Blog about computing, networking, software development and whatever comes up in my mind!
In this article we ll explore how LLMs (Large Language Models) actually work internally, with practical examples so everyone can understand how they work and behave. Intro Imagine we type this prompt into a chatbot: Say hi. A moment later, the model replies: Hi! That looks simple. Almost too simple. And yes for the programmers among [ ]
In this tutorial, we ll see how to configure Windows and Linux hosts to run my ShareFSServer together with your favorite RISC OS emulator. ShareFSServer implements the Acorn/RISC OS ShareFS protocol (aka Access/Access+) on modern operating systems. It allows a Windows, macOS, BSD or Linux machine to expose host directories to RISC OS machines and emulators [ ]
AI systems are increasingly being discussed as if the model were the system. That was never entirely true, but it is becoming dangerously misleading. Moreover, modern AI applications are not simply prompts sent to a model and responses returned to a user. They are pipelines, wrappers, agents, tools, APIs, third-party services, memory layers, orchestration logic, [ ]
While the DME project slowed down due the need for a better development environment for which I have designed UltimaVM for, the parts I can continue to work on are still moving forward, here is an updated with pictures of Themes ports to the new DME ExtTheme! Intro Before we dig into the cool bits, [ ]
Given the interest Ultima has been receiving from enthusiasts and engineers, both online and at the few computer shows where I’ve demonstrated it, I think some will appreciate a more detailed look at its ongoing progress. So here’s the first of these updates. Intro If you’re new to Ultima or UltimaVM, you can find an [ ]
Next Saturday (25th October 2025) I’ll be at the RISC OS London Show, together with many other developers and enthusiasts who keep our favourite operating system alive and evolving. Let s see what to expect! At the ZFP Systems stand, I’ll be showing the latest progress on several projects I’ve been developing — Merlin, Ultima VM, [ ]
Large language models can produce text that looks fluent and convincing but turns out to be wrong; a problem known as hallucination. These errors are not random glitches: they stem from how AI systems are trained, the data they learn from, the way we evaluate them, and even how people interact with them. In this [ ]
In this article, we ll take a look at an important new effort I am adding to my operating system, Merlin OS: formal verification, using a set of tools available to all Rust developers, as well as some custom ones. Disclaimer This article is not a comprehensive tutorial to software verification. It merely describes the work [ ]
In this short article we ll see my personal corrections over some common advices given in the industry which have been proved to cause more problems than helping people. The Trouble with Common Advice: Overengineering and Premature Optimization As Software Engineers, we’ve all heard these two popular pieces of advice, often thrown around in code reviews, [ ]
In this second article exploring Liquid Neural Networks (LNN), we ll take a look at the security challenges behind developing both a foundational library and foundational models based on LNNs. Disclaimer This article is part of a series of articles that represent a short introduction to Liquid Neural Networks, related theory, and how they work. It [ ]
Given all the questions I have received on the matter of Liquid Neural Networks from people interested in my zLNN foundational LNN library, I have decided to write an article to explain LNNs in the hope of helping people to find answers to initial questions. Disclaimer This article is merely a short introduction to Liquid [ ]
In this article, we explore the complexities of assigning liability to software developers compared to traditional engineers. We discuss the roles of various stakeholders, the impact of management decisions, and the need for a balanced approach to improve software quality and reliability. Discover how categorizing software into critical and non-critical types can help advance the [ ]
In my career, quite a few of my co-workers have had wild dreams of creating their own bytecode interpreter virtual machine (VM). Some have actually taken the plunge and attempted it. The allure of this magical endeavor still captivates many. And let s not forget about that colleague who s convinced that everything needs to be rewritten [ ]
📣 I am excited to announce the new alpha release 0.9.4 of theCROWler (my Content Discovery and Security development platform) GoLang Port available for Testing! Summary of the improvements This release introduces several new features and improvements: [New] Detection Rules Support for Plugins: Now you can access the full DOM and live, allowing your [ ]
In this quick How-To article we have a look at what is and how to install pre-commit quickly on many platforms including macOS, Linux and Windows. Disclaimer This quick how-to covers the installation and configuration of pre-commit only; it doesn t go through all the details required to understand pre-commit hooks. It also provides some useful [ ]
In this how-to we ll have a look at how to get started with password recovery on Linux, macOS, BSD and Windows operating systems. Disclaimer Quick access to each section: Introduction We ve all been there – you ve forgotten your user password or changed it recently only to find that it no longer works. In this how-to [ ]
In this quick how-to, we ll see how to read command line arguments in GNU ASM (GAS) on RISC OS. The code is extremely easy to be adapted for Linux and BSD operating systems as well. Intro One of the first thing we need to do when writing some code, is probably to make it capable [ ]
In this short how-to we ll see a quick example of how we can return a complex object in C, like we do with more modern languages like Rust or GoLang. Intro A friend of mine mentioned he likes the way Rust or Go can return complex objects from a function in which we can have [ ]
In this post we ll have a look at the Castle Iyonix PC memory bus and how to expand memory on the Iyonix. Disclaimer This post is not comprehensive of all the details in matters of computer memory, it only offers a short introduction to factors that may help improving performance of the Iyonix PC when [ ]
In this post we ll have a look at the various CPU Architecture classification terms and what do they mean in the everyday world. Disclaimer This article is not intended to be exhaustive. My goal is just to provide a basic and common dictionary of terms and acronyms used in the context of CPU Architecture. Intro [ ]
(Setting up the system and building Samba Server) In this set of how to , we ll see how to use Linux to build and configure a complete Retrocomputing Server on a Raspberry Pi, to provide a set of services to retro and vintage systems (for ex. RISC OS, Amiga OS, OS/2, Atari TOS and others) like [ ]
Quick how-to on setting up Go Lang to use Snowflake Data Sources via ODBC. Disclaimer This how-to is not a full tutorial on how to use the Snowflake API for Go Lang, it focuses on getting The Go Lang environment ready to write code that will be able to use SnowFlake as a data source [ ]
In this quick how-to we ll see how to correctly install Golang on macOS and create all required paths and first program for a painless experience 🙂 Intro Golang it s a really fun language to play with. Although if I prefer Rust among the wave of new programming languages, I do enjoy using Go as well, [ ]
This post is a full tutorial on how to install and configure a Fleet Controller and OSQuery to check and manage endpoints state, vulnerabilities and more. Intro Fleet is an OpenSource project to create an OSQuery controller capable of detecting vulnerabilities and other issues on machines on your network using the power of OSQuery. This [ ]
This is the User Guide for ZVector, an Open Source Vector library (dynamic arrays) in ANSI C (C99) that is aimed to be secure, fast, reentrant, thread safe, easily configurable, portable and small. Intro This is ZVector User Guide, for a full introduction to this project and library please have a look at the project [ ]