I'm not familiar with "quirky nomads", but I think When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth is the first podcasted story I ever listened to when Cory Doctorow was podcasting his own stories (maybe he still is). It was from his podcast that I discovered Escape Pod when EP produced Craphound. If been hooked on EP ever since.
But yes, When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth is a great fun story!