Episodes

In this reissued episode (AKA the over-overhyped edition), Ned is pedantic about the term Supercloud, Chris is pedantic about everything, and we both think Halo Rise is a terrible, horrible, no good idea. Supercloud is as Supercloud Does Ned is no longer a stickler for language, but he still can't stand the term “supercloud.” In this reissued episode, we break down this term that’s been kicking around since 2016 in various guises. Ned regales us with tales from his analyst days and the dubious ...

Ned shares his AI-focused experience at the DC AWS Summit, discussing AWS's AI portfolio and GenAI tools, but remains skeptical. Mainlining AI in Washington DC Ned shares his experience attending the DC AWS Summit, which was heavily focused on AI. This gave him the opportunity to put cognitive behavioral therapy into practice and confront his aversion to AI by attending nothing but AI-centric sessions. In this episode, Ned tells what he learned about AWS's AI portfolio, noting its key products ...

This week on Tech News of The Week, Ned and Chris announce that NBC has gone creatively bankrupt with an AL Michaels AI, speculate on the speculative bubble of AI, have a far-out conversation about Datacenters in Space, and discuss how the power of kindness can lead to nefarious ends. Links: AL Al Will Enable NBC To Continue To Have No Idea How To Be Creative Is The AI Bubble About To Pop? A Datacenter - In SPAAAAAAAAAACE! All You Had To Do Was Ask Nicely

The UN named 2025 the Year of Quantum Science, so Ned and Chris attempt to cram 2,450 years of quantum history into one episode. A Gambol Through Space and Time The United Nations has designated 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. To add to the confusion, Ned and Chris are trying to cover the history of quantum mechanics in this episode. They don’t succeed, but they still manage to cram a good 2,450 years in there, which is pretty good. They starting with ancient l...

This week on Tech News of The Week, Ned and Chris rejoice that Voyager 1 is fully operational, remind you to update vCenter Security, ignore Dell’s demand for in-person attendance, and discuss Claude 3.5 Sonnet. Links: Interstellar Voyager 1 Fully Operational Again Critical vCenter Security Patches Released - You Know What To Do Dell’s Demand For In Person Attendance Ignored Anthropic releases Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Gradually Improving On 3.0

Ned and Chris give a very brief overview of BGP, its place in the history of the internet, and how it works today. It’s a Confusing Day in the Neighborship Sure, Kim Kardashian broke the internet that one time, but she’s not the only one capable of such a feat. In this episode, Ned and Chris recount the tale of how Verizon and a BGP optimizer took large swaths of the internet offline in 2019. This leads them into the intricacies of border gateway protocols, tracing its evolution from a temporar...

This week on Tech News of The Week, Ned and Chris discuss how Apple is paying OpenAI in “Exposure,” ten years of Kubernetes, Sherlocking, and Raspberry Pi’s IPO. Links: Apple Is Paying OpenAI In… Exposure Kubernetes Turns Ten Stop Trying To Make Sherlocking Happen. It’s Not Going To Happen! Raspberry Pi Pops in IPO

A review of a core keynote presentation at the 2024 Gartner Security and Risk Management Summit and what it means for the IT industry. One of the Good Ones: The 2024 Gartner Security and Risk Management Summit Sometimes it's worth putting pants on. In this case, it's for the 2024 Gartner Security and Risk Management Summit. Despite previous criticisms of Gartner, Chris found the conference surprisingly enjoyable. In this episode, he provides an overview of the event, which featured over 150 ses...

This week on Tech News of The Week, Ned and Chris discuss the Snowflake Hack, some BREAKING NEWS regarding the Microsoft Spyware Enablement Tool "Recall", Luna AI’s results (evaluated using AI), and Intel’s Lunar Lake. Links: Snowflake Hack Hits TicketMaster and Santander Microsoft Spyware Enablement Tool Recall Compromised By Many People Immediately BREAKING NEWS! Luna Evaluates AI Results Using… AI Intel Releases Lunar Lake - Next Gen CPU With An Emphasis On [SIGH] AI

Learn how Chris Williams used ChatGPT to create a custom AI agent that answers questions, completes certain tasks, and Rickrolls its users. There Can Be Only One (Rickrolling AI Mentor) Chris Williams joins Ned and Chris this week to discuss the AI agent he recently created using ChatGPT. Ned kicks things off by filling us in on the history of AI from the early 20th century to today. This includes how early AI systems functioned, the role of deep learning models, and the impact of transformers....

This week on Tech News of The Week, Ned and Chris get some feedback from a listener, cover NIST’s new release, dispel some rumors about the death of tape, opine on the massive botnet takedown, and talk about an Apache project exploit. Links: NIST Releases new version of SP 800-171 The News Of Tape’s Death Is Much Exaggerated Massive Botnet Taken Down By The Treasury Department For Some Reason Some Apache Project With A Weird Name Is Being Actively Exploited

A review of the core keynote speeches at the 2024 RSA Conference and what they mean for IT defenders. I Didn’t Go To The RSA Conference So You Don’t Have To Didn’t make it to the 2024 RSA Conference? Well neither did Ned and Chris, but that’s not going to stop them from talking about it. This year’s theme was “The Art Of The Possible,” highlighting tech’s potential and the threats it faces. AI was a big topic with lots of talk about how both attackers and defenders are using it. The "Secure By ...

