So, WarpWallet is a so-called brain wallet for Bitcoin. That is, you only have to remember a relatively short password and it generates the corresponding private key for use. It uses a memory and CPU hard set of cryptographic algorithms to ensure that brute-forcing is slowed way down. That is, when generating the private key, it takes considerable time. Their Javascript implementation takes over 10 seconds on my machine.

So the makers of it had challenges setup. By the time I stumbled on it, only the last challenge was left, with 6 months remaining. For that challenge, the reward for cracking an 8-character alphanumeric password was 20 BTC (and BCH and BTG!), which was worth over $100,000 USD at the time of the challenge end date.

UPDATE 14 MAR 2020: For discussion, see the Google group. Comments from the old WordPress site have been migrated there.

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I bought and really like my Kenwood Excelon DDX9903S headunit. I had it in my WRX, and moved it to my LS430. It supports Android Auto and CarPlay, which I find really useful when driving.

However, it has a nag screen every time it boots up. This got me curious as to how it worked, and see if it could be patched to skip this disclaimer. I figured it probably ran Linux on a SoC, as pretty much everything does nowadays. So I grabbed the latest firmware for it (mine was already updated to it), and started probing.

S_V2_7_0008_0600_AT1.zip

Extract that and you get 3 folders under S_V2_7_0008_0600/:

BOOT_V2_7_0008_0600_release/
MAIN_V1_0_2758_0400/
SOC_V2_7_0008_0600/

Surprise, surprise, my old favorite Gentoo Linux is now running on a Tesla Model S. Hope he doesn’t emerge world while driving.

This was the hardest part. If you wire the wrong things together you can brick your Pi. I took some time to decide on which pins to use, and after assembly and testing everything worked. I’ll explain which pins I picked, but note that this information will not work with other hardware configurations.[I originally had a Model B Pi, but due to needing the second hardware PWM (which is hidden on the B), switched to the B+.

I’m super excited for the imminent onslaught of consumer grade VR equipment and game support. I think it will change how games are played from now on. Not all games, mind you, it takes a certain level of involvement to strap on a head-mounted display and get into the experience. The military already uses similar technology extensively for training. It’s just a matter of months before equipment hits shelves. That said, there’s a serious problem with it already.

After seeing a fellow MSNE autocrosser post a video with nice data overlays, I asked what datalogger and software he used. It turns out it wasn’t just a data logger, it was a camera that gathered his speed, acceleration, and so on for him. It was the Garmin Virb Elite. The ‘Elite’ part signifying the difference between the non-sensor, data-less variant. I’d never heard of it, and I thought I kept at least a cursory eye on the action camera market.