🔴 [LIVE] Hak5 Hits 1 MILLION SUBSCRIBERS

The streamer, having overslept, discovered he missed his own million-subscriber celebration stream hosted by Ali Diamond. He expresses a peculiar form of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) at missing his own milestone and notes a slight dip in subscribers, hoping they will return. He shares his excitement about being live and demonstrates his new streaming setup, which he hopes will work. The stream then focuses on the near achievement of one million subscribers, with the counter fluctuating around the mark. He reflects on his journey to this point, humorously suggesting that aspiring creators need only "do what you love for 21 years." He then delves into the origin of the Hack5 brand, revealing that the domain hack5.org was registered on July 21, 2005, and the first official episode aired on August 5, 2005. He shares that "Hack5" was not the original intended name, mentioning a working title of "Hack 0.5." This name arose from a segment called "Half-Assed Hack," where they would jokingly present a less-than-perfect solution to a tech problem. The streamer recounts a specific "Half-Assed Hack" episode where they demonstrated how to make a GameCube play DVDs by duct-taping a DVD player to it. During this segment, his co-host, Wes Hobler, accidentally blurted out "Hack 0.5," inadvertently naming the show. He details the laborious editing process at the time, involving DV tapes and a Firewire connection, which could take a full day or more to capture and edit a single episode. He advocates for the "first take" in content creation, explaining how they would often use a "trash take" with guests to build authenticity and energy, which frequently turned out to be the best take. This philosophy of not wanting to reshoot also contributed to the adoption of the "Hack 0.5" name. He then shares a personal anecdote about a recent trip to Italy, specifically the Amalfi Coast and Tuscany. He visited Florence and the Ponte Vecchio, a historic bridge known for its shops, which were originally occupied by fishmongers and later by jewelers. He notes the bridge's survival through World War II, attributing it to a fascist dictator's supposed fondness for it. During his trip, he purchased a "smart ring" that did not require a subscription, highlighting his disdain for the subscription model on tech products. He found a ring with a 12-day battery life and potential for hacking, which he found exciting. Returning to the present, he announces the release of Pineapple Pager version 1.0.9, noting that 1.0.8, released before his trip, introduced the "List Picker" feature, which significantly enhanced payload interactivity. He mentions another device with similar interactive capabilities that is nearing release. The 1.0.9 update focuses on UI fixes and firmware update checking. He then demonstrates a new payload for the Pager called "USB Payloads," which allows users to link and run payloads directly from a USB drive. He walks through the process of creating a directory on the Pager, creating a `payload.sh` file, and then attempting to launch the USB payload. Initially, it fails due to no USB storage being detected. He retrieves a flash drive, prepares it by creating a `usb-payloads` directory and a `payload.sh` file containing Root Junkie's USB Payload script. He then plugs the flash drive into his Pager, which displays a yellow bar, indicating it's in "arming mode." After some initial issues with the Pager's charging port and the date being incorrect (causing SSL errors for his `getPR` script), he corrects the date and successfully mounts the USB drive and links the payloads. He encounters a minor bug where the "exit" option was not appearing in the List Picker menu. He identifies a missing space in the script as the cause and explains that this is a common issue with bash scripting. After correcting the space, the "exit" option reappears. He expresses his excitement about the Pager's capabilities, particularly its ability to run a browser-based Game Boy Color emulator that forwards physical button inputs. He marvels at the idea of the Pager acting as a remote for a browser-based emulator, allowing users to play games like Doom (which also has a native port for the Pager) within the Pager's interface. He notes that this emulator is entirely JavaScript-based, with no custom binary required, which makes it easier to merge into the codebase. He also discusses the `pager_ctl` script, which allows for more visual payloads. He then shares news about a planned in-person meetup in Las Vegas during DEF CON in August, coinciding with Hack5's 21st anniversary. He highlights that Hack5 is now "old enough to drink" and that this meetup will be their first since 2019. He is still working on securing a venue. The streamer concludes by reiterating his surprise at missing his own million-subscriber milestone, expressing gratitude for the viewers' support, and teasing an upcoming Ethernet/Wi-Fi supercharger for the Pager. He ends with a positive outlook, encouraging viewers to "keep it real" and "trust your techno lust."