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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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LiveMixesOldschool Hard House from the archives   https://jabawoki.com/wp-content/mp3/Jabawok_17122000_Stompin_Pumpin_Hard_House.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download [...]
LiveMixeshttps://jabawoki.com/wp-content/mp3/Jabs_20102001_Progressive_House.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download [...]
LiveMixeshttps://jabawoki.com/wp-content/mp3/Jabs_20092001_Summer_House.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download [...]
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! ” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″]   [...]
InfoSecIts time for a small reality check. Security does not have to cost the earth. Just because your a large corporate with over a 1000 employees doesn’t mean you “have” to buy brand name security. In fact, I would argue quite the opposite, invest that money in some quality people, treat them well, and get 10 times the return on investment you planned. lets put it into perspective. First of all, you have to accept that open source software is your friend, then accept that just because it doesn’t have a “GUI” doesn’t mean its any more complex. Ok, now that you have accepted an alternate reality, it is time to look at some comparisons. Lets look at some good, typically expensive security controls, typically, usually reserved for Banks, because “they have the budget for it”. We will start with IDS “Intrusion Detection System”, specifically, the network variety (NIDS), deployed across the infrastructure, and designed to spot malicious traffic flowing across your network and highlight suspicious activity that may be happening under the radar. If you were to buy one of the very excellent and very expensive commercial solutions, on a medium size network, you could be spending 6 figures before breakfast. That’s a serious hole in a security budget, so what other options exist? Well, for a start, “snort” an open source, well maintained and mature project that’s been around for years. Its 100% free, and will only cost you the physical hardware and some administrative overhead getting it up and running. Its very scalable, equally configurable and its signatures are maintained by a community of experts in the field. What more could you ask for? Ok, so the reality is, in our scenario of 6 figures for the commercial solution, the free one would likely cost you 10-20K in hardware and specialist labour, but whats 20K compared to £200,000K, I know which one I would prefer to sign off. Next, lets look at another hot topic, SIMS “Security Information Management Solution”. This is another typically large investment to essentially, analyse logs generated by the infrastructure. Again, the concept has been available in open source for years. Syslog servers shipping logs to each other with some sort of Perl analysis scripting has been around forever, and again, its just the labour and hardware costs to consider. What about Firewalls? The staple diet of all organisations of any size. Now, these can be quite cheap or ridiculously expensive. I have built, deployed and managed most of the top end ones, and can after a career of using them, I can happily say, I would deploy a well configured “iptables” firewall in Linux over a Cisco or Checkpoint any day of the week. Ok, so you don’t get the nice gui with all your 200 firewalls in, but, there are options…. Gui’s exist, and again, a specialist can easily make this whole concept easily manageable for any organisation. Now, if a key control for limiting the impact of a hack is through network segregation, then the ability to deploy low cost firewalls can only improve the overall security of the network So, if I had a 1000 user network to protect, a budget of 500K and full autonomy. I would spend 100K on every open source solution available, home grow some of my own, contract a team of top class Linux / security gurus to get it all up and running, then sit back in my SOC “Security Operations Centre” and wait for the siren to go off! Of course, I would take the other 400K as my bonus 😉 [...]
Alfa 159I finally got round to installing the Wireless OBD II dongle I bought off ebay into my car the other day and thought I would document the process for those that may be interested. First your going to need to pick one up. I bought a clone Kiwi Wifi dongle off ebay for £45 which is a third of the cost of an original branded version so a complete bargain! Its a great little unit and perfect for interfacing with any OBD application you may want it for. Once you get the unit delivered you will notice that it is a simple plug and play job with no configuration. While this is true in its simplest form, one slight issue I found is that the OBD port is always powered up, therefore you would have to plug it in and remove it when you were not using it or it would always be broadcasting direct access to your cars ECU via a wireless network, which in my book is not the best of ideas! So the first job you have is to retro-fit an on off switch to allow for a more permanent installation! Its an easy job and Maplin have micro 12v switches that will fit and do the job well for a few pence. Just slide your fingernails around the edge of the front plastic cover and it will literally pop off in your hands, giving you access to the internals. All you need to do is de-solder the power connection (trace pin 16 on the connector), add a new bit of wire from the board to your switch and back to the original wire where you can splice it back together. To do this nicely you need about 12cm of wire, 2cm of heat shrink wrap, a soldering iron & solder & a small switch. Fit the switch on the side of the unit for easy access and put the cover back on with a dab of glue to hold it in place. Here is an image of my modified unit. Once the unit is installed in the car, you can connect it to your chosen application which for me was Rev2 from Dev Toaster on the iphone. This app is a bit pricey at £26 for the pro version, but gives me everything I want in terms of access to key metrics in real time, full data logging and even engine code interrogation and resetting! It can get data on a large number of points including: Vehicle Speed RPM Fuel Consumption Engine Coolant Temp Fuel Pressure Calculated Engine Load Throttle Position Intake Manifold Pressure Air Intake Temp Timing Advance Mass Air Flow Fuel Level Barometric Pressure EVAP System Vapor Pressure Fuel Trim Boost Examples: In terms of the actual connection between the iphone and the OBD II dongle, its as simple as: Connect the OBD II and power on Go to settings > WiFi on the iPhone Press the arrow next to “CLKDevices” network Set a static IP of192.168.0.11 & netmask of 255.255.255.0, save and exit Open Rev2, go to settings, hardware choose Kiwi Wifi, then select custom from the bottom Set the device to 192.168.0.10 and port of 35000 Done. From this point your up and running! You do need to configure a profile for your car, with its kerb weight as this is used to calculate torque and BHP. My kerb weight is documented at 1680KG, but I have the top spec TI version with all the extra trimmings so expect it to be closer to 1750KG. I am of course excluding the 75KGs of lard I personally add to the equation, but I think thats fair! I will actually get it weighed at some point just to be pedantic, but for now 1750kg’s is close enough for me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWvbQ1RdHCo [...]
