Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with hack

Gmail hacked - lots of spam sent - nothing in sent items

dance — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 04:57:45 -0800

My Gmail account was very definitely hacked on Sunday. A whole lot of email was sent, seemingly to everyone I've ever corresponded with from that account. There was clearly a login from Poland which corresponds exactly with when the emails began to be sent. The session seemed to last about 7 minutes. I then received about 150 "mailer daemon" emails due to the bounces from either old addresses, addresses which don't receive unsolicited email and mail servers which correctly identified the content as spam. What baffles me is

a) How my password was cracked or guessed. It was (now changed to 2-stage authentication) described as "not good" by a password strength checker but I had no idea Google would allow a bot or other tool to brute force its servers. Without giving too much away, I wouldn't have thought the password was in any human way guessable.
b) why there is no record of the sent items in Gmail's "sent items" folder OR in the bin
c) How he managed to do so much in so little time! Clearly automation of some sort but I would have thought Google would defend against this and the suspicious activity log reckoned, at least, that the rascal was using a browser (Firefox).

Thanks

Can I hack an antenna into our baby monitor?

NotSoSimple — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:13:31 -0800

Tired of the random 'Searching' beep throughout the night waking me up. Help me get some sleep? This is our second baby monitor (We use two at once, for two kids). Both have range, possibly interference, problems.

First monitor: Graco. It operates on the 900MHz frequency. It is about 55' from base station to receiver. The base station is on the first story, receiver is on second story. Using This calculator and full wave it states 13.12" for antenna height.

Second monitor: Vtech. It operates on the 1.9GHz frequency. It is about 75' from base station to receiver. The base station is on the first story, receiver is on second story. Using This calculator and full wave it states 6.214" for antenna height.

Am I thinking correctly that I can hack open these units, unsolder the old antenna, and solder on an appropriate sized piece of wire? Will that give me the boost I need? Hopefully this simple hack will get me some more sleep at night! Anything else you can suggest?

What interesting use can I make of two old handheld radios?

bangitliketmac — Wed, 01 May 2013 21:15:36 -0800

I have two old Radio Shack handheld radios. They were purchased in the US, originally for communication on the ski slopes. On the back, there is a number "09A06" and it also says CAT NO 21-1936. I was about to throw them away, but would rather repurpose them for something. I live in a large metropolitan area, in an apartment. I am good at programming and am comfortable using something like an Arduino, Rasberry Pi, BeagleBone, etc. What interesting hack can I use these for?

Did my amazon account get hacked?

Sakura3210 — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 20:12:23 -0800

I recently went onto amazon and found multiple items in my cart that I had not placed there. Could my account have been hacked, or is it just some weird glitch? I've already changed the password as a precaution, but this doesn't seem like a clear-cut hack - I have no idea how someone could get into the account (I don't click e-mail links, login on publically accessible computers, use the same password on different sites, used an easy password, etc.), and my "search history" only shows items I've browsed for. How could these items show up in my cart without being browsed for?

In the meantime, I'm a little freaked. Should I be taking further steps? Is there anyway to find out (if I was hacked) HOW they got my info?

Thanks for any help you guys can provide.

Looking for cool electronics building kits

Admiral Haddock — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 10:43:51 -0800

I've been building guitar pedal kits from buildyourownclone, and it's been great fun. I'm running out of pedals I want to make for myself, and am looking for other projects, like this stereo tube amp, and maybe this sous vide. Can you recommend more electronics projects (preferably kits, so I don't have to scrounge for parts) that are cool and look good at the end? I'm not particularly computer minded, so I'm not really looking for arduino-based kits--I'm not really looking to program anything. I like soldering.

Evilmadscientist has some cool looking kits.

Any others? Has anyone out there built a stereo tube amp? Is there another kit you'd recommend? How about a sous vide kit, or alternate project I should look at?

In addition to having all the bits and bobs, I prefer kits because I don't have a real workspace, so I'm not in a position to hack a lot together--and I do want something that looks good when I'm done.

