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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RH2B Build DiaryIn the dash of the hoody was a previously installed large cubby holder. This had been damaged at some point and one of the previous owners had used a stick on faux leather pocket to hide the damage. As you can guess, this was not going to do for me and I thought I would put my 3d printer to good use and make something a little more useful!
Aside from the damaged cubby, I had a few cables dangling in the passenger foot well that I needed to do something with. Firstly I had the CTEK charge cable that I added for ease of keeping the battery tip top, then I had the ECU programming cable that I also needed to be able to easily access. Both of these needed a new home and they needed to be out of the way of a passengers feet!
CTEK Charge Point
The combination of broken plastic part + need to tidy cables & access to a 3D printer led me straight to Fusion 360 where I set about designing a new solution. The first design was an “all in one” unit that had to be printed with lots of supports and with the rear face on the bed. This left a less than desirable finish and was simply not going to do. This led me to my first “multi-part” design and print.
Utilizing Fusions component feature I was able to design the face and all parts that connect to it as separate objects that could then be printed individually. In total the final design had 4 parts. A face, a cubby, a light box and a lens. Yes, that’s right, I added LED’s 🙂 The idea was to have the Lotus Super 7 logo as well as the letters GBS (Great British Sportscars) cut through the face and an LED behind them so that it illuminated when the ignition was on.
Printed Parts for the final cubby
The face I decided to paint, which is a first for me, but I thought given it was on display and a large flat area, it could benefit from some paint. I used Plasti-Kote primer and black satin paint after some light sanding and the finish was truly impressive.
Once all the components were ready for assembly, I installed a small strip of 12v LED’s into the light box and painted the clear PLA diffuser lens in the same body paint that the car is painted in. This actually turned out better than I hoped for and was a very easy thing to do.
Light box and LEDs
The final product looks pretty cool and holds the parts I needed it to perfectly. Everything is neat and there is a more functional, better looking solution to a problem that was part my own doing and part legacy 🙂
Final Part Assembled
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LiveMixesWell, it’s been a long time coming, but until today, there has always been a reason not to. Recently, I managed to cobble together my old Stanton Final Scratch V1.1, and sure enough, the old girl worked a treat. So here is the result. The first mix of 2008, and although I am obviously a little rusty, its not too shabby! (Appologies to any listeners, there is a small low level hum you pick up during quiet moments due to the old laptop I am using. The next mix will have this fixed)
Enjoy!
https://jabawoki.com/wp-content/mp3/DJJD__Dirty_House__16072008.mp3
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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LiveMixeshttps://dev.jabawoki.com/mp3/Jabawok_Tranceitions.mp3
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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General…what is it about working from home that makes life so much easier? I treasure my days in the “home office” as they give me opportunity to catch up on all that has evaded me for so long! I find at least 1 day a week keeps me ahead of the game and on top of the workload.
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ElectronicsWell I finally got round to purchasing an Arduino Uno Open Source Prototyping Platform and first impressions are !WOW. I am genuinely impressed with the overall package, its flexibility and quality of the hardware and software. First off, getting up and running on your favourite OS is a breeze, with detailed step by step instructions available on the Arduino site.
Aside from the basic Uno itself:
I invested in a few extras from a UK outfit called Cool Components that sell the Arduino and plenty of shields and extras. To give me enough to start with, I picked up:
140-Piece Wire Kit
Electronic Brick Kit
Generic Starter Kit
Jumper Wires – Female to Female
Jumper Wires – Male to Female
Although in hindsight, I should have bought a few more male to male jumper cables as these seem to be the primary cable type!
Getting up and running was a breeze, remembering my basic electronics from my childhood stood me in good stead to build a small circuit, and google/youtube filled in the blanks easily!
So what did I build?
Essentially its 5 LEDs running in a sequence, with the timing controlled by an analogue rotary switch or potentiometer, as I learned it was called. It actually took longer to figure out it wasn’t called a “rotary encoder” which is apparently something very different and digital, than it did to code the entire program and build the circuit!
The circuit is simple:
…and so is the program:
/*
Jabawoki Light tracer V1.0
22/07/2011
*/
int potpin = 0;
int val;
void setup() {
pinMode(12, OUTPUT);
pinMode(11, OUTPUT);
pinMode(10, OUTPUT);
pinMode(9, OUTPUT);
pinMode(8, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
// Read the Analog Pot
val = analogRead(potpin);
// Switch the LEDs on
digitalWrite(12, HIGH);
digitalWrite(8, HIGH);
delay(val);
digitalWrite(11, HIGH);
digitalWrite(9, HIGH);
delay(val);
digitalWrite(10, HIGH);
delay(val);
// Switch LEDs off
digitalWrite(12, LOW);
digitalWrite(8, LOW);
delay(val);
digitalWrite(11, LOW);
digitalWrite(9, LOW);
delay(val);
digitalWrite(10, LOW);
delay(val);
}
What more could you ask for in a prototyping platform?
You can download the code and schematics for this project from the downloads section
Watch this space, I have 5 key projects I am planning once I get my head properly around this, some of which will blow your mind.
Here is some video of the project working in all its glory!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9rIHjsyiUs
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InfoSecOpen post to see coverage:
North West Insider – August 2007 – IT Security
North West Insider – August 2008 – BERR Survey
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InfoSecWhich Penetration Testing Qualification is best from a client perspective:
Which Penetration Testing Qualification is best from a Testing perspective:
(NB: I have deliberately excluded “accreditation schemes” such as CREST and CHECK)
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GeneralWell it has been a while since I treated myself so the other day I stopped by West End DJ on my way into the office and I picked up an Akai APC 40. In fairness it was my birthday and I used that as a feable form of excuse for the expenditure, but I have a semi clear conciense as a reslut and another oh so sexy toy to play with!
This toy really is the ultimate in Ableton Live control, extending the interface litterally to your fingertips and bringing a whole new world of possibility. You can read all about it on Akai’s site, but if you really want to see the potential, check out these YouTube links that just sum up the potential in full from my perspective:
Ok, so its going to take me a while before I get this good, but thats what its all about.
……watch this space 🙂
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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 159I finally got round to installing the Wireless OBDÂ 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 OBDÂ 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
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