"We work in the dark--we do what we can--we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art."
-Henry James
Last updated 09JAN2010.
Useful Resources
Musings of a Man In Black: Prometheus - My latest book available either as a free PDF download or in hardcopy for what I feel is a reasonable price. The MIB series has it's own web page here.
FM Transmission and Reception by Rider and Uslan. A 1950 text on Frequency Modulation RF systems. Admittedly older than most who will download it, but the theory remains the same regardless.
Radio System Fundamentals and Point-to-Point Digital Microwave Radio Systems - A somewhat older text from the USDA Rural Electrification Administration. Still useful to print out and keep in the reference library.
AIR FORCE MANUAL 33-274 ON-HOOK TELEPHONE SECURITY GUIDELINES - An excellent text on securing telephone systems against eavesdropping, complements of the US Air Force.
FM 34-60 Counterintelligence - This is one of the more useful military manuals that should be in your library.
FM 34-3 Intelligence Analysis - Another very useful military manual.
Who's Listening, by Ian "Captain Zap" Murphy. I met Zap during the mid 1980s. He's a very interesting fellow, and was years ahead of his time when it came to electronic fun 'n games. This paper was as close as you could get to DIY without being blatantly so. I remember him talking about converting microwave oven magnetrons into microwave TV transmitters just before 73 Magazine came out with an article detailing how to do exactly that. Ian wrote this paper back in 1987, and a lot of it is still applicable today.
This little gem originally appeared in Cybertech under the title "On Playing the Game", by 1LT Charlie Holmes. Can you guess who originally wrote it? A very good piece that many people just don't get.
Memetic Engineering, Modern Political Warfare, and Terrorism in a New World appeared in Cybertech during the mid 1990s. Another example of stuff that was way ahead of its time.
The late Bill Cheek's Scanner Data Decoder FAQ - This is one of those handy references for those of you who want to decode various forms of digital radio signals. Another one of those handy old-school text files.
In 1990, British scanner hobbyist Nigel Ballard wrote an awesome series of textfiles that was considered required reading. While some of the more specific information in the series is now outdated, there are a few that still bear reading.
A Journey Through My Scanning Triumphs And Disasters
RECEIVER HUNTING USING THE 'I.F.' PRINCIPLE
A LAYMAN'S GUIDE TO TRAFFIC ANALYSIS
ADVANCED SIGNAL ACQUISITION FOR PRIVATE SCANNER OPERATORS
Spectrum Use Summary 137 Mhz. - 10 GHz. - A good summary of what's where in the VHF/UHF/Microwave Spectrum
The Consolidated Frequency List - If you've read my material on hobbyist COMINT/SIGINT, you know what this file is.
Good Links
GBPPR - Good technical info, and a lot of political ranting. Check out their page on Old School Hacker Tools.
Cybertech (Cybertek) Back Issues - My old zine that I edited and published for 18 years. Hosted by GBPPR.
YIPL/TAP Back Issues - This is the original hack phreak technological survival dystonaut 'zine from the 1970s and 1980s. It was one of the inspirations for Cybertech.
BinRev - One of the better online hacking forums. StankDawg is old-school.
Villa Straylight - A local fellow old-school hacker.
Intercept Radio - For communications monitoring enthusiasts.
Coldwarcomms - A totally awesome list dedicated to the discussion of various communications systems used by the U.S. military and civilian authorities during the Cold War era.
MKORION - An Occasional Journal of a Non-State Actor. If you are not reading MKORION's blog, you are wrong.
Global Guerrillas - Networked tribes, systems disruption, and the emerging bazaar of violence. Resilient Communities, decentralized platforms, and self-organizing futures. If you are not reading John Robb's blog, you are wrong.
Foreign Affairs Magazine - The periodical of the Council on Foreign Relations. Thought of by many conspiracy types to be the secret(?) cabal that runs the world. There is really no conspiracy here, but the people who write for Foreign Affairs are those who advise various government leaders and work in various policy think-tanks.
The Wall Street Journal - If you can read only one newspaper a day, make it this one. This is the one that is read by the people who run things in this country.
Backwoodsman Magazine - For the 21st. Century Frontiersman. One of my personal favorites.
Make 'Zine - 'Nuff Said.
My blog
Musings of a Man In Black - My book's page. 'Nuff said.