The Killing IT Podcast

Topic 1:  Shredding the Myth of Anonymity in Bitcoin    Wired recently published a long, detailed story of how law enforcement agencies around the world collaborated to bring down the largest child abuse sex network in history. One key element in this take-down is the “trick” of turning bitcoin from an anonymous tool into a perfect record of evidence. This story truly is the modern equivalent of t...

Topic 1:  Found all those Great Resignators: They’re working somewhere else. Looks like a basic shake-up that forced a number of employers to treat their employees like humans. Maybe, and we're only speculating here, the working person realizes they don't have to work somewhere that has no decent pay, no decent benefits, no decent work evironment, and so on...Maybe. Consistent data shows that this...

Topic 1:  Ransomware leads to the first casualty in the higher education market as Lincoln College closes permanently due to cyberattack in December 2021. Who was their MSP … and why was there not a plan in place? Ten years ago, a system failure of more than 24 hours could mean the end of your business. Today, with ransomeware on the rise, what are the odds of hundreds of schools, hospitals, busin...

Topic 1:  Colloquium: What do we think the permanent changes are to “the workplace” after the pandemic. What percentage will go back? Is hybrid permanent forever? Has the concept of office changed forever from a technology perspective? If yes, was this something we should have seen coming and covid just sped it up? What’s next that we might not have seen coming?     Topic 2: Declaration for the Fu...

Topic 1: Should businesses embrace or avoid social media? Can we talk about “social media” without focusing too much on Elon? I think we all love the concept of the Marketplace of Ideas...but the Internet somehow turns that into silos of sewage.  With Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit, the marketplace allows ignorance and stupidity to win. Maybe they even enhance the ability of misinformation to be ta...

Topic 1: Hospital Robots Are Helping Combat a Wave of Nurse Burnout Moxi and other delivery-focused assistants have become even more critical as the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed health care workers to their limits. https://www.wired.com/story/moxi-hospital-robot-nurse-burnout-health-care/   Topic 2: DHS investigators say they foiled cyberattack on undersea internet cable in Hawaii https://www.cybe...

Topic 1: Changing language to avoid censors https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/04/08/algospeak-tiktok-le-dollar-bean/   Topic 2: The rise of the 9pm work hour https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/04/triple-peak-day-work-from-home/629457/   Topic 3: Russian Tech Migrating by the Thousands Between 50,000 and 70,000 tech workers have already fled Russia, and 70,000 to 100,...

Topic 1: Without a federal privacy law… what’s our take? https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/04/05/fbi-is-spending-millions-social-media-tracking-software/   Keeping up with the Joneses (NSA):  https://www.wired.com/story/inside-the-nsas-secret-tool-for-mapping-your-social-network/ Topic 2: Does Quantum Computing really have a hype problem?     https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/03/28/...

Topic 1: “Return on Character” Exchange Traded Fund focuses on companies run by a character! But, somehow, Tesla and Meta are not part of the index. Perhaps too much character is just too much. Links: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220324005096/en/ROC-Investments-Launches-the-World%E2%80%99s-First-%E2%80%98Return-On-Character%C2%AE%E2%80%99-ETF   Related article from Harvard on the role...

Topic 1: The big switch-off: Workers want a legal right to ignore out of hours emails The majority of employees would support a new law giving them a 'right to disconnect' from workplace communications. Links:  https://www.zdnet.com/article/right-to-disconnect-workers-want-a-legal-right-to-ignore-emails-from-their-boss/ Topic 2: TSA allows Arizonians to use their e-drivers license TSA enables Ariz...

Topic 1: Public Databases Stumble into War in Ukraine Early in the Ukraine invasion, Google Maps and Flight Radar 24 found that their data were being used by the Russians to view auto and air traffic inside Ukraine. We've touched on related topics like this for years, so we weren't super surprised. Links: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/02/25/google-maps-ukraine-invasion/   https://...

Topic 1: Hackers without Borders - Welcome to 21st Century Warfare A new humintarian group emerges in the wake of armed conflicts in Ukraine. Hackers without Borders aim to aid victims of war via the cyberworld.  https://portswigger.net/daily-swig/were-firefighters-for-victims-of-armed-conflict-hackers-without-borders-co-founder-on-ngos-timely-arrival Topic 2:  Microsoft finds itself in the middle...

Special guest co-host: Susanne Tedrick - Principal Infrastructure Specialist; Azure for Sports - Microsoft | LinkedIn Topic 1: Texas Sues Meta Over Facial Recognition Texas is suing over past use of facial recognition technology. The suit accuses Facebook of violating the state's privacy laws by capturing biometric data on tens of millions of Texans without properly obtaining consent.  https://www...

