moonlit
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Posts posted by moonlit
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I should note that tihs isn't actually run by the BBC nor is it affiliated with them, it was promoted on the breakfast news show Monday morning.
Anyway, that said, I also have that hex string, after confusing myself a bunch of times.
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I'm stuck with a 500-byte hex string. Any ideas?
Depends what the string is really...
Edit: I'm lazy, I ignored something really obvious this morning. Fail. >_>
Edit 2: I got it... well, sort of, looks like I'll have to manually punch in all those bits, but I know what's happening.
Edit 3: Orrrrr, I could go back to being lazy and write an app to do it for me. Yay!
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Ahh, more sneakiness? Hadn't thought about that, good thinking... thought it was too easy :P
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What's the #tag?
#cyberchallenge, and the official twitter is @Cyberchallenge
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Wow, that deciphering was EASY.
Yeah, you know, they said it was "mid-level" but it seemed pretty easy to me. Checking out some tweets about it though, the difficulty levels of the actual challenges vary wildly.
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Bunchie.gif is go.
That's the one. What brings you back around this way, you miss us? ;)
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As I am a security oriented person, it would be a real pleasure for me to take on this challenge. But I won't be able to do it since, I don't leave in the UK and don't have the time to flight over.
I believe you have to have been a UK resident for several years to enter the competition, but I'm sure there are similar schemes around the world, in fact there are challenges from a US organisation mentioned on that site. Maybe a little research would lead you to something a bit more local?
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Well, it's obviously some sort of encoding or encryption, and sometimes there are certain things which can help identify what sort of encoding or encryption something is using. For example, this particular scheme uses a couple of notable characteristics you might find useful. You may also be able to use patterns to help you, but perhaps not in this case. There are several steps to this particular challenge, one is easier than the other and the result is amusing.
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That practice cipher challenge is pretty easy (and amusing), but I dunno what the actual real challenges are like. Heard about it on BBC Breakfast, but I don't really wanna sign up when I have no idea what I'll be up against. Not that I have any particular desire to work in security, I'm just curious about how far I could get really. Still, could be good if you're into that sort of thing, seems like there's levels for all different people, so good luck and have fun.
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I don't know, I honestly forgot what it was..
Wasn't it you who had that galloping green llama thing? Maybe I'm wrong, it's been ages...
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Duelus isn't new, he's someone a lot of folks who've been here for 3+ years will probably remember. Check out his join date and post count. ;)
That reminds me, Duelus, what happened to your avatar?
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Holy shit.
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Episode 7x23
in Hak5
Will the Hak5th Birthday be streamed live, a-la Hak.4th July parties? Because that'd be cool. Y'know, like old times. Also there should be booze. Lots of booze, and zombie hookers, definitely.
*fires up Gabbly Chat*
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First off, nicely written post, could use more of these, and I'm glad to see people putting the effort in to discuss cleanly and peacefully.
As for Moonlit, I don't think you give yourself enough credit. I think in part, people like you, Vako, and Sparda are part of hak5, even if not in front of the camera, we (or at least I) value your work, input, time and efforts and what you bring to the community.Well, thanks again, certainly nice to be recognised even if you don't seek it, but either way I'm glad to have been part of it all and that I've been able to help some people along the way.
To me, IRC in itself is its own little world even though some of the community hangs there, but I gather at one time it was more integrated with the show than it is today. It always seemed to me like they didn't want people to join the channel though, cause that was their own little clique of the lite, or people who just didn't like change. The more hak5 grew it seemed the more they tried to further themselves from the show. I always felt like there were people who loved the show who did both the forums and IRC, but majority of the people on IRC wanted to be made to feel like they were somehow more important than the rest of the community, that their ideas were what mattered and that they should be calling the shots, and that in some part still seems to be going on today to some extent.I remember when I first got here, Darren said something along the lines of "IRC is a totally different world", I forget the exact quote, but the point is there. He wasn't wrong, the IRC was so much more dynamic, more hectic, energetic and it had a very different mood to it, humour was more free-flowing, people seemed more productive because ideas and thoughts were fired off left and right. As you say, neither the IRC or the forum was "better" but IRC certainly felt more alive to me, but the forum was better suited for longer form ideas and opinions.
As for the insular and cliquey nature of IRC, I think it was a gradual progression. There were some people who believed that Hak5 was going to draw in a "bad" crowd with less difficult but more malicious hacks, over time the community seemed to get less "hardcore". I'll try and explain what I mean, because I don't just mean that the new users weren't "the in crowd" or in any kind of clique.
