Episode: 77

Last week, I attended Edge Field Day 2 remotely, and I wanted to share what I learned and the vendors who presented. In case you didn���t know, Edge Field Day is part of the Tech Field Day series of events put on my Gestalt IT. Other variations include Security Field Day, Cloud Field Day, and Mobility Field Day.

The vendors that present at these events are focused on the theme of the field day and how their solutions tackle the unique challenges of that theme. As implied by the name, Edge Field Day is focused on Edge computing. And this is only the second iteration, implying that Edge is a relatively new topic.

Intro and outro music by James Bellavance copyright 2022

Episode: 012

Intro and outro music by Ned Bellavance copyright 2022

Episode: 76

Last week we touched briefly on the OSI model of understanding the different layers of networking infrastructure. Ned, being right for once, pointed out that the model is a little, shall we say, fuzzy, on the difference (and the importance of separating) some of the layers.

One thing he didn���t mention is that the OSI model is not the only model that describes networking, and that some, like the TCP model actually only has 4 layers, combining the 7 in OSI (Ed.- I did mention this, but apparently someone wasn’t paying attention). In any case, it got me to thinking; considering the cloud-first world that we live in now��� how many people really know how the lowest layers of any model work. How the hell does my computer connect to your computer, like, physically?

The answer? Mostly, long-ass cables in the ocean.

Intro and outro music by James Bellavance copyright 2022

Episode: 011

Intro and outro music by Ned Bellavance copyright 2022

Episode: 75

Did I go for a three hour trail run this past weekend? Did I also forget to pack my earbuds? Are you about to reap the whirlwind? The answers to these questions all happen to be yes, so get in loser, we���re going on a philosophical adventure. Orange Julius optional.

The realm of information technology is littered with analogies and models. And that���s in large part because the actual implementation of tech involves a lot of foreign concepts and ideas to the lay-person, so to ease them into the hellscape of modern IT, we use cozy analogies like a warm electric blanket, and models to pretend there���s some kind of structure in the churning morass of technobabble.

Analogies are incredibly useful for understanding unfamiliar things, but they do have limitations. There is generally no perfect analogy, and once you apply stress, you���ll see where the cracks and faults lie, just like a circuit board that operates under inhospitable conditions. Connections are faulty, logic stops flowing from one contact to another, and I dunno some third thing about how capacitors are catalysts for change. Oh wait, did I just stretch an analogy about analogies using a circuit board analogy that failed under stress? Goddammit I���m good.

So, I thought we could look at two classic models and analogies in IT and discuss a little about where they succeed, where they fail, and examine why sometimes you just have to come to things on their own terms.

Intro and outro music by James Bellavance copyright 2022

Episode: 010

Intro and outro music by Ned Bellavance copyright 2022

Episode: 74

Well, ok, it���s not deprecated yet. It���s been marked ���obsolete.��� And it���s the end of a crazy tale that is a lot about technology in the early phases of Linux becoming mainstream, and also a liiiiiiiittle bit about, well. Let���s just say that there was some ���unpleasantness��� surrounding the namesake of the filesystem that greatly contributed to its downfall. But we���ll get to that.

Intro and outro music by James Bellavance copyright 2022

Episode: 009

Intro and outro music by Ned Bellavance copyright 2022

Episode: 73

It���s been a while since we really harped on the whole Advertising Company Google thing, and that���s because we���ve been busy watching Elon absolutely destroy what little good was in Twitter to begin with, observing Microsoft stomp the yard of infosec rakes so hard Sideshow Bob would be impressed, and of course complaining about kids these days and their AI web3 NFT drones. Or something.

But believe it or not, Google is still a gigantic company worth $1.72T, and the vast majority of their revenue and most of their profit comes from selling ads. Hence the moniker Advertising Company Google. Now that���s exhausting to type and say every time, so I���m just going to shorten it to Google, with the understanding that advertising company is implied. Savvy? Excellent.

Intro and outro music by James Bellavance copyright 2022

Episode: 008

Intro and outro music by Ned Bellavance copyright 2022