Being the "geek" in the family, I, too, am frequently called upon to provide support for whatever is ailing the family/friend's computer. I stopped supporting these things long ago after being asked "What is the best computer I should buy?" I often took into consideration the endusers abilities (none what so ever) and their anticipated usage (surf the net, send email, play solitaire)and told them to buy a Macintosh. I usually heard "what the Hell are you talking about? There isnt any software available for Macs." They would then go out and purchase one of the two worse PCs available... Compaq or HP. Then, they would flounder about and call me. What's funny is I have NEVER seen them purchase any software and install it. In most cases they still use the same browser that shipped with the PC. I guess all that software that IS available for Windows really didnt matter. The only time I do provide advice or tech know-how is when they get some cool virus through Outlook. I love virii and how they have evolved. I just wish I could get some on my OS X box to play with:(
Actually, the $500 a month is chump change for Stephen. He's a "go getter" and whether he has a felony on his record or not.. he'll make money.
Case in point: He used to be a crew supervisor for SBCGlobal and made about $10,000 a month (with overtime) for installing DSL lines in the Sacramento, CA area. He got the position even though he didn't have any real management experience and he didn't know a thing about laying line. He sweet talked his way in to the position and was soon rolling in the dough. Not bad for a 25 year old kid...
I can't speak for the latest generation cards but the prior generation were cracked with the aid of an Electron Microscope "for hire" and software that I suspect came from an insider at the company(ies). Not completely positive as I didnt (and don't) want to know.;)
IN THEORY, the chip is checked for the "gate" that locks the chip from being reprogrammed. Identify the gate and burn it out or reroute it. Then the software and a card reader does the rest. Same "method" for either card... but different devices for reprogramming.
Addendum. Yes, he has some background with computers. In fact, he used to provide support as well as he was a moderator for Intel (when Intel still had their own newsgroups) on their Pentium 2 and 3 processors.
He's "safe" around a computer... he isn't a cracker... not even a script kiddie for that matter!
Actually... I'll be surprised if Stephen serves a year in the Pen. I have a very strong feeling that Stephen is going to be working for the Feds and the Sat companies (EchoStar, DirectTV, etc...) and providing information on how the modification and distribution of the cards takes place.
Trust me on this... Stephen kind of looks like Leonardo Di Caprio and he's going to do everything he can not to have to take any showers with the fun loving boys of Cell Block 4.
Here's something to consider.. the excessiveness of the fine is a farce. I'd say that S's attornies agreed to the massive amount and the liberal payback schedule as a condition of leniency. The 180 million dollar fine serves as a Public Awareness Statement. A lot of pirates and crackers had their eyes bugging out yesterday and that's just what the feds wanted.
I know Stephen Frazier. Worked with him at Intel in Folsom..way back in 2000/2001.
The articles I've read about this case have been killing me! The Feds made the remark that he's "well known" in the "World Hacker" community. LOL! Stephen is an excellent salesman and an excellent con-man..a hacker he isn't. Too funny... the Feds will exagerate anything if they can spread some fear or make themselves look good.
Nice guy.. just not too bright in the "discretion" department. He would LOVE to see that he's made it to Slashdot!
Speaking of Slashdot... I bet at least half of all Slashdot readers could reverse engineer the H cards like Stephen did. It's pretty simple... Of course, I bet 99% of that half of/. readers wouldn't go and post sales ads in Popular Science or field sales calls over your cell phone or from their personal residence. Stephen did... and more than a few people told him that he should be more careful... but the guy was fearless and thought he could outwit the Feds. Pretty hard to beat the boys if you wave a flag in front of their noses:)
Don't be an idiot.. it's unbecoming and makes your mutha look bad for raising such a beast. We're talking CPUID information here.. it''s NOTHING. Sign up as a devloper at developer.intel.com and that's all it takes... You can also download the standard Manuals from any of the "Manual" links on any processor page and get much the same info.
P.S. Don't be so sure that Intel and Microsoft are "buddy-buddy"...
Yes... just a hack job of an article. True, Intel could have contacted more Distros and provided the necessary CPUID information before had but... it is interesting that more developers who have been seeded P4 systems didn't catch this before hand. All in all.. it's a good lesson. In the future Intel will take measures to make sure that the info is distributed in a timely fashion and I suspect more of the Distros will request info earlier as well. Hey.. it's a win-win. Lesson learned..find a problem and fix it so it does't happen again.
Soory, Goofy.. that's some bad advice you're offering. The fact that the FBI showed up at this guy's dorm room already sayd that there supicion level is high. He should not have spoken to the FBI agents as all as it is very likely he could find the info used against him. Whether he did the crime or not. Also, keep in mind that one is innocent until a "court of law" finds one guilty. Not some ass wipe criminal justice graduate.
