The WAN Show Podcast Summary

Episode: The Louvre Password Was 'LOUVRE'
Date: November 8, 2025
Hosts: Linus Sebastian, Luke Lafreniere (with Dan and chat participation)

Overview

This WAN Show episode covered a range of current tech topics, notably the shocking poor security at the Louvre museum, personal travel debacles, YouTube's recent changes and glitches regarding paid memberships, tech industry workflow frustrations, and ongoing developments in AI and gaming legislation. Interspersed were spirited tangents, anecdotes of professional mishaps, audience Q&A, and a lot of on-brand banter about company merch.

Key Discussion Points

1. The Louvre Security Fiasco

[02:27–14:04]

• Bizarre Security Practices:
  The Louvre museum was revealed to have used “LOUVRE” as the password on its video surveillance system, with equally weak credentials elsewhere (like “Tiger” at Tiger Direct).
  “The password for the video surveillance system was apparently LOUVRE, L-O-U-V-R-E in all caps.” — Linus, [03:46]

• Tech Audit Failures:
  A 2015 audit called out outdated hardware and software—systems as old as Windows Server 2003. The problems persisted for years.

• Anecdotes About Bad Password Habits:
  Hosts share stories of ubiquitous passwords (e.g., “netlink888” at NCIX), and the prevalence of post-it notes, sticky notes, and non-existent password management even at large firms.

  • Dan: Shared a systems admin horror story about exposing port 80, leading to ransomware/botnet infection.
  • Luke: Noted that even “big money” companies often just use SSO everywhere, with little rigor outside critical accounts.

• Philosophy:
  Linus argues that many passwords/accounts don’t “really matter” and that forced 2FA on low-value logins is annoying.
  “My password for you is literally the name of the service. The password is Louvre88. Like, I don't care…” — Linus, [10:17]

• Real Problem:
  Good common sense can't be enforced by policy and “any policy that is ‘use common sense’… is not viable because not everyone has common sense.” ([11:09])

2. Floatplane Payment Glitch and Banking Frustrations

[14:08–23:46]

• The Bug:
  Floatplane users were mistakenly charged multiple times (up to 4x) due to human error in a backend update. The team promptly fixed the issue and refunds were issued quickly.

  • If refunds do not show up, users are encouraged to contact support.

• Discussion:
  Usual banking delays (3–4 days for simple transfers) are compared with the instantaneous ability scammers have to empty accounts.
  “...I'm trying to transfer some funds... I have to wait three or four days... what year is it?” — Linus, [15:26]

• Ethics:
  The hosts reiterate: if money is tight, use it for essentials, not Floatplane.

• Floatplane Update:

  • New auto-caption (subtitle) feature, using OpenAI’s Whisper.
  • Historical backlog of videos being gradually subtitled; higher-quality models possible if GPU resources are added.
  • “Whisper’s fantastic… you think it's good now? It’ll be even better in the future.” — Luke, [23:11]

3. Airport and Travel Catastrophes

[28:32–44:53]

• Linus’ Airport Rant:
  Linus recounts being hassled by an uninformed Air Canada staffer who insisted Checked luggage cannot contain electronics (without batteries)—which is incorrect, as only batteries pose issues.
  “I'm like, you gotta be kidding me right now. Yes, I can. He's like, I'm not gonna argue with you anymore.” — Linus, [35:58]

  The situation requires Linus to carry a desktop PC on-board to avoid missing a flight.

• Battery Bank Confiscation in China:
  Chinese domestic flights now require the "Triple C" certification for battery banks, rendering many recent purchases effectively e-waste. This only applies to certain flights (e.g., domestic, not international), and enforcement checks are inconsistent.

  • The change was prompted by recent battery-related incidents, but actual verification is limited (just checking for a Triple C sticker).

  “...it made every battery bank before, like, a year ago e-waste...” — Linus, [44:01]

4. YouTube's Membership Glitches and Platform Lock-in

[62:39–76:54]

• Paid Membership Annoyance:
  Despite disabling YouTube memberships (in favor of Floatplane), LTT fans still saw popups because of a YouTube bug. Turning off memberships resulted in zero user migration to Floatplane, confirming user inertia.

• Behavioral Patterns:

  • Most people “never leave the primary platform” (YouTube, Twitch, etc.) they habitually use for content and payment.
  • Surprising how small a circle of sites/apps most people actually use.

• Principles Over Profit:
  LTT disabled memberships because audience feedback was strongly negative about promotional spam, despite considerable revenue loss. “How do we say that the audience is our guide, if we ignore feedback like that? We can’t.” — Linus, [68:10]

5. Company Workflow, Tech Stack, and Subscription Bloat

[78:00–94:05]

• Communication/App Fragmentation:
  Redeeming rants on Teams, Slack, Office 365, G Suite, and other tools. Integration is poor, leading to search hell and user confusion.

  • Example: Teams can’t schedule messages to a staffer unless “you’ve sent your first message,” even if you have.
  • Constant struggle to reduce expensive, redundant software subscriptions.

