"This is bullshit!"  That's what's been on the tip of your tongue, since the release of Hak.5, episode 1013, right?



The bullshit in question is the fact that Darren has released the WiFi Pineapple Mark III, at a price of $100.00 + shipping.  Continuing with the bullshit, there is no word on the exact model of the little router he's selling.  Continuing on, the questions, "Will the firmware be available for download?", "Will there be a reflashing guide for the new firmware?", and most importantly, "Will I be able to flash a previous version of the hardware with the new Mark III firmware?" among many others remain unanswered.



Let's look at some data.  There are specs for the WiFi Pineapple on the HakShop.  Some sleuthy sleuths have found that the Mark III may be the Alfa AP51, or iMesh51.  The specs on the AP51 seem similar to me.  Using Google, you'll see the average price is around $30.00 for the AP51.  You'll also notice that there aren't any available to buy.  As I said, I only used Google for my search.  I'm sure Darren is much more resourceful.



Okay.  So... we have some mystery firmware, some mystery hardware, and no confirmations on whether or not the users of older hardware can upgrade to the Mark III firmware.  I think this is a glaring equation, which equals - "This is bullshit!"



I did a little research, and here are my predictions about the words that will come out of Mr. Kitchen's mouth:



- Yes you will be able to flash the new firmware (but I bet it will be really slow on the Foneras)

- I was really tired/spent after all that development that I did on the project.  That's why no info was put out.

- Licensing... blah, blah, blah.

- You're all "hackers", so why don't you figure it out.

- I hid the Mark III firmware on the Ninja Star Ethernet Tap product page (or it's floating around on the Hak.5 "darknet").

- Other assorted excuses that involve ComCast, illness, drinking or something that makes Darren look cool.  (Darren likes to save face).



What it all boils down to my little Haklings is this:



Darren's not going to release any info until he's made a few sawbacks off this project.  Maybe he already has released some info to the folks who got bamboozled into the trial of GoToExpress, so they could play on the Hak.5 Crack the Code Challenge.  Who knows.  Congrats to GoToExpress for the marketing and exposure.



And therein lies the source of the bullshit.  The spirit of Hak.5 is gone.  Not that it ever really was there.  I've seen some cool things come and go, but that spirit of sharing the knowledge (you know, that fallback argument for hacking?) is done.  Darren's gotta pay the bills, and you and I are helping him to do so.



Thanks Hak.5.  Hope you enjoyed the schnitzel and bier in that trendy Deutsch bar.  The first $100.00  made from the WiFi Pineapple Mark III should just about cover that day's tab.



Lastly, how could this rant have been avoided?  Simple.  Make the loyal followers of Hak.5 wait longer next time.  Get your ducks in a row and don't just set up the Quick Start guide for the folks who purchased the product.