has to be for someone with such skills.
10. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by slackzilly · 2011-06-26 18:04 · Score: 1
  
  I have never seen a poll or anything like that when I go there.
  
  --
  - "If one man can create that much hate, you can only imagine how much love we as a togetherness can create."
11. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-26 18:50 · Score: 0
  
  Facebook is the last company I would have expected him to take a job from. This is like as if he took a job working at Sony.
  How should we interpret this? Ah well I don't care. He should get what money he can get while he can get it.
  Yes, I'am too
12. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-26 18:53 · Score: 0
  
  I'm pretty sure he's being paid to troll gamers. Geohot can pretty much rot in hell for all I care after the stunts he pulled with regards to the PS3.
  What stunt did he pull in regards to the PS3?
13. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-26 19:05 · Score: 0
  
  stunts with ps3? only a sony employee could have written such a biased comment
14. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by walternate · 2011-06-26 19:56 · Score: 1
  
  He's a douchebag sellout, and he's using his talents to further facebook's privacy invasion agenda. He lost all respect from me.
  I'm not sure I get the Slashdot outrage against 'privacy invasion" at a site you choose to post stuff, vs. the automatic, non-opt-in extensive data gathering Google is doing on you across their services and advertising network (and cars).
15. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by hawkinspeter · 2011-06-26 20:11 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I'm a PS3 owner and I thank Geohot for all his work on the platform. Sony can pretty much rot in hell for all I care after the stunts they pulled with regards to the PS3.
  
  --
  You're a temporary arrangement of matter sliding towards oblivion in a cold, uncaring universe
16. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by GNious · 2011-06-26 20:17 · Score: 1
  
  #4:
  Its part of Sony's settlement with GeoHot - Go work for Facebook, so we can sue them ... somehow ...
17. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by L4t3r4lu5 · 2011-06-26 20:37 · Score: 1
  
  He has to pay his legal bills somehow.
  
  --
  Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
18. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-26 21:18 · Score: 1
  
  Facebook pretty much allows friends to communicate with eachother.
  That's very generous of them. Thank you, Facebook!
19. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-26 23:03 · Score: 0
  
  Yes, and that somehow was the boatload of EFF legal funds he got. He paid all his legal bills, in fact there was some money left over that he donated to some charity.
20. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by edumacator · 2011-06-26 23:39 · Score: 1
  
  I'd more expect this guy to end up in the computer security field.
  Maybe Mark Zuckerberg saw a status update that said, "I should hire GeoHot because my security sucks.
  
  --
  An important change for education.
21. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by mcvos · 2011-06-27 00:50 · Score: 1
  
  He tried to fix it after Sony broke it. The bastard!
22. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-27 01:15 · Score: 0
  
  it is the democratazation of communication
  Wow. Okay... you are REALLLLLY reaching, guy. What, How badly did you need a third point, ANY point as long as there are three, just to make your list feel right?
23. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by jdpars · 2011-06-27 01:39 · Score: 1
  
  If you think hardware-level or deep OS-level knowledge isn't important to coding effectively, you need to read a little. Especially on mobile platforms, the trick is getting every ounce of power out of the CPU. And no one said he went into UI development. If anything, the team that handles that does so across all platforms so that the aesthetic is the same throughout Facebook products. Lastly, the security he broke wasn't anything that most consumer-level electronics bother with. The PS3 was so heavily locked down because people typically modify computers at their leisure, but it was a game console, and it's "bad" to mod a game console.
24. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by Riceballsan · 2011-06-27 01:47 · Score: 1
  
  I think the complaint there isn't about the actual hack he succeeded at but more likely the part where he got everyone riled up and donating money to fight sony in court, but then backed out at the last second and agreed to settle. Unless the poster is one of the idiots that thinks geohot had anything to do with the attacks on PSN, in which case he's an idiot.
25. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by hedwards · 2011-06-27 02:13 · Score: 1
  
