iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Brian Surowiec (xt0rted) @hackingonhacks.com · 20/09/2026

Another day, another shitty password requirement. This is for PayPal no less.

Password update field with an error message saying the password should be 8-20 characters long.

Brian Surowiec (xt0rted) @hackingonhacks.com · 11/05/2026

Recent @tanstack.com packages are compromised as per www.stepsecurity.io/blog/mini-sh... And yet @github.com just had dependabot open a PR updating my packages to the compromised and unlisted versions. That's absolutely wild and should never happen.

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Brian Surowiec (xt0rted) @hackingonhacks.com · 10/02/2026

Cool stuff, my order feels real secure now. www.nacsemi.com

$Password requirements that say: 8 character minimum. Not allowed: % & # + = ? ' \" * , (spaces)$

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Brian Surowiec (xt0rted) @hackingonhacks.com · 29/04/2025

I came across this on JLCPCB's site earlier today. The In Production text gives the popup on hover.

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Brian Surowiec (xt0rted) @hackingonhacks.com · 01/04/2025

It turns out the issue is the password can't be more than 25 characters long. But why tell the user that? That'd make things easier.

HTML source showing the input has a max length of 25 characters

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Brian Surowiec (xt0rted) @hackingonhacks.com · 01/04/2025

On today's episode of password inputs that never work right.

Reset password form with instructions saying new passwords need to be a minimum of 8 characters long, with a 64 character password giving an error saying "New Password should be at least 8 characters".

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Brian Surowiec (xt0rted) @hackingonhacks.com · 20/03/2025

Every time my monitors turn on I get this alert and have to: 1. Right click the task bar 2. Go to Taskbar Settings 3. Expand Taskbar Behaviors 4. Toggle Show on all Displays 5. Finally turn Auto-hide Taskbar back on Why is such a simple thing so damn complicated?!

Alert that says: A toolbar is already hidden on this side of your screen. You can have only one auto-hide toolbar per side.

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Brian Surowiec (xt0rted) @hackingonhacks.com · 10/01/2025

I won't lie, they got me a little curious with this one.

Screenshot of an email preview.

Subject: Stay Safe With Elon Musk
Body: Easy to Use Easy to Love - Compact and Affordable

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Brian Surowiec (xt0rted) @hackingonhacks.com · 07/01/2025

Just noticed there's a setting to hide copilot chat on your #github dashboard 🎉 It's at github.com/settings/cop... and is called 'Dashboard entry point'.

Screenshot of the Dashboard Entry Point setting for GitHub Copilot

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Brian Surowiec (xt0rted) @hackingonhacks.com · 03/01/2025

First time making or having Basque Cheesecake and it was delicious. Much easier than a typical cheesecake too since there's no crust or water bath to fuss around with. #baking #cheesecake #desert

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Brian Surowiec (xt0rted) @hackingonhacks.com · 30/12/2024

🤔 interesting choice of #tailwindcss accounts followed

The Twitter follower list for the TailwindUI account. It's has all members of the Tailwind organization, and Laura Loomer.

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Brian Surowiec (xt0rted) @hackingonhacks.com · 08/12/2024

@jenmsft.bsky.social I've been getting this since upgrading to Win11 a few years ago, but on 24H2 it happens nearly every time my monitors turn on. Besides disabling auto-hide, is there something I can do to prevent this?

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Brian Surowiec (xt0rted) @hackingonhacks.com · 29/11/2024

"What was the 1st album you bought with your own money?" I can't remember which one I got first since they came out a month apart. It was either America's Least Wanted by Ugly Kid Joe or Grave Dancers Union by Soul Asylum . Both were on cassette.

Album cover for Ugly Kid Joe's album America's Least Wanted

Album cover for Grace Dancers Union by Soul Asylum

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Brian Surowiec (xt0rted) @hackingonhacks.com · 24/11/2024

The rear panel for the amp itself was drilled wrong, so a new version of that is on the way, and the text ended up having small lines connecting some of the letters. That seems to be due to the text not being flattened before printing. The more you know I guess.

Figma mockup of the front and rear panels

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Brian Surowiec (xt0rted) @hackingonhacks.com · 24/11/2024

Here's the phono pre-amp I've been working on. The panels were designed in Figma using @rsms.me's Inter for the font, #heroicons for the icons, and #tailwindcss colors for the warning. Despite a couple issues I couldn't be happier.

Pearl 3 phono preamplifier and power supply with silver front panels printed with the Inter font.

Pearl 3 phono preamplifier and power supply rear panels showing the input/output connections and printed with the Inter font, Heroicons icons, and using a TailwindCSS color palette.

Inside view of the Pearl 3 phono preamp and power supply showing the boards and wiring.

Inside view of the Pearl 3 phono preamp and power supply in the dark with the various LEDs on.

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