Jan 29 2009Aaaaand The Roadsign Hacking Has Begun
Are you surprised? Of course not. What's there to be surprised about? You post an article about how to hack something, and people try it. Simple as that.
(Traffic Controller Bruce) Jones, who has one of only two keys to the locked access panels on the portable signs, said that the hacker broke into the panels [arguable] on each sign and bypassed the passwords before leaving five different zombie messages and even changing one of the passwords. Jones said he had to wait until 8 a.m. to call the manufacturing company to figure out how to override the hacker's work [Bruce, please see original article]. He speculated that the hacker could be a computer genius from UT.
A computer genius from UT! Or, I dunno, somebody who read an article on the internet. Whatever the case, the zombie thing was cute in the beginning folks, but it's time to start thinking outside the brain. The robots are coming too, you know.
Hit the jump for the other five messages left on the signs and the link to a video news report.
Sign hacker broadcasts zombie warnings [statesman]
and
Keep Austin Zombie-free [nofearofthefuture]
and
Video News Report
Thanks to Ghostface, Derrick, Brian, Nick, sarah, Jordan and Andrea, who can program road signs with their minds because they were all struck by lightning while carpooling in the HOV lane.
Reader Comments
1. gizmoduck - January 29, 2009 11:54 AM
ahah
that is amazing. i love it. give me more
2. LiquidOcelot - January 29, 2009 11:57 AM
hahhaahhah. This is great. Keep them coming plz! how bout some with
"THE BRITISH ARE COMING"
3. bar room hero - January 29, 2009 11:59 AM
Awesome!
4. SiGee - January 29, 2009 12:01 PM
My city RULES!
http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/Road_signs_warn_of_zombies
5. gizmoduck - January 29, 2009 12:06 PM
the girl in that article link is shannon wolfson.
thats sweet.
damnit nashville, hurry up and be awesome...
6. Pew³ - January 29, 2009 12:06 PM
In SoCal we have giant Amber Alert signs over the freeways. Does anyone know how to hack those?
I havent seen any of these types around my area.
Find out and I'll put something about run-away robots.
7. Fabio - January 29, 2009 12:08 PM
3 steps roadsign:
"You suck man..."
"Yes you in the car..."
"I'm not joking..."
8. Cameron - January 29, 2009 12:08 PM
That's awesome.
9. Thumperchica - January 29, 2009 12:08 PM
Awesome. This will be really funny until the manufacturers upgrade security...
"THIS IS SPARTA!"
"WATCH OUT FOR BOTTOMLESS PIT"
10. Ed aka the-iguana - January 29, 2009 12:09 PM
LMAO.
but yeah, there's more then zombies you know?
@2: yes, there's an example... ;)
11. Ed aka the-iguana - January 29, 2009 12:10 PM
@7: oh crap. that one would rock...
12. Moose Knuckle - January 29, 2009 12:14 PM
How 'bout "YETI CROSSING" or "GREEDO SHOT FIRST" or "TCLTC" or "ISLAM IS THE LIGHT" or "PHOTOSHOPPED" or "ROBOT ANNIHILATION"?
13. gizmoduck - January 29, 2009 12:16 PM
nothing but predator quotes would make me happy
14. Pew³ - January 29, 2009 12:20 PM
@12 Han shot first!!!
Are you just trying to make me mad!?
15. Moose Knuckle - January 29, 2009 12:21 PM
@13 Don't start...
16. Rook - January 29, 2009 12:23 PM
Daisy, even if you didn't write anything yet, you're right. It's a photoshop job.You can tell not because all shadows are wrong, but because of the same car on last two images.
17. gizmoduck - January 29, 2009 12:23 PM
@14 & 15
shot through the heart, and you're to blame
18. GTO--Josh - January 29, 2009 12:29 PM
you give love a bad name
19. Ghostface - January 29, 2009 12:36 PM
That's right I can program road signs with my mind. And the next thing I am going to do, is change some road sign to "Daisy=PHAIL", watch out for it !
20. CoinOperatedBoi - January 29, 2009 12:37 PM
I <3 Austin, now just gotta do that down here in San Antonio though I'll probably need to put them all in Spanish :)
21. Cali - January 29, 2009 12:45 PM
Nazi Zombies? quick someone call Blood Rayne!!! :D
22. Nattyb - January 29, 2009 12:46 PM
Funny that same sign is on my front door.
23. gizmoduck - January 29, 2009 12:47 PM
stains
24. QUASIMODEM - January 29, 2009 12:52 PM
It would be good if people could restrain themselves from doing stuff like this unless they were good at it, and didn't feel the need to ruin things with memes and an excess of exclamations!!!!! ! ! ! !! !"! ! "! !"▲♥
f***ing IDIOTS
25. DAISYFANNO1! - January 29, 2009 12:55 PM
How about :
27. Daisy - January 29, 2009 7:02 AM
FAKE!!!!
