Shows
Technology BlowsHorizon Worlds: Mark Zuckerberg's legless VR utopia (Part 3)Suit up, jack in, and Zuck out. I'm joined by guest Anderson Gronvold as we abandon meatspace for metaspace. Find out why you can't afford to miss out on Meta's flagship VR experience. Legs optional! đŠ”References:Harris, Blake J. (2019). The History of the Future: Oculus, Facebook, and the Revolution That Swept Virtual Reality. Dey Street Books.https://about.fb.com/news/2021/10/creating-jobs-europe-metaverse/ https://apnews.com/article/the-facebook-papers-maid-abuse-94909f43c725af09522704348e35bd25 https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/09/facebook-reveals-staffing-plan-to-be-your-vr-chat-concierge-service/ https://atlantablackstar.com/2026/01/25/mark-zuckerberg-under-fire-after-hiring-trumps-former-adviser-as-meta-president/ https://bpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.m...
2026-02-251h 02
Technology BlowsHorizon Worlds: Mark Zuckerberg's legless VR utopia (Part 2)Suit up, jack in, and Zuck out. I'm joined by guest Anderson Gronvold as we abandon meatspace for metaspace. Find out why you can't afford to miss out on Meta's flagship VR experience. Legs optional! đŠ”References:Harris, Blake J. (2019). The History of the Future: Oculus, Facebook, and the Revolution That Swept Virtual Reality. Dey Street Books.https://about.fb.com/news/2021/10/creating-jobs-europe-metaverse/ https://apnews.com/article/the-facebook-papers-maid-abuse-94909f43c725af09522704348e35bd25 https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/09/facebook-reveals-staffing-plan-to-be-your-vr-chat-concierge-service/ https://atlantablackstar.com/2026/01/25/mark-zuckerberg-under-fire-after-hiring-trumps-former-adviser-as-meta-president/ https://bpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.m...
2026-02-181h 06
Technology BlowsHorizon Worlds: Mark Zuckerberg's legless VR utopia (Part 1)Suit up, jack in, and Zuck out. I'm joined by guest Anderson Gronvold as we abandon meatspace for metaspace. Find out why you can't afford to miss out on Meta's flagship VR experience. Legs optional! đŠ”References:Harris, Blake J. (2019). The History of the Future: Oculus, Facebook, and the Revolution That Swept Virtual Reality. Dey Street Books.https://about.fb.com/news/2021/10/creating-jobs-europe-metaverse/ https://apnews.com/article/the-facebook-papers-maid-abuse-94909f43c725af09522704348e35bd25 https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/09/facebook-reveals-staffing-plan-to-be-your-vr-chat-concierge-service/ https://atlantablackstar.com/2026/01/25/mark-zuckerberg-under-fire-after-hiring-trumps-former-adviser-as-meta-president/ https://bpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.m...
2026-02-111h 07
Technology BlowsKeurig: the Coffee Maker for People who Don't Give a ShitGive the gift of convenient garbage, with Keurig. This week, Xiao Yu joins us as we explore:How Keurig was born out of antisocial office culture and a deep ambivalence for qualityThe fascinating career of hippie-turned-billionaire-asshole-turned-has-been Bob StillerHow digital rights management disrupted the beverage industryReferences:Campbell's soup in a Keurig: https://youtu.be/N46K2CDoD0Mhttps://abcnews.go.com/Business/mr-coffee-inventor-convinced-joe-dimaggio-pitchman/story?id=32871845 https://archive.boston.com/business/articles/2011/08/07/the_inside_story_of_keurigs_rise_to_a_billion_dollar_coffee_empire/?page=full https://babelniche.com/2012/03/10/keurig-dumps-inventor-builds-millions-of-junk-coffee-makers/ https://commercial.keurig.com/content/sustainability https://corn...
