Welcome to my digital home! There are lots of articles you might find helpful buried in this site on topics such as modifying an Alfa Romeo 159, rebuilding a Lotus 7 (Robin Hood 2B), not to mention a ton of stuff on technology in general. It’s all here somewhere, so use the search function or navigate using the menu structure. if you want to talk, reach out via the contact function, I usually do answer!
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GeneralHere is the Dilema. Do you want performance, versitility or cheap? I go with performace, and let skill do the versitility bit.
Here are some of the ones I have seen and a couple I have used:
Stanton Final Scratch
Not available these days unless its second hand, I had a Mk1 version, USB connectivity and the Software was only stable on a MAC, even then, a little tempremental!
Serato SCRATCH
Recentley borrowed one of these of a mate, and I have to say I was impressed, easy to use, stable, even on Vista! and quick response from the USB hardware.
Native Instruments AUDIO8 DJ
I am itchin to get hold of one of these, it looks pretty impressive and ticks all the boxes in terms of functionality, Firewire interface so it should be spot on for scratchin, and based on the latest version of Tractor FS, so again, proven technology.Related Images: [...]
Alfa 159Once the car was pepped and ready it was onto the enclosure build. This was a combination of trial and error mixed with some loose calculations and estimations around box size. I had worked out utilising box design software that for my sub, a 0.6 cuft sealed enclosure was going to give me good responsive SQ and enough power. This also suited my limited boot incursion requirements so was ideal.
I also wanted the amp to be located as part of the enclosure and with the heat-sink visible to aid in cooling. The end result was to have something that looked as close to built by designed as I could achieve without a lot of fibreglass and pain!
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LiveMixesAnother Progressive Mix for 2010:
Stefano Noferini – Cool Summer (Original Dirty Mix) + hardrive Deep Inside (Harry Choo Choo Romero Bambossa Remix)
Laidback Luke, Sebastian Ingrosso, Axwell, Steve Angelo feat. Deborah Cox – Leave The World Behind (Original Mix)
Moguai – Lyve (Original Mix)
Pryda – Miami To Atlanta (Original Mix)
Moguai – Imperial (Original Mix)
Sebastian Ingrosso – Kidsos (original Mix)
Young Rebels & Francesco Diaz – 1998 (Original Mix)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll (A-Track Remix) (Club Edit)
Jerry Ropero, Tom Novy Feat. Abigai Bailey – Touch Me (Extended Mix)
Cirez D – On Off (original Mix)
Depeche Mode – Hole to Feed (Proof Vocal Mix)
Deadmau5 Feat Billy Newton – Outta My Life (Touch Mix)
Hoxton Whores – Devil Toy (Original Club Mix)
Wolfgang Gartner – Flashback (Original Mix)
Fedde Le Grand – Praise You (Fatboy Slim Vs. Fedde le Grand Remix Remix)
Jerome Isma-Ae – Hold That Sucker Down (Original Mix)
Pacific Wave – 1998 (Dj Phunk & 3Am Mix)
https://jabawoki.com/wp-content/mp3/Jabawoki_DeepDivin_25032010.mp3
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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Alfa 159 / ElectronicsAs part of my quest to replace every single bulb in my Alfa with an LED equivalent, I noticed that the high level brake light utilised small bulbs and not LEDs (strange I know, but that’s Alfa for you!). So me being me, I took it apart and found that it would be very easy to replace the bulbs with LEDs whcih was a result. Of course, this wasn’t enough so I thought, If I had 10 LEDs what could I do with them 🙂
Enter the ATMega328 MCU, or as you may know it, the Arduino 🙂
The ATMega328 has 14 Digital Pins, 6 of which are PWM and an additional 6 x analogue inputs, problem is I needed 10 x PWM pins. The best option in this case is to use a shift register such as a 595 to extend your pins, but as I didn’t have one to hand, I decided to do it the hard way. There is a software library for the arduino SDK called : SoftPWM.h which lets you simulate PWM on any pin, which is quite useful to limit the hardware used and make better use of the processing power of the chip. So 4 hours of “figuring it out” yielded this result:
The basic functional requirement was simple:
When the brake pedal is pressed illuminate as normal
If the pedal is pressed for more than 5 seconds get your cylon on 🙂
You can download the sketch from the downloads section if you want to play with it. There are lots of arduino cyclon sketches around, but most / all of them are 6 LED’s or less due to the hardware PWM limitation, so this one lets you have up to 14 LEDs without moving into shift register world. and the schematic is below for your information:
This is isn’t the finished product btw, juts a learning experience on the way. I have some high powered LED’s on the way from China, and some shift registers in the post, as the main issue with doing this in software is speed and I need some more speed for some additional functions 🙂
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InfoSecThis is a debate I regularly get into with my team. Personally, I think that yes, credentials can bring credibility with an audience, or with a prospective employer. Lets look at how this works:
C|EH (Certified Ethical Hacker). Anyone who has been in that area of work for a number of years will state that the C|EH is rubbish, and, of course, they are right. Having done the qualification, I can vouch for the fact that it is a tools based approach to hacking, with a heavy slant towards using windows as your attacking platform (which is wrong for so many reasons). It does however, give you the basics, and teaches you about basic methodologies etc. …..So, you might ask, why do I say I am a C|EH, if I know its pointless? Simple. To a purist hacker, its a waste of time, but commercially it has value as it is recognised by clients and companies alike as the de facto standard for hacking. This difference in perception is a prime example of how a qualification can bring credibility with the audience you want. All of my team are C|EH, because, when I write a proposal for a client, I can say, all my team are “Certified Ethical Hackers”. They of course understand this and as a bonus, the first two words add a level of “comfort” to what sounds like a venture into the dark side!
Now, let’s look at another qualification (CISSP) “Certified Information Systems Security Professional”. This is about the best baseline security qualification in play today. It is very broad in it’s syllabus and well maintained through its CPE “Continual Professional Education” requirement. This qualification really does work on both sides of the fence. Clients like it and so do the professionals What it doesn’t do is guarantee that the holder of the qualification is a deep specialist in a given area, but what it does very well, is mandate a baseline of knowledge with real width in the subject of security.
Here are my views on how they pin together:
Some example credentials that mean something to your peers:
GIAC’s (Any of them!)
CITP
OSCP
Some example credentials That mean something to your clients or employers:
ITiL
PRINCE2
C|EH
CCNA
Some example credentials that mean something to everyone:
CISSP
CCNP
This is not the most exhaustive list, but is a start. The underlying piece of advice here is, when your picking a credential to study for and invest in, think how it will add value to you and your situation, and see if there is a better option available. Knowledge can be learned for free, credentials have to be bought!
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Alfa 159After the successful modification made to the gearbox cooling system https://jabawoki.com/2016/01/27/alfa-159-gearbox-cooler-modification/ I found that, while the cooling was perfect while the car was moving over 30mph, there was an issue at lower speed.
On more than one occasion I found that if I sat in traffic, slowly edging forwards towards a busy roundabout, once I got to the roundabout and accelerated away, I would have a shift flair for the first gear change. This would disappear by the second change so was clearly a cooling issue where the lack of airflow meant that the gearbox temps would rise in traffic until you had airflow again.
The fix is/was simple. I just needed a thermostatically controlled fan adding to the radiator so that I could generate airflow at low speeds.
After doing some basic research I found a really nice 5″ fan from SPAL, available from Merlin Motorsport.
This unit was very high power and perfect for the job but I needed a thermostatic control solution as well. Merlin had the ideal solution as well, a Davis Craig Thermostatic Adjustable Fan Controller.
This fan controller was ideal as it had a separate external temp sensor that was fitted into the radiator itself which meant I did not have to cut into the oil lines to make the mod.
Fitting required removal of the bumper as usual, but that gave me an opportunity to fix a crack that was temporarily repaired previously.
Adding the fan was very easy as it came with its own mount kit that essentially used special plastic ties that passed through the fins of the radiator and clamped it securely to the rear of the unit.
Fitting the fan controller was a little more tricky but only due to the very short wire run on the temperature sender which meant it had to be within two feet of the fan. Fortunately it nestled perfectly between the ECU and the headlight!
The unit can control two fans but I am only using it in single mode. It has an adjustable temp trigger so mine is set to 75C which is a reasonable point to start testing from. The added digital temperature display is also quite useful for diagnostics!
