DevNews

S8:E9 - Diablo Immortal and Video Game Accessibility, The Challenges of Creating an AR System, The Recent Wave of Tech Layoffs, and More Jun 09, 2022

This week we’re talking about the recent wave of tech layoffs, and React Eurasia’s controversial decision to locate this year's conference in Dubai. Then we speak with Steven Spohn, senior director of development at The AbleGamers Charity Foundation about Diablo Immortal’s native voice chat transcription and speech-to-text accessibility feature, and where we are in terms of accessible design in the video game industry as a whole. Finally, we speak with Jeri Ellsworth, co-founder and CEO of Tilt Five about what some of the inherent challenges are with creating AR devices that might be making it difficult for both Apple and Google to launch the glasses they’ve been talking about for years.

Show Notes

Steven Spohn

Steven Spohn is an expert in the field of technology and disability.

Jeri Ellsworth

Jeri Ellsworth's love for invention began with building race cars before working with hardware design, creating a complete Commodore 64 system on a chip housed within a joystick, called C64 Direct-to-TV. In 2011, she was hired by Valve Software to build and run their R&D team and was a key contributor to the technology used in the popular HTC Vive virtual reality headset. While at Valve, she began work on the AR technology that would become the basis for the technology behind Tilt Five. Her vision for the future of gaming is driving innovation for the entire Tilt Five team.

S8:E8 - Can Open-Source Exist in China, Apple Unveils New Accessibility Features, Salesforce Employees vs. the NRA, and More Jun 02, 2022

In this episode, we talk about Salesforce employees calling for an end of the company working with the National Rifle Association. Then we speak with Zeyi Yang, reporter at the MIT Technology Review about a recent piece he wrote titled, "How censoring China’s open-source coders might backfire." Finally, we speak with Sarah Fossheim, independent accessibility engineer and creator and maintainer of the Ethical Design guide, about the new accessibility features Apple is bringing to its products.

Show Notes

Zeyi Yang

Zeyi Yang covers Chinese tech companies, products, communities, and how they interact with the world. He also tweets about Pokemon frequently. Title: China and East Asia Tech reporter, MIT Technology Review.

Sarah Fossheim

Sarah Fossheim is a multidisciplinary developer, designer and accessibility specialist. They have a strong focus on dataviz accessibility and usability. Currently Sarah is working as an independent consultant, educator and advisor, helping companies create more accessible and inclusive solutions.

S8:E7 - Faking DEI Efforts, Ruby at Scale, and Diving Into PyScript May 26, 2022

In this episode, we speak with Tara Robertson, a diversity and inclusion consultant about some of the ways the tech industry has continued to fail when it comes to DEI, which is a topic spurred by a recent piece in the New York Times titled, At Wells Fargo, a Quest to Increase Diversity Leads to Fake Job Interviews. Then we speak with Stefan Marr, researcher and Senior Lecturer at the University of Kent’s School of Computing about Shopify’s investment into Ruby at Scale, and the research he will be doing for them. And finally we speak with Fabio Pliger, Principal Software Architect at Anaconda, Inc. and creator of PyScript about, you guessed it, PyScript! Which was unveiled at PyCon US 2022.

Show Notes

Tara Robertson

Tara Robertson partners with leaders eager to make their organizations more diverse, equitable, and inclusive through systemic change. She previously led Diversity and Inclusion at Mozilla and her work has been included in Harvard Business Review, Forbes and other publications.

Stefan Marr

Stefan does research on how we can make dynamic language interpreters faster. These days, he is particularly interested in speeding up TruffleRuby’s interpreter.

Fabio Pliger

Fabio Pliger is Principal Architect at Anaconda, where he spearheaded the creation and development of PyScript—a framework that allows users to create rich Python applications in the browser using HTML's interface and the power of Pyodide, WASM, and modern web technologies.

S8:E6 - DevDiscuss: You Too Can Create Beautiful Data-Driven Essays Like The Pudding May 19, 2022

This week, we feature one of our favorite episodes of our sister podcast, DevDiscuss, where hosts Ben Halpern and Julianna Tetreault talk about creating beautiful data-driven essays with Michelle McGhee and Russell Goldenberg, Journalist-Engineers at The Pudding.

Show Notes

Russell Goldenberg

Russell Goldenberg is a Scorpio. He makes stories with data and code at The Pudding. Nowadays coding mostly in Svelte.

Michelle McGhee

Michelle McGhee makes visual stories at The Pudding. She also enjoys making delicious food and 3-pointers at pickup basketball.

S8:E5 - Big Tech Goes All-In On Passwordless Sign-In, Apple’s Gatekeeping of Web-Based AR, Apple Mail’s Nifty Email Tracking Blocker, and More May 12, 2022

In this episode, we talk about Apple's gatekeeping of web-based AR on the iPhone, a neat feature added to Apple Mail that blocks email tracking, and we say goodbye to the iPod. Then we talk about Apple, Google, and Microsoft’s plan to implement passwordless sign-in on all major platforms with Jackie Singh, former senior incident response and threat analyst at Biden For President, who currently is the director of an anti-surveillance nonprofit, which advocates and litigates against government use of mass surveillance.

Show Notes

Jackie Singh

Jackie Singh is the former senior incident response and threat analyst at Biden For President, who currently is the director of an anti-surveillance nonprofit, which advocates and litigates against government use of mass surveillance.

S8:E4 - A Surge In Hacks Against Russia, Privacy Concerns With Mental Health Apps, and Lego’s Big Move Into the Digital Space May 04, 2022

In this episode, we talk about Lego expanding its online ambitions and its plans to triple the number of software engineers on staff. Then we’ll speak with Joseph Menn, author of the book, Cult of the Dead Cow, and technology reporter at The Washington Post, about a piece he wrote titled, “Hacking Russia was off-limits. The Ukraine war made it a free-for-all.” Finally, we’ll speak with Jen Caltrider, who leads Mozilla’s Privacy Not Included guide, about their research which found that the vast majority of mental health and prayer apps are severely lacking in privacy protections.

Show Notes

Joseph Menn

Joseph Menn is a security journalist for more than two decades, Joseph Menn is the author of the bestseller "Cult of the Dead Cow: How the Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save the World," named one of the 10 best nonfiction works of the year by Hudson Booksellers as well as one of the five cybersecurity books everyone should read by the Wall Street Journal. His previous book “Fatal System Error” was the first journalism tying Russian intelligence to organized criminal hacking groups.

Jen Caltrider

Jen Caltrider is just your average do-gooder privacy nerd. She lives on a mountain in Colorado with her wife, four dogs, and one cat. When she's not reading privacy policies she's probably reading something much more interesting like fantasy or crime thrillers. She loves technology even if she dreams daily of owning a farm and never logging onto a computer ever again.

S8:E3 - Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover, Security Vulnerabilities in Web3, and Experimenting With the TikTok Algorithm Apr 28, 2022

In this episode, we talk about Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover and the Twitter storm it created, especially amongst Twitter employees. Then we speak with Dipanjan Das, system security researcher at UC Santa Barbara, about various large scale hacks in the blockchain space, and how companies and individuals can better protect themselves in the growing Web3 space. Finally, we speak with senior software engineer and popular Tiktoker feleciaforthewin, about how she experimented with the TikTok algorithm and ended up gaining over 300-thousand followers.

Show Notes

Dipanjan Das

Dipanjan Das is a PhD student in the SecLab at University of California, Santa Barbara. His current research focuses on different aspects of cryptoeconomics, with an emphasis on the security of blockchain and smart contracts. He also has a strong passion to develop automated vulnerability analysis techniques for low-level systems like operating system kernel, IoT devices, and Android.

Felecia Dunmore (feleciaforthewin)

Felecia Dunmore is a software engineer, designer, and content creator with keen interests in social constructionism, sociology, philosophy, and technology. The aim of her content is to deliver awe-inspiring stories that cause us to have a deeper understanding of the society we live in.

S8:E2 - AI Regulation In Different Cities, A GitHub Snafu, and Crypto-Miners Wreck a Town’s Power Apr 21, 2022

In this episode, we talk about how a developer irreversibly lost a community of 54-thousand stars and watchers built up over the past 10 years on GitHub, and how unregulated crypto-mining wrecked the power of an entire New York town. Then we speak with Vidushi Marda, senior program officer at Article 19, where she leads the research and engagement on the human rights implications of machine learning, to get her perspective on the Artificial Intelligence regulations and systems different cities around the world are implementing.

Show Notes

Vidushi Marda

Vidushi Marda leads ARTICLE 19's global research, engagement and strategy on machine learning and human rights.

