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So you want to serialize some DER?

So you want to serialize some DER? (Editor’s Note: My day job is at Anthropic.) This story starts where all good stories start, with ASN.1. ASN.1 is… I guess you’d call it a meta-serialization format? It’s a syntax for describing data abstractly (a notation, you might say), and then there’s a bunch of different actual encodings that you can use to turn data into bytes. There’s only one encoding I choose to acknowledge, which is DER (the Distinguished Encoding Representation, it’s got a monocle

I made my VM think it has a CPU fan

Why bother? Some malware samples are known to do various checks to determine if they are running in a virtual machine. One of the common checks is to look for the presence of certain hardware components that are typically not emulated in virtualized environments. One such component is the CPU fan. One of the observed ways malware checks for the presence of a CPU fan is by looking for the Win32_Fan class in WMI: wmic path Win32_Fan get * And the reason they do this is they want to avoid runnin

Reproducible Builds

Process in computer science Logo of the Software Freedom Conservancy's Reproducible Builds project Reproducible builds, also known as deterministic compilation, is a process of compiling software which ensures the resulting binary code can be reproduced. Source code compiled using deterministic compilation will always output the same binary.[1][2][3] Reproducible builds can act as part of a chain of trust;[1] the source code can be signed, and deterministic compilation can prove that the bina

Tech Workers Say They're Rapidly Being Replaced by AI

"She claimed it was outperforming us." As AI conquers every human-driven endeavor at a breathless pace, from bombing military targets to teaching kids, we gotta ask ourselves a scary question: what is it doing to the workplace right now, and in the future? Sure, we have Dario Amodei, CEO of hotshot AI company Anthropic, saying he foresees AI models erasing 50 percent of entry-level white collar positions throughout the entire job market, but that could be all marketing hype. To get to the bot

Multi-Stage Programming with Splice Variables

Multi-Stage Programming with Splice Variables This is an interactive demonstration of the ICFP 2025 paper Multi-Stage Programming with Splice Variables by Tsung-Ju Chiang and Ningning Xie. What is multi-stage programming? It's a technique where programs generate other programs. Instead of writing generic code that handles all cases at runtime, you generate specialized, optimized code tailored to specific situations. For example, instead of a power function that uses a loop, you could generate

Copilot Chat in VS Code is now open source

GitHub Copilot - Your AI peer programmer GitHub Copilot is an AI peer programming tool that helps you write code faster and smarter. GitHub Copilot adapts to your unique needs allowing you to select the best model for your project, customize chat responses with custom instructions, and utilize agent mode for AI-powered, seamlessly integrated peer programming sessions. Sign up for GitHub Copilot Free! When you install Copilot in Visual Studio Code, you get two extensions: GitHub Copilot - Pr

How to share your Wi-Fi password across iPhones, Androids and other devices

You no longer have to remember long Wi-Fi passwords to share them with friends and family. Whether you're setting up a new device or helping a friend connect to your home network, sharing your Wi-Fi password doesn't need to be a hassle. Today’s smartphones make it easy to share access without typing (or needing to remember) long strings of characters. Both iPhones and Android devices support features that let you send your Wi-Fi password quickly and securely, but the steps can vary depending on

Topics: code fi password qr wi

Apple leaks another likely AirPods Pro 3 reference

When are AirPods Pro 3 launching? Apple’s code keeps indicating a release happening soon, even as key analysts suggest we may have to wait longer than expected. Here’s what the latest code leak revealed. Three recent leaks indicate AirPods Pro 3 launching soon Over the course of the last six weeks alone, there’s been plenty of evidence that AirPods Pro 3 are coming soon. In mid-May, Apple released software that included a key string change: Before : “This task requires Apple AirPods Pro 2nd

PJ5 TTL CPU

Well, we did it… we cracked 4MIPS on our TTL CPU. I have to admit I’m both relieved and surprised. The key parts to achieving this was to decrease the latency for the instruction decode and also the flag register writing. The time to decode an instruction, perform a bit of math and then write to the flags was at around 270nS. With the changes we made, the instruction decode had a radical reworking and the flag writing had some big changes as well, means we go this down to under 200nS. Which m

I Switched from Flutter and Rust to Rust and Egui

This is just a personal experience, there are no absolute truths. Like in any other blog post, a lot of the things you'll read here could be just a skill issue, or legitimate issues. It's up to you to decide. We had an app that had a nice Flutter UI that called Rust binaries. The bindings were generated using flutter_rust_bridge, which is an amazing piece of software. A lot of people have built large and complex apps using this tool. It's crazy how far it can just work, just by running: flutte

