KeriBlog

How a Car Stops

Jul 27 2015

Above is inside your brakes. Technically, fluid is what stops you when you depress the pedal.

1 – the calliper, which contains the pistons
2 – the brake pad within the calliper
3 – which clench the rotor

How it works: the brake fluid pushes the pistons within the calliper > which in turn pushes the pads onto the rotor like a vise > and slows down the vehicle. The harder you push on the pedal, the harder the pads push on the rotor.

It’s a good idea to check the condition of both the rotors and pads, as well as the colour and level of the fluid.

Above are the old & new rotors.

My neighbour taught me while changing his.

The pitting on both the pads and rotor is what caused the car to stutter down the road during our test drive.

Worst Part of Buying a New Car – Glovebox Fabric

Jul 27 2015

The fabric that lines a glovebox – and sometimes a centre console compartment – is easily the worst part of a new car.

Because see how it sheds?

It sticks to everything, is difficult to remove, and one time a hair got under my contact lens and I practically died from the pain.

I drive a new car every week so have been tracking this for years. It’s not localized to one automanufacturer, it’s across almost all of them, luxury or not.

Adding to my “potential column topics” spreadsheet, think I’ll investigate why it seems all badges are being held hostage to use the same sub-par fabric supplier.

Before & After Photos of my House Renovation

Jul 25 2015

One year ago today I picked up the keys to my new house.

After pulling off the world’s fastest home purchase (real estate lawyer and bank’s words,) then the world’s fastest move, I lived on an air mattress for a couple months because it was a 3-season house that I winterized while living in it (it occurred to me while typing this I’ve slept on it 1/3 of a year.)

Let’s take a tour! First stop is the guest room.

I made the comforter set, I love sewing. And welded that guy.

In we go to the freshly painted crisp whiteness. I argue with everyone: no I don’t want colour in here. I am the colour.

Best joke of the renovation:

With 2 friends, walking into a hardware store that sells paint, “Careful Keri, there’s colour in here.”

Let’s take the tour upstairs and work our way down.

My office. Where the words come from.

Here’s an old closeup of my lanyard collection.

Typing Before & After on these photo collages is so satisfying holy crap.

The mirror makes all the difference eh, creates the illusion of space. Remember when it fell off the wall?

Most conflicting compliment of the renovation:

Checked out your blog, it looks like a home renovation show.

Good because means my documenting skills are sharp, bad because omg I run a home and decorating blog now? Ugh. Gonna create a DIY tag and smother myself with it.

Bathroom. Grey walls! Deviated from all-white, that’s huge for me.

When the electrician asked where to install the lights:

Me: eye level
Him: your eyes? That’s shorter than most, what about your guests?
Me: don’t care, my house, everything is to be my size

Can’t believe how much I’m now into infrastructure, and things like hot water tanks. Remember how gross the old one was? Remember all the insane things discovered during this project?

Minimalism always and forever.

Bedroom. Note the grey wall behind the headboard.

That’s not the best bed I ever made though, this one is.

We’ll conclude the tour with the kitchen.

Pendent lights are so classy eh.

Will conclude the tour with this.

Traded my old table for that one, it belonged to my neighbour. I was describing my dream table and he said wait, I have one in my shop basement. Come ON.

Took a year, but I have home owning under control now.

It was a steep learning curve though. Had no idea what I’d got myself into. Didn’t even have a plant, now I own trees.

Probably the best part are the neighbours that came with the house.

Finally, I’m pleased to report that with this post, the blog tag renovation is now closed, and it’s back to regularly scheduled programming here – Cars, Security and a Peek into my Life.

First Time a Vehicle is Remotely Hacked

Jul 22 2015

WIRED magazine published a story yesterday about the world’s first documented wireless attack of a vehicle. A pair of security researchers put a journalist behind the wheel of a Jeep Cherokee and took control of it while he was driving miles away.

Read my synopsis on Autonet, here’s the original WIRED story by Andy Greenberg, and below are the key things to know.

This security update does NOT affect Canadian vehicles

I contacted Chrysler, and got this quote for Autonet:

“An FCA representative in Canada tells Autonet, “Due to market access to cellular connectivity in the Canadian marketplace, FCA Canada vehicles are not affected by this condition and therefore do not require a system upgrade.”

It does however, affect American vehicles, specifically American mid-2013 to 2015 Fiat-Chrysler vehicles that are equipped with the Uconnect infotainment system.

WIRED estimates about 417,000 are affected. Download the security update from FCA here, or take it to a dealership mechanic.

What happened to the car?

Radio, A/C and wipers were all turned on high, and Andy spun the control dials with zero affect. They altered the dashboard screen image.

They cut the transmission, and an 18-wheeler came barrelling up behind him, then they disengaged the brakes and sent Andy into a ditch.

They turned the SUV into a surveillance tool, tracking its GPS coordinates and tracing it on a map.

How was the car attacked?

The pair gain wireless control of the Cherokee via the vehicle’s Uconnect infotainment system which is connected to the Sprint network.

They enter the car through its cellular connection, then move to an adjacent chip in the head unit and rewrite the chip’s firmware to include their malicious code. Now they’re able to send commands through the car’s computer network – CAN bus – and control physical components like the brakes and transmission.

What’s next?

The pair will present their findings at the upcoming Black Hat online security conference in Vegas, as well as share their code. A key vulnerability will be omitted, but the code to do the dashboard tricks will hit the internet.

Why? They say 2 reasons: for peer review, and it “sends a message: automakers need to be held accountable for their vehicles’ digital security.”

Overall Takeaway

What Charlie said:

“We shut down your engine—a big rig was honking up on you because of something we did on our couch,” Miller says, as if I needed the reminder. “This is what everyone who thinks about car security has worried about for years. This is a reality.”