AwakeCoding ☀️💻

This post introduces Shadow Theory: a mental model for AI prompting that treats prompts as perspectives shaping what the model sees.

MSIX solves real packaging problems, but package identity and filesystem virtualization change where applications and settings live.

PowerShell's MSI deprecation exposes the problem with treating MSIX like a better MSI: user-registered packages can disappear from SYSTEM, breaking services, scheduled tasks, remoting, and automation.

Managing separate GitHub accounts for work and personal projects?

Intermittent .NET host processes locking your build outputs?

Visual Studio build logs are noisy and useless for real insight.

Windows leaves behind hidden proxy configurations in the ProxyMgr registry that break apps even after disabling proxy settings.

A hands-off experiment building a Rust-based Model Context Protocol (MCP) proxy tool using only GitHub Copilot agent mode.

Microsoft’s Remote Desktop client (MSRDC) is being deprecated, and recent updates have broken MsRdpEx support.

Learn how to disable the Windows 11 taskbar search box for all users by default using PowerShell and registry edits.

Learn how to automate the cleanup of ghost Hyper-V network adapters and migrate static IP configurations using PowerShell.

Learn how to automate taskbar app pinning in Windows 11 using PowerShell by generating a LayoutModification.xml file and forcing the shell to reinitialize the layout without creating new user profiles.

Learn why mstsc requires the RD Gateway to act as a KDC proxy for Kerberos authentication, how this undocumented behavior causes silent NTLM downgrades, and how to fix it by enabling the KDC proxy service.

Learn why AD CS may silently skip CRL publishing when the server is turned off or running with constrained resources, leading to revocation errors like CRYPT_E_REVOCATION_OFFLINE.

Discover how to disable Bing search in the Windows Start Menu for faster, more responsive local search results.

Learn how to isolate a Windows system service into its own process for easier debugging.

Learn how to set up a TUN-based virtual network interface in Windows using WinTun and tun2socks, route traffic through a SOCKS proxy, and build your own custom VPN solution from scratch

Explore how PowerShell enables interprocess communication (IPC) using named pipes in .NET applications, allowing seamless remote control and API access.

Explore the essential steps to secure Mac RDP connections using Kerberos authentication with a focus on troubleshooting Protected Users and NTLM issues.

Enable PowerShell 7 WinRM remoting for efficient server management without relying on SSH.

This post guides through decompiling Hyper-V Manager to rebuild it from source, aiming to assess its value for potential open-sourcing.

Learn to create and debug PowerShell binary modules in Visual Studio, covering both local and remote debugging.

Discover the intricacies of Active Directory's Kerberos KDC certificate selection for PKINIT, including techniques for choosing a specific certificate, analysis using IDA Pro, and PowerShell cmdlets for managing certificates.

A deep dive into Active Directory LDAPS certificate selection, detailing the technical intricacies of ensuring secure communications through TLS.

This post tackles the challenges of RDP Network Level Authentication (NLA) with Azure AD, labeled as the PKU2U nightmare, offering detailed solutions for common problems.

Navigate through the confusion of "the specified user name does not exist" error during RDP smartcard logon, offering insights into common misinterpretations and actionable solutions.

This guide demystifies the "TrustedHosts" setting in PowerShell remoting, explaining its significance and how to configure it to avoid common errors.

Unpack the dilemma between Cloud Kerberos Trust and Key Trust in Windows Hello for Business deployments.

Resolve RDP NLA issues on domain-joined devices outside the corporate network by configuring a scheduled task to fetch the Kerberos machine TGT at startup.

Master the Pleroma backup and restore process with this comprehensive guide, which offers detailed steps for efficiently securing your Pleroma instance.

A concise guide on adding a trusted Root CA certificate on Ubuntu, ideal for those who frequently need to ensure their system trusts custom Root CAs.

Discover how to leverage Oracle Cloud's Free Tier to deploy an ARM server, complete with 4 CPUs, 24GB RAM, and 200GB storage, without any costs.

Dive into the advantages of Pleroma over Mastodon within the same Fediverse, showcasing how it remains lightweight yet feature-rich, offering full-text search, quote posts, and emoji reactions while maintaining compatibility with Mastodon.

Explore the correct method to disable Web Proxy Auto Detect (WPAD) in Windows to enhance security without breaking essential components.