Thundercrawl

Team Grubozaboyschikov make way for 8485 80085

2011-02-01T10:06:00.001Z

The Northern UK Security Group (NUKSG) 2010 rally team "Grubozaboyschikov" raised the bar and this year's entrants will have a hard act to follow. In a real old banger that needed constant running repairs Team G took first place as the overall winners of the 2010 rally and raised over £6,000 for ChildLine.

The car needs some significant work to keep it on the road, but we are hoping to have it available again for anyone from NUKSG who wants to take part in the 2011 rally. We have entered NUKSG as a team, and are currently looking for a crew! Come along to the meeting in February in Manchester or March in Leeds and find out more, and sign up for this fun challenge!

You can follow this year's team 8485 80085 on the new 2011 blog.

Team G in blaze of glory at White Hat Ball

2011-01-29T22:16:00.000Z

Last night Team G attended the White Hat Ball to help raise more money
for ChildLine.

It was a great night that got off to a fiery start as we accidentally
set fire to the menu on the table. Demonstrating his fire fighting
skills our medic took full control of the situation with the aid of an
ice bucket and a bottle of sparkling water as an improvised fire
extinguisher.

It was a tricky blaze and he didn't escape without injury, and
apparently the minor loss of blood is the major contributory factor to
his headache this morning! Clearly nothing to do with the large quantity
of red wine used to anesthetise the pain at the time!!

After dinner and some risky bids in the auction we moved to the games
room and bar. Some of the team even ventured near the dance floor and
live band, to get another round in. But the real excitement was the
non-contact sports activities...

The table football and air hockey got just a little competitive, with us
receiving a yellow card from the bouncer after nearly taking out a guy
with the puck who at the time was on the far side of the room observing
the blackjack! He didn't seem bothered though, and just threw the puck
back...

Some of our team members were left with sporting injuries following the
fierce but friendly hockey match, but I'm sure the bruising won't last
more than a few days!

Overall a top night out, and a lot of interest in the rally, so
hopefully some drunken promises being honoured this coming week as new
teams register for the 2011 rally in July!

Bit of a slow start this morning, but we did manage to make the train
home with a couple of minutes to spare, clutching the essentials...
Bacon sandwiches and coffee!

Here's to a nice quiet weekend :) and thanks to Katie@NSPCC for a great
event and top tables.

Team G's thunderous finish - WHR Winners 2010!!

2010-10-06T22:31:00.000+01:00

Team Grubozaboyschikov - winners of the White Hat Rally!

We also took the award for the most money raised for ChildLine.

Taking the overall award for most funds raised/best vehicle effort/best team spirit/contribution/perseverance.... was hard earned, and not easy for 5 blokes in a confined space on a diet of garlic bread and beer!

The rally was a great success..... a mechanical challenge for most, a gastronomic extravaganza for some and a chance to cross-dress for others ! ........ but above all a really worthwhile event for Childline.

We want to say a massive thank you to all our sponsors and those that made a donation. From all in the team and for Childline we couldn't have done it without you! Thanks to your generous support we hit our target of £5000 to help vulnerable children.


Award for most donations

Award for winning the rally

Team G's progress plotted from live map tracker

2010-09-30T17:40:00.000+01:00

The whole journey is now available to view online. You can see where we stopped for maintenance and food! Check out Team G's vehicle track.

Final Team Totals Are In

2010-09-26T14:19:00.000+01:00

5000.86 Grubozaboyschikov
1810.02 flyingvase
1650.00 TheSplitties
1436.00 HoneyRider
1350.00 portcullis
1332.00 Robertsinamidget
1320.00 FlirtyFembots
950.00 powderfinger
705.00 TheProcrastinators
601.00 InfosecCynic
592.00 NishillaAndJames
580.93 3Ps-and-a-Paul
560.00 PiratesofPentest
465.00 KeithMayes
375.00 DaveAndIanWhiteHatRally2010
295.00 The_Alan_Partridge_Project
275.00 ChrisLyon
170.00 TheOddJobs
100.00 preventia
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Sent from mobile device

Rally - status update

2010-09-26T12:11:00.000+01:00

Hopefully you've been keeping pace with us on the InfoSec live feed and our tweets. We've had our hands rather full the last couple of days keeping the car alive, so not had a chance to post much here, but plenty of photos have been pushed up along with the tweets.

So check the InfoSec live commentary via the link to the left, see photos by clicking on one to the right and browse the album, and via the facebook link bottom left. Open twitter by right clicking and "open in new window" on one of the ones on the right.

With had our initial problem with the radiator on the car at Strasbourg just before lunchtime on day 1. Since then we've had to make running repairs, and adopt a defensive driving strategy to minimise engine load, and maintain a steady 50mph to keep the engine cool.