S8:E1 - Coding Under Bombing Apr 14, 2022

In this episode, we talk about Elon Musk buying the largest share of Twitter and then flip flopping on being on the board. Then we speak with Alex Lebedev, software engineer at HotJar, about his experience living in Ukraine under the horrific conditions of its war with Russia, and about his blog post titled, “Coding Under Bombing.”

Show Notes

Alexander Lebedev

Alexander Lebedev is a backend developer from Ukraine. He loves data and analytics systems and making blog posts and videos about how to improve quality of life.

S7:E8 - Battling Russian Disinformation, Big Tech Lends a Hand to Ukraine, and IBM's Persistent Ageism Problem Mar 03, 2022

In this episode, we talk about various ways in which big tech has lent a hand to Ukraine in their war with Russia. Then we talk about Russian disinformation efforts with Dr. Jeffery Blevins, professor in the Journalism Department at the University of Cincinnati and co-author of the book, Social Media, Social Justice and the Political Economy of Online Networks. Then we talk about leaked IBM documents that show the company’s persistent ageism problem with Peter Gosselin, former investigative reporter at ProPublica who co-penned the piece, Cutting ‘Old Heads’ at IBM.

Show Notes

Dr. Jeffrey Blevins

Dr. Jeffrey Layne Blevins is a Professor in the Department of Journalism at the University of Cincinnati. His recent book (with Dr. James Jaehoon Lee), "Social Media, Social Justice and the Political Economy of Online Networks" (University of Cincinnati Press, 2022).

Peter Gosselin

Peter Gosselin was a contributing reporter at ProPublica covering aging. In more than three decades as a journalist, he has covered the U.S. and global economies for, among others, the Los Angeles Times and The Boston Globe, focusing on the lived experiences of working people. He is the author of “High Wire: The Precarious Financial Lives of American Families,” for which he devised new data techniques to show that economic risks were being shifted from the broad shoulders of business and government to the backs of working households. In addition to reporting, he has been a visiting fellow at the Urban Institute in Washington, chief speechwriter to the treasury secretary and an economic adviser to the original Department of Health and Human Services team implementing the Affordable Care Act.

S7:E7 - Lack of Foresight Leads to a Loss of Sight, Tech Recruitment Challenges, Which Vendors Are Fastest at Fixing Bugs, and More Feb 24, 2022

In this episode, we talk about another major hack on Ukraine, a report from Google’s Project Zero about which tech vendors are the fastest at fixing security bugs, and we also chat about injecting old computers with Chrome OS Flex. Then we speak with Pariss Athena, founder and CEO of Black Tech Pipeline about the challenges that tech recruiters are having in the current job landscape. And finally, we speak with Dr. Calvin Roberts, president and CEO of Lighthouse Guild International and clinical professor of ophthalmology at Weill (While) Cornell Medical College, a charitable organization devoted to the visually impaired, about the issue of certain bionic eye technologies becoming obsolete and unsupported.

Show Notes

Pariss 'Athena' Chandler

Pariss 'Athena' Chandler is Founder & CEO of Black Tech Pipeline, and creator of the hashtag, movement, and community #BlackTechTwitter.

Dr. Calvin Roberts

Lighthouse Guild President and CEO, Calvin W. Roberts, MD, is a Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at Weill Cornell Medical College. He was formerly Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Eye Care, at Bausch Health Companies where he coordinated global development and research efforts across their vision care, pharmaceutical and surgical business units. As a one-time practicing ophthalmologist, he performed more than 10,000 cataract surgeries as well as 5,000 refractive and other corneal surgeries.

S7:E6 - The Growth of Online Romance Scams, Facebook’s Content Moderation 'Sweatshop,’ and More Feb 17, 2022

In this episode, we talk about Google’s move to get your mobile apps to stream on their other devices. Then we speak with Aunshul Rege, associate professor with the Department of Criminal Justice at Temple University, about the rise of online dating scams and the incredible amounts of money people get swindled out of. Then we speak with Billy Perrigo, Staff Writer for TIME, about his piece titled, "Inside Facebook's African Sweatshop."

Show Notes

Aunshul Rege

Aunshul Rege is an Associate Professor and Director of the Cybersecurity in Application, Research, and Education (CARE) Lab at Temple University. Her research and education projects, which have been funded by several National Science Foundation grants, focus on the relevance of the human factor in cyberattacks and security.

Billy Perrigo

Billy Perrigo is a staff writer at TIME magazine focused on covering big tech and artificial intelligence.

S7:E5 - A German Court Rules Against Google Fonts, DeepMind’s AI Coding Engine, Raspberry Pi’s 64-bit OS, and Flutter for Windows Feb 10, 2022

In this episode, we talk about some hardware and some software that might be of interest to you, and DeepMind’s claims that their AI coding engine is on par with your average human developer. Then we speak with Giulia Gentile, fellow in law at the London School of Economics and Political Science, about Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation and a ruling by a German court saying that it found "no legitimate interest for using Google Fonts on its websites," and the legal precedent that it sets.

Show Notes

DevDiscuss (sponsor)
CodeNewbie (sponsor)
Avalanche (sponsor)
Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit)
Announcing Flutter for Windows
Competitive programming with AlphaCode
No legitimate interest for using Google Fonts on websites, says German court

Giulia Gentile

Dr Giulia Gentile is Fellow in Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She specializes in EU constitutional law and the protection of fundamental rights in the digital society.

S7:E4 - Potential Effects of a Cyberwar Between Russia and Ukraine, a Coding Bootcamp Stands Strong In Afghanistan, and More Feb 03, 2022

In this episode, we talk about The New York Time’s Wordle acquisition, and Apple App Stores new unlisted apps option. Then we speak with Hector Monsegur, director of research at Alacrinet and former black hat hacker about what a cyberwar between Russia and Ukraine would look like and what its effects could be. Finally, we speak with Jamshid Hashimi, founder of CodeWeekend, a coding bootcamp that is still providing education and hope within the chaos caused by the US pullout from Afghanistan and the new Taliban regime.

Show Notes

DevDiscuss (sponsor)
CodeNewbie (sponsor)
Avalanche (sponsor)
Wordle Is Joining The New York Times Games
Unlisted app distribution
Destructive malware targeting Ukrainian organizations
Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency
CodeWeekend

Hector X. Monsegur

Hector X. Monsegur is director of research at Alacrinet and a former black hat hacker.

Jamshid Hashimi

Jamshid Hashimi is a software engineer, teacher and founder of CodeWeekend, the first and largest developer community in Afghanistan.

S7:E3 - Chatbots Could Help Mitigate Eating Disorders, Retro Slavic Adventure Games, NFT Twitter Profile Pictures, and More Jan 27, 2022

This week we talk about Twitter NFT profile pictures and some stories about US government versus big tech. Then we speak with Ellen Fitzsimmons-Craft, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, about a research paper she co-authored about how the use of chatbots could help prevent and mitigate eating disorders. Then we speak with Maroš Brojo, general manager at Slovak Game Developers Association, about a wealth of unearthed slavic text adventure games from the 80’s that he and his team have translated and featured at the Slovak Design Museum.

Show Notes

Ellen Fitzsimmons-Craft

Ellen Fitzsimmons-Craft, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine and a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in eating disorders and digital mental health. Her research aims to develop and test innovative digital solutions to reach the large number of people in need of care for mental health problems, including eating disorders, but who are not receiving services.

Maroš Brojo

Maroš Brojo is the Executive Director of the Slovak Game Developers Association. He is the founder of the Game Days developer conference and works as a curator of the multimedia collection at the Slovak Design Museum.

S7:E2 - Safari 15’s IndexedDB Vulnerability, An Attack of the Wordle Clones, Walmart Ponders NFTs, and More Jan 20, 2022

In this episode, we talk about Walmart’s plans to get into NFTs and cryptocurrency, telecom operators starting to block Apple’s iCloud Private Relay, and an attack of the Wordle clones. Then we speak with Valentin Vasilyev, co-Founder and CTO at FingerprintJS, whose team spotted a vulnerability in Safari 15’s IndexedDB API.

Show Notes

Valentin Vasilyev

Valentin Vasilyev is an entrepreneur and open source enthusiast. He co-founded FingerprintJS in 2020 based on the GitHub project he started in 2012.

S7:E1 - The Pudgy Penguins NFT Debacle, a Dev Intentionally Breaks His Own Open Source Libraries, and Gen Z’s Distaste for Green Text Bubbles Jan 13, 2022

In this episode, we talk about a developer who broke around 19-thousand projects by intentionally corrupting his own open source libraries, and how iMessage won in the smartphone battle for favor amongst Gen Z. Then we speak with Dr. Merav Ozair, Leading Blockchain expert and FinTech Professor at Rutgers Business School, about NFTs and the turbulent removal of the founders of the Pudgy Penguins project.

