Episodi
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Chaos is inevitableāespecially on Patch Tuesday. This week, Chris and I dive into four juicy stories that highlight just how strange, scary, and downright ridiculous the world of tech can be. Buckle up.
šŖ Microsoft is now rolling out a Windows Update framework for third-party apps. Thatās rightāyour janky software updater might get replaced with a system that actually worksā¦ or works too well. Imagine every random app on your PC suddenly deciding it's update time. Will this be a blessing or just another reboot roulette? https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/windows-itpro-blog/introducing-a-unified-future-for-app-updates-on-windows/4416354
š§® NIST and CISA want to make vulnerability scoring suck less. Enter LEVāLikely Exploited Vulnerabilities. It's a new system meant to bridge the gap between CVSS severity and the real-world exploitability of threats. Does it work? No clue yet. Is it better than sifting through 10,000 false alarms? Almost certainly. https://www.securityweek.com/vulnerability-exploitation-probability-metric-proposed-by-nist-cisa-researchers/
š” ASUS routers have joined a new botnet called "AyySSHush" (seriously?). Hackers are hijacking popular ASUS models, disabling security features, and creating SSH backdoors that laugh in the face of firmware updates. Pro tip: factory reset your router, and maybe stop exposing your home network to the internet like itās 1999. https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/29/8000_asus_routers_popped_in/
š”ļø Microsoft Defender got punked by a tool called DefendNot. It tricks Windows into thinking a different antivirus is running, which causes Defender to voluntarily shut itself down. Hilarious. Terrifying. Mostly hilarious. Defender can now detect it, but stillānice one, internet. https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/new-defendnot-tool-tricks-windows-into-disabling-microsoft-defender/
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What happens when a Google engineer thinks his chatbot has developed a soul? Three years ago, we covered the LaMDA saga, and now it's backābecause someone forgot to turn off the AI. In this rebroadcast episode, Chris and Ned re-examine the wild story of Blake Lemoyne, who believed his creation had achieved sentience. It... uh, didn't.
š¤ The duo digs deep into what AI really is, why self-awareness isn't a prerequisite, and how anthropomorphizing code gets us into philosophical hot water. They also break down the Turing Test, IBMās thoughts on AGI, and why AI in a self-driving car doesnāt need a conscienceāit needs to not crash.
š§ Come for the snark, stay for the thought-provoking discussion about consciousness, ethics, and the real role of AI in society. Also, IKEA lamps. And a chatbot that maybe just wanted to talk.
š LINKS
- A Google engineer has been making some wild claims about a chat bot he was working on
- How easy it is to make people get emotional about inanimate objects such as an IKEA lamp
- Trying to find a way to describe AI that includes self-awareness
- The interview that Blake and co did with LaMDA
- There is a website called DALL-E mini
- In 2019 some researchers tried to get AI to invent a sport -
Chris and Ned are joined this week by Colin Lacy, a senior software engineer at Cisco, recovering architect, and food photographer in a past lifeāyes, really. What starts as a detour into food photography quickly becomes a deep dive into everything wrong with technical interviews in tech today. From debugging Java on paper to AI in assessments, Colin doesnāt hold back.
š ļø Colin unpacks his hiring experiences on both sides of the table, exposing the absurdity of algorithm-heavy interviews and advocating for real-world, job-relevant assessments. The gang questions the value of generic coding challenges and highlights how companies could better reflect day-to-day work in the interview process.
š¤ They also tackle the growing influence of AI tools in coding and why pretending they donāt exist in interviews is just plain dumb. Plus: Mount Fuji gets moved, debugging becomes a pencil sport, and someone finally says itāJava might be the actual problem.