So, for instance, this alternative tube amp kit, shown mounted on a piece of wood, is less appealing than paying (significantly!) more for the other kit which comes with a nice looking enclosure.

(I also definitely don't want to electrocute myself or burn the house down, so well documented kits from reputable sellers are highly preferred!)

What place to visit for a geek / otaku / goth / rpg gamer in london ?

bussiere — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 05:00:36 -0800

I would like to know if you have some place /event for me to visit in london. I'am a french otaku / geek / goth / rpg gamer. My friends already give me some address and i get somes like : The london hackerspace, namco station , forbiden planet, slimelight, the david bowie exposition. I will be there the 19 march to the 25 march mainly for the louie ck show. Regards Bussiere

How can I deny an android app permissions it claims to require?

jsturgill — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 08:20:58 -0800

Android apps seem to grab permissions that I have no desire to give them. My understanding is that the permissions per app are all bundled together: it's all or nothing. At least officially. Is there another way? Also, is there a privacy watchdog site that will help me find apps that actually respect my privacy and support/purchase them over those that do not? For example, I need to install Skype. Like, for work need to. To pay the bills and eat need to. The only problem is that it asks for everything under the sun. I don't want it to have access to most of the things it wants to access.

At least in 2011, Skype gave all its information to any other app that wanted it on the phone. I'm sure it's not the only one.

Almost every app on my phone grabs permissions like they're going out of style, and it drives me crazy. I would love to find even an unoficial, poorly supported, sporadically developed, unstable method of blocking specific kinds of access to installed apps or spoofing the information given to apps. Is there such a thing?

Fan hack

Eiwalker — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 14:37:18 -0800

What would be cool to have spin round and round, but that's light and aerodynamical enough that my fan's motor could power it? My Vornado fan's blade broke and I'm looking to replace the blade with something else.

Looking to Hack my Bra and Stop the Chafing

watercarrier — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 03:32:21 -0800

How can I make my bras more comfortable? I want to sew a very soft, durable and breathable strip of fabric along the inner band under the bra cups to it'll be less chafing. What kind of super-soft material am I looking for and are there any sites out there on how to do this?

Thanks :)

Los Angeles Life Hacks

Sara C. — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 11:13:43 -0800

I'd like some every day hacks for life in Los Angeles. It's finally happening. After two years working on my New York City exit strategy, I'm moving to Los Angeles at the end of next month.

I have savings. I'm leveraging my local connections to find a job ASAP. I have a sense of the lay of the land, and a game plan for buying a car. I've read just about every AskMe thread about L.A., ever.

I just have one more question. What are the little everyday tricks that make life in Los Angeles easier?

For example, in New York, for only a couple extra bucks, the laundromat will do your laundry for you, including matching your socks. We've got smart phone apps to navigate public transit. Want to know if a gentrifying neighborhood is safe? Keep an eye out for a Connecticut Muffin coffee shop. Or, in the opposite direction, the Kennedy Fried Chicken fast food chain. Need a life-line to cool free social activities? We've got a blog for that. And a newsletter. What if you need to renew your driver's license, but you don't want to wait in line all day? Head to the Express DMV.

What are the L.A. equivalents of these things? What simple service is going to make my life a thousand times better? What local blog is going to revolutionize the way I have fun? Is there an immediate visual shorthand for whether a neighborhood is safe? A group I can join? A radio station that will keep me sane in traffic? A tiny perk of Southern California life I wouldn't know about? A simple bit of advice about the freeway system?

What about the bad stuff? Any huge warnings or points of culture shock I might not be anticipating? Any seemingly friendly yoga center/event space/knitting circle that is SECRETLY A CULT? (For what it's worth, I'm comfortable driving in Manhattan at rush hour, grew up in the deep south so I'm used to the lack of "real seasons", etc.)

I already know about the Thomas Guide and Mapping L.A. I intend to join AAA sometime in the next few weeks. I've taken a bit of a crash course on the California DMV regulations about licensing, smog checks, and the like. Assume I'm asking about stuff that isn't already common knowledge to someone relocating to Southern California.