Show Notes

DevDiscuss (sponsor)
CodeNewbie (sponsor)
Avalanche (sponsor)
Dev corrupts NPM libs 'colors' and 'faker' breaking thousands of apps
Why Apple’s iMessage Is Winning: Teens Dread the Green Text Bubble
Pudgy Penguins NFT Project Ousts Founders as Mood Turns Icy

Dr. Merav Ozair

Dr. Merav Ozair is a leading blockchain expert, a FinTech Professor, and the Editor-in-Chief of the World Scientific Series in FinTech. Her work focuses on decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and the Metaverse, across different industries and business use cases. She is a member of the Academic Advisory Board at INATBA (International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications) and holds a PhD from Stern Business School at NYU.

S6:E8 - The Web3 Debate and the World’s First Organic Reproducing Robots Dec 23, 2021

In this episode, we talk about some criticisms of web3, which Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey wrote this week, and then we’ll speak to Samina Kabir, developer advocate at Decentology and Niharika Singh, product manager at Decentology, a web3 company about what in the world web3 is and their perspectives on it. Then we’ll speak with Sam Kriegman, postdoctoral fellow at Harvard and Tufts about his research with the world’s first reproducing organic robots.

Show Notes

DevDiscuss (sponsor)
CodeNewbie (sponsor)
Avalanche (sponsor)
Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey are talking about ‘Web3’ – here’s what it is and why it matters
The irrational exuberance of web3
Kinematic self-replication in reconfigurable organisms

Samina Kabir

Samina is a Developer Advocate at Decentology on a mission to make it easier for beginner developers to learn about and build in Web3 through the Hyperverse. She is passionate about Decentralized Finance and DAOs and how they will increase equity across the globe. Samina contributes to organizations such as Developer DAO, TryCrypto, and CodeClubs in the intersections of community building and education.

Niharika Singh

Niharika Singh is a passionate web3 technologist, an avid learner, and a community educator. Singh has been active in the blockchain industry since 2017. Currently, as a product manager at Decentology, her focus is on shaping the future of Hyperverse, a platform that helps web2 devs transition into web3 seamlessly. In addition to her role at Decentology, Singh is also an active contributor to DAOs such as TryCrypto Collective and ScribeDAO.

Sam Kriegman

Sam Kriegman is a computer scientist using AI to create new kinds of robots as well as engineered organisms called xenobots.

S6:E7 - An Intricate Job Recruitment Scam, a Law Against Some AI-Powered Recruitment Software, and We Give You Holiday Tech Support, Support Dec 15, 2021

In this episode, we talk about a lawsuit filed by Riot Games against fraudsters of an intricate video game studio scam, and a New York City law that will ban employers from using potentially biased AI-driven recruitment software to screen candidates. Then we speak with Rob Frelow, co-founder & chief AI officer of The StoryGraph, who has 15 years of experience being a tech support engineer, to give you lifehacks for your holiday family tech support woes.

Show Notes

DevDiscuss (sponsor)
CodeNewbie (sponsor)
Avalanche (sponsor)
They thought they got their dream job at Riot Games — but it was a scam
New NYC law restricts hiring based on artificial intelligence
The StoryGraph
FaceTime Screen Share
Jitsi Meet

Rob Frelow

Rob Frelow is co-founder and chief AI officer of The StoryGraph, a place to get book recommendations and track your reading.

S6:E6 - TikTok’s Algorithm, JetBrain’s Fleet IDE, Timnit Gebru’s New Research Institution, and More Dec 09, 2021

In this episode, we talk about Timnit Gebru’s new research institute, researcher’s contentious relationship with Facebook, and a company that has been secretly helping governments track people’s mobile phones. Then we chat with Dennis Ushakov, Fleet Developer at JetBrains, about Fleet, the company’s new IDE. Finally, we speak with Julian McAuley, computer science professor at the University of California San Diego, about an internal TikTok document the New York Times obtained titled, TikTok Algo 101.

Show Notes

Dennis Ushakov

Dennis started his career at Intel, working on the Apache Harmony project. Then he moved to JetBrains to work on productivity tooling for Ruby and Web technologies, driving the RubyMine and WebStorm projects as a team lead. Now he's focused on Fleet – an IDE of the future, built on a distributed architecture. When he's not working, he enjoys driving cars and open-water swimming.

Julian McAuley

Julian McAuley is a Professor at UC San Diego, where he works on applications of machine learning to problems involving personalization, and teaches classes on personalized recommendation. He likes bicycling and baroque keyboard.

S6:E5 - Jack Dorsey Resigns, Apple Self-Repair, and the Threat of Post-Quantum Cryptography Dec 01, 2021

In this episode, we talk about the resignation of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, and Apple’s new self-service repair announcement. Then we speak with Dustin Moody, a mathematician in the National Institute of Science and Technology’s Computer Security Division, about the looming threat of post-quantum cryptography.

Show Notes

DevDiscuss (sponsor)
CodeNewbie (sponsor)
Avalanche (sponsor)
Jack Dorsey Resignation Twitter Post
Apple announces Self Service Repair
The Future Is Now: Spreading the Word About Post-Quantum Cryptography
DHS: Post-Quantum Cryptography

Dustin Moody

Dustin Moody is a mathematician in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Computer Security Division, where he leads the post-quantum cryptography project. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 2009. His area of research deals with elliptic curves and their applications in cryptography.

S6:E4 - Trojan Source Attacks, Features in .NET 6, Another Apple Settlement, and No More Contacting Employees Off Hours...At Least in Portugal Nov 17, 2021

In this episode, we talk about a new Apple settlement and a big win for workers in Portugal. Then we speak with Nicholas Boucher, PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge about new research into something they are calling a “Trojan Source” attack. And finally, we chat with Safia Abdalla, senior software engineer at Microsoft about new updates and features in the recently released .NET 6.

Show Notes

Nicholas Boucher

Nicholas Boucher is a PhD Candidate at the University of Cambridge and a graduate of Harvard University. He performs research on the security of systems ranging from machine learning pipelines to compilers.

Safia Abdalla

Safia Abdalla is a software engineer working on open-source technologies at Microsoft and an open-source maintainer on the nteract project. When she’s not working on open source, she enjoys writing and running.

S6:E3 - New CSS Features, a New Search Engine, and Facebook’s Facial Recognition System in the Metaverse Nov 10, 2021

In this episode, we have an update about Facebook’s Facial Recognition system, and then we get into You.com, which calls itself “the world’s first open search engine.” Then we speak with Stephanie Eckles, software engineer at Microsoft and author of ModernCSS.dev about exciting new CSS updates that were just announced at Chrome Dev Summit 2021.

Show Notes

DevDiscuss (sponsor)
CodeNewbie (sponsor)
Avalanche (sponsor)
Facebook is backing away from facial recognition. Meta isn’t.
AI-driven search engine You.com takes on Google with $20M
You
Everything announced at Chrome Dev Summit 2021
Modern CSS Solutions

Stephanie Eckles

Stephanie Eckles is the author of in-depth tutorials on ModernCSS.dev, and the creator of StyleStage.dev, SmolCSS.dev, and 11ty.Rocks. Steph has well over a decade of webdev experience that she enjoys sharing as an author, egghead and workshop instructor, Twitch streamer, and conference speaker.

S6:E2 - Software Complexity, Facebook’s Facial Recognition System, and the Use of AI in a Mass Layoff Nov 04, 2021

In this episode, we talk about Facebook’s plan to shut down its Facial Recognition System, and a mass firing at a Russian payment services company fueled by AI productivity measurement tools. Then we speak with Scott Carey, enterprise technology journalists at InfoWorld, about how the growing complexity of modern software systems might be “killing” software developers.

Show Notes

Scott Carey

Scott is a technology reporter at InfoWorld, where he covers software development and cloud computing.

S6:E1 - VS Code in the Browser, Facebook Internal Documents, and Corporate Open Source Oct 28, 2021

In this episode, we talk about the explosive Facebook internal documents, a merger between Ruby Central and Ruby Together, and the short lived removal of .NET’s Hot Reload feature, which had a lot of developers frustrated and confused by the decision. Then we speak with Brigit Murtaugh, Program Manager II at Microsoft, and João Moreno, Principal Software Engineer for VS Code about how they created a new lightweight version of VS Code that can run fully in the browser.

Show Notes

Brigit Murtaugh

Brigit Murtaugh is a Program Manager on the Visual Studio Code team at Microsoft, where she focuses on remote and web experiences, including the remote development extensions and VS Code for the Web.

João Moreno

João Moreno is a Principal Software Engineer on the Visual Studio Code team at Microsoft, where he focuses on UI, engineering, cross-plat releases and more recently, vscode.dev.

