Dec 25, 2013 11:13 PM (This post was last modified: Mar 27, 2014 10:36 PM by Oak.)
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The edition you are currently reading is the 174th full edition. To read any older editions of HF News, please go here.
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Final 2013 MOTM Competition [img]http://x.hackforums.net/uploads/awards/7.jpg[/img]
Another year gone by, almost twelve months since the beginning of 2013. Since then, eleven outstanding members of the Hack Forums community have received a highly prestigious award granted to them: The Member of the Month award. For those who are new to the forum or simply have never heard of it, the MOTM award is given out monthly to one member who stands out from the rest. Qualities often looked for in a potential winner are quality tutorials and threads, helping other members, respect, good manners and activity. On the 23rd of each month, a thread is posted in the HF L33t OT Discussions forum asking for members to suggest who they think deserves to win for the month in question. Nominees must have at least 500 posts and a 0% warning level. Staff, along with members who have either won the award in the past six months or were on the ballot the previous month, are not allowed to enter the competition. To nominate a member, simply post a nomination on the monthly nomination thread, which can be found here. At the end of the month, the staff member D3xus reviews the entries and selects the most qualified members. Those few are placed on a ballot on the 1st of the month, allowing the entirety of Hack Forums to vote for the member they think deserves it the most. The one with the highest amount of votes on the 5th will be awarded the MOTM award. The HF News Team reminds members that asking other members to vote for them will cause said member to be permanently added to the MOTM blacklist, along with a temporary site ban.
Christmas Banner
As Christmas approaches fast, the banner of Hack Forums has seen a change. Sporting a Santa hat and a jolly snow man, the bold letters are topped off with an icy layer of frost, just in time for the big day. With changes come complaints, and since members seemed unhappy with the current banner, Omniscient has been working on a way to let members choose for themselves whether or not to wave the gallant banner atop their digital steeds. While that is in the works, he also created a thread, a contest of sorts, allowing anyone to submit their own works and ideas for the banner. Keeping in mind the constraints: 50 Kilobytes and a transparent GIF image. The forum might soon see an entirely different design welcoming you to the posting grounds. Members may view the thread here.
New Award: Jailbreak Freak
The lovely pixels of achievement, the array of the combination of dots in a 25 by 25 area, digital achievements like none other: Hack Forums awards. Members may sport the ever popular Sapphire of Ub3r, they may even dig down deep in their pockets and afford the Emerald Donator. Those without money can strive for prestigious, limited awards such as the Protector, the Mad Scientist, and even the Member of the Month award. However, this week will certainly revolve around a new circle of excellence; the Jailbreak Freak. In the shape of a green sphere with a strand of DNA in the middle, the new award surrounds the topics of Android and iOS hacking, modification, jailbreaking, rooting, and many other terms in the similar fields. In an effort to raise not only activity but also awareness of the iOS and Android sections, this new flat globe of greenly goodness is sure to cause the forth bringing of many new tutorials, guides, software releases, and other magnificent creations to the community. The discussion thread may be read here.
Omnicoin
Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Scamcoin... each week brings forth a new variation of the original. In an effort to create something unique on Hack Forums, the members Aurora and Billym2k have decided to launch their own crypto-currency with the name "OmniCoin", of course relating to site owner Omniscient. As skeptical as many members were of yet another coin, Omniscient soon began to generate interest and hype around it when he showed genuine interest on the discussion thread. Some now see OmniCoin as Hack Forums' unofficial currency, some as a complete waste of time. However, there may soon be a genuine use for these digital bits following a post by Omniscient stating that he plans on incorporating it into the forum somehow. Whether this concerns an award, upgrades, or similar topics is not yet known. His post concerning the topic may be read in the coin's thread, or a direct link can be followed.
New Forum Soon: MySQL
Earlier this week the member Kansas created a new thread in the Suggestions and Ideas section concerning his promotion of a new forum, a MySQL section. He states that he finds himself answering questions pertaining to the subject daily within the PHP section, with PHP being a language closely tied to MySQL in usage. Although that isn't a problem, he states, he would like to see the new section happen because the amount of MySQL posts are very numerous in the section dedicated to PHP. After only four hours, the suggestion was accepted by site owner Omniscient, stating that the new section should be implemented within fourteen days, requesting a private message if that time passes. Of course, that request only applies to Kansas, other members should refrain from doing so. The suggestion thread along with Omniscient's response can be read at the relevant link.
