RC RANDOM CHAOS

Articles

Long-form writing on tech, culture, and the edges of the internet.

Perplexity cites 215,128 template pages as evidence
AI searchSEO poisoning

Perplexity cites 215,128 template pages as evidence

Three sites generated 215,128 scripted "best software" pages that AI engines like Perplexity cite as sources - fueling misinformation, SEO abuse, and malware.

7 min read
Three model calls, finished before you blink
LLM engineeringAI pipelines

Three model calls, finished before you blink

Qwen 3.8 27B at 1500 tokens/s on Cerebras is an orchestration budget, not a quality upgrade - spend it on validation and decomposition, not more agents.

9 min read
FBI probes sale of 153 million license records
data breachidentity verification

FBI probes sale of 153 million license records

An FBI probe into a service selling 153 million driver's license records shows why static identity data cannot be rotated, recalled, or trusted as proof.

9 min read
Firefox blocks cross-site tracking by default
firefox privacybrowser tracking

Firefox blocks cross-site tracking by default

Firefox moved tracking protection from optional settings into the engine by default. Why enforcement, not preference, protects your anonymity.

9 min read
Same badge, new model underneath
AI safetyprompt injection

Same badge, new model underneath

A systems-analysis read on Claude Fable 5.1 and Mythos 5.1: why a point release quietly moves the safety boundary and what to re-test before you ship it.

7 min read
The 150x model tax
LLM engineeringinference optimization

The 150x model tax

Cost, latency, and quality trade against each other in LLM inference. How to route work, use serving-layer levers, and architect systems on the efficient frontier.

10 min read
A robot dog moves on command inside your network
IoT securityrobot dog

A robot dog moves on command inside your network

The Creepy Crawlies robot dog is a networked device that moves on command. Its control channel and actuator define the risk, not its label.

7 min read
Code rides the error channel
qubesosvulnerability-analysis

Code rides the error channel

Arbitrary code execution in QubesOS through the copy-to-VM error reporting backchannel, and what it means for the trust boundary between qubes.

6 min read
Google locked AuroraStore out of the Play Store
grapheneosapp store dependency

Google locked AuroraStore out of the Play Store

The Play Store blocking AuroraStore shows GrapheneOS users never held the app delivery path. The dependency, not the block, is the exposure.

6 min read
MFA protects the login, not the session.
session hijackingMFA bypass

MFA protects the login, not the session.

Fastpotify mints unbound session cookies that survive MFA. Stolen via AiTM or infostealer, they replay as full sessions. The telemetry that catches it.

6 min read
Pixel 11 drops hardware MTE
GrapheneOSMTE

Pixel 11 drops hardware MTE

Pixel 11 has no hardware memory tagging. GrapheneOS inherits the gap. What the missing per-access MTE check removes from your threat model.

7 min read
Private was never private
privacymessaging security

Private was never private

Messaging apps protect your chat from other users, not from the operator that holds the content, the metadata, and the terms you accepted at install.

9 min read