  All the work? You mean faking a hack and getting the OtherOS pulled or piggy backing on other's work to finally release the key that many other people could have done at the time?
  I own a PS3 and I for one don't appreciate his antics, getting Sony pissed off and then failing to deliver the goods is pretty much just trolling.
26. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by wvmarle · 2011-06-27 02:14 · Score: 1
  
  When talking games, yes, then you need every last bit of performance out of what you can get (though if you go that way, your app will suck on lower-specced models). Then those optimisations may come in handy.
  However I don't see why a Facebook app would be limited by available hardware as basically all it does is send and receive messages, and display them in a nice way. No need for fancy animations or so. Network speed will be your limiting factor.
27. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by hedwards · 2011-06-27 02:16 · Score: 2
  
  Right, there was the original hack that he alleged to have succeeded at which he refused to release that led Sony to remove the OtherOS feature to batten down the hatches, then the most recent key that was 90% other people's work which helped to damage the homebrew scene. Then there was him giving up pretty much immediately when being sued, even after many people donated money to hopefully establish precedence.
  Consequently he gets no sympathy from me and deserves to be treated like scum. FB is just the place for somebody with such shifty ethics.
28. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by hedwards · 2011-06-27 02:18 · Score: 1
  
  It's not a biased comment, he revealed a "hack" then refused to release it even as Sony locked down the console from legitimate uses. Then he took work done by others to finish releasing the key and finally when sued he folded like a house of cards, even after people had donated specifically for him to fight the suit. At bare minimum he should have personally repaid the donations.
29. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-27 02:21 · Score: 0
  
  Using every ounce of power on a mobile platform? You don't get that kind of low level support in the iOS API. Apps like a Facebook app are pretty much entirely UI, with a little bit of data processing code.
  The breakdown of a Facebook-like app.
  1. Connect to Facebook's Web API
  2. Fetch the data requested (Friend list, messages, status updates, etc)
  3. Display fetched data on the screen in a fancy UI.
  That is literally the extent of it.
30. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-27 02:37 · Score: 0
  
  Whuuuh? How is Google forcing you to use their search engine, email service, or other software?
31. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by gl4ss · 2011-06-27 02:58 · Score: 1
  
  Hacking iOS and hacking the PS3 is quite different from developing end-user apps for it.
  They both require coding skills, and knowledge about software - yet when creating an app you're supposed to follow the guidelines, add a nice looking UI to it, etc. I see coding as a tool, no more. A tool to get something done. Building an app with nice UI means you need some UI skills. Building an app that hacks the underlying OS means you have crypto and system analyses skills.
  I'm writing an app for Android myself, but I don't know much about the technicalities of Android under the hood, nor do I see much of a need for anyone to deeply understand the OS. Google has nicely abstracted that for me through their API kit. No need to know how memory is allocated exactly, or how and when an app is closed automatically (other than knowing it may happen).
  I'd more expect this guy to end up in the computer security field.
  But as you say, the pay is probably good. Very good. It has to be for someone with such skills.
  many mobile apps suck simply because they've been made exactly according to guidelines (which don't fit the program at all, like default android youtube player pausing when it goes out of focus). and you actually need to know on android where and how memory is allocated and what shenigans about app process life cycle are happening behind your back, you have to know what stuff you'd like to keep alive in memory and which you'd be happy to let go to the gc, to speed up switching back to the app - and by speeding up I also mean saving battery and cpu. i'm doing my first android stint and there's a need to deeply understand the os as well, some stuff just isn't in the api's(I thought I would never need to use cat but eh, i'm too lazy to install too many shell tools on my droid). and if doing a facebook always on application they are going to need all the trickery and knoweledge about how dalvik does what it does that they can get - to optimize power use and thus application practicality - some guy says that it's not where optimizations would matter because it's just a fb app - but that's exactly why they would matter and why going with a native client for chat etc is better than just doing a chromeless browser launcher to the site itself. the longer the app runs, the better it is. and it needs to be secure, but it needs to store credentials AND OTHER ANDROID APPS BETTER NOT GET A HAND ON THOSE CREDS!
  
