Social media snark and rightfully criticizing industry trends? This episode of Screaming featuring Daniel Feldman must be a match made in heaven for Corey. Daniel’s wit is only matched by his engineering expertise, and his insights help us examine the current state of GenAI. This conversation breaks down how you can have fun with today’s AI tools, why product excitement can often hinder advancement, and even carries a tune with a bit of karaoke. As a bonus, Daniel indulges Corey about his signature conference attire. If you ever wanted to learn more about Mr. Quinn’s suit game, then this is the episode for you!

Show Highlights:

• (0:00) Intro to episode
• (0:48) Who is Daniel Feldman
• (1:25) Backblaze sponsor read
• (1:51) Sounding off on social media
• (3:13) Having fun with AI
• (5:27) The origins of quackernews.com
• (6:36) Practical uses of AI
• (8:40) Enthusiasm vs. progress
• (12:30) AI’s online backlash
• (15:45) AI, slideshows, and karaoke
• (18:14) Firefly sponsor read
• (18:50) Tricks to prompting DALL-E
• (21:32) Markdown and software update naming
• (25:13) Exclusionary humor in tech
• (26:19) reInvent and Corey’s sense of fashion
• (28:32) Getting publicly recognized for Twitter posts
• (30:43) Where to find Daniel

About Daniel Feldman:

Daniel Feldman is working on new projects in the service identity space. He previously was an early engineer at Scytale and deployed SPIFFE service identity at over a dozen companies. Before that, he was a principal software engineer at Veritas.

Links Referenced:

• quakernews.com
• Twitter: https://x.com/d_feldman
• Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dfeldman.bsky.social
• Mastodon: https://hachyderm.io/@dfeldman
• SPIFFE: https://spiffe.io/
• Solving the Bottom Turtle: https://spiffe.io/book/

Sponsors

• Backblaze: https://www.backblaze.com/
• Firefly: https://www.firefly.ai/

While we can’t repeat the title of his blog post here, Nikhil Suresh recently gained notoriety for his scathing takedown of the hype surrounding GenAI. On the surface, it appears his anger lies with the tech, but that’s not the case. In this episode, Nikhil explains to Corey why his frustrations are targeted at a predatory bubble swindling young professionals and investors. You’ll hear their thoughts on the correlation between AI and crypto grifts, why most tech keynotes are just fluff and buzzwords, and when industry catch-all terms start to lose meaning. While GenAI may still show some promise, this week’s episode breaks down why you shouldn’t believe the hype.

Show Highlights:

• (0:00) Intro to episode
• (0:41) Backblaze sponsor read
• (1:08) The origins of Nikhil’s viral article
• (4:20) The disconnect between buzzwords and work
• (5:26) Throwing money at AI
• (7:17) AI vs. craftsmanship
• (13:36) The rush to get AI tools out the door
• (16:12) The telltale signs of bad AI content
• (18:50) AI, crypto, and GPU grifts
• (20:33) The fallout of Nikhil’s blog post
• (22:34) Firefly sponsor read
• (23:10) The practicality of GenAI
• (26:24) GenAI presentations vs. reality
• (29:07) Predatory hiring practices and tech’s current barrier for entry
• (32:03) Sturgeon’s Law in the industry
• (35:22) Consequences of the hype cycle
• (38:48) The fantasy land of “conferenceware”
• (42:01) Where you can find Nikhil

About Nikhil Suresh:

Nikhil is one of the directors at an Australian data consultancy named Hermit Tech, though he’s probably most well-known for writing a blog titled Ludicity. Nikhil has a background in psychology and data science.

Links Referenced:

• https://ludic.mataroa.blog/
• https://www.hermit-tech.com/

Sponsors

• Backblaze: https://www.backblaze.com/
• Firefly: https://www.firefly.ai/

Is there true value in using cloud optimization tools when they may be phased out in the near future? You may be surprised. In this Summer Replay of Screaming of the Cloud, Corey is joined by former VMware Senior Staff Engineer Bryan Liles. Since this episode was originally released, Bryan wasn’t just promoted to the Vice President of Principal Engineering at VMware, he’s also transitioned to a new role as a Senior Principal Engineer with AWS! Listen as the pair talk about the long-term viability of Kubernetes, what’s in a tech company’s name, flipping the script surrounding the discussion of diversity in the field, and why the words you use matter the most in criticism. If anything, this throwback will show the value of intention, whether in the tech industry or your everyday life.

Show Highlights:

• (0:00) Intro to episode
• (0:30) Backblaze sponsor read
• (0:56) The struggles of setting up interview times
• (2:22) What Bryan does at VMware
• (4:14) What Kubernetes has accomplished
• (5:39) Corey’s qualms with Kubernetes
• (8:16) The shelf life of Kubernetes
• (10:36) Optimizing Kubernetes in the cloud
• (13:25) What is Project Pacific?
• (15:28) Firefly sponsor read
• (16:04) Woes of the multicloud
• (19:09) VMware’s branding and Tanzu
• (21:00) Mispronouncing company names
• (22:07) Punching down and diversity discourse in tech
• (25:18) Intentional language in company critiques
• (28:50) Learning lessons from getting fired
• (30:36) Where you can find Bryan

About Bryan Liles

Bryan Liles is a Senior Principal Engineer with AWS where his team oversees all of S3. When not working, Bryan builds and races cars and drones.

Over the past 20 years, Bryan has worked around cloud technology and distributed systems. His approaches to technology are: simplify with fidelity and technology should give access to all.

Links Referenced:

• https://vmware.com

Sponsors

• Backblaze: https://www.backblaze.com/
• Firefly: https://www.firefly.ai/