linux/unix

02/15/2006, 5:20pm, EST

Wednesday, February 15th

Apple, OS x86 Project poetry

Members of the OS x86 Project recently discovered a hidden message to hackers within the hardware restrictions of Mac OS X, and have now unearthed a poem from Cupertino-based tech giant. One hacker named Maxxuss has discovered that a few pieces of Mac OS X search for a secret message in "commpage" which gets decrypted via the TPM (Trusted Platform Module). "Your karma check for today: There once was a user that whined; his existing OS was so blind, he'd do better to pirate; an OS that ran great; but found his hardware declined. Please don't steal Mac OS! Really, that's way uncool. (C) Apple Computer, Inc." Following the spirit, members of the OS x86 Project have offered up their own poem to the developers of Apple's work. "Rime of the Ancient Hacker; There once was a hacker named Maxxuss; who Steve did not think was a genius. But Steve pondered awhile, grabbed the phone with a smile, and said "Bill, there’s a thing to discuss..."


Filed under: software
Other story tags: Linux

, , 13comments, del.icio.us, slashdot, digg, buzz


13 comments
Reader Reactions (Please use <i></i> for italic text)

subscribe to comments
for this article




Expand All   Global Settings
Ha!
0
02/15, 6:35pm, EST
Like I said, Apple puts these bits of code into their OS to track the hacker community. They're so stupid, the hackers think their doing something, finding an egg that Apple planter.
Grizzled Veteran
Joined Dec 1999
User is offline
At least...
0
02/15, 7:29pm, EST
they could have made it rhyme...
Mac Enthusiast
Joined Sep 2000
User is offline
Rhyming doesn't matter..
0
02/15, 7:44pm, EST
...as gordymac said, these are planted by Apple to see which part of the OS was being tampered with.
Banned
Joined Jun 2003
User is offline
A long tradition
0
02/15, 7:55pm, EST
The ROM of the original Mac 128 contained the text "Stolen from Apple".
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined May 1999
User is offline
lol
-1
02/15, 8:35pm, EST
This is too cute.

Hackers, we know you're great. Apple we know you're great. As long as we all f*ck Micrshit, we're all on the same team. So what if Mac OS X runs of a PC. Eventually, the user will buy a Mac when he realizes that the PC is a piece of crap. Mac OS X is still very new to most people; let them warm up to it; they'll buy it thereafter. As long as Microshit dies; everything else is just details.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined Apr 2005
User is offline
PC's
0
02/15, 9:26pm, EST
pc's arent crappy, there is a lot more versatility to the pc market, you can get a lot of different form factors of cases, you can get cheapy models, you can get insanely beautiful boutique pcs, you can make your own, which is what i do as a hobby, and i gotta say its a major conveniance to be able to open up your computer and put a new card in, if, for example you happen to need more than 2 firewire ports or some such issue.

Buying the parts individually makes it cheaper, and gives you more control over your computer, what sucks about that?

i digress though, i am a mac user and do massively prefer mac osx, but i really cant afford to keep pc's and macs up to date, and its a lot cheaper to upgrade a pc than to buy a new mac, so i generally keep my pc's as high end as possible and my macs i buy new ones occasionally. when you do music, you want to be able to keep pace with technology, and pc's are much more convenient for this.

...just playing devil's advocate.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined Jan 2006
User is offline
jarod..what??
0
02/15, 11:02pm, EST
Jarod..you say that osx is awesome and pcs suck. once a user loves osx, they will buy a mac?

Uh, can you please tell me the difference now between a macbook pro and an acer travelmate?

same motherboard, same processor, same memory, same graphics board.....

Your brilliance shines through.

Think indifferent.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined Feb 2006
User is offline
Trash
0
02/15, 11:39pm, EST
The news on this website, is turing into garbage. Seriously, why in the world would you sanction this as an editor?
Junior Member
Joined Sep 2000
User is offline
re: jarod..what??
0
02/16, 12:23am, EST
"Uh, can you please tell me the difference now between a macbook pro and an acer travelmate?"

Mac OS X, duh...

(but not if the h4ck3rs have their way)
Mac Elite
Joined Jan 2002
User is offline
grammar matters
0
02/16, 2:02am, EST
the reply from the hackers (while cute) betrays a lack of basic literacy ...

it should be "whom - not who - Steve did not think was a genius"

if these fiendishly clever 'hackers' cant figure out the difference between the nominative & objective cases, then just imagine what they do when it comes to trying to cast types properly or to safely throw exceptions in their code ;-)

still, it's nice to know that the 'easter egg' tradition that steve banned at one point when he returned (in order to try and prevent headhunters from poaching) is back!

maybe a new instaler could be written that only allows osx to be installed on non-apple intel machines if the user can pass some brain teaser.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined Feb 2006
User is offline
additional comments:..1..2..Next
Your Comments

In order to post comments: If you are a registered member, please login with your MacNN Forums username and password otherwise please uncheck the checkbox below.


Registered Member?
macnn forums login:

macnn forums password:

Not a member of the MacNN forums? Register now for free.

RSS Feeds

Have the latest content delivered to your desktop via RSS. Use the links below to get access to a specific blog, news, or reviews feed.



  MacNN -all

  MacNN Reviews

  MacNN Podcasts

  iPodNN

  Electronista

  Left Lane News

Convert PDF to Word: Easily Convert PDF to Word Doc, Excel, and More. Fast and Accurate. No Registration Trial

Check Out the VIERA from Panasonic!: Enter a New Visual Era with Panasonic VIERA HDTVs. An Enhanced Experience.

NewsGator Enterprise RSS: Improve Corporate Communication via Web 2.0, RSS, and Social Computing.

Get an IT Degree Online: Get solid credentials. Take your hobby to the next level. Adult Programs. Affordable.

Buy from The Apple Store, iTunes.com, Amazon.com, TechDepot, OfficeDepot, Computers4Sure, or donate.