The Lost Art Of Steam Heating

We got pointed by [packrat] to a 2015 presentation by [Dan Holohan] on the history and art of steam heating systems. At the advent of central heating systems for entire buildings, steam was used instead of water or air for the transport medium. These systems were installed in landmark buildings including the Empire State Building, which still use them to this day.

A major advantage of steam-based heating system is that no pump is required: the steam will naturally rise up through the piping, condenses and returns to the origin. This can be implemented as a single pipe where condensation …read more

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Steam bug exposes license keys for every game available on platform

An avid bug hunter has discovered a vulnerability in Valve’s Steam developer portal which, exploited properly, reveals every license key for every game available on the platform. Instead of selling the keys for illicit profit, he reported the fla… Continue reading Steam bug exposes license keys for every game available on platform

DerpTrolling game server DDoS attacker pleads guilty

Austin Thompson pleaded guilty on November 6 in a San Diego Federal court to knowingly causing damage to third-party computers. Continue reading DerpTrolling game server DDoS attacker pleads guilty

This Xbox 360 is Powered by Steam

Now that we’re far enough into the next generation of home video game consoles that we can’t really keep calling them that anymore, yard sales are sure to be full of lonely Xbox 360s and PS3s that have been put out to pasture. You’ll probably even find a Wii U or two out there that somebody accidentally purchased. This is great for hackers who like cramming new electronics into outdated consumer gear, and accordingly, we’re starting to see the fruits of that generational shift.

Case in point, this Xbox 360 which has been transformed into a “Steam Box” by [Pedro …read more

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