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The new Kindle firmware seems to be all the rage these days, though the manual installation package for early adopters had been quite elusive until now. While the new features are quite neat, early adopters found themselves unable to apply any of the previously-established hacks. Firmware hacking is popular because it enables extensive customization options. I was impatient to install the new firmware, but I didn’t want to lock down my Kindle or wait for new hacks. What now?

Why, I simply installed the usbNetwork hack before upgrading to 2.5.2. The usbNetwork hack installs a Telnet daemon and a SSH server on the Kindle, while allowing the Kindle to be controlled over USB. It is a simple way to gain a root terminal, and it still works after the new firmware is installed. Hopefully, this paves the way for further hackery.

It should be noted that users who already have the new firmware cannot apply the usbNetwork hack (the process terminates with error code U004). If you’re interested in using it, install it while you still have the 2.3.* firmware.

So how exactly do you get a root console on the Kindle, with the usbNetwork hack? First, you put the Kindle into debug mode (in general, to issue any command, just follow these five steps and change what you type during the fourth step):

1. press [Home] to go to the home screen
2. type any key on the keyboard to enter search mode
3. press [←] to blank the line
4. type ;debugOn (the ; character, and many others, is available in the [SYM] menu)
5. press [↵] to issue the command

Next, issue the `usbNetwork command on the Kindle, and plug it in. It should appear as a “RNDIS/Ethernet Gadget” rather than the usual mass storage device. By default, the interface should be configured with IP address 192.168.2.1, and the Kindle could be accessed at 192.168.2.2. How you go about setting up the interface depends on the operating system on your desktop. Telnet and SSH should be running at this point, either of which would give you a root shell.

Users have reported the interface dying after a couple of minutes. Through the console, it is possible to disable the daemon that periodically resets network connections as the Kindle goes to sleep:

/etc/init.d/netwatchd stop

This morning I woke up to an inbox full of suggestions to “like” a certain page on Facebook. Curious, I decided to have a look. It turned out to be a service promising to show you who views your profile (which, of course, is absolutely absurd), and all you had to do was press ctrl+c, alt+d, ctrl+v, and enter. Apparently, a lot of people did this and found themselves wondering how their browsers got hijacked.

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I recently bought a small virtual server (OpenVZ, 128mb memory, 256mb burstable) for web hosting. I knew that it would be a challenge to work with limited memory, especially since OpenVZ doesn’t swap like Xen. For starters, I went with a 32-bit minimal Debian setup, because 64-bit pointers use twice as much memory as 32-bit pointers. Apache was also out of the picture, but Lighttpd easily filled the role. MySQL was also heavily tweaked to limit resource usage. All in all, I had a happy little system that used 60mb-100mb of memory.

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Almost every conversation on Omegle contains the ubiquitous “ASL” (age/sex/location) query. You might be asked if you were American (“STAR”) or if you live near the city of St Albans (“STA?”). More recently, a band of Twitter users have set out to find each other on the Web service for strangers. An instant messaging service that pairs random strangers anonymously, Omegle attracts a variety of users.

The majority of users behave as expected. Anonymity leads to abusive language and general silliness online. Advertisers have taken advantage of the unfiltered and unmoderated service using robotic and human zombies alike. Still others engage in cybersex. In a world where identity does not matter, sophomoric behavior is the norm and civility has no bearing.

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