https://www.skrasser.com/ Fri, 03 Apr 2026 11:49:44 -0700 Fri, 03 Apr 2026 11:49:44 -0700 Jekyll v4.4.1 <p>To wrap up <a href="/blog/2025/12/06/making-a-custom-mechanical-numpad/">my project from last week</a>, only keycaps were missing. Those got dropped onto my doorsteps tonight, so here is the final result of the media numpad... Thu, 11 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2025/12/11/keycaps-are-here-finishing-the-numpad/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2025/12/11/keycaps-are-here-finishing-the-numpad/ Electronics <p>After building a <a href="/blog/2019/06/01/usb-mini-media-keyboard/">small media keyboard</a> in 2019, I always wanted to go a little bit bigger with respect to custom mechanical keyboards. But instead of going straight from... Sat, 06 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2025/12/06/making-a-custom-mechanical-numpad/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2025/12/06/making-a-custom-mechanical-numpad/ Electronics 3D-Printing <p>Five years after the <a href="/blog/2020/11/24/sentinel-6-launch/">Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich</a> mission launched, its twin satellite Sentinel-6B launched as well. In contrast to Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, Sentinel-6B was a night launch. I packed... Sun, 23 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2025/11/23/sentinel-6b-launch/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2025/11/23/sentinel-6b-launch/ Space Photography <p>After announcing our joint work between Meta and CrowdStrike at LlamaCon in April, we finally released our new LLM benchmark for cybersecurity applications, CyberSOCEval, this month at Fal.Con. You can... Sun, 21 Sep 2025 00:00:00 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2025/09/21/benchmarking-llms-for-cybersecurity-applications/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2025/09/21/benchmarking-llms-for-cybersecurity-applications/ Security Machine Learning Open Source <p>Better late than never. Here is a <a href="/publications/pdf/ml-based_malware_detection_preprint.pdf">preprint of the chapter on malware detection using machine learning</a> that I <a href="/blog/2024/08/26/publications-on-cybersecurity-and-cybersecurity-policy/">mentioned previously</a>. You can get the final paper with... Sat, 08 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2025/02/08/detecting-malware-with-machine-learning/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2025/02/08/detecting-malware-with-machine-learning/ Security Machine Learning <p>Now that all <a href="/blog/2024/09/01/getting-my-via-expansion-to-work-with-the-commodore-64/">electronic issues are resolved</a>, it’s time to update the PCB for my expansion board that adds a W65C22S Versatile Interface Adapter (VIA) to my Commodore 64.... Sun, 22 Sep 2024 00:00:00 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2024/09/22/a-via-for-the-commodore-64-revised-pcb/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2024/09/22/a-via-for-the-commodore-64-revised-pcb/ C64 Electronics Retro <p>In my <a href="/blog/2024/08/31/a-modern-via-connected-to-a-commodore-64/">last post</a>, I discussed wiring up a modern Versatile Interface Adapter to the expansion port of the Commodore 64. Unfortunately, I ran into timing issues and the... Sun, 01 Sep 2024 00:00:00 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2024/09/01/getting-my-via-expansion-to-work-with-the-commodore-64/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2024/09/01/getting-my-via-expansion-to-work-with-the-commodore-64/ C64 Electronics Retro <p>It has been a while that I embarked on an electronics project (our soldering iron has not seen use since <a href="https://www.statham.space/2022/02/27/arduinos-and-leggings-and-lights-oh-my/">Shannon built her Arduino-powered space pants</a>). For my next... Sat, 31 Aug 2024 00:00:00 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2024/08/31/a-modern-via-connected-to-a-commodore-64/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2024/08/31/a-modern-via-connected-to-a-commodore-64/ C64 Electronics Retro <p>Some quick updates on new and upcoming publications I co-authored: today the Journal of Cyber Policy published an article on data localization risks, i.e. the risks to cybersecurity if pertinent... Mon, 26 Aug 2024 00:00:00 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2024/08/26/publications-on-cybersecurity-and-cybersecurity-policy/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2024/08/26/publications-on-cybersecurity-and-cybersecurity-policy/ Security Machine Learning <p>Last Sunday I flew out eastwards to meet Shannon in Nashville to view the eclipse. I just managed to get a brief glimpse of the city, visiting Broadway the night... Tue, 09 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2024/04/09/viewing-the-eclipse/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2024/04/09/viewing-the-eclipse/ Travel Photography Space <p>Early in 2021, I set out to write a game for a 40-year-old computer, the venerable Commodore 64. The game, Cab Hustle, <a href="https://svenatl.itch.io/cabhustle">was finally released</a> in the fall of... Fri, 03 Mar 2023 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2023/03/03/writing-a-commodore-64-game-in-the-2020s-a-retrospective/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2023/03/03/writing-a-commodore-64-game-in-the-2020s-a-retrospective/ Retro Cab Hustle Gamedev C64 <p>The PC version of my Commodore 64 game Cab Hustle is now available on Itch.io. You can download it for free at the link below.</p> <div style="display: flex; justify-content: center;... Wed, 18 Jan 2023 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2023/01/18/cab-hustle-for-windows-is-now-available-on-itch-io/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2023/01/18/cab-hustle-for-windows-is-now-available-on-itch-io/ Retro Cab Hustle Gamedev <p>Just a minor update: version 1.2 for Cab Hustle for the Commodore 64 is now on available on Itch.io. You can download it at the link below. Read on for... Sun, 08 Jan 2023 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2023/01/08/small-cab-hustle-update/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2023/01/08/small-cab-hustle-update/ C64 Retro Cab Hustle <p>In my last post, I described getting <a href="/blog/2022/12/11/porting-my-commodore-64-game-to-windows/">my 8-bit game Cab Hustle compiled for Windows systems</a>. One of the missing parts was sound. Sound’s now also addressed, and Cab... Thu, 22 Dec 2022 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2022/12/22/now-with-sound-cab-hustle-for-windows/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2022/12/22/now-with-sound-cab-hustle-for-windows/ C64 Retro Cab Hustle Gamedev <p>Now that <a href="/ch/">Cab Hustle</a> has been released, I have taken a look at porting it to Windows. The idea is to create a native executable instead of packaging the... Sun, 11 Dec 2022 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2022/12/11/porting-my-commodore-64-game-to-windows/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2022/12/11/porting-my-commodore-64-game-to-windows/ C64 Retro Cab Hustle Gamedev <p>To watch <a href="https://www.spacex.com/launches/ispace-m1/">SpaceX’s Hakuto-R M1 launch</a>, my wife Shannon and I made the trip to Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida in November. Alongside the primary mission consisting of... Sat, 03 Dec 2022 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2022/12/03/from-florida-to-the-moon/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2022/12/03/from-florida-to-the-moon/ Space <p>October has been busy with travel. After coming back from a work trip to Goa to meet the CrowdStrike Data Science team members in India, I’ve embarked on a road... Sat, 05 Nov 2022 00:00:00 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2022/11/05/yosemite-napa-pacific-coast-highway/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2022/11/05/yosemite-napa-pacific-coast-highway/ Travel Photography <p>After releasing my <a href="/ch/">Commodore 64 game project</a> on the Zzap! 64 covermount disk a couple of weeks ago, you can now download the latest version directly from Itch.io (see... Sun, 30 Oct 2022 00:00:00 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2022/10/30/cab-hustle-is-now-on-itch-io/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2022/10/30/cab-hustle-is-now-on-itch-io/ C64 Retro Cab Hustle <p>My <a href="/ch/">Commodore 64 game project</a> has now been officially released and is available on the covermount disk of Zzap! 64 Magazine Issue #10. You can get a copy from... Fri, 30 Sep 2022 00:00:00 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2022/09/30/cab-hustle-is-now-available/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2022/09/30/cab-hustle-is-now-available/ C64 Retro Cab Hustle <p>Since <a href="/photostream/coyote/">last year</a>, a lot more coyotes have been moving into the neighborhood. Here are a couple of pictures of one that likes to lay out in the sun... Sat, 09 Jul 2022 00:00:00 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2022/07/09/backyard-coyote/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2022/07/09/backyard-coyote/ Photography <p>Here are some pictures from a recent trip to Maui. Above the surface cameras: Fuji X100T and iPhone XS; below the surface: GoPro Hero 4 Black.