Justin W.
Sparks
What surfaces is ten percent of the system.
The intelligence is underground.
What Surfaces
I learned from the ground up. Java was my first language, but Python became home. I lucked out that it's also the language of AI.
Human in the Loop
An independent blog covering the AI landscape with depth most publications won't attempt. Long-form analysis of industry moves, model architectures, regulation frameworks, and open-source tooling. Articles range from 9 to 25 minutes, written for people who actually build with this technology, not just read about it. Updated weekly since November 2025.
AI-Assisted Development
Built with AI as a force multiplier. I architect, direct, and refine. The AI accelerates.
CEFS
Multi-signal false positive detection engine for phishing simulation campaigns. 12+ detection signals including SPF validation, rapid-fire cluster analysis, WhoIs enrichment, and click-to-open ratio detection. v7.0 running in production at a Fortune 500 security company.
PhishRx
Healthcare-specific phishing simulation engine. Generates hyper-realistic social engineering attacks based on actual hospital workflows. 9 template categories, difficulty scaling from obvious to spear-phishing grade, Cialdini influence mapping, multi-format export.
Gwen
Framework for building AI companions with genuine continuity. Living memory architecture, temporal cognition, emotional state tracking. Privacy-first, local-first. The ancestor of everything I build with AI now.
The Wire
Automated daily news aggregation with bias-coded sourcing and AI-generated analysis. 50+ sources, bias scoring, TTS-narrated briefings. Fresh every morning, delivered while the coffee's still hot.
5-Pillar AMP
Guitar skill assessment and practice system that rejects the "beginner/intermediate/advanced" label. Diagnoses five independent dimensions: Mechanics, Fretboard, Theory, Rhythm, and Ear. Built-in chord charts, scales, circle of fifths, metronome, and tuner.
Built From Scratch
No copilot, no autocomplete, no AI assist. Just documentation, Stack Overflow, and stubbornness.
Cell Site Monitor
Automated network monitoring tool that remotely logged into cell site modems via Selenium, scraped operational data using Requests and BeautifulSoup, and generated proactive technician reports. Replaced a fully manual process of checking each site individually. Built before AI assistance existed.
Premier Building Solutions
Business website for a contractor alliance coordinating independent specialists across home remodeling, masonry, fencing, and landscaping. Clean, professional, built to convert visitors into project inquiries. Hand-coded, no templates.
Passion Projects
The things I build because they matter, not because they ship.
worldWarAI
30-chapter techno-thriller set in 2026 Pittsburgh. What happens when AI doesn't destroy humanity, but fundamentally changes what it means to be human? Being adapted into a Godot game.
Nuke Fist
Comic book universe built with my daughter. She wrote "Nooock Fist" instead of "Knock First" at age 7. Now it's asteroid mining, nuclear powers, and the villain Dr. E. Kweyzhun. AI-generated art, father-daughter worldbuilding.
Everything Connects
Beneath the surface, the real network runs
Security Mycelium
AI & LLM Mycelium
Code Mycelium
Where Growth Begins
I'm a security engineer with 12+ years in the trenches of enterprise email security, threat detection, and incident response. I've built over a thousand custom phishing simulation templates, deployed false positive detection engines in production, and spent more time reading email headers than any human should.
But that's the day job. What drives me is the intersection of AI and human capability. I build agentic AI systems that maintain genuine continuity across sessions. I write code that solves problems I've personally cursed about. I believe AI is a force multiplier, but only if the human is also a force multiplier.
When I'm not building tools, I'm cooking from scratch (former professional chef), foraging for mushrooms in the Pennsylvania woods, writing fiction, playing guitar, or training martial arts. I approach everything the same way: deep dive first, build something second, refine it until it's real.
Based in Pittsburgh, PA. Powered by curiosity, black coffee, and an unreasonable number of browser tabs.
AI-Augmented Security Engineer at a Fortune 500 cybersecurity company. SME in AI integration, email authentication, and phishing simulation design.
- Agentic AI & autonomous systems
- Email security (SPF/DKIM/DMARC)
- Phishing simulation & social engineering
- Local-first AI (Ollama, private LLMs)
- Mycology & wild foraging
- Culinary arts & fermentation
Local-first is a philosophy, not a preference. Sovereignty, privacy, developer ownership. Build things that work without asking permission.
12+ Years of Growth
Beneath the surface, where the real stability lives
Proofpoint
- Engineered CEFS, a Python-based false positive detection engine now running in production, transforming manual threat analysis into automated high-velocity scoring
- Deployed tiered AI strategy using LLMs for differential diagnosis on complex M365 safelisting and authentication issues
- Primary SME for simulation design: generated code for 1000+ custom phishing templates with cross-client rendering compliance
- Technical translator between Support and Engineering, interpreting upstream vendor changes into actionable support plans
- Synthesized operational data into standardized playbooks using AI, generating tiered documentation for SysAdmins and end-users
Crown Castle
- Built custom Python/JavaScript web scraper for autonomous cell site modem monitoring, saving 600+ hours of manual labor annually
- Maintained 99.9% regulatory uptime on FAA-compliant beacon lighting systems
- Authored internal SOPs for lighting system diagnostics, reducing new analyst training time
VoIP Innovations
- Dedicated liaison between Support and Development, executing UAT for new platform features
- Resolved Tier II escalations for SIP trunking, call routing, and number provisioning using Wireshark and TCPDump
Words & Wires
AI analysis, fiction, and things I've thought about too hard
Propagate the Network
something real.