http://www.maximumpc.com|NOV 08 |MAMAMAXIMXIMXIMXIMUUUUMMPPPCC|'*
T
urn your shutterbugging into cold, hard cash by selling
your pics online. A number of sites let you upload
and sell your images, but we like iStockphoto (www.
istockphoto.com) best. Aft er registering and taking a short
quiz on copyright law, you’ll send in a sample image to see if
you have the right stuff. Once accepted, you’re free to upload
as many images as you want (though the site may decline
photos that do not meet its standards). IStockphoto does,
however, make explicit what types of photos are needed—
increasing your chances of actually making a sale.
Sell Your Photos
Find Your Celebrity
Look-Alike
Y
ou forgot your Win-
dows XP password? No
problem. With a handy PC
lockpick you can crack that OS
wide open. To make one, all you
need is a PC, an empty 2GB USB key,
and an Internet connection.
First, download the USB version of
Back Track 3 from http://remote-exploit.
org/. This Linux-based distro is made for
penetration testing of networks and computers, and
it’s free (although donations are welcome). Extract the
contents of the Back Track 3 ISO to a folder on your desktop
using WinISO (http://winiso.com) or Universal Extractor
(http://legroom.net).
Next, format the USB key as a FAT32 drive from
Windows. Copy the contents of the ISO to the fl ash key.
Now go to Start, then Run, and type cmd; go to the fl ash
drive by typing G: (or whatever letter was assigned to
the drive). Type CD bootinst, hit Enter, and then type
bootinst to start the batch fi le that creates a bootable
master boot record (MBR) on the fl ash drive.
To try out your lockpick, reboot the machine and either
manually change the boot order in the BIOS or use the
usual shortcut that most machines have today: hit ESC, F10,
or F12 during boot to choose from a list of boot devices.
Choose the USB key option. You should see Back Track 3
loading on the screen as you would any OS. You’ll then
have a choice of multiple versions to run—we’ve had the
most success with the VESA version. (If you’re successful
getting the key to boot once, but it stops working aft er a
reset, you may have to go back and run bootinst again to
re-create the MBR). Once you’re in Back Track 3, you can
pick from numerous penetration methods, but for a simple
password change, use winlockpwn.
Back Track 3 isn’t just a lockpick—it off ers a huge
assortment of publicly available tools all rolled into one
multi-tool for cracking Wi-Fi, spoofi ng, and sniffi ng.
Make a PC Lockpick Become a
Professional Writer
T
hanks to the Internet, it’s never been easier to get
a published byline. Many websites need regularly
updated content to stay relevant, and they’re will-
ing to pay for it. The going rate for a blog post is $10 to
$15. Do several a day over
the course of a month
and... well, you do the
math. What’s more,
concepts like formal
training and previous
experience oft en
don’t apply online
like they do in print.
As long as you have
basic research and
writing skills
and a reli-
able work
ethic,
you’re in.
A C T U A L S T O C K P H O T O