• Migration Inertia:
  Moving teams from G Suite or Office is hard, not just technically but because users are emotionally attached (e.g., to Google Drive). “Conrad’s in Floatplane Chat right now saying, no, let me have my Google Drive. It’s so painless.” — Linus, [86:39]

• Laughs Over Third-Party “Unified Search” Products:
  “Why don’t I get another Gorram subscription? No, I don’t want that.” — Linus, [92:30]

6. Stop Killing Games – Legislative Attention

[117:23–120:00]

• UK Parliament Debates Game Sunsetting:
  The Stop Killing Games campaign made it to debate, arguing for consumer rights when games are discontinued/server-shuttered.
  Companies may already be violating laws by failing to disclose product lifespans.

  • Linus is hopeful: “This whole trend of like, you'll buy things and then you don't own them and someone can just shut them down? It needs to end.” ([118:39])

7. Industry & Tech News Roundup

[120:00–134:05]

• Smartphones:

  • Red Magic 11 Pro: Active water cooling, headphone jack, no camera “hole punch”—hosts miss features of older phones; reminisce about rugged “Active” Galaxies, LG G2, etc.

• Windows Bugs:

  • Decade-old “update and shutdown” bug (where PC would restart instead) finally patched.
  • Discussion on other long-standing OS interface annoyances; calls for better user-focused policies.

• AI & Power Demands:

  • Microsoft’s Satya Nadella says data center operations are now limited by electricity, not GPU/chip supply.
  • Possible movement toward companies building private modular nuclear reactors.

• Data Centers in Space:

  • Nvidia launches GPU into orbit to prototype future satellite data centers.
  • Bexar and SpaceX to test “Fab Ship” space-based chip manufacturing—primary benefits: microgravity, radiation aside.

• Mail-in Rebates Explained:

  • Linus reveals “100% redemption” rate horror stories from his OCZ/NCIX days; discusses how rebates are mostly a retailer/manufacturer scam.

• Amazon vs. Perplexity AI:

  • Amazon sues Perplexity for allowing its AI to masquerade as human users while shopping.
  • Hosts agree: Retailers should be able to disallow AI agents, as liability is otherwise unclear.

8. LMG, Floatplane, Community & Merch

[94:25+]

• Floatplane Exclusives:

  • Early access videos, staff cosplay as Linus, upcoming Luke Q&A, and newly auto-captioned (Whisper) backlog.

• Merch Messages & Promos:

  • New WAN hoodie (red, as voted by the community) is available—and selling well.
  • “Buy More, Save More” discounts on apparel.
  • LTT Store $100+ sweepstakes (“not gambling, just a typical retailer sweepstakes by law!”).

• Christmas Album Drama:

  • The company debates remastering the (in)famous LTT Christmas Album, with Riley potentially reprising vocals. Vinyl, CD, and digital versions are considered, but not formally promised:
    “Let's not commit to anything. I like not committing to anything.” — Luke, [156:52]

• Audience Appreciation:

  • Linus expresses gratitude for strong community and Floatplane support, despite recent viewership dips.

Audience Q&A & Notable Moments

• Hiring/First Employee Advice:
  Candid talk about lessons learned (and mistakes made) with hiring, workplace culture, and transparency.

• Engineered Restrictions:
  Most challenging part of shooting tech content? Navigating arbitrary, often contradictory, security and branding rules at vendor locations.

• Personal Tech Treats:
  Linus lauds his "Nvidia Shield Portable" as a parenting-era lifesaver; Sennheiser headphones also get a shoutout.

• Final Fantasy Tactics Progress:
  Linus is currently stuck on a hard tactician fight—his love/hate for retro gaming is real.

• Paint Memes:
  Linus falls for the "striped paint" prank question—then enjoys pondering what mixing flat/glossy finishes would look like.

Selected Memorable Quotes

• On Poor Security:
  “If you typed netlink888 into a password field, it would just grant you immediately authentication into whatever system it was...”
  — Linus, [07:00]

• On Unnecessary Two-Factor:
  “Bro, you ain't that important. My password for you is literally the name of the service.”
  — Linus, [10:17]

• On AI Moderation:
  “Most people that use the Internet use like a very small amount of websites and do not go out of that circle.”
  — Luke, [64:23]

• On Company Tools:
  “Migrating a G Suite drive to a G Suite drive is a nightmare, let alone anywhere else.”
  — Luke, [85:56]

• On Customer Feedback:
  “The audience is our guide... but if we go right toward it, we're going to end up in the rocks.”
  — Linus, [74:01]

• On Modern Phones:
  “Welcome back to another hour of three old men complaining about how good phones used to be. But they did.”
  — Linus, [124:06]

Timestamps for Major Segments

• Louvre Security Fiasco: [02:27–14:04]
• Floatplane payment error/banking complaints: [14:08–23:46]
• Auto-generated subtitles/Whisper: [20:48–27:56]
• Linus’ airport confrontation: [28:32–44:53]
• YouTube membership annoyances: [62:39–76:54]
• Workflow/software subscription bloat: [78:00–94:05]
• Gaming legislation debated: [117:23–120:00]
• AI/GPUs/data center news: [126:15–134:05]
• Smart home/cargo pants/tech Q&A: included throughout, see [48:12+] and after [167:17]
• Company culture/advice, audience mailbag: [173:32+]

Tone & Style

The episode balanced serious tech news with witty, self-deprecating humor and the hosts’ trademark chemistry—filled with good-natured ribbing, audience memes, and inside jokes about tech industry quirks. Audience interactions, merch shilling, and spontaneous company brainstorms are delivered in a familiar, conversational, sometimes chaotic but always engaging manner.