code Archive

  • Microsoft Tag comes out of beta, promises free colorful codes for all

    Microsoft Tag comes out of beta, promises free colorful codes for all

    Posted on May 28, 2010 | No Comments
    Microsoft Tag comes out of beta, promises free colorful codes for allIt was about a year and a half ago that Microsoft decided it could do QR codes better, that any universal coding system needed a dash of color, and launched Tag. Now, the roughly one billion Tags that users have printed have been made a little less illegitimate, with Microsoft bringing the service out of beta and taking the opportunity to toot Tag's trumpet a bit. The codes have appeared in 20 million magazines so far and have recently been deployed to create a sort of tour for geeks in Amsterdam (no word on whether our own international man of mystery is featured). Meanwhile America's cultural hub, the Mall of America, has been similarly bestickered to "enhance customer engagement," but based on our previous experiences at that bastion of commercialism we're thinking scooters and foot massages might have been more effective.

    Microsoft Tag comes out of beta, promises free colorful codes for all originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 May 2010 13:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • What’s the secret message on the USB drive?

    What’s the secret message on the USB drive?

    Posted on April 5, 2010 | No Comments
    There were a bunch of USB keys sent out to gaming outlets today, with no return address and only a cryptic message. What could it mean? Is Majestic coming back? Are aliens trying to contact gaming press outlets?

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  • Insert smiley emoticons hands-free with Auto Smiley

    Insert smiley emoticons hands-free with Auto Smiley

    Posted on March 23, 2010 | No Comments
    What would you do with the openFrameworks and an hour to kill? Would you create an application to detect when you're smiling and automatically insert ":)" into whatever program is currently running? Theo Watson did, and called it Auto Smiley! :) He released it as open source! :) We can't possibly have enough smiley icons embedded into our emails and IMs can we? :) I mean, we all spend all day every day smiling maniacally, right? :) :) :)

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  • GSM call encryption code cracked, published for the whole world to see

    GSM call encryption code cracked, published for the whole world to see

    Posted on December 29, 2009 | No Comments
    var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/security/GSM_call_encryption_code_cracked_published_for_the_world'; Did you know that the vast majority of calls carried out on the 3.5 billion GSM connections in the world today are protected by a 21-year old 64-bit encryption algorithm? You should now, given that the A5/1 privacy algorithm, devised in 1988, has been deciphered by German computer engineer Karsten Nohl and published as a torrent for fellow code cracking enthusiasts and less benevolent forces to exploit. Worryingly, Karsten and his crew of merry men obtained the binary codes by simple brute force -- they fed enough random strings of numbers in to effectively guess the password. The GSM Association -- which has had a 128-bit A5/3 key available since 2007, but found little takeup from operators -- has responded by having a whinge about Mr. Nohl's intentions and stating that operators could just modify the existing code to re-secure their networks. Right, only a modified 64-bit code is just as vulnerable to cracking as the one that just got cracked. It's important to note that simply having the code is not in itself enough to eavesdrop on a call, as the cracker would be faced with just a vast stream of digital communications -- but Karsten comes back to reassure us that intercepting software is already available in customizable open source varieties. So don't be like Tiger, keep your truly private conversations off the airwaves, at least for a while.

    GSM call encryption code cracked, published for the whole world to see originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Dec 2009 04:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Samsung Code comes to MetroPCS, Windows Mobile 6.5 decides to stay home

    Samsung Code comes to MetroPCS, Windows Mobile 6.5 decides to stay home

    Posted on October 21, 2009 | No Comments

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    Can you imagine Dell or HP selling a Vista laptop a couple months from now? No, you probably can't -- but we've got the mobile equivalent of that faux-pas going on here with MetroPCS' introduction of the rumored Code from Samsung, a portrait QWERTY device with EV-DO, a 2 megapixel camera, and microSD expansion up to 32GB. To be fair, WinMo 6.5 does far less for Standard than it does for Professional over its 6.1 equivalent, but still, it's just a little awkward for all parties involved. If you can get past that minor oversight, though, check it out now at your local retailer for $299 contract-free.

    Samsung Code comes to MetroPCS, Windows Mobile 6.5 decides to stay home originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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