Topics: code flutter just ui want

Don't delete Netflix yet: I used these codes to find shows I didn't know existed

Kerry Wan/ZDNET Netflix wasn't the first streaming platform, but it was the first to make video-on-demand mainstream. Fourteen years ago, as it phased out its mailing service, it took a massive bite out of the global market. Also: Slow Roku TV? This 30-second fix made my system run like new again Remember that? Physical DVDs showing up in your actual mailbox -- the one at the end of your driveway (or your hallway)? To my surprise, that was still actually a thing up until late 2023. Whaaat? S

Define policy forbidding use of AI code generators

docs: define policy forbidding use of AI code generators There has been an explosion of interest in so called AI code generators. Thus far though, this is has not been matched by a broadly accepted legal interpretation of the licensing implications for code generator outputs. While the vendors may claim there is no problem and a free choice of license is possible, they have an inherent conflict of interest in promoting this interpretation. More broadly there is, as yet, no broad consensus on th

-2000 Lines of code

The Original Macintosh: 38 of 125 -2000 Lines Of Code Author: Andy Hertzfeld Date: February 1982 Characters: Bill Atkinson Topics: Software Design, Management, Lisa Summary: It's hard to measure progress by lines of code In early 1982, the Lisa software team was trying to buckle down for the big push to ship the software within the next six months. Some of the managers decided that it would be a good idea to track the progress of each individual engineer in terms of the amount of code that they

Coccinelle for Rust progress report

In collaboration with Inria (the French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation), Tathagata Roy shares the progress made over the past year on the CoccinelleForRust project, co-sponsored by Collabora. Coccinelle is a tool for automatic program matching and transformation that was originally developed for making large-scale changes to the Linux kernel source code (i.e., C code). Matches and transformations are driven by user-specific transformation rules in the form of abstract

For Replit’s CEO, the future of software is ‘agents all the way down’

Join the event trusted by enterprise leaders for nearly two decades. VB Transform brings together the people building real enterprise AI strategy. Learn more Can enterprise teams truly vibe code their way out of expensive SaaS contracts? Replit CEO and co-founder Amjad Masad seems to think so, and the ambitious vision could mean “agents all the way down.” Speaking at VB Transform on Tuesday, Masad touted how his startup’s agents could help a non-developer design and code a live polling app in

Coccinelle for Rust Progress Report

In collaboration with Inria (the French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation), Tathagata Roy shares the progress made over the past year on the CoccinelleForRust project, co-sponsored by Collabora. Coccinelle is a tool for automatic program matching and transformation that was originally developed for making large-scale changes to the Linux kernel source code (i.e., C code). Matches and transformations are driven by user-specific transformation rules in the form of abstract

Gemini CLI is a free, open source coding agent that brings AI to your terminal

Some developers prefer to live in the command line interface (CLI), eschewing the flashy graphics and file management features of IDEs. Google's latest AI tool is for those terminal lovers. It's called Gemini CLI, and it shares a lot with Gemini Code Assist, but it works in your terminal environment instead of integrating with an IDE. And perhaps best of all, it's free and open source. Gemini CLI plugs into Gemini 2.5 Pro, Google's most advanced model for coding and simulated reasoning. It can

Your Android phone could soon buzz when your Fitbit is charged (APK teardown)

Hadlee Simons / Android Authority TL;DR An Android Authority teardown has revealed that your Android phone could soon get a notification when your Fitbit is fully charged. This would come years after Android owners first requested this feature, while iPhone owners have had this option for a long time. This would still be a great addition to the Fitbit app, as you don’t have to constantly check to see if your tracker is charged. Google recently updated the Fitbit app with an overhauled Device

Developing a Retro-Roguelike Game for Multiple Platforms in C

Creating a game that runs smoothly across different vintage and modern computers is a complex and ambitious challenge. Can I achieve it? Let me tell you the story so far; the process, obstacles, and solutions involved in making a roguelike dungeon crawler playable on systems like the Commodore 64, Commodore PET, and even more constrained machines. Watch on YouTube Why Build Games for Multiple Platforms? Many enthusiasts collect old computers just for their nostalgic value. However, having th

Rivulet: An esolang inspired by calligraphy && code [video]

