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CES got hacked!

DaikunDaikun
edited January 2008 in Technology
The annual Consumer Electronics Show tech convention got hacked by the editors of tech blog Gizmodo. When they were handed some TV-B-Gone remotes, they turned off the majority of the television screens during the show.

Watch the ensuing madness.

Comments

  • AprecheApreche
    I hardly call using a TV B-Gone "hacking". I stopped reading Gizmodo altogether when they put Tubgirl on Kotaku. Both Gizmodo and Kotaku are part of the Gawker network of blogs. Clearly the people at Gizmodo are unprofessional losers. Engadget ftw.
  • NeitoNeito
    Personally, I think everyone's getting a little too whiny over this.
    It was a prank, barely. Live with it.
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    There'll be little bits of black tape over the IR ports next year. Nice trick though.
  • SailSail
    edited January 2008
    The word "hacked" gets thrown around way too much these days.

    And, seriously, what the fuck. These are people and companies who have paid to be here, just to have potential customers and journalists unjustly think that their products are faulty.
    Post edited by Sail on
  • PagePage
    How dull, I was really hoping something a little more creative. This certainly gets the description of being a hack prank.
  • ......
    It was a prank, no hack whatsoever. They didn't even make the TV-B-Gones! I agree with Sail, it was just stupid and making people look bad.
  • mattytehhax0rmattytehhax0r
    Yeah, I don't think this constitutes the word "hack". More like "Lame prank".
  • AndrewAndrew
    Yeah, I don't think this constitutes the word "hack". More like "Lame prank".
    Says the guy with "hax0r" in his name. ^_~
  • PagePage
    Yeah, I don't think this constitutes the word "hack". More like "Lame prank".
    Hack
    adj. commonplace or inferior
    Most assuredly a hack.
  • SailSail
    edited January 2008
    Hack
    adj. commonplace or inferior
    Most assuredly a hack.I don't see anyone in this thread using "hack" as an adjective.

    [Edit] Unless you mean that the people who did it were "hacks". In which case you would be right, and I would have just totally ruined the joke.
    Post edited by Sail on
  • PagePage
    edited January 2008
    Hack
    adj. commonplace or inferior
    Most assuredly a hack.
    I don't see anyone in this thread using "hack" as an adjective.
    I disagree as mattytehhax0r's comment leaves room for the word hack to be used as an adjective rather then a verbal noun.
    [Edit] Yes, that is what I did mean.
    Post edited by Page on
  • TechparadoxTechparadox
    A true "hack" would have been to figure out some way to make all the TVs in the place pipe in something unexpected at the same time (e.g. the rickroll video) and then use those TV-B-Gone remotes to trigger it off. This was just a lame writer pulling a lame prank, and he got what he deserved for disrupting a trade show.
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    That wouldn't have been that hard. I could have done it with a few ninja remotes and a TV frequency transmitter.
  • TechparadoxTechparadox
    That wouldn't have been that hard. I could have done it with a few ninja remotes and a TV frequency transmitter.
    Yeah, but at least it would have been a decent hack. What the dude from Gizmodo did barely qualifies as a fratboy prank.
  • am_dragonam_dragon
    Here's the way I look at this situation. CES, a big over the top electronics show, including lots of showmanship and "booth babes" to sell products. This looks to me as a semi professional environment. The big business deals are done elsewhere not on the show floor. Some guy pulls a prank, the scope of which isn't really know, on a few displays. He may have done this as a way to drive traffic to Gizmodo (Gawker changed it's pay scale to a traffic based model) and to his post specifically. Several bloggers then make a HUGE issue out of the prank, possibly to drive traffic to their site.

    He didn't break anything, the displays were turned off, turn them on, fixed. The display going out during the presentation, yeah asshole move, what prank isn't? Everyone has had a demonstration go bad at one time or another. A good speaker should be able to compensate. No big deal, kinda funny or feed the frenzy, follow the crowd and be outraged.

    I say no big deal, but that's just me...
  • RymRym
    Some guy pulls a prank
    The deal is that it was an uncreative, unclever, lame, and disruptive prank. Had the prank actually been funny, he'd have gotten a free pass in my book.
  • AprecheApreche
    Some guy pulls a prank
    The deal is that it was an uncreative, unclever, lame, and disruptive prank. Had the prank actually been funny, he'd have gotten a free pass in my book.
    I think the bigger story was who did it, rather than what they did.
  • am_dragonam_dragon
    I think the bigger story was who did it, rather than what they did.
    I really like Gizmodo, not over Engadget but as a companion. Giz usually has more odd ball stuff, like the usb humping dog. I think posting about the prank was the part that was bad form. The post was created to drive traffic. I wonder what would have happened if Gizmodo said nothing and the video was posted to Youtube anonymously. Would that change the perception?
  • TechparadoxTechparadox
    edited January 2008
    The deal is that it was an uncreative, unclever, lame, and disruptive prank. Had the prank actually been funny, he'd have gotten a free pass in my book.
    I think the bigger story was who did it, rather than what they did.
    Rym: I'll grant you that; if it had been something creative then I wouldn't be scoffing at the guy and his actions. But what he did was just like the guy who would take one of those TV-B-Gone units to the bar and then use it to repeatedly turn off the TV to annoy the patrons, albeit on a larger scale. It was weak sauce, to say the least.

    Scott: You bring a good point. I hate to drag the term "Journalistic Integrity" into play, but actions like this seriously make one question the integrity of the guys over at Gizmodo.

    Did anyone catch the editorial about the situation that popped up on the fourteenth? Have a look. It looks to me like the EIC over at Giz is whining like a kid who got caught doing something wrong and is trying to rationalize his actions to get out of the punishment.
    Post edited by Techparadox on
  • VigaViga
    I wonder what would have happened if Gizmodo said nothing and the video was posted to Youtube anonymously. Would that change the perception?
    It would be a hilarious video exchanged by many internet people and no one would be the wiser to Gizmodo's scheme. More people would be praising the act and thought it was a punk kid rather than berate Giz like a naughty child. Not to say they don't deserve it because they do in this case. Spare the rod spoil the child here.
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