Cracked Productions

[CrackedProductions]

Cracked Productions is a site designed to teach about legal hacking. We currently only have one 20 minute video to be downloaded under the 'Download' section, but there will be one a month. The site just started up a few days ago. It also has a forum with not enough users. Please go to the site to at least check it out.

http://cracked-productions.com/

 

[Erik]

Can you maybe define "legal hacking" and how it might apply to vintage computing?

I see a connection, albeit tenuous, but could you please define it for us?

 

[carlsson]

From what I could see, the web site has little relevance in this audience. I know that at least on the C64 scene, people are still retro-cracking for laughs; adding "trainers" to get endless lives, including e-docs, optimizing games for file size etc.

Those programs distributed on copy protected media will be hard to archive for the afterworld, so there are currently two approaches; make a "clean" crack and distribute (albeit it still is illegal) or develop methods to read and preserve data from copy protected disks etc. The question is whether the original publisher though wants to have their works preserved for the afterworld. Although I suppose standard copyright would protect it up to 70 years after the death of the programmer (?), without various means of bypassing copy protection, those disks, tapes and probably also cartridges would wither to oblivion after 25-30 years.

Sometimes, the original publisher gets a rush of nostalgia and wants to re-issue the old titles in original form, either for free or commercially. In those cases, it has been heard of picking up a cracked version and restore it to original condition. Sometimes the cracker even bug-fixed the game; Epyx Summer Games had some serious bugs (at least the C64 version), but their budget release a few years later was bug-free after adapting a cracked version that had been floating around.

 

[CP/M User]

Erik wrote:

> Can you maybe define "legal hacking" and how it might
> apply to vintage computing?

> I see a connection, albeit tenuous, but could you
> please define it for us?

Yeah Erik, I suspect this is a bit suss - particularly when it
involves hacking. I simply trying to think how hacking can be
legal?

Video isn't small either - since I've just recently made one
of simular length (18 minutes) which was quite massive (even
when reduce to SVCD resolution - 480x576).

Perhaps move it to General Off-Topic?

CP/M User.

 

[CrackedProductions]

Hacking is to different each person, by hacking I mean being able to do something you normally wouldn't or shouldn't be able to do. Not like illegaly hacking into a site, but breaking code that 'would' allow you to get into a site with a specific vulnerabilty is. For example, I may 'hack' into my own network to simply see if I am vulnerable and if so then I can figure out a way to fix that so it doesn't happen again.

Or for another example of hacking, which means to mod or alter something:

Our next video will be on 'hacking' video game consoles, it is to change or 'alter' the state of something, and so I will be 'hacking' it. For instance, one of the mod's is to simply change the case of a GameCube to make it so it can play CD-R's, DVD-R's, etc. And with whats known as a 'boot' loader, you can then play imported games, which having modded it with that special case, I don't have to pay for Mini-cd's, etc. Which is in no way illegal, same way I can play a BACKED UP game on it now. Thats not illegal either.


Yes, hacking can be used for bad and for good, but so can guns, bombs, and even butter knives. It is all how you use it. To close your mind about hacking, is to be judgemental without any facts at all. Learn about something COMPLETELY, before you ever speak of it again.

Therefore hacking can be used with ANYTHING, old or new.

 

[Vlad]

While that may be true, that in no way has anything to do with Vintage Comptuers. And is thus Off Topic for this forum. And there is no need to sass off to other members for stating their opinons concerning your post. It almost came off as a threat. Further comments like that will not be tolerated. If you have a problem with someones comments, please contact a Moderator in privet.

-Vlad

 

[Erik]

It doesn't appear that this has anything to do with Vintage Computers so I moved it to a more appropriate location.

Let's keep the thread civil, though, or it'll vanish quickly.

 

[Vlad]

Ok, I went to the website, and I think we prejudged a little. I know what I'm about to say is going to make me even more unpopular than I already am, but we jumped the gun a little on this. His site isn't what you think it is. It's ligit. How many of you actually went to his site before firing off a post about how it was wrong? Just because it says "hacking" doesn't give us the right to go off on this guy. His website is more about Mods and tweaking, which is concidered a form of hacking. "Hacking" doesn't mean its bad. Many of you have done hardware hacking, this is no different. I think we just judged before we actually saw what it was that he wanted to show us.

 

[CrackedProductions]

Now, moving on past this whole ugly scene, with any feelings forgiven and in the past. There anyone out there that can give me some good ideas of modding/hacking some of the older computers? I currently only have a Commodore SX-64, as a old computer. I plan on trying to mod some old electronic gadgets as well. Maybe some of the NES controllers/systems. It all depends on time, interests, resources, etc.

 

[carlsson]

How many of you actually went to his site

I went to look what it was about, but found nothing relevant to this forum, so I wrote my personal intepretation of what vintage hacking can refer to. On the other hand, I never jumped the gun neither..

When you say modding, do you mean improving functionality of the original computer or replacing the interior contents with an ITX motherboard, turning into yet another PC? Both are reasonably common, and dedicated sites about such projects if you know what you're looking for.

 

[Vlad]

All I'm saying is that we have had discussions about go-carts on this forum, yet talking about this isn't ok? How do you figure? No threw a fit when the go-cart discussion got started, yet as soon as someone said "Hacking" everyone's up in arms about it. So what he's talking about may not be VC realted, neither is a go-cart.........


Carlsson, I'm not griping at you, I'm just trying to point out that we have made a really bad impression on a new user who we never gave a chance from the beginning......