The SPARK Group
An Open-Source Collective

The foundational project of the SPARK Group, focused on establishing the collective's online presence and identity. My primary output was the drafting of the SPARK Group Licensing Agreement (SLA) - a bespoke open-source licence governing all group outputs. This was also where we first explored the basics of web hosting, HTML, and repurposing old PCs as Linux servers.

Synthacope is the scaffolding that made everything else possible. Without it, the other projects would have no coherent base or technical home.

SenaCode is a minimalist digital ecoystem designed for global deployment and built around a single guiding principle: Security through Simplicity. Modern operating systems contain tens of millions of lines of code, written by thousands of contributors - so complex that no single person can fully understand, let alone audit, them. SenaCode is a direct challenge to that assumption.

The project has three interlocking components. SCOS (SenaCode: OS) is the bare-metal operating system, written in assembly, running entirely without unnecessary dependencies. GATBUI (The Graphically Assisted Text-Based User Interface) is the interface layer - a full-screen terminal environment inspired by retro computing aesthetics (think Pip-Boy from Fallout, or DOS). It is divided into four ASCII-bounded decks: an upper info panel, a main display area, a persistent console input, and a live system stats bar. SenaLang is a bespoke general-purpose programming language, modelled after BASIC; readable, auditable, and sandboxed. Every line of SenaLang code can be understood and verified by a single person.

The security model is deliberately architectural rather than procedural. System-level files are logically separated from user-accessible ones. An integrated audit log records all commands.

SparkNet is the project I have invested the most research into. It began as a practical need (secure communication between geographically dispersed SPARK Group members) and evolved into a full theoretical and practical framework for a sovereign, decentralised network layer that operates entirely above the conventional internet infrastructure.

At the core of SparkNet is the SNX (SenaCode Network Exchange) Protocol, a self-contained, identity-first routing and trust system that eliminates reliance on IP addresses, DNS, and centralised authorities like ICANN. Instead, nodes are identified via SNX-IDs. These identifiers encode not just destination but organisational affiliation and node purpose, enabling routing and access control without any third-party lookup service.

Trust within SparkNet is managed through a ticket-based model: cryptographically signed Certs and Tickets govern every meaningful interaction, from resource access to data transactions. The Root Command Server (RCS) acts as the certificate authority for the network, while Centrally Administered Systems (CASs) function as organisational root nodes. Each CAS acts effectively a digital nation-state, governing its own nodes and infrastructure.

For external communication, SparkNet deploys EXT (Exit/Gateway) nodes that bridge the internal network to the MainNet via TOR tunnels, preserving anonymity and ensuring SNX nodes are never exposed to the ClearNet. Crucially, SparkNet is also designed for entirely off-grid operation: nodes can communicate via USB, Ethernet, or serial links, and because SNX packets are self-contained and verifiable, they can be physically transported on USB drives and re-injected into the network. This enables delay-tolerant networking in environments with no internet access at all.

Project Kielder explores legacy systems and intelligence data management. This Project is named after Kielder Water, as it acts as a way to manage data Reservoir. Conducted as part of Geordie Mac's Integrated Industry Experience module at the University of Buckingham's School of Computing, the project produced a COBOL-based system capable of indexing and managing report files from external hardware (primarily USB drives).

The system integrates COBOL with modern ZSH shell scripting to automate data ingestion. This includes reading structured headers from files (including WordGrinder documents, PDFs, and plain text), extracting metadata, and maintaining a flat-file index.

The project also includes a technically earnest self-destruct function, a data purging routine included as an exercise in secure deletion. The work on Kielder directly led to broader engagement with IBM Mainframe systems and globally recognised certifications in that area.

The final SPARK Group project, and the one that has had the least development. Clifford is named as a pun on Clifford the Big Red Dog, or in this case, the "Big Red Button". It explores the physical-digital interface: the point at which software meets hardware in a tangible, user-facing way.

Conceptually, Clifford is the hardware counterpart to SenaCode's software. Where SenaCode defines the operating environment, Clifford defines the physical device that runs it, exploring how bespoke hardware design can reinforce and complement a security-first software philosophy.