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Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Native Instrument's 'pkg' File Format, Web Documentation Compiler/Scraper, Thoughts on the JSF/Counter-Stealth Technologies, and More

Sometimes you get installation errors in Windows and it is absolutely infuriating because the manufacturer offers you no easy way of correcting (and understanding where the error actually is because of arcane error messages) the file short of re-downloading the entire ISO, etc... This is when some basic reverse engineering skills come in handy.

As you can see below, Native Instrument's 'pkg' file format is actually just a xar archive which includes several other archived files as well.

xar -x -f "Maschine 2 Factory Library Library Part 5.pkg"
user@machine:/media/sda1/NIMCN2FL100$ cd Folder
user@machine:/media/sda1/NIMCN2FL100/Folder$ ls
Bom  PackageInfo  Payload  Scripts
user@machine:/media/sda1/NIMCN2FL100/Folder$ file *
Bom:         Mac OS X bill of materials (BOM) file
PackageInfo: XML document text
Payload:     gzip compressed data, from Unix
Scripts:     gzip compressed data, from Unix
user@machine:/media/sda1/NIMCN2FL100/Folder$ mv Payload Payload.gz
user@machine:/media/sda1/NIMCN2FL100/Folder$ mv Scripts Scripts.gz
user@machine:/media/sda1/NIMCN2FL100/Folder$ gunzip Scripts.gz
user@machine:/media/sda1/NIMCN2FL100/Folder$ ls
Bom  PackageInfo  Payload.gz  Scripts
user@machine:/media/sda1/NIMCN2FL100/Folder$ vim Scripts
user@machine:/media/sda1/NIMCN2FL100/Folder$ gunzip Payload.gz
user@machine:/media/sda1/NIMCN2FL100/Folder$ ls
Bom  PackageInfo  Payload  Scripts
user@machine:/media/sda1/NIMCN2FL100/Folder$ file *
Bom:         Mac OS X bill of materials (BOM) file
PackageInfo: XML document text
Payload:     ASCII cpio archive (pre-SVR4 or odc)
Scripts:     ASCII cpio archive (pre-SVR4 or odc)

http://www.techradar.com/au/news/software/how-to-repair-a-broken-zip-file-986146
http://www.gzip.org/recover.txt
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/59735/recover-corrupt-zip-or-gzip-files
https://packages.debian.org/xar
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/debian-26/extract-a-xar-file-on-squeeze-4175428210/
https://packages.debian.org/libxml2-dev
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cpio
http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/85029/what-is-the-meaning-of-the-errors-from-my-cpio-command

The trend towards placing all documentation online can be infuriating at times. It means you have to have a permanent connection on at all times for referencing. The only option is to run a web crawler/web site downloader over it but as I've discovered in the past the performance of such programs can be frustrating. Recently, I had a similar encounter with some trading software. I wrote a custom script to download all relevant files and then compiling them into a single PDF file.

This reminds me, you don't always have to resort to multi-threading to achieve parallelism/higher performance (I've come across some people who have almost basically assumed this). In fact, in some languages you can't even do it.
http://goparallel.sourceforge.net/dodge-dangers-of-explicit-multithreading/
https://software.intel.com/en-us/intel-parallel-studio-xe

If you've ever watched some of the online courses from MOOCs and seen some of the better quality YouTube productions (or other free video upload sites out there) you're sometimes left wondering why you or others would want to pay. Anyhow, as stated previously I don't like being online all the time and want to download things for offline perusal. Recently, I had a problem with regards to merging them though. One, it wasn't being done properly and two, MP3 tag information was corrupted. I found out mp3wrap and vbrfix did the job.

You may have to chance some code in mp3wrap if you use more than 256 files though. ./configure, make, make install...
mp3wrap.h:#define MAXNUMFILE 512

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/62618/what-is-the-best-way-to-merge-mp3-files
http://superuser.com/questions/314239/how-to-join-merge-many-mp3-files
http://askubuntu.com/questions/20507/concatenating-several-mp3-files-into-one-mp3
https://packages.debian.org/wheezy/mp3wrap
http://lyncd.com/2009/02/how-to-merge-mp3-files/
http://lyncd.com/2011/03/lossless-combine-mp3s/
http://mp3wrap.sourceforge.net/
https://packages.debian.org/vbrfix
https://packages.debian.org/mp3val

