IT Infrastructure *

Today I would like to share some information with you about a special, somewhat unique edition that exists in Windows 10 and Windows 11, released by Microsoft for the Chinese government sector. What is Windows Enterprise G, also known as Windows Enterprise Government China, how does it differ from other editions, and most importantly, how (and why) you can get it.

A lot of security conversations still start with a familiar question:

EV charging platforms look familiar at first: APIs, cloud infrastructure, mobile apps, CI/CD, Kubernetes, telemetry, admin tools, and billing-adjacent logic. But the risk model is different. A weakness in authorization, release governance, device identity, or observability can affect not only data, but also charging sessions, stations, firmware, fleet operations, and recovery workflows.

This article explains how to approach EVSE as a Product Security problem, not just an AppSec problem.

Progress constantly faces a problem: new technologies are not always profitable to introduce. Or rather, progress hits this problem and stops.

Every day, every single day, devices in fire suppression systems need to be checked! When these are enormous warehouses spread across vast territories, a security guard has to constantly walk around and inspect all of them — just for this one task. The pressure gauge has become a symbol of punishment in fire safety authorities.

Millions of analog sensors are also used in gas and water distribution systems, as well as in many other industries.

Even among the dots and dashes, you can recognize the hand of a radio operator. And by the style of typing on a computer keyboard, it has become possible to determine the author of the text with almost 100% accuracy.

As a result, we get another sign of identification and authorization.

I've run both platforms in a real production environment — 600+ users, 50+ SaaS platforms, an international software company with distributed teams across multiple timezones. This isn't a vendor comparison page. This is what I actually experienced running both, migrating between them, and managing the transition in parallel.

The question "JumpCloud or Okta?" comes up constantly in IT communities. It almost always gets the same frustrating non-answer: "it depends." That's technically true — but let me break down exactly what it depends on, and why.

If you are using a LoRa module for point-to-point (P2P) communication or building your own private protocol, understanding and correctly configuring each parameter is the key to successful communication.

After reading this article, you will learn:

• How Should the LoRa Over-the-Air (PHY) Modulation and Packet Format Parameters Be Configured, and Why?

• The meaning of RF front-end parameters and how to tune them

• Chip-level control parameters: operating modes, clocks, power supply, calibration, and more

• A quick-reference "must-match" table and a list of common issues

Note: This article covers only LoRa (P2P/Private Protocol) parameters. If you need information on LoRaWAN protocol-layer parameters (e.g., ADR, DevEUI, join procedures), please refer to "LoRaWAN Protocol Layer Parameters".

Before starting configuration, verify that your device has selected PacketType = LoRa. The LR2021 supports multiple modulation types—including LoRa, LR-FHSS, FLRC, FSK/GFSK, OQPSK, and OOK. When using P2P LoRa communication, you must first switch to LoRa mode; all subsequent modulation and packet structure commands will then be interpreted in LoRa mode.

If you select the wrong PacketType (e.g., FLRC or GFSK mode), the chip will not interpret the SF, BW, and CR parameters in LoRa mode, The result is that the transmitted data cannot be decoded by the receiving end at all.

How we transformed stressful manual releases into a dependable, one-click process using GitOps and automation. 50+ modules, auditors and regulators—in a single template that scaled across more than 30 services. No magic, an engineering discipline.

Recently, I needed to run a VLESS subscription on Windows, make it work with my work VPN, and deal with all the associated 'joys.' I tried v2rayN, Nekoray, and Hiddify—and quickly realized I wanted to write my own client.
And so, singbox-launcher was born:
👉 https://github.com/Leadaxe/singbox-launcher

Below are a few details about why and what came of it.

Since I'm a fan of self-hosting, I have a home infrastructure:

Orange Pi - a media server;

Synology - a file dump;

Neptune 4 - a 3D printer with a web interface and a camera feed. And I'd like to have secure access to it externally via my phone and PC, while also having internet access outside the RF. I used to use OpenVPN for these needs, but it's no longer reliable. So I started studying the documentation for an excellent tool from our Chinese comrades - Xray!

What you'll need:

A server with an external IP for the infrastructure. In my case, it's an Orange Pi, hereinafter - Bridge

The server you want to access - Server

A server outside the RF for internet access. Hereinafter - Proxy

A client of your choice. Hereinafter - Client

Client and server on Linux - Xray-core, which can be installed via the official Xray installation script

Client for Android - v2rayNG

More clients can be found in the Xray-core repository

Let's take the VLESS-TCP-XTLS-Vision-REALITY configuration file as a base and start reading the Xray documentation

Routing is done on the client. For example, if the client accesses the xray.com domain, we route the traffic to the Bridge, and for all other connections - to the Proxy. Then the Bridge routes the traffic to the Server if the client accessed server.xray.com.
It looks like this:

Ten years ago, I wrote a couple of articles - How to download the latest Office from the Microsoft website without any App-V / Habr (habr.com) and How to download Microsoft Office 16 from the Microsoft website / Habr (habr.com), using the then little-known Office Deployment Tool.

Time flies. After Office 2016 came Office 2019, Office 2021, and now it's time for Office 2024. Well, let's see what has changed in terms of downloading, installing, and activating the product over the past ten years.

