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2 posts tagged with "security"

Posts on network and system security, hardening, and access control

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AI is Magic: Resisting the Pull of the Wizard's Ritual

· 25 min read
Bogdan Varlamov
Bogdan Varlamov
Technologist
AI is Magic: Resisting the Pull of the Wizard's Ritual

Clarke's third law says a sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Anthropology has a working definition of magic that goes further than that line, and the definition fits how millions of people use AI models in 2026. A person appeals to a force they cannot examine, in words they choose carefully, for personal gain, and the outcome sometimes ends badly for them or the people around them. That shape shows up across three areas: what magic actually is, why societies eventually banned it, and what separates someone who can only cast spells from someone who understands the mechanism.

Recycling Old Tech: A Segmented Home Network and a Private Media Server

· 13 min read
Bogdan Varlamov
Bogdan Varlamov
Technologist
Recycling Old Tech: A Segmented Home Network and a Private Media Server

My ISP upgraded my gateway to a newer model and let me keep the old one. Instead of tossing it in the e-waste pile, I turned it (plus a decommissioned enterprise appliance from eBay) into a segmented home network with a private Jellyfin media server. It came together over a weekend, and I'm writing it up in case the approach is useful to someone else.