• Jack's Rants - Floppy Disks at 35000 Feet - Why Boeing 747s Still Use Floppy Disks for Flight Management Systems
    2026/04/20

    The Boeing 747 is often cited online as proof that aviation still runs on floppy disks — but the reality is a bit more nuanced. In this Rant, we take a closer look at how certain older aircraft, particularly some 747-400 configurations, still use floppy disks to load navigation data into their Flight Management Systems. It's not about being outdated — it's about reliability, certification, and systems that have proven themselves over decades of operation.

    We also compare this against the wider IT world, where legacy systems continue to power critical operations for the exact same reasons. From aviation to enterprise IT, the story isn't about old technology refusing to die — it's about why replacing it is often far more complicated than it seems.

    00:00 Old Tech in Flight
    01:14 747-400 Spotlight
    02:17 Why Floppy Disks?
    03:48 Industry Examples
    07:48 IT World Mirror
    09:22 Modern Tensions
    09:58 Lighthearted Wrap

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    11 分
  • The Failover That Failed Successfully - Lessons from a Successfully Failed Disaster Recovery and Failover Test
    2026/04/06

    Conducted during a busy release weekend, the failover test exposed gaps not in the technology itself, but in coordination and communication. While production ultimately stayed unaffected, the situation quickly escalated as subcontractors weren't aligned, assumptions didn't match reality, and information didn't flow when it mattered most.

    We unpack how a well-intentioned test turned into a coordination challenge, where timing, dependencies, and unclear responsibilities created confusion across teams. It's a story about how resilience isn't just about systems and infrastructure, but also about people, processes, and making sure everyone is on the same page — especially when things are supposed to "just be a test."

    00:00 Welcome & Setup
    01:34 Corporate Environments
    03:30 Failover Planning
    07:19 Double Disaster
    09:08 Critical Failure
    13:20 Realization Moment
    15:28 Split Brain
    17:34 The Recovery
    21:13 Lessons Learned
    31:32 Conclusion

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    33 分
  • Jack's Rants - IT Hiring Chaos – The Strange State of the Tech Job Market
    2026/03/12

    In this short episode, Jack takes a look at the current state of the IT hiring market — where job postings seem plentiful, but actual opportunities often feel strangely elusive. From "entry-level" roles asking for a decade of experience to companies searching for the mythical full-stack, cloud, DevOps, security expert all in one person, we discuss the growing gap between job descriptions and reality. With a bit of sarcasm and a lot of firsthand observation, we unpack what's going on in tech hiring right now and why so many professionals feel like the market has become a puzzle nobody quite understands.

    00:00 Introduction
    00:39 Market Struggles
    02:22 Hardware Shortages
    02:56 Merged Roles
    05:12 Interview Issues
    08:31 AI's Impact
    10:18 Conclusion

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    12 分
  • Raspberry Mistery - 200 Techs Using A Single Raspberry Pi: The Temporary Server That Failed
    2026/03/02

    A few hundred field engineers. Real humans. With vans. And jobs. All coordinated by a device roughly the size of a coaster and powered by something suspiciously similar to a phone charger.


    For months, it runs slow but flawlessly. Tickets dispatched. Routes optimized. Managers happy. The tiny silicon hero hums along in its noble plastic case, bravely pretending it's not one 'apt upgrade' away from a crisis.


    Join us as we unravel the mystery, debate the true definition of "production-ready," and ask the question no one wanted to say out loud.

    00:00 Welcome Back
    01:23 Shadow IT Chaos
    05:18 Major Outage
    12:04 Data Center Discovery
    17:59 Where's the Server?
    19:58 Raspberry Pi Reveal
    25:13 Migration Success
    30:36 Closing Thoughts

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    32 分
  • Jack's Rants - Batch Job Blues - Why Mainframes And Banks Still Rule The World
    2026/02/10

    Jack's Rants dives into the world of banking mainframes and the batch jobs that quietly keep everything moving — until one of them doesn't. What starts as a routine overnight run turns into a multiple transactions on thousands of accounts that didnt happen in the real world, but the mainframe says something else.


    00:00 Rant Kickoff
    01:23 Transaction Glitch
    03:14 Batch Job Drama
    05:23 Mainframe Pros
    07:33 Wrap Up

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    9 分
  • Welcome to IT Horror Stories with Jack Smith
    1 分
  • Surviving the Anonymous DDOS - How We Survived the Traffic Flood from Anonymous
    2026/02/02

    This episode we unpack what a DDoS attack actually is, using the specter of Anonymous as a cultural touchstone rather than a how-to villain. We talk about why high-profile groups target services, what it feels like in real time when traffic spikes and systems start gasping, and how panic can make things worse.

    Instead of glorifying attackers, we center on mindset: staying calm, recognizing early warning signs, and understanding the difference between noise and a true outage.

    The takeaway isn't technical bravado; it's preparedness. By the end of the episode, "surviving" a DDoS means knowing how to keep your service, your team, and your reputation intact when the internet decides to stress-test you all at once.

    00:00 Hello & Introduction
    00:51 The Anonymous Attack
    06:19 Unprepared Response
    13:52 DDoS Solutions
    16:08 Smart Attacks
    25:06 Evolution of Protection
    33:11 Risk & Insurance
    34:52 Podcast Wrap-Up

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    36 分
  • Shadow IT Reports - Why you should not have a "Quick Sales Tool" in production
    2026/01/07

    We dive into the familiar chaos of Shadow IT created by the sales department — well-intentioned, fast-moving, and completely invisible until something breaks. A "quick tool" turns into a critical system overnight, contracts appear after go-live, and IT is asked to secure, integrate, and support something it never approved or even knew existed. It's a story about speed versus control, good intentions with bad outcomes, and why Shadow IT doesn't start with malice — it starts with urgency.

    00:00 Podcast Kickoff
    01:11 What is Shadow IT
    02:44 Sales Server Disaster
    12:57 Data Migration Drama
    23:45 Luck and Lessons
    25:15 Common Shadow IT
    26:58 Management Irony
    28:02 Final Thoughts

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    30 分