LINKS:
š Colin J Lacy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinjlacy/
š Colin J Codes a Lot on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@colinjcodesalotā© -
Another week, more tech news chaos. This week:
š§ Students are getting salty over professors using ChatGPT while banning it in their own assignments. One Northwestern University student even tried to get a refund over it. Nice try Margot. https://fortune.com/2025/05/15/chatgpt-openai-northeastern-college-student-tuition-fees-back-catching-professor/
šø Microsoft posted a whopping $70.1B in revenue for Q3 and still decided to lay off 6,000 employees. Record profits and layoffs- because why not? https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/13/microsoft-is-cutting-3percent-of-workers-across-the-software-company.html
š¦ RVTools, the beloved free VMware infrastructure tool, got hit with Bumblebee malware. Yes, from the official site. No, you shouldnāt have trusted that download. https://zerodaylabs.net/rvtools-bumblebee-malware/
š Intel just can't shake Specter. New vulnerabilitiesāBranch Privilege Injection and Training Soloāhave popped up, reminding us that Intel CPUs are still as leaky as ever. https://thehackernews.com/2025/05/researchers-expose-new-intel-cpu-flaws.html
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šļø In this episode of Chaos Lever, Chris and Ned dive deep into the murky waters of IT Certifications. Are they still relevant? Are they just money grabs? Or do they actually help you land that dream tech job? The snark is strong in this one as they discuss the good, the bad, and the brain dumps that come with navigating the world of certifications.
š§ The conversation also veers into the history of certifications, from guilds and trades in the 1500s to the very first IT cert in 1978. Plus, there's plenty of shade thrown at Pearson Vue testing centers and the absurdity of partner status requirements. Spoiler: not everyone plays fair, and Ned may or may not confess to a few things.
š¤ But is it all just corporate gatekeeping dressed up as "skill validation"? The guys talk about the real value of certs, whether vendor-specific knowledge locks you into bad habits, and if your best path to a job might just be... social engineering? Pour a drink and get ready for a wild ride.
š LINKS
š The History of IT Certification | triOS College: https://wwwlive.trios.com/blog/the-history-of-it-certification/
š A Brief History of Certification - TestOut Continuing Education: https://testoutce.com/blogs/it-insights-blog/160401479-a-brief-history-of-certification
š History of IT Certification: https://jasoneckert.github.io/myblog/history-of-it-certification
š History of Cybersecurity Certifications - Alpine Security: https://www.alpinesecurity.com/blog/history-of-cybersecurity-certifications/
š The Evolution of DevOps Certifications: Trends and Predictions: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/evolution-devops-certifications-trends-predictions-msqoc
š CompTIA - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CompTIA -
Welcome back to Tech News of the Week! Today, we're diving into some of the most interesting stories shaking up the tech world right now.
š° Wikipedia vs. the UK Government: Wikipedia is going head-to-head with the British government over the newly passed Online Safety Bill. This massive 250-page legislation aims to increase online safety but at the cost of privacy and censorship. Wikipedia is pushing back, saying the requirements for volunteer editor verification will kill open contributions, especially in politically sensitive areas. Will this be the end of anonymous editing? https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62j2gr8866o
ā ļø Broadcom Says Goodbye to Perpetual VMware Licenses: Broadcom has officially killed off perpetual licenses for VMware products like ESXI and vSphere, opting instead for subscription-based models. If you're still clinging to your old licenses, be prepared for some aggressive cease-and-desist lettersāBroadcom's cracking down hard. Looks like Proxmox and Nutanix just got a big boost. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/05/broadcom-sends-cease-and-desist-letters-to-subscription-less-vmware-users/
š Apple Developing Custom Chips for Smart Glasses: Apple is reportedly pushing forward with its smart glasses project, building custom chips designed specifically for AR features and multiple cameras. Rumors are swirling that there will be both premium AR-capable glasses and a more affordable version that pairs with your iPhone. Ready for a new wave of wearable tech? https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-08/apple-is-developing-specialized-chips-for-glasses-new-macs-and-ai-servers
š Clippy is Back! As an LLM, No Less: Developer Felix Riceberg has brought back Clippy in the most 2025 way possibleāan Electron app running local LLM models. Now you can chat with Clippy powered by modern AI right on your desktop, complete with that iconic Windows '98 aesthetic. It's nostalgia and cutting-edge tech, all rolled into one. https://felixrieseberg.github.io/clippy/#window-about
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In this episode, Ned and Chris dive headfirst into the chaotic world of technical interviews. From absurd coding tests to multi-hour marathons that seem more like hazing rituals, they break down just how broken the hiring process is in tech. Plus, you'll hear the incredible (and incredibly dystopian) story of Roy Lee, the college sophomore who turned cheating on interviews into a full-blown business. Yes, really.
