Nostr notes by niconiconi

TIL > NIST SP 800-63B: Verifiers and CSPs SHOULD accept ...

2026-10-26T08:47:29Z

TIL

> NIST SP 800-63B: Verifiers and CSPs SHOULD accept Unicode [ISO/ISC 10646] characters in passwords. Each Unicode code point SHALL be counted as a single character when evaluating password length.

Time to say goodbye to the old classics: 12345678 and asdfghjkl. Say hello to the new classics: いろはにほへと, ㄅㄆㄇㄈㄉㄊㄋㄌ, and 王旁青头戋五一. LMAO.

"We have backups at home." The backup: cp -a /var/www ...

2026-10-23T10:59:06Z

"We have backups at home."
The backup: cp -a /var/www /var/www.backup

Diffie and Hellman were famous early critics of DES's 56-bit ...

2026-10-23T06:49:37Z

Diffie and Hellman were famous early critics of DES's 56-bit key size in the '70s and '80s. So you can say Diffie and Hellman were both known for their key agreement and their key disagreement.

McEliece is one of the oldest post-quantum public key ...

2026-10-22T10:37:58Z

McEliece is one of the oldest post-quantum public key cryptosystems in existence. Since 1978, generations of cryptographers attacked it with only limited success. But TIL since this summer, there's a significant breakthrough. "We report on the solution to the TII-254 McEliece key recovery challenge [...] the original brute-force metric (2^254)." Unbelievable! The "index calculus" moment for McEliece? https://postquantum.com/security-pqc/classic-mceliece-key-recovery-bsi/ #crypto #infosec

> "I fully expect all electronics to be dead at 100℃ if ...

2026-10-20T04:17:09Z

In reply to nevent1q…pyll
_________________________

> "I fully expect all electronics to be dead at 100℃ if not actively igniting"

Baking semiconductors at 100 ℃ for several hours is in fact a mandatory practice to prevent damage during reflow soldering for ICs with a high [Moisture Sensitivity Level](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moisture_sensitivity_level) rating.

> For example, an end user of a SOT-223, MSL 3 package (1.8 mm thickness) that has been exposed to typical ambient air conditions for 72 hours longer than its floor life (168 hours) would need to perform a 27-hour bake at 120 °C

The real problem is other plastic parts (IC packages are fine) and the electrolytic capacitors. But if a circuit board is fully solid state, it will definitely survive a 100 °C bake. The data in the NAND is questionable, though.

Most optical transmitters use unregulated Class I lasers, which ...

2026-10-16T04:50:02Z

In reply to nevent1q…esnu
_________________________

Most optical transmitters use unregulated Class I lasers, which are very unlikely to cause injuries.

You know the linear regulator datasheet was written in the 1970s ...

2026-10-09T09:46:46Z

You know the linear regulator datasheet was written in the 1970s when you see an endless number of Rube Goldberg machines built by slapping things into the feedback path: temperature controllers, light controllers, digital output programming, amplifiers, injecting other reference voltages... Engineers: chipmakers just made a super cheap "servo controller on a chip", but only for power supplies. This is too useful to ignore, how do we force it to do things we want?

I meant the risk is that all applications including Web browsers ...

2026-10-08T01:14:50Z

In reply to nevent1q…3nj0
_________________________

I meant the risk is that all applications including Web browsers and games on the machine you use can potentially inject arbitrary commands into all systems you manage, as root. This risk is largely eliminated by QubesOS because you would use a trusted clean VM without random applications in it to do it.

Yep, because I never feel comfortable with the idea that your SSH ...

2026-10-07T19:51:07Z

In reply to nevent1q…u3yc
_________________________

Yep, because I never feel comfortable with the idea that your SSH root shell runs on the same OS with random apps.

LTFS mounted to /mnt. Start backing things up now. #tape #backup ...

2026-10-07T19:41:23Z

In reply to nevent1q…7rns
_________________________

LTFS mounted to /mnt. Start backing things up now. #tape #backup #lto #ltfs

```
[user@work ~]$ scp root@freebsd.lan:/nas/backup/x230_ssd.img root@tapeserver.lan:/mnt/
x230_ssd.img 42% 50GB 104.7MB/s 11:12 ETA
```

LTFS formatting problems! :blobcatgoogly: My first `mkltfs` ...

2026-10-07T19:18:19Z

In reply to nevent1q…nggw
_________________________

LTFS formatting problems! :blobcatgoogly: My first `mkltfs` attempted failed with "received an unknown sense code 081403", so I needed to patch LTFS with [PR 646](https://github.com/LinearTapeFileSystem/ltfs/pull/646). After that, it now recognizes the "unknown" sense code as an error, but the error just becomes "LOCATE returns End-of-Data (EOD) not found". Trap for young players, for a blank tape there's no EOD marker. You need to do a force-format with `-f`, as in `mkltfs -f -d [SERIAL_NUMBER]`. After that, now my tape has been successfully formatted. :blobcatsurprised: "Volume capacity is 2524 GB." #tape #backup #lto #ltfs

Yes, the tape drive works. :blobcatsurprised: Finally, I can use ...

2026-10-07T18:43:28Z

In reply to nevent1q…wpje
_________________________

Yes, the tape drive works. :blobcatsurprised: Finally, I can use `tar` for Tape Archive. Well, I'll try new-school LTFS first anyway which allows you to mount a tape as a filesystem, since seeking the tape forward and backward to find the `tar` you want (or even knowing how much space is left) is a headache. #tape #backup #lto #ltfs

Data backup time. 📼 ...

2026-10-07T13:36:37Z

Data backup time. 📼

You know how prevalent Touhou Project memes were in the 2010s ...

2026-10-02T16:47:55Z

You know how prevalent Touhou Project memes were in the 2010s when someone on my timeline shared a 2-hour Touhou MMD adaptation of *Waiting for Godot* by Flan and Koishi, dubbed with a "Donald Duck" voice filter. I thought, "Something from my history book just became Touhou, better to have a watch." And I became the only one in the class who actually watched it in full, when everyone else memorized it for 5 points in history exams.