2026-01-281h 24Technology BlowsCookies: How Ad Platforms Steal Your Mind (Part 2)The web didn't have to be this way. Friend-of-the-pod CJ Horton joins us for a look at cookies: the completely reasonable web protocol that became host to the parasitic ad industry.References:"Lou Montulli: Sexiest Internet Mogul." People. 15 November 1999.https://adtech.org/best-demand-side-platforms/https://www.wsj.com/articles/federal-agencies-use-cellphone-location-data-for-immigration-enforcement-11581078600http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/07/undeletable-cookie/https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/04/google-delays-third-party-cookie-death-again-now-scheduled-for-2025/https://arxiv.org/abs/cs/0105018https://blog.chromium.org/2020/04/temporarily-rolling-back-samesite.htmlhttps://blog.google/products/ads/next-steps-transparency-choice-control/https://blog.google/products/chrome/building-a-more-private-web/https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2109https://digiday.com/uk/all-you-need-to-know-about-europes-data-privacy-regulations/https://github...
2026-01-211h 19Technology BlowsCookies: How Ad Platforms Steal Your Mind (Part 1)The web didn't have to be this way. Friend-of-the-pod CJ Horton joins us for a look at cookies: the completely reasonable web protocol that became host to the parasitic ad industry.References:"Lou Montulli: Sexiest Internet Mogul." People. 15 November 1999.https://adtech.org/best-demand-side-platforms/https://www.wsj.com/articles/federal-agencies-use-cellphone-location-data-for-immigration-enforcement-11581078600http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/07/undeletable-cookie/https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/04/google-delays-third-party-cookie-death-again-now-scheduled-for-2025/https://arxiv.org/abs/cs/0105018https://blog.chromium.org/2020/04/temporarily-rolling-back-samesite.htmlhttps://blog.google/products/ads/next-steps-transparency-choice-control/https://blog.google/products/chrome/building-a-more-private-web/https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2109https://digiday.com/uk/all-you-need-to-know-about-europes-data-privacy-regulations/https://github...
2026-01-141h 07Technology BlowsKalshi: the Betting App that's Helping to Destroy DemocracyKalshi: is it "the first federally regulated prediction market," or just a shittier FanDuel? Join me and friend-of-the-pod Jeff Bonhag to learn:What modern science has in common with rolling fox knucklesHow Kalshi DOSed the Commodity Futures Trading CommissionWhy Donald Trump Jr is so interested in making prediction markets a thingReferences:https://blockworks.co/podcast/empire/fbd446de-a7e3-11f0-8d81-6380135dcd93 https://businesslawreview.uchicago.edu/print-archive/event-contracts-are-step-too-far-derivatives-regulation https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article-abstract/281/1784/20133305/77153/Decision-accuracy-in-complex-environments-is-often https://comments.cftc.gov/PublicComments/ViewComment.aspx?id=70788https://epicwins.io/2025/10/12/kalshi-raises-300m-and-expands-to-over-140-countries/ https://frontofficesports.com/kalshi-hit-with-nationwide-class-action-over-illegal-sports-betting/ https...
2026-01-071h 25Technology BlowsScantron: the Little Green Sheet that Ruined EducationThis week we're joined by Brandon Romano to learn about Scantron: the company that made ubiquitous standardized testing possible. Find out:How standardized tests were graded in the 1500s (hint: it involved throwing corpses over walls)Why the hideous pseudoscience of eugenics is weirdly load-bearing for the SATHow Scantron uses infrared light to transmute those little number-2 pencil marks into college rejection lettersReferences:https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/09/schools-standardized-testing-assessment-ai-future/675366/ https://blog.collegeboard.org/everything-you-need-know-about-digital-sat https://edscoop.com/scantron-how-colleges-handle-old-unwanted-tech/ https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2016/12/scantron-technology-creates-more-efficient-testing https://gizmodo.com/5908833/the-birth-of-scantrons-the-bane-of-standardized-testing https://patents.google.com/patent/US3050248A/en ...
2025-12-311h 15Technology BlowsShazam (Part 2)This week and last, I'm joined by singer-songwriter Rachel Kiel to talk about Shazam: the massive data analytics platform that occasionally tells you the names of songs. Find out:How they use computers to turn all your favorite songs into constellationsWhat other things you can Shazam, if you're not a music personWhat Shazam likes to do in its spare time, when you think it's not listening anymoreReferences:https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/11/24/shazam-for-ios-will-listen-to-songs-for-longer-before-giving-uphttps://appleinsider.com/articles/24/05/22/shazam-can-now-run-in-the-background-with-live-activitieshttps://daniellenewnham.medium.com/fostering-innovation-and-choosing-the-right-founding-team-6287f7eed9fhttps://d3.harvard.edu/platform-digit/submission/shazam-predictive-analysis-for-the-music-industry/https://patents.justia.com/inventor/avery-li-chun-wanghttps...