  --
  world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
32. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by tlhIngan · 2011-06-27 04:02 · Score: 1
  
  Maybe Mark Zuckerberg saw a status update that said, "I should hire GeoHot because my security sucks.
  What security would that be? Facebook privacy settings?
  No, Facebook's privacy settings are, from the POV of Facebook, excellent. They give the illusion of privacy to encourage people to do things they wouldn't otherwise do. Which is the entire point - FB is less about providing a place to meet, but more a place to get people to willingly post information online to for data mining purposes.
  The old adage of "if you don't want the world to read it, don't post it online" is still true nearly 40 years later (when it used to refer to BBSes). The "privacy" settings Facebook offers is designed to encourage people to forget that fact.
  I suppose Facebook might be writing an enhanced Facebook app for jailbroken iOS devices though - one that integrates more things that Apple wouldn't allow so they can violate your privacy just that much more. After all, he knows the ins and outs of iOS to jailbreak...
33. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by mini+me · 2011-06-27 06:41 · Score: 1
  
  Even if you don't use Google's services directly, it is hard to find a website that doesn't include Google Ads or Google Analytics, including Slashdot.
34. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by PwnzerDragoon · 2011-06-27 06:45 · Score: 1
  
  The only "hack" I can recall him coming up with was that if found if you solder a special device onto the motherboard and activated at the right moment, you could sometimes access a tiny bit of hypervisor memory from OtherOS. I don't know if he ever fully released that information or not, but it's not important - it went nowhere, fail0verflow cracked it before he did anything more. That was the "work done by others"; it's not really relevant, because with the information fail0verflow had already released any idiot could have found the master keys, he was just the first and loudest. The only reason people remember him as the one who cracked the PS3 is because of the legions of loud, annoying Sony fanboys crying out for his blood - being evidently stupid, most of took the "shoot the messenger" approach.
  I'm not exactly defending him, taking people's money then giving up on the case was kind of a dick thing to do. But IMHO he didn't do anything wrong from a hacking standpoint.
35. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by gorzek · 2011-06-27 07:50 · Score: 1
  
  How is Facebook forcing you to do any of that?
  
  --
  Check out my world simulator thingy.
36. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by Short+Circuit · 2011-06-28 06:44 · Score: 1
  
  My best guess is that some people I have as contacts on FB are more prone than yours to trying dozens of new apps each week, and so I'm at a greater risk.
  I've gotten the same reaction from other people, and it wasn't until they were standing behind me when it happened that they believed me. When the same kind of things happens once in a while across three browsers over two different operating systems across five or six different machines over three or four ISPs, I'm pretty sure it's not a local virus or bit of malware.
  "I've never seen it, ergo it's irrelevent" is one of the silliest and most pointless recurring arguments I hear.
  
  --
  tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
37. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-28 12:08 · Score: 0
  
  I'm sure it's a good job. I can't blame the guy.
38. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by metacell · 2011-06-29 04:44 · Score: 1
  
  Interpretation 4: He's a guy who loves programming and doesn't care much for politics.
39. Re:Facebook? Has he sold out or what? by metacell · 2011-06-29 04:45 · Score: 1
  
  Hacking iOS and hacking the PS3 is quite different from developing end-user apps for it.
  But the skills needed to hack iOS and PS3 are very useful when you're trying to build a secure system.
If Hollywood tells us anything... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-26 15:54 · Score: 0

I wonder if Mark Zuckerberg made him jailbreak iOS 5 beta 2 whilst getting drunk as part of his interview.
1. Re:If Hollywood tells us anything... by elucido · 2011-06-26 16:01 · Score: 1
  
  Maybe Mark knows some dirty secret about him. Any gay sex hazing ritual involved in this?
2. Re:If Hollywood tells us anything... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-26 16:13 · Score: 1
  
  Gay sex hazing rituals?
  We're talking about Facebook, not Slashdot.
3. Re:If Hollywood tells us anything... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-26 17:38 · Score: 0
  
  We're talking about Facebook, not *Congress*
4. Re:If Hollywood tells us anything... by TheRaven64 · 2011-06-26 23:51 · Score: 1
  
  He said hazing rituals, not regular afternoon entertainment.
  