In 2007, a Japanese NicoNico otaku successfully built a time ...

2026-09-26T04:11:50Z

In 2007, a Japanese *NicoNico* otaku successfully built a time machine. Upon pressing the start button, the machine roared to life, and the otaku was instantly transported to the streets of Akihabara in 2014. He asked a passerby, "What title is popular this year?" The passerby replied, "Fate/stay night." The otaku wondered, "Did the time machine actually work?" He adjusted the heating time on his *Phone Microwave* and traveled to the streets of Akihabara in 2020. He asked a passerby, "What anime is popular this year?" The passerby answered, "*Higurashi*: When They Cry." The otaku thought, "Oh no, there must be a problem with the time machine's settings! I have to try again!" After tweaking the settings, the machine roared to life once more. Arriving on the streets of Akihabara in 2026, he asked a passerby, "What's the hot game right now?" The passerby replied, "*Touhou Koumakyou*: The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil." The otaku realized with alarm, "Oh no, the machine suffered a catastrophic failure - I'm trapped in a time-space distortion!"

Nostr event nevent1qqs22l3te5dt4x9xwwc89s8slgekwdcafnh3678was37u3yt69er0xqzyryadqmg3e0yevdl5xphg8p0nfcen30c4rhaf8rmmjc2u9z6e48ex5lujl3

2026-09-23T20:22:31Z

PHP = Persistent Hopeless Patching.

Ideal: TCP is a reliable transport. Reality: By default, your SSH ...

2026-09-21T19:11:54Z

Ideal: TCP is a reliable transport.
Reality: By default, your SSH freezes after 20 minutes when it's not scrolling text, because a middlebox decides to close your TCP.

The Internet be like: there is only one protocol in the world, ...

2026-09-21T18:10:40Z

The Internet be like: there is only one protocol in the world, it's called TLS. There is only one port in the world, it's called 443. Just run everything on port 443.

Just invented this evil Prosody hack. I bet Prosody developers ...

2026-09-20T20:11:13Z

Just invented this evil Prosody hack. I bet Prosody developers will scream when they see this. #prosody #xmpp #jabber

Applied Cryptography be like: you can never have enough keys to ...

2026-09-19T16:17:30Z

Applied Cryptography be like: you can never have enough keys to encrypt keys.

Everyone knows the manga and light novels always last for ages, ...

2026-09-19T12:33:45Z

In reply to nevent1q…hhee
_________________________

Everyone knows the manga and light novels always last for ages, even after nobody remembers them.

Keep reposting ReiMari and MariAri because I refuse to accept ...

2026-09-18T19:54:56Z

Keep reposting ReiMari and MariAri because I refuse to accept that the 2010s has ended. :marisadance: :reimudance:

Just found a massive footgun if your hostname contains a `.` ...

2026-09-18T16:49:34Z

Just found a massive footgun if your hostname contains a `.` (dot), e.g. if you use FQDN directly as `/etc/hostname`, your gTLD may accidentally become a DNS search domain used by libc. Anyone can register a domain name under your gTLD to bypass DNSSEC. #dns #dnssec

Enabling ACME-CAA on my DNS so the FBI won't be able to ...

2026-09-16T02:41:30Z

In reply to nevent1q…x3w6
_________________________

Enabling ACME-CAA on my DNS so the FBI won't be able to wiretap my anime memes and cat photos by [MITMing the ingress traffic](https://notes.valdikss.org.ru/jabber.ru-mitm/) of my server to issue a certificate.

Using `acme.sh` to renew a certificate as root sounds like a ...

2026-09-16T02:31:21Z

Using `acme.sh` to renew a certificate as root sounds like a RCE-as-root waiting to happen. A Web client written in pure shell, what could possibly go wrong? I just wrote a script to drop its own privilege when it calls `acme.sh`, so it's safe to use in a root cronjob.

After writing this, I found RCE-as-root is not just "waiting" to happen, it has already happened as CVE-2023-38198. Someone even argued the case as a possible mechanism responsible for the jabber.ru wiretapping incident. https://remyhax.xyz/posts/reproducing-lawful-tls-wiretapping/

Enabling X25519MLKEM768 on my Web server so the NSA won't be ...

2026-09-15T08:34:17Z

Enabling X25519MLKEM768 on my Web server so the NSA won't be able to decrypt my cat photos and anime memes in 2050.

It also has syntax highlighting. I believe Gentoo's ...

2026-09-13T08:37:00Z

In reply to nevent1q…h2uu
_________________________

It also has syntax highlighting. I believe Gentoo's "less" is just the same "less" everyone else uses, but these features are not enabled by default.

The definition of insanity is repeating the same quote Einstein ...

2026-09-11T03:02:35Z

The definition of insanity is repeating the same quote Einstein didn't say over and over again and expecting it to persuade someone this time.

quick and dirty hack: ```python #!/usr/bin/env python3 import sys ...

2026-09-11T02:20:54Z

In reply to nevent1q…u2cg
_________________________

quick and dirty hack:

```python
#!/usr/bin/env python3
import sys
import os
import time

def main(argv):
if len(argv) == 1:
print("Usage: %s [ENCODING] ls [PATH]" % argv[0])
print("Usage: %s [ENCODING] fixname [PATH] [ZERO-BASED INDEX]" % argv[0])
print("Usage: %s [ENCODING] fixcontent [PATH] [ZERO-BASED INDEX]" % argv[0])
print("Usage: %s [ENCODING] fixall [PATH] [ZERO-BASED INDEX]" % argv[0])
if len(argv) == 4 and argv[2] == "ls":
encoding = argv[1]
path = argv[3].encode("UTF-8")
filename_list = os.listdir(path)
for idx, filename in enumerate(filename_list):
print(idx, filename.decode(encoding))
if len(argv) == 5:
encoding = argv[1]
path = argv[3]
idx = int(argv[4])

os.chdir(path)
filename_list = os.listdir(b"./")
filename_src = filename_list[idx]

if argv[2] in ["fixcontent", "fixall"]:
mtime = os.path.getmtime(filename_src)
orig = open(filename_src, "rb").read().decode(encoding)
open(filename_src, "wb").write(orig.encode("UTF-8"))
os.utime(filename_src, (time.time(), mtime))
if argv[2] in ["fixname", "fixall"]:
filename_dst = filename_src.decode(encoding).encode("UTF-8")
os.rename(filename_src, filename_dst)

if __name__ == "__main__":
main(sys.argv)
```

How to decode a filesystem file name with scrambled encoding in ...

