The Hacks

It's time for part-2 of a conversation that was started in last week's episode of The Hacks.

Last week, Tom and Chunga asked the question--why is SAAS so misunderstood? In part-1, it was decided that at one point or another, everyone in the tech space will get the definition of SAAS wrong. This happens because SAAS is such a broad term.

In this episode, Tom and Chunga are going to specifically talk about SAAS as it applies to enterprise and the corporate environment. It's no secret that Tom is an authority on enterprise-level SAAS and can help clear up the confusion.  Listen now!

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Today on The Hacks, Tom and Chunga are talking about something that Chunga says is the most confused and misunderstood segment of the tech space. 

Why is this thing so misunderstood? Primarily because it's so broad that everyone has their own definition of it! In this episode of The Hacks, Tom and Chunga are talking about SAAS. 

SAAS (software as a service) can mean many different things. It's a philosophy, a product type, and a technology, amongst other things. Tom says that the proper definition of SAAS starts with you understanding your own business model and that's why the vast majority of SAAS offerings fail.  Listen now to learn more!

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Chunga feels a little intimidated about this episode. Today, he and Tom are going to climb into the dark recesses of the mind of a software engineer! They're talking about the balance of product and engineering.

Where do most engineers start their process of innovation?  Do they start with a big imagination and a blank piece of paper, or do they start with a specific goal in mind? Tom says that question has no answer. Sometimes an engineer can start a project with one goal or product in mind, and it ultimately winds up becoming something else entirely. It's almost as if the project takes on a life of its own. A talented engineer will have the ability to feel and hear what this new product needs or wants from its creator. It may sound corny but it's true! Tom also says if you fail to find the true balance between innovation and what the product needs, you'll fail.  Most likely because the product will be over-engineered.

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After taking a short break, thanks to Chunga getting the CoronaVirus, The Hacks has returned!

In this episode, Tom and Chunga are talking about something we've all had to go through--a launch that goes bad. It's happened to all of us, Chunga thinks that most launches tend to either go sideways or at the very least don't go as expected.

So, what do you do when this happens? Since every launch is different, there's not really a playbook or checklist to help fix things quickly! Tom says that's actually a good thing. When fixing a bad launch, "quick fixes" often leads to bigger problems and makes things much worse. With that said, he does have some advice for the next time you have to deal with your own bad launch. Listen now!

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Chunga can tell Tom hasn't slept well over the past few days. Typically, when he's sleep-deprived, his brain tends to drift and focus on strange things like conspiracy theories.

This time, Tom is obsessing over passwords. Thanks to his history in the U.S. intelligence community, he knows all too well how inaccurate and off-the-mark most conspiracy theories actually are.  In truth, the real stuff is much, much worse--especially when it comes to passwords.

Do you know how all of your secret data is managed? Do you really? In this episode of The Hacks, Tom and Chunga talk about how fragile and vulnerable your passwords are!  Listen now to find out!

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Tom and Chunga are breaking their own cardinal rule on this episode of The Hacks!

You all know they both love open source and that Tom is a bit of a rock star in the space, but that doesn't mean that they believe open source is perfect; quite the contrary. The truth is, they think there are several things, and one in particular the open source does very poorly. 

Tom and Chunga take the to talk about that "one thing" and break down all the reasons why open source will never be able to do it correctly.  Listen now!

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Tom and Chunga have a question for all of you. A few days ago, they saw a news story that talked about the rapid decline of covid cases around the U.S. The main focus of this story was the growing concern over mental stability as people start returning to the workplace. Do you think tech professionals, such as yourself, effectively go back to working in an office?

The position taken in this news story was that no, it's a bad idea to go back to a traditional office environment. Productivity would suffer, quality of work would suffer and employee psychology would take the biggest hit of all. Do you agree?

Chunga agrees with this assessment entirely.  What does Tom think? As you know, he hates dealing in absolutes and making blanket statements but he does have some strong opinions about this subject that may surprise you. Listen now!

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Not too long ago, there was a story that made all of the industry trade publications. Elasticsearch created a huge stir by moving the core of their stack from Apache 2 to a registered license. Every time a large company does something like this, people instantly begin asking the question "are open source databases dead?"

When experts pose this question, are they doing it to garner attention and create drama for the sake of their publication? Tom Hatch has some opinions about that and he explains why these kinds of shifts happen within our industry, to begin with. SPOILER, Tom says this is nothing new and has been taking place since the 1980s. While that may be the case, are things different nowadays?  In today's world, can these shifts signal the death of the open source database?  Listen NOW to find out!

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In the last episode of The Hacks, Tom & Chunga were about programming languages that Tom feels are the best--the ones that everybody needs to know fluently. 

This week however, it's time to explore the seedy underbelly of the bad programming languages. The ones that turn Tom Hatch into a hater! He gets a rare chance to reveal the program languages that he feels are really awful and a waste of everyone's time!

Why does Tom hate them so bad? Why does he think these languages are such a waste of time? Listen now to find out!

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Chunga is going to force Tom to do something he hates and typically avoids at all costs.  He's going to make Tom voice a strong opinion and talk about programming languages he thinks everyone needs to learn.

Surprisingly, this won't be a problem for Tom because there are a few he loves and encourages everyone to embrace. There are also many more that horrible and drive him crazy! His opinions are so strong on this matter that The Hacks will have to split this topic into two parts! 

In this first episode, Tom and Chunga will discuss the programming languages that are (according to Tom) essential to know because of their popularity and performance as well as their ability to make you look more attractive to potential employers. Listen now!

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