What.. you don't think an Athlon uses microcode either??? Sorry to spook you folks but microcode isn't any big deal... it's regulary sent out to BIOS companies and motherboard companies to include in to their BIOS as needed. All processors manufacturers release microcode updates.. sheesh!
Mojo... the enemy isn't Apple.. the enemy is Microsoft and a Unix market that is divided is much easier to damage. By the way, what the fuck dio you know about Apple products and engineering?
I guess ZDNet couldn't find any Apple/Wintel articles this mornoing so they resorted to the tried and true "Linux will fork and thou shall all be driven to the unemployment line" crap
A load of BS? I don't see where the guy is "margializing them and their beliefs" I don't see one mention of typical Christian beliefs. Unless, you're speaking about "The right to kill a Doctor" If that's a chrstian beliefe then maybe the ranter is right. I don't agree that the conservative party is an evil monster that will consume the country but I do know that here in California the conservative Xians are actively fighting homosexuals over stupid issues that don't even exist. Case in point, We have a proposition that says the state will only recognize marriages between a man and a women. Sounds fine and dandy right? Wrong. Gays can't get married in California anyways! So why the expenditure of energy? Question for you JSG, Knowing what we know now about the Nazi's, wouldn't it be acceptable to censor them? I would think the answer is "yes" Unless of course you approve of the Nazis and their methods.
Gee, AArther.... I thought the computer in question was just that. Why are you referring it to an "iMac clone" if it isn't a copy?
Re:There *is* legal precedance in suing and winnin
on
iMac Clone Gets Sued
·
· Score: 1
Correction: Caterham is the comapny that owns the rights to the Lotus 7 and they sued Westfield.
Mercury Cougar clone / Ferrari has sued and won
on
iMac Clone Gets Sued
·
· Score: 1
Hard Code,
Both Ferrari and Caterham (English company who purchased the rights from Lotus to produce the Lotus 7 sports car) Have both sued (and won)in US courts to prevent other companies from producing kitcars that were either identical or resembled products that the companies had produced in the past. Would you say that this has hurt Ferrari's reputation in the market?
Hard_code, You know, you're the kind of user that gives Linux a bad name... Why do you even care about Apple, aren't they beneath your notice? Or is it that you're secretly a windows lover?
There *is* legal precedance in suing and winning
on
iMac Clone Gets Sued
·
· Score: 1
Both Westfield and Ferrari have successfully sued companies in US courts that were making knockoffs of Lotus 7's and multiple Ferrari's. Some of the companies that lost were merely producing kitcars that had "resembalance" to the real things. Apple does have a case. (No pun intended:)
I think the original comment missed the mark when using "layout" as an example. We're talking something "hard" here. If Chevy decided to make a Porsche 911 knockoff and call it a Chevy 119 they would definitly be open for some lawsuits. Daewoo is a pretty decent company... I'd of thought they could come up with something more original than an iMac copy. I just wish that Appple had taken a closer look at SGI's cases... now those are cool!
maschine P.S. Don't let your dislike of Apple color your judgement... it's unbecoming.
Shut up you fuckin' mongoloid. The original post said nothing of your snide comments. Go make a straw man in your pants and play. The original poster was making a valid point that more people should listen too. Designers are constantly denigrated for their skills in ways that programmers aren't. Just because you can pick up a brush and splash paint on some canvas doesn't make you an artista... And just 'cus you can write a simple paint program in VB doesn't make you a programmer. Wait... let me rephrase the last part. "Just because you can install Linux it doesn't mean you're a Linux expert" Does that make sense to you Mongo?
I agree... Linux *only* needs the "best-of-the-best" when it comes to gaming. Of course, Macintosh users have often used this same argument to prove the simple point that Macs are a viable gaming platform as well. Didn't mean that they weren't slaughtered in the press, gaming, and computing circles as a piece of crap platform. While off the subject... We Linux users better stay on our toes if we hope to survive and get more software companies porting to us. It's easy to say that we will kick MS's butt because we have a better OS, millions of users, and major software companies porting soiftware to us.. but if we're not careful we will be marginalized by MS's FUD campaigne. Keep this in mind: There are at least twice as many Macintosh users than Linux users (with phenominal growth for mac purchases in the past year) and even though macs have more games and more software and more users is any one of us willing to say that the Mac is not a "dying platform"?
