Jake’s URL Tool
I have hundreds of scripts that I use to automate frequent tasks as a network security engineer. While I’ve posted some of them to public GitHub repositori...
Hi, I am Jake đź‘‹
I am a triplets dad, programmer, network/security/infrastructure engineer, trail runner, and BJJ guy living in Eugene, Oregon. You can see what I’m up to “now”, what I use, or some people I enjoy.
I am passionate about many things, especially infosec and programming.
If you’re interested, take a look at some of my tools or my GitHub.
Recent posts
Using AI to improve writing with Apple’s Shortcuts app
With this simple Shortcut, you can use Apple’s Shortcuts app and the ChatGPT app to improve writing.
What I Use (November 2023 Edition)
I use a MacBook Pro 14” M3 Max at home. At work, it’s a 16” M2 Pro.
Back up your configuration on FortiGate 7.0 using Ansible (October 2023 Edition)
Install and setup Ansible Install and setup Ansible, ensuring that you have the full version that includes the FortiOS collection. For detailed instructions,...
Action Jackson - A Shortcut for your Action Button to either silence the phone or launch the camera app based on its orientation.
John Gruber from Daring Fireball recently shared a couple of iOS Shortcuts he developed to have the iPhone 15 Pro Action button. These shortcuts perform diff...
What I Use (August 2023 Edition)
Operating Systems
How to easily bypass paywalls with a bookmarklet
You can easily bypass article paywalls with this bookmarklet.
How to enforce Brave Safe Search with DNS
This is totally not official or supported by Brave Search, as far as I can tell, but you can create a search.brave.com DNS zone on your local DNS server and ...
How to setup automatic logging in an iTerm2 profile
I primarily use iTerm2 on macOS as my terminal of choice. It’s got more tweakability, Quake Mode, and that pleasant Minimal theme that blends the titlebar...
Find: Engineer Man on YouTube
I recently came across Engineer Man’s YouTube channel and I’m really enjoying his videos.
My 2019 Hackintosh Build Guide
I am publishing my 2019 Hackintosh Build Guide on GitHub.
How I Got Rid of Kindle Special Offers For Free
tl;dr: Ask nicely (via web chat).
The Items In @richroll’s “VEGAN ON $25” YouTube Video
Rich Roll (@richroll) recently posted a great YouTube video called “VEGAN ON $25”. In the video, he visits various stores and shows you what $25 will buy in ...
dump1090 on Mac OS X El Capitan Quick Start Guide
dump1090 is software that will decode ADS-B transmissions from nearby aircraft. ADS-B transmissions include information like aircraft tail number, latitude, ...
GQRX and RTL-SDR on Mac OS X El Capitan Quick Start Guide
If you do a Google search for something like “gqrx el capitan”, you’ll find a few guides on using Homebrew to install a bunch of packages that’ll fetch you a...
(Not so) quick thoughts on the future of Mac apps
I’ll just out and say it: I see the future of Mac apps being windowed iOS applications, somewhat akin to universal Windows apps. However, I am not saying th...
My theater-style popcorn 🍿 recipe
I’ve been making and tweaking this popcorn recipe for a while now.
Seinfeld Productivity Myth
I run into the same Seinfeld myth occasionally. The story goes that some lucky guy runs into Jerry Seinfeld after a show and asks him for writing advice. Sei...
Don’t You Believe It!
I was recently watching Tom and Jerry with my kids and there was a particular scene where a battered Tom says the phrase “Don’t you believe it” in a rather c...
The NSA and Compartmentalization
This week, the NSA has found itself in the middle of a couple of scandals. What people are not realizing is that the NSA exploits compartmentalization quite ...
Lockheed’s New Mystery Drone
The DEW Line finds a new mystery drone at the Skunk Works facility.
Fix for iOS 6 activation problems
This only applies to legitimate iOS developers. I have no clue nor desire to help pirates. I assume you’re familiar with stuff like iTunes, DFU mode, etc. No...
Stop putting sensitive URLs in your robots.txt file!
Webmasters, the robots.txt does not provide any security. It merely provides hints to search engines about what they should include in their search indexes, ...
Calculating Speed using a Webcam
A cool project right up my alley using Python and the Python Imaging Library.
Sort Of Unlock Your Verizon iPhone 4S For Free
Update: I have confirmed this will not work fully with T-Mobile USA (and presumably other US carriers, such as AT&T) SIM cards. You may get it to connect...