2025-12-1752 minTechnology BlowsShazam (Part 1)This week and next, I'm joined by singer-songwriter Rachel Kiel to talk about Shazam: the massive data analytics platform that occasionally tells you the names of songs. Find out:How they use computers to turn all your favorite songs into constellationsWhat other things you can Shazam, if you're not a music personWhat Shazam likes to do in its spare time, when you think it's not listening anymoreReferences:https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/11/24/shazam-for-ios-will-listen-to-songs-for-longer-before-giving-uphttps://appleinsider.com/articles/24/05/22/shazam-can-now-run-in-the-background-with-live-activitieshttps://daniellenewnham.medium.com/fostering-innovation-and-choosing-the-right-founding-team-6287f7eed9fhttps://d3.harvard.edu/platform-digit/submission/shazam-predictive-analysis-for-the-music-industry/https://patents.justia.com/inventor/avery-li-chun-wanghttps...
2025-12-101h 01Technology BlowsClippyIt looks like you're trying to listen to a podcast. Would you like some help with that? Join me and my guest Dana Vannen Anderson for the bizarre and frequently cringe story of Clippy, the paperclip that us helped write a thousand letters. Find out:Where we got the notion that your computer should act like a personWhy Microsoft ditched the idea of Clippy ever shutting the fuck upWhat celebrated actor brought the paperclip to life for Office XP's mortifying launch campaignReferences:https://arxiv.org/pdf/1301.7385https://jesse.cafe/blog/packard-bell-navigator/https://guidebookgallery.org/tutorials...
2025-12-031h 19
Bloomberg SurveillanceArtificial Intelligence Valuations and Previewing Black FridayWatch Tom and Paul LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF.Bloomberg Surveillance hosted by Tom Keene & Paul SweeneyWednesday November 26th, 2025Featuring:1) Dan Ives, Global Head of Tech Research at Wedbush Securities, discusses the AI Revolution2) Tiffany Yeh, Boston Consulting Group Managing Director, previews Black Friday3) Andrew Slimmon of Morgan Stanley Investment Management discusses markets 4) Stephany Chen, Senior Vice President at Trinity Investments, on the Holiday travel seasonSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2025-11-2632 minTechnology BlowsWashing machinesCome with me, and you'll be, in a world of squeezing/agitation! This week, Rit Breisler and I discuss washing machines. Learn:What fluid the ancient Romans used instead of detergent (hint: you're not gonna like it)What your washing machine's onboard computer is for (hint: computers don't wash clothes)Why washing machines have gotten so much more efficient in the last half century (hint: it's not the smartphone apps)References:https://eaglesanddragonspublishing.com/ancient-everyday-pee-and-laundry-in-the-roman-world/https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/washing-machines-vintage-photos/https://patents.google.com/patent/US966677A/enhttps://www.vox.com/future-perfect/374286/degrowth-economic-growth-washing-machines-electricity-global-povertyhttps://www.iheart.com/podcast/105...
2025-11-191h 18Technology BlowsJira (Part 2)Jira: the bloated tick gorging itself on the software industry. Join me and CJ Horton to learn about:Henry Gantt, the absolute chart simp who gave your boss the idea to ask you about your progress every half hourInfinite backlogs: where hope goes to quietly dieThe heartbreaking story of a billionaire's impostor syndromeReferences:https://www.seangoedecke.com/seeing-like-a-software-company/https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/atlassian-mike-cannon-brookes-and-scott-farquhar/id1150510297?i=1000508150130https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNBmHXS3A6Ihttps://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/inside-the-atlassian-fallout-between-mike-cannonbrookes-and-scott-farquhar/news-story/ed90506fec79ee023d6f856592893c21https://www.realestate.com.au/news/37...
