The Engineering Notebook — page 26 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.
Cybersecurity FCC Banned Router List: 5 Chinese Companies Blocked and What It Means for Your Home Network [2026]
The FCC banned new equipment from five Chinese companies over national security risks. Your existing gear isn't illegal — but it's now a ticking clock. Here's what you need to know.
Cybersecurity Chrome Master Key Theft: How Info-Stealer Malware Actually Steals Your Saved Passwords [2026]
Info-stealer malware doesn't crack your Chrome passwords — it just asks Windows to hand over the master key. Here's exactly how the attack chain works and what you can do about it.
Developer Tools Jujutsu (jj): The Git-Compatible Version Control Tool That Might Actually Fix Git's Worst Problems [2026]
Jujutsu doesn't replace Git — it wraps around it and fixes the parts that make you lose work. After using it on real repos, here's why 27,000+ developers on GitHub agree.
AI and Machine Learning AI Tech Debt: The 3 Types Silently Killing Your LLM App in Production [2026 Framework]
Prompt decay, model drift, and hallucination tax are the three distinct types of AI tech debt accumulating in every LLM-powered production system. Here's a framework to identify, measure, and pay them down.
Frontend and Mobile JavaScript Bloat in 2026: 3 Architectural Root Causes Killing Your Web Performance [Guide]
Most JavaScript bloat advice stops at tree-shaking and code-splitting. The real problem is architectural: client-side rendering, zombie polyfills, and third-party script sprawl are the three pillars you need to tear down.
Developer Tools Ubuntu Sudo Password Asterisks: Why Ending 46 Years of Silence Is a Bigger Deal Than You Think [2026]
Ubuntu is expected to enable sudo password asterisks by default in 26.04, breaking a 46-year Unix tradition. Here's why the security tradeoff is worth it.
Technology Deorbiting the ISS: The $843 Million Engineering Challenge to Safely Crash a 420-Ton Space Station [2026]
NASA is paying SpaceX $843 million to build a spacecraft that will deliberately crash the International Space Station into the Pacific Ocean around 2030. Here's why that's the hardest engineering problem in orbit.
Developer Tools Rust WASM vs TypeScript Performance: Why the 'Faster' Language Lost by 25% [2026]
A developer rewrote a Rust WASM JSON parser in TypeScript and it ran 25% faster. Here's why the JS/WASM bridge kills performance for the wrong workloads.
Cloud and DevOps Temporal Workflow Engine: The Reliability Layer Your Distributed System Is Missing [2026 Guide]
Every distributed system eventually needs durable execution. Temporal gives you that without building a fragile state machine from scratch. Here's why it matters and how it actually works.
Cloud and DevOps Cockpit Project: The Linux Server Web GUI You Should Already Be Using [2026 Review]
Cockpit is a free, open-source web GUI for Linux servers that uses zero background resources and manages everything from containers to VMs. Here's why it deserves a spot in your stack.
Cybersecurity Mozilla VPN Technical Review: I Tested Speed, Privacy, and WireGuard Performance Against the Big Names [2026]
Mozilla VPN runs on Mullvad's infrastructure and WireGuard protocol. I tested its speed, latency, and privacy architecture against NordVPN and ExpressVPN to find out if the nonprofit-backed option actually holds up.
Cybersecurity Microsoft's FedRAMP Failure: A Technical Breakdown of How a 'Pile of Shit' Cloud Got Approved [2026]
A former Microsoft engineer called Azure Government a 'pile of shit.' Here's which FedRAMP controls allegedly failed, why the system didn't catch it, and what it means for every engineer selling to the public sector.