Zaemis

We’re told that it will take powerful quantum computers to break RSA encryption, so for now the world is safe. But I wondered, in an era of increasingly sophisticated models, might AI pose a threat? These systems excel at finding patterns in data that humans miss, and if there were any subtle weaknesses in key generation, I would think AI could detect them. Yes, theory says it’s all but impossible to break RSA because it relies on the computational hardness of factoring large prime numbers. But theory and practice don’t always align, and sometimes the most interesting discoveries come from testing our assumptions. So I set up an experiment to test whether a transformer model could learn to reverse-engineer SSH private keys from their corresponding public keys. Experiment and Results I trained a T5-small transformer model (60 million parameters) on a dataset of 50,000 SSH key pairs, split into 70% training, 15% validation, and 15% test. Given a public key as input, the model was as...

As I write more and more Esperanto fiction, I find myself referencing the currency spesmiloj in an attempt to create an immersive Esperanto environment for the reader. Here's an example from my mikronovelo La Kristala Ananso : “Kun aroga certeco, juna entreprenisto proponis unu milionon da spesmiloj. Neniu aŭdacis proponi pli.” The narrative doesn’t change whether it’s a million USD, a million CAD, or a million EUR... so why not a million spesmiloj? I’m certain most of my readers aren’t millionaires, so the exact amount really doesn’t mean much beyond “a lot of money.” But then I wondered: how much is a million spesmiloj, really? According to Wikipedia , the spesmilo was "equivalent to one thousand spesoj, and worth 0.733 grams (0.0259 oz) of pure gold (0.8 grams of 22 karat gold).” So 0.733 g × 1,000,000 = 733,000 g At the current spot price for gold per gram of 107.75 USD / 92.87 EUR, we get: 733,000 g × 107.75 USD = 78,980,750 USD 733,000 g × 92.87 EUR = 68...

Continuing my reflections on how we can better hire software engineers, I'd like to next address the topic of coding interviews. They're a cornerstone of the interview process for software engineers and take many forms, including algorithm challenges, whiteboard sessions, and take-home exercises. On the surface, the practice sounds reasonable. If we're going to pay someone to write code for us, we should verify they know how to program, right? The core problem is that coding interviews focus on superficial indicators of skill rather than the qualities that matter in real-world engineering. They're a tradition that persists not because it works, but because it feels like we're doing something rigorous. Meanwhile, engineers are increasingly refusing to participate, leaving us with a less diverse talent pool. So, if coding interviews frustrate the very people we want to hire, and they don’t generate the insights we actually need, why are we still doing them? It’s ...

I saw a recent post where a software engineer/programming influencer was encouraging: If you know how to work with C#, you can learn Java. If you know how to work with JavaScript, you can learn TypeScript. If you know how to work with GitHub Actions, you can learn Jenkins. If you know how to work with SQL, you can learn SparkSQL. If you know how to work with Angular, you can learn React. If you know how to work with Databricks, you can learn Snowflake. If you know how to work with Event Hubs, you can learn Kafka. If you know how to work with Bicep, you can learn Terraform. It's not the tools that are important, it's the concepts. Kudos for speaking the truth. With 20 years of experience in software engineering myself, I whole heartedly agree with her post. But sadly, the market doesn’t value conceptual fluency. From a job search perspective, conceptual fluency presumes you're networking and already in contact with the hiring manager, they like you, and the...

Interviews are supposed to evaluate whether a candidate can do the job. All too often, though, they become tests of endurance, performance, or obedience. And some of the most common interview questions aren’t just unhelpful, rather lazy, intrusive, and manipulative, reflecting a deeper problem in how companies approach hiring. If we want real insight, we have to ask insightful questions. That sounds obvious, but it’s staggering how many interviews still fall back on unhelpful lines of questioning. You’ve invested hours wading through half-baked applications, irrelevant referrals, and now AI slop. After all that effort, why would you waste the actual interview, the most valuable moment, with questions that produce rehearsed answers and zero useful insight? Let’s look at four of the worst interview questions to ask, not just to call them out, but to push for a smarter, more respectful way of interviewing that both values people and leads to better hiring decisions. 1. Can you explai...

La orgeno estas nekompareble kompleksa kaj kapabla instrumento. Antaŭ la tempo de elektronikaj maŝinoj, la orgeno, konata kiel la “reĝo de muzikiloj”, reprezentis la pinton de homa eltrovemo, kaj estis detronigita nur en la 19-a jarcento, kiam aperis la telefoncentralo. Tamen, la orgeno restas unika en siaj majesto kaj kompleksa strukturo. En ĉi tiu artikolo mi prezentas la historion kaj funkcion de la orgeno, espereble por instigi pli profundan aprezon pri tiu impona muzikilo. Gravuraĵo de “L’art du facteur d’orgues” (1766–78), kiu montras la funkcion de orgenoj. Tiam sen elektro, ludantoj bezonis asistanton por provizi la aerpremon. Historio de la orgeno La historio de la orgeno komenciĝas en antikva Grekujo kun la akvoorgeno. Inventita de Ktesibio el Aleksandrio, tiu instrumento uzis akvon por regi la aerpremon, kiu estis puŝita tra tuboj por krei sonon. La akvoorgeno rapide fariĝis populara en la publikaj spektakloj de Romio, disvastiĝante tra la imperio. Dum la malkr...