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The slowest warez team ever — Green hills forever: Windows XP activation algorithm cracked after 21 years Please, please, please do not actually install XP and use it. But if you must

Kevin Purdy – May 26, 2023 2:45 pm UTC Enlarge / With this background, potentially the most viewed photograph in human history, Windows XP always signaled that it was prepared for a peaceful retirement. Yet some would have us disturb it.Charles O’Rear/Microsoft reader comments 11 with

It has never been too hard for someone with the right amount of time, desperation, or flexible scruples to get around Windows XP’s activation scheme. And yet XP activation, the actual encrypted algorithm, loathed since before it started, has never been truly broken, at least entirely offline. Now, far past the logical end of all things XP, the solution exists, floating around the web’s forum-based backchannels for months now.

On the blog of tinyapps.org (first spotted by The Register), which provides micro-scale, minimalist utilities for constrained Windows installations, a blog post appropriately titled “Windows XP Activation: GAME OVER” runs down the semi-recent history of folks looking to activate Windows XP more than 20 years after it debuted, nine years after its end of life, and, crucially, some years after Microsoft turned off its online activation servers (or maybe they just swapped certificates). Advertisement

xp_activate32.exe, a 18,432-byte program (hash listed on tinyapps’ blog post), takes the code generated by Windows XP’s phone activation option and processes it into a proper activation key (Confirmation ID), entirely offline. It’s persistent across system wipes and re-installs. It is, seemingly, the same key Microsoft would provide for your computer.

Tools for generating keys that Windows XP would accept existed long before this entirely offline little programlots and lots of them. But they were typically software hacks or brute-force decryption tools that, while locally accepted, would not validate with Microsoft (for what that’s worth now). Another tool, WindowsXPKg, deliciously hosted on the GitHub servers Microsoft owns, can generate keys but requires an external server that, as of this posting, no longer seems to be operating.

Most people won’t actually, hopefully need this tool. Fully functional XP images that you can sandbox inside a virtual machine exist in many places, including Microsoft’s own Windows XP Mode for Windows 7. And, of course, installing a highly unsupported XP on a device that’s connected to the modern Internet is malice aforethought. Let us all enjoy this for the rhetorical, mathematical victory that it is, while we say a small prayer for those dealing with hardware that truly needs XP. reader comments 11 with Kevin Purdy Kevin is a senior technology reporter at Ars Technica, covering a variety of technology topics and reviewing products. He started his writing career as a newspaper reporter, covering business, crime, and other topics. He has written about technology and computing for more than 15 years. Advertisement Channel Ars Technica ← Previous story Related Stories Today on Ars

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Memo: MLB uniforms to change after complaints

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Memo: MLB uniforms to change after complaints

Major League Baseball plans to address its uniform fiasco after changes this spring to the standard jerseys and pants led to widespread complaints from players and fans, according to a memo obtained Sunday night by ESPN.

The prominent modifications include a return to larger lettering on the back of jerseys, remedying mismatched gray tops and bottoms and addressing the new Nike jerseys’ propensity to collect sweat, according to the memo distributed to players by the MLB Players Association on Sunday.

The changes, which will happen at the latest by the beginning of the 2025 season, will also include fixes to the pants, widely panned this spring for being see-through.

The union informed players of the coming changes in a letter that placed the blame on Nike and the debut of its Vapor Premier uniform, which was advertised for its superior performance but remains disliked by players.

“This has been entirely a Nike issue,” the memo to players read. “At its core, what has happened here is that Nike was innovating something that didn’t need to be innovated.”

The union also absolved Fanatics, the manufacturer of the uniform that has received the majority of public scorn for the uniform mess, saying the company “recognizes the vital importance of soliciting Player feedback, obtaining Player buy-in and not being afraid to have difficult conversations about jerseys or trading cards. Our hope is that, moving forward, Nike will take a similar approach.”

While the new uniformed debuted at the 2023 All-Star Game, its rollout this spring led to reams of bad publicity. The shrinking of the letter size on players’ name plates gave jerseys an amateur look. The pants — which, according to the memo, will “return to the higher quality zipper used in 2023” — had myriad issues, including the see-through fabric, a lack of tailoring and rips and tears that players believed unnecessary.

Nike’s partnership with MLB began in 2019, when it took over as the league’s official uniform supplier as part of a 10-year, $1 billion deal for MLB. Fanatics has partnerships with the league and the union, both of which have invested in the company and own small stakes.

“We cautioned Nike against various changes when they previewed them in 2022, particularly regarding pants,” the union memo read. “MLB had been, and has been, aware of our concerns as well. Unfortunately, until recently Nike’s position has essentially boiled down to — ‘nothing to see here, Players will need to adjust.'”

MLB declined to comment. Nike did not offer immediate comment when reached by ESPN. Fanatics did not respond to a request for comment. The MLBPA declined to comment.

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Red Sox add Cooper to roster, reassign Reyes

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Red Sox add Cooper to roster, reassign Reyes

The Boston Red Sox added first baseman/outfielder Garrett Cooper to the major league roster and designated utility player Pablo Reyes for assignment on Monday.

The Red Sox acquired Cooper from the Chicago Cubs on Saturday for cash considerations.

Cooper, 33, was designated for assignment by the Cubs last week after hitting .270 with a home run and six RBIs in 12 games. His playing time was limited with the emergence of Michael Busch.

Boston has playing time available at first base with Triston Casas (ribs) currently on the injured list.

In eight seasons with three different clubs, Cooper is a .268 hitter with 57 home runs and 228 RBIs in 493 games. He combined to hit 17 home runs with 61 RBIs in 123 games for the San Diego Padres and Miami Marlins last season.

He replaces Reyes on the 26-man active roster. Reyes is batting .183 with five RBIs and 19 strikeouts in 21 games this season.

Reyes, 30, is a career .248 hitter with eight homers and 54 RBIs in 232 games with the Pittsburgh Pirates (2018-19), Milwaukee Brewers (2021-22) and Red Sox. He missed the 2020 season after being suspended for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.

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California now has 1 EV fast charging station for every 5 gas stations

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California now has 1 EV fast charging station for every 5 gas stations

Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) announced on Saturday that there is now one EV fast charging station for every five gas stations in California.

California has led the US in the number of EVs and EV charging stations every year since 2016, according to the US Energy Information Administration in December.

According to the governor’s office, 105,000 public or shared private EV chargers have been installed throughout California, on top of over 500,000 home EV chargers. Newsom flagged this stat in a tweet when he also highlighted that Tesla Superchargers are now open to non-Tesla EVs:

There are over 10,000 public DC fast chargers in California.

The number of gas stations vs. EV charging stations is not a like-for-like comparison because fueling up with gas is faster than DC fast charging… so far. But EVs can charge at home, meaning that DC fast chargers are used less.

In February, California approved a $1.9 billion plan to deploy 40,000 more public EV chargers statewide – and that’s in addition to the $1.8 billion it’s already invested in EV charging infrastructure.

More than 1.84 million EVs have been sold in California to date, and 34% of new ZEVs sold in the US are sold in California, according to the Veloz EV Market Report. The state ranks fourth in EV sales behind China, the US, and Germany.

Read more: The Las Vegas–LA electric high-speed rail line just broke ground


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