WATCH ALL THE MOVIES (on a kindle)

nushustu — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 11:09:59 -0800

Can I hook up a Kindle Fire to an external hard drive? Without a laptop or the equivalent as a go-between?

I have a couple of kids I need to keep entertained on a long road trip, with long stretches without wifi. I was hoping to put a bunch of movies on a hard drive, and then hand them a kindle, which they could plut into the hard drive to access the movies. I know there's no official way to do this, but are there any hacky work-arounds?

My Friend Had Compromising Info Stolen; Please Help Me Help Him!

OneMonkeysUncle — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 12:53:53 -0800

A friend has had an old Hotmail account hacked. The hacker used information in the archives there to access a YouTube account where apparently some compromising videos were uploaded. The hacker copied the videos to another YouTube account, and then sent links to the videos to my friend's family - and worse still, to members of the executive board of the nonprofit organization by whom my friend is (was?) employed. He reached out desperately to me, but I know nothing but the most basic things about Internet security and privacy law... What can I tell him? What should he be doing right now? Both Microsoft and Google have been absolutely no help whatsoever - the Hotmail account hadn't been used in at least two or three years; my friend doesn't even remember what the most recent Hotmail password was. Google / YouTube is simply... not responding at all. Of course, neither of them have any published phone numbers, so the only recourse my friend's had is email and simple "Contact Us" forms onsite.

Secondarily, is there any legal recourse? Is this type of activity covered by any security or privacy law? (The state is Illinois, if that matters). Would it be a local jurisdiction - calling the police? - or are the laws Federal, requiring the FBI?

Thanks in advance for any help or information you can provide. He is one of my very best friends, and although I don't think I understand all of the ramifications, he talks as if his life has been ruined; he is normally a very calm, even-tempered man and he sounds absolutely desperate. I want to do anything I can to help him through this.

Is there a custom firmware dev community for the Flip Ultra HD?

tdischino — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 13:50:47 -0800

How can I hack my Flip Ultra HD? I've put my best google forward, but can't seem to come up with sites/forums/blogs for discussion of firmware hacks/customizations for the Flip Ultra HD. I'm a bit surprised that this discontinued video camera hasn't been hacked yet similar to CHDK for Canon cameras. Similar to CHDK, I'm looking for creative modifications to the firmware that would allow for hi-speed, lo-speed, and filters (solarization, tint, etc). I'm not talking about adding a new zoom or macro lens.

Am I just missing some obscure corner of the internet where there is a community working on this type of thing?

attractive and affordable barn door hardware for the win?

raztaj — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 05:28:06 -0800

Barn door bathroom door? How to do this, and where to get hardware? I'm planning on doing a double door for my bathroom (two 18" doors), to save space. I can't do a pocket door, but a barn door would work (and I love the look). I have the doors... but where to get the hardware?

Checked Lowe's and Home Depot - the latter has ugly aluminum wall mount hardware, that would be ok if I put a cover over it - but I like exposed hardware (if only I could find attractive hardware that wasn't super expensive).

Are there any hardware hacks? Can I do something similar with readily accessible hardware from a store (one of the big ones, or another in the DC area)?

Hack a Canon external Flash for high-speed video marking

nickerbocker — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 13:43:42 -0800

How can I hack a Canon external Flash for my high-speed video application? Hi! I have a few old external flashes for a Canon SLR camera. The one I have before me is a SunPak auto 433AF "Thyristor".

What I was hoping for was a simple shorting of some of the pins to cause the unit to flash... but that didn't get me anywhere.

My application isn't photography per-say. I'm going to be running a test that uses a high-speed video camera (at >1000fps) and need positive indication of certain events happening.

More specifically: I'm going to setup 2 flashes that are controlled by my computer software. The software will send a command to a solenoid valve to open. This signal should trigger the first flash. The solenoid valve will drive a pneumatic remote operated valve to begin to open and the encoder on the shaft will send feedback to the computer. Once the encoder registers >90deg rotation the second flash will occur. These two flashes will help in deciphering the rest of the information in the high speed video.

