The Government Hates C++, DNA Storage Advances, Microsoft’s Recall Fumble | Tech News of the Week

Chaos Lever Podcast

In this week’s *Chaos Lever Tech News*, we’re diving into groundbreaking—and sometimes just plain weird—developments in the tech world.

Gene Therapy + Data Storage: Remember the days of 3.5" floppy disks with 1.44MB capacity? Today’s microSDs blow that out of the water, but there’s a limit to how much data we can fit on silicon. Enter DNA as a storage medium, where a single gram theoretically holds 215,000TB. Scientists are inching closer with "epi-bits," though the read/write speeds are still...less than ideal. (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08040-5)

Government vs. C/C++: The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is officially not a fan of “memory unsafe” languages like C and C++. They've issued a stern warning for any organization handling critical infrastructure: modernize your code or be prepared for the consequences. Even C++ creator Bjarne Stroustrup seems to be (quietly) on board with making his language safer. (https://www.cisa.gov/resources-tools/resources/product-security-bad-practices)

The McFlurry Machine Crisis Might End Soon: Yes, you read that right. Thanks to a copyright exemption, McDonald’s will finally be allowed to fix its own infamously finicky ice cream machines without waiting on a Taylor-certified tech. iFixIt and Public Knowledge made it happen, so you may soon get that elusive McFlurry on demand. (https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/10/us-copyright-office-frees-the-mcflurry-allowing-repair-of-ice-cream-machines/)

Microsoft’s ‘Recall’ Feature…Delayed Again: Microsoft’s questionable “Recall” feature, which quietly screenshots your desktop, is delayed *again.* Promises of full encryption and an opt-in option are on the table, but whether anyone *wants* this feature remains debatable. (https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/31/24284572/microsoft-recall-delay-december-windows-insider-testing)