Philadelphia Will Do  
 
Tag » Computers « Home

Jul

23

Finally, An Easier Way To Bug Mayor Street

072307streetiphone.jpg

It was just a few weeks ago when our very own mayor, John Street, got in line for an iPhone at 3 in the morning (at right). “Go back to work!” the critics jeered. “Stop the murders!” But John Street is the lame duck mayor and so there’s not much anyone can do to punish him for, uh, wanting a cool new tech gadget.

Au contraire. You can simply get back at Mayor Street by hacking into his iPhone. Independent Security Evaluators have discovered a simple buffer flow exploit that allows a remote computer to take control of an iPhone if the phone user (in this case, Mayor Street) visits a website designed to do such a thing. In the New York TImes article, the phone follows commands from a remote computer and sends back text messages and contacts.

There are no reports of this exploit actually effecting any phones; right now it’s just more of a proof of concept. But still! The Times says the iPhone could even be turned into a portable bugging device. Now how’s John Street gonna sweep his office for bugs this time?

IPhone Flaw Lets Hackers Take Over, Security Firm Says [NYT]
June 29: This Kind Of Sums Up Eight Years Of John Street
 
dmac | 11:27 AM | 1 Comment
Computers, Hackers, iPhone, John Street
 

Apr

10

Quickies: Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200

• You may have hotels on Park Place and Boardwalk, but you still have to trek outside of Atlantic City to find a supermarket. The only one on the island is closing soon. Isn’t it nice how much casino gambling worked out for the city? [AP/6 ABC]

• Bryan Curtis at Slate says you should read Marley and Me, the doggy Inquirer columnist John Grogan — and, remember, if you criticize him, you’re just jealous! — but only when the doggy’s little. When he gets older, put it away and kick it to the curb. (The book, not your dog.) [Slate]

• Service journalism: How to recycle your computer so it doesn’t end up in a landfill. Seriously, go to the front page of Salon and there’s a photo of a kid surrounded by thrown-out wires and such in Asia, since apparently we outsource our computer trash removal, too. [Salon]

• A town councilman in Upper Darby is accused of shoplifting sneakers from a store. Let’s see if we can get him in a cell with Rick Mariano. [Bucks County Courier Times]
 
dmac | 11:51 AM | 9 Comments
Atlantic City, Computers, Crime, Gambling, John Grogan, Marley & Me, Trash
 

Dec

19

Fun with computers, Vol. 1

On the sidebar of the CBS 3 website, there’s a little item called “Track It!” It’s essentially a souped-up tagging system where you can find similar articles with keywords from the article. So, say, a story on yesterday’s Eagles game could have keywords like “Eagles,” “Rams,” and the like.

Today, one of the stories on CBS 3’s website is headlined Woman Finds Dead Husband Along Rehoboth Avenue. Sad. And pretty much a standard mystery death story. But check out the topics for it:

121905womanfindsdeadhusband.gif

You know, I try not to judge, but if you’re searching for that last one, you’re a sicko.

Woman Finds Dead Husband Along Rehoboth Avenue [AP via CBS 3]
 
dmac | 11:54 AM | 0 Comments
CBS 3, Computers, Woman Finds Dead Husband