What kind of signal to what pins of this flash do I need to send to make it work? There is a "test" button that causes the flash. I need to use the pins from the hot shoe. Like...do I send a 5V square "ttl-style" trigger signal to a pin or something like that?

Thanks DIYers for your help :).

What to do with a EEE 900?

griphus — Tue, 29 May 2012 11:23:13 -0800

Fun hacks for my old EEE 900? I have this EEE 900 that's been made completely irrelevant by my phone (although it wasn't too useful beforehand, either.) It's got a 16GB SSD and running some version of Ubuntu or another tailor-made for the EEE ca. 2009 (possibly EasyPeasy.) It's slow, unresponsive and the keyboard is difficult to use. That really isn't the most conducive environment in which to work with an unfamiliar OS, so I haven't booted it in two years. I should've bought more RAM at the time, but I didn't, and I'm certainly not going to now (unless it's both incredibly cheap and necessary for whatever.)

Between my phone, my laptop and my PS3 I can't think of a damn thing for which to use it. Maybe a digital picture frame or something? Ideas, schematics, whatever would be great. I figure accidentally frying it is still more worthwhile than letting it gather dust.

Is my google account hacked?

holdenjordahl — Sun, 13 May 2012 12:12:26 -0800

This morning about 108 gmail inbox messages vanished. I can find them under "all mail" but i don't know they would leave the inbox. Also, someone's been trying to add an event to my google calendar, with no success. are these two things related? is there evidence of a hack? thank you.

Help me rehab my spa pillows

Big_B — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 15:50:57 -0800

Spa Pillow Rehab? Looking for suggestions on how to replace "skin" over foam spa pillows. Our spa that we've had for 4 or so years has several foam pillows that snap into the surface just about where your neck sits. Here is a replacement one for sale (the bigger of the three). They are made from a black foam with some sort of soft plasticy skin that has broken down over the years and is peeling off. The foam itself does not seem to have deteriorated, but if you mess with it it will come off on your hands. From what I understand this is probably related to the chemical environment - I'm pretty good with keeping it even but the chlorine probably is the culprit.

These things are pretty pricy (that link is oddly MUCH cheaper than other sources) and I'm wondering if there isn't something I could use/apply to them to reseal them and continue using the ones I have. Maybe a paint on plastic like you dip tool handles in? Or maybe a thick heat shrink material?

They don't necessary have to be soft either - I just want something that shape in it's place. Heck you could even custom carve wood inserts to replace them, although the shape is somewhat complex. Maybe make a mold and then make new ones with some other material? Something I could do for less than <$150 in supplies.

I'm pretty handy and have basic to good understanding of chemistry, and have a decent amount of tools. Although no drum sander...

I'll probably end up ordering new ones, but I foresee a future where replacements just aren't available.

Any and all suggestions welcome.

Wordpress Hack Prevention

netbros — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:35:43 -0800

I am running a Wordpress installation on my own domain. It was hacked. For an admin fee, my web host is restoring prior to the hack. What are my best practices going forward to prevent this from happening again? Whether it be security, administration, product knowledge, etc. — please share your helpful tips for Wordpress users who have been hacked. I'd like to avoid the same hacker making the same hack after I've had the site restored.

Assume for the time being I have no desire to change to a different content management system. That may be a future AskMe question.

How do I get more control over prezi?

solipsophistocracy — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:01:07 -0800

What do I need to learn in order to hack my own prezi files? CSS? Flash? None of the above? I taught a class last term with prezi, and I have gotten really into it. I noticed that a company called slidedynamic has created some 'prezi plug-ins,' (or additional prezi tools for both online and offline versions), and I'd like to learn how these generally work, how hard it would be to write similar code myself, and/or how to manipulate the guts of a prezi.

I shelled out for the EduPro account, so I have the desktop editor, but I get the sense that a whole different level of control over the presentations is just out of my grasp, but I don't know what to learn or how to start learning it.

