Episode 36: Maybe Skynet is just malware battling each other

Download: Episode 36.

This week Audrey and I chat about all things WannaCry, Google’s tensor processing units, and Panic’s stolen source code. Enjoy!

Show Notes

Things we like on the internet this week:

catclick on Twitter: “So determined to fit https://t.co/TtQlLWr2Lc”

Community Announcements

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The Recompiler podcast is available on iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher, and Google Play where you can listen, subscribe, like, and share episodes.

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Issue 7: Security shipping now!

Subscribe now to get your copy!

For this issue, we focus on how we can make our technical world more secure. Our authors consider threat models and the best tools, the needs of vulnerable populations and what we can do for our friends.

Privacy Is Hard Work by S.E. Hackney
Cellphones: Friend or Foe? by Kenna Warsinske
Build Your Own Chat System with Jabber / XMPP by Silke Meyer
A Brief Introduction to Cookies by Tara Adiseshan and Jen Kagan
When Power Matters: Designing tech for high risk contexts by Zara Rahman and Tom Walker
An Overview of Encrypted Email with GPG by Norman Shamas
But It Doesn’t Have Gifs! Moving privacy, anonymity, and anti-surveillance tools into the mainstream by Gem Barrett
Security Is Hard, Let’s Stop Talking by Audrey Eschright

Call for contributors for Issue 9: Hard Problems

Have you heard this one before? “There are only two hard problems in computer science: cache invalidation, naming things, and off-by-one errors.” The idea for our next issue started when your editor was talking to someone who said, “you could do a whole issue on timezones.” So yes, why not?

What makes a ‘hard problem’ has as much to do with our own knowledge and experience as the fundamental limits of computing. Some things are hard because we don’t know how yet. Some problems are hard because we’re not sure if it’s even possible. And some are hard because we’re people.

Here’s a few ideas to get you started:

What keeps computer scientists up at night
The thing I haven’t learned yet
Timezones: why???
Common errors (and fixes)
Apologizing for your mistakes

We look for ideas that will be effective at an advanced beginner to intermediate level of technical knowledge, and that are grounded in the author’s personal experiences. We’re especially interested in work from people who are part of under-represented groups in technology. Contributors are paid.

Find the details and submit your ideas at https://recompilermag.com/participate/. Submissions are open through June 14.

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