Updates Updated 2025-07-16
This section contains the a list of cool things Ciro Santilli has been up to in chronological order, including small quick ones. Many/most of those are also posted on Ciro Santilli's accounts such as:
For a more theme-oriented version of the best results see: Section "The best articles by Ciro Santilli".
Booda Bike Updated 2025-07-16
Ciro Santilli's hardware P51 benchmark Updated 2025-07-16
Ciro Santilli's hardware Dell Inspiron 15 3520 Updated 2025-07-16
Bought May 2024 to be my clean crypto-only computer. Searched for cheapest 1 TB disk 16 GB RAM not too old on Amazon with Ubuntu certification, and that was it at £479.00.
Some reviews:
OPSEC: will run only cryptocurrency wallets and nothing else. Will connect to Internet, but never ever to a non clean USB flash drive.
Bootstrap OPSEC:It must have taken about one week running full time to sync the Monero blockchain which at the time was at about 3.1M blocks! I checked on system explorer, and CPU and internet usage was never maxed out, suggesting simply slow network. But the computer still overheated quite a bit and froze a few times.
- turn on from factory, start Windows 11 Home 23H2 build 22631.2715, connect to home Wifi during setup process. Considered skipping WiFi, but I'll want to download the Ubuntu ISO later on anyways answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/bypass-lets-connect-you-to-a-network/2ce188f6-1b28-45a0-97d2-bfccfa3c9188. Don't sign in to online Windows account, and turn off all spyware requests.
- on preinstalled Edge browser, download Ubuntu 24.04 ISO from ubuntu.com, check sha256 with
Get-FileHashon powershell even though that is pointless security.stackexchange.com/questions/1687/does-hashing-a-file-from-an-unsigned-website-give-a-false-sense-of-security, download balenaEtcher portable from etcher.balena.io/ (currently recommended burner at ubuntu.com/download/desktop#how-to-install) from etc, and burn Ubuntu into a SanDisk Ultra Flair 64 GB - install Ubuntu from USB flash. No internet connection initially, default everything.
- notice that Ubuntu 24.04 is too broken, install Ubuntu 22.04.4 on the previously used USB from Ubuntu, and then install 22.04 instead... minimal installation, encrypted ZFS
- Ubuntu 24.04 "The application files has closed unexpectedly". This likely terminated uncompression of the bz2 halfway, and led to a corrupted monerod...
- askubuntu.com/questions/15520/how-can-i-tell-ubuntu-to-do-nothing-when-i-close-my-laptop-lid fix the eternal laptop lid issue without GUI solution...
- copy view only wallet private key by takinga picture of the QR code with Android cell phone. This gives it to the CIA immediately, but that's fine as we're going to publish it publicly.
CIA 2010 covert communication websites ipinf.ru Updated 2025-07-16
alljohnny.com had a hit: ipinf.ru/domains/alljohnny.com/, and so Ciro started looking around... and a good number of other things have hits.Not all of them, definitely less data than viewdns.info.
But they do reverse IP, and they show which nearby reverse IPs have hits on the same page, for free, which is great!
Shame their ordering is purely alphabetical, doesn't properly order the IPs so it is a bit of a pain, but we can handle it.
OMG, Russians!!!
Charles K. Kao Updated 2025-07-16
bsub get job stdout and stderr Updated 2025-07-16
By default, LSF only sends you an email with the stdout and stderr included in it, and does not show or store anything locally.
One option to store things locally is to use:as documented at:
bsub -oo stdout.log -eo stderr.log 'echo myout; echo myerr 1>&2'Or to use files with the job id in them:
bsub -oo %J.out -eo %J.err 'echo myout; echo myerr 1>&2'By default as mentioned at:
bsub -oo:To get just the stdout to the file, use
bsub -N -oo which:- stores only stdout on the file
- re-enables the completion email
Another option is to run with the bsub This immediately prints stdout and stderr to the terminal.
-I option:bsub -I 'echo a;sleep 1;echo b;sleep 1;echo c' bsub on foreground Updated 2025-07-16
Run Ctrl + C kills the job on remote as well as locally.
bsub on foreground, show stdout on host stdout live with an interactive with the bsub -I option:bsub -I 'echo a;sleep 1;echo b;sleep 1;echo c'; echo done btcdeb Updated 2025-07-16
Tested on Ubuntu 23.10:Patch submited at: github.com/bitcoin-core/btcdeb/pull/143
sudo apt install libtool
git clone https://github.com/bitcoin-core/btcdeb
cd btcdeb
git checkout 4fd007e57b79cba9b5ffdf5ffe599778c0d63b88
./autogen.sh
./configure
make -jThen we use it;and inside the shell:
./btcdeb '[OP_1 OP_2 OP_ADD]'btcdeb 5.0.24 -- type `./btcdeb -h` for start up options
LOG: signing segwit taproot
notice: btcdeb has gotten quieter; use --verbose if necessary (this message is temporary)
3 op script loaded. type `help` for usage information
script | stack
--------+--------
1 |
2 |
OP_ADD |
#0000 1
btcdeb> step
<> PUSH stack 01
script | stack
--------+--------
2 | 01
OP_ADD |
#0001 2
btcdeb> step
<> PUSH stack 02
script | stack
--------+--------
OP_ADD | 02
| 01
#0002 OP_ADD
btcdeb> step
<> POP stack
<> POP stack
<> PUSH stack 03
script | stack
--------+--------
| 03
btcdeb> step
script | stack
--------+--------
| 03
btcdeb> step
at end of script
btcdeb> Carl Mark Force Updated 2025-07-16
Full name Carl Mark Force IV, the fourth! As mentioned at www.vice.com/en/article/vv7dgj/great-moments-in-shaun-bridges-a-corrupt-silk-road-investigator (this made Ciro Santilli laugh quite hard:
Carl Mark Force IV - the other corrupt cop charged alongside Bridges - is pretty hard to beat, just name-wise.
Censorship of pornography Updated 2025-07-16
BSHUNTER: Detecting and Tracing Defects of Bitcoin Scripts Updated 2025-07-16
Block reward Updated 2025-07-16
ludicrains/deep-gaze Updated 2025-07-16
This just works, but it is also so incredibly slow that it is useless (or at least the quality it reaches in the time we have patience to wait from), at least on any setup we've managed to try, including e.g. on an Nvidia A10G on a g5.xlarge. Running:would likely take hours to complete.
time imagine "a house in the forest" Blockchain explorer Updated 2025-07-16
Bitcoin varint Updated 2025-07-16
Implementations:
- Python: github.com/alecalve/python-bitcoin-blockchain-parser/blob/c06f420995b345c9a193c8be6e0916eb70335863/blockchain_parser/utils.py#L41. Sample usage to extract 3 values from a
bytesobject:file, off = decode_varint(value) blk_off, off = decode_varint(value[off:]) tx_off, off = decode_varint(value[off:])
Bitcoin script that terminates with multiple values on the stack Updated 2025-07-16
Mainsbury’s Updated 2025-07-16
The relatively large Sainsbury's located at 42-45 Sidney St, Cambridge CB2 3HX. Existed in late 2010's and early 2020's Ciro Santilli witnessed.
Being the only relatively large grocery shop in central Cambridge near several colleges, where manu students live, makes this one of the most popular grocery shopping location for many of the students.
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