2026-09-11T01:50:39Z

How to decode a filesystem file name with scrambled encoding in Python 3. The trick is `os.listdir("./")` returns a "cooked" Unicode string representation which may damage the string further, but `os.listdir(b"./")` returns a "raw" byte representation. #python

#nowplaying Touhou Koumakyou: New Classic - the Embodiment of ...

2026-09-09T23:10:47Z

#nowplaying Touhou Koumakyou: New Classic - the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil OST (2026) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xUlNc0gG9U #fediplay #touhou #2hu

You just won [The Game](https://xkcd.com/391/). It's okay! You're free! Now go back to the 2000s! (img src: https://www.pixiv.net/artworks/100389150) :touhou_reimu_face:

Plan 9, the strongest operating system in existence. ...

2026-09-09T10:33:50Z

Plan 9, the strongest operating system in existence. http://fqa.9front.org/fqa1.html

x86 be like... Intel: In HPC, use streaming loads and stores for ...

2026-09-08T23:51:18Z

x86 be like...

Intel: In HPC, use streaming loads and stores for non-temporal data you only use once.
Users: What does "streaming" mean? The CPU is not really "streaming" anything.
Intel: Oh, this feature is called "streaming loads and stores" because it's provided by the "Streaming SIMD Extention" (SSE)!
Users: And what does SIMD have anything to do with data streaming?
Intel: Because it was originally called Internet Streaming SIMD Extensions. The fact that MOVNTDQ increases the memory STREAM benchmark score is a coincidence.

Hollywood cyberpunk tropes be like: "Attacks are executed in ...

2026-09-08T23:26:31Z

Hollywood cyberpunk tropes be like: "Attacks are executed in real time. The faster you type, the faster you attack. The more computing power you have, the stronger your attack is." They're basically the silliest jokes among hackers. Unfortunately these jokes may not longer be funny anymore. Perhaps the future of "cyberwarfare" indeed happens in real time from supercomputing centers, carried out by hundreds of LLM agents whose only job is to write exploits for all techniques ever published in textbooks and research papers, and apply them on their target in a single afternoon. The agents don't even need to invent anything new, it's easier than theorem proving.

How to manually assign a IPv4 link-local address (169.254.0.0/16) ...

2026-09-07T21:11:34Z

How to manually assign a IPv4 link-local address (169.254.0.0/16) legally, without violating RFC 3927's rule: only a IPV4LL daemon can assign the IP automatically using the algorithm, it SHOULD NOT be manually assigned. The loophole is that RFC 3927 also says the initial IPV4LL address SHOULD be derived from the MAC address. And IEEE explicitly provides "locally administered address" for manual MAC assignment. To get your IP, brute-force avahi-autoipd's MAC to IP hash, and hardcode your MACs accordingly.

> "This UPS was sent to me by Schneider Electric as a ...

2026-09-06T19:23:57Z

> "This UPS was sent to me by Schneider Electric as a replacement for the same model that failed after a year. I have had the replacement UPS installed for about two months. After having had no issues (other than it failing after a year) with the old UPS, I found that the new one [...]"

LMAO :blobcatlul:

IPv6 be like... Ideal: IPv4 LAN addresses, DHCP and NAT have too ...

2026-09-04T21:17:51Z

IPv6 be like...

Ideal: IPv4 LAN addresses, DHCP and NAT have too much management overhead! If we use 128-bit addressing with a 64-bit prefix per network, management will be zeroconf and greatly simplified!

Reality: Not every network is on the Internet, some don't have any GUA, but they still need to work when routed. Other networks are switched, they don't use routers at all, like a LAN party.

Ideal: Easy. Let's define three kinds of addresses: a link-local address is an address reachable only from the same Ethernet hub or switch, a ULA address is an address reachable from a routed LAN, and a GUA address reachable from the Internet. Every machine will have three addresses!

Reality: But it gives each machine three addresses.

Ideal: It's not a problem, because everything is still zeroconf. Look! The link-local addressing is especially elegant, you plug machines to a switch and your LAN party games just work by default like IPX! You can also number all routers in every LAN as fe80::1!

Reality: But hardcoding IP addresses from the MAC allows user tracking, the same traveling laptop can be tracked across Russia, America, and Australia!

Ideal: If you worry about privacy, you can generate additional temporary addresses to cycle them, in addition to your sensitive EUI-64 address.

Reality: Not all ISPs hand out a 64-bit prefix per consumer, it may be managed in a pool externally. The same problem occurs when you run second-layer routeers inside your 64-bit prefix, the prefix is no longer free!

Ideal: Let's add DHCP Prefix Delegation to the protocol. A router uses DHCP to ask for a smaller prefix it controls from the router above, this allows nested routing with global addresses, you can just cascade routers without creating double or triple NAT!

Reality: Exposing the whole network to the Internet is insecure, an accidental misconfig allows a worm to SSH in with password 123456!

Ideal: Global-routing doesn't mean "open all ports". Don't forget a firewall on the router works for the entire network. You can still opens and closes ports in your firewall config.

