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SmackBook
Status: Real
A video on YouTube shows a MacBook Pro that has supposedly been hacked to rapidly change applications whenever it's smacked on the side. (Thanks to Kathy for sending the link.) I have to admit that when I first saw it, I thought it was fake. I figured the guy was probably pushing a button to make the applications change. However, after reading Erling Ellingsen's description on Medallia blog of how the SmackBook was created, I'm now pretty sure it's real. He writes: Turns out, the laptop has a built-in motion sensor. Nominally, it's there to protect the internal hard drive. The basic idea is this: If the accelerometer suddenly notices that the gravitational pull of earth is no longer present, the most likely explanation is that the laptop, sensor and all, is currently accelerating at 9.81 m/s² towards said earth. In that case, it will (wisely) try to turn the hard drive off in preparation for impact. It can, however, also be used in situations not involving lobbing the laptop across the room, fun though that may be.
More importantly, he also provides the code so that anyone else can hack the Mac's built-in motion sensor and create a SmackBook, if they desire. And a few people have reported successfully replicating the SmackBook. It's a cool little trick, but I don't see it having that many practical applications.
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Categories: Technology Posted by Alex on Fri Jun 09, 2006 |
Comments (8) |
| More from the Hoax Museum Archives: | |||
Yes, I don't really see the point. Not being a computer nerd could have something to do with that, but somehow I doubt it.
Posted by Nettie in Perth, Western Australia on Fri Jun 09, 2006 at 11:12 AM
Forget about smackbook; check out MacSaber, which uses the motion sensor to turn your MacBook into a lightsaber.
http://isnoop.net/blog/2006/05/20/macsaber-turn-your-mac-into-a-jedi-weapon
Watch this vid for a dead-on recreation of the Star Wars Kid using MacSaber.
http://a.wholelottanothing.org/2006/05/macbook_man.html
Posted by ejk in Ann Arbor, MI on Fri Jun 09, 2006 at 11:34 AM
http://isnoop.net/blog/2006/05/20/macsaber-turn-your-mac-into-a-jedi-weapon
Watch this vid for a dead-on recreation of the Star Wars Kid using MacSaber.
http://a.wholelottanothing.org/2006/05/macbook_man.html
This is not hoax. In fact, I could do this very easily.
Here's good instruction.
SmackBook Pro
http://www.applegeeks.com/sm/index.php/topic,7135.msg129483.html#msg129483
Posted by Jack24 on Fri Jun 09, 2006 at 12:05 PM
Here's good instruction.
SmackBook Pro
http://www.applegeeks.com/sm/index.php/topic,7135.msg129483.html#msg129483
What you have to prepare is...
MacBook or MacBook Pro ( it has a physical sencer for saving HardDisk from unexpected motion)
Parallels Desktop ( to install Windows or Linux on Mac)
VirtueDesktop ( to switch desktop )
AMS Tracker ( to sence the motion )
Smackbook.pl ( to pipe AMS with Virtue )
---
and here's another funny app.
YouTube - Don't Get Your Mac Jacked - iAlertU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkAtRfA1UXc&search=macbook alarm
iAlertU 0.12 - MacUpdate
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/21282
Posted by Jack24 on Fri Jun 09, 2006 at 12:16 PM
MacBook or MacBook Pro ( it has a physical sencer for saving HardDisk from unexpected motion)
Parallels Desktop ( to install Windows or Linux on Mac)
VirtueDesktop ( to switch desktop )
AMS Tracker ( to sence the motion )
Smackbook.pl ( to pipe AMS with Virtue )
---
and here's another funny app.
YouTube - Don't Get Your Mac Jacked - iAlertU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkAtRfA1UXc&search=macbook alarm
iAlertU 0.12 - MacUpdate
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/21282
Alex said:
"It's a cool little trick, but I don't see it having that many practical applications."
Hacks are SUPPOSED to have practical application??
Posted by Cranky Media Guy on Fri Jun 09, 2006 at 06:40 PM
"It's a cool little trick, but I don't see it having that many practical applications."
Hacks are SUPPOSED to have practical application??
Without hackers, we wouldn't have half the technological innovations we do today. Hackers (not the destructive "ZOMG MY BANK ACCOUNT" kind, which if you follow the lingo back enough are more crackers than hackers) make things work in ways that wern't originally intended, leading to interesting discoveries, new ways of thinking and more inventive programming.
Posted by Soldant on Sat Jun 10, 2006 at 07:34 AM
Hackers have taken advantage of that sensor before, too. Someone made a "Labyrinth" game (the one where you roll a ball through a maze) which is controlled by actually tipping the computer. Is that cool or what?
Posted by PlantPerson on Sat Jun 10, 2006 at 07:58 AM
I have an older 15" PowerBook, the one just before the one with SMS (Sudden Motion Sensor). So I can't try anything like this. A few months ago someone made a Dashboard widget that lets you use your PowerBook with SMS/MacBook as a level.
A bit off topic, the Name, Email, Location, and URL fields all said "deleted" when I opened this page.
Posted by Ian on Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 03:53 PM
A bit off topic, the Name, Email, Location, and URL fields all said "deleted" when I opened this page.
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