Jack talks with Harvey Scolnick about his years working with air traffic control technology and the failures that came with it. From construction work accidentally cutting a critical cable and knocking an air traffic control facility offline, with systems unavailable and aircraft still in the sky, to the people on the ground having to fall back on procedures, neighboring facilities, and some very human problem-solving.

In addition, we look at the redundancy behind air traffic control, what recovery looks like when safety-critical infrastructure fails, and why even carefully designed systems can still be brought down by something remarkably mundane.

Want even more info ? Read our show notes and related blog post related to this episode : https://blog.ithorrorstories.eu/episode-26-cleared-for-disaster/

Find out more about Harvey Scolnick : https://www.scolnickatc.com/

00:00 Introduction
00:55 Harvey's Journey
02:13 Becoming ATC
05:34 Airways and Radar
07:03 Separation Standards
11:21 Busy JFK
14:33 Iconic Aircrafts
21:12 Technology Upgrades
29:27 Preventative Measures
38:10 AI and Future
41:27 Weather Challenges
43:57 Conclusion

Someone asked us why we weren't on MeshCore yet. First we had to establish that it wasn't a new kind of thrash metal. Then we discovered an off-grid messaging network built from little radios, antennas, repeaters, and licence-free spectrum.

So we started digging. How does it route messages ? How private is it ? What happens when repeaters disappear ? And haven't we built something suspiciously similar before ? MeshCore turns out to be considerably more interesting than just another messaging app.

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

MeshCore documentation used :

- FAQ : https://docs.meshcore.io/faq/
- Packet Format : https://docs.meshcore.io/packet_format/
- Payloads : https://docs.meshcore.io/payloads/
- Companion Protocol: https://docs.meshcore.io/companion_protocol/
- CLI Commands : https://docs.meshcore.io/cli_commands/

MeshCore Map : https://meshcore.co.uk/map.html

00:00 Introduction
00:46 Discovering Mesh Core
02:09 Radio and Repeaters
05:19 Free Radio Insights
10:35 Encryption and Privacy
14:26 Old Meets New
15:19 Infrastructure Challenges
18:16 Conclusion

IT may run on the same protocols everywhere, but the people operating it certainly don't. Put teams from different countries, companies, and working cultures onto the same project and apparently simple questions about responsibility, communication, deadlines, and escalation can suddenly have very different answers.

This episode looks at what happens when those differences become part of the technical problem. From assumptions that nobody realised they were making to communication styles that work perfectly well locally but collide spectacularly across borders, we discuss how international IT teams get themselves into trouble — and what years of working across cultures can teach you about avoiding it.

And no, the solution isn't another mandatory cultural-awareness PowerPoint.

Want even more info ? Read our show notes and related blog post related to this episode : https://blog.ithorrorstories.eu/episode-25-cultural-differences-in-it/

00:00 Introduction
00:41 Cultural Intricacies
03:12 Sales Challenges
06:02 Engineering Insights
10:32 Crisis Management
14:10 Data Center Differences
16:00 Luxembourg's Unique Edge
17:52 European Culture Wrap-up