Reality: Now, a machine have 6 addresses, a link-local address, a ULA address, a GUA address, a DHCPv6 /128 address, a DHCPv6 delegated prefix for other machines below, and a privacy-extension address for outgoing traffic. When you add a server, select the address carefully via routing metric, and don't forget to "open" ports on your router's firewall - but at least you're not "forwarding" ports now.

It's extremely infuriating that [IPv6] is not accepted as a ...

2026-09-02T17:04:49Z

It's extremely infuriating that [IPv6] is not accepted as a legitimate IPv6 address. You delete port number things don't work. You must write "scp root@[2001:db8::1]:/etc/hosts ./", and when you change it to "ssh root@[2001:db8::1]", address invalid! OK, you can say it's following the proper RFC which never allowed you to enclose an IPv6 address, fine. But now I just found "accept = [::]:443" doesn't work in stunnel (Apache2 and Nginx expect it), you must write "accept = :::443", the madness!!!

I can't use any system without leaving the example config in ...

2026-09-02T16:44:17Z

In reply to nevent1q…ujym
_________________________

I can't use any system without leaving the example config in place. `/etc/ssh/sshd_config` is a good example of self-documenting config, emptying it makes an one-character change to a 5-minute man page read. But some packages are worse than others, I don't think anyone can config php.ini or Apache httpd successfully without the default template.

If you mess up, you lose the 1000-line documentation, and now you ...

2026-09-02T16:39:45Z

In reply to nevent1q…g82t
_________________________

If you mess up, you lose the 1000-line documentation, and now you need to recompile the whole package from scratch which may take hours.

It's 2026, and when you change any config files you still ...

2026-09-02T16:37:09Z

It's 2026, and when you change any config files you still need to do the ritual: `cp server.conf server.conf.example`. Imagine if package managers are tightly coupled to the file system, so you no longer need to do this (overlayfs-based managers already do it to an extent), the downside is that a broken package manager is also a filesystem corruption.

> "Van Jacobson compression reduces the normal 40 byte ...

2026-09-02T16:11:48Z

> "Van Jacobson compression reduces the normal 40 byte TCP/IP packet headers down to 3–4 bytes"

You know it was the 1980s when you need to compress 40 bytes.

> "Network stacks were exceptionally poor back then. A ...

2026-08-27T13:40:18Z

> "Network stacks were exceptionally poor back then. A Pentium Pro could handle about 7000 interrupts per second, so any operating system (Linux, Windows, etc.) could be shut down by sending packets at that rate. This locks the CPU in the interrupt handler, so not even the mouse moved."

:blobcatlul:

> "UDP=ship and pray. Like ordering from Ali Express." ...

2026-08-25T09:46:39Z

> "UDP=ship and pray. Like ordering from Ali Express."

LMAO :blobcatlul:

The age of imageboards is probably going to end. In the past, the ...

2026-08-25T05:32:38Z

The age of imageboards is probably going to end. In the past, the greatest "practical" utility of 4chan (to the greater Web outside), was being a source of niche memes that people spent hours to make. Something like "an anime girl who burned down her house after running Crysis" or "A cyberpunk banner image that says 'eliminate the state' (quote-mined from djb's SPHINCS+ lecture)". The Hitler-posting edgelords were the "price", rationalized by the scarcity of memes. Nowadays one can make an entire movie with LLMs, and without paying the "edgelord price".

Infosec be like 2000s, IEEE: We just need Wired Equivalent ...

2026-08-24T09:26:49Z

Infosec be like
2000s, IEEE: We just need Wired Equivalent Privacy.
2020s, Linux: The Wire needs a Guard.

Nostr event nevent1qqsguxsh2ezmczdjlu2l5j7rt8mpes3g648a57pdaj3yww99u5cm0aczyryadqmg3e0yevdl5xphg8p0nfcen30c4rhaf8rmmjc2u9z6e48extk44l9

2026-08-24T05:37:51Z

You know you have a big NAS when ZFS takes 7 hours to scrub.

Where did the vmlinuz notation come from? Were there earlier Unix ...

2026-08-18T05:33:03Z

In reply to nevent1q…7x47
_________________________

Where did the vmlinuz notation come from? Were there earlier Unix systems with the same "z" notation?

Nostr event nevent1qqsx4m7s73dzhejrfqlnmkyl9wstx4jr0x8ypup2c20lkhas95ev6cqzyryadqmg3e0yevdl5xphg8p0nfcen30c4rhaf8rmmjc2u9z6e48ex7cc89y

2026-08-18T05:32:21Z

Nobody actually uses the Linux kernel. They use the Linuz kernel.

>"I later researched this further and found that no one at ...

2026-08-17T21:58:18Z

>"I later researched this further and found that no one at Microsoft, not a single soul, could articulate why up to 173 agents were needed to manage an Azure node, what they all did, how they interacted with one another, what their feature set was, or even why they existed in the first place."

LMAO :blobcatlul:

Wizard mode. ...

2026-08-17T17:59:34Z

In reply to nevent1q…v03s
_________________________

Wizard mode.

Unix be like: you want to read a filesystem in an image file ...

2026-08-15T17:33:53Z

Unix be like: you want to read a filesystem in an image file owned by you, created previously with "mkfs". You can read every byte in it, but you need a filesystem view. The sysadmin says no, and refuses to grant you "mount" permission, because a crafted file can panic or root the whole machine. But only the kernel has the best driver for it. So you build Usermode Linux, which runs the whole kernel as an userspace app, because you can't just run only the driver, the system is called Unix, not L4 for a reason. Or you run guestmount, which runs the whole kernel in a VM and forwards that mountpoint back to you.

Hackers, 2000: DMA allows arbitrary memory access! Vendors: ...

2026-08-11T06:08:14Z

Hackers, 2000: DMA allows arbitrary memory access!
Vendors: Isn't that great? Kernel debugging is so convenient!

