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computer vision

Appendix: Higher Framerate Perception

This post is an appendix to High Framerate Perception, you should read that first. Going forward, I have plans for various features and experiments related to performance. Some of these are just ideas, others are works in progress, and all will hopefully pan out enough to warrant future posts. For
Sep 27, 2023 5 min read
High Framerate Perception
computer vision

High Framerate Perception

This post is a part of a series discussing the design of the Chronos platform. An introduction to this series is here. In my previous post, I covered the design of the Atheon vision engine. In this post, I will talk about how Atheon and Mobius layer a portfolio of
Sep 27, 2023 12 min read
Let There be Sight
computer vision

Let There be Sight

This post is a part of a series discussing the design of the Chronos platform. An introduction to this series is here. In this post, I'm going to explain the design behind the computer vision engine that Chronos uses. That engine–named Atheon–is tailored to perform computer vision tasks
May 29, 2023 14 min read
Dissection of a Bot Platform
software architecture

Dissection of a Bot Platform

For almost a decade, I've been quietly developing a modular computer vision based automation platform. Recently I realized that the platform–Chronos–had slowly taken over as my largest personal project. The core idea behind Chronos was to create a generic bot, one that was not designed around any specific
May 29, 2023 2 min read
Demystifying Epic Games Store Spyware
hacking

Demystifying Epic Games Store Spyware

Over the past few weeks, I've seen a lot of discussion about whether or not the Epic Games' store is spyware. Unfortunately, the "proof" and "research" that has been shared is far from either of those things, and can only be described as an amateurish perspective. To clarify, I'm speaking
Apr 8, 2019 19 min read
CSAW Write-Up: shell->code
ctf

CSAW Write-Up: shell->code

It's been a few weeks since me and the Mechasheep played CSAW, but that doesn't mean there's nothing left to write about. The first and easiest pwn challenge I encountered during the competition was called shell->code, a baby-class challenge. The simplicity of this challenge means I can actually focus
Oct 5, 2018 8 min read
CSAW Write-up: Turtles
ctf

CSAW Write-up: Turtles

This past weekend, me and my team played CSAW CTF after taking quite a long break. We managed to hold top-20 for a good portion of the competition, even going as high as 12th place. Even though we lost our breath by the final day and finished in 40th, I
Sep 19, 2018 9 min read
PlaidCTF Write-up: Shop
ctf

PlaidCTF Write-up: Shop

To warm up for DEFCON quals, my team and I decided to give PlaidCTF a shot. We knew it was going to bring some hard, fun challenges, and it did not disappoint. I immediately jumped into my comfort zone by tackling a pwn challenge, and got my first flag of
May 7, 2018 12 min read
Hardware Hacking: Automating a USB3 Switch
electrical engineering

Hardware Hacking: Automating a USB3 Switch

When I'm working from home, I like to feel comfortable on my regular battlestation. My work has to be done on a company machine, however. To keep the familiarity of my setup while on my work laptop, I decided to use a KVM Switch. The KVM Switch has inputs for
Mar 10, 2018 6 min read
Throwbacks Part 1: The Effects of Bots on Online Games
game hacking

Throwbacks Part 1: The Effects of Bots on Online Games

> This is the introduction to a multi-part series where I will be refreshing and reposting content which I've written before the days of this blog. An introduction to the series and topic is here [https://nickcano.com/throwbacks-0]. Back when I was writing my book, I intended to include a
Feb 14, 2018 6 min read
nobanner

Throwbacks Part 0: Introduction

> This is the introduction to a multi-part series where I will be refreshing and reposting content which I've written before the days of this blog. You can check out the first installment here [https://nickcano.com/throwbacks-1-bots-tibia]. Over the years, I've written heaps of content about everything from bot development,
Feb 14, 2018 1 min read
New Dual Loop Build
pc build

New Dual Loop Build

Over the holiday break, I took a night to rebuild my computer. My previous build was actually pretty fresh, with a Ryzen 7 1800x and 32GB of ram, but the older R9 290 cards weren't pulling their weight in a gaming build pushing two 4k screens. I decided to upgrade
Jan 9, 2018 9 min read
TUCTF Write-up: Temple of Malloc
hacking

