All posts by shanh@werkz.com

Uncategorized

Cell Phone Privacy Part 1: The Problem

What if I told you that I knew everywhere you were in the last year. I know when you left your house, and I know when you stopped for gas. I know ever trip you made to the doctor’s office. I know your favorite coffee shop. I know how often you go to the liquor store, and how long you spend there. I also know every single person you call or text, how often, and for how long. Further, since I know everyone else’s movements and communications, I know who you met with, and how long you met with them. You have a mistress? I know who she is. Meet with a group of guys to go shooting? I know each of their names. Been talking to someone on a terrorist watch list? You might now be on that list. Even law abiding citizens of the US can have information turned up on them that they wouldn’t want exposed, leaving almost everyone vulnerable to misinterpretation or characterization of their activities, or even blackmail.

Here is the scary part. This is all tracked on every one of us, and it’s all legal. The data is captured by cell phone carriers, Apple, Google, Facebook, and all those apps you load on your phone. It’s permanently captured in databases, whether or not your phone screen is on.

I’m going to go a step further. If someone targets you, that person can find out your exact location at this moment. This doesn’t have to be done with a warrant. All the person needs is a phone number, and the person can engage private security services to find your location. And even if you trust the government with this information, we know that all databases will eventually be hacked. It’s only a matter of time before much of this information is leaked.

Many of us have security linked to our cell phones’ number. But did you know that your number could be vulnerable to SIM swapping attacks? If someone knows your phone number, they can potentially take it over.

Finally, cell phones are filled with software, and the software can have vulnerabilities that are exploited. These exploits may allow attackers to run code remotely, enabling the camera, location services, microphone, and even looking through your email or text messages, or even listening to the contents of phone calls. Journalists have recently been alarmed to hear that Pegasus could be used to compromise their security.

So yes, I’m saying that if someone knows my phone number, I can be tracked and potentially attacked. I’m also saying that my phone Google and Apple are always tracking their users, even when GPS location is turned off. I’m also saying that your cell phone provider always knows where your phone is. Your phone could be leaking every secret about your life.

Seems hopeless, right? Well, there are a number of ways to mitigate these attacks. Stay tuned.

Here are some references:


Outdoor Vehicles and Accessories

Replacement Fun / Track Car

What a winding path I take through the car world…

In the spring of 2020, I sold my 1977 F150, and started looking for a driver that would be track capable. I ended up buying an E36 M3…

The car is fabulous. It has the silky smooth BMW inline-6 engine, a near perfect interior, and excellent handling characteristics. However, it was from the midwest and has some rust.

So I started looking at other cars. The newer generation GTO has the wonderful LS engine and a 6-speed. There are a myriad of LS converted cars, including 944s and 968s with the engine. I also drove a few S550 Mustang GTs with the Coyote and they were a blast. I narrowed my search to S197 and S550 Mustangs with the Brembo braking package.

That’s when I ran across this Mustang in the San Diego area…

The car had the gigantic GT500 brakes (15″ Brembo fronts), Koni shocks and coilovers, and had been set up by someone who works for a legitimate race team. It also fit my budget, allowing me to sell the BMW and get into the Mustang with a minimum of additional cash. However, there is a catch. The car is a 6-cylinder. Yes, I love the power of the Coyote 5.0. Could I live with the 300-ish horsepower of the V6? Would the handling and brakes of this car be enough to win me over?

I flew to San Diego to find out.

After driving the car, I was hooked. Yes, I could use more power, but the brakes and handling were spot-on. The car is very “sharp.” It is also very streetable, with a minimum of NVH and almost no tramlining. That is impressive given the 10.5″ square wheel/tire setup.

I purchased the car, which came with some spares, and drove it home. Yes, it is the middle of January, and record breaking storms were moving through California and other Western states. But I decided to drive it anyway.

At a fuel stop in Ely Wyoming. The roads were getting very slick this evening, and I decided to stop for the night.

No long stories here. I did have weather, including some roads that had snow sticking to them. That said, I was quite fortunate, and was able to make it home in two days with a minimum of slick road conditions. I even had some dry roads for part of the trip. The car drove great, and returned between 26.5 mpg (with climbing both White Bird grade and Lewiston grade on that tank) and 31.5 mpg.

