Jack's Rants - Why You Need to Reboot : Why Rebooting Your Computer Actually Fixes Problems

"Have you tried turning it off and on again ?" became an IT cliché for a reason. Rebooting clears accumulated state, resets resources, and fixes a surprising number of problems.
From Unix uptime bragging rights to mainframe IPLs and Windows servers nobody is allowed to restart, every system has its own relationship with rebooting. Maybe what we really need is a reboot SLA.

Want even more info ? Read our show notes and related blog post related to this episode : https://blog.ithorrorstories.eu/jacks-rants-can-i-keep-your-id/

00:00 Introduction
02:17 Developer Habits
04:01 Mainframes & Servers
06:18 Reboot Realities
08:19 Conclusion

Testing software sounds simple enough. But what exactly should you test, where should those tests happen, and how do you decide which parts of a complex system need the most attention?

Jack talks with Mooly Beeri about software testing from a developer's perspective: identifying the right test points, understanding how different parts of a system interact, and building testing into the development process rather than treating it as something that happens at the end. A practical look at what it actually means to test software properly.

You can read more from Mooly at https://www.bettersoftware.dev/

Want even more info ? Read our show notes and related blog post related to this episode : https://blog.ithorrorstories.eu/episode-21-testing-software-properly/

00:00 Introduction
01:05 Mooly's Background
01:43 Automotive Software
04:01 Software Challenges
06:21 Bug Management
12:11 Improving Processes
15:42 Communication Importance
28:07 Summary

One day, a busy IBM-compatible mainframe began slowing to a crawl. Hundreds of programmers noticed immediately—some even resorted to banging on the server room window whenever the system became unusable. The problem appeared after a microcode upgrade, but nothing pointed to an obvious cause.

In this episode, Jack Smith talks to Matt about an extraordinary piece of low-level troubleshooting that led deep into the internals of VM, interrupt handling and timer queues. Armed with nothing more than hex dumps, careful reasoning and a willingness to modify live memory, Matt uncovered a vendor bug and devised a temporary workaround that kept the system running until a permanent fix arrived. It's a fascinating story of how understanding a system at its lowest levels can solve problems that no diagnostic tool could explain.

Want even more info ? Read our show notes and related blog post related to this episode : https://blog.ithorrorstories.eu/episode-20-microcode-mayhem/

00:00 Introduction
01:07 Mainframe Tech
04:38 Microcode Issues
07:19 Timer Interrupts
15:02 Modern Comparisons
19:44 Final Insights
22:18 Conclusion

Artificial intelligence didn't invent Shadow IT—it made it invisible. In this Jack's Rant, Jack Smith explores how AI tools like ChatGPT, Copilot and Claude have fundamentally changed the way employees solve problems. No servers under desks. No rogue software installations. Just a browser tab and a prompt. From confidential data and AI-generated scripts to fragmented workflows and "ChatGPT says..." becoming the new expert opinion, this episode examines why AI has lowered the barrier to creating business-critical systems outside IT's view.

But this isn't a rant against AI. It's a reminder that Shadow IT has always been a symptom, not the disease. Employees don't create workarounds because they enjoy breaking policy—they do it because they're trying to get their jobs done. Instead of asking how to stop people from using AI, perhaps IT should be asking why they felt the need to use it in the first place. Because the organizations that succeed won't be the ones with the strictest AI policy, but the ones that make the secure, supported way the easiest way.

Want even more info ? Read our show notes and related blog post related to this episode : https://blog.ithorrorstories.eu/jacks-rants-ai-is-the-new-shadow-it/

00:00 Introduction
01:11 Shadow IT Explained
02:43 Feedback Loops
04:01 Modern Shadow IT
06:24 Trust in AI
08:25 AI Fragmentation
10:08 Leadership Solutions

Every year, the Melbourne Cup pushes Australia's betting infrastructure to its limits. In 1991, a known software bug turned one of the busiest days of the year into an IT disaster. As millions of bets poured in, CPU utilisation unexpectedly collapsed and the betting system ground to a halt at the worst possible moment.

Jack Smith is joined by veteran mainframe specialist Neale to revisit the incident, explain why the bug had been accepted for so long, how the team recovered, and what modern IT professionals can learn about technical debt, capacity planning, and the risks of carrying known defects into critical production systems.

Want even more info ? Read our show notes and related blog post related to this episode : https://blog.ithorrorstories.eu/episode-19-melbourne-cup-meltdown/

00:00 Introduction
00:53 Mainframe Basics
02:01 Melbourne Cup Explained
05:01 System Failure
09:06 Aftermath & Reflection
17:03 Learning from Errors
21:53 Modern Vs. Past Tech
29:51 Conclusion

Scambaiters like Kitboga, Jim Browning and Pierogi educate millions, waste scammers' time, and undoubtedly prevent people from becoming victims. As a security professional, I genuinely appreciate what they do.

But every time I watch one of these videos, I find myself asking the same question: What happened in the missing five minutes? How does a legitimate remote support session suddenly become full control over the scammer's computer? Is it a vulnerability? Poor operational security? Social engineering? Or simply the part of the story that gets left on the cutting room floor?

This isn't a criticism of scambaiters. It's an exploration of the unanswered security questions that every IT professional should be asking, and why understanding how something happened can be just as important as enjoying the outcome.

Want even more info ? Read our show notes and related blog post related to this episode : https://blog.ithorrorstories.eu/jacks-rants-the-missing-five-minutes/

00:00 Introduction
00:22 Scambaiter Styles
02:01 The IT Dilemma
04:23 Compromised Systems
06:48 The Editing Reality
09:00 Seeking Security Answers
09:59 Closing Thoughts

Smart cities promise better transportation, connected infrastructure, and improved services—but what happens when everything is connected a little too well? In this episode, our guest shares the story of a security assessment in a major metropolitan smart city where network segmentation had been overlooked, creating unexpected paths between public networks and critical infrastructure. One memorable discovery showed that, with nothing more than the correct IP address, it was possible to operate a parking garage barrier from the city's public Wi-Fi while riding a bus on the opposite side of town.

Together, we explore why VLANs and network segmentation remain some of the most fundamental principles in cybersecurity, how convenience can quietly undermine security, and why the smartest technology still depends on good architecture. It's a fascinating story that demonstrates how seemingly small design decisions can have city-wide consequences—and why "everything connected" should never mean "everything can talk to everything else."

Want even more info ? Read our show notes and related blog post related to this episode : https://blog.ithorrorstories.eu/episode-18-one-network-to-rule-them-all/

00:00 Introduction
01:58 Smart City Chaos
10:47 Security Camera Mess
25:09 ANPR Issues
36:08 Concluding Thoughts

Opening a tab at a bowling alley shouldn't require handing over your driver's license or national ID card. Yet many businesses still ask customers to leave government-issued identity documents behind as collateral, often storing them in plain sight with little thought for privacy, physical security, or the risks involved. In this Rant, we ask a simple question: just because a practice has existed for years, does that make it acceptable?

Want even more info ? Read our show notes and related blog post related to this episode : https://blog.ithorrorstories.eu/jacks-rants-can-i-keep-your-id/

00:00 Introduction
01:34 Questioning Practices
02:46 Value of ID Cards
05:13 Consequences
06:01 Secure Solutions
07:51 Broader Implications
09:35 Conclusion