Can't believe that in this day and age we don't have better mp3 file verification checking options. Guessing I haven't found the right tool yet?
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8933053/check-duration-of-audio-files-on-the-command-line
http://askubuntu.com/questions/248811/how-can-i-fix-incorrect-mp3-duration
http://askubuntu.com/questions/135907/ripped-mp3-files-show-wrong-track-lengths
https://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=mp3diags
https://packages.debian.org/wheezy/mp3val

- as stated before the US seems more guarded with regards to the program than most other people
http://nextbigfuture.com/2015/08/air-force-admits-big-f35-problems-and.html
- most advances in 'stealth' have so far come from iterative science and technology advances. I think the next major advance will likely come from left field though. Something which affects the science in general rather than something more specific to stealth/defense technology alone. Like 'stealth' my guess is that it may take a bit of time before we feel the impact of such technology in the real world though
http://www.hngn.com/articles/123689/20150827/radiationless-revolution-born-radical-new-theory.htm
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-08/anu-ntl082615.php
http://nextbigfuture.com/2015/08/theory-explaining-electromagnetic.html
- if you look at the program more carefully it's much more obvious how savings can accrue over the life of the JSF program. It's clear that the core designs across each of the variants is no longer as similar as was originally intended but modular design, self diagnostics/testing, etc... will still play a role over the entire lifetime of the program
Marine In The F-35 Test Force Shares His Experiences
http://www.f-16.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=27540
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunn%E2%80%93McCurdy_Amendment
- the irony is that some of the primary mechanisms that are currently used to reduce temperature for IR stealth are actually used in satellite technology and more inauspicious areas like motorsport technology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared_signature
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/stealth-aircraft-ir.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SBIRS
- one of the odd things which has struck me about the Russia/Chinese with regards to their defense/intelligence setup is that even if they have the ability to re-produce some Western technologies they sometimes choose not to. Think about the Buran. They're generally more practical and economical with regards to use of technology. Look at the way finances were handled during the KGB era. They were miserly when it came to budgeting for possible assets when compared to their Western counterparts. That's why I'm not entirely certain that the reason why they are behind the eight ball on aircraft stealth is simply because they don't have the ability to bridge the gap... At various times throughout history they've held the lead with regards to submarine, missile, and various other core defense technologies. I think that it may simply come down to the fact that they may be trying to do their best allocate their resources in such a way that to acheive their defensive needs for the best price? Either way, I don't think that a war involving the US and near peer threats such as Russia and China is going to be clear cut as some people think (especially when the modernisation of their militaries are complete). It will be somewhat of a slugfest...
http://in.rbth.com/economics/defence/2015/08/28/sukhoi-attack-drone-lit-up-maks-2015_393057
http://nypost.com/2010/07/04/1000s-of-russian-spies-in-u-s-surpassing-cold-war-record/
http://thetruthwins.com/archives/new-russian-submarines-are-so-silent-that-the-u-s-navy-calls-them-black-holes
http://www.rt.com/news/220983-russia-submarine-tests-nato/
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/russia-launches-quietest-submarine-the-world-12765
http://breakingdefense.com/2014/10/triton-poseidon-uclass-the-navys-isr-balancing-act/
http://missilethreat.com/new-russian-missile-mach-3-5/
- even if the JSF can perform CAS duties relatively well there's something we're missing here. The JSF is incredibly expensive and the way that stealth is so integral to the aircraft means that every time the aircraft gets hit its RCS increases. Moreover, the cost of the shell of the aircraft is exhorbitant compared to current technology. For anyone to assume that the JSF is not going to get hit in CAS duties is nonsensical especially if it's going to try to takeover the role of the A10 (in a like for like replacement) at some point. I still prefer a group of loitering drones that can be called in for an immediate support at any point if and when required. It should be cheaper, quicker, and more survivable (if designed correctly)... This could be a moot point though if Allied nations only continue to engage in non near-peer threat engagements such as been the case recently though and the trend continues towards higher altitude CAS...
http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/air-space/strike/2015/08/29/prove-cas-capabilities-face/71336130/
http://www.wearethemighty.com/cool-darpa-projects-2015-02
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zumwalt-class_destroyer
