Maybe I’m Old? Lakeshore Big Band concert

Friday March 31st 2023 we scored box seats to see the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay, Manitowoc Campus Lakeshore Big Band perform. (Try rolling that band name off twice in a row – geesh. The full formal name somehow rolls in that the foundation is the sponsor as well, making it even longer.)

I’d played baritone saxophone with the group for over 15 years before taking a hiatus a bit before the virus.

The group put on a highly credible concert featuring a very talented guest lady singer.

What harshly struck me was how many members were not there, having passed on mostly. Ouch! Subtract some whose employment or retirement facilitate moving away, and the turnover is pretty massive.

A couple of players took to the stage with the old-man shuffle, the small steps the elderly adopt to reduce falls. One old buddy was wheeled out in a wheelchair and used a walker to get himself situated on the low risers.

Audience headcount was down. Again a lot of regulars have died, some I knew had ended up in care homes, a couple that I was quite surprised were not there I learned were quite ill.

Some stalwarts that were there told us they were moving to assisted living in the next few weeks.

Ran into a former trumpeter who explained that he was on the audience rather than playing because they were away snowbirding and has just returned.

Earlier in the day I’d shook the hand of a friend as he left our work for the last time as a worker, as it was his retirement day.

At his party I was surprised how many times I was asked when I would be retiring.

I hope those inquiries were less about my overstaying my usefulness, and more curiosity!

But what you see and what questions people ask do affect your thoughts.

Writing this the next morning, I’m feeling like I stayed up all night painting the town red, when the only actual adventure was the drive home in heavy pouring rain, underscores how things have changed, and some answers for self are needed.

I have a series of draft articles about this life inflection point which one finished up, will be posted as a series.

73

Steve
K9ZW

K9ZW Shack Computer Cluster (Turing Pi 2)

I’m getting a Homelab using the TuringPi v2 Clusterboard and Four Raspberry Pi 4 CM4 Modules!

Basically a small scale server setup where I plan to do a LOT of learning as I re-sharpen my now long in the tooth IT skills.

About the clusterboard (which iw ould have called a backplane, but I guess that is old school and doesn’t recognize that the clusterboard is essentially an additional computer managing all the cluster slots: https://turingpi.com/

Here is a video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUPYpZBfsMU

So what is the RPi CM4 anyway? https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/compute-module-4/?variant=raspberry-pi-cm4001000 It is basically a RPi4 in a form factor for embedded projects.

The TuringPi v2 will on a mix & match basis also use a nvidia product that is better suited for machine learning experiments and when it is released the Turing RK1 SBC (Single Board Computer) modules.

With the RK1 a future product, how does the raspberry pi cm4 vs nvidia jetson nano tradeoffs work out?

Basically the RPi CM4 is available, documented better, and more affordable. The higher power nvidia jetsons seem very hard to find and as one can be added later, I will get started on an all RPi CM4 configuration.

Here is another link to someone who has been playing with the TuringPi v2:

https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2021/turing-pi-2-4-raspberry-pi-nodes-on-mini-itx-board

Some TuringPi thoughts on learning: https://turingpi.com/use-case-learn-cloud-the-hard-way/

At my stage in reading I am aiming to start with a Docker Swarm installation: https://help.turingpi.com/hc/en-us/articles/8943088486173-The-plan

Was notified today that my TuringPi v2 clusterboard, with the daughterboards to use the CM4 modules, along with all the TuringPi specific bits, is close to shipping. Everything else I need to get started I have already on hand.

While initially not directly Ham Radio related, I don’t think it will be very long until this small but powerful machine is press-ganged into helping in my ham shack.

This should be a lot of fun!

73

Steve
K9ZW

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Non-Radio – A Book Surprise – Walden West by August Derleth

The shelf-worn book that arrived

I lucked out on a book buy!

I wanted to read “Walden West” by August Derleth and the only copy I could find was a used one. Priced at like $10 including delivery.

The book is mostly out of print from bookstores, not readily available as an eBook, too young for be out of copyright for the various projects that scan those books.