First, let's talk about the versions and editions of Microsoft Office. To avoid being too meticulous in the description, I'll briefly state the most important thing: over the years, the Office lineup has evolved. There are different subscriptions and update plans, new features appear in new versions, and bug fixes and patches for found vulnerabilities are released for older versions.

Microsoft has long since switched to a system of distributing Office family products through various so-called "channels," depending on how often you want to receive new features and updates.

The key difference in the current download and installation of Office from what was relevant in the days of Office 2016 is that you must determine which distribution channel you are going to use - that is, from which channel you are going to install the product itself. For those who would like to study the different distribution channels in detail, I suggest reading the original source - Office updates - Office release notes | Microsoft Learn. For the rest, I'll summarize briefly - Microsoft now prefers to sell everyone a subscription to Microsoft 365 (what was previously called Office 365), with regularly updated features under the so-called Modern Lifecycle Policy. The consumer (boxed, retail) versions of Office 2021 are also distributed under this modern policy. Office 2021, for example, is only supported until October 13, 2026. And older versions follow the so-called Fixed Lifecycle Policy, under which Office 2016 and Office 2019 are only supported until October 14, 2025. In general, they will not stop working after that date, but they will stop receiving updates. And for those of you who use email services based on Microsoft Outlook.com or Office365, and possibly Microsoft Exchange users, with updates released after October 14, 2025, it's time to think about upgrading.

In a changing network infrastructure, mobile internet users face questions: what resources remain available, and what does this look like on a technical level? This material is the result of a practical study using standard network analysis tools.

No speculation—only measurements, numbers, and technical facts.

I finally decided to replace my old Linksys router and buy a new gigabit router with a built-in VPN – that's what most retailers call the feature, without specifying whether they mean a VPN client or a VPN server.

After some searching, I managed to find only one major seller – the orange one with three letters – whose website has advanced filtering for routers by VPN parameters, such as protocol and operating mode (client/server).

And so, with a list of several dozen candidates for purchase, the main question arose – what speed over VPN can each of them deliver?

From hype to strategy: how EXANTE redefined Cloud Native after painful Kubernetes mistakes, lessons learned, and building a more resilient infrastructure

Training is one of the most essential factors for growth, evolution and effective collaboration for any UX design team. Design is an ever-changing industry, and there is always something new to learn even for the most experienced professionals. The reality is, not all companies take training seriously, whether the reason is a low budget, lack of time or just not realising its necessity. Meanwhile, investing in training not only boosts the quality of work, but also helps find ways to find easier solutions, work faster and optimize the whole process. Let’s discuss some tips that might help you provide effective and fruitful training for your design team without spending extra budget or wasting time on some questionable training methods. 

It’s Never Too Late: My Start into DevOps

Summary

Learn about the challenges, growth, and lessons gained — from juggling work, studies, and a pet project to achieving a dream.

In recent years, discussions about the environmental impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) have largely revolved around hardware — data centers, electronic waste, and energy consumption. However, an equally important factor has been overlooked: the software development methodologies themselves.

When I read the UNCTAD “Digital Economy Report 2024”, I was struck by the complete absence of any mention of how programming methodologies impact sustainability. There was no discussion of whether developers use algorithm-centric or code-centric methodologies when creating software, nor how these choices affect the environment.

This realization led me to introduce the concept of Eco-Methodological Sustainability — a new approach that highlights the role of structured software development methodologies in shaping an environmentally sustainable future for the digital economy.

The photograph accompanying this article captures a moment I once witnessed on a beach in Silicon Valley, California. The endless waves of the Pacific Ocean stretch into the distance, fading and dissolving into the sand. All three states of matter are present here: the solid, unmoving sand; the liquid, flowing water; and the wind — invisible yet tangible chaos of air. This landscape seems to symbolize the transitions and boundaries between order and freedom, between stability and change.

This very scene inspired me to reflect on how DAOs, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations, transform into a "third state" for communities. They combine the chaotic freedom of scattered individuals and the structured order of centralized organizations, creating something new — fluid and adaptive.

In the world of IT services, the idea that operations must run 24/7 is often taken for granted. However, for business-to-business (B2B) services, this assumption needs to be rethought. By reconsidering the need for around-the-clock processing services, companies can achieve significant benefits in efficiency, security, and sustainability.

Lose Your Sale) How to lose an IT project sale. 

My name is Paul Karol and I work as a director in a Russian IT company that mostly sells their products into the American Market. What we will discuss today was so costly for that company that I want to share this knowledge so that it doesn't happen to other Russian IT companies. 

Case Study

Today I want to tell you about a sale that almost was. I was Consulting for this one company and they were involved in selling software to the United States. This one particular client was in contact with the sales manager for 2 months.

Now this sales manager was very good at their job and they had a lot of charisma on the phone and in the text messages. However they specifically did not know something that cost them a large contract. 

1. In Russia it's respectful not to talk about your personal life because you feel that you're wasting someone's time if you do not know them well. 

2. In the United States once you have been talking with somebody for a couple of months you would start to consider them sort of a friend. 

The Russian IT sales manager had not been in contact with this client for about a week and this was unusual. 

They were worried. 

Then the text message came that said this. 

"I'm sorry Marina that I have not been in contact with you for some time. I took my family and kids to the Lakeside and we enjoyed some time by the beach." 

The Russian IT sales manager did not know how to think about this and they asked this question. 

" So, do you want to buy our product?"