So what’s next for the car? I need to update the driver’s seat (A Sabelt race seat) to one that fits me better. I’ll be adding some safety equipment. Then I’ll be tracking it as much as possible at Spokane County Raceway, on their open track days. Let’s see if I can put some V8 cars to shame with it…

Concealed Carry Pistols and Accessories

A Modular Aluminum Framed Glock?

I came across an interesting pistol this week. It was at Weaponsmart in Lewiston, ID. Sitting a couple shelves below Glock pistols was one of these pistols that looks, at first glance, like a customized Glock. However, even a casual glance could tell there was something different.

Upon handling, I could immediately tell that the pistol felt different. It has an aluminum frame. The slide felt like a Glock, with the typical “sproinginess.” While spronginess isn’t in the dictionary, it accurately describes what I feel when I rack the slide on a Glock. My G21 does it in spades. The trigger feels kinda like a Glock, but quite a bit crisper. The pistol also has screws in various places that your typical Glock doesn’t have. Visually, the double undercut trigger, different cut slide, and different grip texture show it’s clearly something else…

It’s the ZRO Delta Modulus.

The pistol feels solid, and I’m a sucker for metal-framed pistols, so I purchased it. Essentially, it’s a $919 Glock 19. Perhaps a little expensive, but perhaps the modularity and better feel will be worth it. Besides, I need to see if it fits in a standard Glock holster.

When they brought out the pistol, it was in a nice case. Unfortunately, the case has a bunch of empty, open holes. I was told that those are for the “deployment kit” which provides two more slides, different magwells and backstraps, as well as different size dust covers. The case is pretty cool… but pretty empty.

Inside is my new pistol, some extra screws, a tool, a Glock Pmag, a USB key (I assume it has instructions on it), and some other stuff.

While I’ve not yet had a chance to run the pistol, I have checked it with the Werkz M6 holster for the Glock 19 with the Olight Baldr Mini. It didn’t fit. The rail places the light lower versus the bore axis and causes interference. Bummer.

I think this could be an interesting pistol development. Or it could be a flop. What do you think of it?

Outdoor Vehicles and Accessories

Werkz truck AEV bumper

The Werkz truck is finally repaired from an unfortunate deer strike over Independence Day weekend. It came out great. The AEV bumper fit up great, and painting the end pieces further makes this look like a stock style upgrade. The Powerwagon grill didn’t fit, so a factory black grill is on its way. We also had RBP electric running boards installed, and they seem super solid; time will tell how well they last through snow and gravel. It was a pleasure to drive the E36 M3 while the Ram was in the shop, but I’m happy to have the truck back.

One final note about the truck: we recently removed the Decked system from the back. The original idea was to sleep on the flat deck when camping. However, my wife and I found that it was inconvenient to get in/out of the back of the truck and that the headroom wasn’t sufficient. Since we decided we wouldn’t be camping out of the truck, we decided to get the cargo capacity back. I’ll write up a more extensive review soon.

Outdoor Vehicles and Accessories, Things to Do

Trip to the North Fork of the Clearwater – Idaho

Sometimes it’s nice to get away. Especially to a spot where you cannot see or hear other campers. We recently got away into the wilderness of Idaho. Here are some of the things I liked and learned along the way.

Camping Near the North Fork of the Clearwater River, near Dvorshak Reservior

My wife and I recently packed up the truck and went camping. I picked out a spot that looked “far enough” away but not too far. About 47 miles East of our home is the spot we picked. It’s the North fork of the Clearwater River, up toward the North end of the Dworshak Reservoir. It was spectacular.

We set out from Clarkia Idaho, heading East. We went past Freezeout Ridge, and took Forest Service Road 301 for quite a ways. My first observation is that this area around Freezeout is stunningly beautiful. This is definitely an area we’ll have to get back to. We were high enough to get excellent views all around, We’ll have to come back.

We followed to Indian Dip Road, turning South. This road was quite rough. My second lessons: even with the excellent Ram 2500 suspension, the suspension is still too stiff for the rocks and… aptly named “dips” on the road. At times we had to crawl at under 5mph.

Once we were in the Dworshak drainage, the roads started getting better. We had hoped to find a spot near the rivers at the northwest side of Dworshak, but the only spots were take. It appeared that some of the spots had been occupied for months. And it appears that most of the areas where someone would turn off the road and go along the river to camp are blocked off, making camping out of the truck more difficult. Next lesson: don’t arrive at 6pm and hope to find a spot quickly.

