(Part 3of7)
PREMIERE DATE: 9/14/2004
Hacker's Backpack, BitTorrent,
More Defcon 12

The Screen Savers open up
their backpacks to reveal the
coolest geek gear you can buy:
laptops, PDA's, cellphone,
wireless adapters, road tools,
Wi-Fi sniffers, etc. We also
talk with Bram Cohen, creator
of the massively popular
dece
more

(Part 3of7)
PREMIERE DATE: 9/14/2004
Hacker's Backpack, BitTorrent,
More Defcon 12

The Screen Savers open up
their backpacks to reveal the
coolest geek gear you can buy:
laptops, PDA's, cellphone,
wireless adapters, road tools,
Wi-Fi sniffers, etc. We also
talk with Bram Cohen, creator
of the massively popular
decentralized file-sharing
software, BitTorrent. Sarah
gives us five privacy tips,
and Kevin and Dan file another
report from Defcon 12.

Tech Topics
The Screen Savers made a bold
entrance onto the set by
rappelling down from the
ceiling in harnesses -- well,
all except for Yoshi. 'Wasn't
I supposed to get a harness,
too?' he asked weakly after
dropping in, literally.
Fortunately, this tribute to
the episode's theme of cool
hacker equipment didn't result
in any long-term physical
damage for any of the cast.
Alex, not to be outdone by
Kevin's hacker backpack, wore
his own Social Engineering
Fanny Pack, which included
Altoids, a calling card and
cell phone, and a very
convincing mullet cap in order
to disguise his identity.
(Strangely, it made him look
rather feminine.)

Identity was a supposedly
scary theme of a new series of
advertisements by the Motion
Picture Association of America
that claim 'YOU CAN CLICK, BUT
YOU CAN'T HIDE.' (Alex begged
to differ: 'Yes you can!') In
another attempt to frighten
computer users into not
downloading digital copies of
films, the ad declares 'If you
think you can get away with
illegally swapping movies,
you're wrong. Illegally
trafficking in movies is not
just a dirty little secret
between you and your computer.
You leave a trail.'

Kevin and Alex suggested that
perhaps scare tactics aren't
the best way of dissuade
potential downloaders -- that
advancing legal methods of
downloading movies (as iTunes
did with music) would be much
more effective. 'Don't do
illegal downloads, but don't
let them (the MPAA) scare you,
either,' said Alex.

TSS Live Calls
Call #1: Coincidentally
enough, Chuck from Commerce,
Georgia wanted to know if
there was a simple way to keep
anonymous when downloading
music or movie files.

Call #2: Russell from Durham,
N.C. has 512 MB of RAM in his
PC. A friend told him that
adding another 512 MB would
fry his motherboard. Can
adding memory really hurt his
computer?

Kevin and Alex found this
highly unlikely, and turned to
Yoshi for his expert opinion.
'That person probably tells
people to change their muffler
bearings,' he scoffed. 'Those
slots are meant to be filled.'
Kevin also suggested that
Russell look into upgrading
his older CPU, which would
result in a greater speed
boost.

Bit By Bit
Forget Kazaa -- the coolest
file distribution tool is Gram
Cohen's BitTorrent, which
banishes your bandwidth
worries goodbye. With 10
million downloads under its
belt, BitTorrent's popularity
is ever-rising, drawing users
with its ease of use and
uncanny speed. But if you're
thinking of making it your
method of choice for piracy,
think again. 'Anonymity and
BitTorrent don't go well
together,' said Gram. 'If you
really want to be anonymous
online, you should use your
neighbor's Wi-Fi access
point.' (That's a joke,
folks.) Cohen says upcoming
improvements include a resume
and queing functions.

For more info:
Gram's BitTorrent site
Brian's BitTorrent FAQ

This article from The Screen
Savers Vault.

The Hacker's Backpack
Kevin unveiled all the hacker
goodies he'd store in his
backpack -- if he had the
money. (It's cool to be a
co-host on The Screen
Savers... until you have to
give the toys back.) Here are
just a few of the gadgets you
need to own:

* SmartID Wifi Detector:
Find the strongest Wi-Fi
hot-spot before you power up
your laptop.
* James Bond Stealth
Camera: A Zippo look-alike
that also takes 300 digital
images.
* Sony X505 Laptop:
Compute with style -- super
slim and only 1.85 pounds.
* Surefire L1: An LED
flashlight made of aerospace
grade aluminum.

For a backpack-full of other
geek candy, check out Kevin's
full list.

Sarah's Privacy Tips
Want more security without
having to learn to write your
own code? Sarah shows some
quick and easy ways of keeping
those of ill intent out of
your system in this article.

Category Gadgets & Games

Tags TSS, The, Screen, Savers, Techtv, Tech, TV, zdnet, Kevin, Rose, Alex, Albrecht, Sarah, Lane, Yoshi, DeHerrera, Dan, Huard, Robert, Heron