It seems like moments after a manufacturer releases a new security lock for mobile computers and similar devices, a hacker demonstrates how pitifully easy it is to defeat it. The latest security breach comes courtesy of Engadget and their new The Lockdown column, exploring high-tech security issues. It took the column’s author, Marc Weber Tobias, literally seconds to defeat the new Targus Defcon CL lock, using metal from a beer can.
Ironically, this test was prompted after a call from a St. Paul Pioneer Press tech journalist. He was the same reporter who wrote a detailed story on shoddy laptop locks in 2004. Two years later, doesn’t look like much has changed.
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It’s WAY too early to be starting in with the “would make a great stocking stuffer” line. We’ll be sick of that one long before we’re sick on Halloween candy corn, but check these out, for… oh hell, I might even buy one of these and I’m not much a gamer. For US$15, you get a keychain-sized Atari joystick or paddle wheel that actually works. The joystick model either contains Asteroid and Millipede or Centipede and Yar’s Revenge. The paddle controller has Pong, Breakout and Warlords. The controller comes with 6′ RCA cables so you can plug your keychain into any available TV, Now that’s going to leave an unsightly bulge in your pocket.
What would you get if you crossed the DIY spirit of MAKE and its sister pub CRAFT, the power and digital sophistication of LEGO Mindstorms, and the childhood charm of macaroni and yarn art? You may get something like PicoCricket. Like its nerdier big brother, Mindstorms, PicoCricket grew out of a collaboration between the LEGO company and MIT’s Media Lab, and both building sets include electronics and a microcontroller, but PicoCricket is designed to appeal to a wider range of young builders, and to allow for much more diverse creations. To assist in this, along with the electronics, LEGO pieces, and the computer “brain,” the kit also contains more traditional kid crafting materials, right down to the pipe cleaners, glittery bits, and googley eyes.