</p> <!-- more --> Sun, 15 May 2022 00:00:00 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2022/05/15/maui/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2022/05/15/maui/ Travel Photography <p>Recently I found a tad more time to work on my C64 game, Cab Hustle. There is also a new video on my YouTube channel showing some of the changes... Sat, 16 Apr 2022 00:00:00 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2022/04/16/cab-hustle-the-latest-on-my-c64-game/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2022/04/16/cab-hustle-the-latest-on-my-c64-game/ C64 Retro Cab Hustle <p>There are a couple of new articles I penned in recent months on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in cybersecurity:</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.crowdstrike.com/blog/how-human-intelligence-is-supercharging-crowdstrike-artificial-intelligence/">How Human Intelligence is Supercharging CrowdStrike’s Artificial Intelligence</a>... Sat, 09 Apr 2022 00:00:00 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2022/04/09/recent-writing-on-ai-in-cybersecurity/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2022/04/09/recent-writing-on-ai-in-cybersecurity/ Security Machine Learning <p>While my next sewing project has seen little progress (I’ve been working on a knit t-shirt, but the stretchy fabric is killing me), my wife just published a <a href="https://www.statham.space/2022/02/27/arduinos-and-leggings-and-lights-oh-my/">new... Mon, 28 Feb 2022 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2022/02/28/arduino-powered-pants/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2022/02/28/arduino-powered-pants/ Sewing Arduino <p>The most recent family trip was to go skiing in Mammoth, CA, and I brought my latest lens with me, the TTArtisan 11mm F2.8 Fisheye. It’s my second third-party lens... Sun, 27 Feb 2022 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2022/02/27/around-mammoth-with-the-ttartisan-11mm-f28-fisheye-lens/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2022/02/27/around-mammoth-with-the-ttartisan-11mm-f28-fisheye-lens/ Photography Travel <p>Since my <a href="/blog/2021/10/04/cab-hustle-my-new-game-for-the-commodore-64/">last post in October about Cab Hustle</a>, my Commodore 64 retro game programming project, there has been some progress—mostly under the hood. Before diving into it, the... Wed, 12 Jan 2022 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2022/01/12/recent-progress-on-cab-hustle/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2022/01/12/recent-progress-on-cab-hustle/ C64 Retro Cab Hustle <p>Outside of cooking and eating turkey, <a href="https://www.statham.space/">Shannon</a> and I spent the last week gallivanting around Sedona, Arizona, by foot, car, and UTV. Below are a couple of pictures I... Sun, 28 Nov 2021 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2021/11/28/around-sedona/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2021/11/28/around-sedona/ Travel Photography <p>Over the past months I’ve been sporadically working on a new game for the Commodore 64, which for now is called “Cab Hustle.” The game’s objective is to maneuver a... Mon, 04 Oct 2021 00:00:00 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2021/10/04/cab-hustle-my-new-game-for-the-commodore-64/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2021/10/04/cab-hustle-my-new-game-for-the-commodore-64/ C64 Retro Cab Hustle <p>After a pandemic-induced one-and-a-half year hiatus, my wife and I were finally able to see the family in Germany for a trip to the island of Sylt. Below are a... Mon, 06 Sep 2021 00:00:00 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2021/09/06/sylt-germany/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2021/09/06/sylt-germany/ Travel Photography <p>Nikon’s lens lineup for the Z-mount is still fairly sparse at the telephoto end of the spectrum (as I noted e.g. in my post on the <a href="/blog/2020/11/24/sentinel-6-launch/">Sentinel-6 launch</a>). I... Wed, 23 Jun 2021 