S5:E8 - WhatsApp: The Not-So-Private Privacy App, Prohibitory Automated Resume Filters, and Some Updates About Apple Sep 09, 2021

In this episode, we have updates about more Apple App Store drama, and Apple’s planned surveillance features to battle child sexual abuse material. Then we speak with Lydia X. Z. Brown, attorney, disability justice activist and policy counsel for the Center for Democracy and Technology, about a study that found that automated resume filter tools exclude millions from jobs, including those with disabilities. And then we speak with Craig Silverman, reporter at Propublica, about an investigative piece he co-authored that details how Facebook undermines its privacy promises on WhatsApp.

Show Notes

Lydia X. Z. Brown

Lydia X. Z. Brown is an advocate, organizer, strategist, educator, writer, and attorney working for disability justice and liberation. For over a decade, their work has focused on building solidarity-based communities and addressing the root causes of interpersonal and state violence targeting disabled people, especially those at the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, and violence.

Craig Silverman

Craig Silverman was the founding editor of BuzzFeed Canada and then became the media editor of BuzzFeed News, where he pioneered coverage of disinformation and online manipulation. He joined ProPublica as a reporter in May 2021 to continue his investigative work.

S5:E7 - Apple’s #SpyPhone, an Apple App Store Settlement, and the Expansion of Government Facial Recognition Software Sep 02, 2021

In this episode, we talk about an the expansion of government facial recognition software and an Apple App store settlement. Then we speak with Yafit Lev-Aretz, assistant professor of law at Baruch College and the Director of Tech Ethics program at the Zicklin Center for Corporate Integrity, about Apple scanning iCloud images and iMessages for child sexual abuse material. Then we speak with Anunay Kulshrestha, Princeton Computer Science doctoral candidate, whose team had built a similar child sexual abuse materal scanning system, about the potential privacy and cybersecurity risks that implementing such a system creates.

Show Notes

Yafit Lev-Aretz

Yafit Lev-Aretz is an assistant professor of law at the Zicklin School of Business (Baruch College, City University of New York), and the Director of Tech Ethics program at the Zicklin Center for Corporate Integrity. Professor Lev-Aretz is a tech policy expert with over fifteen years of experience in studying and operationalizing the relationship between law, technology, and society.

Anunay Kulshrestha

Anunay Kulshrestha is a doctoral candidate in Computer Science at Princeton University, affiliated with the Center for Information Technology Policy. His research interests lie in applied cryptography and computer security, and their policy implications for privacy in today’s networked world. He is interested in understanding how cryptographic techniques can yield transparency- and accountability-enhancing privacy-preserving solutions to policy problems of trust.

S5:E6 - Apple Pay Transparency Survey, and the Battle Against Twitch Hate Raids Aug 26, 2021

In this episode, we speak with Cher Scarlett, software engineer at Apple, about her endeavor for salary transparency at Apple to battle pay disparity and the challenges she’s faced during this undertaking. And then we speak with Twitch streamer and moderator JustMeEmilyP, and Twitch moderator NLA about the proliferation of Twitch Hate Raids and the tools and resources they and others have built to fight against it.

Show Notes

DevDiscuss (sponsor)
CodeNewbie (sponsor)
Avalanche (sponsor)
Apple Pay Transparency Survey
levels.fyi
#ADayOffTwitch
Hate Raid Response
N_lasouris' Mass-Created Bots Detecting Program
How to stop a hate raid

Cher Scarlett

Cher Scarlett a problem solver, creator, and innovator.

JustMeEmilyP

JustMeEmilyP (she/her) has been streaming on Twitch since 2019 after finishing her service in the USAF as a Weather Forecaster. Now, she’s enjoying full time streaming and moderating for her community, rollerskating, and enjoying life while advocating for others.

NLA

nlasouris (they/them) is a moderator for several communities on Twitch. While not a professional software developer, they have applied some data analysis and basic coding techniques to combat malicious bots since 2019.

S5:E5 - DeepMind’s XLand, Android 12 Beta's Camera Switches, a Colorism Issue With Face Filters, and a Senior’s Robot Companion Aug 19, 2021

In this episode, we talk about social media face filters perpetuating colorism, and about a new companion robot for the elderly. Then we talk about DeepMind’s new exciting AI training tool, XLand, with Max Jaderberg, senior staff research scientist at DeepMind. And then we speak with Suzanne Aitchison, software engineer and accessibility specialist here at Forem, about Android 12 beta’s “Camera Switches,” which lets users control their phone with facial expressions.

Show Notes

Max Jaderberg

Max Jaderberg is a researcher at DeepMind leading the Open-Ended Learning team, driving the intersection of deep learning, reinforcement learning, and multi-agent systems. His recent work includes creating the first agent to beat human professionals at StarCraft II, and creating algorithms for training teams of agents to play with humans in first-person video games.

Suzanne Aitchison

Suzanne Aitchison is a software engineer at Forem. She is passionate about accessibility and maintains a tutorials site for accessible web development (particularly with reference to React).

S5:E4 - Inside the Gpt-3-Powered Chatbot That Someone Used to Talk to Their Fiancé Who Passed Aug 12, 2021

In this episode, we chat with Jason Rohrer, game designer and creator of Project December, whose GPT-3-powered chatbot has been used by people to talk to historical figures and personalities, and was even used by one person to talk to his late fiancé for closure.

Show Notes

DevDiscuss (sponsor)
CodeNewbie (sponsor)
Avalanche (sponsor)
Project December
r/ProjectDecember1982
The Jessica Simulation: Love and loss in the age of A.I.

Jason Rohrer

Since 2004, Jason Rohrer has designed, programmed, and released 19 games: Transcend, Cultivation, Passage, Gravitation, Perfectionism, Idealism, Police Brutality, Immortality, Regret, i45hg, Crude Oil, Between, Primrose, Sleep Is Death, Inside a Star-filled Sky, Diamond Trust of London, The Castle Doctrine, Cordial Minuet, and One Hour One Life.

S5:E3 - GitHub CoPilot, Oculus’ Passthrough API, Security Concerns About QR Codes, and Why Covid-19 AI Predictive Models Fell Short Aug 04, 2021

In this episode, we talk about Oculus' new experimental API, which blends virtual reality with your real surroundings, and we get into the sudden boom of QR codes, and the security issues it brings. Then we talk about some potential ethical and legal issues regarding Github Copilot with Andres Guadamuz, Senior Lecturer in Intellectual Property Law at the University of Sussex and the Editor in Chief of the Journal of World Intellectual Property. Then we speak with Laure Wynants, Assistant Professor at Maastricht University Department of Epidemiology about why hundreds of AI predictive models built aid in the covid-19 pandemic fell short.

Show Notes

Andres Guadamuz

Andres Guadamuz is Senior Lecturer in Intellectual Property Law at the University of Sussex and the Editor in Chief of the Journal of World Intellectual Property. His main research areas are on artificial intelligence and copyright, open licensing, cryptocurrencies, and smart contracts. Andres has published two books, the most recent is "Networks, Complexity and Internet Regulation", and he regularly blogs at Technollama.co.uk.

Laure Wynants

Laure Wynants is interested in methods to handle heterogeneity between populations when developing and validating diagnostic and prognostic models, and in the utility of models in clinical practice. Her applied work includes models for gynecological cancers, hospital-acquired infections, and covid-19. Since March 2020, she leads an international consortium to systematically review models for covid-19, for which she has been awarded the Edmond Hustinx science prize. This review already has over 1300 citations and has been picked up by policymakers, including the European Commission and the WHO.

S5:E2 - Activision Blizzard Discrimination and Harassment Suit, Security Issues With Some Independent Phone Producers, and the Incredible Gail.com Jul 28, 2021

In this episode we talk about a major sexism and harassment suit against Activision Blizzard, and what might be one of the best websites on the internet, gail.com. Then we speak with Kyle Rankin, Chief Security Officer at Purism, about their mission to make computers and phones focused on security and privacy, and what people should potentially beware of when using phones from independent phone producers such as the newly announced Freedom Phone.

Show Notes

DevDiscuss (sponsor)
CodeNewbie (sponsor)
Avalanche (sponsor)
Gail.com
WIPO Case D2006-0655
Activision Blizzard Sued Over ‘Frat Boy’ Culture, Harassment (1)
Calif. Dep’t of Fair Emp. & Housing v. Activision Blizzard Inc.
Freedom Phone Announcement
Purism
Freedom Phone

Kyle Rankin

Kyle Rankin is the Chief Security Officer at Purism, SPC, and the author of a number of books on security and infrastructure, most recently Linux Hardening in Hostile Networks for Pearson.

S5:E1 - Pegasus Cyber Espionage Tool, Steam’s New Console, Gunshot-Detecting Tech, and NATO Condemns a Cyberattack Jul 22, 2021

In this episode, we talk about a gunshot-detecting tech used by law enforcement, the new Steam Deck handheld gaming console, and an unprecedented move by NATO condemning China for a hack exploiting Microsoft's Exchange Server.

