Hackosis

Why spend $100 on a WiFi repeater when you can make your own $10 super duper WiFi antenna? Retaliate.

Items needed:

• 35-mm foam (like the kind desktop and laptop PCs usually come with)
• Solid-core copper wire
• Small brass plate
• Multiple BNC connectors

Follow the instructions in the video to get started:

Do you have any more nifty WiFi hacks? Let us know in the comments. { via tech.nocr.at }

DIYLife.com created a video instructing about how to create your own USB LED color changer. I doesn’t go into a whole lot of depth, so pay attention. You can also use this to do beat detection, etc.

{ via Hack N Mod }

Run out of jewel cases? Or maybe you hid them so your friends don’t ask you to burn them a CD AND give them a jewel case. At about $0.01 one cent a sheet, a piece of paper can make the perfect case for a CD or DVD.

And in case the video didn’t serve you justice, papercdcase.com has instructions for a slightly different version of a paper CD case in PDF and GIF format.

Why spend thousands of dollars on digital signage solutions when you can implement a terminal services solution and save big time? We can use a combination of a TV, HP thin client, PowerPoint Viewer, Terminal Services, and group policy to make our informational kiosk.

image by Solo, with others

What you need:

1. TV or Monitor
   
2. Thin Client (See how to Roll your own custom RDP thin client)
   
3. Terminal Server — this doesn’t necessarily have to be a ’server’ you can use Windows XP or Vista, unless you are using multiple logins.
4. PowerPoint Viewer

We need to apply some group policy settings to the user that will be logging into the remote desktop session. This can be applied through the domain level, or on the local PC that will be handling the RDP session.
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Ever use MSN instant messenger or Google Talk and feel like you are being watched? Well I have a little secret for you; you are being watched. Not that there is anything to hide, but privacy is always a good thing.

By using netcat we can setup a simple chat server, and it only takes about 5 minutes.

First, you need to make sure that you have netcat installed. Netcat is most likely included in your repositories if you are running Linux. Windows users can get the netcat Windows binary.

Ubuntu or Debian based sytems:

Make sure you open the port on your local firewall if need be and the rest is very simple. Lets assume that the server’s IP address is 192.168.10.1.

Run the netcat chat server on localhost (127.0.0.1) port 10001:

-n tells netcat not to do DNS lookup. Use this if you are using IPs only. It takes a long time for the DNS to timeout. If you are using hostnames, leave this switch off.
-v tells netcat to be verbose. This will allow you to see the chat messages in the terminal on the server.
-l tells netcat to listen for connections on the localhost. This will allow other nodes to connect to your chat server.
-p 10001 tells netcat what port to listen on. Again, make sure that you open the port on your firewall. This can be anything, but make it obscure and not a standard port.

Now lets say Bob wants to chat with you on your new netcat chat server. It is very easy for him to connect and talk with you.

Keep in mind that this is not secure. Anyone sniffing packets can intercept your messages. I am also unaware of any other security holes this might bring. If there is considerate knowledge of the network, I would assume it would be safe.

There are many ways we could add to this. We could use OpenSSL and have a secure chat. Also, we could log all chat messages to a file by redirecting the output of the netcat chat server ( >> chatlog.txt). There are many other possibilities including setting this up as a daemon with an init.d script. possibilities. If you have any netcat tips or ways to implement this with OpenSSL, I would love to hear it in the comments. dontripmyrsshackosis

So you don’t want to buy an Action Replay to hack your xbox? Lets make our own Xbox USB cable with no soldering required. I will even show you how to use Action Replay software with your USB drive.

Before we go any further take a look here to see if your USB thumb drive is compatible with the Xbox. If your USB drive is not listed, just stick in the Xbox after we make our cable and you will know if it is compatible or not.

What you need:

• USB cable with a female end:



• Electrical Tape:



• Scissors:



• And an extra Xbox controller end (You know the part that plugs into the Xbox that you can detach from the controller?) I don’t have a picture, I just used my last one. :)
• A USB jump drive:



• Action Replay Software
• USB View Software

Ok, lets get started. Prepare your USB cable:

1. Take your USB dongle with the female end and cut it about 5 inches from the female end. If you are new to stripping wires you might want to leave some ample room, like 10 inches.
2. Now strip the USB cable about 2 1/2 inches down from where you cut it, and cut off any shielding, etc.
3. You should have 4 wires. Red, black, white, and green.
4. Strip those little colored wires. I find using open scissors works well.

After preparing the USB cable we need to do the same to the Xbox controller dongle. Cut it just before the black lump on the plugin side. You don’t need the yellow wire so just cut it off. Now, twist the matching colors together. After that, test the cord by plugging your USB drive into the Xbox and going to memory management before you wrap it tight with electrical tape.

Format your USB drive for the Xbox:

1. BACKUP YOUR USB DRIVE. IT WILL BE ERASED.
2. Format your USB drive with the FAT32 file system
3. Open USBVIEW.EXE (Download above). Your USB drive should be showing. Note the following numbers: idVendor, and idProduct. The only numbers you have to worry about is the Zs – 0xZZZZ.
4. Install Action Replay
5. Navigate to C:\Program Files\Datel\Action Replay XBOX\drivers. Edit the xbreader.inf and scroll to the [_Devices] sections.
6. Edit only the first line. Replace the digits next to PID_ and VID_ and enter the ZZZZ digits from above.
7. Now, take your formated USB drive and plug it into the Xbox with your cable.
8. Turn your Xbox on and in the default dashboard navigate to your card from within Memory Management.
9. The Xbox will state that your memory unit has been erased. The Xbox has just formated your USB drive with the FATX xbox file system.
10. Take your USB drive back to your PC, open device manager and right click your USB Mass Storage device and click Update driver. Don’t select automatic and point the driver location to C:\Program Files\Datel\Action Replay XBOX\drivers\xbreader.inf. Run Action Replay. You can now transfer game saves onto your USB drive with Action Replay.
11. Take your USB drive back to your Xbox and copy the save games to the HD. :)

I hope you enjoyed making your own USB xbox cable and hacking Action Replay. Let me know how it goes!

Have some old boxes around? You can save money buy following the tutorial below and roll your own thin client using openSuSE 10.2 and a custom xdm script that loads a python script containing two button, one for shutting down the computer and one for logging into an RDP session.

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HACKER ALERT: This has not been tested with Vista. This method is known to work with 2000/XP/2003 Server.

The following will allow you to turn almost any .exe file into a service. Beware that some .exe files will need command line parameters passed to run with functionality.

Log in with administrative privileges. Also, verify that both INSTSRV.EXE and SRVANY.EXE are stored in a directory within the search path.
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I got me a new rig, put it together and am typing on it now. Got it for a under $900. I am VERY happy with the results. See below:

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case – Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119068

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