I will have to see how it pans out but I am pretty confident that this will sort the last pesky shift flairs for good!
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InfoSecOpen post to see coverage:
Computer Fraud and Security – February 2009 – Ethics & Hacking
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InfoSecThe concept is simple, the more obstacles in the way the better. Let me abstract the concept for you…..
…..you put your file in a safe, I crack into the safe.
………you put your file in a safe, and lock the safe in a strong/secure room, I crack the room then the safe.
………..You put the file in the safe, in the room, at the bottom of the ocean, I go elsehere to get a different file!
People often talk to me about controls, and want to know which one is best. The answer typically is either all, none, or both. The more layers you have, the more security you have. But lest we foget the basics, understand the cost of the control vs the cost of the asset through a formal Risk Assessment Process.
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LiveMixesMore Progressive sounds for Easter…..
Fatboy Slim vs Koen Grownwvald – Rackafeller Skank (Original Mix)
Felix Baumgartner & Juan Kidd – Now Your Gone (Club Mix)
David Penn & Rober Gaez – Our Darkness (Original Mix)
Funkagenda – Breakwater (EDX Ibiza Sunrise Mix)
Milk & Sugar – Let the Sunshine (Milk & Sugar Global Mix)
Paul Gardner & Hugh Gunnell ft Marcella Woods – Come Get My Lovin (Plastik Funk Remix)
Faithless – Music Matters (Mark Knight Remix)
Sandy Rivera – Whatever (Andy Daniell Digital Edit)
Ou Est Le Swimming Pool – Dance The Way I Feel (Armand Van Helden Club Mix)
Richard Grey – One More Time (Chris Moody Remix)
Kim Fai – Good Life (Original Mix)
TV Rock – In the Air (Axwell Remix)
Young Rebels & Fransico Diaz – 1998 (Original Mix)
Funkagenda – Nobody Listens To Techno Feat. Mc Flipside (Original Mix)
Muzzaik – Going Underground (Original Mix)
DCA Project – Sandcastles (John Dahlback Remix)
Pryda – Waves (Original Mix)
Dankann – Genesis (Original Mix)
https://jabawoki.com/wp-content/mp3/Jabawoki_Easter_Progressive_06042010.mp3
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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GeneralI can’t give these little devices enough praise! They are so easy to use and bring a new dimension to your sound. Ok, so most modern mixes have cuts and kills by default, but they are not a patch on one of these, not even on a Pioneer DJM600! These little gems use near analogue circuitry to give you a warm rich softer sound, rather than the cheaper mixer embedded kills you find these days.
If you can find some of these, buy them, they really are worth it. I had to get mine off ebay in the US, but despite coming with 110v power supplies and the hastle it took to find a suitable UK one to replace them, it was worth every penny.
This is what you get for your money:
“The Electrix EQ Killer ($299) is a Kill Box that lets DJs and producers EQ an element without investing in expensive equipment. Built like a tank, the unit comes encased in a rugged aluminium housing that will absorb a lot of abuse. With the included joiner plate, you can connect two Electrix Mods devices in a 19-inch rack. The EQ Killer can also rest on a flat surface. The front panel is tilted upward, making the controls easier to read.
Kill the Band The front panel is divided into three sections: Low, Mid, and High. Each section has a Momentary switch, a Band Kill switch, and level control knobs. The level knobs dial up the amount of gain or attenuation for their respective frequency bands, offering up to 6 dB of gain per band. Unity gain is achieved when the level knob is set at 12 o’clock. Between the Low, Mid, and High level knobs are the Low X-Over and High X-Over sweep controls. The Low X-Over sets the point where the Low band ends and the Mid band starts. The High X-Over adjusts where the Mid band ends and the High band starts.
The back panel has three input/output sections. Inputs 1 and 2 have standard RCA stereo connectors. There’s also a switch to select between line level and turntable input levels, and grounding posts for turntables. The third section’s Send/Return loop lets you apply external effects to the killed band. At the front of the unit’s bottom right-hand corner is an input selection switch for toggling between turntables or line-level devices. The button will act as a bypass switch if there’s only one device connected to EQ Killer”.
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