Interview-Vodge (Click to View)Clark: Welcome to the 174th edition of The HF News. Today we're joined by Void Member, Vodge. Thanks for taking time to do this interview with us Vodge. Do you have any shoutouts you'd like to give before we proceed? Vodge: Hello, thanks for asking me for an interview. Umm shoutouts, well nobody specific, but I guess all Void and Instinct members deserve a shoutout, hey noobs undefined.
Clark: Why don't you tell us about how you found your way over to HF? Vodge: I think I was looking for RATs, my search brought me here and provided me what I needed. Even though the forum wasn't quite what I was expecting, I ended up sticking around for all the various different sections here which are extremely active which is a great thing. Made a bit of money too thanks to this forum which isn't bad :)
Clark: It's a hell of a forum for marketing that's for sure. Which kind of methods did you use to gain money? Or was it just the sale here and there? Vodge: Well, not sure I should reveal too much, but I started off making money using RATs, dabbled in e-whoring for a while which was really profitable (I still do it sometimes for easy cash), and something else which would come under disallowed blackhat activity so that shall remain unsaid. undefined
Clark: Uh oh :O So you've got some RATing experience eh? Have you picked up any other tech/hack related skills since your registration on HF? Vodge: Well I'm pretty much a noob when it comes to "hacking" haha, I don't mind admitting it because it's true. Did pick up a few things here and there. I'm starting a forensic computing degree next year though, so I expect I shall be learning a lot more about various different aspects to hacking.
Clark: That's exciting. Are you graduating from High School this year? If not, what are you currently studying? Vodge: Well I'm from England, I'm doing a college course at the moment. I've been to college before but dropped out (twice lol), this time I'm sticking with it. Studying Psychology, Sociology, and Law. Very interesting stuff, hard work though. I have 3 essays I need to write over Christmas and I haven't started any of them yet haha.
Clark: Nothing like a little procrastination to get the creative juices flowin'. Have you given any though as to what you'd like to do when you're older? Vodge: Yeah, I've only just decided the last few months. Going to be be working in Forensic Computing, opens up a lot of different job opportunities.
Clark: Good for you Vodge. I noticed you're in Instinct. What has that experience been like so far? Vodge: Thanks :). And yeah it's fun, really chilled out group, everyone is just there to talk about gaming and have a joke around with each other, no hostility or angry leaders or anything. Vinnie is a good leader who just wants us to all have fun which is great for a group.
Clark: Sounds like an awesome group to be apart of. Are there any other groups you'd like to be apart of one day? Vodge: Well I'm not really a group whore so don't have any targets or anything, I'm happy with the two groups I'm in now. The Brotherhood and Infamous look like interesting groups, don't think I'd get into either of them though haha.
Clark: Not with that attitude. You're in Void, that's all that matters ;) Have you applied for Ub3r recently? Or at all for that matter? Vodge: Haha yeah, Void is a great group. I applied a few months back but got permanently denied, me and Omni have had some disagreements in the past. Am I right in thinking I heard a while back that Omni had an amnesty of some sorts on those he perm denied Ub3r? If that's the case maybe I'll have to try again at some point soon. I only really want it to neg rep back people who neg repped me haha.
Clark: Lol, ahh the benefits of Ub3r. Yes, last I heard members who had been permanently denied in the past are free to apply again! Get on it. I'd like to thank you for joining us today. If you have any final thoughts you'd like to leave us with, now's the time. Vodge: Thanks for interviewing me and Merry Christmas everyone
Interview-KyleWTF (Click to View)Clique: Welcome to the 174th edition of the News! This time we're interviewing KyleWTF, Leader of The Republic. How goes it, dude? Any shoutouts before we begin? KyleWTF: I'm doing okay, just a bit of holiday stress here and there.. . Just a shoutout to my good friends Assault, Froggy, and The Republic usergroup.
Clique: So, to start off. What made you join the site? Had any friends recommend you? KyleWTF: I joined after wanting to learn more about PS3 jailbreaking.. not really the best site for this topic. Nonetheless, after exploring the forums a bit I found interest in other things, which is why I stayed. No friends recommended me, I came here randomly.
Clique: Moving on, tell us about the new group. How are you liking leadership? What do you look for in a prospective member of The Republic? KyleWTF: hat's there to tell? We have a really good group of guys/girls in here, which I feel is the most important thing about a group. The subforum is great at the moment, lots of activity. Leadership is okay, of course there are duties to go along with it, but I was aware of that when I was appointed by Assault. Ooh, I can't say much about that last question, but I'll just say "respect, wisdom, and heart". Members can be added to the group much easier then they think, just follow those three ideas and I'm sure you'll get an invite one day.