  --
  I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Resume stain by dbc · 2011-06-26 16:11 · Score: 2

Maybe I'm too old-fashioned about such things, but Facebook is severely ethically challenged as a company. By extension, anybody who can work there without vomiting blood from disgust at their employer's behavior is not somebody I would want to hire.
1. Re:Resume stain by wmbetts · 2011-06-26 16:18 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Who do you hire for?
  
  --
  "Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me". - stolen from Dan C alt.os.linux.slackware
2. Re:Resume stain by matunos · 2011-06-26 17:07 · Score: 1
  
  I dunno. I bet Goldman Sachs has a lot of really smart people that other companies would love to hire, "great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity" though Goldman may be.
3. Re:Resume stain by kakarote · 2011-06-26 17:41 · Score: 0
  
  but there is no prob becoz he is just join as a product developer on facebook.!!!
4. Re:Resume stain by guybrush3pwood · 2011-06-26 17:51 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Probably no one. That's why he has the luxury of being judgmental.
  
  --
  Perhaps I'm trolling, perhaps I'm not.
5. Re:Resume stain by Surt · 2011-06-26 18:07 · Score: 1
  
  Most companies are as morally bankrupt as Goldman, they just aren't as skilled. Evil and talent are orthogonal dimensions, unfortunately.
  
  --
  "Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
6. Re:Resume stain by wmbetts · 2011-06-26 18:14 · Score: 2
  
  That's kind of what I was thinking, because if I could hire a talented engineer from Facebook, Microsoft, or the current devil of the day I would.
  
  --
  "Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me". - stolen from Dan C alt.os.linux.slackware
7. Re:Resume stain by edumacator · 2011-06-26 23:44 · Score: 1
  
  Never underestimate what a little rationalization and a whole mound of cash can do to help you swallow the line they are selling.
  
  --
  An important change for education.
8. Re:Resume stain by Dog-Cow · 2011-06-27 00:33 · Score: 1
  
  Never underestimate the idea that Facebook is just another software-using/developing company and that not everyone considers them evil just because you do.
9. Re:Resume stain by edumacator · 2011-06-27 00:57 · Score: 1
  
  I see why you took my comment that way. I don't think Facebook is inherently evil. I do think they don't care much about their users. My comment was a more generic response to the gp. Ethical stands tend to go out the window with enough cash on the table.
  Potential Employee: I don't like your company's ethical position.
  Employer: The dump truck with your money is headed to your house, should he just dump it in your pool?
  Potential Employee: Uh...but couldn't you be better?
  Employer: We'll try.
  Potential Employee: You said a dump truck right?
  Employer: Yeah.
  Potential Employee: Where do I sign?
  
  --
  An important change for education.
10. Re:Resume stain by 19061969 · 2011-06-27 02:32 · Score: 1
  
  You know how the saying is misquoted: "Those that can, do. Those that can't, recruit."
  
  --
  bang goes my karma... again...
Ah, missed opportunities.... by macraig · 2011-06-26 16:17 · Score: 5, Insightful

What Sony should've done if they had a working brain left anywhere outside their legal department. What does that say about an innovating company when its best minds are on the floor marked Legal?
1. Re:Ah, missed opportunities.... by artor3 · 2011-06-26 17:17 · Score: 2
  
  Well, one glance at Sony should answer that question... when was the last time they did something innovative? They make a bunch of second-tier me-too products, from TVs to cameras to MP3 players to phones, but they haven't had a really market leading product since what, the discman? How many people in high school these days would even know what one is?
  So there's your answer: when an innovating company's best minds are in legal, they cease to be an innovating company.
2. Re:Ah, missed opportunities.... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-26 18:25 · Score: 0
  
  I think the conventional wisdom is the same as the US gov negotiating with terrorists. "We don't do it, because it'll encourage behavior we don't want." Hire this guy, and tomorrow there will be 10 more trying to be next.
  