Hackers, 2010: FBI and NSA can use ExpressCard and IEEE 1394 DMA to access memory at will and steal full-disk encryption keys from participants in movements like "Occupy Wall Street"!
Vendors: How many dissidents across the US are actually going to get targeted by the FBI like that?

Hackers, 2020: USB 4 allows arbitrary memory access via DMA, any standard USB device can be used to steal data!
Vendors: Physical security isn't our responsibility - you can just seal off the USB ports.

Hackers, 2025: PCIe DMA enables online game cheats that the system can't detect!
Vendors: Right now! Immediately! Enable IOMMU! Anyone who doesn't enable it gets their account banned!

SCSI - System Can't See It SAS - Support Always Subpar SATA - ...

2026-08-05T06:43:22Z

SCSI - System Can't See It
SAS - Support Always Subpar
SATA - Stuck At Trying Access
SSD - Storage Suddenly Disappears
NVMe = No Valid Media, ever
SMART - Seagate Makes Attribute Registers Tricky
RAID = Resilvering Always Initiates Disasters
LTO = Long Transfer Operation
ZFS = Zero Files Snapshotted
BTRFS = Better To Reformat File System
NFS = No Filesystem Security

"Diskless workstation" *look inside: uses someone ...

2026-08-03T23:01:36Z

"Diskless workstation"
*look inside: uses someone else's disk.*
"Serverless application"
*look inside: uses someone else's server*

I said Unified Kernel Image for a reason. A Unified Kernel Image ...

2026-07-30T19:56:54Z

In reply to nevent1q…x9am
_________________________

I said Unified Kernel Image for a reason. A Unified Kernel Image is a kernel with an embedded initramfs, in other words, you can ship a kernel image with the full Debian Sid userspace.

Speaking of redundant bootloader features, where is the ...

2026-07-30T19:46:16Z

Speaking of redundant bootloader features, where is the plug-and-play universal Linux bootloader distro? There should be a Linux distro dedicated for booting. There's LinuxBoot, but its focus is firmware customization, not easy net/multibooting. A "bootloader distro" would ship you a initramfs (or a Unified Kernel Image) as your second-stage bootloader, with its own GRUB-like boot menu and iPXE-like script engine. It would replace nearly all bootloader drivers, and would enable very complicated booting setups, such as booting via Amazon S3 over Wi-Fi.

People will still remember how to send a packet via the Intel ...

2026-07-30T05:02:11Z

People will still remember how to send a packet via the Intel e1000 network card in 2050, and perhaps even 2100.

Q: What do you call a training course on BIOS and UEFI ...

2026-07-28T23:11:01Z

Q: What do you call a training course on BIOS and UEFI development?

A: A startup bootcamp.

Even a 2011 Core i7-2600K (Sandy Bridge) can do 10 GbE at line ...

2026-07-27T16:49:32Z

In reply to nevent1q…ne3r
_________________________

Even a 2011 Core i7-2600K (Sandy Bridge) can do 10 GbE at line rate over a single TCP stream on a bare-metal system, no jumbo frames needed, no problem. It becomes a problem if there's a packet-per-second bottleneck somewhere in the stack, and there are a lot of them for a VM. But all forum users only know how to enable jumbo frame.

I only get 4 Gbps from my 10 Gbps server, I'll never ask ...

2026-07-27T15:52:02Z

In reply to nevent1q…zyts
_________________________

I only get 4 Gbps from my 10 Gbps server, I'll never ask "why" online, because I'm 100% guaranteed to get the silly answer of "enable Jumbo Frame". 10 GbE servers worked over Internet for a decade with no jumbo frames. Actually solving it requires testing a bunch of hypervisor, guest, routing, bridge, netfilters combinations to find the PPS bottleneck (conveniently worked around by jumbo frames).

If you ask about any performance problem online, as in "Why ...

2026-07-27T15:39:42Z

If you ask about any performance problem online, as in "Why is my disk/network/filesystem so slow?" In 9/10 posts, you'd be told that "You must enable/use Y for high performance." or "Your system is slow because your hardware really is that slow." Sometimes from veteran sysadmins. Often these answers are completely wrong. There's actually a hidden slow-path or config knob somewhere - but sometimes it needs 10 fresh OS reinstalls and a kernel profiler to find it, so most problems are never solved.

> "Kerberos 4 was developed in the United States, and ...

2026-07-26T16:57:07Z

> "Kerberos 4 was developed in the United States, and since it used the Data Encryption Standard (DES) encryption algorithm, U.S. export control restrictions prevented it from being exported to other countries. MIT created an exportable version of Kerberos 4 with all encryption code removed [...] Eric Young of Australia's Bond University reimplemented DES [...] which could be freely used in any country."

LMAO :blobcatlul:

Fediverse in a nutshell. (src: ...

2026-07-25T20:19:29Z

Fediverse in a nutshell. (src: https://www.pixiv.net/artworks/118376737) #animeirl

You know a project just received a security audit when this ...

2026-06-30T11:30:00Z

You know a project just received a security audit when this happens.

Q: How do you decompress a firearm's 3D model? A: gunzip.

2026-06-27T02:41:36Z

Q: How do you decompress a firearm's 3D model?

A: gunzip.

In the past, you buy RAM and get several banks. Right now, you ...

2026-06-27T01:09:17Z

In the past, you buy RAM and get several banks. Right now, you get several banks to buy RAM.

* The "Growth" Model * AMD64: When a processor project is ...

2026-06-23T22:00:58Z

* The "Growth" Model

* AMD64: When a processor project is announced, the hardware exists only as a slideshow - not as a physical reality. Tech otakus follow the news out of anticipation for the emergence of a "legendary chip," finding joy in witnessing the journey from nothing to something.

* AKB48: When an idol project is announced, the members exists only as newly selected amateurs rather than established stars; idol otakus follow the news out of anticipation for the emergence of the "Kami 7," finding joy in witnessing the journey from nothing to something.

