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Here's what we're serving up today:

• Blue Screen of Death 🟦

• Asteroids ☄️

• Trending Tools ⚒️ 

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Blue Screen of Death 🟦

Ever had one of those days where you’re just not feeling it? Well, last Friday, about 8.5M Windows machines were in that exact mood.

The digital world experienced what can only be described as a tech-pocalypse. Computers everywhere were hit with the dreaded “Blue Screen of Death” - that bright blue error screen that pops up when Windows crashes or can’t load.

All Press is Good Press?

Our antagonist in this case is the Austin-based cybersecurity company, Crowdstrike that services over half the companies in the Fortune 1000.

Will need to have a look at the client list again after the incident. 

It all started with a seemingly innocent update to their Falcon Sensor security product. What could possibly have gone wrong?

Turns out - everything!

This wasn't your average oops moment. The update took down airlines, banks, hospitals, government agencies - you name it. Flights were grounded, financial services were disrupted, and some emergency services went offline.

People were literally getting handwritten boarding passes.

Well, needless to say that the markets won’t react well if someone causes disruption worth millions, if not billions of dollars.

Crowdstrike has seen more than $20B wiped of its market cap since the outage happened.

There’s Some History Between Us

So, how did this disaster even happen? And how was Crowdstrike able to defect Microsoft machines?

The issue was with Crowdstrike’s software update interacting with the Windows OS kernel.

For context, the kernel is a computer program at the core of its operating system, and buggy software updates that interact with an OS’s kernel can, as we saw with Crowdstrike, wreak havoc on devices using that OS.

Other Operating Systems like Apple and Linux run a closed OS, locking third-party software providers out of its kernel, which safeguards its devices from incidents like this.

So why doesn't Windows run a closed system like Apple and Linux, thus avoiding such catastrophes? Well, according to Microsoft, we can thank the EU for that.

Windows was, from the beginning, well and truly open: 3rd party-developers could do anything - including making changes to the kernel.

Then, back in the 2000s, Microsoft introduced PatchGuard to effectively lock third-party security software providers out of its kernel.

However, companies like Symantec and McAfee weren't thrilled and cried foul, claiming it was anti-competitive. The EU regulators sided with them, and Microsoft had to back down, allowing third-party kernel access.

Fast forward eighteen years, and here we are. A security provider with kernel access (hello, Crowdstrike) pushed an update that brought down millions of computers.

With 72% of global desktop computers running on Microsoft operating systems, it’ll be interesting to see if Microsoft can use this Crowdstrike debacle to convince the EU to rethink their stance on open OS access.

☄️ Asteroids ☄️

Alphabet is rocketing $5 billion into Waymo for future-proofing self-driving tech. Already cruising with 50K+ weekly rides, Waymo's expanding from San Francisco to Austin. 🌟🤖

Mark Zuckerberg envisions AI bots as virtual clones to help creators engage with their audiences while freeing up time. But Meta's bots still struggle with hallucinations. 🧑‍💻🤖✨

Amazon's rolling out a paid Alexa to combat $25 billion in losses. At $10/month, this AI upgrade aims to be more conversational and multitask. 🤖💸

⚒️ Trending Tools ⚒️

📧 Inbox Report - Connect any Apps to AI Agents

📹️ Creatify - The fastest way to create short video ads

🌍️ Flypix - AI Enabled Geospatial Solutions

📰 Recommended Reading 📰

The AI Entreprenuers: Jetpack to success with 58,000 AI-loving empire builders.

Forest Over Trees: Read a weekly tech strategy breakdown alongside 1300 leaders from Meta, Apple, Google and more. Don’t miss the forest for the trees.

AI Jane: Artificial intelligence investment journalist building an easy to read ai investing email newsletter. Get smarter about investing in ai in 5 minutes.

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