00:00:00 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2021/06/23/first-impressions-of-the-tokina-szx-400mm-f8/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2021/06/23/first-impressions-of-the-tokina-szx-400mm-f8/ Photography <p>What follows has been a bit of an odd project to me. My 3D printer so far has been a Flashforge Creator Pro (you can <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQQOGWnTPwk&amp;t=584s">see it in action</a>... Sat, 19 Jun 2021 00:00:00 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2021/06/19/upgrading-a-creality-cr-x-pro-with-an-e3d-chimera-hotend/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2021/06/19/upgrading-a-creality-cr-x-pro-with-an-e3d-chimera-hotend/ 3D-Printing <p>This month, my wife, our <a href="/photostream/beagle-bed/">beagle</a>, and I spent a week in Joshua Tree. Here are a couple of photos from the National Park and the area.</p> <!-- more... Sun, 16 May 2021 00:00:00 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2021/05/16/joshua-tree-national-park/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2021/05/16/joshua-tree-national-park/ Travel Photography <p>I’ve posted a new video on my YouTube channel covering my earlier posts on <a href="/blog/2020/08/02/building-a-commodore-64/">building a C64</a> using an <a href="/blog/2020/08/18/ultimate-64/">Ultimate 64</a> board and <a href="/blog/2020/08/16/3d-printing-a-joystick-and-a-paddle-controller/">3D-printing a joystick and... Sun, 14 Mar 2021 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2021/03/14/c64-build-video/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2021/03/14/c64-build-video/ C64 Retro 3D-Printing <p>The C64’s user interface is Commodore BASIC v2, which presents itself without delay as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Read%E2%80%93eval%E2%80%93print_loop">REPL</a> the instant the machine is powered on. BASIC lives in 8 KB of... Sat, 20 Feb 2021 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2021/02/20/6502-scripting-a-tcl-shell-on-the-commodore-64/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2021/02/20/6502-scripting-a-tcl-shell-on-the-commodore-64/ C64 Retro Open Source <p>This past weekend, I watched the Sentinel-6 launch, the fourth launch I went to see. The first launch I attended was the ill-fated Orb-3 mission (see the resulting fireball in... Tue, 24 Nov 2020 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/11/24/sentinel-6-launch/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/11/24/sentinel-6-launch/ Space Photography <p>With the Nikon Z 6II hitting the shelves this week, I finally took the plunge to switch to a full-frame camera. Previously, my workhorses had been two cameras with smaller... Wed, 11 Nov 2020 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/11/11/going-full-frame/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/11/11/going-full-frame/ Photography <p>After almost 6 years, the blog is getting a small design refresher. In addition, a few things are changing under the hood. When I started the blog in 2014, I... Fri, 06 Nov 2020 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/11/06/blog-design-overhaul/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/11/06/blog-design-overhaul/ Open Source <p>This past Saturday, I talked about attacks on ML within cybersecurity at the <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/raisa3-2020">RAISA3 Workshop</a>. The slides for my talk, “Of Search Lights and Blind Spots: Machine Learning in... Mon, 31 Aug 2020 11:51:53 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/08/31/adversarial-machine-learning-and-robust-classification/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/08/31/adversarial-machine-learning-and-robust-classification/ Machine Learning Security <p>For this latest part of my series of posts on <a href="/blog/2020/08/02/building-a-commodore-64/">building a Commodore 64</a>, it is time to assemble all the pieces. The Pixelwizard C64C case has since arrived... Sat, 29 Aug 2020 23:02:28 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/08/29/assembling-my-commodore-64/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/08/29/assembling-my-commodore-64/ C64 Retro 3D-Printing <p>Now that I’ve received the Ultimate 64 board, it’s time to finish the 3D-printed paddle controller for my <a href="/blog/2020/08/02/building-a-commodore-64/">to-be-built Commodore 64</a>. And to try it out in action, I’ve... Sat, 22 Aug 2020 22:54:52 