Monday’s check-in meeting is on at 6:30 at the following link:
https://zoom.us/j/819063060?pwd=b0wwUWtpRENkMGFiNUJQQW5pdVVJZz09
It’ll be limited to an hour, for me anyway, I have a rescue group board meeting at 7:30.
I can’t wait till this stupid pandemic is over.
Jumbotron images
LED Marquee kits are still available
Some of you newer members missed out on this, we picked up a bunch of parts to assemble kits to build this LED Marquee:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2867294
for the December meeting, and we still have a few left. Includes case, Wemos D1 Mini microcomputer and LED matrix panels. Assembly and programming instructions are at that link. The 3d-printed case I settled on was white, and I went with red LED panels. It looks good.
If you’re interested in getting into IOT devices, it’s a great intro project. Not much soldering, good Arduino experience/introduction, etc. If you’re already into IOT stuff, it makes a great gift.
Cost is $15 per kit. Not doing shipping to keep the cost down, but we could meet up in the area and do a handoff. HMU up on twitter @dc540baab or email [email protected] if you want one.
Here’s what our kit looks like:
Busy busy week.
I’ve always been kind of scattered in my approach and involvement in new things. I get hyper-focused on a new project, idea or gadget, at the expense of other things I might have going on, and I kind of meander back and forth between my pursuits, inching each forward a bit at a time. My internal guidance system tells me that one day they will all converge and Nirvana will happen.
With that being said, let me tell you about my week.
After last week’s meeting, I gave myself some internal mental grief for lack of follow-through and lack of motivation. I went downstairs to the lab that night, determined to make some forward momentum on my 3d printer, which is one of those things that had been a long-standing victim of my procrastination.
I bought the thing over 3 years ago, before my first Defcon and before my first Burn. I had gotten to the point of bed leveling, and then I was overcome by events. I went to several Burn events that year, and Defcon, and everything at home was just left in the state it was in. Then everything else piled on. I focused on home improvements for a year or two, changed jobs, went to Defcon a couple more times, and moved residences.
Fast forward to last year in the new house. I unpacked it, thought to myself, “I probably don’t have everything it takes to get this operational right here in front of me. I’m going to procrastinate further while I focus on organizing all of my parts, tools, small parts, cables, and everything else, and at the same time make tiny progress on many other little things.
Anyhow, back to last Monday night. Step 1: What the fuck printer do I even have? It’s been that long, and I felt like shit about that. I couldn’t even remember what I had bought. So I figured out how to find out, installed and launched pronterface, and issued the M115 code to get the firmware info. It’s an Anet A8. Alrighty. So I double-checked the bed-leveling, dug out a microSD card and threw a test cube gcode onto it. I fed in the filament (wondering the whole time if it was too old to even use) and started the job. The print came out kind of shitty and thin, but it worked. That’s because the slic3r I used to slice it had shitty default settings, and I didn’t even bother to customize them to what the print recommened.
The important thing is that I made progress.
So I tried to print something else, and it failed. I quickly realized I needed a glass bed and a build surface. SO I ordered those and moved on to the next project.
The next project was Hackerbox #0036, the JumboTron, a 64×32 RGB matrix run by an ESP32 devboard. I had abandoned that project when I realized it needed a power source I didn’t think I had at the time, or couldn’t find, or whatever buillshit excuse. So I ordered a power supply, one of those steel cage-encased hobbyist power supplies rated for 5V/4A.
I continued to document progress, organize shit, find shit, clean shit, etc., until the bed and build surface came. YAY.
Only my first print failed. No flow. Turns out the nozzle got clogged. Cut me some slack, I’m new at this. So I ordered 30 replacement nozzles for $6.
Meanwhile the power supply showed up. I spent a few hours yesterday making that happen, and researching other cool things to do with it (build a 3d case for it, make the wiring more permanent and less fragile, make it able to update OTA via wifi, etc).
My nozzles may or may not be here tomorrow. But I feel like I’ve had a fantastic week as far as tech stuff goes.
See y’all tomorrow nighht.
SANS Pen Test Hackfest etc
As mentioned in last night’s weekly check-in Zoom, SANS is offering some free fun.
Check it out, see if it’s for you.
After registering, I was sent an email about NetWars, which happens this Thursday, I think. I’m registered for that as well.
BSidesLV Cancelled
So I’m sure you’ve seen the alert that BSides Las Vegas is cancelled this year, you know, due to that thing that’s going around.
I have zero inside information, but I can’t imagine a scenario where this doesn’t play into the decision process for DEFCON and BlackHat, since it’s the same location during the same week. While I haven’t cancelled my hotel booking yet, it’s looking more and more likely.
I’m sad about this.
Mood…
Monday night check-in event announced…
See website for details.
March Meeting Cancelled
It’s not even an abundance of caution. After reading the latest from WHO and CDC, it’s just common sense. Stay safe, y’all. We’ll get together when thing settles down.
Fun with Payphones, part 1
So I scored an old payphone. My “vintage replica” just wasn’t cutting it anymore.
It appears to be a Western Electric single-slot 1C from May of 1977.
Decent cosmetic condition, but looks aren’t the reason I bought it. I bought it to learn, play, restore, and maybe even modify it.
It didn’t come with keys — this is problem #1.
There’s a reason these things stayed in service so long, and it’s not just because cellphones were invented and eventually became ubiquitous and disposable. It’s also because they were seriously armored and indestructable. Picking these locks when they’re in good shape is no joke. In fact, I found the restricted Bell document that shows what to do when you no longer have the key to the vault door (the shiny square door at the bottom) — basically you use a circle template and drill through the door so that you have direct access to the latch bolts internally. Then you replace the door and the lock assembly with one which has keys.
The problem is, step one in that process is “remove the cover assembly.” Which is also locked. So what if I ALSO don’t have keys to the cover assembly? Well, I guess I could maybe drill that lock out — BUT I found another tutorial that indicates that with 8-15 minutes of tapping with a dowel and hammer, you basically nudge the four screws securing that lock assembly out from the inside.
It looks like that would have to happen anyway, because these locks looks like shit, and might not be pickable even by a TOOOL expert on a good day.
Fortunately, replacement vault doors, coin vaults and lock assemblies with keys are available on eBay, so eventually this project may find itself nudged further along. I’ll update you.