2025 01 31

    Am finally able to use z3 functionally. After trials where I made a caesar solver & read around its API, I have successfully applied it to a crackme. This was Zero Solution from crackmes.one. I feel that the author had a single password in mind, but I managed to find countless solutions. Through the usual utility tools & radare2 framework, I managed to decipher the structure of the program, then investigated the interesting functions through Ghidra. From there, setting up z3 constraints were in hindsight pretty simple. The only difficulty I had was understanding the nuances of symbolic variables along & BitVec. I ultimately found it simpler to just use BitVec for all my variables since that is how it is reflected in actual execution. It was very satisfying, being able to apply z3 to my first crackme by myself.
    I have since moved from elementary positional astronomy to understanding the motions of celestial bodies as well as broaching on introductory observational astronomy. I might need to rehash what I have learned of positional astronomy at some point, since I am not the best with geometry nor the many conventions in the established systems. There are also many names to remember. What really stumped me about celestial motion was the virial theorem. Granted, I might be jumping the gun as I have never seen many of these notations before, but it stunned me how a bounded system’s energy can be related either through kinetic energy or potential energy to the vice versa. This definitely seems really helpful since we do not need to know the momentum of every particle to ascertain the trajectory celestial systems take. Though I do wonder if this is an idealistic scenario as it reminds me of the multi body problem. If I were to pursue this, maybe I need to familiarize myself with Hamiltonian physics. Similarly, I think I need to learn Maxwell’s electromegnetic theories ASAP, as I am currently reading on the polarization of light & how the energy we receive relates to natures of the originating celestial entity. All the mathematics I am familiar with, so I hope that merely the visualization is what I need.
    Funnily enough, on visualization, I have been reading Descartes’ Discourse on Method. Only about 25% through, but the emphasis on its importance to modern philosophies in science struck me as inspiring. I think I developed a degree of Cartesian doubt on my own, but maybe it came to be from an environment reminiscent of this school of thought. However, I must say his texts are annoying to read. Mmaybe since it is in English the translation does not do the original justice, but sentences with less than 5 clauses are far & few between. Also, this guy comes across as very snobbish & elitist at the same time. I am currently reading the portion that introduces his metaphysics, & have found the experience to be overall alright. Amazing idea, terrible writing. Needless to say, I have some qualms with his ideas. It implies many things, such as that we can exist separate from reality to be vacuously true, for there have been no account that proves this. Therefore, existence of nature presupposes our existence thoughts to some degree if we follow ontological causality. Furthermore, his hierarchy of perfection is baselessly defined, so its factor in truth is pretty shoddy. I will definitely put more thoughts into writing as I progress & accrue criticisms or recall those I have forgotten at the moment. Unless I decide to read Wittgenstein’s Remarks on Colour instead. I fancy his direct effective prose much more than Descartes’ flowery mess.
    Been on the ropes learning assembly through NASM, hoping that this would prove useful for reverse engineering. Been through the basics, since it felt like learning what I already knew from a different perspective. Still kinda annoyed that there is an abstraction in assembly, as seen when comparing source to compiled in the verbosity of instructions, jmp natures, & not to mention the stuff like linking & sections. I have also moved away from NASM on windows to running a very bare metal debian vm. Even if it’s a vm, this shit is so much more lenient on my battery than when I dev on VS code, not to mention the familiarity of shared libraries in UNIX I am accustomed to. Recently though, I have made a sieve of Eratosthenes program & file reader, nothing noteworthy but assures me I am progressing. I hope this nice track continues. Next, I should really familarize myself with managing stack frames & implementing local variables.
    Finished Chisaki’s route. Her voice was really nice, I couldn’t skip a single one. This makes her route one of the few where I listened to all voicelines thoroughly, possibly the first since the Key VNs I played to start with. The story was plain & sweet as well, but her character is the highlight that marks much of the enjoyment factor. That “moe moe kyun” was to die for, holy shit. I have also finished Hazuki’s in the meantime, & felt it to be the weakest route thus far. I feel that the themes they pushed were not really solved but just ignored. Her character itself though was merely fine, with a few quirks running for her, but overall mediocre appeal in character. Right now, I am probably halfway through Ayase’s route, who seems to be a challenger for best route thus far, with the honor belonging to Chisaki at the moment. The gap moe is super, super effective & she has such a wide array of expressions that all the dialogue is fun to watch. There are also hints of another conflict brewing, so I’m excited to see what challenges the protagonist & heroine will face this time. Also, flat is justice.