Sparse Notes

We have all been there. You look at a task, perhaps writing a report, cleaning the garage, or coding a new feature, and your brain confidently whispers, “That will take two hours, tops.” Six hours later, you are only halfway done, stressed, and wondering where the day went. This isn’t just a personal failing, it is a universal human glitch. We are notoriously bad at estimating how long things take, a phenomenon called the “planning fallacy....

For a long time, I wanted to build a robust home lab to experiment with Kubernetes and various DevOps tools. However, between a demanding job and the joys (and time commitments) of raising two kids, this project remained on the back burner. The thought of spending weeks configuring servers, networking, and applications was simply too daunting. The hardware journey actually began back in November. Inspired by Jeff Geerling’s famous “minirack” builds, I decided to construct a similar compact setup....

For the last two decades, the software industry operated on a fundamental truth: Code is expensive. Building a robust, enterprise-grade SaaS product required armies of engineers, millions of dollars in venture capital, and years of R&D. If you managed to build a complex solution, the complexity was your defense. It was a “moat” built on the sheer difficulty of replication. That era is over. We are witnessing a structural revolution in the cost of software production....

Internet Scanning The internet is vast, and there are many vulnerabilities that can be exploited by attackers. To defend the internet, we need to map it efficiently. One way to do this is through internet-wide security scanning. By exposing vulnerabilities and tracking the adoption of defensive mechanisms, we can better protect the internet. Zmap is an open-source scanner designed to scan the entire internet. It is efficient and is able to scan the entire IPv4 address range within an hour....

Botnet Detection: Understanding the Need, Techniques, and Challenges Botnets are a coordinated group of malware instances that are controlled via command and control (C&C). They can perform multiple kinds of activities, making them difficult to detect using traditional security measures. In this article, we’ll explore the need for botnet detection, techniques used for botnet detection in enterprise networks and on the internet, and the challenges associated with botnet detection. The Need for Botnet Detection The goal of network monitoring is to detect and prevent attack traffic....

Cloud Computing Cloud computing is a model for enabling rapid provisioning of resources from a pool of resources. There are three cloud service models: Software as a Service (SAAS), Platform as a Service (PAAS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IAAS). SAAS allows users to use the provider’s application, while PAAS allows users to use the provider’s platform to build applications. IAAS allows users to use the provider’s fundamental computing building blocks like compute, storage, and networking....