Menu
We’re approaching Episode 100. Also planning a big year-end podcast. Always stay tuned.
Topic 1: Burnout in a Pandemic World … and What to Do About It
Okay. It’s been nine months of being shut in. This is getting old. What does that really look like? What the best way to deal with it? We explore.
Related articles:
https://www.axios.com/work-burnout-economic-growth-d45b9a7a-f6bb-4b69-9306-cc85e17a1813.html
https://insights.dice.com/2020/12/07/employees-at-apple-google-big-tech-were-feeling-demotivated/
Topic 2: Data centers aren’t dead
But they’ll never look the same again. Data center in a box becomes reality.
https://www.protocol.com/manuals/new-enterprise/data-centers-hybrid-cloud
Topic 3: Uber Exits the Self-Driving Car Race
. . . well, mostly. Kinda. Uber sold off their self-driving department . . . to a company they have a huge stake in. So they continue to flop around trying to figure out what their business model is.
https://www.wired.com/story/uber-gives-up-self-driving-dream/
— — —
Sponsor note:
Gozynta Mobius – the easiest way for ConnectWise Manage and QuickBooks online to connect. Keep invoices, expenses, and inventory automatically updated right from Manage to QuickBooks Online, and payments right back into Manage. With simple pricing, set it and forget it auto sync, Gozynta Mobius delivers with no restrictions on the number of invoices, expenses and payments, and plays well with others like ConnectBooster. Trusted by over a thousand MSPs. now introducing a free plan, go to gozynta.com/mobius, and tell them Killing IT sent you.
🙂
We continue to hear challenges from IT Service Providers getting their SMB clients to adopt MFA practices. As crazy as it sounds, adding that extra step in the authentication process is just too much to ask.
Brian catches up with David Barton, CTO with HighWire Networks and Michael Roth, CEO of EVO Security to discuss making 2 Factor easy to adopt and incorporate into your client’s stack. David explains it nicely as the 80/20 rule with MFA taking care of 80% so that you can focus on the harder 20% of active threats.
Looking forward to Episode 100! As we close in on the end of 2020, we are also fast approaching our 100th episode.
Thank you for following us, sharing our podcasts, and giving us the big thumbs-up.
Topic 1: AI Reveals Racial Inequalities in NYC
We’ve talked about the layers of bias within Artificial Intelligence, and the impact of human bias on the creation of AI. So this topic looks at using AI to find bias inside existing databases. It’s very meta.
https://thenextweb.com/neural/2020/11/30/ai-reveals-vast-racial-inequities-in-nyc-homeownership/
Topic 2: Growth in renewable energy finally takes off.
I think we all know that various electrical generating systems have become cheaper, but this article has some jaw-dropping statistics. Solar energy is going to dominate the world for one really good reason: It’s not cheaper BY FAR than anything else.
Price of electricity from solar dropped 89% in ten years !!! Price of solar photovoltaic cells dropped 99.6% since 1976.
https://ourworldindata.org/cheap-renewables-growth
Topic 3: “Edge” (whatever that means) Brings Opportunity.
And while we’re at it, we all hate the term Edge. Having said that, the real focus is on new and various protocols that you can just let run wild. Complexity brings opportunity!
We discuss.
https://smartermsp.com/survey-unveils-edge-computing-opportunity-for-msps/
— — —
Sponsor Memo:
PC Matic — Endpoint Security built on a zero trust philosophy, allowing only trusted applications and blocking all the rest. Light weight, simple to deploy, easy to manage, find out about PC Matic’s unique lead sharing program for MSPs backed by a prime-time national TV campaign. Together, we bring advanced security solutions combined with more than sales enablement . . . we bring actual leads. Find out more about PC Matic by visiting http://PCMatic.com/msp/.
🙂
As always, Tyler Moffit, Senior Threat Research Analyst with Webroot talks with Brian giving a very ‘matter of fact’ picture of current threats as well as what we can expect on the horizon entering the holiday season and into 2021.
In the holiday spirit, he even gives us some online shopping tips and things to watch out for when reading customer reviews using the ‘fakespot’ extension and deciding which IoT devices you should avoid!
Announcement: Killing IT Podcast is available on Audible / Amazon podcasts. If you have an Audible account, just search for “The Killing IT Podcast.” Direct Link: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Killing-IT-Podcast-Podcast/B08JJNTC1N
Topic 1: The Robo-job Apocalypse is Being Delayed.
We’ve covered this story from several angles over the last years. Turns out robots are adding more jobs than they are taking away. Robots are affected how much people get paid, not whether they have jobs.
Link: 1 big thing: The robo-job apocalypse is being delayed
Topic 2: A great resource to explore – NATO’s research on evil actors in worldwide technology.
Start with the web site https://www.stratcomcoe.org/publications.
We particularly love this report: https://www.stratcomcoe.org/black-market-social-media-manipulation
Also check out the quarterly report on robot trolling. All really good, well-researched, and a little scary.
Book cited: The Big Switch by Nicholas Carr.
Topic 3: Turns out, Facebook CAN tweak the algorithm.
Facebook has long claimed that they cannot make changes to their “news” algorithm. Specifically, they have claimed that they cannot start tweaking the viral nature of trends on their own platform.
Now they are saying that they had to crank down the viral nature of some posts during the election. The goal was to diminish extreme divisiveness.