Rivulet: an esolang inspired by calligraphy and other experiments in natural language && code Daniel Temkin 22 min 22 min 105 105 Fahrplan [Rivulet](https://github.com/rottytooth/Rivulet) eschews keywords entirely. This is not done to move *away* from natural language (as in APL's use of mathematical symbols) but instead to draw from an aspect of natural language usually ignored in prog language design: calligraphic writing. Rivulet code is written in flowing lines inspired by handwritten n

Claude Code for VSCode

Claude Code Extension for VS Code IMPORTANT: This plugin requires Claude Code to be installed separately. For more information, see claude.ai/code. Claude Code seamlessly integrates with popular Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) to enhance your coding workflow. This integration allows you to leverage Claude’s capabilities directly within your preferred development environment. Features Auto-installation: When you launch Claude Code from within VSCode’s terminal, it automatically det

The Void IDE, Open-Source Alternative to Cursor, Released in Beta

A new open-source AI-powered code editor, Void IDE, was recently released in beta, positioning itself as a privacy-focused and free alternative to popular closed-source AI editors like Cursor and GitHub Copilot. Backed by Y Combinator, Void IDE is a fork of Visual Studio Code. While Microsoft recently announced plans to open Source its GitHub Copilot Chat Extension possibly in a few months, the beta release is available now for the community to fiddle with. The primary motivation behind Void ID

Topics: ai code ide privacy void

Git Notes: Git's coolest, most unloved­ feature (2022)

the short of it is: they’re cool for appending notes from automated systems (like ticket or build systems) but not really for having interactive conversations with other developers (at least not yet) – Scott Chacon, GitHub.blog, Aug. 2010 Git notes are almost a secret. They’re buried by their own distressing usability. But git notes are continually rediscovered by engineers trying to stash metadata inside git. Sun, 30 Oct 2022 11:05 @simonw Git notes are powerful tools. And they could solve

Remote MCP Support in Claude Code

Today, we’re announcing support for remote MCP servers in Claude Code. Connect your favorite tools and data sources to personalize your coding experience without needing to manage local servers. Using Claude Code as your primary development interface Claude Code can access both tools and resources exposed by MCP servers, giving it the ability to pull context from your third-party services—such as dev tools, project management systems, and knowledge bases—and take actions within those services.

Libraries are under-used. LLMs make this problem worse

Libraries are under-used. LLMs make this problem worse. Libraries are under-used. Why? Briefly: Writing code is more fun than reading documentation. Dunning-Kruger effect leads us to understimate the complexity of the problem solved by the library we're considering. Perverse incentives: libraries compete with big internal engineering projects that look good in a promo packet. LLMs make this problem worse. Why? Less briefly: Vibe coding is more fun than reading documentation. Shit, vibe-codin

Planting flags in AI coding territory

Answering this often triggers more questions that shouldn't surprise anyone. Do you have some workable requirements? Have you created meaningful tests aligned with those? Can you understand and fix your code when those tests fail? Are you seeing opportunities to delete code in a way that enhances its value by reducing its liability? In all of these questions, code is ingrained with purpose, hampered by ambiguity, and therefore very much human, even when it lies forgotten in some machine wher

Fast Rust Builds (2021)

Fast Rust Builds It’s common knowledge that Rust code is slow to compile. But I have a strong gut feeling that most Rust code out there compiles much slower than it could. As an example, one fairly recent post says: With Rust, on the other hand, it takes between 15 and 45 minutes to run a CI pipeline, depending on your project and the power of your CI servers. This doesn’t make sense to me. rust-analyzer CI takes 8 minutes on GitHub actions. It is a fairly large and complex project with 200k

Topics: build ci code rust time

Whistleblower warning: 2FA codes sent via SMS are trivially easy to intercept

Weak Link: Two-factor authentication is designed to harden device security and make unauthorized access even trickier for bad actors. In the imperfect world we live in, however, there's almost always a weak link, and one popular delivery method for 2FA is no exception. Many implementations of two-factor authentication involve sending a one-time passcode to the end user via SMS. Once entered, the user is logged in and it's business as usual. The problem is the inherent weakness of SMS, and the f

Literate programming tool for any language

Literate What is Literate programming? Literate programming is a style of programming invented by Donald Knuth, where the main idea is that a program's source code is made primarily to be read and understood by other people, and secondarily to be executed by the computer. This frees the programmer from the structure of a program imposed by the computer and means that the programmer can develop programs in the order of the flow of their thoughts. A Literate program generally consists of expla