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/08/22/finishing-the-3d-printed-paddle-controller/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/08/22/finishing-the-3d-printed-paddle-controller/ C64 Retro 3D-Printing <p>Finally, the next item for my quest to <a href="/blog/2020/08/02/building-a-commodore-64/">build a Commodore 64</a> has arrived. After several weeks of travelling the world in a box, the Ultimate 64 circuit board... Tue, 18 Aug 2020 17:51:09 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/08/18/ultimate-64/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/08/18/ultimate-64/ C64 Retro <p>The circuit board and the case for my <a href="/blog/2020/08/02/building-a-commodore-64/">project to build a Commodore 64</a> are still in the mail, and while I am waiting for those to arrive in... Sun, 16 Aug 2020 15:27:16 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/08/16/3d-printing-a-joystick-and-a-paddle-controller/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/08/16/3d-printing-a-joystick-and-a-paddle-controller/ C64 Retro 3D-Printing <p>The C64 has a special place in my heart. My uncle bought one of the initial breadbin versions when it came out in the 80’s, and my cousins taught me... Sun, 02 Aug 2020 15:05:41 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/08/02/building-a-commodore-64/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/08/02/building-a-commodore-64/ C64 Retro <p>After sitting partially dismantled for about 5 years in a toolbox, I resurrected my old <a href="/blog/2015/06/21/arduino-raster-bars/">Arduino Raster Bars</a> project. The primary reason for the endeavor being that I recently... Mon, 01 Jun 2020 18:31:26 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/06/01/arduino-raster-bars-redux/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/06/01/arduino-raster-bars-redux/ Arduino Graphics Electronics <p>With many businesses and locations still shut down, projects at home are a good way to keep busy. While most of the posts on this blog revolve around <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWLR_um9V3c">electronics</a>,... Sun, 17 May 2020 19:26:27 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/05/17/pandemic-projects-sewing-pajama-pants/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/05/17/pandemic-projects-sewing-pajama-pants/ Sewing <p>Similar to my <a href="/blog/category/homebrew-6502/">breadboard computer</a>, the <a href="http://commanderx16.com/">Commander X16</a> is an 8-bit computer based on a 6502 CPU, yet at a bit more professional level. The X16 team is... Sat, 09 May 2020 22:47:49 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/05/09/rotozooming-on-the-commander-x16/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/05/09/rotozooming-on-the-commander-x16/ Graphics Retro <p>The latest addition to my homebrew 6502 computer is more colorful graphics output. To be specific, the system now supports output in 256 colors. As a little exercise, I’ve implemented... Fri, 24 Apr 2020 18:03:29 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/04/24/more-colors-more-visuals-some-math/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/04/24/more-colors-more-visuals-some-math/ Electronics Homebrew-6502 Graphics <p>In this second part on outputting a VGA signal from my homebrew 6502 breadboard computer, we’ll take a look at getting some motion onto the screen. If you missed the... Sat, 18 Apr 2020 19:32:10 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/04/18/animation-on-the-homebrew-6502-computer/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/04/18/animation-on-the-homebrew-6502-computer/ Electronics Homebrew-6502 Graphics <p>After an 18-month hiatus, I continued work on my homebrew 6502 computer by adding VGA output so that programs can now generate some interesting graphics instead of just turning LEDs... Thu, 16 Apr 2020 16:35:19 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/04/16/graphics-for-the-homebrew-6502-computer/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/04/16/graphics-for-the-homebrew-6502-computer/ Electronics Homebrew-6502 Graphics FPGA <p>In February, before the current Coronavirus outbreak hit the U.S. in earnest, I met up with Dave Cole in Marina del Rey to join as guest on an episode of... Sun, 22 Mar 2020 09:42:07 -0700 https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/03/22/security-voices/ https://www.skrasser.com/blog/2020/03/22/security-voices/ Security Machine Learning