This week on Tech News of The Week Ned and Chris talk about an AI that no one likes seeking a buyer for a ridiculous amount of money, AI for terminal emulators, the deprecation of NTLM and VBScript, and a big recall from Microsoft. Links: AI Company No One Likes Seeking Buyer For Preposterous Amount AI Is Coming For Your… Terminal Emulator?? NTLM and VBScript Are Finally Being Deprecated Microsoft Decides To Take Its Spyware Reputation To The Next Level With Recall Leave us a Voice Mail! Go to...

The intricacies of DNS, exploring alternatives, and unpacking Microsoft's ZTDNS as they unravel the web of network naming. Digging Deeper Into DNS Building on their previous discussion, Ned and Chris explore lesser-known alternatives to DNS and the evolution of network security protocols. They discuss NetBIOS, a system developed by IBM for internal network communications, explaining how it handled name resolutions within smaller network segments in a noisy and often inefficient way. They also d...

This week on Tech News of The Week Ned and Chris discuss zScaler's security status, Asahi Linux's new milestone, vulnerabilities in VPNs related to DHCP, and Congress's failure to maintain broadband discounts. Links: zScaler Wasssssssssssss.. NOT Hacked. Or Were They? I Mean Probably Not But Still Asahi Linux Reaches New Milestone VPNs Attackable Via DHCP Mechanism That Has Little To Do With VPNs Congress Still Sucks - Drops Broadband Discount Ball

Ned and Chris discuss DNS’s importance, illuminating its role in networking and the need to enhance its security. The Internet's Phonebook In this episode of Chaos Lever, Ned and Chris dive into the world of DNS—the system that acts like the internet's phonebook by translating website names into IP addresses that computers understand. They explore the origins of DNS, its role in networking, and its evolution over the years. The duo also discusses the latest advancements in DNS security and how ...

This week on Tech News of The Week, Ned and Chris discuss zScaler's security status, Asahi Linux's new milestone, vulnerabilities in VPNs related to DHCP, and Congress's failure to maintain broadband discounts. Links: zScaler Wasssssssssssss.. NOT Hacked. Or Were They? I Mean Probably Not But Still Asahi Linux Reaches New Milestone VPNs Attackable Via DHCP Mechanism That Has Little To Do With VPNs Congress Still Sucks - Drops Broadband Discount Ball

Ned and Chris discuss the complexity and real-world implications of quantum computing. Quantum Queries In this episode of Chaos Lever, Ned and Chris explore quantum computing, unpacking the science of qubits and superpositions. They explain how quantum computers operate on principles fundamentally different from classical computers, highlighting this emerging technology's potential and limitations. Ned and Chris also tackle the excitement around quantum computing, discussing its slow progress a...

In this week's episode of Tech News of the week, Ned and Chris discuss various IT challenges, including secure naming conventions for S3 storage, issues with Windows patch updates, new UK regulations on default passwords, and the hype around a new sudo clone. Links: Careful With Your S3 Naming Another Day, Another Disastrous Windows Patch Bundle That Breaks Everything No More Terrible Default Passwords In The UK Another Day, Another sudo Clone That Everyone Thinks Will Take Over The World

Ned and Chris discuss IBM's acquisition of HashiCorp and the implications for the tech and DevOps communities. IBM’s $6.4 Billion Acquisition In this episode of Chaos Lever, Ned and Chris discuss IBM’s significant acquisition of HashiCorp, a deal valued at $6.4 billion. They look into the implications of this merger for the tech community, oversee HashiCorp's journey from Vagrant to the role of Terraform in infrastructure as code, and speculate on the future integration within IBM's ecosystem. ...

This week in Tech News of The Week Ned and Chris chat about generational divides in tech adoption, regulatory nods to competition, the retirement of quirky AWS hardware, and the looming uncertainty around a TikTok ban. Links: The Metaverse Is A Generational Thing, And We Ain’t That Generation FTC Agrees That Competition Is Good AWS Retires The Snowmobile Because Nothing In The World Is Fun Anymore TikTok Ban Appears Impotent, I Mean Imminent

The contentious debate about tabs vs. spaces in coding, breaking down its historical roots and current implications. Tabs vs. spaces This Chaos Lever episode explores the surprisingly intense debate around using tabs and spaces in programming. Ned and Chris cover the historical journey of coding practices from punch cards to modern coding environments. They discuss how seemingly small choices, like whether to use tabs or spaces, have great implications for code readability, maintenance, and eve...

This week in Tech News of The Week Ned and Chris discuss a variety of recent tech headlines, an influencer's negative impact on Humane AI, Google Drive's new dark mode, the controversial debut of Airchat, and the rising threat of the Latrodectus malware loader! Links: Humane AI Pin Sucks, Influencer Blamed For Killing Company Google Drive Gets Dark Mode; I’m Irrationally Excited About ItDark Reader Airchat Bursts Onto The Scene To Make Us All Dumber New Malware Loader Latrodectus Making More A...

Ned and Chris explore the curious origins of everyday tech terms, like "download" and "log in," and how they became part of our digital lives. Tech Etymology This episode of Chaos Lever examines the fascinating backstory behind standard tech terms. Ned and Chris discuss how these terms evolved from practical uses in the past to the digital expressions we use daily. This episode also touches on current events in the tech world, including Redis's licensing changes and HashiCorp's legal battles, p...