Who exactly is this August Derleth character? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Derleth

We had recently seen a historical show on Wisconsin TV that covered August Derleth’s life, writings, editorships, and publishing in detail. He wrote a lot of books and later was also the publisher for HP Lovecraft’s horror books. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Derleth#Arkham_House_and_the_%22Cthulhu_Mythos%22 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Derleth_bibliography (Walden West is consider a Journal in bibl.)

“Walden West” with an open nod to Thoreau, was Derleth’s accounting of the place and people of Sac Prairie, a small village created in the author’s mind from the combining observations of nearby villages of Prairie du Sac and Sauk Prairie. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Derleth#The_Sac_Prairie_Saga

In response to the revived interest the documentary created a print-on-demand paperback version has been made available by the Sauk Prairie Historical Society and by the University of Wisconsin Book Store (seems to be a pdf copy that they are selling).

So when I bought the original copy on-line, I was anticipating it would be the 1992 reissue edition, especially as the ad was a bit vague.

The book just arrived and I just opened it.

I did find the expected shelf-worn copy, but to my surprise opening it found it was a 1961 First Edition!

Getting interesting, as it shows an original edition!!

And there is more!

It is not only a First Edition, but it is a Signed First Edition at that!

The inscription reads: “A memoir of my interior life. Cordially, August Derleth

Signed by August Derleth, the author !!

What an unexpected find!

Looking forward to reading the book shortly!

73

Steve
K9ZW

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SPOT BBS – Down 24 March 2023

 

RESOLVED – systems back up and running.

 

Broken by external dependencies, SPOT BBS is temporarily down.

Seems that my login script error checking isn’t robust enough to bypass the coordination with the inter-BBS Chat system (MRC) and gets hung up.

The MRC feature is in quite a bit of flux, as there are several differing opinions on adding robustness and basic privacy being altered at the server side of the code.  Basically the feature keeps getting broken in the efforts to make it “better.”  When that feature breaks it can break other stuff.

The easiest may be to manually remove MRC from the system until it is stable again.

Sorting out SPOT BBS seems like a good project to deal with during the Saturday snowstorm.

73

Steve
K9ZW

How Secure are Computers? Breaking the Airgap

I’ve had hams tell me that their shack computer is secure because it is not connected to the internet.  Others have told me that they have security because the machines they do their home finances on is also separate from their hobby/browsing computer.

When I’ve told them that their security largely imaginary, they look at me like I’m making up things.

Stunning how the same hams who “get it” about RFI lack a mental concept how the “air gap” can be bridged.

First how about RF-leakage from HDMI:

https://www.windytan.com/2023/02/using-hdmi-radio-interference-for-high.html

https://hackaday.com/2023/03/07/pulling-data-from-hdmi-rf-leakage/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Eck_phreaking

This is clever and joins the historic exploitation of leaking signal analysis.  Living in the UK during the TV License Van era, I saw the usage of RF leakage to identify TV Set Users who didn’t have a Reception License (settle down USA folks, different country, laws and expectations).  I just “may have” seen some other usage of RF leakage along the way <wink>.

Now breaking that Air Gap doesn’t need to be just a one-way listening deal.  Here are some links to bidirectional exploits.  The second links to a series of articles, and I found the use of computer fan noises as a data-carrying mechanism interesting.  Remembering that most modern appliances, smart thermostats, smart speaker systems and other IoT devices have microphones, makes this fairly interesting:

https://www.redalyc.org/journal/6617/661773214004/html/

https://thehackernews.com/2020/02/hacking-air-gapped-computers.html

Biggest take away is any form of RFI can also be a data leak, possibly bidirectional.

73

Steve
K9ZW

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Inbound DX QSLs

They arrive in packets of 8-12 cards from the NIDXA bureau.

Second half of the recent arrivals

About seventy arrived, from:

  • Norway
  • Luxembourg
  • Holland
  • Belgium
  • Germany
  • Poland
  • France
  • Spain
  • Italy
  • Japan
  • Hungary
  • Denmark

The XYL is thumbing through them while having a coffee, as so many are quite interesting cards.

Afraid I’m going to pull out the confirming QSL exchanged cards, before setting the lot aside while I catch up on my self-induced QSL chaos.

73

Steve
K9ZW