TUCTF Write-up: Temple of Malloc

It's been a few months since me and my team started practicing CTF again, and we finally played in a live CTF over the weekend. It was a a fun CTF, and we actually managed to place above PPP with a team of only three people. I mean, it's clear
Nov 27, 2017 10 min read
Pwnables Write-up: FSB
ctf

Pwnables Write-up: FSB

I'm on vacation in Mexico this week, which essentially means blow off pool time and hack stuff. I decided a relatively simple challenge would be a good starting point for the week, since I've never CTFed on this laptop and I was expecting to be constantly interrupted by vacation conversation
Nov 8, 2017 6 min read
Pwnables Write-up: Note
ctf

Pwnables Write-up: Note

And there goes another night spent honing my CTF skills. This time, I decided to tackle pwnables [http://pwnable.kr] Note challenge for 200 points. > Check out my SECURITY PATCH for mmap(). despite no-ASLR setting, it will randomize memory layout. so it will contribute for exploit mitigation. wanna try sample
Oct 28, 2017 17 min read
Pwnables Write-up: Malware
ctf

Pwnables Write-up: Malware

Recently, me and Vadim [https://twitter.com/vadimkotov] decided to tag-team a 500 point challenge on pwnable [http://pwnable.kr] called malware: I have no respect for writing malware but I do have respect for writing cool malware lets find a way to beat ANUBIS (https://anubis.iseclab.org) download
Oct 24, 2017 8 min read
Pwnables Write-ups (October 2017)
ctf

Pwnables Write-ups (October 2017)

It's been nearly a year since I played my last competitive Capture The Flag (CTF); life has kept me busy and I haven't had time to practice much. Recently, me and a buddy decided to start practicing again so that we could get back to competing in the near future.
Oct 16, 2017 13 min read
Hooking LuaJIT
game hacking

Hooking LuaJIT

If you've been around the gaming industry even a little, you've almost definitely heard of Lua [https://www.lua.org/]. This potent scripting language has found itself embedded in thousands of video games, acting as an API for engineers to easily add functionality to game clients and servers alike. > Sidebar:
Sep 25, 2017 6 min read
Reversing the League of Legends Client
game hacking

Reversing the League of Legends Client

> DISCLAIMER: This is for information and learning purposes only, I do not endorse or recommend using this information to make any unofficial tools which can result in bans (or worse). Back when League of Legends' client was still written in Adobe AIR, I reverse engineered it, located the functions responsible
Sep 14, 2017 7 min read
Bot Architecture Part 2: Versions & Updates
game hacking

Bot Architecture Part 2: Versions & Updates

This is the second installment in a multi-part series about the architecture and design of XenoBot. An introduction to the series and topic is here and the first post is here. One peculiar aspect of bot development is the frequent out-of-cycle updates that will inevitably drive you insane. You see,
Sep 10, 2017 6 min read
Quitting Windows 7 Necromancy
windows

Quitting Windows 7 Necromancy

My OS install for my main Desktop is going on 6 years now. Since it's advent, it has undergone a slew of changes. Off the top of my head, I know it started on an HDD, moved to an SSD with the system reserved partition on an HDD beside it,
Sep 8, 2017 5 min read
Bot Architecture Part 1: Threading
game hacking

Bot Architecture Part 1: Threading

> This is the first installment in a multi-part series about the architecture and design of XenoBot. An introduction to the series and topic is here [https://nickcano.com/bot-architecture-0/] and the next post is here [https://nickcano.com/bot-architecture-2/]. The core code of XenoBot exists withing the memory space of
Sep 1, 2017 4 min read
game hacking

Bot Architecture Part 0: Introduction

> This is the introduction to a multi-part series about the architecture and design of XenoBot. You can check out the first installment here [https://nickcano.com/bot-architecture-1/]. Before I dive into the nitty-gritty of XenoBot's architecture, I think it's appropriate to introduce XenoBot at a high-level. XenoBot is a client
Sep 1, 2017 1 min read
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