Having previously scouted via Gaia GPS maps for other spots to stay, we ended up 4-wheeling along some logging trails. These trails were quite rough, and got rougher the closer to the water we got. Our maps showed us that there was some potential camping up ahead, but as we got closer, the trail was blocked. Another dead end.

We did end up going to another spot along the North Fork of the Clearwater River. It was stunningly beautiful, quiet (except for the rushing river) and empty. We took it, leveling the truck off in its spot with some rocks.

The truck is set up with a cap height topper. I put in a Decked system for storage, and to make for a sleeping platform. The storage is great, with a huge amount of room for camping items underneath. We had chairs, two stoves, cooking wares, a canopy, camp toilet, recovery equipment, and other items in the Decked. On top we had a bedroll with a memory foam pad and some packing blankets. Our sleeping bag is a double. It laid out wonderfully.

After enjoying our campfire, we retired to the truck. While everything looked good on paper, we soon found that getting in and out of the truck was a pain. First, the truck is high. next, the tailgate had to be down to get in/out easily. With the loud river rushing nearby, we couldn’t hear anything, so I felt like closing off the back of the truck topper. Unfortunately, that made it too stuffy inside, even with the side windows open. We didn’t sleep overly well that night, even though we were out in the forest in God’s beauty.

We spent the next morning relaxing a bit, having eggs and bacon, and walked along the river a ways. It was enjoyable to see God’s beauty. We soon got restless, broke camp (was super easy given everything was already in the truck), and explored the area more before heading home. It was a wonderful trip overall, and one that we’ll have memories of for years to come.

My summary of what went well and what didn’t:

  • Great
    • Awesome beauty everywhere we looked
    • Truck performed flawlessly
    • The Cummins huge tank and good mileage got us in and out (with many hours of driving) with half a tank left
    • The decked system provides a huge amount of storage
    • The bed was warm and comfortable
    • The 12v fridge kept everything nice and cold
  • Not so great
    • Getting in and out of the back of the truck at night was not comfortable
    • The truck’s suspension is a bit too stiff for the really rough stuff
    • We felt lucky to find a good spot to camp

For next time, we’ll probably find a pop up camper (think 4-Wheel Campers) or a trailer. I just prefer a bit more comfort when I’m out enjoying God’s wonderful creation. Otherwise, I wouldn’t change a thing!

Concealed Carry Pistols and Accessories

Brugger & Thomet APC9K Pistol

I have a bit of a fascination with pistol caliber carbines (PCCs). The compact & lightweight nature, along with the ability to more easily maneuver indoors, makes them an attractive choice for home defense, or even as a truck gun. No, I’m not likely to make a 200 yard shot with one, but if I need a defensive tool at close range, a PPC is potentially a great solution.

After doing some searching for one, I ended up narrowing the field down to the Brugger & Thomet (B&T) APC9. Why? To be honest, what sold me was touching and feeling one at Shot Show 2020. They feel like very well made weapons. After learning that B&T was coming out with a “Pro” version with fully ambidextrous controls, non-reciprocating charging handles, and utilizing AR style grips, I was sold.

I would have preferred the APC9SD, but it was difficult to find one in the “Pro” configuration. Mostly due to availability, I ended up purchasing the APC9K

After purchasing from Modern Warriors in Utah, the pistols was shipped to my FFL, from where I recently picked it up.

My particular pistol is configured with the folding arm brace. I also decided to separately purchase the Glock lower, accepting standard Glock double stack 9mm magazines. This just makes sense given that Werkz focuses on pistol holsters, and we sell a ton of holsters for folks running this magazine configuration. It’s what I run. So my carbine shares magazines with my carry pistol.

Initial impressions of the pistol? It’s as well made as those I picked up at Shot Show. It’s finely machined, and I expect it to be super reliable. Controls feel good. Arm brace feels solid. The magazines insert into the lower with a solid feel, and drop freely. With the stock folded, the whole pistol feels tiny. It’s really small. This would work well in a nice leather briefcase or messenger bag. Unfortunately, I’ve not had the chance to shoot it yet, so these are only bench impressions.

What do we plan to do with it? Plenty, including:

  • Add the Cloud Defensive OWL
  • Form 1 and switch over to the B&T retractable stock
  • Add an optic, probably the Trijicon MRO HD, but possibly the Vortex UH-1 Gen II
  • I’m looking to purchase a suppressor
  • Add a sling
  • Carry it around in a compact bag of some sort

Beyond all that, I’ll use it as a test platform to develop mag carrier solutions for those super long 33-round Glock 9mm magazines.

