[HN Gopher] Reverse Engineering a Cat Feeder to Boost Productivity
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Reverse Engineering a Cat Feeder to Boost Productivity
Author : bubblehack3r
Score : 130 points
Date : 2022-10-09 08:17 UTC (14 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.sensibledefaults.io)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.sensibledefaults.io)
| rwestergren wrote:
| I was scratching my head on how he was capturing requests without
| mentioning a proxy cert, but then I saw the security note at the
| bottom. You'll see that the data for these
| products is sent in plaintext to and from their servers
|
| The API seems to have a valid cert and is listening over HTTPS -
| strange that the app client uses plaintext. curl
| https://api.petkt.com/ {"error":{"code":97,"msg":"App is
| out of date, please upgrade"}}
| neilv wrote:
| Fun hack. Though, for myself, I'd be afraid of breaking either my
| diet or my normal goal-directed work focus.
| shapefrog wrote:
| _Reverse Engineering the Reverse Engineered Cat Feeder to Boost
| Snacks_
|
| while true: push
| csdvrx wrote:
| Tangent to the project: Nuts are good, but what about a healthier
| mix?
|
| Like wasabi covered almonds if you like almonds, or sunflower
| seeds (for trace minerals), walnuts, etc.
|
| They are high in carbs but provide many other things.
|
| On the tech side, it would be fun to be able to deliver just one
| for a lootbox effect ("when I get the walnut, I take a break")
|
| It could also be at specified intervals, to act like a pomodoro?
| amelius wrote:
| That wouldn't work for me. Too hackable.
|
| I need at least something like this:
|
| https://www.thekitchensafe.com/pages/faq
| _Algernon_ wrote:
| I'd game this immediately: commit every character individually.
| inetsee wrote:
| I was actually just thinking about a Tamagotchi-like program that
| required regular productive activities in order to keep a virtual
| pet alive, healthy and happy. A computer program would not need
| to deal with all that messy real world hardware; it would all be
| virtual.
|
| You could also add a function that makes your virtual pet unhappy
| if you spent too much time reading Hacker News. Instant
| productivity boost.
| stoneman24 wrote:
| Just connect the reward to a good build and passing all the unit
| tests. Project management achieved. :)
| MayeulC wrote:
| Yet another reason to have a quick test suite and build
| pipeline?
|
| I feel like having to wait for more than a few seconds to get
| the reward would remove the instant gratification our brains
| crave.
|
| That's an interesting setup. I could certainly use something
| like that: I'm writing my PhD manuscript, and depriving myself
| of rewards (hobbies) until I'm done, but it seems like my brain
| can't really understand long-term rewards instinctively. I
| already have a few hooks that compute the number of lines when
| I push a commit; I could see myself wiring this up to boil
| water for a tea, or something similar. Want to take a coffee
| break? Work a bit first! Avoids procrastinating to some extent,
| while adding some kind of gamification to the self-discipline
| (having only myself standing between me and the reward is
| sometimes not enough).
|
| Well, I guess I'll just pretend I have such an elaborate setup;
| and only build it once I'm done writing ;)
| mgaunard wrote:
| why would you extend so much energy to eat more unhealthy junk?
| Eddy_Viscosity2 wrote:
| This reduces the eating of unhealthy junk. Imagine if it was
| just an open bag of these sitting by the computer.
| scotty79 wrote:
| Almonds in dark chocolate don't sound that junky
| layer8 wrote:
| According to the linked product page, they are 37% carbs (and
| 43% fat), so not too healthy if you eat a lot of them, but it
| could be worse.
| 6stringmerc wrote:
| Chocolate supports endorphins too so it's a good reward
| morganpartee wrote:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcBIzuuIdOA
| sshine wrote:
| Almond chocolates aren't unhealthy junk?
| layer8 wrote:
| By mixing the chocolate almonds with a larger amount of less
| desirable snacks, one could get the lootbox effect of "just one
| more commit".
| DonHopkins wrote:
| When I have a bunch of friends over for coffee, we like to play
| "Moroccan Roulette" by tossing a chunk of hash into the
| automatic coffee machine's bean grinder hopper.
|
| Probably a good thing I work at home and not in an office.
| malermeister wrote:
| Isn't THC not really bioavailable when eaten in hash form?
| throwanem wrote:
| If you're grinding beans for coffee, it'd end up in the
| filter basket or whatever and get hot-water extracted,
| right? I don't see how it necessarily qualifies as
| "roulette", but I bet everybody has a real good time.
| RosanaAnaDana wrote:
| My guess is that its one of those kind where most of your
| coffee is stored in the hopper, and they are only making
| singleton cups (pour over or cappuccino).
| zeristor wrote:
| The tricky bit is trying to outwit yourself.
|
| Just opening the lid and delving in.
| sshine wrote:
| As a person who eats all the candy in the house, I am very good
| at following rules also. E.g. "don't buy candy" or "don't eat
| someone else's candy".
|
| Maybe "only eat dispensed candy" isn't a good rule to follow in
| itself, but I do wonder if the dopamine release associated with
| triggering the release of candy counts for more than the candy
| itself. :-)
| 6stringmerc wrote:
| Haha this is a great reply and reminds me of how much I love
| Rube Goldberg machines! Simple outcome, complex process. The
| first thing that came to mind was Doc Brown's automatic dog
| feeder for Einstein in the original Back to the Future.
| DonHopkins wrote:
| SNL really went downhill once they stopped using this effective
| productivity boosting technique, because Lorne was just too
| stingy.
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qIcYkEIVdc&t=3m23s
| yrgulation wrote:
| Someone somewhere will steal the idea and make these available to
| human farms (euphemistically known as offices).
| pharke wrote:
| I was just looking into this the other day. Nice to see someone
| do it. I wonder if making it more hackable by replacing the
| electronic guts with something like a ESP8266 would be
| worthwhile. I'd much rather be able to have a simple little
| server on this device that I can talk to over the network rather
| than having to go through some random company's servers. I
| imagine connecting it to the motor that turns the feeding
| mechanism wouldn't be too hard and the screen and buttons could
| simply be removed to prevent any, ahem, manual tampering. Adding
| some way to lock the food bin would also help with impulse
| control for those who need it.
|
| Another upgrade would be to randomly reward the desired behavior
| instead of always rewarding it. This helps to both prevent gaming
| the system as well as keeping those dopamine spikes high when you
| unexpectedly get some candy. Using chocolate as a reward is
| perfect since it provides tryamine to help replenish your
| dopamine levels.
| morganpartee wrote:
| I totally thought about that as a last resort, but their API is
| not well hidden or secured, I'm going to use it until they
| secure it lol.
|
| Randomizing is a great idea, I've got to drop the calories per
| commit somehow lol
| Brybry wrote:
| Might be possible to use DNS to point api.petkt.com to a local
| webserver and rewrite the API?
|
| I can't imagine it has that many endpoints or that much logic.
| I would think the main issue would be potential
| encryption/authentication but if they're using plaintext HTTP
| for the phone app then maybe the feeders are using plaintext
| HTTP too...
| Nextgrid wrote:
| If the device is using HTTPS, you'd need a valid certificate
| for that hostname - that's exactly the attack HTTPS is
| designed to defend against.
|
| And if they're using certificate pinning, it can't even be
| any certificate from a trusted authority, it has to be one
| particular authority or even that specific certificate that
| they use (they could very well be using an internal CA for
| this, as they control the other end of the connection).
| KMnO4 wrote:
| From the article:
|
| > You'll see that the data for these products is sent in
| plaintext to and from their servers... No HTTPS... That's
| just sketchy.
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