This is a complete photoshop job. You can tell its a fake because the shadow's are all wrong.
This is exactly like that scene in the movie Never Back Down where Max went for day care that was run by billy ray valentine, who had recently lost his job
26. Daisy - January 29, 2009 12:58 PM
FAKE!!!!
This is a complete photoshop job. You can tell its a fake because the shadow's are all wrong.
This is exactly like that scene in the movie Never Back Down where Max saw his father get kidded in a fight, and spent his whole life waiting for an opportunity for revenge. Later as a young man he became the killers close friend, and screwed up his opportunity to kill him.
27. jadels - January 29, 2009 1:02 PM
hahahaha
fantastic....
"computer genius from ut"
28. meowmo - January 29, 2009 1:29 PM
i'm afraid of zombies... new sign: "all your base are belong to us" / "robot revolt ahead" ?
yeah i know i'm awesome.
29. MissTronBonne - January 29, 2009 1:36 PM
I'm from Austin and this news is taking everyone by storm. I mean it. It's funny because I read about the original and thought that Austin News was WAY behind when they reported on it yesterday. Nope, it's just copycats! :) Also, NAZI ZOMBIES OMFG TERRIFYING.
30. Somebody - January 29, 2009 1:43 PM
"I'm your Father!"
"Asteroid incoming, drive faster!!"
"Godzilla next exit."
"Random anal cavity inspection ahead."
"Prius are for Douches"
"I'm B. Obama and I approved this message: RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!"
"Jello spill ahead, clothing prohibited."
"Toll fee is now $5, no wait, $8, oh just give me your arm NOM NOM NOM."
"Zombie hookers next exit."
"Emergency airplane landing, please clear the road NOW!"
"You there, yes you, receiving oral while driving: Keep up the good work!"
31. Nick - January 29, 2009 2:07 PM
"Quick! Push far brick wall at exit and find hidden Gatling gun!"
"1UP Next Exit"
32. Annearchist - January 29, 2009 2:14 PM
@16: The car is actually slightly further into the street in the second one, which leads me to believe that the sign had multiple messages on a loop.
Or it could be like that scene in Never Back Down where Max signs up at UT and joins forces with the Computer Genius Department so he can campaign to become president of the Greek Council by hacking programmable roadsigns to say things like, "Never give up, never back down!", "Vote for Max!" and "Walking away and giving up are not the same thing!"
33. Dr Skeptic - January 29, 2009 2:25 PM
Actually there is no WAY this is a photoshopped image because of the difference in color of the LED's displays along the top edge of the sign. This is because as light passes the border between media, depending upon the relative refractive indices of the two media, the light will either be refracted to a lesser angle, or a greater one. These angles are measured with respect to the normal line, represented perpendicular to the boundary. In the case of light traveling from air into water, light would be refracted towards the normal line, because the light is slowed down in water; light traveling from water to air would refract away from the normal line. So there you have it.
34. Ekaf - January 29, 2009 2:55 PM
@33: You can science it all you want, I still say its fake.
35. Travis - January 29, 2009 3:09 PM
I drove past the zombies sign on the way to work and they immediately started talking about it on the local radio station. I was like, I guess somebody read Geekologie :)
36. BK - January 29, 2009 3:35 PM
At least the signs were warning of danger ahead, which is what they are for anyway. And they did it jokingly. They could have been dicks and gave believable (confusing) false information. Saying "I-35 CLOSED....TAKE NEXT EXIT" or "ALL TRAFFIC MERGE.....TO CENTER LANE" or "AVOID BROKEN GLASS......SWERVE!"
I like:
"CAUTION!!!"
"ROAD AHEAD MAY BE..."
"GONE!"
37. JFreezy - January 29, 2009 3:43 PM
As soon as I find one in my city, I'm putting
"Nude
Geezers
Ahead
Close
Eyes
Now"
38. Jeff - January 29, 2009 3:45 PM
I first saw this last week a day before it was posted here. I think it was first posted on i-hacked.com, then picked up on stumbleupon, digg, etc. It's everywhere now: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,484326,00.html CNN.com has a link to KXAN's article, etc.
I agree this is freakin' awesome. There needs to be more of this happening. I showed my 10 year old son and he didn't stop laughing for 15 minutes.
39. dar - January 29, 2009 4:45 PM
#32 you underestimate the powers of photoshop if you think there's no way this could be photoshopped.
i'm sure it's true though. i'd write: "POOP"
40. QUASIMODEM - January 29, 2009 5:08 PM
38 misunderstands.
