SmackBook

Status: Real
image A video on YouTube shows a MacBook Pro that has supposedly been hacked to rapidly change applications whenever it's smacked on the side. (Thanks to Kathy for sending the link.) I have to admit that when I first saw it, I thought it was fake. I figured the guy was probably pushing a button to make the applications change. However, after reading Erling Ellingsen's description on Medallia blog of how the SmackBook was created, I'm now pretty sure it's real. He writes:
Turns out, the laptop has a built-in motion sensor. Nominally, it's there to protect the internal hard drive. The basic idea is this: If the accelerometer suddenly notices that the gravitational pull of earth is no longer present, the most likely explanation is that the laptop, sensor and all, is currently accelerating at 9.81 m/s² towards said earth. In that case, it will (wisely) try to turn the hard drive off in preparation for impact. It can, however, also be used in situations not involving lobbing the laptop across the room, fun though that may be.
More importantly, he also provides the code so that anyone else can hack the Mac's built-in motion sensor and create a SmackBook, if they desire. And a few people have reported successfully replicating the SmackBook. It's a cool little trick, but I don't see it having that many practical applications.

Technology

Posted on Fri Jun 09, 2006


Comments

Yes, I don't really see the point. Not being a computer nerd could have something to do with that, but somehow I doubt it.
Posted by Nettie  on  Fri Jun 09, 2006  at  10:12 AM
Forget about smackbook; check out MacSaber, which uses the motion sensor to turn your MacBook into a lightsaber.

http://isnoop.net/blog/2006/05/20/macsaber-turn-your-mac-into-a-jedi-weapon

Watch this vid for a dead-on recreation of the Star Wars Kid using MacSaber.

http://a.wholelottanothing.org/2006/05/macbook_man.html
Posted by ejk  on  Fri Jun 09, 2006  at  10:34 AM
This is not hoax. In fact, I could do this very easily.
Here's good instruction.

SmackBook Pro
http://www.applegeeks.com/sm/index.php/topic,7135.msg129483.html#msg129483
Posted by Jack24  on  Fri Jun 09, 2006  at  11:05 AM
What you have to prepare is...

MacBook or MacBook Pro ( it has a physical sencer for saving HardDisk from unexpected motion)

Parallels Desktop ( to install Windows or Linux on Mac)
VirtueDesktop ( to switch desktop )
AMS Tracker ( to sence the motion )
Smackbook.pl ( to pipe AMS with Virtue )

---

and here's another funny app.

YouTube - Don't Get Your Mac Jacked - iAlertU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkAtRfA1UXc&search=macbook alarm

iAlertU 0.12 - MacUpdate
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/21282
Posted by Jack24  on  Fri Jun 09, 2006  at  11:16 AM
Alex said:

"It's a cool little trick, but I don't see it having that many practical applications."

Hacks are SUPPOSED to have practical application??
Posted by Cranky Media Guy  on  Fri Jun 09, 2006  at  05:40 PM
Without hackers, we wouldn't have half the technological innovations we do today. Hackers (not the destructive "ZOMG MY BANK ACCOUNT" kind, which if you follow the lingo back enough are more crackers than hackers) make things work in ways that wern't originally intended, leading to interesting discoveries, new ways of thinking and more inventive programming.
Posted by Soldant  on  Sat Jun 10, 2006  at  06:34 AM
Hackers have taken advantage of that sensor before, too. Someone made a "Labyrinth" game (the one where you roll a ball through a maze) which is controlled by actually tipping the computer. Is that cool or what?
Posted by PlantPerson  on  Sat Jun 10, 2006  at  06:58 AM
I have an older 15" PowerBook, the one just before the one with SMS (Sudden Motion Sensor). So I can't try anything like this. A few months ago someone made a Dashboard widget that lets you use your PowerBook with SMS/MacBook as a level.

A bit off topic, the Name, Email, Location, and URL fields all said "deleted" when I opened this page.
Posted by Ian  on  Fri Jun 16, 2006  at  02:53 PM
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