Show Notes

Marcus Carey

Marcus J. Carey is an Enterprise Architect at ReliaQuest where he does security research and product development. Prior to joining ReliaQuest, Marcus was the founder and CEO at Threatcare (acquired by ReliaQuest) and has 20 years of cybersecurity experience. Marcus has worked in penetration testing, incident response, and digital forensics with federal agencies such as NSA, DC3, DIA, and DARPA.

S4:E8 - An Elaborate Phishing Hack, Autonomous Lethal Drones, a Questionable m1 Security Flaw, and a Devnews Behind the Scenes Jun 03, 2021

In this episode, we talk about an elaborate phishing hack, a questionable M1 security flaw, and the first autonomous lethal drones targeting humans. Then we chat with our producer, Levi Sharpe to give a behind the scenes look at how we make DevNews.

Show Notes

Levi Sharpe

Levi Sharpe is the senior podcast producer at Forem, currently making their CodeNewbie, DevNews, and DevDiscuss podcasts. Previously, he was lead podcast producer at Gizmodo Media Group, where he produced Lifehacker’s Webby-nominated podcast, The Upgrade, as well as Jezebel's DirtCast and Big Time Dicks podcasts. You can hear his sound design work on the narrative fiction podcast, Roommate From Hell, and the Webby award-winning comedy musical podcast, Propaganda.

S4:E7 - Freenode’s Mass Resignations, NVIDIA’s Less Crypto-Friendly Chips, Twitter’s Crop Algorithm Investigation, and Remote Employers Excluding Colorado May 27, 2021

In this episode, we talk about companies excluding the state of Colorado from remote opportunities due to the Equal Pay For Equal Work Act, NVIDIA making their graphics cards less desirable for cryptocurrency miners, and Twitters report on its investigation into its cropping algorithm, which many people criticized as having a racial and gender bias. Then we speak with James Eaton-Lee, former staff member at Freenode, and current staff member of Libera.Chat, which was created in response to entrepreneur and Crown Prince of Korea, Andrew Lee, taking control of Freenode, which led to a mass resignation of many of its staff developers.

Show Notes

DevDiscuss (sponsor)
CodeNewbie (sponsor)
Avalanche (sponsor)
Equal Pay For Equal Work Act
Colorado Excluded
NVIDIA cripples cryptocurrency mining on RTX cards
Sharing learnings about our image cropping algorithm
The Freenode resignation FAQ, or: "what the fuck is going on?"
resigning from freenode
Libera.Chat

James Eaton-Lee

James is a staff member at Libera.Chat and was a Freenode staffer from 2007-2021. He has worked in tech for almost 20 years, and presently works in privacy and cybersecurity for an INGO.

S4:E6 - Babel’s Money Challenges, What It's Like to Work on Rails, and Coinbase’s End to Salary Negotiations May 20, 2021

This week we’re talking about cryptocurrency company CoinBase refusing to negotiate job offers and a blog post by the Babel core team titled, “Babel is used by millions, so why are we running out of money?” which created a bit of a Twitter storm, and speak with Babel Core Maintainer Nicolò Ribaudo. Then we speak with Principal Engineer at Heroku and Rails Contributor Richard Schneeman, about what it’s like to work on Rails in the aftermath of Basecamp co-founders Jason Fried and Rails creator David Heinemeier Hansson’s highly criticized blog post, which raised concerns about Rails' independence from its creator.

Show Notes

Nicolò Ribaudo

Nicolò Ribaudo is an open source maintainer working on Babel and on many related projects. When offline, he's a math student in Turin, Italy.

Richard Schneeman

Richard Schneeman created and maintains CodeTriage.com, a tool for helping people contribute to open-source When he isn't obsessively compulsively refactoring code he spends his time reminding his kids to wash their hands.

S4:E5 - Apple AirTag Security Concerns, a Deep Neural Network Hack, an Oil Pipeline Cyber Attack, and a Shortage of Semiconductors May 13, 2021

In this episode, we talk about Apple’s AirTag security concerns, a US oil pipeline cyber attack and shutdown, and a shortage in semiconductors. Then we chat with Sanghyun Hong and Yigitcan Kaya Ph.D. students in Computer Science at the University of Maryland College Park, and co-authors of a research paper about how hackers could make AI networks consume much more energy than they already do.

Show Notes

Sanghyun Hong

Sanghyun's research interests lie at the intersection of computer security and machine learning. His current research focus is to study the computational properties of DNNs from a systems security perspective. He was invited as a speaker at USENIX Enigma'21, where he talked about practical hardware attacks on deep learning. He is also a recipient of the Ann G. Wylie Dissertation Fellowship.

Yigitcan Kaya

Yigitcan Kaya is a fourth year PhD student at University of Maryland. His research focus is on security risks and vulnerabilities of deep learning models, such as their sensitivity to malicious inputs or their tendency to memorize and leak private information. In the past, being inspired by neuroscience, he identified the overthinking problem in neural networks then proposed a generic solution to this problem.

S4:E4 - Video Game Studio Instability, Basecamp’s Mass Resignations, Apple’s Monopoly, and Donald Trump’s Facebook May 06, 2021

In this episode, we talk about Basecamp’s mass resignations, the European Union saying Apple breaks antitrust laws, and Facebook's decision to continue the ban on Donald Trump's account. Then we chat with Jason Schreier, reporter at Bloomberg and the author of Blood, Sweat, and Pixels, and now Press Reset: Ruin and Recovery in the Video Game Industry, coming out May 11, 2021.

Show Notes

Jason Schreier

Jason Schreier is a video games at Bloomberg news, and the author of "Blood, Sweat, and Pixels," and "Press Reset: Ruin and Recovery in the Video Game Industry."

S4:E3 - Basecamp Backlash, Remote Work Harassment, Linux Kernel Submission Ban, and Crypto Miners Killing Free CI Apr 29, 2021

In this episode, we talk about the problematic blog post put out by Basecamp CEO and Co-founder Jason Fried, and we also get into how crypto currency miners are killing free CI. Then we chat with Hector Monsegur, security researcher and former blackhat hacker, about how University of Minnesota security researchers submitted security vulnerabilities to the Linux kernel to show flaws in the approval process leading to a call for a ban on anything submitted by umn.edu emails. Finally, we speak with McKensie Mack, founder & CEO of MMG and a co-author of a report put out by the non-profit, Project Include, about how remote work is leading to more gender and racial harassment at tech companies.

Show Notes

Hector X. Monsegur

Hector X. Monsegur is director of research at Alacrinet and a former black hat hacker.

McKensie Mack

Researcher, strategist, and digital organizer, McKensie leads the data-driven organization, MMG, which leverages mixed-methods research to transform culture and stop harm.

S4:E2 - U.K. Central Bank Digital Currency, the Environmental Impact of Digital Currency, a Problematic Spotify Patent, and WordPress’ Google FLoC Block Apr 21, 2021

In this episode, we talk about WordPress blocking Google’s Federated Learning of Cohorts tracking technology, a web app that received so much negative feedback from food bloggers it was taken down in less than a day, and The Bank of England and HM Treasury creating a joint task force to explore the possibility of creating a central bank digital currency in the U.K. Then we speak with Tim Swanson, founder and director of research at Post Oak Labs, and head of market intelligence at ClearMatics, as well as the author of the research paper, “Bitcoin and other PoW coins are an ESG nightmare,” about the environmental impact of digital currency. Then we chat with Isedua Oribhabor, U.S. policy analyst at Access Now about their letter to Spotify on why the company should abandon their recent speech-recognition patent of a technology to detect emotion, gender, and age.

Show Notes

Tim Swanson

Tim Swanson is the founder and director of research at Post Oak Labs, head of market intelligence at ClearMatics, as well as the author of the research paper, “Bitcoin and other PoW coins are an ESG nightmare,”

Isedua Oribhabor

Isedua is Access Now's U.S. Policy Analyst and Business and Human Rights lead. She works to promote human rights in the digital age, focusing on the responsibility of tech companies to respect human rights.

S4:E1 - Platforms as Utilities, Archiving Yahoo Answers, and Companies Rescinding Accepted Offers Apr 15, 2021

In this episode, we talk about companies rescinding job offers after they have been accepted. Then we speak with Nikolas Guggenberger, executive director of the Yale Information Society Project, about Justice Clarence Thomas arguing for categorizing some digital platforms as utilities and why this is a huge deal for the tech world. Finally, we chat with Jason Scott, co-founder of Archive Team, about their efforts to archive Yahoo Answers which is shutting down after 16 years.

