Chapter 5

Another contributor to my trilogy book has submitted his draft chapter for review. Though I will not mention his name at this time, I'll give my readers a clue: he's a PCB-RE engineer from ENA Electronics Inc, who also leads a team doing various RE projects. Here's a two-page sample of his work:

I'm still in the process of vetting and editing, and will be going through the finer details with the writer himself to ensure an accurate representation of what he intends to share in his work experience, while at the same time providing an overall consistent and pleasurable read for potential buyers of this (I hope) much anticipated book.

Once the content of this chapter is incorporated, the trilogy book will hit almost 300 pages. There's one more contributor to go and I shall be giving him a tinker after I'm done with this review task.

Twilight Zone

I'm not referring to the well-known TV series by Emmy Award-winner Rod Serling, who served as host and wrote more than 80 episodes of the original show's 150-plus episode run. But doing PCB-RE does has its strange mix of confusion, frustration, jubilation, and trepidation along the way. In fact, what's left of the unverified portion of a PCB, I called it the twilight zone.

Just as we enjoyed the suspense and surprise ending at each episode (if you're that old like I am, chuckle), there will always be the same feeling when you reach this portion of doing PCB-RE. Then again, where's the fun and challenge if PCB-RE is a piece of cake?

So take it from the man himself:

“You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension: a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You’re moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You’ve just crossed over into… the Twilight Zone.”

10,000

After one year and nine months, and 122 posts later, my blog has garnered over 10,000 views. This is cause for jubilation as another milestone is achieved.

The number of countries has also hit 85 though it slowed down quite a bit since. Of course, it would be nice if readers can help promote and recommend my blog if they have been helped or inspired by what I've written. I'm sure there are still many out there who're interested in the PCB-RE topic but not many are aware of the resources available here and in my books.

Christmas is just slightly over a month away and it's a season to share good tidings of great joy. I'm sure if my readers can help some to find what they need here, it will most certainly bring a smile of gratitude in return.

Would you do that favor?

PhreakNIC 21

Was watching a video presentation on YouTube by Jonathan Ryan at the PhreakNIC 21 annual hacker and technology convention, when near the 26-minute mark during the Q&A session someone posed a question and he whipped out my book, The Art of PCB Reverse Engineering, to answer.

That was some pleasant surprise indeed, considering the event was slightly over a year ago! Now that my sequel book, PCB-RE: Tools & Techniques, was out since the beginning of this year, wonder if he had also purchase it and showcase at the recent PhreakNIC 22 event last month...

Readers interested to watch this video, click here.

Chapter 6

One of the contributors to my trilogy book, PCB-RE: Real-World Examples, has submitted his draft chapter for my vetting and review. I will keep his name and the rest of the contributors in confidence for now. Here is a two-page sample of what you can expect:

PCB-RE involves multi-disciplinary skills and a good deal of engineering experience. Besides the manual method of doing PCB reverse engineering which I'll showcase in my own chapter, there will be other techniques shared by different engineers in their own fields of expertise. Chapter 6 focuses on firmware hacking and you'll learn some very useful lessons as the author takes you step by step through the process, illustrated with many photos and screenshots.

To date, the trilogy has attained 240 pages. I expect it to hit the same number of pages as my other two books when the works of the other contributors come in and take their places.