Ned and Chris also swap war stories from their own adventures in the technical trenchesāboth as interviewers and interviewees. To the surprise of no one, none of it makes much sense. From over-the-top whiteboard challenges to the baffling art of "customer obsession," the duo peels back the layers of nonsense that have somehow become the norm. And if youāve ever wondered why the horse names at the Kentucky Derby are so ridiculously serious, Chris has a plan that involves Sparkle's McTwinklefeet.
So grab your favorite caffeinated beverage (and maybe a nap), and get ready to laugh, cringe, and possibly reconsider your career choices. Because in the world of tech interviews, logic is optional, and absurdity is practically a requirement.
LINKS
šColumbia student starts cheating as a service: https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/21/columbia-student-suspended-over-interview-cheating-tool-raises-5-3m-to-cheat-on-everything/
šTech interviews have always been broken: https://medium.com/@evnowandforever/f-you-i-quit-hiring-is-broken-bb8f3a48d324#.o0bqsq8a5 -
Another week, another tech reckoning! In this episode of Tech News of the Week, we dive into Microsoft's AI coding claims, password security doomscrolling courtesy of Hive Systems, Meta's courtroom drama, and Apple getting absolutely obliterated (again) in the Epic Games case. It's a smorgasbord of corporate shenanigans and judicial sass.
šØāš» Satya Nadella says up to 30% of Microsoftās code is AI-generatedābut how much of that is just glorified boilerplate? https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/30/microsoft_meta_autocoding/
š Hive Systemsā 2025 Crackability Index is here to crush your password confidence. https://www.hivesystems.com/blog/are-your-passwords-in-the-green
š A judge grills Metaās fair use defense like itās last weekās tofu. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/05/judge-on-metas-ai-training-i-just-dont-understand-how-that-can-be-fair-use/
š Appleās greed gets them held in contempt, and weāre here for every delicious legal dunk. https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/01/read-the-juiciest-bits-from-the-apple-epic-court-ruling/We wrap things up with a reminder that you should stop being greedy, be better about your passwords, and that nobodyāNOBODYāshould try to merge Excel, Word, and PowerPoint into a productivity chimera.
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Welcome back, fellow alleged humans š In this episode of Chaos Lever, we jump headfirst into the ad-tech cesspool to answer one burning question: how did we go from banner ads to full-blown surveillance capitalism? Spoiler: it involves Google being a monopoly (confirmed!) and Facebook being... Facebook. Yes, itās as bad as you think.
This isnāt just a rant (though itās a good one)āwe walk through the history of online advertising, from the first innocent banner to the vast network of data-siphoning machinery that tracks your every click. Want to know how cookies, JavaScript, and ad exchanges work together to auction off your attention in microseconds? Weāve got you. Want to rage with us about how smart people built this nonsense instead of, say, curing anything? Also covered.
If you've ever wondered how ad blockers work, what a Facebook Pixel is, or why your pork loin is being monetized without your consent, this oneās for you. Come for the breezy kilt talk, stay for the existential dread.