This gives me more to do… as if I wasn’t busy enough already. 🙂

Outdoor Vehicles and Accessories

Oh deer!

Don’t you love deer? You know, those lovely doe-eyed creatures of the forest?

Yes, I enjoy seeing them grazing on our property. However, I’m less excited to see them on or near the road.

Case in point: Independence Day weekend 2020. We were driving to Coeur d’Alene Idaho, just a few miles South. Broad daylight mid-day. Came around a corner and a deer appeared in busy-ish 4-lane traffic. In my lane. Feel the thump, where the deer bounced off the bumper of our truck traveling at 60mph. Then a fraction of a second later, we feel the deer again as it hits the front axle and we drive over the poor thing.

I guess the Lord had planned for that one to no longer be a threat to vehicles. Thankfully our truck only sustained cosmetic damage. Bumper, parking sensors, intercooler, and AC condenser all damaged. Thankfully the latter two items were not punctured. This gives us time to regroup and determine the right path forward.

Ouch!

I’ve been looking at off-road capable bumpers for the truck anyway. AEV has the best looking one, with the AEV Ram HD bumper. I’m not sure how the black will look against the rest of the truck. Here is a link to an article showing my color truck with the black bumper, and I’m not sure it’s as attractive as I want:

https://www.fourwheeler.com/project-vehicles/1608-aev-upgrades-for-2016-ram-2500-part-2-steps-and-protection/

Here is a picture of a similar truck with the bumper with the ends painted body color. I think this would look much better on the blue truck.

So now I get the long wait for the bumper (2-4 weeks) while driving my truck with an odd sneer. Oh deer!

Uncategorized

E36 BMW M3

I’m excited to say that the E36 BMW M3 has been a blast to drive. It will need work, most notably to fix some rusty areas in the fender lips and rocker panels as well as replacing all rear subframe bushings, but it has a very clean interior and runs out great. Unfortunately, I don’t expect to open track the car until I’ve had a chance to go through the suspension and fix rust, which likely won’t be until next winter.

Outdoor Vehicles and Accessories, Things to Do

COVID-19 Spring Trip: Fishhook Creek

Life in Idaho is pretty good. With our low population and extensive outdoor spaces, it’s possible to get outdoors and do things without encountering many people. Thus, we can maintain “social distancing” while also enjoying a rich life.

After virtual church this last Sunday, we decided to go on a trip. We got out to Avery Idaho, with the intent of seeing how far we could get on the Avery-Wallace road. It turns out that we cannot get very far. The road was closed right at Avery after the trash cans. It is only March 22; I expected that we might not get very far, but I expected to at least be able to go up some into the mountains.

Not deterred, we then looked for other areas to explore. We switched over to driving the South side of the St. Joe west from Avery, stopping for some lunch where Fishook Creek meets the St. Joe.

Delfina enjoyed her time during our stop at the St. Joe.

From there, we decided to heat up Fishhook Creek Road. Winding south up from the St. Joe river. Being this early in the season, the road is mostly snow & ice pack. It was plowed, but has many sheet ice or soft sections. I could see tire tracks where people would put one or two wheels in the ditch then have to get themselves out. The Ram is quite heavy, so I was mindful to keep it on solid ground as best I could, and out of the soft shoulders.

A couple miles up, we spotted a icicle wall. Snow melt coming down a rock wall formed icicles all the way to the road. It was impressive.

Icicles form on this north facing rock wall.

It was only standing under the ice that we could get a feel for the scale.

Ice cascades off the rock to create a sculpture. God creates masterpieces all around us!

We then crossed a couple bridges continuing to climb. The scenery is spectacular, including one section where a tunnel was built.

Tunnel has a stray icicle hanging off to the right.

Coming out of the tunnel, looking West, you could see why the road builders decided to build a tunnel rather than following the river. The creek had nearly carved a tunnel of its own in the surrounding rock.

Rock walls are a feature of Fishhook creek.

From there, we were able to follow the river up until a junction of Lick Creek Road. From there, the Fishhook Creek Road was no longer plowed. We could continue on Lick Creek, but decided to turn around before getting too far into the wilderness.