Episodes

  • Is AI going to pay its way? Wall Street wants tech firms to show them the money

    Is AI going to pay its way? Wall Street wants tech firms to show them the money
    Aug 1 2024
    In this week's Kettle it's all about AI - or rather whether the tech industry can make the technology not only work, but pay its way as well. With trillions of dollars being spent investors are starting to get twitchy about what they can see for their money and patience. Meanwhile, Nvidia and others are facing what could be their peak year for a while as the market settles down a little - for the moment at least. You can see the full discussion below. After a busy week of financial results and announcement in the field we're joined by Tom Claburn, who's done a deep dive into the returns on investment for AI spending, Tim Prickett-Morgan from our sister site The Next Platform - and he knows the market better than most - and Tobias Mann, who has been trawling through the financial figures so you don't have to. This episode was directed and produced by Nicole Hemsoth Prickett. For those who prefer just the audio, the Kettle is available via RSS and MP3, Apple, Amazon, and Spotify. So is the AI snake eating itself? Let us know in the forums.
    Show more Show less
    22 mins
  • Admins warn that Crowdstrike's kerfuffle could take weeks to fix

    Admins warn that Crowdstrike's kerfuffle could take weeks to fix
    Jul 19 2024

    In fact it was a tale of two outages. There was a minor Azure snafu but that was pretty much sorted by the time alerts to go out around the world after Crowdstrike pushed out what looks like a poorly coded and insufficiently tested update.

    While Apple and Linux users aren't directly effected, admins have been telling us all is not automatically well, since many networks have been taken down, meaning evn if your personal machine is working, it won't be able to do much without corporate data links. You can hear the whole story below.

    On this week's Kettle episode, we have Richard Speed in (a very hot) UK, plus our security expert Jessica Lyons and Brandon Vigliarolo who's been tracking the outage's global reach, and your host Iain Thomson.
    Show more Show less
    16 mins
  • Snowflake still causing a blizzard of security problems with no thaw in sight

    Snowflake still causing a blizzard of security problems with no thaw in sight
    Jul 12 2024
    With the continuing fallout from Snowflake now hitting over 100 million AT&T customers we discuss quite what is to be done. Constant vigilance is a given, but there's always the himan factor that ensures even the best security systems can be rolled over due to a single slip up. Then there's the promise of AI, or possibly the lack of promise. Machine learning was touted as a possible savior of the security industry, but - as with so much AI hype - the reality is looking somewhat less rosy. You can see the full discussion below. On this week's show we have Tobias Mann, Brandon Vigliarolo, The Register's security editor Jessica Lyons and your host Iain Thomson.
    Show more Show less
    15 mins
  • Trouble in space as Boeing's not going, and China's back from the Moon

    Trouble in space as Boeing's not going, and China's back from the Moon
    Jul 1 2024
    It's been a busy week in space, with Boeing's test pilots still stuck on the International Space Station thanks to their faulty capsule, and then being forced to take shelter from space debris. The debris came from RESURS-P1, a decommissioned Russian satellite launched in 2013, which broke up this week into over 100 observable pieces, all traveling at around 17,000mph. As the debris field approached the ISS astronauts were forced to take cover in a hardened safety chamber. Not that the station has long left, as NASA awarded a contract this week to deorbit the platform in 2030. By then there may be a replacement, and there'll almost certainly be a rival in the form of China, which is building its own space station. It's also been a good week for the Middle Kingdom, with the Chang'e-6 re-entry capsule bringing back the first samples from the far side of the Moon. You can see the full discussion below.
    Show more Show less
    17 mins
  • Kaspersky russian off US servers after Biden ban kicks in

    Kaspersky russian off US servers after Biden ban kicks in
    Jun 21 2024
    On Thursday the US government effectively banned Kaspersky security software on US servers on national security grounds, or at least made it useless given the lack of updates come September. Then, as we were filming this week's Kettle, 12 members of Kaspersky's C-suite were sanctioned as well - although not the Russian business' eponymous CEO Eugene. So what on earth is going on? Is this overreach by the US government or is there something more sinister going on? Joining us on this week's Kettle is our security editor Jessica Lyons to give us the full story, along with Tom Claburn to add in wisdom on the software side. As ever The Register's editor Chris Williams has pithy comment and your host is Iain Thomson, with producer Nicole Hemsoth Prickett turning chat into gold.
    Show more Show less
    12 mins
  • Strange things afoot at Computex as Jensen Huang goes full Tony Stark

    Strange things afoot at Computex as Jensen Huang goes full Tony Stark
    Jun 7 2024
    The tech world has been gathering in Taipei for the annual extravaganza that is Computex and all the chip makers have been strutting their stuff - one in particular. Nvidia didn't even book a spot at the show and instead host its own keynote where Jensen Huang, just crowned CEO of the world's second most valuable corporation, reflected on a stellar year and told us what's coming down the line. He then, rather bizarrely, wondered off to sign a young lady's chest. Such shenanigans weren't seen from other CEO. A fired-up Pat Gelsinger touted Intel's return to form and bought a new chip along with him. AMD, Qualcomm and Arm were also showing off the fruits of their labor and what OEMs have done with them. You can see the full discussion below and the squid discussed is here - although the image may haunt your dreams. On this week's show our man on the spot Simon Sharwood is joined by Joining us this week is Chris Williams and Tobias Mann, with your host Iain Thomson.
    Show more Show less
    17 mins
  • Do you really need a GPU or NPU for AI?

    Do you really need a GPU or NPU for AI?
    May 31 2024

    With US Editor Iain Thomson; Editor in Chief, Chris Williams; Systems Editor, Tobias Mann; and Reporter, Brandon Vigliarolo
    Show more Show less
    18 mins
  • So was it Microsoft Build or Built? A Total Recall nightmare

    So was it Microsoft Build or Built? A Total Recall nightmare
    May 24 2024

    Joining us on this week's transatlantic Kettle is Richard Speed fromThe Register's UK team, and Tom Claburn - both of whom sat through endless Microsoft briefings so you didn't have to. You can get the full details in the video below.

    But it wasn't all about software - Microsoft's making another play for Windows on Arm and i's looking like this time it's serious. Tobias Mann has been going over the details, with The Register's editor Chris Williams adding words of wisdom. This week's show is hosted by Iain Thomson
    Show more Show less
    18 mins