Slashdot Mirror
Being the "geek" in the family, I, too, am frequently called upon to provide support for whatever is ailing the family/friend's computer. I stopped supporting these things long ago after being asked "What is the best computer I should buy?" I often took into consideration the endusers abilities (none what so ever) and their anticipated usage (surf the net, send email, play solitaire)and told them to buy a Macintosh. I usually heard "what the Hell are you talking about? There isnt any software available for Macs." They would then go out and purchase one of the two worse PCs available... Compaq or HP. Then, they would flounder about and call me. What's funny is I have NEVER seen them purchase any software and install it. In most cases they still use the same browser that shipped with the PC. I guess all that software that IS available for Windows really didnt matter. The only time I do provide advice or tech know-how is when they get some cool virus through Outlook. I love virii and how they have evolved. I just wish I could get some on my OS X box to play with :(
Actually, the $500 a month is chump change for Stephen. He's a "go getter" and whether he has a felony on his record or not.. he'll make money.
Case in point: He used to be a crew supervisor for SBCGlobal and made about $10,000 a month (with overtime) for installing DSL lines in the Sacramento, CA area. He got the position even though he didn't have any real management experience and he didn't know a thing about laying line. He sweet talked his way in to the position and was soon rolling in the dough. Not bad for a 25 year old kid...
I can't speak for the latest generation cards but the prior generation were cracked with the aid of an Electron Microscope "for hire" and software that I suspect came from an insider at the company(ies). Not completely positive as I didnt (and don't) want to know. ;)
IN THEORY, the chip is checked for the "gate" that locks the chip from being reprogrammed. Identify the gate and burn it out or reroute it. Then the software and a card reader does the rest. Same "method" for either card... but different devices for reprogramming.
Addendum. Yes, he has some background with computers. In fact, he used to provide support as well as he was a moderator for Intel (when Intel still had their own newsgroups) on their Pentium 2 and 3 processors.
He's "safe" around a computer... he isn't a cracker... not even a script kiddie for that matter!
Actually... I'll be surprised if Stephen serves a year in the Pen. I have a very strong feeling that Stephen is going to be working for the Feds and the Sat companies (EchoStar, DirectTV, etc...) and providing information on how the modification and distribution of the cards takes place.
Trust me on this... Stephen kind of looks like Leonardo Di Caprio and he's going to do everything he can not to have to take any showers with the fun loving boys of Cell Block 4.
Here's something to consider.. the excessiveness of the fine is a farce. I'd say that S's attornies agreed to the massive amount and the liberal payback schedule as a condition of leniency. The 180 million dollar fine serves as a Public Awareness Statement. A lot of pirates and crackers had their eyes bugging out yesterday and that's just what the feds wanted.
I know Stephen Frazier. Worked with him at Intel in Folsom..way back in 2000/2001.
/. readers wouldn't go and post sales ads in Popular Science or field sales calls over your cell phone or from their personal residence. Stephen did... and more than a few people told him that he should be more careful... but the guy was fearless and thought he could outwit the Feds. Pretty hard to beat the boys if you wave a flag in front of their noses :)
The articles I've read about this case have been killing me! The Feds made the remark that he's "well known" in the "World Hacker" community. LOL! Stephen is an excellent salesman and an excellent con-man..a hacker he isn't. Too funny... the Feds will exagerate anything if they can spread some fear or make themselves look good.
Nice guy.. just not too bright in the "discretion" department. He would LOVE to see that he's made it to Slashdot!
Speaking of Slashdot... I bet at least half of all Slashdot readers could reverse engineer the H cards like Stephen did. It's pretty simple... Of course, I bet 99% of that half of
"not college kids editing movies or downloading music and DVDs, or using firewire ports to fiddle with video clips. "
And to think... it was college kids that first promoted the Internet.
Wasn't it Bill Gates who said "People don't want the Internet... that's for college kids and geeks...what people want is MSN"
(or something along these lines... gates basically said that people really want a closed online environment akin to AOL)
It's got to be Civilization... I lost MONTHS of my life to that game.. God games 0wn simple namby pamby shooters ;)
Don't be an idiot.. it's unbecoming and makes your mutha look bad for raising such a beast. We're talking CPUID information here.. it''s NOTHING. Sign up as a devloper at developer.intel.com and that's all it takes... You can also download the standard Manuals from any of the "Manual" links on any processor page and get much the same info.
P.S. Don't be so sure that Intel and Microsoft are "buddy-buddy"...
Yes... just a hack job of an article. True, Intel could have contacted more Distros and provided the necessary CPUID information before had but... it is interesting that more developers who have been seeded P4 systems didn't catch this before hand. All in all.. it's a good lesson. In the future Intel will take measures to make sure that the info is distributed in a timely fashion and I suspect more of the Distros will request info earlier as well. Hey.. it's a win-win. Lesson learned..find a problem and fix it so it does't happen again.