Show Notes

DevDiscuss (sponsor)
CodeNewbie (sponsor)
Avalanche (sponsor)
Blind: Rescind
Justice Clarence Thomas' Argument For Regulating Some Digital Platforms As Utilities
Yahoo Answers to shut down May 4, 2021
Archive Team
ArchiveTeam Warrior

Nikolas Guggenberger

Nikolas Guggenberger is the executive director of the Yale Information Society Project and a Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School. His research focuses on the intersection of law and technology, specifically platform regulation, antitrust, and privacy.

Jason Scott

Jason Scott is the co-founder of Archive Team who speaks passionately on the never-ending and critical saving of online history. He has been a video game art director, unix administrator, documentary filmmaker and public raconteur.

S3:E8 - Microsoft Mesh, Accusations of Sexism and Racism at Mailchimp, France’s ‘Repairability Index,’ and Framework’s Modular Laptop Mar 03, 2021

In this episode, we talk about Microsoft Mesh, France’s ‘repairability index,’ and Framework’s 13.5 inch modular laptop and are then joined by Kerry Sheehan, US Policy Lead at iFixit, and Kevin Purdy, technology journalist at iFixit, the gadget teardown and repair guide site, whose CEO was consulted by the French government about the repairability index. Then we talk about a damning report from The Verge about rampant sexism and racism at Mailchimp, and are then joined by Jaime-Alexis Fowler, founder and executive director of Empower Work, a non-profit that connects you to professionals to help you handle workplace challenges.

Show Notes

Kerry Sheehan

Kerry Maeve Sheehan is the U.S. Policy Lead at iFixit, where she advocates for Right to Repair at the state and federal levels. She’s a graduate of Boston University School of Law and comes to iFixit from the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Public Knowledge, where she worked extensively on issues in intellectual property law and technology policy. She’s written on legal issues in technology for EFF’s Deeplinks blog, Slate, and The Hill.

Kevin Purdy

Kevin Purdy is a writer for iFixit. He previously wrote for Wirecutter, a New York Times publication, Lifehacker, and other sites.

Jaime-Alexis Fowler

Jaime-Alexis Fowler is the founder and executive director of Empower Work, a national nonprofit on a mission to build healthy, equitable workplaces. Empower Work provides the first free, confidential crisis text line for work issues. Her work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, NPR, TechCrunch, Slate, Fast Company, and Forbes.

S3:E7 - Google’s Termination of Dr. Mitchell, Clubhouse Security, Australia’s News Publisher Law, and Low-Code Tools Feb 25, 2021

In this episode, we talk about the termination of Dr. Margaret Mitchell, founder and lead of the Google Ethical AI team, Australia’s law requiring Google and Facebook to pay news publishers, and concerns over Clubhouse security. Then we are joined by Rahat Chowdhury, co-founder of Whimser, to chat about the large funding rounds low-code platforms have been receiving, what this means for developers, and where these tools might fit in our own development.

Show Notes

Rahat Chowdhury

Rahat is a second career developer who comes from a background in customer support management. He is a mental health advocate, entrepreneur, and teacher who enjoys spending his free time mentoring new developers.

S3:E6 - CD Projekt Red Hack, a Florida Water Supply Hack, and a Major ‘Dependency Confusion’ Hack Feb 18, 2021

In this episode, we talk about engineers unionizing with other workers at Medium, Epic’s MetaHuman Creator, a hacker who broke into a water system in Florida, and a security researcher who breached over 35 big tech companies leveraging something called dependency confusion. Then we are joined by Pierre Leclerc, co-founder of 6 Eyes Studio, and game developer of the tactical RPG, Fell Seal, to chat about the recent hack of the game studio CD Projekt Red, and what one can realistically do with stolen video game source code.

Show Notes

Pierre Leclerc

Pierre Leclerc is co-founder of 6 Eyes Studio, and game developer of the tactical RPG, Fell Seal.

S3:E5 - Developers' Place Within Clubhouse, Margaret Mitchell’s letter to Google, Apple’s App Tracking Transparency, and Tracking Capitol Rioters Feb 11, 2021

In this episode, we talk about Google AI Researcher Margaret Mitchell’s letter to the company about the firing of former AI Researcher, Timnit Gebru, Apple’s App Tracking Transparency, and smartphone data that was given to The New York Times that was used to track Capitol rioters. Then we chat with Casey Lau, co-host of RISE, one of the Web Summit conferences, and host of the RISE Offstage podcast, to talk about how Clubhouse will impact the future of tech conferences, and what developers' place is within the Clubhouse ecosystem.

Show Notes

DevDiscuss (sponsor)
CodeNewbie (sponsor)
Avalanche (sponsor)
On the Firing of Dr. Timnit Gebru
They Stormed the Capitol. Their Apps Tracked Them.
AppTrackingTransparency requirement update
How will Clubhouse impact the future of tech conferences?
RISE

Casey Lau

Casey Lau is co-host of RISE, one of the Web Summit conferences, and host of the RISE Offstage podcast.

S3:E4 - Jeff Bezos Stepping Down, Independent COVID Vaccine Systems, Ford’s Android Integration, and Tech Pricing Models Feb 04, 2021

In this episode, we talk about Jeff Bezos transitioning from CEO of Amazon to executive chair of the Amazon board, Ford’s future Android integration, and what kinds of pricing models work for different tech products. Then we chat with Cameron Yick, software engineer at Datadog, and one of the creators of the NYC Vaccine List, a website with the aim of helping people find a COVID-19 vaccine in and around NYC.

Show Notes

Cameron Yick

Cameron is an engineer at Datadog and co-organizer of the NYC Data Visualization Meetup. He is also one of the creators of the NYC Vaccine List He writes and speaks about making public data useful, visual tools for thought, and creating conditions for Serendipity.

S3:E3 - Elasticsearch License Change, Alpha Global Union, A Cookie-tracking Alternative, and White House Website Accessibility Features Jan 28, 2021

In this episode, we talk about International Google workers unionizing, a potentially more privacy-friendly alternative to Cookie tracking, and new web accessibility features on the White House website. Then we chat with Jacob Rogers, Senior Legal Manager at the Wikimedia Foundation, about what we need to know about upcoming licensing changes to Elasticsearch and Kibana.

Show Notes

Jacob Rogers

Jacob Rogers is senior legal counsel at the Wikimedia Foundation.

S3:E2 - GitHub’s Firing Backlash, Alphabet Workers Union, Mobile Data Security, and WebExtensions API Jan 21, 2021

In this episode, we talk about Apple’s WebExtensions API, and GitHub’s firing of a Jewish worker for using the word Nazi in reference to some of the rioters who attacked the US Capitol building on January 6th. Then we chat with Alex Gorowara, senior software engineer at Google, and spokesperson for the Alphabet Workers Union, to talk about the hundreds of Alphabet workers who have chosen to unionize and their mission. Finally, we speak with Max Zinkus and Tushar Jois, Doctoral Students in Applied Cryptography and Security at Johns Hopkins University, whose recent research found major weaknesses in both iOS and Android security mechanisms.

Show Notes

Alex Gorowara

Alex Gorowara is a Senior Software Engineer who has worked in Google Travel Engineering Productivity since finishing undergrad at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2015. In non-pandemic times, he enjoys LARP and choir singing.

Max Zinkus

Max Zinkus is a doctoral student in Computer Science under Matt Green at Johns Hopkins University. Max’s research explores novel ways to use cryptography to improve the privacy and security of computer systems we rely on every day.

Tushar Jois

Tushar Jois is a doctoral student studying computer science under his advisor, Avi Rubin, at Johns Hopkins. Tushar's research focuses on security and privacy for personal devices: protecting users and their everyday data from prying eyes.

S3:E1 - Trump De-platformed, Parler Dropped, an ANTIFA Conspiracy, and Virtual CES Jan 13, 2021

In this episode, we talk about the mass indefinite ban of Trump on social media platforms, and AWS and the Google and Apple App Stores dropping Parler in the aftermath of the US Capitol’s siege by Trump supporters. Then we chat with Dave Gershgorn, senior writer at OneZero at Medium, who covers AI and its effects on society, about the conspiracy theory that antifa were embedded in the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol building. Finally, we speak with Monica Chin, writer at the Verge, about this year’s virtual Consumer Electronics Show.

Show Notes

Dave Gershgorn

Dave Gershgorn is a senior writer for OneZero, a technology publication from Medium. He covers artificial intelligence and surveillance.

Monica Chin

Monica Chin is a writer for The Verge covering computers. Previously, she has covered consumer tech for Mashable, Tom's Guide, and Business Insider.

