Tall Paul’s Tech Wisdom
One of my favorite YouTubers right now is a fellow who goes by the handle “Tall Paul Tech.” Paul smacks of just deep, unapologetic, tech mastery, particularly of the radio spectrum, but also in understanding how tech fits in with our world: tech is just a tool, and it should be pragmatic for those of us that have to use it.
Paul would say he’s not a programmer, but it appears he just put out such a great, “complete thought” side project in the form of the Top Dog Spectrum analyzer. The TDSA is an instrument-style real-time interface to SDR like RtlSDR and HackRF to “get more people looking at the spectrum.”
What a standup dude.
The real nugget though was in his closing:
“It’s full of bugs, but if Silicon Valley can fucking spit out software and charge heaps and fill it with bugs, then I can get you some free stuff with bugs, eh?”
Every single person with a technical bone in their body should be channeling this attitude right now. There’s this broad conception right now that industry always knows how to do it best, but with tech that doesn’t apply the same way. Industry is also optimizing a model that is actively harmful to a great deal of its users (we just currently lack regulation and political will to do anything about it). Why would I ever expect that to net out to a useful, helpful tool? The tech knowledge is fresh and new, and everyone that wants to can go learn it, build from it, or throw it the hell away.
Cheers, Paul, for always tapping into that with your audience.
2026-05-24 08:51