SM Articles from blogs I follow
2021-12-06 – `view_interface` types are boolean-testable
via Arthur O’Dwyer
Today I learned: std::ranges::view_interface provides an explicit operator bool. When you have a view type from the Ranges STL (such as std::ranges::subrange), you can branch on its boolean value: empty ranges are falsey and everything else is truthy.
2021-12-06 – Some latency measurement pitfalls
via
This is a pseudo-transcript (actual words modified to be more readable than a 100% faithful transcription) of a short lightning talk I did at Twitter a year or two ago, on pitfalls of how we use latency metrics (with the actual service names anonymized pe…
2021-12-05 – What desktop Linux needs to succeed in the mainstream
via Drew DeVault's blog
The Linus Tech Tips YouTube channel has been putting out a series of videos
called the Switching to Linux Challenge that has been causing a bit of a stir
in the Linux community. I’ve been keeping an eye on these developments, and
thought it was a good time t…
2021-12-05 – How new Linux users can increase their odds of success
via Drew DeVault's blog
The Linus Tech Tips YouTube channel has been putting out a series of videos
called the Switching to Linux Challenge that has been causing a bit of a stir
in the Linux community. I’ve been keeping an eye on these developments, and
thought it was a good time t…
2021-12-04 – Goodbye WordPress, I've Switched To Jekyll (Again)
via Kev Quirk
I’ve decided to leave WordPress behind and switch to Jekyll…for a second time. This post explains why.
A couple of months ago, I decided I would flip my site back over to the static site generator (SSG), Jekyll. I’m sure most of you are…
2021-12-03 – My Reivew of Google Pixel 6 Pro
via
I don’t often do reviews for phones, but due to some bad luck I recently found myself on the market for a new one. Since I just bought a new one, I thought I’d give you my impressions of it.
2021-12-01 – Black Hat Week (Black Hat Rust is out 🍾)
via Sylvain Kerkour
Black Hat Rust is out of beta :)
v2021.40 It’s now official, as of v2021.40, Black Hat Rust is considered out of beta and complete!
Hundreds of typos have been corrected, layout issues have been fixed, and there is no more “coming soon” remaining. I…
2021-12-01 – I am giving away the pancakes and I am still broke
via RoyalSloth Blog
Every morning a long line of people forms in front of a small kiosk on the corner of the Fifth Avenue. As you get closer, the weary sign that is hanging above the entrance reveals the real reason behind the formed line.
2021-11-30 – Position Independent Shellcodes in Rust (PIC)
via Sylvain Kerkour
Shellcoding in Rust We previously saw how to craft an HelloWorld shellcode in Rust. This time, we are going to create a shellcode that… actually launches a shell, using the execve syscall.
A C equivalent would be something like:
#include <unistd.…
2021-11-30 – I'm Sorry, Fellow RSS Lovers
via Kev Quirk
Pssst - this is an RSS only post. Please keep it a secret. Read more about RSS Club.
Hey there, fellow RSS lover. I owe you an apology.
You may have noticed over the last day or so that my last 20 posts have re-appe…
2021-11-29 – Links for November
via Sam Enright
What I’ve been reading Much more than you wanted to know about ivermectin. Has broader applications, a general response to the question of “How can the initial evidence for a drug look so strong when it (probably) does nothing?”. Why VAT is better than sa…
2021-11-29 – Announcing chat.sr.ht: a persistent IRC session for sourcehut users
via Blogs on Sourcehut
About one month ago, we began a private beta for chat.sr.ht, the next
flagship sourcehut product. Starting today, this service is now available to all
paid sourcehut users.
chat.sr.ht is a hosted IRC bouncer service, which maintains a persistent IRC
connectio…
2021-11-28 – Welcome to the RSS Club!
via Kev Quirk
Pssst - this is an RSS only post. Please keep it a secret. Read more about RSS Club.
Welcome to the RSS Club! If you’re reading this then you’re part of my secret society of loyal RSS readers. RSS Club posts only a…
2021-11-26 – Image rotation by three affine transformations
via Arthur O’Dwyer
Via that same Hacker News piece that generated “Image rotation by shifting pixels” (2021-11-13): Any angular rotation can be expressed as the sum of three shear transformations. Shear right, then down, then right again; the result is an angular rotation!
2021-11-26 – postmarketOS revolutionizes smartphone hacking
via Drew DeVault's blog
I briefly mentioned postmarketOS in my Pinephone review two years ago,
but after getting my Dutch SIM card set up in my Pinephone and having another go
at using postmarketOS, I reckon they deserve special attention.
Let’s first consider the kind of ecosystem…
2021-11-23 – My First Trip to America: A Photo Essay
via Sam Enright
Alternate title: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Ireland. I recently visited America for the first time. I went to Washington DC for two days, then Arlington for three, then New York for five. I travelled on the day the U…
2021-11-23 – Bubble packing puzzle
via jes's blog
I designed a new puzzle this morning, it's a relatively simple packing puzzle where you have to fit
21 circle-ish pieces into a case.
2021-11-23 – Underseeding `mt19937`; introducing `xoshiro256ss`
via Arthur O’Dwyer
TLDR: std::mt19937 is half the speed of a good PRNG (and 500 times slower to seed, for what that’s worth). These days I copy-and-paste xoshiro256ss.h when I need random numbers for a project.
2021-11-22 – Major errors on this blog (and their corrections)
via
Here's a list of errors on this blog that I think were fairly serious. While what I think of as serious is, of course, subjective, I don't think there's any reasonable way to avoid that because, e.g., I make a huge number of typos, so many tha…
2021-11-17 – Backdooring Rust crates for fun and profit
via Sylvain Kerkour
Supply chains attacks are all the rage these days, whether to deliver RATs, cryptocurrencies miners, or credential stealers.
In Rust, packages are called crates and are (most of the time) hosted on a central repository: https://crates.io for better…
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