TV-B-Gone Archives - Zoli's Blog

Heart-B-Gone

Posted on August 8, 2008 ·

So you thought turning off all those TV’s using TV-B-Gone at CES was a stupid prank by Gizmodo? Me, too, but as it turn it, it was really harmless compared to the Polish boy, who converted a TV remote and derailed a tram, causing 12 injuries.

But in hindsight, that was just a benign trick, too. VentureBeat reports of a “collaborative academic effort where medical device security researchers have figured out how to turn off someone’s pacemaker via remote control.”

Academic effort by medical researchers. They spend two years on this research. And they mean good, they just want to raise awareness of a potential vulnerability. Here’s the full paper on it.

If this is not a Killer App, I don’t know what is…

Filed Under: Technology · Tagged: killer app, pacemaker, research, science, TV-B-Gone

Gizmodo Calling Themselves Names

Posted on January 14, 2008 ·

I really did not want to write about Gizmodogate again. But instead of letting it die, today Gizmodo found it important to defend themselves as saviors of journalistic independence:

Our prank pays homage to the notion of independence and independent reporting. And no matter how much access the companies give us, we won’t ever stop being irreverent. That’s what this prank was about and what the press should understand.

How heroic! And hypocritical, as I pointed out before. After all, it was Mighty Hero Gizmodo themselves who not only trashed the TV-B-Gone 3 years ago:

Mitch Altman is an asshole. And not just any asshole, but one of those snotty holier-than-thou types who has nothing better to do with the money he made as a founder of 3ware than to develop a device with the sole purpose of imposing his viewpoint on others…
…Essentially a universal remote that cycles through every possible code, the TV-B-Gone has a single purpose: to power off televisions whenever the user feels like being a dick.

(Emphasis mine). So who is the dick now?

Filed Under: Marketing / PR, Misc · Tagged: ces, gawker media, gizmodo, pranks, TV-B-Gone

Gizmodo’s Prank Was Fairly Harmless, After All

Posted on January 14, 2008 ·

OK, time to put things in prospective. Yes, I believe the Gizmodo prank of switching off LCD’s at CES, disrupting presentations was immature, and they deserved to be banned. But let’s realize they were still relatively harmless; could have done a lot worse with the almighty TV-B-Gone, just like this Polish kid did:

A teenage boy who hacked into a Polish tram system used it like “a giant train set”, causing chaos and derailing four vehicles.

The 14-year-old, described by his teachers as a model pupil and an electronics “genius”, adapted a television remote control so it could change track points in the city of Lodz.

Twelve people were injured in one derailment, and the boy is suspected of having been involved in several similar incidents.

(Full story at The Telegraph)

Filed Under: Misc, Technology · Tagged: ces, gizmodo, prank, TV-B-Gone

Too Bad Gizmodo / Gawker Media is Not Public

Posted on January 11, 2008 ·

(Updated)
This would be a good time to short their stock. The biggies hurt at CES would sue their a***s off. The video is really fun to watch. Except if you’re one of the people who worked hard to prepare, stage and deliver their presentation which the pranksters sc***ed with – let alone the companies that spent millions to participate at the show.

Not everyone agrees, and frankly, I am amazed how people I normally respect find it a laughing matter.

Update (1/12): Must be a slow weekend, this is still the hot topic on TechMeme. Webware, Hardware 2.0, TECH.BLORGE.com, Valleywag, bub.blicio.us, Crave, Geek News Central, The Stalwart, Laughing Squid, Silicon Alley Insider, Bloggers Blog, Scobleizer… you name it. They all (including me) missed this irony: Gizmodo themselves trashed the TV-B-Gone 3 years ago:

Mitch Altman is an asshole. And not just any asshole, but one of those snotty holier-than-thou types who has nothing better to do with the money he made as a founder of 3ware than to develop a device with the sole purpose of imposing his viewpoint on others…
…Essentially a universal remote that cycles through every possible code, the TV-B-Gone has a single purpose: to power off televisions whenever the user feels like being a dick.

So who is the a**hole now? And who feels like being a d*ck? Was this Altman’s ultimate revenge?
(hat tip: Anonymous commenter)