Pull to refresh

Development

Show first
Period
Level of difficulty

How to bypass CAPTCHA the smart way: hybrid strategies for success

Level of difficultyEasy
Reading time14 min
Views2.2K

Automation can be an exhilarating, albeit exhausting, journey‑especially for those just dipping their toes into it. The tasks are often labeled as “interesting” or “non‑standard,” which, let”s be honest, often translates to “challenging” or even “impossible.” Among these challenges, one question halts around 50% of novice automators in their tracks: How to bypass CAPTCHA!

Read more

GSN vs Account Abstraction: Blockchain Superheroes in Search of Savings

Level of difficultyMedium
Reading time6 min
Views945

In the world of blockchain, where the word "gas" is most often associated not with gas stations, but with fees for transactions in Ethereum, the search for ways to minimize these costs is becoming increasingly relevant. Less heartache for an empty wallet and more time to solve really important issues... for example, what to cook for lunch =)

Similar to the epic Batman vs Superman battle, compare GSN and Account Abstraction. As in any superhero story, each of them has its own unique abilities and disadvantages, which we will look at in detail.

Read more

Modern X-ray detectors

Level of difficultyMedium
Reading time11 min
Views3.4K

Wilhelm Röntgen discovered X-ray November 8th 1895, when he did experiments with cathode rays in a vacuum tube. To capture and save images of the shadows from the X-rays, he used ordinary photoplates. Fortunately, sensitive to visible light silver based photoemulsions turned out to be sensitive to the X-ray too. These photoplates became the first X-ray detectors.

More than 100 years of scientific progress led to the creation of a number of various detectors for recording X-ray images. Developments of the microelectronics and semiconductor manufacturing technologies are crucial for development of the modern X-ray detectors. These detectors can transform the energy of the X-ray photon directly to the electrical signal. They allow capturing detailed, digital, high-resolution X-ray images.

Digital images are easy to work with. For example one can merge multiple macro images into an image of the whole object and represent monochrome images in false colors like Simon Procz did with this X-ray image of a flower he did in 2012.

Read more

Formal verification of smart contracts in the ConCert framework

Level of difficultyMedium
Reading time11 min
Views1.2K

Hey! My name's Kirill Ziborov and I'm a member of the Distributed System Security team at Positive Technologies. In this article, I'll be continuing the discussion of methods and tools for the formal verification of smart contracts and their practical application to prevent vulnerabilities. The main focus will be on the deductive verification method, or more precisely, the ConCert framework for testing and verifying smart contracts.

Read more

The Billiard Fractals

Level of difficultyHard
Reading time25 min
Views687


Complex systems often appear chaotic or incomprehensible, yet closer examination reveals that such complexity can frequently be reduced to a simple underlying mechanism. By systematically removing layers of emergent behavior, one can uncover a fundamental rule or equation from which the entire system originates.

Read more →

SQL Server vs. PostgreSQL query optimization: room for improvement?

Level of difficultyMedium
Reading time15 min
Views584

For years, we’ve studied Oracle to make PostgreSQL a more migration-friendly option. We introduced tools similar to SQL profile and SQL plan baseline as AQO and sr_plan extensions. In some cases, PostgreSQL even outperforms Oracle, especially in automatic re-optimization.

Migrations from Oracle to PostgreSQL are usually smooth performance-wise, and we’ve even developed session variable extensions to make the transition easier. While many enterprise-only features exist, PostgreSQL often integrates popular solutions directly into the core.

Read more

Google ADK: Easiest Way to Build an AI Agent

Level of difficultyEasy
Reading time7 min
Views3.5K

In this tutorial, I’ll explain in simple terms what AI, AI agents, and workflows are, and then I’ll walk you through building your very first AI agent in Python using Google’s Agent Development Kit (ADK). By the end, you’ll understand the differences between these concepts and have a working content-assistant agent you can run from your terminal or a web interface.

Read more

Top 11 Free AI Image Generators: Best AI Image Tools of 2025

Level of difficultyEasy
Reading time8 min
Views9.3K

Admit it, how many times have you wanted to quickly create an image for a post or presentation, but instead got stuck in an editor or endless searches for a suitable image on Google? Wouldn't it be great if the picture in your head could just appear instantly? Time is money, inspiration is on pause, and that's where AI comes to the rescue. Neural networks can generate anything you want, including the craziest ideas. No need to spend hours searching when, with a few clicks, you can see what was in your thoughts just a second ago.

By the way, notice the cover with the dinosaur? Let's call him Rex. Rex is himself a product of neural network creation. Today he'll be the main star of our experiments. But what will we do? Remember I mentioned crazy ideas? Well, to understand all the possibilities of generation, let's give AI a difficult task. We'll send Rex somewhere in space, for example to the Moon, let him put on a spacesuit and and have him grill some barbecue with Earth in the background. Interested? Then buckle up, we're heading into the world of image generation.