LINKS
š The surprising truth about goldfish memory: https://discoverwildscience.com/the-surprising-truth-about-goldfish-memory-its-not-3-seconds-1-296741/
šThe 115 page decision in the Google case: https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/US-v-Google-Ad-Tech-Opinion-4-17-25.pdf
šA brief history on online advertising: https://www.peppercontent.io/blog/history-of-online-advertising/
šYour user agent data: https://whatmyuseragent.com -
The legendary Blue Meanie is back, and so are we! šļø This week on Tech News of the Week, we dive into four wild stories that you need to hear about. First up, Chris rants (in the best way) about the new Slate electric truck ā a throwback to the good old days where your car was a car, not a giant, glitchy computer on wheels. Manual windows? No speakers? Starting around $20K with tax credits? Sounds crazy enough to work. Find out if the Slate could be your future ride. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a64564869/2027-slate-truck-revealed/
Next, Microsoft tries to fix a patch with a patch... and somehow makes it worse. š ļø Instead of solving a vulnerability properly, they decided to shove a folder named "inetpub" onto everybodyās system drive. Surprise! It doesnāt fix the issue and now Windows Update can break entirely. We break down the hilariously bad workaround and why Microsoft might want to actually fix Windows Update rather than apply yet another bandage. https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/24/microsoft_mystery_folder_fix/
Then, we tackle the privacy horror show brewing over at Perplexity.AI. šµļøāāļø Theyāre launching a new browser called Comet and, shocker, the CEO basically admitted itās built to harvest your data for hyper-personalized ads. If you thought Chrome was bad, get ready for round two. Plus, find out why Perplexity has their sights set on buying Chrome if Google is forced to break it up. https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/24/perplexity-ceo-says-its-browser-will-track-everything-users-do-online-to-sell-hyper-personalized-ads
Finally, we revel in Comcastās very public meltdown. š During their Q1 earnings call, Comcast admitted theyāre losing broadband customers left and right ā and itās definitely not because theyāve been awful for decades. Nope, itās the customersā fault for wanting reasonable prices and transparency. We stand in admiration at their "woe is us" attitude and explain why competition is finally sending Comcast packing. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/04/after-losing-customers-comcast-admits-prices-are-too-confusing-and-unpredictable/
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If your Gmail inbox is older than your adult children and you're just now wondering if it's been reading your diary all alongācongrats, this episode is for you! In part two of our āLiving Life Without Being Poisoned by FAANGā series, we deep-dive into the world's most insidious search bar: Google. From ads masquerading as results to docs that double as AI training material, we unpack how the advertising company formerly known as a search engine became the shady overlord of your digital life.
We also take a good, long look at alternatives. Not just āuse Bingā (come on now), but actual viable swaps like Kagi, StartPage, and DuckDuckGo. Need to break free from Gmail? Hello, Proton Mail. Curious about workspace alternatives that donāt hand your docs to Big Brother? Meet CryptPad. And for the content creators out there, we give the rundown on Nebula, PeerTube, and other non-Google places you can still host your rants and videos without being part of the algorithmās human farm.
Then we shift gears to cloud services. We walk through smaller, boutique hosting optionsāfrom Linode to Fly.io to EU-based Scalewayāthat won't charge you an arm and a leg. If youāve ever wanted to ditch Big Tech but didnāt know where to start, grab your tinfoil hat (or at least a solar panel) and letās talk freedom, baby.
š LINKS
Google reads all your stuff: https://policies.google.com/privacy/archive/20221215-20230701
Kagi is pretty great: https://www.theverge.com/web/631636/kagi-review-best-search-engine
Cryptpad looks like Office: https://cryptpad.org/
Photopea, like Zootopia: https://www.photopea.com
Hetzner auctions server costs: https://www.hetzner.com/sb/
Alexander Samsig did a breakdown of EU CSPs: https://asamsig.com/blog/picking-a-european-cloud-provider -
Here's another Tech News of the Week for y'all! Stay tuned for our weekly full episode where we'll big talking about how you can ditch Google for something better (and no the irony of publishing this on YouTube is not lost on me š ).
