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Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

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Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#311

Post by javajosh »

ectopod wrote: post #112
javajosh wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not interesting data. The real reason is that it's easier to connect things through a central service. I sometimes email myself for the same reason.

This is true for things that are connected to the network anyway. It is not true for unconnected devices controlled by Bluetooth. The gratuitous app login is straightforwardly malign.

Speaking from personal experience, I am far more comfortable with a web interface than a BT interface. If I were hired to write code for an IoT kitchen thing I'd probably implement a web thing, rather than a BT thing. That would not be malicious on my part, just laziness (if you're being unkind), or pragmatism (if you're being kind).

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#312

Post by minhazm »

Tildey wrote: post #203
charles_f wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I will stick with my modular solution: an ipad on a music stand. I actually don't get the point of getting a 4000 treadmill rather than one that's half the price and an ipad

You save… uhhh… one power outlet? But really, my understanding is that these fancier treadmills map incline/speed/whatever data to the video file to make it “more realistic”. I think there may even be a sort of MMO/live ghost feature? Personally I think I’d rather just have music I like and work out at a pace that’s comfortable for me, but to each their own I suppose.

You don't even save a power outlet! A lot of workout equipment these days have built in USB ports.

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#313

Post by db48x »

brokenmachine wrote: post #283
R0b0t1 wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It already is illegal to do so. Just claim damages against the TV manufacturer, likely the whole price of the TV or a comparable replacement.

I'm saying there should be a law where the govt punishes the company. If the law needs me as an individual consumer to procure my own team of lawyers to go up against a multinational every time I buy a new TV, then that law might as well not exist.

The damages would probably only qualify for small–claims court. These cases don’t take much time to present or judge, and the evidence you need is quite straight forward. Consulting with a lawyer on the matter, if you wanted that extra assurance, wouldn’t cost much.

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#314

Post by slowmovintarget »

brokenmachine wrote: post #194
mensetmanusman wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Government should mandate the ability to downgrade the software to versions that were previously available on said hardware. I’ve had so many issues with Apple devices losing compatibility with obscure features on apps after updating iOS, I wish I could go back occasionally to accomplish some task, and then upgrade again when finished. The flexibility is valuable. For example, on the newest iPad Pro, iMovie is unusab…

Definitely. TV updates are another thing. They change things with abandon and you can't revoke the updates. Sometimes they break stuff and then you have to pray and wait until they hopefully fix them at their leisure. IMO, it should be illegal to issue unrevokable updates so you can't get a product to have identical features as it did at the time of purchase. You should always be able to wipe it back to stock. Same w…

Heh... Microsoft, Apple, and Google will have a lot to say about that. And by "say" I mean "spend gobs of money lobbying against it."

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#315

Post by ordersofmag »

qqqwerty wrote: post #178
cool_dude85 wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Concept 2 is indeed the cheaper and better option for an erg. Aside from being very sturdy machines at reasonable prices compared to your nordictracs and pelotons, old models are supported essentially forever with spare parts and detailed installation/fix instructions. I dont know of any rowers who don't swear by them.

I picked up a model A for just this reason. $120 on craigslist for a 35 year old machine. It is super solid, but will need to replace a few minor parts soon. And from what I can tell they are all available for purchase from concept2, which is awesome.

Mmmmm, a Model A. I miss those days. No electronics whatsoever. Just that mechanical odometer ticking over ever so slowly.

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#316

Post by Gigachad »

ipaddr wrote: post #268
Gigachad wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Take a look at the games from that era and the games you get right now. Sure, more has changed than just being able to update things, but the ability to fix issues later and continually update games has lead to much much better games with way more content. And you can always chose to wait a year for everything to settle.

I'm still playing older games. What new games do you recommend?

Going to depend on what you like. But my favorite modern games have been Rimworld, Skyrim (still part of the internet era), and Planet Zoo. I love how all of these games provide hundreds of hours of possible gameplay without getting stale.

And if you have VR, Pavlov has been the most fun I have ever had gaming. It looks like a CSGO clone on the surface but it becomes the most absurd/surreal experience ever with custom maps. It's almost like playing laser tag in one of those optical illusion room of mirrors type attractions.

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#317

Post by brokenmachine »

db48x wrote: post #313
brokenmachine wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm saying there should be a law where the govt punishes the company. If the law needs me as an individual consumer to procure my own team of lawyers to go up against a multinational every time I buy a new TV, then that law might as well not exist.

The damages would probably only qualify for small–claims court. These cases don’t take much time to present or judge, and the evidence you need is quite straight forward. Consulting with a lawyer on the matter, if you wanted that extra assurance, wouldn’t cost much.

I was exaggerating a bit for effect.

I consider my time for a day off work, travel to court, preparation, irritation, etc more than the value of the TV, and they probably wouldn't pay me damages for those things.

The point is that I shouldn't have to do that as an individual for every purchase.

We need a blanket rule that they can't remotely modify purchased items in a way that cannot be rolled-back by the consumer to the functionality at the time of purchase.

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#318

Post by robmsmt »

LeSaucy wrote: post #201
treesknees wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's entirely possible. The iFit app which runs on my treadmill is an embedded web browser. From "God Mode" there is an iFit Admin app which reports information such as the embedded chromium version being used for iFit. I actually walked down to the basement to test this - even when closing the iFit app while in God Mode, the physical controls on the treadmill including speed, incline, the stop button and the magneti…

C1750 treadmill, was able to drop into android launcher, install f store, dropbear. After being able to ssh into the treadmill I found the mediatek soc they use has an exploit app to get a root shell. Further decompiling of the ifit app apk shows it’s written in c#/mono, sending bytes to a usb device for treadmill control. I ran out of patience trying to intercept writes with strace and just went back to running.

sounds strange, I would have expected a Java Android app with jni calls to c/c++ through Android ndk

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#319

Post by Kaze404 »

AniseAbyss wrote: post #23
_fat_santa wrote: post #7

I really hate how we are moving more and more towards "managed experiences" in products. Used to, you would buy a product and use it how you see fit. But these days it seems that's not what the company wants you to do. You buy the product and enjoy a "managed" experience from the company. We see it everywhere with printers, coffee makers, phones, laptops, treadmills and even cars now. Everyone knows why this is being…

Maybe companies don't want to get sued and end up in the American justice system clown world. Personal responsibility seems to go right out of the window when people smell money...

Because it's such an easy task for an individual to sue a company and an entire team of lawyers?

Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills

#320

Post by weq »

Sebb767 wrote: post #294
tharkun__ wrote: post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's exactly why I personally try to stay away from as many of these things/devices as I can reasonably do. TV: just don't buy an actual TV. Buy a monitor and hook it up to a Linux box with something like Kodi. You can hook up your cable box if you have that or stream from Netflix and such. Sure, even Netflix makes it hard as you can't get 5.1 surround but I'll take that and 2.0 -> 5.1 upmix over buying a Smart TV…

> TV: just don't buy an actual TV. Buy a monitor and hook it up to a Linux box with something like Kodi. You can hook up your cable box if you have that or stream from Netflix and such. Sure, even Netflix makes it hard as you can't get 5.1 surround but I'll take that and 2.0 -> 5.1 upmix over buying a Smart TV any day! I've looked into this, but this option is really not great, either: - Large Monitors are unavailabl…

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