The remaining experienced and mature members were being diluted by the large influxes of immature, inexperienced, perhaps even morally questionable users. Because of that, whereas before there might've been more technically savvy users to help with a smaller number of people wanting help with stuff, it'd become much more difficult to provide that help, and also to moderate those who were causing issues as numbers increased. The balance tipped, it became very hard to keep from becoming overwhelmed, and very hard for those of us who were able to help to divvy up time for people needing it.
Another factor was that some of the new guys appeared because of certain hacks on the show and often wanted something for nothing. Generally I think the IRC was welcoming, but sometimes people would appear very ungrateful, they wanted peoples' time and effort to help them in some frivilous and malicious goal and would become obnoxious when they didn't get it, this is partially why there was a ban on discussion of those hacks. Fewer of these people wanted to contribute back to the community and this is part of the reason that people disliked both the hacks and the people asking for them. Sure, it's bad to paint everyone with the same brush, but it's difficult not to when so many people appeared that way.
For me the core is still the forums. Not better or more important than the IRC people, just more open to everyone in general. I think the forums have always been the more welcoming, giving damn near anyone a voice so long as they weren't complete trolls, like K1u was, or violating the basic rules. I think you have done a great job at policing the forums along with the others who have come and gone, while also giving great feedback and support to everyone on here.I'd say the forum always had a lot more structure, it was less volatile and more under control. Not that the alternative is necessarily a bad thing, but stability does tend to keep things a lot more smooth running.
As far as who wrote the "closure" article, its not even really important who wrote it, but more important that it is heard. I think it helps keep it real, and at the same time, people can also deal with it in a more mature manner without back room chats or behind closed door meetings. Not everything is a democracy, but I think being able to voice how you feel is important, even if things don't always turn out how you want. Its healthy to get it out.Personally it makes a lot more sense to me, because over recent months and years, a lot of people have been trying to express things they felt about Hak5 the show and Hak5 the community and I believe it helps to have a coherent stream of thought as opposed to enraged and insane outbursts, it's a lot easier to follow and understand a point of view if it's laid out logically and with muted emotion.
The show has changed a lot over the years, but I think the message is still clearly the same, just some of us have matured with the show and probably beyond some of what content is on these days. I think if you can remain objective without demanding the show to be a certain way, you will see it more for what it was and still is, instead of what people wish it to be.Indeed, I think a lot of us have matured in many different ways and though it's easy to point at the show and say that the content has become more tailored to those less experienced (I don't think this is necessarily bad), it's also true that many of us have progressed onto more technical or more in-depth projects, especially those who prefer to learn by themselves, so the show will inevetably appear more basic.
Its like anything in life, it will not always stay the same forever, but I don't think it should either.Quite agree, I certainly don't oppose the evolution of the show, my only complaint was how it seemed to begin as a parody (uber leet lego warez hard drive enclosure) and become what it appeared to parody (usb hacks, interceptor, etc). I no longer watch the show, but I believe that if you're going to use this stuff, you could at least learn how it works on a lower level, because then you'll learn basic theories and concepts you could use for other projects rather than just taking someone's prepackaged application or piece of hardware and using it merely as a practical joke, it feels like a mockery of those who do spend a very long time learning important concepts in order to build their own knowledge and expand their own abilities. All a matter of opinion though, I'm sure people disagree with that way of thinking, I can't change anyone's mind if they think what I just said is a pile of bunk, all I can do is say what I believe.
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Though I didn't intend for this thread to be about me, I gotta say thanks again for all your kind words, definitely appreciate them. It's funny really, some people I don't know, saying stuff about something I did which wasn't even a real job, yet it's nice to hear it. I suppose doing anything for 4+ years kinda makes it something. That probably just made no sense, I'm slightly hungover (or maybe still drunk, I can't tell), but basically what I'm saying is thanks. :)
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Some combination of RSS feeds (like this or this or this), Yahoo Pipes and an RSS to email service (or app) like this one would probably do the trick, no coding req'd.
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I also did the hotswap softmod, since I didn't have any of the hackable games or a modified USB stick or memory card (or cable), it worked out just fine. You can theoretically kill either the XBOX, the HDD or your PC this way, but it's very unlikely, and I treated mine pretty rough having somehow managed to fail several times (bad tools, bad dashboards, etc) and it survived quite happily. It currently runs XBMC.