S2:E8 - Major Governmental Hack, Ruby 3.0, Oblivious DNS, and Facebook Antitrust Lawsuits Dec 16, 2020

In this episode, we about federal and state antitrust lawsuits against Facebook, and a new DNS technique backed by Apple, Cloudflare, and Fastly called Oblivious DNS. Then we speak with Hector Monsegur, security researcher and former blackhat hacker, about a major hack against multiple government agencies. Then we chat with Penelope Phippen, tech lead at Stripe, and a Director at Ruby Central, about the release of Ruby 3.0.

Show Notes

Hector X. Monsegur

Hector X. Monsegur is director of research at Alacrinet and a former black hat hacker.

Penelope Phippen

Penelope Phippen (she/her) is a multifaceted Rubyist who works as a Director at Ruby Central, is the creator of Rubyfmt, and was formerly a lead maintainer of the RSpec project. She frequently writes and speaks about about complex aspects of the Ruby grammar, and issues of social justice for trans people in computer science. She's sad that she can't hug every cat.

S2:E7 - Cyberpunk 2077, Timnit Gebru’s Firing, GitHub’s ‘State of the Octoverse,’ and Google’s New Chip Dec 10, 2020

In this episode, we talk about Google’s move to put their own chips in Pixels and Chromebooks, and notable items in GitHub’s “State of the Octoverse.” Then we speak with Nathan Grayson, senior reporter at Kotaku and co-host of Kotaku’s Splitscreen, about crunch culture in game development and the differences between a company like Supergiant Games and CD Projekt Red, the maker of the newly released and highly anticipated RPG, Cyberpunk 2077. Finally, we chat with Julien Cornebise, an honorary associate professor at University College London and a former researcher with DeepMind, Google’s A.I. lab, about Google’s firing of Timnit Gebru, a co-leader of Google’s Ethical A.I. team, who said she was fired after she sent an email criticizing the company’s efforts to hire more minorities as well as biases in their A.I.

Show Notes

Nathan Grayson

Nathan Grayson is a senior reporter at Kotaku who primarily focuses on streaming, labor, and PC gaming. He also cohosts the Kotaku Splitscreen podcast and is working on a book tentatively titled "STREAMERS" to be published by Atria/Simon & Schuster in the future.

Julien Cornebise

Julien is a mathematician, scientist and coder, was the 5th research at DeepMind from 2012 working on their early algorithms, and co-created their Health Research team. He left in 2016 to start helping NGOs and charities with machine learning, and for that created in 2018 Element AI's "AI for Good" team and their London office. From ASMx86 to convergence theorems, from Google to Amnesty International and academia, he believes in depth and breadth, and that individual responsibility never dilutes in an organization: it multiplies. We must do better!

S2:E6 - Salesforce’s Slackquisition, PHP 8.0, Amazon Sidewalk, and Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Dec 03, 2020

In this episode, we talk about Amazon Sidewalk, and SaleForce’s acquisition of Slack. Then we speak with Jerry Gamblin, Manager of Security and Compliance at Kenna Security, about the U.S. Supreme Court hearing arguments this week about the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which has major implications for ethical hackers. Finally, we chat with Sara Golemon, Core Developer and Release Manager on the PHP team, about the new release of PHP 8.0.

Show Notes

DevDiscuss (sponsor)
CodeNewbie (sponsor)
Avalanche (sponsor)
Salesforce Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Slack
Introducing Amazon Sidewalk
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
PHP 8.0 Released!

Jerry Gamblin

Jerry Gamblin is a security and compliance manager at Kenna Security. He is an influential security researcher and analyst, focusing on the enterprise network and application security with over 15 years of experience. His research has been presented on numerous blogs, podcasts, and security conferences. When not at work, his personal research focuses on IoT & embedded automotive systems.

Sara Golemon

Sara is a long-time contributor to the PHP language and is currently serving as the veteran release manager for PHP 8.0.

S2:E5 - COVID Tracking Project, Apple’s Reduced App Store Commission, Tesla Security Flaws, and Twitter Fleets Nov 26, 2020

In this episode, we talk about a concerning security flaw in the Tesla Model X, and Twitter’s fleet rollout and subsequent rollback. Then we check back in with Sarah Maxwell, spokesperson for the Coalition on App Fairness, about Apple’s new reduced app store commission for certain developers. Finally, we chat with Kevin Miller, website lead at the COVID Tracking Project, about what has become one of the most trusted sources on the spread of the pandemic.

Show Notes

DevDiscuss (sponsor)
CodeNewbie (sponsor)
Avalanche (sponsor)
This Bluetooth Attack Can Steal a Tesla Model X in Minutes
Fleets: a new way to join the conversation
Apple announces App Store Small Business Program
Coalition for App Fairness
The COVID Tracking Project
RubyConf
Tracking COVID with Ruby

Sarah Maxwell

Sarah Maxwell is the spokesperson for the Coalition for App Fairness. Prior to that, she was an executive at Blockchain.com for three years responsible for communications, expansion, and new business. Before crypto, she was also an early employee at Uber, where she led communications and policy helping to legalize ridesharing in the early days and was on the founding team for UberEATS. Over the course of her career, Sarah has worked on numerous presidential campaigns and for companies disrupting the status quo.

Kevin Miller

Kevin Miller is website lead at the COVID Tracking Project. He is a mountain saunterer, wave tumbler, bike rider, raft flipper, trail loser, and part-time computer starer. He writes applications focused on public good, engagement, and empowerment.

S2:E4 - U.S. Military Buying Location Data, GitHub Reinstating youtube-dl, Apple Server Problems, and School Ransomware Attacks Nov 19, 2020

In this episode, we cover how Apple server problems caused slowdowns and crashes for app launching in all versions of MacOS, the rise of school districts being the targets of ransomware attacks, and GitHub reinstating youtube-dl, a program to download videos from YouTube and other video sites, after a Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown. And then we chat with Senior Staff Writer at Motherboard, Joseph Cox, whose piece titled, “How the U.S. Military Buys Location Data from Ordinary Apps,” shines a spotlight on the location data industry, and who is being targeted.

Show Notes

Joseph Cox

Joseph Cox covers privacy, hackers, and crime for Motherboard.

S2:E3 - Apple ARM-Macs, COVID-19 Vaccine, Privacy ‘Nutrition Labels,’ and Controlling Computers With Our Brains Nov 12, 2020

In this episode, we talk about about Pfizer/BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine’s effect on certain tech companies, and we get into Apple’s App privacy “nutrition labels.” Then we chat with Ish ShaBazz, iOS engineer and creator of Capsicum app about Apple's ARM-based Mac’s and other noteworthy announcements from this week's Apple event. Finally we speak with Peter Yoo, director of research at Synchron, Inc, about the first human trials of their Stentrode brain implant which allows users to control computers with their brain.

Show Notes

Ish Shabazz

Ish Shabazz is the founder of Illuminated Bits, and an iOS Developer who supports other developers.

Peter Yoo

Peter Yoo is director of research at Synchron, Inc.

S2:E2 - iOS Accessibility Features, GraphQL Editor 3.0, Raspberry Pi 400, Stripe Climate, and CodeSandbox Nov 05, 2020

In this episode, we cover Raspberry Pi 400, Stripe Climate, and CodeSandbox's series A funding. Then we speak to Kaya Thomas, senior iOS engineer at Calm, about iOS’s new back tap feature, and other accessibility features on iOS that developers might not know about. Finally, we chat with CTO of GraphQL Editor, Artur Czemiel (Cha-mial), about the release of GraphQL Editor 3.0.

Show Notes

DevDiscuss (sponsor)
CodeNewbie (sponsor)
Avalanche (sponsor)
Raspberry Pi 400
Stripe Climate
CodeSandbox Secures $12.7M Series A Funding
Apple added a secret button to your iPhone, and you may not have even noticed
Apple: Human Interface Guidelines
GraphQL Editor 3.0 - new release

Kaya Thomas

Kaya is a senior iOS engineer at Calm, formerly at Slack. She also writes and has spoken at conferences all around the world.

Artur Czemiel

Artur Czemiel is the CTO of GraphQL Editor, and CEO of Aexol.

S2:E1 - Hacktoberfest, Node v15, Edge, McBroken, and Tech-Related Issues on U.S. Ballots Oct 29, 2020

In this episode, we talk about Oculus Quest 2 users being forced to link their account to a Facebook account, a fun use of the McDonald's API, Microsoft phasing out Internet Explorer with Edge, and some important tech-related issues on U.S. ballots. Then we be speak with Emily Kager, senior mobile android engineer at Mozilla, about a big controversy over Hacktoberfest. Finally, we chat with senior software engineer and Node.js TSC Member at Red Hat, Beth Griggs, and Michael Dawson, Node.js lead for Red Hat and IBM, about the release of Node v15.

Show Notes

Bethany Griggs

Beth Griggs is a Senior Software Engineer at Red Hat and Node.js Technical Steering Committee Member. Her work includes contributing to the upstream Node.js project, to building tooling to support Node.js deployments to Kubernetes.