Clique: Sounds like some good advice. What do you do in real life? Assuming you go to school and all. KyleWTF: Depends, I spend most of my day studying, playing sports, and of course.. browsing the internet.
Clique: Neat. What sports? I play Soccer pretty much all the time. Any public plans for The Republic that you announce to the readers at this time? KyleWTF: Basketball and a few others. All I can say is that our impact on the forum will be exposed soon enough, stay tuned.
Clique: Sweet. So, yeah. Christmas is going up really soon. What are your plans? This weekend I'm going to go shopping for family gifts. (Late, I know) KyleWTF: Just spending time with the family really. Going to try to stay off the internet and just cherishing time with them. Oh.. Christmas is soon...presents...right.. brb.
Clique: Staying off the internet for a day? Psh, impossible. If you had the chance to change one thing on the site here, what'd you choose? KyleWTF: I wouldn't really change anything.. except a few annoyances with the site and the community here and there, HF is perfect the way it is.
Clique: Glad to hear. What can you see yourself doing when you're out of school and all that jazz? Dream job? KyleWTF: Not exactly sure at this point. Hopefully I'll go into business, it seems what I'd be most interested in.
Clique: Planning to be a CEO some day, eh? I'm hopefully going to expand my photography career. What about the news here. What do you think? KyleWTF: CEO would be nice, yes. You guys sure do a great job, I read the news every week!
Clique: Awesome! Thanks for takin' the time to do this interview. Any closing statements before we're done? KyleWTF: Nope. Thanks for having me!
Dec 25, 2013 11:14 PM (This post was last modified: Dec 26, 2013 06:19 AM by Oak.)
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STEAM SALES!
The Christmas spirit has hit the Steam Store and the time has come to spend the last money of the year on awesome games with insane discounts. The sale will be running from December 19th until January 3rd and will offer discounts up to 80% on the games you love. Not only will there be daily discounts, but also flash sales every 8 hours with new titles. Users have the ability to vote for a new discount and will be rewarded for doing so. As always a gifting event for voting and purchasing is going on, so head over to the Steam Store and get yourself an early Christmas gift.
Star Wars Game Announced
Disney announced that a new Star Wars game focused on dogfighting in space will be made. The game will be free to play and will focus on building and customizing a ship before taking it out in space to fight. The game will feature well known spaceships from the Star Wars universe so if you are a fan, there will be something in it for you. There is no news on when the game is scheduled for release but signups have opened for a closed beta expected to go on air next year.
Hearthstone Open Beta Delayed
Blizzard announced that the open beta for their card game Hearthstone has been delayed. It was originally meant to open up for all players this month, but Blizzard said that the game simply was not ready. Everyone who opted in before December 16th should have received an invitation to the closed beta. Didn't opt in before December 16th? Fear not, everyone who signs up before January 7th will be invited to the close beta before the open beta is being pushed out. There has been no announcement on when the open beta is planned to be out.
Video of the Week
TotalBiscuit himself presents his list of top 10 games of 2013.
You can also follow him to get a heads up on which games on the steam sale are worth getting.
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Minecraft on the PS3!
For a price of just $19.99, Minecraft has finally been released on the PS3. In addition to the numerous trophies you can get (presumably similar to those of the achievements for the PC version), there's a four person (max) split screen, an eight person (max) co-op online, and solo play featuring Minecraft's notoriously loved gamemodes: creative and survival. "We’ll have more information on popular topics including cross buy, remote play and the Playstation 4 version of Minecraft in the new year, promise," says Mojang, so don't get too comfortable with just that.
Win a PS3 with the Minecraft Skin Studio
In celebration of Christmas's arrival, 57digital is holding a competition to see who can create the best "Christmasy skin," so they say. Create the skin, share it in the app before December 26th, and then you're very-easily entered in the competition for a chance to win one of the following prizes:
First prize – a Playstation 3 and some signed swag
Second prize – a $100 J!NX voucher and some signed swag
Third prize – a $50 J!NX voucher and some signed swag
Gifting Minecraft During the Holidays?
In acknowledgement of the amount of people buying or gifting Minecraft during the holiday season, Mojang has added the option to print a "gift card-type thing" upon purchase of a gift code. It's an optional feature, of course, but surely their efforts are appreciated in making such a thing. Additionally (and if you're lost), Mojang has made a sheet with folding and presentation instructions available when printing as well.
