The Engineering Notebook — page 25 of 32

Notes on building with AI, agents & the modern stack.

Deep dives on AI/ML, RAG systems, agent engineering, and senior-engineer architecture decisions — a new post every week.

a table with a laptop and headphones on it Developer Tools

Framework vs MacBook: Why Right to Repair Is the Developer Hardware Fight That Actually Matters [2026]

iFixit gives Framework a 10/10 and MacBook a 4/10 on repairability. After years of buying sealed laptops, I think the right to repair movement is the most important shift in developer hardware.

a computer keyboard and mouse on a desk Technology

5 Prompt Patterns From My 100+ Prompt Playbook [2026]

After cataloguing 100+ prompts across a real AI publishing pipeline, these are the 5 patterns that actually moved the needle — and where each one breaks down.

Abstract pattern of symbols and glyphs on black background. Cybersecurity

NPM Supply Chain Attacks in 2026: Why Libraries Like Axios Are Prime Targets [Guide]

NPM supply chain attacks are escalating fast. Here's how typosquatting, dependency confusion, and malicious packages actually work — and 5 defenses every JavaScript developer needs.

a purple light in a dark room Frontend and Mobile

CSS 3D Transforms: How Someone Built DOOM in a Browser Without WebGL [2026]

A technical breakdown of how CSS perspective, preserve-3d, and clever DOM manipulation can render a DOOM-style 3D world — no canvas, no WebGL, just divs.

a laptop computer sitting on top of a table Cybersecurity

Reverse Engineering Android APKs: I Decompiled the White House App — Here's How [2026 Guide]

A practical guide to reverse engineering Android apps using JADX and Ghidra, with the White House's own app as a real-world case study.

blue light ball AI and Machine Learning

TinyML at CERN: How FPGAs and hls4ml Solve Physics' Biggest Data Problem [2026]

CERN's Large Hadron Collider generates 40 million bunch crossings per second. Only AI models running on FPGAs at 100-nanosecond inference speeds can decide what's worth keeping — and an open-source tool called hls4ml makes it possible.

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Samsung DeX for Coding in 2026: I Tested It as a Dev Machine — Here's the Honest Verdict

Samsung killed Linux on DeX in 2019, but Termux and DeX have evolved. I tested a Galaxy S24 Ultra as a full coding setup — here's what actually works and what still doesn't.

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Local LLM vs Claude for Coding: $500 GPU Benchmarked [2026]

I benchmarked an RTX 4070 Ti Super against Claude Sonnet 5 across 50 real developer tasks. Updated for Qwen3-Coder, new pricing, and how to use Claude Code with a local LLM backend.

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Vite vs Turbopack vs Rspack Benchmarked [2026]

Vite 8, Turbopack, and Rspack 2.x all shipped major updates in 2026. I compared cold starts, HMR, and production builds — one tool clearly wins for most teams.

a person is typing on a black keyboard AI and Machine Learning

Claude Computer Use Security Risks: What Giving an LLM OS-Level Control Actually Means [2026]

Claude can now click, type, and navigate your desktop like a human. The security implications of handing an LLM full OS-level control are massive — and most people aren't thinking about them.

Abstract purple lines on a black background Cloud and DevOps

Cloudflare Workers V8 Isolates: 100x Faster Cold Starts for AI Agents at the Edge [2026]

Cloudflare Workers use V8 Isolates instead of containers, delivering cold starts under 5ms — roughly 100x faster than traditional serverless. Here's why that matters so much for AI agents.

red light on black background Cybersecurity

LiteLLM Supply Chain Attack: How a Fake PyPI Package Targeted AI Developers' Credentials [2026]

A malicious PyPI package used LiteLLM as bait to steal API keys and cloud credentials from AI developers. Here's the anatomy of the attack and how to protect your infrastructure.