š£Microsoft drops a suspicious folder on your C drive and tells you not to touch it. Sounds totally normal and not ominous at all. Turns out, if you delete the new `C:\inetpub` folder, your April updates break. Microsoft says it's a security thing, not to worry about it, and please donāt mess with it even if IIS isnāt running. Honestly, it feels like a plot twist nobody asked for. https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/microsoft-windows-inetpub-folder-created-by-security-fix-dont-delete/
š¢ Google is officially a monopolyāagain. A federal court ruled they violated antitrust laws in their ad exchange and publisher ad server businesses. The ruling doesnāt touch their ad network (for now), but the whole thing is a masterclass in how internet advertising works, and itās kind of wild. There's potential for fines, restructuring, or even a breakup of Google. So, you know, big stuff. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/04/google-loses-ad-tech-monopoly-trial-faces-additional-breakups/
š¤ Cursor, an AI-powered coding assistant, accidentally gaslit its users with a hallucinating AI support agent named "Sam." Sam made up a fake policy, confidently delivered it to a paying customer, and got exposed when people dug into the nonexistent policy. Leadership at Cursor shrugged, slow-rolled a response, and didn't apologize. This is the AI future we were warned about. https://fortune.com/article/customer-support-ai-cursor-went-rogue/
š”ļø Chris Krebs (not Brian), formerly of CISA and SentinelOne, resigned to keep fighting a very political attack from the Trump administration. They're coming after him for basically doing his job and telling the truth about election security. Now his employer's being targeted too. Krebs stepped down to spare them the drama, and we salute the guy for standing firm. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/04/chris-krebs-who-debunked-2020-election-lies-vows-full-time-fight-against-trump/ -
Are your bones creaking? Is your back mysteriously acquiring new joints just to ache in fresh and exciting ways? Welcome to adulthoodāand welcome back to Chaos Lever. In this episode, Ned and Chris dive into the literal pain of aging and the metaphorical pain of living under the digital thumbs of FAANG companies. Weāre talking Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Googleāand how to maybe, just maybe, live without feeding their bottomless data maws.
Weāre not just here to complain (though we are very, very good at that). This week, we explore the subtle art of escaping the FAANG ecosystem. Think Signal instead of WhatsApp, Linux instead of Windows, Discord instead of Facebook. You knowāradical stuff like using a local bookstore or not accidentally setting your house on fire with a food dehydrator.
Itās part one of a two-parter, because wow, turns out thereās a *lot* of tech giants behaving badly. If youāve ever wondered what your privacy is worth (spoiler: $20 if youāre lucky), or just need an excuse to finally ditch Instagram, this episode is for you. And hey, we even managed to get through it without a single lawsuit. So far.
š LINKS
š FAANG data munching: https://human-id.org/blog/faangs-out-what-big-tech-wants-with-your-data/
š Pixel Fed: https://www.androidheadlines.com/2025/01/pixelfed-decentralized-instagram-competitor.html
š Windows 11 will require an account: https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-just-blocked-this-popular-windows-11-local-account-trick-but-workarounds-remain/
š Framework laptops are pretty neat: https://frame.work
š System76 is too: https://system76.com
š Check out BookShop: http://bookshop.com -
In this weekās episode of *Tech News of the Week*, weāre talking about source control history, cyber cover-ups, licensing shenanigans, and encryption for the quantum future. Itās a spicy lineup, and weāre here for all of it.
š§āš» Git just turned 20! Thatās right, the tool most developers have a love-hate relationship with hit the big two-oh. Originally built by Linus Torvalds after he got fed up with BitKeeper, Git has completely transformed how software is developed. Linus wrote the first version in just 10 daysābecause of course he did. From obscure CLI commands to full-blown GitHub empires, itās been a wild ride.
https://github.blog/open-source/git/git-turns-20-a-qa-with-linus-torvalds/šµļø Oracle got breachedā¦ allegedly. Then they claimed everything was fine. Then they kind of admitted something tiny might have happened. All while trying to erase history from the internet and quietly whispering confessions to their biggest clients. Itās shady. Real shady. Also, the vulnerability? In their own software, patched since 2021, but never applied. Neat.
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/oracle-customers-confirm-data-stolen-in-alleged-cloud-breach-is-valid
šø Microsoft is once again locking horns with the EU, this time over cloud licensing practices. Surprise! Azure gets the discount, and everyone else gets the bill. Itās all about that āhybrid benefitā Windows Server licensing scheme. And while Microsoft says theyāll fix it, deadlines are slipping and complaints are piling up. The EU is not amused.
https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/07/legal_clock_ticking_for_microsoft/
š OpenSSH 10 is here with some serious post-quantum energy. This latest release brings in PQ algorithms to help us stay secure even when quantum computers start flexing. Plus, it drops legacy cryptographic support and plugs a few critical holes. Itās one of those unsexy but *massively* important upgrades.
https://www.phoronix.com/news/OpenSSH-10.0-ReleasedThanks for listening! Now go away.
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This weekās main dish? Agentic AI and the Model Context Protocol (MCP). What the heck do those mean? Why are they being compared to USB-C? And why should you care unless youāre an executive with a robot butler? Ned breaks it all down while Chris offers the occasional therapy check-in. Spoiler alert: MCP is the plumbing behind smarter AI assistants, but whether we trust them with our calendar (or our lives) is still up for debate.
Oh, and yes, thereās a āSilver Spoonsā reference, some Carlton love, and a side quest into RESTful APIs because this is Chaos Lever and we canāt stay on the rails. Literally. We try to unpack whether MCP could be the REST of the AI world or just another shiny-but-useless indoor train. Buckle up.
š LINKS
Model Context Protocol: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/introduction
The Train: https://external-preview.redd.it/T4x6zmXqtoaJQxw8uhtcNdquSLFHualiTg1Gnac_ihA.jpg?auto=webp&s=6b728fb53bfab7cbb77d1bc54714f9362d33c4b5 -
This week we talk lawsuits, leaks, and legacy codeāall wrapped in Kubernetes vulnerabilities and good ol' DNS doom. It's everything you didn't know you needed to hear, and more. Let's dive in:
š§ TikTok is getting slammed with a ā¬500 million fine from the Irish Data Protection Commission for casually throwing GDPR into the sea. The Tok (yes, we're calling it that now) has been caught red-handed shuffling EU user data straight outta the continent. Meanwhile, April 5th was the US deadline for a sale-or-ban situation. You're in the future. You know what happened. We donāt. https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/tiktok-reportedly-faces-a-%25e2%2582%25ac500-million-fine-for-sending-private-user-data-to-china-162214079.html
š NGINX Ingress controller vulnerability alert! Whizz disclosed a cluster of five issues that basically throw open the doors to your entire Kubernetes environmentāif, and only if, the attacker is already inside. Still, maybe stop listening to this podcast and go patch your stuff. https://thehackernews.com/2025/03/critical-ingress-nginx-controller.html
š¾ Bill Gates just released original Microsoft source code from 1975, and yeah, itās both nostalgia bait and promo for his new autobiography. The code's printed. As a PDF. It's massive. And full of 1970s programming hacks that might hit a little too close to home for modern devs. https://www.gatesnotes.com/home/home-page-topic/reader/microsoft-original-source-code
š DNS is always the problem. The latest? Fast Flux DNS attacks. CISA is waving red flags about a technique that helps malware stay stealthy by constantly changing IP addresses linked to C2 servers. It's a real āblink and you missed itā kind of threat. Patch your filters, folks. https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/03/cisa_and_annexable_allies_warn/
Donāt forget to patch your stuff and like, subscribe, or just go yell at a router. See you next week!