BACKUP: your eeprom and bios!!!! You cant get those anywhere, they are locked to the hdd and your motherboard if you lose them you'll need a modchip.^QFE. Very important. Each HDD is locked specifically to its motherboard. Unless you back up this stuff, you have a big black brick if your drive fails, unless you feel like buying a modchip. You can easily do it after installing your new dashboard though, it's not at all tricky.
Fun little tip if you're going to hotswap, though, the XBOX has a floating ground, so earthing yourself on a grounded PC case and messing with the XBOX is a good way to get a shock, as I did several times. Still, keeps you alert and awake while you're modding...
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Fun to try, I'm sure, but it won't be even a fraction of any usable speed. Emulation is very heavy work, and that little PSP just can't cut it, it will have trouble running even Windows 3.1.
Watching videos on youtube leads me to believe it'd be something like the speed of an underclocked 286-era PC (and that's being somewhat optimistic), which basically means that any Windows game would be absolutely unplayable (even Solitaire). Just Windows itself is practically impossible to use at that speed, and certainly useless for anything productive. Some DOS based games *may* work, but even a lot of those will struggle, especially newer games. Combine that with a lack of proper inputs (keyboard, mouse) and it becomes nothing more than a fun hack to waste an afternoon on.
As digip suggested you'd be better off with a virtual machine on your PC, it'd be considerably faster.
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FYI, I was never on the show itself, I just diddled around on the forum and IRC, I was never crew, merely a community member helping out.
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Hmm, I wonder how long it takes before this is either deleted or read by someone "higher up".
VaKo's higher up. Anyway, given the topic at hand, I'd rather you didn't stir the hive if you wouldn't mind. Just remember the good times. :)
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Can't disagree with VaKo and Metatron here, we're all older and hopefully wiser, I'm sure we all learned something along the way, even if it wasn't quite what was intended and for that I can't be angry. I'm sure other viewpoints are available, to steal a phrase from the BBC, but it's a nice look back over the years, for each negative there was probably a positive along the line, and I did enjoy those midnight releases.
Thanks for the kind words about the administrator thing too, I never intended to make a big deal of it, but I appreciate the thanks, may your forumming continue to be as pleasant as ever it was. Cheers guys.
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There was actually an official "Best Of Season 1" DVD ISO which is still available here. It's big but it's pretty cool, good luck finding the easter eggs. :)
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Well, I debated with myself over whether to post this, but ultimately I decided I could do someone a favour. It is not intended to be in any way inflammatory and it also may not be absolutely accurate but it is a chronicle of a community that meant a lot of things to a lot of people. I am posting it only for its author and as a historical reference. If it is not found to be of interest then it will of course disappear naturally as obscure, unloved forum posts often do, if it is undesirable then I absolutely appreciate if it is to be removed. I reiterate, however, that it is certainly not intended to spark any form of unrest, unease or disruption and ask that if it inspires such emotion in you that you please ignore it. Finally, this is not my document, I did not write it and it is in no way related to my resignation as a forum administrator. Thanks.
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Back in the day we would argue what was better Amiga's or PC's occasionally the Macintosh was thrown in there
*puts on the rose tinted glasses*
1983:
Wow, Atari 800, huh? My BBC's so much faster than that old thing!
Psht, BBC Micro? Those clunky metal things? Dude, my Spectrum's so much better!
Spectrum? Haha, those spongey pieces of crap? Please, my C64's got bags more RAM!
Commodore? Eww, no way man, my Apple IIe's where it's at!
My Aquarius is even more awesome than your IIe, it has a thermal printer!
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1993:
Rad! My Amiga's so much more awesome than your pathetic old PC!
Amiga? C'mon man, Atari's where it's at now!
Really? My Apple Mac could kick your Atari's butt!
Haha, that Mac's no match for my Acorn...
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2003:
It's the year of desktop Linux!
Haha, for real? My Mac actually works!
No way, man, XP is the way forward!
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2013:
It's the year of desktop Linux!
Haha, for real? My Mac actually works!
No way, man, Windows 8 is the way forward!
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Bbc Announced A Hacking Challenge
in Security
Posted
I don't want to spoiler anything (I haven't even finished the challenge myself yet, it gets trickier), but it's not stego. Take a closer look at what you already have.