US Teen Trades Hacked iPhone for Nissan 350Z 230
PieGuy107 writes to mention that seventeen-year-old George Hotz of Glen Rock, NJ has made the trade of the summer. Hotz traded his hacked iPhone for a new set of wheels (Nissan 350Z to be exact) and 3 more 8GB iPhones. "[Terry] Daidone, who's the co-founder of Louisville, Kentucky-based CertiCell, has apparently also offered the young man a paid consulting job, but stresses the company doesn't have 'any plans on the table right now to commercialize Mr. Hotz' discovery'."
Smart Trade (Score:3, Interesting)
Hackability... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Mom! (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Huh? (Score:3, Interesting)
Unless they wrote up a contract stipulating that he would be compensated for the hacked iPhone with eight unhacked iPhones... and on a completely unrelated side issue, the Nissan was a gift.
Car Insurance (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Life's lessons... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Out of the blue? (Score:5, Interesting)
I mentioned the exact same thing but that this was a big group project, he was just the guy (who rather badly) soldered the wire into the iPhone. The way to solder that kind of equipment is with tweezer soldering irons, very small amounts of solder, and either a chemical or 400 grit sand paper to get the solder mask off. You use a smaller 26-28 AWG wire instead of the rather large one he used in the photo to get the best results.
This was a huge team effort, it was not pulled off by this guy alone. The software reverse-engineering alone would take more time than figuring out how to hack the hardware. I don't know if he's a member of the North American Marl0n Brando Look-a-like Association, but come on.
Another thing- I know this post and the parent is going to hit the Trolling trigger for some people, but honestly we have a right to voice our opinion. As a moderator, you can choose three ways: reward the good posts, mod down the truely bad posts, or mod down anything you disagree with. Yes there are trolls out there who need to be dealt with and they are, but seriously our standards for posting and moderation have been slipping and it makes me wonder where /. is headed.
Re:Out of the blue? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Mom's basement no more ... (Score:5, Interesting)
He comes around the circle in his Trans Am, at top speed, and as he comes out of the circle back onto 70 West, he starts to fishtail. I start thinking, "He's going to overcompensate" and sure as shit, his wheels engage, he's aimed for the trees and goes airborn. Second time I've had a car going airborn in my direction and once you realize you're not going to get hit, you are amazed at how fucking awesome a sight it is.
I pulled over and backed up to him and he was totally like, "Can you help me back out of here."
I had to point out that his car was sitting on a tree and I was not going to be able to lift that Trans Am up.
He didn't know what he was supposed to do. I offered to call for help. He didn't want it. He seemed in a little bit of shock, but not much I could do. Besides, it was late, I wanted to get home.
But wow, what a sight.
Re:Mom's basement no more ... (Score:4, Interesting)
gotta give him a tiny bit of kudos (Score:3, Interesting)
Since when do CS majors pick up soldering irons?
Heck, most EE's don't do that and wouldn't know how. (Yes, I'm an EE).
I saw the guy's website... I wonder how he is as a software/hardware developer... He's clearly talented, but does he document his code? Does he follow established best practices? Does he interact well with others? Probably is a bit unbalanced...
Re:Ugh, it's a bad trade -- taxes! (Score:3, Interesting)
"Gifts" and contest "winnings" are taxed for about 1/3rd of their value, as I hear it.
That's why when a family member wants to give you a car, it's far better to say you sold it for $1, instead of paying the taxes on a free gift.
With this trade, however, it's not a free gift, nor a contest winning, so it'll be taxed like any other income. I don't expect him to have to pay more than $100 to the IRS. License and registration is also probably $150. If anything will kill him, it's trying to get insurance for a $20,000 car, as a minor, who hasn't been driving for 3+ years. I could see that easily being several thousand dollars.