Read more

Building Debian Packages for PHP Extensions

Level of difficultyMedium
Reading time19 min
Views1.3K

Historically, we’ve ended up using a few rather obscure PHP extensions—written and barely (if at all) maintained by their original authors—that aren’t available in standard Debian package sources.

We stick to the principle of “do it right, and it’ll work right,” which means Slackware-style dropping binaries into the system outside of package managers is frowned upon.

So instead, we’ll be building proper .deb packages for PHP extensions—without breaking compatibility with the existing environment.

Let’s go do us some compilin’, shall we?

Trading Addiction: How Millions of People Lose Years and Fortunes in the Markets

Reading time14 min
Views825

A lot of people around me spend time trading on the stock market. Some trade crypto, some trade stocks, others trade currencies. Some call themselves investors, others call themselves traders. I often see random passersby in various cities and countries checking their trading terminals on their phones or laptops. And at night I sometimes write analytical or backtesting software—well, I did up until recently. All these people share a common faith and a set of misconceptions about the market.

Read more

How we test the backend

Level of difficultyEasy
Reading time13 min
Views2.3K

We are a brokerage platform operating in a dynamic and complex domain. This specificity comes with a set of challenges. On the one hand, it entails a high variability of scenarios and potentially significant risks associated with errors. On the other hand, it has short development iterations with frequent delivery cycles. 

In this article, we will share how we maintain the quality of our numerous backend services, which provide essential information to our trading terminals.

Read more

How to create a better UX design for the users of younger generations

Level of difficultyEasy
Reading time5 min
Views1.9K

Gen Z – a generation of young people born between the last few years of the 20th century and the first ten years of the 21st, are the primary users of a modern-day Internet. They started using technology since their early childhood, being almost constantly glued to their smartphones and tablets, which led to them being very demanding users that have their own requirements in UX. At the same time, they are known for their sense of humor and straightforwardness – which means they love using products that are both easy to navigate but full of interactive elements. Below we’ve collected a few things you should consider when creating a UX design aimed at a young audience.

Read more

Understanding SSH Key Pairs: A Developer's Guide

Reading time5 min
Views1.6K

In today's interconnected development world, secure authentication is not just a luxury—it's a necessity. Whether you're a seasoned DevOps engineer or a junior developer just starting your journey, understanding SSH key pairs is crucial for your daily workflow. They're the unsung heroes that keep our git pushes secure, our server access protected, and our deployments safe from prying eyes.

But let's be honest: SSH keys canbe confusing. With terms like “public key infrastructure,” “cryptographic algorithms,” and “key fingerprints” floating around, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. This guide aims to demystify SSH key pairs, breaking down complex concepts into digestible pieces that will help you make informed decisions about your security setup.

Read more

PostgreSQL 18: Part 1 or CommitFest 2024-07

Level of difficultyMedium
Reading time10 min
Views1.3K
Read more →

Effective Monitoring with Firebase Performance for Flutter Apps

Level of difficultyMedium
Reading time7 min
Views2.2K

Firebase Performance offers a free, comprehensive solution for tracking app performance. As part of the Firebase suite, it provides seamless integration with other Firebase services like Crashlytics, making it easier to manage all performance and crash data in one place. This not only simplifies access but also streamlines team collaboration without the need to manage multiple platforms.

Read more

Starfive visionfive 2: home cookbook

Reading time10 min
Views2.9K

Recently I have bought starfive visionfive-2 SoC for my own experiments, honestly speaking
I am striving to work with risc-v. After some time I decided to share my experience. Here my bulletpoints:

Small preparation USB-to-Serial connector Write image to microSD/SSD Set boot mode settings

Boot Update bootloader Build kernel Native build Pod build Cross-build on amd64: fast and handy

Chroot to risc-v system from amd64 and install packages

Bonus 1: run qemu with risc-v

Bonus 2: build deb packages for risc-v

Bonus 3: kernel build script

Conclusions

Read more

Amazon parsing on easy level and all by yourself

Level of difficultyEasy
Reading time8 min
Views2.5K

I came across a script on the Internet that allows you to parse product cards from Amazon. And I just needed a solution to a problem like that.

I wracked my brain while looking for a way to parse product cards from Amazon. The problem is that Amazon uses different design options for different outputs, in particular – if you need to parse the cards with the search query "bags" – the cards will be arranged vertically, as I need it, but if you take, for example, "t-shirts" – then the cards will be arranged horizontally, and in such way the script falls into an error, it works out opening the page, but does not want to scroll.

Read more

Spans in C#: Your Best Friend for Efficient Coding

Level of difficultyEasy
Reading time5 min
Views3.7K

I’ve been wanting to sort it out about String memory optimization and all these ways to improve the performance and memory usage for Collections and Arrays in C#(as you remember String is an array of chars, loaded a bit differently but anyway) code. I finally managed to find some time to dive deeper into the System.Span.

I have put together this guide to share what I’ve learned. It’s filled with practical tips and examples to help you leverage Spans in your own projects. If you want to optimize your C# code, this guide is a great place to start!

Read more