41. Milkman - January 29, 2009 5:13 PM
Wow, this actually made the news......
http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/Road_signs_warn_of_zombies
You know it's not long before they trace it to Geekologie and i-hacker-whatever.com
I laughed at this after reading the write-up:
"Hartley said though it was a locked sign, the padlock for it was cut. Signs such as these have a computer inside that is password-protected.
"And so they had to break in and hack into the computer to do it, so they were pretty determined," said Hartley."
Yes, they were determined.
To warn of ZOMBIESSSSSSSSSSSS
Why not warn of Jessica Biel's sexy curves ahead?
42. Azure Trayl - January 29, 2009 5:25 PM
The same thing happened in Austin, TX. I'm in San Antonio myself and started laughing the moment I saw this as I had read the instructions a few days earlier.
http://www.woai.com/news/local/story/Hackers-Create-Zombies-Ahead-Highway-Signs/JJNF_ohFN0iKQqCbYBQ5tg.cspx
43. Thumperchica - January 29, 2009 5:30 PM
"YOU NEED MORE COWBELL"
"WHERE'S MY CHECK OBAMA?"
"CAN YOU SCRATCH MY BACK?"
"ME NEITHER"
"WOMAN, SHUT UP, HE'S RIGHT"
"YEAH, YOU, BITCH"
"YOUR DAUGHTER GOT HERPES FROM THE GEEKOLOGIE WRITER"
I'll stop now.
44. Tennist0 - January 29, 2009 5:49 PM
didn't he mean, the end is nigh?
45. bluemanda - January 29, 2009 6:13 PM
When it says Nazi Zombies Run!!! did he mean that the zombies can run or that you should run because the nazi zombies are coming. I think the plan was not thought through.
46. Jeff - January 29, 2009 6:14 PM
40 is obscure
47. T-1000 - January 29, 2009 8:31 PM
AMBER ALERT:CONNOR, JOHN
48. Oh no Robots - January 29, 2009 9:29 PM
@ 47 T-1000. I love it. Shouldn't you note that he kidnapped a baby robot?
49. not a shoop - January 29, 2009 11:20 PM
This isn't a shoop I just saw live shots on the news you tards
50. LXS - January 29, 2009 11:52 PM
#47 Muh-Hahahaha!
I agree writing POOP" would be ideal, but... I changed my mind now.
51. bitches and hoes - January 30, 2009 12:11 AM
eat a queer fetus for jesus. i kill nazi zombies in cod5. bitches & hoes.
52. Annearchist - January 30, 2009 2:55 AM
@39: I think you were responding to @33, right? Just checking.
53. softlicious - January 30, 2009 11:29 AM
I like this, it's fun and the best thing it's for free! I think theese signs should tell you important things like "McDonalds drive in ahead" or something, not "bridge is broken" (*dull)
54. NZ - January 30, 2009 12:03 PM
DRIVE FASTER
STATE NEEDS
TICKET REVENUE
55. PurpleCar - January 30, 2009 12:44 PM
I don't care if it is photoshopped or what, that is darn funny, I don't care who you are.
56. Mr. Man - January 30, 2009 1:02 PM
"Mandatory Nudist Zone"
57. John wayne was a nazi - January 30, 2009 2:17 PM
"WARNING: ASIAN DRIVERS AHEAD"
"I'M GONNA STAB YOUR TAINT"
"WARNING: MEDIAN MAY BE ABLAZE"
"CHILDREN AHEAD, DRINK BEER SLOWLY"
"JOHN WAYNE WAS A NAZI"
58. potanda - January 30, 2009 8:07 PM
hahah nazi zombies call of duty world at war!~
59. Department of Homeland Security - January 30, 2009 9:58 PM
CHECKPOINT AHEAD
PRESENT I.D. CHIPS
OBEDIENCE OR DEATH
60. Leeto - February 1, 2009 1:58 PM
This reminds me of the actual billboard i altered once. Genius.
61. Leah - February 1, 2009 7:09 PM
turn the power supply off?
62. catch22 - March 19, 2009 12:26 PM
am i lame for wanting to do like LA story with one of these
63. na - March 23, 2009 5:48 PM
Ok for real people this month there was an advertising gimic! yes advertising, to promote a site it RENTED road signs like this to promote there site.
64. na - March 23, 2009 6:07 PM
pordon i was cut off by the computer haha, Those rented signs were not put on the street, but some one took it upon themselves to hack signs on the street and do so, wish they would of come up with better things than "nazi zombies" come on!
65. blw - April 13, 2009 10:39 PM
this is not fake it was on the news
66. Alex - June 12, 2009 10:03 AM
This sign looks ok .But better led signs from http://www.ledscreenchina.com