Standing in traffic has been our biggest problem. Climbing hills has also consumed a fair amount of water. We look like we've got a wine rack, or torpedo bay in the back of the car with the bottles stacked high, and refilled at every opportunity.

In the driving rain yesterday our dedicated mechanics performed open car surgery, removing the entire radiator in an attempt to patch the hole. It lasted for a while but got worse and worse as the day progressed.

We made a valiant effort to get over the mountain yesterday but we finally had to go around, just too much snow! After an hour of gentle driving we were met by a closed barrier and a road 4' deep in snow.

If we had been informed by "race control" that mountain passes had closed the previous day we would have had a much easier day.

By 7pm and after 10 litres of water in the space of a few hours the oil temp started to rise. So emergency stop and roadside repairs. The Pirates leaping into action once again with our mechanic.

Now with water running out as fast as we were putting it in a "crimp" operation was undertaken. A high risk strategy as failure could have left an even bigger hole.

Finally arriving at the hotel in the dark again we heard news that another team had crashed on the motorway nearby. Thankfully the crew were ok, sadly the car isn't.

This morning our first proper sunshine since leaving England. Really hot and took time to enjoy a walk along the lake while the other teams set off in convoy.

Making great progress today. The repair is holding and we caught and passed the convoy. Satnav says we have around 2 hours to run, so right now it's time for lunch!

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Sent from mobile device

Mapping brings rally to life for those back home

2010-09-24T14:02:00.000+01:00

While the Procrastinators take a wrong turn, Team G's radiator fails and we stop for lunch!

Day 0 - Team Report

2010-09-23T23:05:00.000+01:00

Arrived safely and without incident at Laon - the Yellow Peril is loving her outing! Had a good run down the A1 to Brands Hatch and spent an exciting half hour there as you will have read!

If you've been following twitter you'll know we had a sticky moment with French officials when they mistook one of the people in the car for someone else based on their name and passport... and then a thorough inspection by the customs team!

Thanks to the French strike at Calais our ferry was heavily delayed, so having been just minutes behind some of the other teams, we got to the hotel a couple of hours or so later than many.

The live tracking map has been fantastic - great to see where the cars are and just as well we didn't publish speed information given the performance of a couple of the other teams!

Been to register, met a number of the teams and had a really great pizza in the beautiful old town. The restaurant had a hand painted wall with scenes of Venice - how fitting!

Overall been a great trip down, and now time to retire in readiness for the long drive tomorrow!!

The team do a lap at Brands Hatch!!

2010-09-23T11:07:00.000+01:00

The Grub n' Booze Boys made a pitstop this morning on the way to Dover, taking in a quick lap at Brands Hatch to help raise more donations. Check out our GPS plot from the lap. We're kicking ourselves for not turning up the rate on the tracker now, but it's still impressive!

See the lap on the map here: A Lap of Brands Hatch

Meet team Grubozaboyschikov!

2010-09-20T22:37:00.000+01:00

Vehicle map takes shape

2010-09-20T09:26:00.000+01:00

As teams start to come online our vehicle tracking map looks exciting!

Final interview with InfoSecurity Europe (Infosec)

2010-09-18T18:20:00.000+01:00

InfoSec showcase all the teams in the rally

2010-09-17T11:55:00.000+01:00

Our sponsor InfoSec has a growing amount of coverage on their website about the rally. They also have videos on youtube, and stuff going on with twitter and facebook too. Check out the new teams page !

Another interview with InfoSecurity Europe (Infosec)

2010-09-16T12:21:00.000+01:00

BruCON Security Conference Ticket "Auction"

2010-09-15T16:15:00.000+01:00

John Stock has personally put up a BruCON ticket for auction to help raise money for ChildLine!!! Top man, thanks John :)

The BruCON 2010 security conference (see summary below) runs at the end of next week in Belgium and is set to provide two packed days of talks, demos and workshops on Friday 24th and Saturday 25th September.

Tickets retail at 195 Euro, so here's your chance to get a bargain and help us raise more money for ChildLine. If you win, you can use the ticket yourself or pass it on to a friend or colleague.

So how does it work? Simply make a donation on our giving page by clicking this button and state in the comments box "BruCON" so we know you are bidding for the ticket. If you want to add to your bid, simply make another donation, but please put a running total in the comments box to make life easy for everyone, eg "BruCON £25".

The highest bid above £10 received by 12 noon on Wednesday 22nd September will be awarded the ticket. In the event that multiple bids are received for the same amount, the ticket will be awared to the earliest of those bids.

If you have any queries you'll find an email address on our "Sponsors" page.

