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#+TITLE: Michał Sapka's Emacs Config
#+AUTHOR: Michał Sapka
#+URL: https://michal.sapka.me/star-trek
#+STARTUP: show2levels indent logdone

#+HUGO_BASE_DIR: ~/ghq/vcs.sapka.me/michal-sapka-me/
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#+HUGO_SECTION: blog

* 2024  [4/4]                                                         :@blog:
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:EXPORT_HUGO_SECTION: blog/2024
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** DONE Technical book review: Hacking APIs
CLOSED: [2024-01-19 Fri 20:01]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: hacking-apis
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER: abstract Short impression of 2600 magazine
:EXPORT_HUGO_PAIRED_SHORTCODES: img-r
:END:

#+attr_shortcode: "hacking-apis.jpg" 
#+begin_img-r
Cover
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I am a software developer with a new-found interest in security.
Childhood spent watching hacking-related entertainment didn't go to waste.
When I saw the /hacking/ humble bundle, I knew I needed it.
My first read[fn:smnet] from that bundle was not a love at first sight I expected it to be.
Luckily, /Hacking APIs/ is a completely different beast.

The title says it all: it's about hacking web APIs.
The target audience seems to be aspiring pentesters.
I may even say that no prior experience is expected, as the author explains /a lot/.
You will learn how those APIs work, what to look when testing them and how to exploit them.

The book gives a really nice overview of most common vulnerabilities types, giving me new ways to be smug.
It is always welcomed.

Still, I will not benefit from a huge part of this book as it reads like a commercial for Burp Suite.
Yes, it is a standard and learning what one can do with it is great.
But I am not a pentester, so I will not need all that practical knowledge.
It's a great exercise for me, nothing more.

It will also come in handy if I decide to switch trades.

Highly recommended book!

*** Meta
- Read as PDF on Onyx Boox Note Air 2.
- Issues bought from Humble Bundle
- Next up: back to "Absolute FreeBSD".
[fn:smnet] [[/blog/2023/cybersecurity-for-small-networks/][Cybersecurity for Small Networks]]

** DONE 2600
CLOSED: [2024-01-12 Thu 21:23]

:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: 2600-magazine
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER: abstract Short impression of 2600 magazine
:EXPORT_HUGO_PAIRED_SHORTCODES: img-r
:END:
For quite some time I've been looking for a magazine to read.
In my younger days, reading computer game magazines was the best thing.
Way before the +internet+ big tech ruined everything, polish gamers have already found a safe haven.
In the dark days of post-communistic 90s, we were feeling like living in the future.

And then they, one by one, died.
Killed by "free" sites filled with ads and sponsored content.

It may very well be anachronistic to wait for a review that will not even move on the screen.
But this is exactly what I found to be great about them - slow moving, regular, without much fuss, much more deliberate.

I've been reading quite a few magazines recently, but finally I have found the one which fills me with passion - just like the ones from my childhood.
Now I have something to wait from, to learn from and, well, feel to be a part of it.

I have finally found *2600*[fn:site].

What is 2600 you ask?
Well, the magazine self-describes as /The Hacker Quarterly/ and it fully shows the purpose.
It's a magazine written, edited and read by /hackers/ that is released since 1984[fn:1984]
Hackers in the /original/ sense of the word - tinkerers trying to expand what is possible to do with electronic devices.
Other than that, the team behind 2600 also organized *Hope*, a hacker-focused conference (known as what Defcon was when Defcon was good. I've never been to either one, so I'm just repeating) and even made a few movies.
They were also very involved in the "Free Kevin"[fn:kevin] campaign.

All in all, 2600 encompasses everything that is good about computer-oriented communities, and it rejects the current status quo of closed, surveillance based systems.

It's not that this is the first time I've heard of it, but with the digital version, it finally became economically sane to get familiar.

Funny enough, I've bought my first issue late in December - just a few days before the next issue came out.
After finishing those two, I feel extremely satisfied.
I don't remember when was the last time I wanted to read a magazine from cover to cover.
This is exactly what the doctor ordered.

The biggest shock for me was how /soft/ the magazine is.
On the Internet, all /hackers sites/ focus on the technical stuff.
/2600/ also has some articles that are strictly technical, but there's not much of them.
It is, however, full of /hacker/ culture.
For me, as a /hacker/ much more in /spirit/ than in /abilities/, this is simply wonderful.

It seems that U found what I was looking for a long ass time.
All this, because 2600 is finally available as digital download.
I need to give my data to make the payment, but the PDF comes without any DRM.
Beats paying dozens USD just for shipping by a mile!

Though paying by Monero would be much more l33t.

Finally, as part of [[/blog/2024/email-project/][The Email Project]] I have emailed the editing team.
A significant portion of these 2 issues I've bought is occupied by letters from readers.

