The Mystery of the Creepiest Television Hack

#1

Post by mjschultz » Sat, Nov 30, 2013, 9:34 PM UTC

The Mystery of the Creepiest Television Hack
motherboard.vice.com

Re: The Mystery of the Creepiest Television Hack

#2

Post by mjschultz » Sat, Nov 30, 2013, 11:07 PM UTC

Also, here is the Wikipedia article on the matter [1]. And a Reddit thread (presented as one of the theories in the article) [2].

[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Headroom_broadcast_signal_i...

[2]: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/eeb6e

Re: The Mystery of the Creepiest Television Hack

#3

Post by Mithaldu » Sat, Nov 30, 2013, 11:18 PM UTC

This is a very long article. Is it just a rehash of what happened, or does it contain any new info figured out in the past year?

Re: The Mystery of the Creepiest Television Hack

#4

Post by mjschultz » Sat, Nov 30, 2013, 11:43 PM UTC

Mithaldu wrote: post #3

This is a very long article. Is it just a rehash of what happened, or does it contain any new info figured out in the past year?

To answer your question directly, no I don't think so (perhaps some updated theories, but nothing concrete).

But the article does cover more than just the incident, I found the whole thing fairly interesting.

Beyond the passing knowledge I have from growing up in Chicago-land around the time and the Wikipedia article on the subject, I thought it contextualized the FCC policies around the time of the incident and how the hack worked (from a high level). It also pointed out other signal intrusions from the same period and the FCC/FBI's methods to track down the perpetrators.

Re: The Mystery of the Creepiest Television Hack

#5

Post by thearn4 » Sun, Dec 01, 2013, 12:30 AM UTC

Mithaldu wrote: post #3

This is a very long article. Is it just a rehash of what happened, or does it contain any new info figured out in the past year?

I had read all about the incident before, but had never seen the FBI report. So there is some stuff that you may not have seen.

Re: The Mystery of the Creepiest Television Hack

#6

Post by middleclick » Sun, Dec 01, 2013, 1:36 AM UTC

What a well-written and researched article. An absolutely fascinating read!

Re: The Mystery of the Creepiest Television Hack

#7

Post by MWil » Sun, Dec 01, 2013, 3:47 AM UTC

Mithaldu wrote: post #3

This is a very long article. Is it just a rehash of what happened, or does it contain any new info figured out in the past year?

If you haven't read the reddit thread from within the last year then it certainly has a great amount of new information. In fact, I thought the reddit theory was a more compelling story than this article

Re: The Mystery of the Creepiest Television Hack

#8

Post by dfc » Sun, Dec 01, 2013, 4:49 AM UTC

MWil wrote: post #7

Mithaldu wrote: post #3

This is a very long article. Is it just a rehash of what happened, or does it contain any new info figured out in the past year?

If you haven't read the reddit thread from within the last year then it certainly has a great amount of new information. In fact, I thought the reddit theory was a more compelling story than this article

I couldn't get past the writing style in the reddit post. Maybe it will be less abrasive in the morning with fresh eyes and some rest.

Re: The Mystery of the Creepiest Television Hack

#9

Post by stox » Sun, Dec 01, 2013, 5:05 AM UTC

I still think someone from the Ripco crew were involved. They were mighty conveniently located. Maybe, someday, someone will spill the beans.

Re: The Mystery of the Creepiest Television Hack

#10

Post by jccalhoun » Sun, Dec 01, 2013, 4:18 PM UTC

great article. One correction, however: They say one "suspect" was in "nearby" Bloomington, Indiana but Bloomington isn't really near Chicago. It is in Southern Indiana, about 4 hours away from Chicago and to get to Chicago you have to go through Indianapolis, so if someone from Bloomington were to do something like this it seems much more likely they would do it in Indianapolis or even Louisville or Cincinnati which are both closer than Chicago.