BruCON is an annual security and hacker(*) conference providing two days of an interesting atmosphere for open discussions of critical infosec issues, privacy, information technology and its cultural/technical implications on society. Organized in Brussels, BruCON offers a high quality line up of speakers, security challenges and interesting workshops. BruCON is a conference by and for the security and hacker(*) community.

The conference tries to create bridges between the various actors active in computer security world, included but not limited to hackers(*), security professionals, security communities, non-profit organizations, CERTs, students, law enforcement agencies, etc.....

(*)Hackers are "persons who delight in having an intimate understanding of the internal workings of a system, computers and computer networks in particular." People who engage in illegal activities like unauthorized entry into computer systems are called crackers and don't have anything to do with hacking. BruCON doesn't promote any illegal activities and behavior. Many hackers today are employed by the security industry and test security software and systems to improve the security of our networks and applications. In addition, for the younger generations, we want to create some awareness and interest in IT students to learn more about IT Security.

Interview with InfoSecurity Europe (Infosec)

2010-09-09T21:47:00.000+01:00

Vehicle tracking trials

2010-08-28T21:59:00.000+01:00

We've been playing around with mobile phone GPS tracking and have come up with a multi-car tracking map that will hopefully be able to give live positioning during the rally!

Infosecurity to shoot the teams

2010-08-26T00:14:00.000+01:00

Our marcoms sponsor Infosec will be attending the WHR Team Drinks today (Thursday) to interview the committee and teams to help in promoting the event and drive more donations to ChildLine. Be sure to talk to them tonight! Don't be camera shy!!

Domain Name Sponsors

2010-08-24T23:26:00.000+01:00

A big thankyou to Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants, and specifically Simon @ brightfive and Cathryn @ Roebuck Productions for the loan of their domain name for the duration of the White Hat Rally. They had the perfect domain name for our event and have very generously allowed us to use it! Many thanks too for the cash donation to ChildLine received today.

Ferry bad news!

2010-08-24T19:21:00.000+01:00

News came today that the ferry company many of the rally teams booked with to get to France is suspending some of it's services at the start of September! We're now looking for another cheap alternative, and asking for our money back!

Water Leak!

2010-08-21T09:38:00.000+01:00

The car sprang a leak today, needed some work doing on the radiator!

Infosecurity Europe Sponsors NUKSG

2010-08-16T12:05:00.000+01:00

Infosecurity Europe (aka Infosec) has agreed to sponsor our WHR entry! They are going to provide marcoms and PR for the whole event. We'll be going down on the 19th to record an interview to camera!

Paint job and a half

2010-08-14T19:22:00.000+01:00

Popped into see our Team Engineer and Body Shop... They are getting a bit carried away with the paint job. It is going to look pretty special and certainly will be very visible!

Jazz it up - Yellow it is!

2010-08-05T11:51:00.000+01:00

Time for that rusty red to be no more. We're going for a bright yellow paint job so we can't be missed!

Smoke from under the dashboard!!

2010-08-02T12:48:00.000+01:00

Close one today when smoke came out from under the dash due to an electrical fault. Could have easily lost the car if it had caught fire. Back in the shop for repairs...

Corporate Sponsorship Packages

2010-07-08T02:24:00.000+01:00

We are now offering Gold, Silver and Bronze level corporate sponsorship packages in return for logo space on the vehicle and various other benefits. Sponsorship available from only £150 for Bronze, please see Sponsorship page for more details.

Platinum Sponsor and Crew Auction Result

2010-06-08T02:27:00.000+01:00

Following the closed bid auctions for the positions of Platinum Sponsor and Crew member, we are pleased to announce that Platinum Sponsor has been awarded to Callcredit Information Group, and the Crew member position has been awarded to DVV Solutions. NUKSG would like to thank everyone for their support in raising money for ChildLine.

Corporate Sponsors Needed

2010-05-24T02:20:00.000+01:00

NUKSG are seeking corporate sponsors for our entry in the White Hat Rally - see the Sponsorship page for more details of costs and the benefits associated with sponsoring. Initially we are seeking a Platinum sponsor and a Driver sponsor. Further levels of corporate sponsorship and details of personal donations will be available soon.

NUKSG Secure Rally Car

2010-05-22T20:35:00.000+01:00

We have today been successful in purchasing our rally car - a 1990 Dodge Grand Caravan (Voyager) in red! It's a bit rust, doesn't have an MOT, but was cheap enough to qualify for entry to the rally!

NUKSG Enter the White Hat Rally for ChildLine

2010-05-20T10:35:00.000+01:00

The Northern UK Security Group (NUKSG) have entered a car in the White Hat Rally to raise money for ChildLine - Details of our activities and progress will appear here!