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This week on Chaos Lever, we take a detour through a moldy book, moldy cheese, and somehow land at a celebration of women in tech history. Because thatās how this show works. We kick things off with a hot take on Who Moved My Cheese? and an uncomfortably enthusiastic ode to Gorgonzola, then accidentally spiral into a cinematic sadness spiral featuring Robin Williams. Youāre welcome?
From there, itās a genuine salute to some lesser-known (but no less badass) women who shaped the technology landscape. Weāre talking Bletchley Park, US Navy Code Girls, early human computers, and the pioneers who helped birth the GUI and the Internet as we know it. There are historical facts, dubious metaphors, and a surprise cameo by the first-generation Prius. I'd say blink and you'll miss it, but this is a Prius we're talking about.
So if youāre into awkward transitions, wildly underrated tech heroes, and a sprinkle of righteous rage, then buddy, have we got the episode for you.
š LINKS
Chaos Lever Website ā https://chaoslever.com
Code Girls of the US Navy ā https://usncva.org/history/women-in-cryptology/world-war-ii-code-girls.html
The Rose Code ā https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53914938-the-rose-code
Behind the Bastards - Steve Jobs ā https://youtu.be/aEv08Zzunfc
That good government tech book Ned forgot ā https://www.recodingamerica.us
Mashable article ā https://mashable.com/article/unsung-women-in-tech
Women of Bletchley Park ā https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-27898997
Hedy Lamarr ā https://www.history.com/articles/hedy-lamarr-inventor-frequency-hopping-wifi
Annie Easley ā https://www.nasa.gov/history/history-publications-and-resources/oral-histories/annie-easley-oral-history/
Dr. Adele Goldberg ā https://www.extremenetworks.com/resources/blogs/women-who-changed-tech-dr-adele-goldberg
Steve Jobs is a nutbar ā https://www.uniladtech.com/apple/why-steve-jobs-soaked-feet-in-toilet-water-926274-20240628
Megan Smith on Net Neutrality ā https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2014/11/14/u-s-cto-on-net-neutrality-critics-are-you-supposed-to-argue-with-physics/ -
It's a wild week in tech and we're taking you on a ride through the most ridiculous and revealing stories from the digital frontier. Buckle up.
šµ Remember Napster? Of course you do. It was the soundtrack to many of our teenage years, sneaking MP3s over college Ethernet networks and dodging Metallica-shaped lawsuits. Well, guess what? It's back... again. Sort of. Another Web3 company has paid *$207 million* for the name and logo of a brand that hasnāt made a dime since Bush was in office. We break down the hilariously tragic life and times of Napster and why, in 2025, someone still thinks it's worth salvaging. https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/27/napster_gets_new_owner/
āļø Microsoft Azure is quietly retiring legacy services, and one of them could break your whole environment. Classic Subscription Administrators are officially on the chopping block, and if you donāt migrate to RBAC by April 30, 2025, youāre out of luckāand out of your own account. Chris takes you through the Azure Service Retirement Workbook (yes, thatās a real thing) and how not to get nuked by an expired admin setting. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/advisor/advisor-workbook-service-retirement?tabs=impacted-services
š Fermyon and Akamai just teamed up to drop *Wasm Functions*, a WebAssembly-based service with lightning-fast cold starts and a whole lot of polyglot potential. Think apps spinning up in half a millisecond, edge deployment, and basically a glimpse at the future of serverless. Ned explains why this might be WASMās breakout momentāand why Azure should probably start taking notes. https://cloudnativenow.com/features/akamai-allies-with-fermyon-to-advance-wasm-adoption/
šØ And finally, Troy Huntāyes, *that* Troy Hunt from HaveIBeenPwnedāgot pwned himself. A very convincing phishing attack stole his Mailchimp credentials and leaked 16,000 email addresses. While the fallout isnāt catastrophic, itās a humbling reminder that no one is immune. Chris breaks down what went wrong, what to do better, and throws a little shade in the name of cybersecurity hygiene. https://www.darkreading.com/cyberattacks-data-breaches/security-expert-troy-hunt-lured-mailchimp-phish
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Bidenās executive order on AI safety was 111 pages of not-terrible ideas like protecting privacy and creating AI guidelines. Naturally, big tech was *not* a fan. Because when you ask Meta and Google to behave responsibly, they act like you just insulted their mom.