*** Contents of  Winter 2023/2024 issue (40-4)
#+attr_shortcode: "2600-40-4.webp" 
#+begin_img-r
Cover of issue 40-4
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- The Road Behind
- The Dark Side of DNA Data
- The BoneBox
- Artificial Intelligence and Creativity
- Career and Gloating in Las Vegas
- TELECOM INFORMER
- Enhance Your Typing Experience With Mechanical Keyboards
- Adventures in Lockpicking
- Ooops; v97.129
- Geo-Distributed Bug Bounty Hunting
- Being a Hacker
- Byte-Sized Justice: A Tale of Hacker Ethics and Copy Protection
- A Quick Intro to Biohacking
- HACKER PERSPECTIVE
- Privacy: Protecting Your Personal Information Online
- The AI Risk Nobody Seems to Mention
- American Shanzhai, Part 4
- EFFECTING DIGITAL FREEDOM
- Quantum Computer Algorithms, Part III: DES Decryption
- GPT Revolution: Reimagining Programming in the Era of AI
- Snitched Out by Tech
- I Fight for the Users
- ARTIFICIAL INTERRUPTION
- Platform Capitalism Can't Surveil Absurdism (and Worse)
- Alzheimer's and AR Tech
- Book Review: Pegasus
- Book Review: Fancy Bear Goes Phishing

*** Contents of Autumn 2023 issue (40-3)
#+attr_shortcode: "2600-40-3.webp" 
#+begin_img-r
Cover of issue 40-3
#+end_img-r
- Memories to Come
- Designing an OpenAI Powered IRC Chat Bot for Fun and Profit
- Cute App, But I'll Use My Own
- Saying Goodbye to an Old (GPFS) Friend
- TELECOM INFORMER
- The Arrival of 2600 Digital Delivery
- Why Aren't You Cracking Your Users' Passwords?
- A Technology Life Story
- Social Engineering is Forever
- Is AI More of a Tool or an Ethical Challenge?
- Quantum Proof Encryption
- But I Don't Want a Copilot
- HACKER PERSPECTIVE
- Diskless Malware
- Hacking the Airwaves
- Adventures in Zero Trust
- American Shanzhai, Part 3
- EFFECTING DIGITAL FREEDOM
- Go On a Journey
- Morbid Curiosity in the Weaponized AI Era
- See You on the C-Drive (A Series of Late 20th Century Fragments)
- ARTIFICIAL INTERRUPTION
- Is 2600 Still Relevant?
- Learn Linux, People!
- WasteTrackers and More


*** Meta
- Read as PDF on Onyx Boox Note Air 2.
- Issues bought from [[https://2600.com][2600.com store]] <BR>
- Next up: back to "Hacking APIs". It's great!

[fn:site] [[https://2600.com][Official website of 2600]]
[fn:kevin] [[https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/blog/how-the-free-kevin-movement-changed-the-cyber-security-industry][How the Free Kevin Movement Changed the Cyber Security Industry]]
[fn:1984] that's one year older than me!

** DONE The Email Project
CLOSED: [2024-01-03 Wed 18:26]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: email-project
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER: abstract This year I want to rely on Email even more!
:END:
I have no resolutions for 2024, as the last ones were dropped long before December.
There is however one thing I wanted to do for a long time: to rely on Email more.

So my project for 2024 is as simple as sending email.
I will not use any other means (sigh, social media) to reach people I want to contact.
Instead, I will use plain, old email.http://localhost:1313/blog/2023/cybersecurity-for-small-networks/

Last year one person (won't name publicly due to respect and privacy) emailed me, and we've been exchanging messages since then.
It was the surprise of the year and I met a person I would never have a chance otherwise.
I would like it to happen more, as this is a great growth experience.

I'm not leaving [[https://emacs.ch/@mms][Mastodon]], but I will not approach people using it.
Furthermore, I'd love to leave Discord and Messenger, but folks there are pretty stubborn :)

** DONE Links for week #01
CLOSED: [2024-01-03 Wed 18:12]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: links-01
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER: abstract Cool links from week 01 of 2024
:END:

It's the New Year, so here are some cool links I've stumbled upon recently:
- **[[https://www.anildash.com/2024/01/03/human-web-renaissance/][The Web Renaissance Takes Off]]** -
  Maybe the web is not lost?
  A very short opinion piece.
- **[[https://www.jwz.org/blog/2023/12/remember-when-mozilla-made-a-web-browser/][Remember when Mozilla made a web browser?]]** -
  I use Firefox, I promote Firefox, and I am very sad to have to agree with author
- **[[https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/things-are-about-to-get-a-lot-worse][Things are about to get a lot worse for Generative AI]]** -
  Guess who got caught training on and recreating copyrighted content?
  Spoiler: it's AI
- **[[https://blogsystem5.substack.com/p/the-ides-we-had-30-years-ago-and][The IDEs we had 30 years ago... and we lost]]** -
  A cool, short article on IDEs of the past and how little have they progressed
- **[[https://aftermath.site/true-lies-4k-uhd-blu-ray-james-cameron-peter-jackson-park-road-post][They Want You To Forget What A Film Looks Like]]** -
  jump from VHS to DVD was huge; from DVD to HD big; from HD to 4k was incremental at best.
  In this article we explore a few recent upscales and how bad they are.
  Spoiler: it's AI

But, most importantly, The Weaver published _TWO_ new articles on computer history:
- [[http://wovenmemories.net/2023/12/30/First.Operating.System_Part.2.html][First Operating System -- Part Two]]
- [[http://wovenmemories.net/2024/01/02/Subroutines.html][Subroutines]]