2025-11-1255 minTechnology BlowsJira (Part 1)Jira: the bloated tick gorging itself on the software industry. Join me and CJ Horton to learn about:Henry Gantt, the absolute chart simp who gave your boss the idea to ask you about your progress every half hourInfinite backlogs: where hope goes to quietly dieThe heartbreaking story of a billionaire's impostor syndromeReferences:https://www.seangoedecke.com/seeing-like-a-software-company/https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/atlassian-mike-cannon-brookes-and-scott-farquhar/id1150510297?i=1000508150130https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNBmHXS3A6Ihttps://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/inside-the-atlassian-fallout-between-mike-cannonbrookes-and-scott-farquhar/news-story/ed90506fec79ee023d6f856592893c21https://www.realestate.com.au/news/37...
2025-11-0553 minTechnology BlowsSmart bedsIs the world ready for a mattress that snaps shut like a Venus fly trap whenever Amazon AWS is down? Jeff Bonhag and I decide!- The Bourbons: France's sleepiest monarchs- What kind of animal Peter Thiel sleeps inside- The $5000 AI-powered bed that saved DOGE, and also sometimes pisses itselfReferences:https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/04/140416-chimpanzees-trees-sleep-beds-animals-science/https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abc7239https://www.reddit.com/r/EightSleep/s/x1GIkFiHglhttps://aws.amazon.com/message/101925/https://www.404media.co/the-aws-outage-bricked-peoples-2-700-smartbeds/https://nymag.com/strategist/article/eight-sleep-pod-4...
2025-10-2958 minTechnology BlowsBuilt-in battery testersRemember those little strips that used to be on batteries, where you'd pinch it with your fingers and it'd say how much power it had left? This episode is about those! Join me and my buddy Manuel Wudka-Robles as we talk about:Why rivals Duracell and Energizer both announced versions of this feature on the same exact dayHow it workedWhy they're not around anymoreReferences:https://tedium.co/2021/01/20/on-battery-power-meter-history/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-herald-duracell-competing-pate/68078245/https://patents.google.com/patent/US5015544A/enhttps://patents.google.com/patent/US5059895A/enhttps://www.wsj.com/articles/SB884214290310763000https...
2025-10-2252 minTechnology BlowsWireless headphones (Part 2)I sit down with my good friend Stephen Lauck to talk about wireless headphones â or, as we like to think of them, headphones with invisible wires.We cover:Mark Zuckerberg's stupid glassesNathan Baldwin, the theoretical polygamist who invented headphonesThe first stereo headphones, made by KossThe 1/8" audio jackThe WalkmanThe regulation of the radio spectrum (chart)Ether landlordsBluetoothThe iPhone 7 (the first iPhone without an 1/8" audio jack)References:https://hifisoundgear.com/blogs/basics-and-beyond/when-was-the-headphone-jack-inventedhttps://www.headphonesty.com/2021/05/when-were-headphones-invented/https://patents.google.com/patent/US454138A/enhttps://web.archive.org/web/20090911070726/http://www.historytogo.utah.gov/salt_lake_tr...
2025-10-151h 18Technology BlowsWireless headphones (Part 1)I sit down with my good friend Stephen Lauck to talk about wireless headphones â or, as we like to think of them, headphones with invisible wires.We cover:Mark Zuckerberg's stupid glassesNathan Baldwin, the theoretical polygamist who invented headphonesThe first stereo headphones, made by KossThe 1/8" audio jackThe WalkmanThe regulation of the radio spectrum (chart)Ether landlordsBluetoothThe iPhone 7 (the first iPhone without an 1/8" audio jack)References:https://hifisoundgear.com/blogs/basics-and-beyond/when-was-the-headphone-jack-inventedhttps://www.headphonesty.com/2021/05/when-were-headphones-invented/https://patents.google.com/patent/US454138A/enhttps://web.archive.org/web/20090911070726/http://www.historytogo.utah.gov/salt_lake_tr...
2025-10-081h 04
The BugBash PodcastNo really, some bugs arenât realWhen is a bug not really a bug? In this episode, host David Wynn talks with SRE veteran Dan Slimmon about a radical idea: chasing perfect code might not be the best way to make your service reliable.Dan argues that once your code is "good enough," most outages aren't caused by code defects. They're caused by weird interactions between different parts of a system or by users doing things you would never expect. He shares wild stories from his career, including how a tiny database hiccup created a massive, repeating traffic jam and how a single...