  And as you may have noticed, Sony isn't too keen on rebellious youths right now.
3. Re:Ah, missed opportunities.... by Wyatt+Earp · 2011-06-26 18:31 · Score: 1
  
  What about the Playstation Playstation 2, Playstation 3? All of those are more recent than Discman.
4. Re:Ah, missed opportunities.... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-26 18:45 · Score: 0
  
  Psalms
  Chapter 1
  1
  1 2 Happy those who do not follow the counsel of the wicked, Nor go the way of sinners, nor sit in company with scoffers.
  2
  3 Rather, the law of the LORD is their joy; God's law they study day and night.
  3
  They are like a tree planted near streams of water, that yields its fruit in season; Its leaves never wither; whatever they do prospers.
  4
5. Re:Ah, missed opportunities.... by artor3 · 2011-06-26 19:19 · Score: 1
  
  Playstation is a good one, but still old. The PS2 & 3 are iterative not innovative. The Wii or Kinect are examples of innovation.
6. Re:Ah, missed opportunities.... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-26 19:22 · Score: 0
  
  What about the Playstation Playstation 2, Playstation 3? All of those are more recent than Discman.
  And those are all me-too products....
7. Re:Ah, missed opportunities.... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-26 19:37 · Score: 0
  
  I think you misspelled "Walkman" there. Portable disc players were obvious, not innovative, and IIRC Sony wasn't the first one out of the gate with one.
8. Re:Ah, missed opportunities.... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-26 19:49 · Score: 0
  
  Kinda ironic you're trying to prevent your email address from being harvested from spambots while spamming yourself Mr Stevens
  essayservices@gmail.com
  Domain name:
  essayservices.co.uk
  Registrant:
  Simon Stevens
  Trading as:
  STUDYB LTD
  Registrant type:
  UK Individual
  Registrant's address:
  THE MERIDIAN 4 COPTHALL HOUSE
  STATION SQUARE
  COVENTRY
  WEST MIDLANDS
  CV1 2FL
  United Kingdom
  Registrar:
  Fasthosts Internet Ltd [Tag = LIVEDOMAINS]
  URL: http://www.fasthosts.co.uk/
  Relevant dates:
  Registered on: 31-Mar-2009
  Renewal date: 31-Mar-2013
  Last updated: 02-May-2011
  Registration status:
  Registered until renewal date.
  Name servers:
  ns1.livedns.co.uk 213.171.192.250
  ns2.livedns.co.uk 213.171.193.250
  Perhaps you should read item 2.1.4 of your webhost Terms Of Service (http://www.fasthosts.co.uk/terms/?page=abuse)
  "2.1 You may not use the Services: ...
  2.1.4 to transmit, or otherwise permit any unsolicited or unauthorised advertising or promotional material or any other form of similar marketing material ,also known as SPAM or Unsolicited Commercial E-mail (UCE)"
  It would be pretty funny if people started complaining to Fasthosts and Gmail and get those accounts closed for good...
9. Re:Ah, missed opportunities.... by gutnor · 2011-06-26 20:36 · Score: 1
  
  What does that say about an innovating company when its best minds are on the floor marked Legal?
  That their business model will soon be protected by the government ?
10. Re:Ah, missed opportunities.... by deanbmmv · 2011-06-26 22:56 · Score: 1
  
  Eyetoy?
11. Re:Ah, missed opportunities.... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-26 23:18 · Score: 0
  
  gameboy camera? Let's see what sony innovated on... a handheld gaming console that played console ports from a previous generation? Nope, gba did that with super nes titles, a cd based video game system? Nope, turbo grafx 16 cd was the first for that. *tries to think of a single innovation* perhaps a hard drive in their console (for the whole 3 games that used it). Okay okay, you got me on one thing, "A console able to install anOTHER OS without modification". Oh nevermind, they took it back like a 5 year old realizing they liked that toy too much to give it away. So the only innovation they added to that side of the table, they screwed up.
Time to start a pool by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-26 16:23 · Score: 0