* Timelines

* AMD64: The worlds of software and gaming are open-ended; if you lose touch for a year, you might not even recognize the names of the creators behind the latest "masterpiece," creating a sense of insecurity. In contrast, hardware release cycles and products are controlled by manufacturers, following fixed schedules and roadmaps - such as the ITRS roadmap or TSMC process nodes. A typical cycle lasts about 18 months, though during the "golden age" of Dennard scaling (2000s) and the early Tick-Tock era (early 2010s), releases could happen as frequently as once a year. As long as you follow the "nodes," it is hard to fall behind. If disappointed, you can always tell yourself to "wait for the next generation."

* AKB48: The world of pop music is open-ended; if you lose touch for a year, you might not even recognize the names of the artists behind the latest "smash hit," creating a sense of insecurity. In contrast, idol activity cycles and artists themselves are controlled by management, following fixed schedules and roadmaps - such as single releases, rock-paper-scissors tournaments, and general elections. While a full cycle might span a year or two, singles are deliberately released multiple times a year. As long as you follow these "nodes," it is hard to fall behind. If disappointed, you can always tell yourself to "wait for the next single."

* Remark: The key difference is that idol timelines are artificially set, allowing idols to maintain visibility at shows between nodes, whereas semiconductor process timelines show no products at all between nodes. Process nodes are ultimately constrained by physics without freedom for artificial dramas, with increasingly longer timelines.

* Idols You Can Meet

* AMD64: One reason processor projects garner attention is the desire to witness a journey of creation from scratch - satisfying the expectations of tech otakus. Another reason is that by paying, tech otakus can actually use the new generation of processors when building their own PCs, rather than using them only by renting a server on a distant cloud. Seeing the improved processor feels almost like the chip is working for their fans at a personal level. This is "Personal Computing" by definition.

* AKB48: One reason idol projects garner attention is the desire to witness a journey of stardom from scratch - satisfying the expectations of idol otakus. Another reason is that by paying, idol otakus can attend regularly-scheduled local theater performances or use handshake tickets to meet the idols in person, rather on seeing them only on TV or waiting for an occasional live performance in a distant city. Seeing the idols improve with each handshake feels almost like the idol is working for their fans at a personal level. This is "Idols You Can Meet" by definition.

* Group Competition

* AMD64: Processor competition takes place in groups, categorized in various ways. Traditional divisions include "Red Team" and "Blue Team," though others are organized based on market needs - such as Team 3, 5, and 7. Additionally, Nvidia is viewed as a spin-off group within the PC ecosystem. ARM64 emerged as a new rival, yet the companies behind the scenes overlap significantly, and are all produced by TSMC.

* AKB48: Idol competition takes place in groups, categorized in various ways. Traditional divisions include Team A, K, and B, though others are organized for specific events, such as "Under Girls" and "Upcoming Girls." Additionally, SKE48 is viewed as a spin-off group within the AKB48 series. Nogizaka46 emerged as a new rival, yet the companies behind the scenes overlap significantly, and are all produced by Yasushi Akimoto.

* Variety Shows

* AMD64: To fill the gaps between major events for boosting popularity among tech otakus, YouTube channels often produce entertaining variety shows centered on PCs. Unless one is already familiar with technology, these segments can look like bizarre antics or awkward small talk, which is baffling to outsiders. Program formats vary widely-ranging from reading viewer comments and hosting competitions between members to product reveals-as seen in LinusTechTips' [*Scrapyard Wars*](https://www.youtube.com/show/VLPL8mG-RkN2uTyvvHG_b2BvkR0XDdbDso3u?sbp=Kgt4MUpBMjRLQ0FqRUAB) and [*PC or No PC*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya3hZQgwHds) series.

* AKB48: To fill the gaps between major events for boost their popularity among idol otakus, TV channels often produce entertaining variety shows featuring idols. Unless one is already familiar with the idols, these segments can look like bizarre antics or awkward small talk, which is baffling to outsiders. Program formats vary widely-ranging from answering viewer mail and hosting competitions between members to new project announcements-as seen in NTV's [*AKBINGO!*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AKBingo!).

* General Elections

* AMD64: The release of a new generation of products is the most thrilling moment for tech otakus, who rush to watch reviews the instant they drop. Discussions and predictions abound even before the review embargo is lifted. Once the reviews are out, casual observers focus on performance rankings, while hardcore enthusiasts dissect SPEC2017 sub-tests on forums - often amidst heated arguments between rival factions.

* AKB48: The announcement of "General Election" results is the most thrilling moment for idol otakus, who rush to watch the live broadcast. Discussions and predictions abound even before the votes are tallied. Once the results are in, casual fans focus on an idol's improvement of their abilities and their ranking changes, while hardcore fans dissect vote counts and regional voting trends on forums - often amidst heated arguments between rival factions.

...To be continued (1/3)

To be honest, AMD64 and PC hardware really do work like a ...

2026-06-22T01:54:33Z

In reply to nevent1q…kn4n
_________________________

To be honest, AMD64 and PC hardware really do work like a Japanese idol group. AKB48 attracts fans not by the finished music or the show, they market a new idol's career progression as the product, the key of the fandom is to witness the making of history (engineered, but subject to personal skill, effort and luck). Each member is both a real public media personality and a game's "career mode" character. You pick a member and follow them from the novice to the expert. The timeline is engineered with frequent nodes and checkpoints (e.g. elections) for dramas, where fans discuss member performance and ranking changes. The media and their trivial scandals is the "random event" popup of the game that adds to the drama. Another selling point is that you can personally meet them at IRL events if you pay.

This is exactly how AMD64 CPUs worked in the PC hardware community.

"AMD64" sounds like the name of a Japanese idol group ...

2026-06-21T20:18:56Z

"AMD64" sounds like the name of a Japanese idol group (tech V-Tubers should give it a try).

/etc/init.d/daemon stop (src: @speargsun@twitter.com, ...