Topic 1: Fusion Energy Will Save The World (Eventually) The most successful nuclear fusion test shows impressive progress and potential at the JET tokamak reactor in the UK. Link:  https://www.science.org/content/article/european-fusion-reactor-sets-record-sustained-energy   Topic 2: Monitoring vs Observability We are quickly moving into a new era when it comes to monitoring technology. In fact, w...

Topic 1: Nike Sues StockX for NFT Sale of Their shoes Follow this story if you can. Strictly speaking, an NFT is simply a blockchain receipt that you own a specific thing. StockX sells NFTs that are actually fungible. You can trade you NFT for a physical shoe they hold in a locker for you. Google Nike StockX NFT and you’ll see ads from StockX that use the Nike name and images. But they are not an...

Topic 1: $3.6 Bil in Stolen Bitcoin Recovered $900,000,000 still missing. Bad news: blockchain doesn’t stop people from stealing your stuff. Good news: Once the government finds it, they can prove exactly where it was stolen. Surprisingly normal money laundering techniques. - https://www.barrons.com/articles/bitcoin-hack-cryptocurrency-justice-department-51644340993   Topic 2: Do we have a trust d...

Topic 1: The “Antiwork” movements, The Great Resignation, and the stupidest movement in America You've seen the movement. But you may have missed the Reddit page. Did you miss the anti-work interview gone wrong? Check out  https://mashable.com/article/antiwork-subreddit-fox-news-interview   With some counterpoints on loyalty: https://www.businessinsider.com/companies-loyalty-employers-workers-empl...

Topic 1: Is 2022 the Year to Embrace the Grind? Is this your year to take on big challenges, set the cruise control, or something else? This topic was inspired by our friend TC Doyle at Channelnomics. “Not every year or period is destined to be a transformative one. For every 1945, 1989, or 2001, there are plenty of 1913s, 1953s, and 2005s.” https://channelnomics.com/2022/01/embrace-the-grind-that...

Recorded as "Killing IT Live" - and then we picked out these three topics. Sponsor Memo: Cisco Did you know Cisco helps Managed Services Providers directly? Know about the Cisco Partner Program? Focused on helping partners combine managed services expertise and service creation with innovative Cisco technology and proven go-to-market resources, there’s a program option for you. With provider prici...

Announcement: Do not miss Killing IT Live! next Wednesday. Register at https://www.killingitlive.com .  Topic 1: Sonos Patent Infringement Sonos has a major win against Google in their patent infringement. We this to launch into a discussion of patents (use and abuse) in the technology industries. Link: https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/6/22871121/sonos-google-patent-itc-ruling-decision-import-ban  ...

Reminder: Killing IT Live is January 19th Register now http://killingitlive.com/   ----- Topic 1: A Dose Of Reality: Big Promises vs. Small Results in Emerging Tech Money makes innovation possible. But there seems to be a disconnect between big, big investments and successful innovations. We look at the failure of big market growth through actual, tangible products. How do we reconcile this divide...

Note: Don't miss Killing IT Live - January 19th at 9am Pacific - Register now at https://killingitlive.com   Topic 1: The “Cyberdemic” will continue, according to Experian. Record breaking number on cyber breaches. Many elements conspire against us. What can you do? Link: https://www.bloomberg.com/press-releases/2021-12-06/the-cyberdemic-will-continue-according-to-the-2022-experian-data-breach-ind...

Note: Don't miss Killing IT Live - January 19th at 9am Pacific - Register now at https://killingitlive.com   Topic 1: Is troubleshooting possible when complicated becomes complex? If no one person can make a technology, can anyone fix it? What does complexity mean for our industry? Will we need to change our troubleshooting practices going forward? Give us your feedback. Link: https://thenewstack....

Topic 1: Fake Fake news . . . Birds Aren’t Real Birds Aren’t Real, or Are They? Inside a Gen Z Conspiracy Theory. Links: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/09/technology/birds-arent-real-gen-z-misinformation.html https://birdsarentreal.com/   Topic 2: China uses American influencers to promote their version of reality Links: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/12/13/technology/china-propaganda-y...

Topic 1: F.T.C. Sues to Stop Blockbuster Chip Deal Between Nvidia and Arm Arm provides technology that other chip makers need. Does this give Nvidia an unfair advantage? And is the merger a completely unnecessary move prompted by the need for investors to show a profit? What is the channel takeaway? Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/02/technology/ftc-nvidia-arm-deal.html   Topic 2: What will s...