Exactly how many minutes before his app iHack gets pulled from the App Store? I'll take 5 minutes 30 seconds.
product developer = PR position by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-26 16:54 · Score: 0

Wasn't the skinny on geohot that all he did was use other people's work and never really had any real skill or ability? If so, this is merely a position where he can't do any damage to the company. He acts as a mini-Steve Jobs in his own little office, oversees those who do the real work on his pet projects, and if something actually comes out of it, that's just icing on the cake for Zuck. If not, zuck is merely out $100K.
1. Re:product developer = PR position by Nursie · 2011-06-26 17:48 · Score: 1
  
  "Wasn't the skinny on geohot that all he did was use other people's work and never really had any real skill or ability?"
  Absolutely not, no.
  While he was not the only one responsible for the ps3 hacks, he did do one or two things that nobody else has managed to replicate (or nobody has managed to replicate and then disclose anyway). It's one of the reason a variety of scene people are pissed off at him. He built on some of the breakthroughs by other folks but didn't release details of his own insights, just some of the results of them.
  He's a clever kid and I'm sure given the right work/environment he'll go far.
  He's also a clever kid with a pretty huge ego, but I'm sure we all had that at his age, and his isn't totally unfounded...
2. Re:product developer = PR position by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-27 05:03 · Score: 0
  
  All of geohot's PS3 hacks have been (eventually) independently replicated.
  He's a clever kid, but not a good coder (coming up with clever ideas and hacks is one thing; writing maintainable, stable code is another) and not the kind of person I'd like to have as a coworker. Unless Facebook wants to get into the jailbreaking business, I don't see him flourishing there.
3. Re:product developer = PR position by Nursie · 2011-06-27 05:11 · Score: 1
  
  Really?
  I was pretty sure there was some NPDRM related stuff in the PS3 that had never been replicated.
  Even so, I don't really disagree with you, but I also have no idea what the culture at facebook is like.
Product Development? by SuperScott3000 · 2011-06-26 17:00 · Score: 1

Don't really know too much about him, but I thought all his work up until now has been with hardware? Doesn't really make sense to me that Facebook would hire him for 'anything', much less product development. Developing an process to circumvent security measures is worlds apart from developing a product for end consumers. If anything, every hardware developer should be trying to hire him for QA. But good for him for striking while the iron is still hot and landing a job while people still know who he is. But of course, maybe this means Facebook really is going to make that fabled "Facebook Phone"...
1. Re:Product Development? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-26 21:21 · Score: 0
  
  Facebook phone doesn't exist? Five words - HTC ChaCha dedicated Facebook button.
Technical question by matunos · 2011-06-26 17:01 · Score: 1

Is that pronounced "gooey-hot"?
1. Re:Technical question by wmbetts · 2011-06-26 17:06 · Score: 1
  
  I hope you're trolling.
  
  --
  "Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me". - stolen from Dan C alt.os.linux.slackware
2. Re:Technical question by matunos · 2011-06-26 18:42 · Score: 1
  
  Relax, cowboy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoduck
3. Re:Technical question by wmbetts · 2011-06-26 18:46 · Score: 1
  
  Okay point taken :). I deserve that woosh.
  
