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Sunday, August 10, 2008

Pwnage Tool 2.0.2 Jailbreaks iPhone 2.0.1 Software [Featured Mac Download]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/360476137/pwnage-tool-202-jailbreaks-iphone-201-software

Mac only: The iPhone 2.0 jailbreak utility for Mac, PwnageTool, has just been updated to accommodate the latest iPhone software update from Apple. Re-jailbreak your iPhone 3G, first gen iPhone, or iPod touch running the 2.0.1 software with PwnageTool 2.0.2. PwnageTool creates an alternate firmware bundle to install on your device, that includes an app called Cydia—and new to this version of PwnageTool—a new beta of Installer.app. Those two apps serve as gateways to software repositories you're not going to see in iTunes' App Store. Here's a screenshot of just a few apps I installed via Cydia and the Installer.app post-jailbreak.

On the top left you see Installer and Cydia, then gTxtEdit (a better text editor than Notes), ModPlayer (plays more file formats than your iPod), SynchStep (plays songs with beats that synch to how fast you're walking—seriously), MxTube (a YouTube clip downloader), and the NES emulator.

If you install OpenSSH from Cydia, you can also copy media and voicemail from it to your computer and tether your iPhone to your Mac to get online anywhere.

Here's the step-by-step for jailbreaking your device with PwnageTool; developers recommend upgrading via the original PwnageTool's built-in update system. PwnageTool 2.0.2 is a free download for Mac only.

Good Morning! [blog.iphone-dev.org]
Jailbreak iPhone 2.0 with PwnageTool

BlackBerry Thunder Coming To Verizon On October 13? [Rumor]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/359721612/blackberry-thunder-coming-to-verizon-on-october-13

According to Boy Genius Report sources, the BlackBerry Thunder looks set to hit Verizon on October 13 as the BB9530. The tipster also sent an inventory list from Verizon, which seems to confirm the model number for BlackBerry's first touchscreen offering. This seems to fall in line with earlier release rumors for the Thunder, but we'll see as we get closer to October. [Boy Genius Report]

Lightning Review: Lenovo ThinkPad X200 [Lightning Review]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/359638456/lightning-review-lenovo-thinkpad-x200

The Gadget: Lenovo's ThinkPad X200, the leeettlest member of their revamped X notebooks, with Intel's recently released Centrino 2 inside.

The Price: The X200 starts at $1434 at Lenovo's store, though they initially announced it at $1199. The model we tested was close to $1800.

The Verdict: On the whole, the X200 has more going for it than against it. We think 12 inches is the sweet spot for a compact but full-fledged notebook, and the X200 is just 0.8 inches at its thinnest point. It's actually smaller than it looks—Lenovo seems to employ reverse optical trickery to make it look bulkier than it is.

A few exceptional points: The keyboard really is fantastic to type on. Battery life is damned impressive too, delivering between five and six hours of standard use (browsing, video watching, music playing) with the brightness turned most of the way up. There's a lot of power and battery management tools too, for the power anal. And it's got the usual Lenovo build quality.

The potential dealbreakers: There's no trackpad—it's just you and the nipple. If you love the nip, ignore this point. Not ignorable, though, is that the screen is way to! o dim, e ven on max brightness. On a screen that small, brightness and clarity are paramount. So that's a big ol' suck. The mono speaker is fairly atrocious (and our headphone jack was bad on this unit, so it was a definite sore point). Oh, and it's not pretty. In sum, it's not a sight and sound machine.

It doesn't have a built-in optical drive, but honestly, that's a consideration more than a black-and-white downer. (They do include the external gratis.)

Here's what the X200 comes down to: If you want a solid but small notebook for reliably getting work done, this is it. If you want more than that, you probably want something else.

Dan Nosowitz contributed to this review.

Navy Drops $7.5 Million on an EMP Generator [Military]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/359847840/navy-drops-75-million-on-an-emp-generator

As anyone who has seen the Matrix will tell you, an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) can wreak havoc on electronics. You may also know that an EMP is a byproduct of a nuclear blast—which is why the Navy has handed over $7.5 million to L-3 Services, Inc. to build an EMP generator. The device is not going to be used as a weapon, instead it will be used to test the resistance of military systems to specific EMP levels as a preventative measure in the event that a nuclear weapon is detonated in US airspace.

The fear is that a king-sized EMP generated from a nuclear blast detonated in the sky could send this country back to the stone age. Even if the possibility of such a scenario occurring is remote, the Navy doesn't want to take chances. If all goes well, the generator is expected to be completed sometime in 2010. [Defense Industry Daily via Danger Room]

Windows Vista Pwned By Web Exploit That Can't Be Stopped [Windows Vista]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/359742631/windows-vista-pwned-by-web-exploit-that-cant-be-stopped

Presenters at Black Hat revealed that most, if not all, of Windows Vista's security features can be taken out with a single browser exploit, using Java and .NET to execute malicious code. What really makes this a killer, is that it is based around Vista's fundamental architecture, not a specific security flaw, and can be executed with any browser vulnerability. As researcher Dino Dai Zovi told SearchSecurity, "that's completely game over."

Microsoft programmers are apparently aware of the exploit presentation at Black Hat, and are waiting to see the findings themselves. Presented by Mark Dowd and Alexander Sotirov, of IBM and VMware, respectively, the exploit negates key security features such as Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR), Data Execution Prevention (DEP), which make it difficult to locate and execute code and data. And apparently this exploit is so broad and game changing that it could be applied to other platforms. OS X, beware? [SearchSecurity via Electronista]