This file appears to be difficult to get a hold of for whatever reason. It allows you to extract files that’re packaged together into a texture pack (for texmod / umod) to be extracted back into dds/ddo files.
However the original site(s) that hosted this file, and opentpf appear to have gone. Not even existing on the web archive (some of the sites are purposefully excluded from the web archive).
TPFextract is most usable with TPFextractGUI.
TPFextractGUI comes with its source code. TPFextract I think, used to be on Google Code, which is now defunct/archive only.
Back in 2010 I finally finished University. For me, University for some reason wasn’t a choice, but a last resort. After struggling to get through my GCSEs with a head cold, and then fumbling through college (or sixth form as it seems to be called now in the UK) I had a choice to make. I could either try to find a job, or go onto Job Seekers Allowance (JSA).
I got into Teesside University through the clearing process, and just as I had struggled to get into college by having to re-sit my GCSE Maths, I got onto the ladder of University with a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Computing, Software Development. When I finally got around to finishing it, some 4 years later than intended, I was determined to get a degree, only to be told by the University lecturers that they felt I wasn’t a capable C Programmer, even though the undergraduate degree module and course was aimed at people with no prior knowledge.
After Teesside University lost and re-found my grades, I got into another University where I rode the programming and networking train through my Bachelor of Science degree through to Masters of Science.
Sometimes you shouldn’t listen to lecturers, and often the path isn’t easy.
So in 2010 I was meant to publish my dissertation in an article in a journal. If I’m honest with myself, I had anxiety issues, and sometimes I still do. I never published the article and I was pretty burnt out from University. Suffering mostly from what I now recognise as ‘imposter syndrome’. My work was also downgraded because I didn’t discuss the mathematics behind my findings so well, you can perhaps see why I struggled and I blamed myself for that.
Here I’ve been looking through my old hard drives and files, and lo’ and behold I find my 2010 MSc Dissertation, “The Detection of Promiscuous Network Cards”.
You’ll likely have used similar techniques to this in tools such as Nessus, however perhaps not to this extent. There are some good findings in this report, and some details omitted, such as the discovery that the behaviour of promiscuous mode network adapters are changed if you’re running a VMWare Virtual Machine – I still have the stats and evidence of that one somewhere. I was advised not to release that information into my dissertation at the time, VMWare wouldn’t have been happy, apparently.
If you’re interested in some coding (it’s in there too), Z-Statistics of network packets, and also comparisons between Microsoft Windows, Linux and OSX and identifying them on an enterprise network, then you’re in for a treat.
I find that the best projects start with a purpose, however what most people don’t tell you is that the purpose doesn’t always have to be prophetic, necessary or groundbreaking. For a lot of people starting a project can be as simple as the intention:
“I want to blink an LED”
When I joined Leeds Hackspace this was the first concept I was introduced to, along with the Arduino platform. This small and, to me, humble beginning has led me down a path which resulted in a change of job, an introduction into an entirely new community and a world of Technological interest and learning that has took me from an interest in computing and network programming to electronics, 3D printing, scanning and more.
My recent project started with a purpose, (if you’re squeamish you may want to clench, skip a sentence or look away) when you visit the doctor for a blood test and they struggle to find a vein, usually there’s one nurse that can manage it. You don’t expect to be told:
“Usually when it’s this difficult, we would go in via your neck, but we can’t justify it for this test”
To say that’s horrifying is an understatement, so the response that came naturally was obvious to me. I must find a solution to this problem. How on earth can I make my veins easier to find so that I can prevent this in future?
Almost coincidentally, in some occurrence reminiscent of the telephone or television being invented at the same time in two sides of the world, I found my solution quickly. After exhausting the thoughts of ultrasound, radiation or other forms of potentially lethal solutions I happened upon an instructables.
3D printing is only as simple and easy as the tool that you’re using, and I quickly discovered that the printer at Leeds Hackspace required some tweaking. Those who’re familiar with their own built 3D printer will be no stranger to this concept. After a number of nights tinkering with the settings and observing the temperatures, the ‘hot end’ required cooling and the heat bed required heating. I feel that I’ve written stranger sentences.
Finally, the basis of the device is completed. However, now I have to populate it with components! Well, a few online searches and ordering later and I would have the crux of the job. LEDs of the correct wavelength to be able to be absorbed by non-oxygenated blood but reflected by the rest of my skin. Soon, I’ll be able to see my own veins.
The hardest part, I soon discovered, was that this portable design for a vein finder was not designed with an internal layout in mind. After a few rather hand-warming shorts later I managed to acquire suitable heat-shrink and seal up the device appropriately. Yes, it runs on two double-A batteries at 1.5volts (rechargeables don’t quite have the voltage/current for a setup like this, but that could be adjusted).
In the space of, consolidated, a week, I have something to take to the doctors with me the next time I visit. Thanks to the wavelength (628nm) of the red LEDs it’s difficult to capture on a digital camera, but hopefully, they won’t be going at me via the neck.
Here are some bonus pictures of the finished product in action:
