thoughts on systems, networks, and tools
Every time you open a browser tab, a small drama unfolds invisibly. A domain name travels outward, bounces between servers, and returns as a number. Most of the time this takes under 20 milliseconds. Most of the time nobody notices.
But when it breaks — and it does break — the failure is total and baffling. A blank page where a website should be.
continue reading →There is a category of software that nobody talks about: the scripts that outlive the person who wrote them. A cron job that sends a report. A backup script from 2019. A Bash one-liner someone put in /etc/rc.local and forgot.
These scripts are load-bearing. You discover them when something stops working.
continue reading →A server exposed to the internet accumulates a kind of autobiography. Every scan, every probe, every legitimate request leaves a line. Reading your own access logs is mildly disturbing and mildly educational in equal measure.
The bots never sleep. The bots are remarkably consistent.
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