It may or may not be good. But clearly they can adjust their algorithm. We discuss.
Another fun show! Share with your friends.
🙂
Our very own, Robin Miller sits down with Monika Gupta, VP Marketing with Huntress, Jennifer Bleam, VP Business Development with Solutions Granted and Amy Luby, Chief Channel Evangelist with Acronis to discuss building a career in the technology field.
They provide some great insights and advice for young women looking to build a career in technology and it starts with ‘just be yourself’, states Amy. Great discussion that any one looking to get into the technology field will benefit from, not just women.
A bit of wisdom from Dave on marketing: If you are only buying a sure thing for marketing, you are LAST.
Note: This space is available. YOU could be advertising here.
Topic 1: Modern “Proctored” Exams are creating excessive anxiety.
Cheating-detection companies made millions during the pandemic, and now students are fighting back. (This was originally a Washington Post article, but you need a subscription to read it there.)
You should read at least some of this article to get the gist of what’s going on. Aside from over-doing distrust, the over-use of technology is making the system worst. This is also a reflection of how behind the times education is.
Our conclusion: If you’re paid to give advice, don’t ignore stupid stuff like this. Earn your pay and speak up!
Topic 2: Eight Smart Cities to Watch During Pandemic
A great look at some actual, real-world application of various technologies. This is a longer article and very good. Is your city on the list?
It’s really amazing how much cool stuff is being done to improve the livability of cities with technologies that help with citizen participation, traffic managements, safety, and more. This is way beyond traffic lights and road sensors.
https://statetechmagazine.com/article/2020/11/8-smart-cities-watch-2020
https://www.analyticsinsight.net/frost-sullivan-report-predicts-26-new-smart-cities-by-2025/
Note that there’s also a HUGE opportunity here. These are cities, not states or federal governments. Cities hire people like you to make this stuff happen.
Topic 3: Video games are good for well-being (University of Oxford study).
People who play video games for long periods of time tend to report feeling happier than those who do not, the study shows. The Oxford Internet Institute research focused on two games: Nintendo’s Animal Crossing and Electronic Art’s Plants vs Zombies.
In an unusual step, the developers of the games shared anonymized data about how long each participant had played. These logs were then linked to a survey in which the players answered questions about their well-being.
A total of 3,274 gamers took part!!! All were over eighteen years of age. In previous research, data gathered about the duration of subjects’ gaming sessions was based on self-reported “guesstimates,” which can be inaccurate.
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-54954622
🙂
Brian talks with Secure Now CEO, Art Gross about the many tentacles of cybersecurity training. Its not just about teaching your customers employees what Ransomware is or a Phishing attack. It is about getting your clients staff to engage with you the IT Service Provider. The integration of employee training aligns you with your clients to collectively secure against attacks, however it also provides other residual benefits. High to low risk scoring for organizations and their individual staff members which illustrates progress they are making as a result of your efforts and services. Tools they can use from a Human Resources aspect when training staff on the importance of securing their business environments and reducing risk. The ongoing training with a mature educated staff, then shifts to current cybersecurity alerts, keeping your customers abreast of current threats they need to be aware of and securing against. Cybersecurity training is an ongoing business program which needs to be adopted by all businesses in today’s environment. Not a one-off product or service.
Topic 1: 3D printing that makes sense.
We have covered 3D printing several times. Now we get to report on some seriously cool applications. Medical applications are some of the coolest applications for 3D printing.
3d Printing is moving out of the “emerging” phase and finding some real uses in the real world.
https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-future-a832ca67-a3a6-46a4-b805-9e9471b3e8a8.html (See story #3)
Topic 2: AI Analysis of Reddit users.
Here’s an interesting use of AI. The folks over at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) analyzed the words and moods of writers on Reddit over time. They found some interesting shifts in personal emotions over time.
We look into the tech as well as the environment (Reddit). There are always questions about the research techniques, but it helps a lot that this is from MIT and not some random blogger.
Topic 3: Taking the middle ground on facial recognition and bias.
We’ve covered the racial biases that are often built into facial recognition. Now, the Detroit city counsel is taking the middle ground: Don’t throw it away; but don’t use it as it ships (filled with problems).
This is another area where the prices are coming down and the use cases are increasing.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/technology/facial-recognition-software-police.html
Sponsor Note: Gozynta Tixt
Headaches with customers texting your technicians? Gozynta Tixt brings your texting conversation into service tickets. Set your MSP apart by allowing your customers to communicate the way they want, without losing control of the conversation. Since text messages are 10 times more likely to be opened than email, you can get your tickets to “Resolved” faster! An essential tool for supporting a growing remote workforce. Go to www.tixt.us to sign up for a free 30 day trial.
🙂
Brian sits down with Dan Wensley, CEO of ScalePad, Adam Slutskin, CRO at Liongard and Zak Karsan, CEO of Vault America for a look ahead to 2021 and beyond. With Thanksgiving around the corner it’s a good time for reflection on a turbulent year to say the least, however there are many silver linings when we look closely. When standing in the face of adversity, change is sped up and in many cases forced, where we may have otherwise been a little more complacent and comfortable. ‘Remember what we’ve learned this year and continue to build on it’ states Adam. Technology is properly recognized as an essential service and MSPs have evolved into trusted technology consultants. As they say….’The world is our oyster’, it’s where we take our business and expertise from here…that’s up to us.
