Submission + - Hacking without Hackin (gizmag.com)
The Installer writes: Researchers from the University of Washington have managed to add customization and accessibility options to proprietary software without even touching the source code. Rather than alter program code, Prefab looks for the pixels associated with the blocks of code used to paint applications to a screen, grabs hold of them and then alters them according to whatever enhancements the user has chosen to apply. Any user input is then fed back to the original software, still running behind the enhanced interface.
Although open source software is playing an increasingly important part in our digital lives, most of still use commercial applications where the code running them is locked down tight and rarely caters for too much uncontrolled tinkering. But what if you want to control an MP3 player from within Microsoft Word or view lots of different possible Photoshop renderings all at the same time? Proprietary code will undoubtedly prevent you from doing such things.
Although open source software is playing an increasingly important part in our digital lives, most of still use commercial applications where the code running them is locked down tight and rarely caters for too much uncontrolled tinkering. But what if you want to control an MP3 player from within Microsoft Word or view lots of different possible Photoshop renderings all at the same time? Proprietary code will undoubtedly prevent you from doing such things.