2026-05-21T16:58:02Z

/etc/init.d/daemon stop
(src: @speargsun@twitter.com, https://x.com/speargsun/status/1595458515849576448)

How to make your system unbreakable in the 1980s, if you're ...

2026-05-20T19:49:05Z

How to make your system unbreakable in the 1980s, if you're AT&T.
1. Someone exploits a bug in a binary with setuid, like `sudo`.
2. You sue the attacker for using setuid without a license, violating US Patent 4135240.

Everyone in infosec said you shouldn't call strong ...

2026-05-19T13:43:55Z

Everyone in infosec said you shouldn't call strong cryptography "military-grade encryption". I propose to do the opposite: call all forms of weak cryptography "export-grade encryption". Example: "Hashing passwords in MD5? That's the export grade."

MULTICS: We need an industrial-grade system with fault-tolerance ...

2026-05-19T12:45:36Z

MULTICS: We need an industrial-grade system with fault-tolerance and the ability to lock everything down to accounts and ACLs.

UNIX: We need a lab-grade system that is allowed to crash 10 times a day for grad students to test their new hacks.

Cloud services: We need an industrial-grade hypervisor with fault-tolerance and the ability to lock everything down to virtual machines, so that we can run lab-grade systems that are allowed to crash 10 times a day for grad students to test their new hacks.

You know the anime girl moe-personification went over the top in ...

2026-05-16T05:58:30Z

In reply to nevent1q…sh78
_________________________

You know the anime girl moe-personification went over the top in 2010 when you see "Glider-chan" (src: kukumu,https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/763320) #animeirl

Literally me, except I'm not a cute anime girl... #animeirl ...

2026-05-14T15:36:24Z

In reply to nevent1q…62wn
_________________________

Literally me, except I'm not a cute anime girl... #animeirl (src: ぶりあれおす, https://www.pixiv.net/artworks/131043267)

Fedi girls be like... #animeirl ...

2026-05-14T15:24:56Z

Fedi girls be like... #animeirl

Building your own CPU with 74xx logic and cute anime girls. ...

2026-05-14T15:16:37Z

Building your own CPU with 74xx logic and cute anime girls. #animeirl #electronics

Q: Why are power electronics lectures popular in colleges? A: Low ...

2026-05-09T23:57:27Z

Q: Why are power electronics lectures popular in colleges?

A: Low drop-out.

There's a classic Korean meme "I understand what you ...

2026-05-09T21:05:22Z

In reply to nevent1q…2ks0
_________________________

There's a classic Korean meme "I understand what you said, but why is this pigeon so big?" Later "why is this pigeon so big?" became a catchphrase about either big-looking objects or the futility of online arguments.

The decision to connect GPIOs in random orders for PCB layout ...

2026-05-04T20:36:29Z

In reply to nevent1q…wezl
_________________________

The decision to connect GPIOs in random orders for PCB layout optimizations might be a mistake. I suddenly need to deal with this man-made horror beyond my comprehension. #electronics #NES #NESdev

My RF design rules paid off! The 5 ns edge from the STM32H7 GPIO ...

2026-05-04T01:18:10Z

In reply to nevent1q…kmnt
_________________________

My RF design rules paid off! The 5 ns edge from the STM32H7 GPIO is one of the purest edges I've ever seen, even though I'm using a two-layer board (which features 120 Ω all-microstrip routing on a gapless plane, source termination, and one ground per signal test point). It's even cleaner than my clip-connected function generator. #electronics #NES #NESdev

My Famicom cartridge emulator devboard arrived, time to start ...

2026-05-04T00:18:51Z

In reply to nevent1q…k695
_________________________

My Famicom cartridge emulator devboard arrived, time to start developing firmware using this platform. #electronics #NES #NESdev

Unbelievable. I wanted to simulate the NES CPU clock so I turned ...

2026-05-02T16:48:26Z

In reply to nevent1q…6kjf
_________________________

Unbelievable. I wanted to simulate the NES CPU clock so I turned the knob on my analog function generator (no DDS/PLL, with digital counter) for 1.79 MHz randomly. After running it for a day, I found the oscilloscope shows the signal has a period of 558 ns (the theoretical period should be 558.73 ns). Nanosecond precision with a potentiometer. :blobcatlul: #electronics #NES #NESdev

#STM32 timer trap for young players: Channel 3/4 have input edge ...

2026-05-01T21:46:14Z

In reply to nevent1q…6597
_________________________

#STM32 timer trap for young players: Channel 3/4 have input edge detectors, but their outputs TI3FP3 and TI4FP4 are NOT physically connected to the trigger controller! :blobcatfacepalm: You can only trigger from Channel 1/2's TI1FP1 and TI2FP2. But if you only need one input channel, there's a way to save it: enable the XOR gate meant for Hall sensors, and set unused Channel 1/2 to 0 via forced output mode (no need to attach them to actual GPIOs). #electronics

Imagined Analog Horror: Haunted VHS tapes. Real Analog Horror: ...

2026-04-30T16:34:15Z

Imagined Analog Horror: Haunted VHS tapes.
Real Analog Horror: Someone digitalized and uploaded a historical video as the only online copy, but the video capture has no 75 Ω termination.

Trying to keep my schematics as readable as possible, as usual. ...

2026-04-27T13:37:46Z

In reply to nevent1q…9d9e
_________________________

Trying to keep my schematics as readable as possible, as usual. #electronics #NES #NESdev

ProTip: You can pretend to be both an old-school engineer and an ...

2026-04-25T07:07:49Z

In reply to nevent1q…ng94
_________________________

ProTip: You can pretend to be both an old-school engineer and an RF engineer by enabling "fillet tracks" :blobcatlul: #electronics #NES #NESdev

Fixed more problems found in design reviews, such as connecting 5 ...