Michael Dawson

Michael Dawson is an active contributor to the Node.js project and chair of the Node.js Technical Steering Committee(TSC). He contributes to a broad range of community efforts including platform support, build infrastructure, N-API, Release, as well as tools to help the community achieve quality with speed (ex: ci jobs, benchmarking and code coverage reporting). As the Node.js lead for Red Hat and IBM , he works with Red Hat's and IBM's internal teams to plan and facilitate their contributions to Node.js and v8 within the Node and Google communities.

S1:E8 - Twitter’s Algorithmic Bias, Coalition for App Fairness, React 17 JSX Transform, and Strava's Data Share Oct 01, 2020

In this episode, we cover some updates about Ruby 3, OpenAI, and React 17's JSX Transform, and then a disconcerting data-sharing aspect from the exercise app, Strava. Then we chat with Alex Hanna, sociologist and research scientist working on machine learning fairness and ethical AI at Google, about Twitter’s algorithmic bias toward certain photos over others. And in light of all of the recent Apple app store battles with Epic Games, WordPress, and others, we speak with Sarah Maxwell, Coalition Spokesman for the Coalition for App Fairness, about the organization's efforts to make the app marketplace a more even playing field for developers.

Show Notes

Alex Hanna

Alex Hanna is a sociologist and research scientist working on machine learning fairness and ethical AI at Google. Her research centers on origins of the training data which form the informational infrastructure of AI and algorithmic fairness frameworks, and the way these datasets exacerbate racial, gender, and class inequality.

Sarah Maxwell

Sarah Maxwell is the spokesperson for the Coalition for App Fairness. Prior to that, she was an executive at Blockchain.com for three years responsible for communications, expansion, and new business. Before crypto, she was also an early employee at Uber, where she led communications and policy helping to legalize ridesharing in the early days and was on the founding team for UberEATS. Over the course of her career, Sarah has worked on numerous presidential campaigns and for companies disrupting the status quo.

S1:E7 - Google’s Carbon Footprint, NVIDIA’s Arm Acquisition, TikTok’s Algorithm, and C++20 Sep 17, 2020

In this episode, we talk about a huge update to C++, TikTok’s algorithm and Oracle partnership, and NVIDIA’s Arm acquisition. We then chat with senior engineer at Forem and rotating co-host of DevNews, Vaidehi Joshi, about Google’s carbon footprint, and the environmental impact of our data.

Show Notes

Vaidehi Joshi

Vaidehi Joshi is a software engineer, creator of the Base.cs blog series, and co-host of the Base.cs podcast.

S1:E6 - Chrome 86’s Focus Features, Microsoft’s Deepfake Verifier Tool, and Google’s Business Application Platform Sep 11, 2020

In this episode, we talk about Microsoft’s new tech to combat deepfakes and Google’s Business Application Platform. We then chat with Fen Slattery, accessibility lead at Clique Studios, about Chrome 86, which has two new features that Chromium says will improve both the user and developer experience with the focus selector, and could be a big win for accessibility.

Show Notes

DevDiscuss (sponsor)
CodeNewbie (sponsor)
Avalanche (sponsor)
New Steps to Combat Disinformation
Google Business Application Platform
Giving users and developers more control over focus
Clique Studios
Fenslattery.com
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Overview
WebAIM
Accessibility Insights

Fen Slattery

Fen Slattery is accessibility lead at Clique Studios and a front end engineer in Chicagoland.

S1:E5 - Neuralink, Nvidia , Samsung’s Mobile Memory Breakthrough, and a Terrible TikTok Trend Sep 03, 2020

In this episode, we talk about Nvidia new graphics cards, Samsung’s mobile memory breakthrough, and a terrible TikTok trend. And then we speak with AJ Keller, co-founder of Neurosity, about Elon Musk's Neuralink pig demo.

Show Notes

DevDiscuss (sponsor)
CodeNewbie (sponsor)
Avalanche (sponsor)
Neuralink
Neuralink Pig Demo
Nvidia
Photolithography
Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography
Nvidia GeForce Special Event Livestream
On Fiction & Neuralink
A Message To TikTok Parents Who Use My Face To Make Their Kids Cry

AJ Keller

AJ Keller is the co-founder of Neurosity.

S1:E4 - TypeScript 4.0, Gitee, Chromium, and Apple Drama Aug 27, 2020

In this episode, we talk more about Apple’s ongoing App Store drama, a proposal to let Chromium talk to your local network, and Gitee, the GitHub of China. We also speak with Nathan Shively-Sanders and Orta Therox, engineers on the TypeScript team, about the newest version of TypeScript, version 4.0.

Show Notes

Nathan Shively-Sanders

Nathan Shively-Sanders is an engineer at Microsoft working on the Typescript team. He's worked on compilers for almost 10 years, most recently on Javascript support in the Typescript compiler, and Definitely Typed.

Orta Therox

Orta Therox is an engineer on the TypeScript team with a long history of OSS.

S1:E3 - Rust’s Future, Twitter’s New API, Fortnite’s Biggest Battle, and Atlassian’s Remote Work Policy Aug 20, 2020

In this episode, we talk about Atlassian’s remote work policy, Fortnite’s battle with Google and Apple, and Twitter’s new API. We then speak with Ashley Williams and Steve Klabnik, engineers on the Rust core team, about how recent restructuring and layoffs at Mozilla impact the future of the Rust programming language.

Show Notes

DevDiscuss (sponsor)
CodeNewbie (sponsor)
Avalanche (sponsor)
Atlassian
Fortnite
Fortnite
Introducing a new and improved Twitter API
Rust
Laying the foundation for Rust's future
RustConf

Ashley Williams

Ashley Williams is principal open source engineer at Apollo GraphQL and is a member of the Rust Core team and the Rust Foundation Project Group. She has created tools for the Rust ecosystem such as wasm-pack and cargo-generate, and has participated on the crates.io, community, infrastructure, and webassembly teams.

Steve Klabnik

Steve Klabnik is a member of the Rust core team, co-authored "The Rust Programming Language," and is an amateur sourdough baker.

S1:E2 - React 17, Ruby, Chrome DevTools, Mozilla Layoffs, and Hello Weather Aug 13, 2020

In this episode, we cover Ruby 3 typing, GitHub running Ruby 2.7 in production, and Chrome DevTools CSS overview. We also speak with Jonas Downey, design lead at Basecamp, and co-creator of the Hello Weather app, about a Twitter thread he wrote titled, “Here’s a little tale about what it’s like to be an indie iOS developer working under Apple's 800-pound gorilla rule." Finally we chat with Dan Abramov, software engineer at Facebook, creator of Redux, and co-author of the Create React App. We’ll chat with Dan about React’s decision to release React 17 with no new features.

Show Notes

Jonas Downey

Jonas Downey is a principal designer at Basecamp, and the design lead for HEY, Basecamp's new take on email. Jonas is also the co-creator of Hello Weather, the weather app for iOS, Apple Watch, and Android.

Dan Abramov

Dan Abramov is a software engineer at Facebook, creator of Redux, and co-author of the Create React App.

S1:E1 - GitHub Roadmap, Twitter Hack, TikTok Algorithm, and GPT-3 Aug 06, 2020

In this episode, we cover GitHub's new public roadmap, the hacker behind the recent Twitter hack that took control of a bunch of high profile accounts, and TikTok's plans to disclose their algorithm. We also speak with Pedro Cruz, developer advocate at IBM teaching, who is teaching developers how to use artificial intelligence and extended reality. He shares some reflections on whether OpenAI's powerful autocomplete program, GPT-3 is all it's cracked up to be, and more!

Show Notes

DevDiscuss (sponsor)
CodeNewbie (sponsor)
Avalanche (sponsor)
For Stickers!
GitHub Public Roadmap
Florida Teenager Is Charged as ‘Mastermind’ of Twitter Hack
TikTok open algorithm press release
OpenAI GPT-3

Pedro Cruz

Pedro Cruz is a developer advocate at IBM, teaching developers how to use artificial intelligence and extended reality.

S1:E0 - Season 1 Trailer Jul 29, 2020

DevNews is the second original podcast by DEV, a global community of software developers of all backgrounds and experience levels. DevNews is the news show for developers by developers, hosted by Saron Yitbarek, founder of CodeNewbie, and DEV senior engineers Josh Puetz and Vaidehi Joshi. Each season these experienced devs cover the latest in the world of tech, and speak with diverse guests from a variety of backgrounds to dig deep into meaty topics such as security, the pros and cons of outsourcing your authentication, and the latest bugs and hacks.

Show Notes

DevDiscuss (sponsor)
CodeNewbie (sponsor)
Avalanche (sponsor)

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