~/blog

Notes on the tech that keeps a business running.

Practical notes on the business tech that actually matters — AI, backend, infrastructure, security, and the unglamorous systems that keep operations running.

hardware

You've Read Three Patch-Tuesday and Print-Server-Attack Pieces This Month. None of Them Matter If a Power Blip Corrupts the Drive Mid-Update.

Emergency patches, drive cloning, VLAN isolation — all of it assumes the machine stays powered through the process. A $130 battery backup is the boring, unglamorous piece nobody budgets for. The honest buying guide.

sep 12, 2026 49

security

An Attacker Ran Hundreds of AI Agents Against Print Servers and Hit 395 Businesses in a Weekend. One Victim Went From First Contact to Domain Admin in 7 Minutes.

A Russian-speaking attacker used swarms of AI agents built on OpenAI's Codex harness and a DeepSeek model to exploit PaperCut print-management servers at 395 organizations across 48 countries — some in under 30 seconds each. Here's what actually happened, and what it means for the patch window on every server you run.

sep 12, 2026 50

hardware

An Attacker Got Domain Admin Through a Print Server in 7 Minutes. The $35 Switch That Keeps That Server From Reaching Anything Else.

This week's PaperCut AI-agent attack campaign spread fast because the print server sat on the same flat network as everything else. A $35 managed switch with VLAN support puts it on its own island — the honest buying guide.

sep 12, 2026 51

security

Microsoft Just Shipped 964 Patches in One Day. Two of Them Are Already Being Used Against Machines Like Yours.

September 2026's Patch Tuesday is the largest on record — 964 CVEs, 104 critical, and two zero-days already exploited to grab SYSTEM-level control. Here's what actually needs to happen on the Windows box running your POS or back office this week, and what can wait.

sep 11, 2026 52

ai agents

OpenAI Put the Codex Harness Behind One API Call. Here's What That Actually Saves a Two-Person Dev Shop From Building.

OpenAI's Agents API went to public beta on September 10, 2026, exposing the same session, sandbox, and subagent infrastructure that runs Codex. For a small shop building an agent product, that's real weeks of plumbing you no longer have to write — with real tradeoffs worth knowing before you commit to it.

sep 11, 2026 53

hardware

The $36 Scale That Stops USPS From Weighing Your Package for You (and Billing You Later)

USPS re-weighs every package after you print the label and bills you the difference later — a $36 shipping scale stops the surprise charges.

sep 10, 2026 54

security

Your ID Verification Vendor Just Lost 153 Million Driver's Licenses. Here's What That Means If You're the One Scanning Customer IDs.

IDScan.net confirmed a breach of 150+ million driver's licenses on September 10, 2026. If your shop checks IDs for age, rentals, or dispensary compliance through a third-party vendor, this is the audit to run this week.

sep 10, 2026 55

The Feds Just Published a List of 'Suspicious' AI Usage Patterns. Your Overnight Agent Job Matches Four of Them.

NSA, CISA, and the FBI published a joint advisory on September 8, 2026 naming six Chinese AI firms accused of industrial-scale model distillation. The behavioral indicators they told vendors to watch for — 24/7 usage with no idle periods, new accounts hitting max usage immediately, shared logins across IPs — describe a lot of legitimate small-shop automation, not just theft.

sep 9, 2026 56