Meanwhile in Europe: The EU held its AI Action Summit in Paris, making it clear theyāre not messing around with AI governance. Public interest, worker protection, and global cooperation were on the table. Investors dangled ā¬150B like a carrotāif only the EU would be a little lessā¦protective of its citizens. š
š§ Then came Trump's executive order, aka the āletās delete all the thoughtful stuffā memo. A whole two pages long, it replaced nuance with āmake America #1 in AI because democracy and stuff.ā Or, more accurately: ādrill, baby, drillā but for GPUs.
š Enter OpenAIās response to that call for action. On the surface, itās just another documentābut wow, the vibes are chaotic. Thereās flag-waving, fear-mongering about China, and a healthy dose of āwe want your data and your blessings.ā Also, violently incoherent sentences that barely represent English.
š What *wasnāt* in OpenAIās proposal? Anything about ethics, safety, upskilling displaced workers, or protecting vulnerable communities. But donāt worryāthey did include buzzwords, bad logic, and more patriotic tech posturing than a Fourth of July parade.
LINKS:
š Executive order 14110: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/11/01/2023-24283/safe-secure-and-trustworthy-development-and-use-of-artificial-intelligence
š OpenAIās Response to the RFI: https://cdn.openai.com/global-affairs/ostp-rfi/ec680b75-d539-4653-b297-8bcf6e5f7686/openai-response-ostp-nsf-rfi-notice-request-for-information-on-the-development-of-an-artificial-intelligence-ai-action-plan.pdf
š The original RFI: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/02/06/2025-02305/request-for-information-on-the-development-of-an-artificial-intelligence-ai-action-plan
š Trumps AI EO: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/01/31/2025-02172/removing-barriers-to-american-leadership-in-artificial-intelligence
š Forbes Article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/dianaspehar/2025/02/10/paris-ai-summit-2025-5-critical-themes-shaping-global-ai-policy/ -
This week we get into Facebook's ongoing saga of being the actual worst, a massive Google acquisition, some shady AI data scraping, and why the FCC is basically handing over rural Americaās internet to the wolves. Buckle up.
š Facebook is Literally the Worst, Part One: Leadership Edition
Mark Zuckerberg tries to suppress a former Facebook execās memoir, *Careless People*, and accidentally Streisand-effects the entire thing. From board game tantrums to predatory ad targeting of teens, this segment is a greatest hits of dysfunction. LINK: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/careless-people-facebook-memoir-1235299645/š° Google Buys Wiz for $32 Billion
Remember when Wiz said no to $23 billion and wanted to IPO instead? Well, turns out $32 billion can change a lot of minds. What does this mean for multi-cloud security? Spoiler: nothing good. LINK: https://blog.google/inside-google/company-announcements/google-agreement-acquire-wiz/š¤ Facebook is Literally the Worst, Part Two: AI Shenanigans
LLaMA, Facebook's open-source AI darling, was apparently trained on a treasure trove of pirated books and papers from LibGenāwith exec sign-off. Internal emails show employees questioning the legality while still hitting "Download." Classic. LINK: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/03/libgen-meta-openai/682093š Say Goodbye to Your Copper Lines
FCCās new head Brendan Carr wants to let ISPs rip out copper lines without proving theyāre replacing them with better service. Itās deregulation theater at its finest. Rural internet users, prepare to get fleeced. LINK: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/03/fcc-chairman-brendan-carr-starts-granting-telecom-lobbys-wish-list/ - Mostra di più