2025-09-1841 min
Humans of ReliabilityScientific Incident Management with Dan SlimmonDan Slimmon is an incident management veteran who's worked at Etsy, HashiCorp, and now leads consulting and training on pragmatic, non-bureaucratic incident response. In this episode, Dan shares his philosophy on "scientific incident response," the importance of hypothesis-driven troubleshooting, and why incidents should be seen as normal in complex systems. We also explore:Why asking the right questions is more important than knowing all the answers. How to use nerd sniping to unlock insights from engineers. Common failure patterns he sees across organizations. EPISODE LINKS: Video and key takeaways D2E Incident Leaders...
2025-03-1437 min
Software Delivery in Small BatchesIncidents & Operations with Dan SlimmonIn this episode, Adam welcomes Dan Slimmon, an experienced Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) to discuss aspects of incident response and troubleshooting in software engineering. Dan explains his methodology for clinical troubleshooting, the importance of maintaining a common mental model, and techniques for leading effective incident response efforts. They also delve into the value of continuous ops reviews and ongoing mental model updates to prevent issues, emphasizing the need for structured processes and effective communication.Want more?đ New listener? Start with the introduction.đ Enter the FREE giveaway for a copy of "Release It!"đ§ Get the Small Batches Way guide...
2024-08-111h 01
The Debrief by incident.ioUsing clinical troubleshooting to diagnose incidents faster with SRE Dan SlimmonItâs no secret that teamwork is one of those things that, when done right, can make a world of a difference.Â
So sometimes, when responding to a particularly complicated incident, it can be best to bring a team together to figure out whatâs going on and work towards a fix.Â
But itâs not enough to just jam a bunch of folks into a room and hope for the best. You need a framework in place to ensure that everyone stays focused, diagnoses the issue and resolves it as quickly as possible.Â
And for...
2024-05-0639 min
Slight ReliabilitySlight Reliability Episode 84 - Clinical Troubleshooting with Dan SlimmonSend a textThis week I chat with Dan Slimmon about applying the approach doctors use to treat patient symptoms during incident response.You can find Dan's blog at https://blog.danslimmon.com/ or connect with him on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danslimmon/You can find the official Slight Reliability podcast website at: https://slightreliability.com/You can find Stephen at:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephentownshend/Twitter: https://twitter.com/the_kiwi_sreYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SlightReliabilityInstagram...
2024-03-3027 min
Runtime Rundown - JavaScript and Web DevelopmentBe a Great Rubber DuckIn this episode we give you "3 questions that will make you a phenomenal rubber duck" by Dan Slimmon. The ancient art of âRubber duck debuggingâ is explaining, out-loud, a difficult problem that youâre stuck on. We cover how to be the best rubber duck out there with these three great questions to ask, as well a bunch of tips and tricks from our own rubber ducking experiences.
2024-01-3044 min
Unlocking the CageCity of Angels with Dan Slimmon and Rachel KielLetâs all go back to 1998 and have a good cry with City of Angels, the movie you definitely owned the soundtrack for. We have Meg Ryanâs Maggie, a tortured surgeon who rides Chekovâs bike and doesnât ask a lot of questions about her mysterious new boyfriend. She falls in love with Cageâs Seth, a hirsute yet childlike angel who only has one outfit, can read all of her thoughts and literally stalks her. This will surely end well! Our guests this week are âguy we knowâ Dan Slimmon and songwriter and musician Rachel Kiel.
2021-03-021h 41
Unlocking the CageCity of Angels with Dan Slimmon and Rachel KielLetâs all go back to 1998 and have a good cry with City of Angels, the movie you definitely owned the soundtrack for. We have Meg Ryanâs Maggie, a tortured surgeon who rides Chekovâs bike and doesnât ask a lot of questions about her mysterious new boyfriend. She falls in love with Cageâs Seth, a hirsute yet childlike angel who only has one outfit, can read all of her thoughts and literally stalks her. This will surely end well! Our guests this week are âguy we knowâ Dan Slimmon and songwriter and musician Rachel Kiel.
2021-03-021h 41