Working on Wicked Problems

It's the annual Oxide and Friends tradition: Books in the Box! What books have the Oxide friends enjoyed? Didn't catch the show live, feel free to add your book recommendation as a PR in the show notes.In addition to Bryan Cantrill and Adam Leventhal, speakers included Tom Lyon, and Ian Grunert.Previously, on Oxide and Friends:OxF s01e16 - The Books in the BoxOxF s02e18 - Books in the Box ReduxOxF s03e22 - Books in the Box IIIOxF s04e28 - Books in the Box IVOxF s05e30 - Books in the Box VRecommendations from Bryan and Adam:Setting the Table by Danny MeyerIncorruptible by Eric RiesSteve Jobs in Exile by Geoffrey CainThe Power Law by Sebastian MallabyShoe Dog by Phil KnightEverything is Tuberculosis by John GreenNeed more? Phantom Plague by Vidya KrishnanAmerican Poison by Daniel StoneThe Morris Chang autobiography (in Chinese): Volume 1 and Volume 2Apple in China by Patrick McGeeSteve Jobs and the NeXT Big Thing by Randall StrossThe Everything Store by Brad StoneTermination Shock by Neal Stephenson (from last year's recommendations)Eccentric Orbits by John Bloom (from last year's recommendations)Books in the Bonfire:Grateful Geek by Jean-Louis GasséeIf Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies (again)Recommendations from Tom Lyon:Me and My Big Ideas by Lee FelsensteinThe Proof in the Code by Kevin HartnettRestoring the Pitchfork Ranch by A. Thomas ColeRecommendations from Ian Grunert:Eccentric Orbits by John BloomKing PONG by Raiford GuinsThe Right Stuff by Tom WolfeThe Master Switch by Tim WuAlso mentioned (but not necessarily recommended):Snow CrashYou Can See Everything (A24)Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and TomorrowCreating the Digital Future by Albert Yu (mentioned, not recommended)Thomas Midgley Jr.Robert A. Kehoe and the Kehoe principlePrefontaine (1997)Community MemoryLeanThe AGI Chronicles by Kevin Roose (mentioned, not yet read)Racing the BeamAt the End of the Rainbow: The Identity Crisis of the Atari 8-Bit ComputerIf we got something wrong or missed something, please file a PR! Our next show will likely be on Monday at 5p Pacific Time on our Discord server; stay tuned to our Mastodon feeds for details, or subscribe to this calendar. We'd love to have you join us, as we always love to hear from new speakers!

We've talked about Oxide's Root of Trust--the hardware underpinning the security of the product--but how do we keep a bad actor from spoofing Oxide to load malicious software? Philip Tricca joined Bryan and Adam to describe the key ceremony, the process of creating and storing the secret that plays a critical role in manufacturing. And we paid our respects to the dot matrix printers that made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of security.In addition to Bryan Cantrill and Adam Leventhal, our special guest was Philip Tricca.Previously, on Oxide and Friends:OxF s01e15 - Theranos, Silicon Valley, and the March Madness of Tech FraudOxF s04e28 - Books in the Box IVOxF s06e07 - Building a Quorum of Trust in the Oxide RackOxF s03e18 - Okay, Doomer: A Rebuttal to AI Doom-mongeringSome of the topics we hit on, in the order that we hit them:You Can See Everything (A24)IANA: Root KSK CeremoniesCaliptraIANA YouTube: live streamsRFD 585: Cosmo RoT Code Signing CeremonyRFD 605: Virtual Machine Identity and AttestationNLnet Labs: DNSSEC Offline KSK Ceremony ToolsIf we got something wrong or missed something, please file a PR! Our next show will likely be on Monday at 5p Pacific Time on our Discord server; stay tuned to our Mastodon feeds for details, or subscribe to this calendar. We'd love to have you join us, as we always love to hear from new speakers!

After raising $200M in February... we raised another $445M in July! Your favorite computer company is capitalized to the gills--enough to weather the supply chain upheaval even! Come for co-founders Steve and Bryan describing the raise; stay for tax, debt, and credit talk with Scott Orn.In addition to Bryan Cantrill and Adam Leventhal, our special guests were Steve Tuck and Scott Orn.Previously, on Oxide and Friends:OxF s06e05 - Oxide's $200M Series COxF s05e24 - Oxide's $100M Series BSome of the topics we hit on, in the order that we hit them:Oxide blog: Our $445M Series DHacker News: Our $445M Series DHacker News: Oxide Computer raises $445M (SEC Form D)If we got something wrong or missed something, please file a PR! Our next show will likely be on Monday at 5p Pacific Time on our Discord server; stay tuned to our Mastodon feeds for details, or subscribe to this calendar. We'd love to have you join us, as we always love to hear from new speakers!