- the most common argument that the Russians/Chinese have when the West accuses them of something is that the West isn't any different. The funny thing about this is that technically they're right. It's just the level that each side is willing to stoop to. The US spies on friend and foe alike using mostly technological means though while the former is more reliant on HUMINT. In the context of economic intelligence I'd be very interested to know just exactly how the numbers add up knowing how much the West spends on technical intelligence and the same goes for the Russians/Chinese as well... Both sides sound rediculous at times accusing one another of any wrong doing...
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/aug/31/us-officials-claim-spies-at-risk-as-china-russia-r/
http://www.afr.com/technology/russia-launches-fresh-crackdown-on-internet-20150831-gjc6jf
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4696268,00.html
- if you think about the nature of defense now it's somewhat bemusing. Our concept of what defense seems to be almost completely focused around the notion of force projection and qualitative/quantitative superiority. To me some of what is done has little to do with defense anymore as it does attempting to shape the world in the way we want simply because we can...
http://www.watoday.com.au/world/chinas-secret-submarine-caves-extend-xi-jinpings-naval-reach-20141101-11fe1i.html
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/31/japan-plans-largest-ever-defence-budget-to-counter-chinas-reach
http://www.gulf-times.com/japan/248/details/452680/japan-lawyers-join-opposition-to-controversial-security-bills
- there's so much information out there regarding a lot of sensitive military technology I just find it hard to believe some of the classification levels for information that are held when it comes to some stuff and why we would hold people accountable for stuff that is already out in the open and confirmed by official sources. Sometimes it seems as though much of what the Russians/Chinese need to reverse engineer some technologies can either be purchased or else obtained from free and open sources
http://www.f-16.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=65
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhoi_PAK_FA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-35_Lightning_II
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-22_Raptor
JSF Making Stealth productionJuly48 TEXT READABLE.pdf
http://www.f-16.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=16084&start=165
China-SignPost_18_J20-analysis_17-January-2011.pdf
http://www.chinasignpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/China-SignPost_18_J20-analysis_17-January-2011.pdf
F-35 High Energy Laser
http://www.f-16.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=27171&sid=a3b7376a910f0d25fd1feb3b4bea2b82
http://breakingdefense.com/2015/06/ge-sets-aetd-record/
Stealth question - Reduction in RCS
http://www.f-16.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=16084&start=165
http://theweek.com/articles/569274/how-chinas-expert-fighter-jet-designer-avoids-americas-mistakes
http://nation.time.com/2012/05/16/f-22-gets-into-a-dogfight/
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/special-features/f-35-in-new-dogfight-over-chinese-russian-stealth-technology/story-fnknbqfy-1227177399053
http://www.businessinsider.com/david-cenciotti-f-22-stealth-jet-dogfighting-an-f-15-2014-6?IR=T
https://medium.com/war-is-boring/one-analyst-predicted-the-f-35s-s-dogfight-failure-50a942d0cf8a
- as stated previously, most people who watch this space know that stealth bombers can be tracked from thousands of kilometers away provided equipment is tuned correctly, environmental conditions are favourable, etc... To me, a lot of the power projection capabilities (or anything which facilitates them) makes me feel as though they have homing beacons. This includes sensor technology which relies on any active measures such as long range RADAR, AWACS, re-fuelling, AEGIS class warships, aircraft carriers, etc... They're just asking to be hit (by near peer threats) which probably explains the reasons behind increasing sensory capabilities of 5th gen aircraft such as the JSF and increasing de-centralisation of capabilities in 6th gen aircraft designs
http://aviationweek.com/blog/behind-f-35-air-combat-report
- if you know a little bit about military technology you'll be aware that one of the things that are of slight concern are electronic hardware which when illuminated by certain, unique frequencies basically become homing beacons. The thing is, if you think about this for a bit isn't it possible to achieve the same thing using microchips (or anything that is symmetrical on an aircraft)? I mean, one of the core tenets of RADAR stealth is incorporating non-planform design. Namely, reducing parallel and symmetrical shapes. The legs on a microchip are spaced evenly and symmetrically apart. Provided sufficient power and at favourable angles isn't it also possible to achieve the same thing using electronics (and other objects) aboard most aircraft (epsecially if their designs are unique)? The main issues would be power and projection of course...
http://archive.sciencewatch.com/dr/fmf/2010/10sepfmf/10sepfmfStuc/
- in the Iraq war much of the RADAR capabilities were knocked out extremely early. The opposite has been true in Syria where much equipment has been turned off and turned on only periodically. Much like my beacon idea I'm wondering why we couldn't use the same concept to detect SAM and RADAR systems. If we know the rough design, then we should know the rough frequency/wavelength that they operate with... Radiate at sufficient power and at the right angle and they should re-radiate? Perhaps a job for drones which would search for equipment based on rough intelligence estimates for mobile equipment in particular?
http://www.defencetalk.com/iran-deploys-cutting-edge-ghadir-radar-system-64792/
- people often harp on about how Western defense technology is superior but we've never really seen a genuine encounter between near peer threats for a long time. It's also clear that neither side. Operationally, both Russia and the United States have never really given in to their partners on national security concerns. Their partners often don't receieve the same information nor do they recieve the same technology (same fear that the US has regarding the F-22 Raptor. They don't want to have to go to war against equipment that is equally adept which they built. They also worry about OPSEC of allied nations believing that we could leak information since we spend less on national security). I wouldn't be surprised if (much like during the Cold War) much of the publicly available information we have regarding upper end equipment is substantially wrong
- much has been made of DAS in the JSF. Some Russian fighter aircraft have had much of this basic, core functionality (all around sensory capability) for decades
- a RAND defense analyst recently floated around the idea of a slow moving aircraft with large payload capabilities as an alternative to conventional fighter jets. It would actually render 5th gen fighters completely irrelevant if implemented correctly...
- I've been looking at the design of the PAK-FA slightly more closely and noticed how it had multi-band RADAR capabilities for various purposes. The thing which struck me was the updated R-77 capability whereby the jet provides information in unison with the missile's own internal targeting system. Even if one fails, the other system has enough redundancy to be able to potentially re-acquire a lock. Interestingly, if we think about this slightly what if we use the same idea in combination with jets and ships or jets and large RADAR. Updated information from longer wavelength RADAR in combination with the missiles' or jets' on targeting systems would allow for an increased chance of lock and reduced chances of being outwitted through decoys as well...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-77
- modern rules of engagement may mean that visual identification may be necessary before a pilot can launch an attack rendering any BVR capabilities a moot point
http://aviationweek.com/blog/behind-f-35-air-combat-report
- for a while now the defense and intelligence have used animals such as dolphins and sea lions for various purposes including recon as well as force proection. Something I've been curious about is whether or not we can use animals as radiators undersea as well as in the air... Think about this, if you are in a room with furniture and you scream it sounds different to if it were empty. It's the same if you scream in front of someone versus if you scream with nothing in front of you. If you can activate all animals in your surronding area (using beacons at abnormal frequencies or otherwise training them and attaching 'radiators' to them) to either create sound you can detect the presence of other objects in your immediate vicinity (without giving away your position as well). Roughly the same principle that allowed the detection and shooting down of the original F-117 stealth bomber
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/11813322/Israeli-spy-dolphin-caught-off-Gaza-coast.html
http://marshallradio.com/north-american-falconry-products/north-american-falconry-transmitters
http://marshallradio.com/eu/european-falconry-products/european-falconry-transmitters
http://marshallradio.com/north-american-falconry-products/north-american-falconry-transmitters/item/126-micro-transmitter
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonar
http://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/engines-equipment/submarine4.htm

http://theconversation.com/the-joint-strike-fighter-is-it-the-right-aircraft-for-australia-25911
http://aviationweek.com/defense/f-35-unscathed-hostile-fire-green-flag
http://www.f-16.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=22
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_F-15_losses
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/russias-once-mighty-fighter-jet-firm-mig-struggling-as-rivals-make-gains/524940.html

If you've ever worked with laptops (or any device) with dead batteries you've probably wondered about how to restore them to working condition...
http://www.atbatt.com/car-battery/how-to-boost-charge-a-dead-car-battery
http://www.chargingchargers.com/tutorials/battery-desulfation.html
http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com/desulfate-lawn-mower-battery.php
http://www.flyingbeet.com/electricg/batteries.html

- as usual thanks to all of the individuals and groups who purchase and use my goods and services
http://sites.google.com/site/dtbnguyen/
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com.au/
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Saving Money (without Sacrificing), Random Stuff, and More

- use price matching when you can to get an extra discount. Note, a lot of companies advertise low prices just to get you through the door. ...