Minecraft Realms Beta-- Only in Sweden
For those who don't know what Minecraft Realms is as of now, it's very simply-put a Minecraft server (in which you can buy) that allows a maximum of twenty people to log on and ten to be on at a time. The service allows you to load maps, start from fresh, and overall just have a good time with other people with maintenance only needed from inside the client. As the prices are still being worked out, only Swedish users and Minecon attendees have access to the early feature. "Realms subscriptions currently come with seven pre-made maps, including Blocks vs Zombies by SethBling, Dash of Doom by Dragnoz, and Spellbound Caves by Vechs," says Mojang, making it clear that they have an interest in the community.
HackerCraftNews
The server's news has still been further postponed due to a lack of activity. Omniscient has stated that he has plans for the near future, though, so don't be discouraged as the HackerCraft news will definitely see another day.
Featured Server of the Week:Crewniverse
Ever hear of KYR SP33DY? If so, attending his Minecraft server may be heaps of fun! Nevertheless, the server is packed with fun gamemodes such as creative, survival, and factions, making it a cool place for everyone. Even if you haven't heard of him, check the server out today at crewniverse.com!
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Hacker does Time for Botnet
A hacker accused of masterminding one of the biggest ever botnets has been sentenced to just under 5 years in jail. Skorjanc was also ordered to pay a 4,000 euro ($4,100; £2,510) fine and give up a flat and car he was alleged to have bought with money he had received from a Spanish criminal syndicate. The botnet got its name because it was created with software called ButterFly Flooder that was alleged to have been written by Skorjanc and advertised on the net as a way to "stress test" computer networks and remotely control Windows and Linux PCs. Officials said the botnet had been used to send spam emails, stage distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks to overwhelm targets' servers with traffic, and harvest information including credit card details and log-ins. "It reflects that authorities have realised the damage that can be wrought by a piece of code, and are now starting to equate it to physical theft. The 'wild west' days of cybercrime are over, even in smaller countries."
Pope vs. Religious Perception of Atheists
The Pope has called on atheists to unite with believers of all religions and work for "a homemade peace" that can spread across the world. Speaking to about 70,000 people from the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica, Pope Francis also made another appeal for the environment to be saved from "human greed and rapacity". The Pope also called for dialogue to end the conflicts in Syria, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo and Iraq, and prayed for a "favourable outcome" to the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians. Pilgrims came from all over the world to experience Christmas at the Vatican.
Space Station Receives Cooling for Christmas
Two US astronauts have made a rare Christmas Eve spacewalk to repair the International Space Station's cooling system. It was the second spacewalk in four days for astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Michael Hopkins. The pair removed a faulty ammonia pump at the International Space Station during Saturday's outing. They have now installed a new pump in what is hoped will be the final fix at the system. One of two cooling systems on the US side of the space station - a $100bn project of 15 nations - shut down on December 11 due to a faulty valve. The fault prompted the six-man crew to turn off all non-essential equipment, including experiments.
Christmas Terror en Route
At least 22 people have been killed in Christmas Day bomb attacks targeting Christians in Iraq. A car bomb went off near a church during Christmas Mass in Baghdad's southern Dora district, killing at least 15 people and wounding more than 30, a police officer said. Earlier, a bomb ripped through an outdoor market in the nearby Christian section of Athorien, killing seven people and wounding 16, the officer added. Along with Christians, other targets for extremists include civilians in restaurants, cafes or crowded public areas, as well as Shi'ites and members of the Iraqi security forces, who are targeted in an attempt to undermine confidence in the Shi'ite-led government and stir up sectarian tensions.
The Christmas Day attacks brought the total number of people killed so far this month in Iraq to 426. According to UN estimates, more than 8,000 people have been killed since the start of the year
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NYC Bans Vaping In Public
The past week, the city council for NYC voted to ban electronic cigarettes, considering them to be just as bad as regular cigarettes. This ban will stop people from using them out in public, which may not to go over well with most people. They are not completely banning the e-cigs as of yet; people can still use them in their home.
AT&T Plans To Release Transparency Reports
This news came to light just hours after Verizon claimed it would publish transparency reports; AT&T decided to mimic Verizon and do the same. These reports will be published semi-annually and it will break down law enforcement requests by type. The initial report is due in early 2014, and will summarize the 2013 data.
Google Cracks Down On Multi-Purpose Extensions
Google has just recently started limiting the extensions in the Chrome Web Store to one purpose. They did this to prevent the clutter and addition of toolbars bundled with extensions. Some developers may not really like this, but it should save people from getting things they don't want. Google is giving current developers until June 2014 to slim down or split up their current extensions.
