6.8.23

My journey through the philosophical realm hasn't been linear. It’s more akin to a trail through a dense forest with turns, detours, and unexpected clearings, with my intellectual compass being a persistent curiosity. The roads I have traveled have been shaped by the works of many great minds, three of whom stand out: Aldous Huxley, Joseph Campbell, and Jiddu Krishnamurti. Each of them has left an indelible imprint on my thoughts and my perception of the world around me.

During a period of exploration and self-discovery in my life, I found myself engrossed in the works of Aldous Huxley. It was a time characterized by my experiments with mind-altering substances, seeking to unearth deeper understandings of consciousness and perception. Huxley, a British intellectual and writer known for his novel "Brave New World," had also ventured into this terrain. His vivid descriptions of his mescaline experiences in "The Doors of Perception" resonated with me. He proposed that our brains function as reducing valves, limiting our awareness to facilitate survival, but at the cost of a broader perception of reality. His encounters with substances that dissolved these barriers felt simultaneously radical and deeply intuitive.

But Huxley wasn't just a literary maverick exploring psychedelic realms; he was also an ardent student of human nature and society. He was drawn to Eastern philosophies and mysticism, and his interest in Jiddu Krishnamurti's philosophy was palpable. Huxley’s writings became a bridge that connected my own explorations with the profound insights of these Eastern philosophies.

As my journey progressed, I stumbled upon the works of Joseph Campbell. I'd been delving into Carl Jung’s theories, fascinated by the collective unconscious and archetypes. Campbell, renowned for his work on comparative mythology and the concept of the "Hero's Journey," seemed like a natural progression. His compelling narratives about universal patterns in myths and stories across cultures provided a fresh perspective on my own life journey. Campbell's ideas reflected Jung’s archetypes but expanded them into the narrative realm, showing how our individual life stories echo these timeless mythic patterns. The personal and the universal were no longer distinct, but interconnected layers of the human experience.

Finally, the teachings of Jiddu Krishnamurti were introduced to me in college, thanks to a professor named Brian Deer. Krishnamurti’s philosophy was unlike anything I had encountered. His emphasis on self-awareness and the need for individuals to free themselves from conditioning was both challenging and enlightening. His declaration that "Truth is a pathless land" was a reminder of the importance of personal discovery and the limitations of second-hand knowledge.

I recently found out that Brian, who used to engage us in stimulating discussions about Krishnamurti, is now a public defender. This made me smile; it somehow makes perfect sense. If Krishnamurti urged us to question our conditioning and liberate ourselves, isn’t that what Brian is doing now, challenging a system that often seems to presume guilt and assisting those who might otherwise be without aid?

The teachings of Huxley, Campbell, and Krishnamurti have shaped the way I view myself and the world around me. Huxley taught me the value of pushing boundaries and challenging the status quo. Campbell showed me the universality of human experience and the potential to find personal meaning in the grand narratives of humanity. Krishnamurti emphasized the importance of self-inquiry, reminding me that the journey towards understanding begins and ends with the self.

In a way, we are all products of our influences, a melting pot of ideas and experiences that shape our worldview. I am grateful for the influence of these three remarkable minds. Their teachings continue to guide me, not as dogmas, but as lights illuminating the path of exploration, a journey with many twists, turns, and no fixed destination. After all, as Krishnamurti said, truth is a pathless land. I guess the joy lies in wandering.

Cloudflare Tunnels: A Homelab Experiment

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon the intriguing concept of Cloudflare Tunnels, a service that securely exposes your local web services, applications, or APIs to the internet. Interested by the possibilities of implementing it in my own environment, I decided to set up my own Cloudflare Tunnel as a side project in my homelab and share my experience with you all.

Cloudflare Tunnels rely on Cloudflare's extensive infrastructure of data centers, edge servers, and caching services, using the secure TLS protocol for encrypting connections between your server and Cloudflare's network. This makes it possible to bypass limitations imposed by residential ISPs, such as CGNAT (Carrier-grade NAT), allowing users to host web services securely and with relative ease. An added advantage of Cloudflare Tunnels is that you don't have to expose your home network or configure your firewall/router settings, which can be a complex and risky process.

In my homelab setup, I decided to create a simple website and host it using a Cloudflare Tunnel. I began by setting up a Python web server on a Windows virtual machine and then configured the Cloudflare Tunnel using their GUI tool. I installed the lightweight daemon 'cloudflared' on my server to handle the connection between my server and the Cloudflare network.

Throughout this project, I encountered some challenges with the CLI configuration of the Cloudflare Tunnel, but eventually managed to get everything working smoothly. I even added a fun little twist to my website in line with my recent AI trend by including the new AI generated Drake song Heart On My Sleeve by Ghostwriter (which is a banger, btw).

My journey with Cloudflare Tunnels has been both educational and rewarding. The technology provides a practical solution for hosting web services while bypassing traditional roadblocks, making it an excellent choice for securing internal web applications, remote access to internal resources, or even as a secure alternative to traditional VPNs. As I continue exploring the capabilities of Cloudflare Tunnels, I encourage fellow tech enthusiasts to delve into this fascinating world and uncover new possibilities for their own homelab setups.

3CX Supply Chain Attack - My first experience on the front lines

A few weeks ago, I witnessed a significant cybersecurity incident: the 3CX Supply Chain attack. 3CX is a global communications software provider that offers voice and video calling solutions for businesses and has a substantial customer base, with more than 600,000 customers and 12 million users in 190 countries. While I won't divulge specific details about my company or job title, I was responsible for monitoring the infection across multiple organizations and delving into the issue when SentinelOne EDR alerts first emerged. Read More