LiveMixesA fresh mix for you all – Happy New Year! Track List: Albin Myers – Time Like These Robbie Rivera – New Direction Oliver Twizt – Yo’re Not Alone John Dahlback – More than I Wanted Chris Lake – If You Knew Doman & Gooding Feat Dru & Lincoln – Runnin Guetta Angello Gerraud Ingrosso Willis – Everytime We Touch Steve Angello & Laifdback Luke Feat Robin S – Show Me Love Planet Funk – Lemonade Kurd Maverick – Blue Monday Nari & Milani Feat Max C – Disco Nuff Kevin Bryant – Who You Wanna Be Empire of the Sun – Walking on a Dream https://jabawoki.com/wp-content/mp3/Jabawoki_Sunny_Side_Up_25012010.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download [...]
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! [...]
RH2B Build DiaryThe bonnet on the hoody is metal, in two sections, and was bolted together on a centre flange. This left a seam that was filled with filler and then a vinyl stripe laid over the top. Now this would have been fine except for the fact that the builder then installed a long pneumatic ram (the type that opens a boot on a hatchback) to hold up the bonnet when you lift it. Great for convenience but done in such a way as to cause a long term issue. Essentially, as the weight of the bonnet and nose cone were pivoting on an M8 bolt attached to the centre flange (2 x 1mm steel), the flange had twisted, bent and caused the bonnet to deform above. This in turn caused the filler to crack and separate from the bonnet, which then caused the vinyl to crack leaving an unsightly jagged line down the centre of the bonnet. Bonnet damage after removing the vinyl and cracked filler. Rather than just filling it and applying another vinyl sticker to it, knowing it would just do the same again, I set about designing and printing a better solution to the mounting of the jack point to the bonnet and also reinforcing the flange with several additional M8 bolts! A few iterations in Fusion 360 and 3 test prints in PLA, I had a final design that met the profile of the bonnet, bolted through the flange, spread the load of the bonnet more evenly and provided a solid anchor point for the jack. Design iterations The final design is pretty cool. It spreads the load exactly as I wanted and prevents the centre of the bonnet where the filler is being pushed up. It has also added rigidity to the panel as a side effect. Finished mount Once the mount was installed all that was left to do was fill the resulting gap with a flexible filler that wont crack and fall out, sand it smooth(sh) and the re-apply the vinyl. What I learned from this experience is something I was already pretty cognizant of. I cannot do bodywork!!! I dont have the patience for it at all! Finished article. Its by no means perfect but will do for now! [...]
General…..after a day clearing out the garage (trust me, it needed doing), I came across the original install CD for my Stanton Final Scratch V1, which I thought was long gone. After further search through a lot of vinyl, I found the control records, which meant all that was left was to dig out the interface and hook it all up. After about 4 hours of kicking an old Compaq Laptop into shape, I had a working version of FinalScratch V1.1 up and running with a bunch of MP3’s ready to go…….. All of this equates to one simple thing, new mixes are on the way! I had been waiting for a suitable opportunity to purchase the new Traktorscratch V3 setup, but to be honest, this works just as well. Sure, its a little clunky, very basic and quite slow, but once you get to grips with its idiosyncratic nature, it is actually quite usable. Of course, now I have the basics back up and running, and can start to churn out some fresh mixes, which is what its all about. Stay tuned Pure Retro Sheek, Traktor FS V1.1 on an N800C!!! [...]