Field Notes
Real work. Documented.
Step-by-step guides from actual homelab builds, production incidents, and hands-on implementations. Not what's hot online. Not theory crafting. The work that happens in the lab, at work, or for a friend.
git diff Says "Binary Files Differ." OmniDiff Tells You What Changed.
OmniDiff is a free, open-source diff tool that compares code by structure and opens PDFs, images, fonts and zips to show what changed inside. I installed v0.3.0, checked the checksum, and ran it on a real repo and on files I made. Here's the output, the gaps, and the license fine print.
CVE-2026-98432: A Remote Root Bug in the Linux TCP Handshake. Patch the Host, Not the App.
A Linux kernel race in the TCP handshake can become remote root. Who is exposed, how to check your kernel, and what to do while your distro catches up.
PHP2Shell: Two PHP Bugs Attackers Are Already Using, and How to Tell If Your Server Runs Them
Two PHP bugs, CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619, let a stranger run code with no login. CISA lists both as exploited. How to check the PHP your server runs.
Your AI Coding Extension Ran Before You Clicked Anything
A fake Claude Code build on Cursor's marketplace planted an SSH key the moment it loaded. Here's the check, why uninstalling isn't enough, and how I vet and pin extensions now.
Agentic Claude Code: How Agents, Hooks, and Orchestration Actually Work
Most people use Claude Code like a chatbot. Real agentic workflows use specialized agents, an orchestrator that routes without coding, and hooks that guard every dangerous operation. Here is how all of it works and how to configure it yourself.
How Do You Know That Download Is Safe? Checksums, GPG, and File Integrity Explained.
Downloading a file and running it is an act of trust. Checksums prove the file wasn't corrupted. GPG signatures prove who sent it. Here is how to verify both, from first principles.
167 Vulnerabilities, One Exploited Zero-Day, and a Secure Boot Clock: Microsoft April 2026 Patch Tuesday
Microsoft's April 14 update patches 167 flaws including an actively exploited SharePoint zero-day now on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list. Federal agencies have until April 28 to patch. You should not wait either.
Operation Masquerade: FBI, NSA, and DOJ Dismantle Russian GRU Router Hijacking Network
Russian military intelligence compromised consumer routers across 23 states using a TP-Link zero-day. A joint FBI, NSA, and DOJ operation shut it down on April 7, 2026.
The 2026 Stanford AI Index: Power, Hiring, and Benchmarks
The 2026 AI Index is out. AI data centers draw enough power to run New York. Entry-level dev hiring is down 20%. Benchmarks are broken. Investment hit $581 billion. Here is what matters and what to do about it.
10 Tools. One Brain. The Stack That Actually Builds Things.
These are not ten separate things to learn. They are ten modules in one brain. Claude Code is the nervous system. Everything else is an organ. You start with Obsidian. The rest reveals itself.
Prompt Engineering Is Not Magic. It Is Instruction Writing.
You learned how tokens and context windows work. Now learn how to exploit them. Prompt engineering is not a mystical art. It is structured communication with a machine that follows instructions literally. Here is the field manual, sourced from Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google.
How AI Actually Works: Tokens, Context Windows, and Why Your Chatbot Forgets Things
How LLMs actually work: tokens, transformers, context windows, attention, and output sampling. Plus proven techniques to optimize token usage in Claude and ChatGPT. Interactive demos included.
MCP Crossed 97 Million Monthly SDK Downloads
Anthropic's Model Context Protocol crossed 97 million monthly SDK downloads. Every major AI provider supports it. The Linux Foundation just took it under open governance. This is the standard now.
AI Agents Are Already Making Decisions for You. Here Is What That Means.
Agentic AI is not coming. It is here. It is approving loans, triaging your support tickets, and running attack campaigns. If you do not understand how it works, you are already behind.
Obsidian as a Knowledge Vault: The Field Manual
Most people use Obsidian like a glorified notepad. Here is how to build it into a real knowledge management system with structure, automation, a daily operating rhythm, and an LLM-maintained wiki that scales.
Claude Code Hooks: The Field Manual You Actually Need
A no-BS field manual for Claude Code hooks. What they are, when to use them, how to configure them, and practical cases that actually matter. Written for engineers who build, not tourists who browse.
Network Firewalls vs. Web Application Firewalls: What Each One Actually Defends
Network firewalls and WAFs both block traffic, but they operate at completely different layers and defend against completely different attacks. Here is what each one does, where each one fails, and how to deploy them together.
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