Wicked problems defy simple solutions. Even as we describe the problem, we may be presupposing particular solutions and narrowing scope. Our greatest, most persistent societal problems fit this model. Wicked problems may not be solvable, but progress can be made. Noah Harlan joins us to describe his technical entrepreneurship battling wicked problems.In addition to Bryan Cantrill and Adam Leventhal, our special guest was Noah Harlan.Some of the topics we hit on, in the order that we hit them:Rittel and Webber, Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning (1973)Wikipedia: Cynefin frameworkHOPICSKiipNoah Harlan: "Why We Started Kiip"Findhelp: "Transforming CBO Case Management with Kiip"AlleyCorpfindhelp.orgMTS: "AI Doomsday Predictions Lack Real-World Reality" with Bryan CantrillEric Ries, IncorruptibleIf we got something wrong or missed something, please file a PR! Our next show will likely be on Monday at 5p Pacific Time on our Discord server; stay tuned to our Mastodon feeds for details, or subscribe to this calendar. We'd love to have you join us, as we always love to hear from new speakers!

When the supply chain crunch catches up with you, sometimes a tiny resistor the size of a fleck of pepper is the difference between a world-class computer and... e-waste. Members of the Oxide operations and electrical engineering teams join Bryan and Adam to discuss how close we came to stopping production, for want of a resistor.In addition to Bryan Cantrill and Adam Leventhal, speakers included Robert "RFK" Keith, Eric Aasen, Scott Tagwerker, and Steve Tuck.Previously, on Oxide and Friends:OxF s06e12 - Rooting for the Home Team with Paul Freedman and Bryan CarmelOxF s06e06 - When Nine Nines Isn't EnoughOxF s02e12 - More Tales from the Bringup LabSome of the topics we hit on, in the order that we hit them:Bryan's blog: The Contagion of FearPRs needed!If we got something wrong or missed something, please file a PR! Our next show will likely be on Monday at 5p Pacific Time on our Discord server; stay tuned to our Mastodon feeds for details, or subscribe to this calendar. We'd love to have you join us, as we always love to hear from new speakers!

We've been hosting a live show weekly on Mondays at 5p for about an hour, and recording them all; here is the recording.How do you test configurations you haven't built yet? Steve, Andrew, and Rain join Bryan and Adam to talk about the transformative power of the Oxide emulation environment, VOXEL, and how it has accelerated development in many domains.In addition to Bryan Cantrill and Adam Leventhal, speakers included Steve Karam, Andrew Stone, and Rain Paharia.Previously, on Oxide and Friends:OxF s03e06 - Rack-scale Networking (P4 and DDM with Ry Goodfellow)OxF s01e26 - The Pragmatism of Hubris (with Cliff Biffle)OxF s03e09 - Get You a State Machine for Great Good (Wicket with Andrew Stone)OxF s01e25 - Tales from the Bringup LabOxF s01e18 - Dijkstra's TweetstormOxF s03e31 - Hiring Processes with Gergely OroszSome of the topics we hit on, in the order that we hit them:voxel -- Virtual OXide Emulation Lab: emulated rack deployments on one Helios host (omicron on Falcon/propolis VMs, SoftNPU switches, FRR routers); optional real SP/RoT firmware via sp-emu. https://github.com/oxidecomputer/voxelFalcon -- tool for standing up virtual network/rack topologies of propolis VMs on illumos for testing. https://github.com/oxidecomputer/falconTofino -- Intel/Barefoot programmable switch ASIC (Tofino 2) in Sidecar; P4-programmable. Discontinued by Intel.SoftNPU -- software P4 target emulating the switch dataplane, so the stack runs without Tofino hardware. https://github.com/oxidecomputer/softnpuP4 -- DSL for describing packet-processing pipelines; how the Tofino/SoftNPU dataplane is programmed. https://p4.orgGimlet -- Oxide's compute sled.Sidecar -- Oxide's rack switch board, carrying the Tofino 2.raclette -- reduced-size lab rack (a few sleds + switch) used for dev/test rather than a full 32-sled rack. (my read; unverified)Hubris -- Rust microkernel/RTOS for the SP and RoT: statically-defined tasks, memory protection, synchronous IPC. https://github.com/oxidecomputer/hubrisHumility -- debugger for Hubris systems; dumps tasks, stacks, ringbufs over SWD. https://github.com/oxidecomputer/humilitya4x2 -- pre-voxel testbed topology: 4 emulated Gimlets, 2 SoftNPU switches, omicron on one Helios host.trust quorum -- rack secret split into shares across sleds; a quorum must be present to reconstitute the storage-encryption key, so a stolen sled is useless alone. https://docs.oxide.computer/guides/system/initial-rack-setupillumos -- open-source Solaris-derived OS; the host OS (Helios) is an illumos distro. https://illumos.orgzones -- illumos OS-level virtualization; each control-plane service runs in its own zone.Scrimlet -- Gimlet attached to a Sidecar ("switch Gimlet"); hosts the switch zone, dpd, MGS.DDM -- Delay-Driven Multipath, the underlay routing protocol, implemented in Maghemite (ddmd, ddmadm). https://github.com/oxidecomputer/maghemiteDendrite -- dataplane controller; dpd programs Tofino or SoftNPU and exposes an API to the control plane. https://github.com/oxidecomputer/dendriteswadm -- CLI against dpd for port config, links, addresses, routes.A0 -- sled power state where the host is fully powered (vs. A2, standby with the host off); driven by the SP sequencer task.iCE40 -- Lattice FPGA on Gimlet/Sidecar for power sequencing and board glue logic. https://github.com/oxidecomputer/quartzPRs needed!If we got something wrong or missed something, please file a PR! Our next show will likely be on Monday at 5p Pacific Time on our Discord server; stay tuned to our Mastodon feeds for details, or subscribe to this calendar. We'd love to have you join us, as we always love to hear from new speakers!

