MCP vs. Skills: Persistence and Network Access

This week, we discuss OpenAI’s new browser, AI trying to build spreadsheets, and when to use Claude skills. Plus, Coté explores the art of the perfect staycation.

Watch the YouTube Live Recording of Episode 543

Runner-up Titles

• Firewire is dead
• USB, what are you going to do?
• It’s like I tell my son: you know what to do, you chose not to do it.
• I am just a guest.
• I don’t need helpful
• An amazing hole.
• Slides for nobody
• You closed the loop
• It’s pretty amazing, but does it need to exist?
• Slackhole

Rundown

• OpenAI
  • Introducing ChatGPT Atlas
  • OpenAI Is Building a Banker
  • OpenAI has five years to turn $13 billion into $1 trillion
  • AI agents are not amazing, they are slop: says OpenAI cofounder Andrej Karpathy as he strongly disagrees with CEO Sam Altman on AGI timeline - The Times of India
  • OpenAI’s ChatGPT will soon allow ‘erotica’ for adults in major policy shift
  • OpenAI Inks Deal With Broadcom to Design Its Own Chips for A.I.
• Claude Skills are awesome, maybe a bigger deal than MCP
• OpenStack Flamingo pays down technical debt as adoption continues to climb

Relevant to your Interests

• Elon Musk will settle $128 million Twitter execs lawsuit
• GitHub Will Prioritize Migrating to Azure Over Feature Development
• The Discord Hack is Every User’s Worst Nightmare
• Cursor-Maker Anysphere Considers Investment Offers at $30 Billion Valuation
• Rubygems.org AWS Root Access Event – September 2025
• This Discord Zendesk compromise has gotten more silly
• WP Engine Vs Automattic & Mullenweg Is Back In Play
• Windows 11 removes all bypass methods for Microsoft account setup, removing local accounts
• Introducing the React Foundation: The New Home for React & React Native
• Wiz Finds Critical Redis RCE Vulnerability: CVE‑2025‑49844 | Wiz Blog
• DevRel is -Unbelievably- Back
• The Ruby community has a DHH problem
• YouTube rolls out its redesigned video player globally
• Oracle stock rises as company confirms Meta cloud deal
• Adiós, AirPods
• NVIDIA shows off its first Blackwell wafer manufactured in the US
• This Is How Much Anthropic and Cursor Spend On Amazon Web Services
• Automattic CEO calls Tumblr his 'biggest failure' so far
• Marc Benioff says Salesforce is saving about $100M a year by using AI tools in its customer service operations
• Amazon cloud computing outage disrupts Snapchat, Ring and many other online services
• Amazon Outage Forces Hundreds of Websites Offline for Hours
• Today is when Amazon brain drain finally caught up with AWS
• AWS crash causes $2,000 Smart Beds to overheat and get stuck upright - Dexerto

Nonsense

• Streetlights Are Mysteriously Turning Purple. Here's Why
• Buc-ee's is not America's top convenience store; Midwest chain takes No. 1 spot
• French post office rolls out croissant-scented stamp

Listener Feedback

• Jeffrey is looking for college interns.

Conferences

• Wiz Wizdom Conferences, NYC November 3-5, London November 17-19
• SREDay Amsterdam, Coté speaking, November 7th.

SDT News & Community

• Join our Slack community
• Email the show: questions@softwaredefinedtalk.com
• Free stickers: Email your address to stickers@softwaredefinedtalk.com
• Follow us on social media: Twitter, Threads, Mastodon, LinkedIn, BlueSky
• Watch us on: Twitch, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok
• Book offer: Use code SDT for $20 off "Digital WTF" by Coté
• Sponsor the show: ads@softwaredefinedtalk.com

Recommendations

• Brandon: The PR Guy Who Says the AI Boom Is a Bust
• Matt: Comfort Ear Grip Hooks
• Coté: MSG on popcorn, Claude Skills, Masman Curry, Sora?
  

Photo Credits

• Header