The increase in sophistication between the original PSP Swaploit and the new KXploit is a terrifying model of evolution in action. For those of you who never tried the first homebrew method released on the fifteenth, let's go into the onerous ritual it required of a person:

Track down a program you actually want to install

Run the quite possibly illegal exploit application

Copy identical directory trees to two separate memory sticks manually

Run the "dummy" application from one card

Manually swap it out quickly

Enjoy

I had read that the process required a pint (or more!) virgin blood, but that might have been for something else. I have a lot of projects going on. Would you like to see what a single generation was able to achieve in terms of elegance?

Track down an application you actually want to install

Run the quite possibly illegal exploit application

And you're done. I heard that the version after this will have a button on it you can just click to knock a quarter off Sony's stock price.

The day after the first exploit was released, Sony put out a new firmware whose only new "feature" worth noting was that it broke homebrew. If you are wondering whether or not I manually applied an upgrade to my 250$ piece of consumer electronics that significantly decreases the value of my machine, hello! This must be your first time visiting us here at Penny Arcade. I'm Tycho, and together with my cohort Gabriel we create comics and commentary on electronic entertainment.

If you want to buy new games for your PSP, and I would if it were a vibrant platform with a diverse roster, they'll just apply the update on the sly. I have an emulator or two on mine, but it's mostly generic geeky curiosity as opposed to a genuine sense of malice against the platform or gaming history. The truth is that outside of this general purpose technology reconnaissance, I don't have any enduring stake in the vast preponderance of homebrewed apps. I might pop into Gradius or something for five minutes, but all it makes me want to do is play Gradius V. I don't actually believe it used to be better, not even secretly.

My hopes for the system are all invested in the possibility of a user-made Xvid player with full-screen resolution. I don't want to read PDFs or browse the web. Actually, web browsing would be pretty cool. Come to think of it, PDF viewing would really be an asset. If they put out a hardware update that added genuine functionality, my sense of propriety would kick in and I'd never resort to furtive trysts in filthy alleys with anonymous hackers. I would get all my loving at "home," which is to say, under officially sponsored corporate auspices.

We made a comic about "the romz" as well, minus the sky high trucker and vehicular manslaughter it is a true story. It was Gabe though, not me, and it was actually a real FBI agent who cracks down on pornography. He had the cuffs on him, Gabriel's face pressed into the sticky circle left by an ancient soda, and we decided that was a good time to reveal our hidden cameras. Strangely enough, Gabriel never professed his innocence throughout the ordeal. Weird!

(CW)TB out.

brass knuckles and flashlights

It is apparently hilarious to play practical jokes on me. The story Tycho mentioned is just one example of the sort of junior high bullshit I am forced to deal with here at Penny Arcade industries.

I was sitting at my desk drawing when an honest to God FBI agent entered the room and asked for me by name. The man had a badge and a fucking gun and everything. He said something about investigation of pornography and that I was under arrest. I looked to my friends in the room for assurance that this was some sort of joke and got none. To their credit they did not crack during the entire joke. In fact it wasn’t until I started crying and begging for my mother that they all had a good laugh and patted each other on the back. Apparently Robert has a friend in the FBI. I guess he had a few spare minutes to stop by our office and make me piss myself. As for me not proclaiming my innocence during the ordeal, well that’s true. Once again I must give my friends credit for creating a plausible scenario for my incarceration.

-Gabe out

I would like to point you all towards some very cool new shirts over at Gameskins.com. For the puzzle fans in the audience Kiko has created the “heartris” shirt. Those of you who enjoy the occasional FPS might like the new “headshot” shirt. Finally kiko has delivered a shirt that I consider to be a masterpiece. He calls it “Viva Miyamoto” but I call it a powerful image that ignites the fire of revolution in the minds of all who see it.

-Gabe out :o:

I am always hesitant to put up links to comics I haven't linked before, and the reasons are a little neurotic, so let me clarify them.

One, putting up a link is actually considered a hostile act by some comics. The bandwidth drain our readership - well, you, I guess - can place on a site is almost indistinguishable (at first) from a Denial Of Service attack. We linked an astonishing trailer someone had made for an H. P. Lovecraft cartoon a while ago, and by the end of the day the creator was suggesting that I owed him four thousand dollars because his ISP was shaking him down. It's not like I'm going to pay it, but that's a tremendous burden to place on someone just for doing something that I found compelling. So I don't write it.

Two, when I link one, I feel as though I have brought gum to school and now must share with everyone. But when I write a post like that, it's my real and verifiable fear that I link too many things and it's actually not useful to the sites I'd like to draw attention to. So I don't write it.

Well, I'm not trying to destroy lives or whatever, but there are some things I enjoy and I am going to link them now.

I heard about a comic called Alpha Shade while listening to a podcast called Digital Strips, hosted by the indefatigable Zampzon and Daku. And I really, really meant to read Alpha Shade, that has been the plan for a month now, but every time I think this is going to be it and plunge into their archive I end up in their Goddamn podcast, the Alpha Rant. These things are hours long and I'm completely hooked. I'd say that as soon as I get done with this post I'm going to start at page one and lap up their (comic) output, but I've already lied several times today and I would rather not go to hell. Probably best at this point just to grab their extremely professional looking graphic novel and maybe just have it out while I absorb their fraternal camaraderie.

Wouldn't you know that in their podcast they reference another podcast called Geek Fu Action Grip, and there's another hour gone.

(CW)TB