2026-04-24T08:38:27Z

In reply to nevent1q…mtvd
_________________________

Fixed more problems found in design reviews, such as connecting 5 V inputs to some 3.3 V-only pin. There's also no time to generate the /CE signal for PPU VRAM, unless the microcontroller itself emulates the VRAM. This is too much effort to implement for the first phase development, better to use an external mux for now. #electronics #NES #NESdev

Cyberpunk logic be like: all hackers in the entire universe live ...

2026-04-23T17:03:05Z

Cyberpunk logic be like: all hackers in the entire universe live in the same city and meet in the same nightclub, not scattered across 12 timezones. The nightclub where everyone plans to hack the mainframe is somehow always within a distance equivalent to an elevator ride, not a 2-hour commute where you get compressed like a tarball going through 2 subways just to get your bossman's numbers entered into Excel. The nightclub is the safest place in the city, hostile forces or the authorities never monitor or raid it.

I've killed way too many STM32s in my early life. You ...

2026-04-20T23:19:32Z

In reply to nevent1q…a0ak
_________________________

I've killed way too many STM32s in my early life. You basically just program the target as usual, but after power cycling it several times, suddenly every GPIO is shorted to GND. Likely current injection, latch-up, or both. So this time let's try not to kill it again. At the SWD port, 1 kΩ + BAS54 clamps voltage and current to VDD + 0.4 V and 3.3 mA respectively. #electronics

devboard 100% routed. #electronics #NES #NESdev ...

2026-04-20T00:13:50Z

In reply to nevent1q…4ajy
_________________________

devboard 100% routed. #electronics #NES #NESdev

Almost finished my Famicom cartridge devboard. This time all ...

2026-04-19T21:53:05Z

In reply to nevent1q…d0kk
_________________________

Almost finished my Famicom cartridge devboard. This time all signals fanned out successfully under the 2-layer + "Zero Gap" ground plane constraints. 100 MHz signal integrity disciplines applied to a 1 MHz bus. #electronics #NES #NESdev

Unfortunately the original layout couldn't be completed ...

2026-04-17T23:20:39Z

In reply to nevent1q…v98n
_________________________

Unfortunately the original layout couldn't be completed because the placement and fan-out were not designed with "single-layer flowthrough" in mind, as I originally had no idea about the pinout. The whole board layout was thus abandoned and restarted. Now I have a 99% zero-gap ground plane, with only 13 non-perpendicular cuts under the connectors without interrupting GND. An army of 0-ohm jumpers bridge signals to human-friendly positions. #electronics #NES #NESdev

"The solution is key-addressed overlay networks." Yes, ...

2026-04-14T11:02:51Z

In reply to nevent1q…2gcu
_________________________

"The solution is key-addressed overlay networks." Yes, it's why I mentioned Tor, which is a key-addressed overlay network (for internal Onion services).

IPv6 is a privacy issue because now you can easily identify every ...

2026-04-14T06:41:59Z

In reply to nevent1q…ex0j
_________________________

IPv6 is a privacy issue because now you can easily identify every home using the public 64-bit (if the ISP is penny-pinching, 70-bit or more) address prefix as a super cookie, lifetime varies but originally designed to be permanent. Use the Web long enough, a random web shop data breach would eventually allow everyone to link aaaa:bbbb:cccc:dddd::random to your phone number or home address. In comparison, IPv4 address is either CGNAT or pooled. I think this is still a very real problem, but it's the cost of getting stable server connectivity. The solution is VPN, Tor, dedicated broadband for servers, as usual. Ironically, mismanaged ISPs are doing pooled IPv6 prefixes like pooled IPv4, unintentionally providing enhanced privacy at the cost of random outage (if your router does not implement Flash Renumbering protection, OpenWrt didn't until 2026). In theory users should be able to freely opt-in/out prefix rotations, and all rotations would be planned via router announcement rather than a forced "flash" one. But one can dream.

Downsized all input resistors from 1206 to 0603, preparing to use ...

2026-04-06T21:30:35Z

In reply to nevent1q…6s8q
_________________________

Downsized all input resistors from 1206 to 0603, preparing to use the extra space for more air bridges. I initially switched from 0603 to 1206 to give space for horizontal traces, but I found it did not really have any advantage in comparison to 0603, as the vertical traces blocked all the horizontal ways anyway, 0603 + selective 1206 jumpers probably can solve this deadlock. #electronics #NES #NESdev

oof. :woozy_baa: #electronics #NES #NESdev ...

2026-04-06T17:41:41Z

In reply to nevent1q…uygv
_________________________

oof. :woozy_baa: #electronics #NES #NESdev

Good old EMI/EMC textbooks: "Watch your clock, clock is the ...

2026-04-05T18:02:47Z

Good old EMI/EMC textbooks: "Watch your clock, clock is the highest-frequency signal in your system."

That USB 3 port on 125 MHz MCU that runs off a 25 MHz crystal: "Hold my beer."

NES quirk: the VRAM has two memory layouts that "wraps ...

2026-04-05T13:55:39Z

In reply to nevent1q…ake0
_________________________

NES quirk: the VRAM has two memory layouts that "wraps back" either horizontally or vertically for different scrolling games. This is called "nametable mirroring" mode, controlled by routing the raw "CIRAM A10" signal to the PPU A10/A11 address line via the cartridge port. But for my cartridge emulator, it means we're not just acting as a device sitting on the bus, it's actively messing with the PPU bus on the whole machine. Do I have enough time to do it in software GPIO, or do I have to use an external 2:1 hardware mux? Let's see:

* Hitachi HM6116 - Read: address valid prior to or coincident with /CS low. Write: address setup time 20 ns.
* Panasonic MN4216 - Read: address valid prior to or coincident with /CS low. Write: address setup time 20 ns.
* Sony CXK5816PN: Write: address setup time 0 ns.
* Sanyo LC3517: Write: address setup time 0 ns.

Conclusion: don't worry about it, "copy an address bus line 20 ns before /CS falls" is not a significant timing constraint to the existing 180 ns budget for the emulator. #electronics #NES #NESdev