I think we need to do two things:

The US government needs to take a more active role in coordinating hardening of infrastructure, including the networks of private companies. This is analogous to the safety regulations the USG puts on car and airplane manufacturers, chemical plants, etc. This is a case of technology outrunning regulation, plus a dash of Alan Greenspan’s “flaw in my model” thinking that the market will optimize around security.

Second, companies need to be held legally and financially responsible for the data breaches that occur. This would open up an insurance market, which would be motivated to audit the companies accurately in order to set rates.

Honestly, I think we’d be better served by having a department of cybersecurity than a Space Force, since right now there’s only spotty coverage divided among the various intelligence agencies.

Do you just enjoy doing hot takes or trolling?

Nowhere did I imply that the DPRK’s practices justify the attack - that’s left to individuals to think about for themselves. I was saying that their tendency to engage in covert ops against individuals outside of their own borders means that, if I were the hacker, I wouldn’t want my name publicly known. The same goes for the US - even more so. I would expect that someone who managed to disable significant parts of the US internet infrastructure not to then immediately publish their identity.

Negative tip value.

DPRK has a reputation for using assassination and kidnapping on foreign soil. It’s probably not as bad as taking on a Mexican drug cartel, organized crime, or Donald Trump, but it’s still something I’d probably want to keep on the DL.

I can’t say what their corporate culture is like now, but they’ve had a pretty poor reputation in the past, including the notion that the lowest performing 10% should be fired every year. The Amazon folks I’ve known have been great people - not at all the Gordon Gecko types you’d imagine from that - but culture in large corporations varies a lot by the team you’re in.

I came up with a saying back in the 90s when I was doing the startup scene - “Do you want it right, or by Tuesday?” Sometimes they do indeed need it by Tuesday. More of the time they have no idea why you need the extra days to get it right. But it’s really important for those in a leadership position - whether they’re managers or senior engineers - to push back and set expectations.

Smalltalk would probably make more sense than C++.

Thank you - that’s very helpful.

I’ve been a fan since “Keep circulating the tapes” was a literal thing. My intro to the show was when someone I met online mailed me a bunch of VHS tapes recorded off of their local access feed or whatever they started on.

I have absolutely no practical advice for you, but while you’re waiting for more helpful responses, I do have a couple of questions. It’s been well over a decade (probably pushing two) aince ive even ripped a disc or had a movie jukebox type of setup.

First, I think I remember MST3K being identified as the movie they were doing, plus (maybe) a note that it was the MST3K version. It didn’t cause confusion because it’s not like I had an actual version of Pod People or Manos. But, at least back then, there were a few different databases we could hit up for metadata. I still ended up editing a lot by hand, but here were options.

But more importantly, are you talking about extras from the Joel and Mike seasons, or from some more recent iterations? I kind of didn’t pick it up after they got cancelled (and I didn’t like some of the cast changes), so I don’t know if any of the new stuff holds up. I did go see a live production with Joel at some point in the last few years and it was pretty good, but mostly because of nostalgia.