I know that prezi is Flash-based (I guess for the animation aspects?), and I also know that it uses CSS (for formatting text and arranging objects?).

I don't know very much at all about Flash or CSS, but I have pretty decent general computing skills. I'm not certain if my time would be best spent learning more about either of these if my goal is really just increased control over what I can do with prezi.

If anyone knows specifically how best learn what's going on with prezi, or has good suggestions about learning more about Flash or CSS (hopefully as they map readily onto prezi), I'd love to hear!

Thanks much.

Dead MacBook = Minecraft server? Robot brain?

Bengston — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 12:18:25 -0800

What fun things could I do with my old 15" MacBook Pro whose graphics chip just kicked the bucket? When I try to startup my computer it gives me a kernel panic. Although having a kernel panic at startup could be caused by numerous things, there are some graphics anomalies that make me think it is most likely the graphics chip and therefore the computer for all common intents and purposes.

That being said, I have been able to start the computer up in root mode through the kernel (hopefully this means I can get the rest of my data off) does that limited functionality offer me any oppurtunities I should know about?

For what it's worth I am not that tech savvy. I like to tinker, have done some web development, played with an arduino a bit, and took an Intro to CS class in college. However, I haven't really ever fiddled inside the shell.

I am an artist, so all ideas are welcome.

Gmail account compomised but not sure how

alligatorman — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:39:02 -0800

My Gmail account was compromised a few days ago and the password was changed. I've since recovered it, but I'm wondering what could have caused it. The password is very strong. It's an email address that I have not myself logged into in 6+ months, and never on this new computer (a Mac). I have not sent an email from it in 4 years. The few messages it gets get sent to my other primary Gmail email address using Gmail's POP3. This email address has the same password. it was not compromised. No other account uses the same password.

Looking at the recent activity, the account was accessed once from a Poland IP, a spam email was unsuccessfully sent to my small list of contacts, and then never accessed again. I've Googled the phrase in the email and its been posted to mailing groups, so it looks like the work of a bot.

Obviously I am changing all of my passwords, but I'm wondering what could have happened here, and what I could have done wrong to cause this to happen. Why/how would a fairly inactive email address that's only ever accessed through Gmail's POP3 be the target of this?

Any insight would be appreciated. I'd rather put the blame on myself than on Google.

I has a malware

eugenen — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 19:14:37 -0800

My WordPress site got hacked. Who can I pay to fix it? My WordPress site, which was designed by a pro and which I'm not nearly savvy enough to properly maintain, appears to have gotten hacked and is now triggering malware warnings all over the place.

Do you know of a trustworthy company (or person?) I can pay to upgrade me to the latest version of WordPress and clean out any malicious code?

The site is relatively heavily customized.

Hack Hock Huckleberry

to sir with millipedes — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:44:07 -0800

Where can I go to learn about Arduinos in New York City? I am a dude with no background, but plenty of interest in learning how to program with Arduinos. I was planning on taking a class in October with NYC Resistor, but the class came and went, and they haven't posted a new one in quite a while. Anyone know where I can get some hands on classes in this kind of thing?

Hardware mod to fix Automatic Brightness on Android smartphone?

anthill — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 23:05:17 -0800

I've got an idea to fix the crappy automatic brightness sensor on my Android phone. Will it work / screw anything up? OK, so this explanation of why auto-brightness doesn't work on smartphones makes perfect sense. The little brightness sensor lens has a very narrow field of view and essentially can only measure how illuminated your face (or the room behind you) is, not how bright the phone background or screen surface is.

It seems to me a quick fix would be to modify the sensor so its field of view is a little wider, more of a fisheye, so that it at least would get a more average reading across the whole room (instead of a spot measurement of a dark corner or bright light fixture).

My plan is to carefully mask and sand the phone face above the light sensor to a matte/opaque finish. Do you think this will work to force the light sensor to capture a wider field of view? Is this what I want, anyway?

(Phone is a HTC T-Mobile G2, running Cyanogenmod 7)