More and more, people are relying on AI to do their writing for them. Is this the new normal, or the intellectual equivalent of claiming take-out is your own home cooking? Max Spero, founder and CEO of Pangram, joined Bryan and Adam to discuss how they distinguish AI and human authorship.In addition to Bryan Cantrill and Adam Leventhal, our special guest was Max Spero.Previously, on Oxide and Friends:OxF: Hiring Processes with Gergely OroszOxF: Shell Game with Evan RatliffOxF: Predictions 2026!!Some of the topics we hit on, in the order that we hit them:PangramBrandon Sovran: "I Tried to Trick Pangram. I Lost."Stanley Druckenmiller: "Let the Bond Market Speak"Pangram 4 Technical ReportGoodfire: understand and debug your AI modelIf we got something wrong or missed something, please file a PR! Our next show will likely be on Monday at 5p Pacific Time on our Discord server; stay tuned to our Mastodon feeds for details, or subscribe to this calendar. We'd love to have you join us, as we always love to hear from new speakers!

Oxide returns to the chamber... of EMC compliance to earn FCC approval to sell our next generation rack. Did it go smoothly? If it had, would there be a podcast episode? Oxide teammates Robert, Dan, and Stu join Bryan and Adam to discuss the trials and triumph!In addition to Bryan Cantrill and Adam Leventhal, speakers included Robert "RFK" Keith, Dan Chirpich, and Stu Donnan.Previously, on Oxide and Friends:OxF s03e04 - Oxide and the Chamber of MysteriesSome of the topics we hit on, in the order that we hit them:IEEE EMC+SIPI 2026: International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility, Signal & Power IntegrityPRs needed!If we got something wrong or missed something, please file a PR! Our next show will likely be on Monday at 5p Pacific Time on our Discord server; stay tuned to our Mastodon feeds for details, or subscribe to this calendar. We'd love to have you join us, as we always love to hear from new speakers!

Simon Willison joined Bryan and Adam to discuss a wild couple of weeks in AI. First, we have a high-profile, AI-induced, AI-diagnosed security incident. Next we have the rise of frontier-class open-weights models. Who's for or against open weights? Do they make for a more or less secure future? Exciting times!In addition to Bryan Cantrill and Adam Leventhal, our special guest was Simon Willison.Previously, on Oxide and Friends:OxF: Shell Game with Evan RatliffOxF: Discovering the XZ Backdoor with Andres FreundOxF: Predictions 2025OxF: Predictions 2026!!OxF: Bookclub: How Life Works by Philip BallOxF: OpenAI's Boardroom BrawlSome of the topics we hit on, in the order that we hit them:Gerald the turkey terrorizes Oakland's rose gardenABC7: Gerald the turkey and the Morcom Rose GardenAPD cautions residents after aggressive wild turkey attacks elderly AlamedanHawking radiationDHH's racist complaintsGrok's "MechaHitler" antisemitic spreeSimon on Grok aka "MechaHitler"Hugging Face security incident, July 2026OpenAI on the Hugging Face model evaluation security incidentGreg Brockman's political donations and the Leading the Future super PACOpenAI co-founder and wife donate $5.5M to save the home of bald eagles Jackie and ShadowFirecracker microVMMeltdown (security vulnerability)Kernel page-table isolationJensen Huang on XElectronic design automationGolden Gate ClaudeTethicsHalloween documentsZiziansBiohazard (book)CRISPROliver Sacks: criticism and falsificationsHow Alice Hamilton waged a one-woman campaign to get the lead out of everythingAmerican Poison by Daniel StoneLead–crime hypothesisPope Leo XIV, Magnifica Humanitas encyclicalRerum novarumIf we got something wrong or missed something, please file a PR! Our next show will likely be on Monday at 5p Pacific Time on our Discord server; stay tuned to our Mastodon feeds for details, or subscribe to this calendar. We'd love to have you join us, as we always love to hear from new speakers!

Ramy Katrib has been at the forefront of digital storytelling for over 25 years, with his post-production company, DigitalFilm Tree, earning a reputation as one of Hollywood's most technically adventurous post-production houses. He joined Bryan and Adam to explore the past, present, and future of digital storytelling.In addition to Bryan Cantrill and Adam Leventhal, our special guest was Ramy Katrib.If we got something wrong or missed something, please file a PR! Our next show will likely be on Monday at 5p Pacific Time on our Discord server; stay tuned to our Mastodon feeds for details, or subscribe to this calendar. We'd love to have you join us, as we always love to hear from new speakers!