  --
  "Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me". - stolen from Dan C alt.os.linux.slackware
Just do by zechd · 2011-06-26 17:05 · Score: 1

do what you like is the best way
Wait a minute... by zill · 2011-06-26 17:16 · Score: 2

I wonder how he proved he's really Geohot...
1. Re:Wait a minute... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-26 22:19 · Score: 0
  
  Probably with a rap video.
2. Re:Wait a minute... by magnusrex1280 · 2011-06-26 23:11 · Score: 2
  
  He probably looks like the guy in the Geohot video that he released. And probably has the same first and last name as Geohot. And if that stuff wasn't enough, he could always show them some documentation from getting his socks sued off by Sony.
3. Re:Wait a minute... by symes · 2011-06-26 23:25 · Score: 1
  
  Story is Zuckerberg's coffee machine started flashing "You're coffee is GeoHot"
One dumbass I don't like by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-26 17:21 · Score: 0

got hired in the company of another dumbass I don't like, probably to do something I don't care about. Good to know.
who cares? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-26 17:27 · Score: 0

seriously let the man do what he wants and fuck off already
1. Re:who cares? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-26 19:31 · Score: 0
  
  seriously let the man do what he wants and fuck off already
  I take it by your AC status that you've figured out that using your real name as your "l33t haxxor" handle isn't the smartest idea, eh George?
2. Re:who cares? by magnusrex1280 · 2011-06-26 23:12 · Score: 1
  
  Riiight, because Geohot is the only one who thinks it's great that someone got hired to do what they love. Nope.
3. Re:who cares? by glwtta · 2011-06-26 23:42 · Score: 1
  
  Wait, so we're going to get a story every time anyone gets hired to do what they love?
  
  --
  sic transit gloria mundi
"...he'll be working on iOS apps." by Paul+Slocum · 2011-06-26 17:40 · Score: 3, Insightful

Hopefully he'll make a new Facebook app that doesn't suck.
1. Re:"...he'll be working on iOS apps." by rbrausse · 2011-06-26 21:43 · Score: 1
  
  after reading the title I hoped for an application on the Playstation - Facebook missed a chance for a real nice trolling :/
I figure he's safe by Lord_of_the_nerf · 2011-06-26 18:00 · Score: 1

If Facebook operates anything like it's CEO, it's more likely to treat you badly and screw you over if you're his friend.
Re:Facebook apps won't suck? by thegarbz · 2011-06-26 19:55 · Score: 1

How should we interpret this?
Easy. It's an panicky last ditch effort for Facebook to find someone capable of coding an iOS Facebook app which doesn't horrendously SUCK.
The only app that has ever crashed on my sister's iPhone and my Android .... Facebook app. I greatly prefer logging into their website using a mobile browser than using that god awful app.
!@*# Him by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-26 21:06 · Score: 0

Fuck him and FUCK Facebook !
Congratz! by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-27 00:21 · Score: 0

Congratz, Geohot. he is a smart guy! Very Very talented no one can deny.
No bad deed by epistemology · 2011-06-27 00:27 · Score: 1

goes unrewarded.
Re:Facebook apps won't suck? by gstoddart · 2011-06-27 03:28 · Score: 1

I greatly prefer logging into their website using a mobile browser than using that god awful app.
I actually tried installing a Facebook app over the weekend ... it more or less wanted to completely change all of my privacy settings, which I assume is a side effect of the way the platform APIs work.
So, if my choice is to use Safari to access Facebook, or let some app change all of my privacy settings to be much more permissive than I wanted ... well, it's not like it's tough to use it in Safari.
I won't attempt to install any applications related to Facebook any more, because apparently they only work if you open everything up. I explicitly set all of those things to be very restrictive in the first place for a reason.

--
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Inside info by synapse7 · 2011-06-27 05:22 · Score: 1

He probably took the job to get inside info on phones for jail-breaking progress.
Re:Facebook apps won't suck? by thegarbz · 2011-06-27 09:03 · Score: 1

Thanks for raising the alarm. My settings are still on the Friends only for most and private for a few others so I'm not sure what you did that made it want to change your settings. But really thanks. It usually takes some kind of reminder for me to go in there and check to make sure facebook hasn't once again done a dodgy.
How the hell is this news? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-27 13:15 · Score: 0

News flash: someone of no particular importance got a job.
matches recent declarations from Zuckerberg by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-28 00:27 · Score: 0

Zuckerberg recently said something like: some "elite brains" are worth a fortune to some companies.
In this respect, hiring Geohot makes sense.