Soory, Goofy.. that's some bad advice you're offering. The fact that the FBI showed up at this guy's dorm room already sayd that there supicion level is high. He should not have spoken to the FBI agents as all as it is very likely he could find the info used against him. Whether he did the crime or not. Also, keep in mind that one is innocent until a "court of law" finds one guilty. Not some ass wipe criminal justice graduate.
What.. you don't think an Athlon uses microcode either??? Sorry to spook you folks but microcode isn't any big deal... it's regulary sent out to BIOS companies and motherboard companies to include in to their BIOS as needed. All processors manufacturers release microcode updates.. sheesh!
Mojo... the enemy isn't Apple.. the enemy is Microsoft and a Unix market that is divided is much easier to damage. By the way, what the fuck dio you know about Apple products and engineering?
I guess ZDNet couldn't find any Apple/Wintel articles this mornoing so they resorted to the tried and true "Linux will fork and thou shall all be driven to the unemployment line" crap
A load of BS? I don't see where the guy is "margializing them and their beliefs" I don't see one mention of typical Christian beliefs. Unless, you're speaking about "The right to kill a Doctor" If that's a chrstian beliefe then maybe the ranter is right. I don't agree that the conservative party is an evil monster that will consume the country but I do know that here in California the conservative Xians are actively fighting homosexuals over stupid issues that don't even exist. Case in point, We have a proposition that says the state will only recognize marriages between a man and a women. Sounds fine and dandy right? Wrong. Gays can't get married in California anyways! So why the expenditure of energy? Question for you JSG, Knowing what we know now about the Nazi's, wouldn't it be acceptable to censor them? I would think the answer is "yes" Unless of course you approve of the Nazis and their methods.
"I asked you this about the iMac clone:"
Gee, AArther.... I thought the computer in question was just that. Why are you referring it to an "iMac clone" if it isn't a copy?
Correction: Caterham is the comapny that owns the rights to the Lotus 7 and they sued Westfield.
Hard Code,
Both Ferrari and Caterham (English company who purchased the rights from Lotus to produce the Lotus 7 sports car) Have both sued (and won)in US courts to prevent other companies from producing kitcars that were either identical or resembled products that the companies had produced in the past. Would you say that this has hurt Ferrari's reputation in the market?
Hard_code,
You know, you're the kind of user that gives Linux a bad name... Why do you even care about Apple, aren't they beneath your notice? Or is it that you're secretly a windows lover?
Both Westfield and Ferrari have successfully sued companies in US courts that were making knockoffs of Lotus 7's and multiple Ferrari's. Some of the companies that lost were merely producing kitcars that had "resembalance" to the real things. Apple does have a case. (No pun intended :)
maschine
I think the original comment missed the mark when using "layout" as an example. We're talking something "hard" here. If Chevy decided to make a Porsche 911 knockoff and call it a Chevy 119 they would definitly be open for some lawsuits. Daewoo is a pretty decent company... I'd of thought they could come up with something more original than an iMac copy. I just wish that Appple had taken a closer look at SGI's cases... now those are cool!
maschine
P.S. Don't let your dislike of Apple color your judgement... it's unbecoming.
Shut up you fuckin' mongoloid. The original post said nothing of your snide comments. Go make a straw man in your pants and play. The original poster was making a valid point that more people should listen too. Designers are constantly denigrated for their skills in ways that programmers aren't. Just because you can pick up a brush and splash paint on some canvas doesn't make you an artista... And just 'cus you can write a simple paint program in VB doesn't make you a programmer. Wait... let me rephrase the last part. "Just because you can install Linux it doesn't mean you're a Linux expert" Does that make sense to you Mongo?
I agree... Linux *only* needs the "best-of-the-best" when it comes to gaming. Of course, Macintosh users have often used this same argument to prove the simple point that Macs are a viable gaming platform as well. Didn't mean that they weren't slaughtered in the press, gaming, and computing circles as a piece of crap platform.
While off the subject... We Linux users better stay on our toes if we hope to survive and get more software companies porting to us. It's easy to say that we will kick MS's butt because we have a better OS, millions of users, and major software companies porting soiftware to us.. but if we're not careful we will be marginalized by MS's FUD campaigne. Keep this in mind: There are at least twice as many Macintosh users than Linux users (with phenominal growth for mac purchases in the past year) and even though macs have more games and more software and more users is any one of us willing to say that the Mac is not a "dying platform"?