Hulu Plus Passes 5 Million Customers
Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins released Hulu.com's yearly recap this past week, and showed us how big the service has really gotten. In 2013 alone, Hulu went past $1 billion in revenues and 5 million paying subscribers for Hulu Plus. This is comparing it to its $695 million and 3 million subscribers from 2013. Some consider that a pretty big win for the company, which lost its former CEO earlier this year. Hopkins claimed that in the next few years, Hulu will double the number of options they have on the site. They claim this will be what makes them able to stay ahead of other streaming providers.
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Drake is 2013's Most Tweeted-About Rapper
Drake has become the year's most tweeted about rapper, which isn't much of a surprise. Drake had huge buzz in 2013. He dropped his third retail album, went on tour and was featured on tons of rap features. According to a Twitter spokesperson, Drizzy was the subject of more tweets than any other hip-hop artist. Drake's Nothing Was the Same LP was tweeted about 2,942,000 times and the rapper started trends like #DrakeTaughtMe, #DrakeTwitterPassword and album-related trends like #NothingWasTheSame, Pound Cake, The Language and Wu-Tang Forever. Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP 2 single "Rap God" brought the #1 hip-hop trend (#RapGod) and he was the second most tweeted-about rap star with 21,271,953 messages generated, according to Twitter. Lil Wayne was the third most tweeted-about rapper, putting him above MCs like Jay Z, J. Cole, Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar.
Selena Gomez Cancels Australian Tour
Singer announces she's calling off dates of her Stars Dance Tour to "spend some time on myself". Selena Gomez made it clear to MTV News that her "Stars Dance Tour" is not just a tour, but "a giant rave." And now, it seems, she's taking a break by cancelling the Australian leg of the tour. Gomez was originally supposed to make five stops Down Under: in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
Adele now a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.
Some happy news includes Adele's new award. The Grammy/Oscar/Golden Globe-winning singer added another award to her collection Thursday, December 19, when she was presented with an MBE medal by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace. Adele's voice is not ever altered or interfered with in the studio, unlike other artists' voices are, like Katy Perry and Demi Lovato. MBE stands for Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, and Adele — along with P.J. Harvey — received the honor on Thursday (December 19) for "services to music." It was created in 1917 by King George V. Adele stated, "It was an honour to be recognised and a very proud moment to be awarded alongside such wonderful and inspirational people," Adele said in a statement after the ceremony, according to People. "Very posh indeed." Good on her. (Click to View)
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This is basically my own little corner to type up my thoughts and some standpoints on different topics.Holy shit.
5:20 AM on Thursday morning.
Just finished.
G'day.
Dec 25, 2013 11:14 PM (This post was last modified: Dec 26, 2013 06:18 AM by Oak.)
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"How do you feel about the possible addition of a banner to the Modern theme?"
"Personally, I think it will be quite exciting to see the creativity
of either Omniscient, or a fellow member here for our 'Modern HF
theme'. I'm sure it will be great, I am also a big fan of modern art
and whatnot, so the banner will be creative, if not, we're just going
to get the people of HackForums getting angry, saying it looks bad,
but, Omniscient should not care what other people think, if he likes
it, he should release it, just because a portion of HackForums doesn't
like something and Omniscient does, doesn't mean he should change it." -#Cyan
"I personally love the idea of adding a banner back
onto HackForums. To me, the site looks bland, and a header would
really spruce things up. Also, I find it very exciting to see different
banners on holidays, special occasions, etc. I sincerely hope one
gets added in the near future." -Haste
I like the idea of having a banner on the new themes as they
pages and the header of the page with the new themes seem to
cluttered and squished together not sure if this is just me but
whatever. I would also like to point out that the news didn't
mention that omni will probably be adding a hide button for the
banner on the top of the page I really like this idea as it seems
2/3 hf user's who have voted want the new theme and 1/3
don't so this would serve perfect for all hf users." -Winner
"I think it would spice up HF. People have there
own opinions, sure. I think its kind of bland and tacky, at the
moment. For now, I'm sticking to the old school theme. If and
when a banner gets added to the modern theme, I may consider
switching; but until then old school is where I call home." -1nfinity
The topic for next week is "How was your Christmas? What did you do?"
To send in your entries for the next edition, PM Sir.
(Dec 26, 2013 06:30 AM)Evanescent Wrote: Another dreadful edition and this time a little earlier.
I'm sorry you feel that way. I am glad, however, that you spent your time visiting this section, reading the content, and then taking even more time relaying your opinion!
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