My whole life is a hack: how Geohot owned the iPhone, PS3 and inadvertently rallied hacktivists

George Hotz is no stranger 'round these parts. Better known as Geohot, he first achieved internet fame at the age of 17 with his announcement of a hardware unlock method for the original iPhone. From there, he moved on to even greater notoriety with a PlayStation 3 exploit that quickly attracted the ire -- and legal wrath -- of Sony. Now profiled in The New Yorker, we're given a candid and unique insight into the world of George Hotz, whereby his own admission, he wasn't motivated by an ideology so much as boredom and the desire to control a system. The freedom issues, it seems, were merely an afterthought.

George Hotz is unique. We're talking about someone who was programming by age five, building video game consoles by the 5th grade and making appearances on NBC's Today at age fourteen. Like many brilliant adolescents, he experimented with drugs and rebelled against authority. Eventually, the powers that be caught up with him, and George Hotz was sued by Sony on January 11th, 2011. The lawsuit drew the attention of malicious hacker groups such as Anonymous and LulzSec, which retaliated against the company in very public ways. However unintentional, Geohot became the poster child for hacktivists and inspired a movement that quickly grew out of control -- if only more of us could be so productive with our boredom. For an insightful read into one of the most influential hackers of our time, be sure to hit the source link below.

My whole life is a hack: how Geohot owned the iPhone, PS3 and inadvertently rallied hacktivists originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 May 2012 04:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lloyds Banking Group beats expectations in Q1

LONDON (AP) ? U.K high street lender Lloyds Banking Group on Tuesday reported a modest net profit of 2 million pounds ($3.2 million) in the first quarter when its performance beat market expectations.

The company, 40 percent owned by U.K. taxpayers, also recorded a pretax profit of 288 million pounds ($467 million) in the first quarter, which included a 375 million provision to compensate customers for missold insurance.

In the previous quarter, it made a 316 million pounds net profit and a loss of 3.5 billion pounds in the same period last year. Its 2 million pound net profit compares with a 2.4 billion pound net loss last year and a 37 million pound profit in the previous quarter.

Lloyds has taken a total provision of 3.575 billion pounds, by far the biggest of any British bank, to compensate customers who were sold payment protection insurance which they didn't need.

Total income net of insurance claims was down 6 percent to 4.49 billion pounds.

Lloyds shares were up 1.6 percent at 31.5 pence in early trading.

The U.K. government injected much needed capital into Lloyds at the height of the financial crisis in 2008. It is now looking to sell off its shares, but only when their price has reached a certain level.

"The likelihood of reaching the government's 70 pence-plus break-even point seems a long way off, even if Lloyds is making slow and steady progress, whilst the absence of a dividend is another drag on enticing potential buyers," said Richard Hunter, head of equities, Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers.

Total impairments improved from 2.6 billion pounds a year ago to 1.66 billion pounds. Within that total, the charge in the first quarter in the bank's wealth and international division was 705 million pounds compared to 1.5 billion pounds a year earlier, primarily because of lower charges in its Irish and Australasian businesses.

Nonetheless, with two-thirds of the Irish portfolio classed as impaired, the bank warned that "further vulnerability exists."

Customer deposits were up 6 percent year-on-year to 412 billion pounds. The core tier 1 capital ratio? a key gauge of underlying financial strength ? was up from 10 percent last year to 11 percent in the first quarter.

Lloyds is still seeking to clinch a deal to sell 632 branches to meet the European Commission's conditions for receiving state aid. While continuing to talk to the Co-operative Group, the bank's preferred bidder, Lloyds said last week it was open to other offers.

Associated Press

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Look for Less: Vanessa Lachey?s Pretty Prints

The mom-to-be looks amazing in her Halston Heritage dress. Check her out, plus our look for less.

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Scientists find gene that inhibits pancreas cancer spread

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Residential Buildings in London Will House Surface-to-Air Missiles During the Olympics [Wtf]

Large-scale, international events like the Olympics are often considered as targets for terrorist attacks. The UK's Ministry of Defence is taking that extremely seriously: it's placing surface-to-air missiles on a residential apartment building during the summer's sporting event. More »

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Plastic-powered plane aims to soar across England

10 hrs.

John Roach

A globe-trotting, eco-minded adventurer aims to fly the length of England in a tiny plane powered by plastic rubbish ? if he can raise the funds needed to get the flight off the ground.

The adventure is the latest in a series of alternative-fuel journeys dreamed up by Andy Pag, a trained engineer who?s already driven a chocolate-powered truck across the Sahara Desert and a bus fueled with used cooking-oil around the world.?

For the microlight flight over England, Pag plans to use aviation fuel derived from waste plastics ? the stuff that?s unacceptable to recyclers and thus destined for the landfill.

Plastics, he explained, are chemically similar to hydrocarbon fuels ? both are made with long chains of hydrogen and carbon atoms, only their arrangements are different.?

The aviation fuel is created in a process that ?blows the chains apart and then reforms them in the size and shape of fuel molecules,? Pag said?in an email to msnbc.com Monday.

This is a Fischer Tropsch process, the same process used by the Germans in World War II to create diesel fuel from coal. "Using coal isn?t particularly environmentally friendly though, but obviously a waste product is,"?Pag added.

The use of plastics as a source of fuel is technically considered a synthesized fuel rather than a biofuel such as the chocolate and used cooking oil Pag used in his previous adventures.?

Similar to biofuels, though, the use of waste plastic is a way to cut down carbon dioxide emissions, he noted.?If the plastic bags were left in the landfill, they would, eventually, decompose to methane and carbon dioxide.

"By turning them into fuel, the CO2 still ends up in the atmosphere, but a load of ?purpose made? fuel is saved from being used, reducing total emissions," he said. "More simply, it puts a waste product to good use, reducing consumption and the associated emissions."

Of course, in world teeming with 7 billion people and at least 1 billion vehicles on the road, fuel from used plastic bags, chocolate?or even cooking oil is unlikely to curb our reliance on traditional fossil fuels.

"There is no cure-all solution," Pag said. "But if something helps, then I?m keen to take advantage of it."

And for now he wants to take advantage of all that plastic rubbish destined for the world?s landfills. To do so, he?s aiming to raise about $16,250 on Crowdfunder.?

To date, he has secured?only?about 1 percent of his target. Pag hopes a sponsor will back his cause and help cover the rest of the?trip's tab, which will include educational stops and will take about two?weeks to complete.?

--?Via Fast Company?

John Roach is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. To learn more about him, check out his website and follow him on Twitter. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.

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Cyanogenmod 9 struts its stuff on HTC's One X

So you've procured yourself HTC's new super slim, 4.7-inch halo phone: the One X. By now, you probably have the device set up just the way you like it: applications configured, widgets in place and Adele ringtone set. But there's just something else left to do, isn't there? If (like some of us) you're a smartphone user who just can't leave well enough alone, you'll be excited to learn that a build of Cyanogenmod 9 for the Uno Equis has been made available via the MoDaCo forums. The ROM will deliver that stock Android experience, and all those CM9 accoutrements, to those that don't fancy the panache of Sense 4.0. The forum post does caution that the One's camera, and hotspot functionality, aren't currently working, so interested parties best proceed with caution. If all that doesn't phase you, grab a cup of coffee, get the Android SDK all warmed up and take this ROM for a spin!

Cyanogenmod 9 struts its stuff on HTC's One X originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 10:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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