The xkcd comic is basically how I explain it to my parents :P Not the most useful from a technical standpoint though. Logan On Wed, Jan 10, 2018 at 10:18 AM, Higgins, Benjamin J <bjhiggins@wpi.edu> wrote:

Really – I found XKCD really nailed it

https://xkcd.com/1938/

*From:* wlug-bounces@mail.wlug.org [mailto:wlug-bounces@mail.wlug.org] *On Behalf Of *thinkbrown@gmail.com *Sent:* Wednesday, January 10, 2018 10:14 AM *To:* Worcester Linux Users Group <wlug@mail.wlug.org> *Subject:* Re: [Wlug] Spectre and Meltdown.

I found the Raspberry Pi Foundation's explanation the most useful: https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/why-raspberry-pi-isnt-vulnerable- to-spectre-or-meltdown/

I found some of the non-computer based metaphors a little lacking - they didn't really fit my mental model of the computer.

The Raspberry Pi article explains it in a way that people familiar with basic Python (or almost any procedural language) will be familiar with.

Logan

On Tue, Jan 9, 2018 at 2:13 PM, Sweetser, Frank E <fs@wpi.edu> wrote:

This one is my own personal favorite out of what I've seen so far:

https://ds9a.nl/articles/posts/spectre-meltdown/

Frank Sweetser Director of Network Operations Worcester Polytechnic Institute "For every problem, there is a solution that is simple, elegant, and wrong." - HL Mencken

------------------------------

*From:* wlug-bounces@mail.wlug.org <wlug-bounces@mail.wlug.org> on behalf of Tim Keller <turbofx@gmail.com> *Sent:* Tuesday, January 9, 2018 12:27 PM *To:* Worcester Linux Users Group *Subject:* [Wlug] Spectre and Meltdown.

There seems to be a HUGE amount of woo regarding spectre and meltdown. This *seems* to me to be the most concise explanation I've heard so far.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/01/meltdown-and- spectre-heres-what-intel-apple-microsoft-others-are-doing-about-it/

Feel free to argue that it's not.

Thanks,

Tim.

--

I am leery of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers".

_______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug@mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

_______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug@mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug