Grumpy Old Geeks

Jason DeFillippo & Brian Schulmeister with Dave Bittner
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  • UPDATED WEEKLY

We dissect the tech news train wrecks of the week, calling out what went wrong and who’s to blame. Think of this podcast as if Kurt Cobain threw down with Tom from MySpace, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg in a back alley brawl. No mercy, no filter—if tech had a walk of shame, this would be it.

  1. Category Five Dystopia

    21 HR AGO

    Category Five Dystopia

    In FOLLOW UP, the child social media crackdown keeps expanding. Turkey just approved a ban for under-15s, and Sony will require age verification for PlayStation communication features in the UK and Ireland starting in June—because now you need to prove you’re an adult before trash-talking strangers online. Meanwhile, Anthropic’s prediction that fully autonomous AI employees would already be transforming business hasn’t materialized. Agentic systems are still struggling with basic workflows and, in some cases, slowing developers down. And in a more concrete reversal, Elon Musk acknowledged that pre-2023 Tesla Hardware 3 will never support Full Self-Driving. Customers who paid for the feature are now being steered toward discounted trade-ins, new cameras, and upgraded hardware—prompting obvious legal exposure. IN THE NEWS: SpaceX is reportedly targeting what could be the largest IPO ever, at roughly a $1.75 trillion valuation, with dual-class shares that preserve Musk’s control through super-voting rights. Prediction markets continue to degrade: Kalshi suspended political candidates for trading on their own races, and Polymarket saw alleged manipulation via a tampered weather sensor at Charles de Gaulle Airport. On the AI front, Anthropic’s new Mythos model had a chaotic rollout—used by the NSA, applied to patch hundreds of Firefox vulnerabilities, and briefly exposed through unauthorized access in a developer portal. Amazon followed with a $25 billion investment in Anthropic, even as governments appear to access similar capabilities independently. At the same time, the economics are tightening. Free tiers are shrinking, GitHub Copilot is shifting to token-based billing after costs doubled, and startups are normalizing six-figure monthly AI compute bills. Infrastructure growth continues unchecked: thousands of new data centers are planned across the U.S., while xAI faces scrutiny in Memphis over water usage and delayed mitigation projects. Environmental commitments increasingly resemble marketing rather than enforceable targets. Policy signals are equally aggressive. DHS is exploring smart glasses for ICE agents with facial recognition and gait analysis by 2027. Palantir published a manifesto advocating expanded use of state power with rhetoric that raised concerns about ideological framing. On a lighter note, a University of California, Santa Barbara study suggests that brief exposure to experimental film measurably increases creativity compared to standard social media consumption. MEDIA CANDY: Silo returns July 3 on Apple TV+, while The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3 is expected sooner than planned. Battlestar Galactica lands on Paramount+ and Pluto TV May 1. Dead Can Dance is releasing monthly singles via its Bandcamp imprint. Deezer reports 44% of daily uploads—about 75,000 tracks—are AI-generated, though only a small fraction of streams come from them, many flagged as fraudulent. And yes, Jessica Jones is back in Daredevil. APPS & DOODADS: Apple patched the notification-cache bug that allowed forensic tools to recover deleted Signal messages. Roblox agreed to a $12 million settlement with Nevada and is rolling out facial age estimation, ID verification, and new contact controls, while still facing multi-state litigation. Cash App is targeting younger users—ages six to twelve—with parent-managed accounts, debit cards, and interest incentives. Separately, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction protecting ICE-tracking apps, ruling that government pressure on Apple and Meta to remove them likely violated First Amendment protections. IN THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE: AI-generated Star Wars fan films are improving visually, even if performances remain rigid. The current era of Star Trek is effectively closing out with a large prop auction, notably excluding Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The broader discussion circles back to time compression—post-pandemic, and with age—and the persistent disconnect between economic scale and general dissatisfaction. Sponsors: DeleteMe - Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com/GOG and use promo code GOG at checkout. Shopify - Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial today at Shopify.com/grumpy Private Internet Access - Go to GOG.Show/vpn and sign up today. For a limited time only, you can get OUR favorite VPN for as little as $2.03 a month. SetApp - With a single monthly subscription you get 240+ apps for your Mac. Go to SetApp and get started today!!! 1Password - Get a great deal on the only password manager recommended by Grumpy Old Geeks! gog.show/1password Show notes at https://gog.show/743 Watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/iLiRLcgP7zM FOLLOW UP Sony will require age checks in the UK and Ireland to access PlayStation communication features Turkey wants to ban social media for kids under 15 Today Is the Day Anthropic Promised That Fully Autonomous Employees Would Be Tearing Through the Business World The Hardware in Your Pre-2023 Tesla Will Never Allow It to Fully Drive Itself, Elon Musk Admits IN THE NEWS Exclusive: Musk and insiders to retain voting control of SpaceX after IPO, filing shows Kalshi suspended three political candidates from its platform for insider trading Someone allegedly used a hairdryer to rig Polymarket weather bets The NSA is reportedly using Anthropic's new model Mythos Mozilla says it patched 271 Firefox vulnerabilities thanks to Anthropic's Claude Mythos Anthropic is investigating 'unauthorized access' of its Mythos cybersecurity tool Amazon will invest up to $25 billion in Anthropic in a broad deal AI Companies Think Destroying the Planet Is an Acceptable Trade-Off for Unlimited Profits Musk leaves Memphis high and dry Startups Brag They Spend More Money on AI Than Human Employees You’re about to feel the AI money squeeze Exclusive: Microsoft To Shift GitHub Copilot Users To Token-Based Billing, Tighten Rate Limits Homeland Security reportedly wants to develop smart glasses for ICE Palantir posted a manifesto that reads like the ramblings of a comic book villain What I Learned About Billionaires at Jeff Bezos’s Private Retreat Researchers May Have Found the Antidote to Social Media Brain Rot: Experimental Film Short of the Week This Scammer Used an AI-Generated MAGA Girl to Grift ‘Super Dumb’ Men Jaw-Dropping iPhone Video of Earth Setting Behind the Moon Is Rightfully Breaking the Internet MEDIA CANDY Silo season 3 just got its Apple TV release date and first trailer Silo — Season 3 Official Teaser | Apple TV Surprise! ‘Rings of Power’ Season 3 Is Arriving Earlier Than Expected ‘Battlestar Galactica’ Is Blasting Back to Streaming Dead Can Dance Returns with “Death Cults,” Their Second New Song in Five Years Not a Soul Was Dancing to Sabrina Carpenter and Madonna at Coachella Deezer says AI-made songs make up 44 percent of daily uploads APPS & DOODADS Apple fixes bug that cops used to extract deleted chat messages from iPhones Roblox agrees to a $12 million settlement with Nevada Cash App is targeting a new kind of customer: 6- to 12-year-olds Judge sides with creators of banned ICE trackers who allege DHS and DOJ violated their First Amendment rights THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE Dave Bittner The CyberWire Hacking Humans Caveat Control Loop Only Malware in the Building Star Wars: Darth Vader BEATS the Millennium Falcon to Cloud City (Fan Film) Star Wars: Darth Vader Learns the TRUTH About LUKE SKYWALKER (Fan Film) The Current Era of ‘Star Trek’ Is Ending With a Fire Sale Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-5 Online Auction Star Trek Universe: 60th Anniversary Auction Featuring Items from Set - Auction #1 Have you ever known anyone who was born in the 1800s? If America's So Rich, How'd It Get So Sad? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    1hr 18min
  2. Uncouth Yet Highly Litigious

    17 APR

    Uncouth Yet Highly Litigious

    In FOLLOW UP, while countries race to ban kids from social media, Estonia is opting out — its education minister arguing that bans just offload responsibility onto kids while governments and platforms avoid accountability. Australia already shows the limits: 61% of banned kids are still online, 70% say it’s easy to bypass, and major platforms are under investigation. The EU is rolling out an age-verification system using zero-knowledge proofs officials call “completely anonymized,” which sounds generous for a system that starts profiling you the moment it touches an account. Maybe retire the anonymity talking point. IN THE NEWS, the AI-brain-rot narrative keeps accelerating: one study found just ten minutes of AI use increases dependency and degrades performance once it’s removed — with users simply “not willing to try.” ChatGPT praised a fart-noise “song” as having a “cool lo-fi, late-night, slightly eerie vibe,” which would be harmless if that same sycophancy wasn’t showing up in darker contexts — including two mass shootings with ChatGPT in the background, and a lawsuit from a San Francisco woman claiming the tool helped her ex escalate harassment with AI-generated reports and threats. That same week, Sam Altman’s house was attacked by a suspect targeting AI execs. Elsewhere: France is ditching Windows for Linux; Amazon faces scrutiny for allegedly keeping workers on shift next to a dead colleague; Snap cut 16% of staff blaming AI; Reddit is fighting an ICE subpoena to unmask a critic; Google is blending Polymarket odds into News; the FAA is recruiting gamers as air traffic controllers; and Allbirds briefly became an “AI company,” spiked, then crashed when reality set back in. Norway quietly cured another HIV patient, the rare story that isn’t bleak. In APPS & DOODADS, California and New York are pushing DRM-style censorware for 3D printers, with New York tying it to felony penalties for certain files. The FCC’s router ban is already inconsistent — Netgear got a quiet exemption while others face an opaque process that could stall Wi-Fi 7. The Trump T1 phone still looks rough at $499 with a $100 preorder hook. Overcast raised its subscription to $29.99/year. Hidden iOS trick: long-press the App Store to go directly to Updates. Meta, after a $375M loss over child safety, is developing “Name Tag,” facial recognition for Ray-Ban glasses tied to Instagram — widely condemned — and reportedly plans to roll it out quietly. They’re also building an AI Zuckerberg clone for internal use. For older Kindles: jailbreak, use Calibre, and lean on Project Gutenberg. MEDIA CANDY: Live Nation was ruled a monopoly — remedies pending, appeal already filed, so ticket prices aren’t changing soon. Anna’s Archive got hit with a $322M judgment for scraping Spotify — far below the $13T ask. YouTube Premium is quietly raising prices again, following Netflix and Spotify; subscriptions are now a one-way ratchet. Good Omens returns May 13, Godzilla Minus Zero lands November 6, and Hunt for Gollum is set for December 2027 with a stacked cast. Meanwhile, streaming platforms still refuse to list actual drop times, which continues to annoy everyone. THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE: The Claude Mythos AI scare turned out to be marketing. The hype cycle giveth, and taketh away. Plus: new Star Wars chatter, Disneyland antics, a rebranded Muppets coaster, and AI Oakleys nobody asked for. Sponsors: Private Internet Access - Go to GOG.Show/vpn and sign up today. For a limited time only, you can get OUR favorite VPN for as little as $2.03 a month. SetApp - With a single monthly subscription you get 240+ apps for your Mac. Go to SetApp and get started today!!! 1Password - Get a great deal on the only password manager recommended by Grumpy Old Geeks! gog.show/1password Show notes at https://gog.show/742 Watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/Ogsa1dG1W_M FOLLOW UP Estonia is the rare EU country opposing child social media bans Majority of Australian kids are still on banned social media platforms, study finds EU Is Rolling Out an Online Age Verification App That Could Become the Global Blueprint IN THE NEWS French government says au revoir Windows, bienvenue Linux Amazon Accused of Hiding Worker’s Death for a Week, Making Employees Keep Working as Corpse Lay on Floor Snap is laying off 16 percent of its workforce, blames AI Woman Sues OpenAI, Saying ChatGPT Unleashed a Vicious Stalker Against Her and Did Nothing When She Begged for Help Why Do ChatGPT Users Keep Committing Mass Shootings? Two suspects have been arrested for allegedly shooting at Sam Altman's house ChatGPT’s “Honest Reaction” to a “Song” Composed Entirely of Gas-Passing Noises Will Make You Question Whether It’s Honestly Evaluating Your Other Brilliant Ideas There's yet another study about how bad AI is for our brains Shoe company Allbirds pivots to AI compute in sign of a totally normal and healthy economy Allbirds Stock Now Crashing as Reality Sets in About Its Delusional AI Pivot The US government wants Reddit to snitch on one of its users through a grand jury Google has reportedly started to add Polymarket data to News results The FAA is encouraging gamers to get jobs in air traffic control Norway Man Cured of HIV With Brother’s Stem Cells APPS & DOODADS Meta warned by dozens of organizations that facial recognition on its smart glasses would empower predators Meta is reportedly building an AI clone of Mark Zuckerberg The Dangers of California’s Legislation to Censor 3D Printing Stop New York's Attack on 3D Printing The Trump Phone Still Looks Like Total Trash iOS 26.4 moves App Store updates, here’s how to open them fast FCC exempts Netgear from ban on foreign routers, doesn't explain why What to do if Amazon killed your Kindle MEDIA CANDY YouTube Premium’s US pricing is going up Anna's Archive told to pay Spotify and record labels $322 million over unprecedented music scraping Federal jury finds concert business Live Nation is a monopoly Good Omens - Final Season Official Trailer | Prime Video GODZILLA MINUS ZERO | First Look Teaser Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Daredevil: Born Again The Pitt 'The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum' cast has been revealed: Jamie Dornan as Aragorn, Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Kate Winslet and more. THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE Dave Bittner The CyberWire Hacking Humans Caveat Control Loop Only Malware in the Building Is Claude Mythos “Terrifying”? | AI Reality Check Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu | Final Trailer | In Theaters May 22 First look at Han Solo coming to Disneyland’s Galaxy’s Edge! Overcast Increased Premium pricing for new subscriptions The Electric Mayhem Arrives at Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets AnyPod Oakley Meta Performance AI glasses See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    1hr 26min
  3. Moon Joy

    10 APR

    Moon Joy

    We kick off with a the Dodgers spanking the Blue Jays and torn allegiances in Brian's house, then dive into Europe taking dead aim at your kids' screen time. Ireland is rolling out a Government Digital Wallet that'll verify ages before young'uns can doom-scroll their lives away, while Greece went fully scorched-earth and announced a ban on all under-15s using social media at all — announced, naturally, on TikTok. IN THE NEWS, the AI giants (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google) are playing nicely together for once, teaming up through the Frontier Model Forum to stop Chinese firms from essentially photocopying their models on the cheap — billions in revenue, national security, and the small matter of safety guardrails stripped out. Turnabout is fair play? On the legal gambling front, prediction markets scored a federal win as a US appeals court ruled New Jersey can't regulate Kalshi; the Trump family's fingerprints are all over the prediction market space (surprise!), and the data suggests 0.04% of accounts are hoovering up 70% of profits like it's a perfectly healthy ecosystem. Also: the FBI pulled deleted Signal messages out of iPhone notification caches, GoPro is laying off 23% of its workforce while somehow remaining optimistic, and OpenAI is backing an Illinois bill that would shield AI companies from liability even in mass-casualty scenarios... cool. On the plus side, Artemis II astronauts took amazing photos of the Moon... on their iPhones. In APPS & DOODADS: Mercedes recalled its electric G-Wagons because the wheels might literally fall off, Amazon is sunsetting Kindles from 2012 and earlier for no reason anyone can figure out, and Apple Fitness on Apple TV is randomly scrambling workout stacks with no fix in sight — a premium locked ecosystem doing premium locked ecosystem things. In MEDIA CANDY, the crew is watching The Pitt, The Boys, Shrinking, and Daredevil, and you'll want to sit down for this: Mel Brooks and Rick Moranis are back — Spaceballs 2 hits theaters a full year from now even though it's done. Italy slapped Netflix with a court-ordered refund for price hikes going back to 2017, while Netflix simultaneously raised prices for US subscribers and launched Playground, a free kids gaming app that works offline (Peppa Pig and Sesame Street, no ads, no in-app purchases — hook 'em on Dah Dum young!) AT THE LIBRARY, Brian has given up on Breath and Jason reads Four Thousand Weeks and Art Spiegelman's Maus — the Pulitzer-winning Holocaust masterpiece that some people are still trying to ban, because humanity never fully learns. Closing out with THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE, Treasury Secretary Bessent and Fed Chair Powell apparently called an emergency meeting with bank CEOs over Anthropic's new model "Mythos," which can apparently find and exploit vulnerabilities across major OSes and browsers. The boys also catch up on Maul: Shadow Lord, the Strong Songs podcast's Joni Mitchell deep-dive ("Passions soften into wisdom" — weeping on the plane, apparently), the belated discovery that Marathon launched and nobody noticed, and some genuine moon joy courtesy of NASA's Artemis II astronauts. Sponsors: DeleteMe - Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com/GOG and use promo code GOG at checkout. CleanMyMac - Get Tidy Today! Try 7 days free and use code OLDGEEKS for 20% off at clnmy.com/OLDGEEKS Private Internet Access - Go to GOG.Show/vpn and sign up today. For a limited time only, you can get OUR favorite VPN for as little as $2.03 a month. SetApp - With a single monthly subscription you get 240+ apps for your Mac. Go to SetApp and get started today!!! 1Password - Get a great deal on the only password manager recommended by Grumpy Old Geeks! gog.show/1password Show notes at https://gog.show/741 Watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/c_odV0tSa2k FOLLOW UP Ireland is testing out a digital wallet that conducts age verification for social media users Greece will ban all kids under 15 from using social media IN THE NEWS OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Unite to Combat Model Copying in China New Jersey has no right to ban Kalshi's prediction market, US appeals court rules FBI used iPhone notification data to retrieve deleted Signal messages GoPro to lay off over 20 percent of staff by the end of 2026 OpenAI Backs Bill That Would Limit Liability for AI-Enabled Mass Deaths or Financial Disasters Artemis II astronaut puts all of our iPhone moon photos to shame APPS & DOODADS Mercedes-Benz recalls some G-Wagon EVs due to risk of wheels falling off Amazon is cutting off support for older Kindles Presto 08800 EverSharp Electric Knife Sharpener, 2-Stage System, Silver/Black MEDIA CANDY The Pitt The Boys Shrinking Daredevil The Spaceballs sequel will be released in April next year An Italian court ruled Netflix has to refund its customers for price hikes dating back to 2017 Netflix just released a standalone gaming app for kids Anonymous - Real Stories of Alcoholism, Addiction, and Recovery AT THE LIBRARY Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor Four Thousand Weeks By Oliver Burkeman Maus I & II THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE Dave Bittner The CyberWire Hacking Humans Caveat Control Loop Only Malware in the Building Maul - Shadow Lord Anthropic Model Scare Sparks Urgent Bessent, Powell Warning to Bank CEOs S08E03 - "Both Sides, Now" by Joni Mitchell I Wish I Didn’t Care About 'Marathon' Player Numbers, But I Do Marathon Gameplay (No Commentary) Mego Happy Days Figures and Fonzi Garage, Hot, and Stunt Cycle HAPPY DAYS - Fonzie & Pinky Break Up - Fonzie Loves Pinky - 1976 Moon Joy, Courtesy of NASA's Artemis II Astronauts CLOSING SHOUT-OUTS Hip-hop pioneer, Afrika Bambaataa, dies aged 68 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    1hr 11min
  4. To the Moon!

    3 APR

    To the Moon!

    Welcome to Grumpy Old Geeks, where we're starting to notice a patience epidemic! As people get used to barking orders at their AI, they're starting to talk to other humans with the same terse impatience. We discuss the enshittification of social media like Threads, which are now completely overrun with AI-generated slop. This week, we dive into the corporate shenanigans of the tech world. OpenAI was caught secretly funding an advocacy group to push for age verification laws that just so happen to benefit Sam Altman's other company. We also cover Elon Musk's troubles, including all of xAI's co-founders quitting, a SpaceX satellite exploding, and Tesla's "fully autonomous" robotaxis being revealed to have remote human drivers. Plus, we celebrate NASA's successful Artemis II launch, review a fantastic Premiere Pro plugin for multicam editing, and give our thoughts on shows like "The Pit" and "Downton Abbey." Sponsors: SquareSpace - go to squarespace.com/GRUMPY for a free trial. And when you’re ready to launch, use code GRUMPY to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. Private Internet Access - Go to GOG.Show/vpn and sign up today. For a limited time only, you can get OUR favorite VPN for as little as $2.03 a month. SetApp - With a single monthly subscription you get 240+ apps for your Mac. Go to SetApp and get started today!!! 1Password - Get a great deal on the only password manager recommended by Grumpy Old Geeks! gog.show/1password Show notes at https://gog.show/740 Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/IpzOakbBftY FOLLOW UP Austria is pursuing a social media ban for kids under 14 Group Pushing Age Verification Requirements for AI Turns Out to Be Sneakily Backed by OpenAI OpenAI takes on another “side quest,” buys tech-focused talk show TBPN IN THE NEWS Elon Musk’s last co-founder reportedly leaves xAI SpaceX loses contact with one of its Starlink satellites SpaceX has reportedly filed for the biggest IPO in history OpenAI Is Falling Out of Favor With Secondary Buyers Oracle Lays Off Thousands to Offset AI Spending Anthropic leaks part of Claude Code’s internal source code Anthropic is having a month Wikipedia Just Drew the Line on A.I.-Written Content Tesla Admits Its Robotaxis Are Being Driven Remotely Getting Stuck Inside a Glitching Robotaxi Is a Whole New Thing to Be Scared of White House App Found Tracking Users' Exact Location Every 4.5 Minutes via Third-Party Server Kash Patel's personal email account was accessed by hackers linked to Iran NASA's Artemis II Live Mission Coverage (Official Broadcast) MEDIA CANDY The Hobbit: The Tolkien Edit The Pitt DTF St. Louis Project Hail Mary SUPERGIRL | Official Trailer Downton Abbey Darker Waves Festival APPS & DOODADS Bluesky's next product is an AI assistant that helps build custom social media feeds ChatGPT app launches for CarPlay on iOS 26.4 Apple Removes iPhone Vibe Coding App from App Store Meta is testing an Instagram Plus subscription service with exclusive features Wraith Multi-Cam Editor THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE Dave Bittner The CyberWire Hacking Humans Caveat Control Loop Only Malware in the Building Current Reader Journalist Sues FAA Over Drone No Fly Zone Designed to Prevent Filming ICE Nicholas Carlini - Black-hat LLMs | [un]prompted 2026 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    1hr 17min
  5. The Thin Black Line

    27 MAR

    The Thin Black Line

    Meta fined $375M for child safety failures. Musk lost 3 lawsuits in a week. Sam Altman compared to a Nazi. Netflix raised prices again. The Pentagon can't quit Claude. Reddit wants your face scan. Star Trek's streaming era is over. But the thin black line holds! 🎙️ Sponsors: DeleteMe - Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com/GOG and use promo code GOG at checkout. SquareSpace - go to squarespace.com/GRUMPY for a free trial. And when you’re ready to launch, use code GRUMPY to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. Private Internet Access - Go to GOG.Show/vpn and sign up today. For a limited time only, you can get OUR favorite VPN for as little as $2.03 a month. SetApp - With a single monthly subscription you get 240+ apps for your Mac. Go to SetApp and get started today!!! 1Password - Get a great deal on the only password manager recommended by Grumpy Old Geeks! gog.show/1password Show notes at https://gog.show/739 Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/hdhHiOaclu0 FOLLOW UP Polymarket is cracking down on insider trading with updated rules https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/polymarket-is-cracking-down-on-insider-trading-with-updated-rules-163928655.html Judge temporarily blocks Pentagon's 'supply chain risk' designation for Anthropic https://abcnews.com/Technology/judge-temporarily-blocks-pentagons-supply-chain-risk-designation/story?id=131453267 IN THE NEWS Jury rules against Meta, orders $375 million fine in major child safety trial https://www.engadget.com/social-media/jury-rules-against-meta-orders-375-million-fine-in-major-child-safety-trial-224215209.html Jury rules against Meta and YouTube in social media addiction case https://www.engadget.com/social-media/jury-rules-against-meta-and-youtube-in-social-media-addiction-case-181344860.html Elon Musk loses big in court; X boycott perfectly legal https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/03/elon-musk-loses-big-in-court-x-boycott-perfectly-legal/ Elon Musk misled investors during his Twitter takeover, jury finds https://www.engadget.com/social-media/elon-musk-misled-investors-during-his-twitter-takeover-jury-finds-232033028.html Elon Musk Will Have to Face the Music in Lawsuit Over DOGE's Government Overreach https://gizmodo.com/elon-musk-will-have-to-face-the-music-in-lawsuit-over-doges-government-overreach-2000737413 OpenAI reportedly plans to double its workforce to 8,000 employees https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-reportedly-plans-to-double-its-workforce-to-8000-employees-161028377.html Sam Altman Thanks Programmers for Their Effort, Says Their Time Is Over https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/sam-altman-thanks-programmers-over Sam Altman Confronted At Oscars Party Over Pentagon Deal https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/sam-altman-confronted-oscar-pentagon-deal R.I.P. Sora (2024-2026) https://gizmodo.com/r-i-p-sora-2024-2026-2000737664 Disney's Sora Disaster Shows AI Will Not Revolutionize Hollywood https://www.404media.co/disneys-openai-sora-disaster-shows-ai-will-not-save-hollywood/ The Tech Bubble Might Finally Be Popping https://slate.com/technology/2026/03/ai-openai-sam-altman-disney-sora-shutdown.html Elon Musk announces Terafab project he claims will be the 'largest chip manufacturing facility ever' https://www.engadget.com/science/elon-musk-announces-terafab-project-he-claims-will-be-the-largest-chip-manufacturing-facility-ever-171718545.html Trump Rewards Big Tech's Biggest Bootlickers With Seats on AI Policy Board https://gizmodo.com/trump-rewards-big-techs-biggest-bootlickers-with-seats-on-ai-policy-board-2000738006 Pinterest CEO says teens under 16 should be banned from social media (but not Pinterest) https://www.engadget.com/social-media/pinterest-ceo-says-teens-under-16-should-be-banned-from-social-media-but-not-pinterest-211630443.html Reddit is weighing identity verification methods to combat its bot problem https://www.engadget.com/social-media/reddit-is-weighing-identity-verification-methods-to-combat-its-bot-problem-195814671.html APPS & DOODADS Bambu Lab A1 https://bambulab.com/en-ca/a1 Twitter turned 20 and I feel nothing https://www.engadget.com/social-media/twitter-turned-20-and-i-feel-nothing-140000602.html FCC Bans All New Routers Not Made in America https://gizmodo.com/fcc-bans-all-new-routers-not-made-in-america-2000737176 MEDIA CANDY Star Trek: Starfleet Academy https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/star-trek-starfleet-academy/ ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ to End With Season 2 (EXCLUSIVE) https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/star-trek-starfleet-academy-canceled-season-2-1236696816/ 'Starfleet Academy' Deserved Better Than This https://gizmodo.com/star-trek-starfleet-academy-cancelation-paramount-2000737569 Shrek Forever After https://www.netflix.com/title/70117295 Daredevil: Born Again S2 https://www.disneyplus.com/browse/entity-85e7a914-c8e6-41db-95df-c740dc2cf1b7 Shrinking https://tv.apple.com/ca/show/shrinking/umc.cmc.apzybj6eqf6pzccd97kev7bs The Pitt https://www.hbomax.com/shows/pitt-2024/e6e7bad9-d48d-4434-b334-7c651ffc4bdf Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | Official Teaser | HBO Max https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIu4sFKGi6E Stephen Colbert to write next ‘Lord of the Rings’ movie after leaving late night https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/25/entertainment/colbert-lord-of-the-rings-hnk Supreme Court rejects Sony's attempt to kick music pirates off the Internet https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/03/supreme-court-rejects-sonys-attempt-to-kick-music-pirates-off-the-internet/ Netflix raises prices for every subscription tier by up to 12.5 percent https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/03/netflix-increases-prices-for-all-plans-by-up-to-2-per-month/ AT THE LIBRARY Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor https://amzn.to/4bvyNjN CLOSING SHOUT-OUTS A celebration of Karl Wallinger’s Life & Music https://www.worldparty.net/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    59 min
  6. A Sprinkling of Random

    20 MAR

    A Sprinkling of Random

    13 years of podcasting has taught us nothing; companies are lying about AI layoffs while Meta destroys itself from the inside; Andreessen has zero introspection and it shows; Dune 3 looks incredible; Firefly lives again; one idiot executive staked Buffy; Adobe paid $75M for being evil; your AI passwords are garbage; Dave Bittner is here to make you feel worse about all of it. Sponsors: DeleteMe - Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com/GOG and use promo code GOG at checkout. SquareSpace - go to squarespace.com/GRUMPY for a free trial. And when you’re ready to launch, use code GRUMPY to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. Private Internet Access - Go to GOG.Show/vpn and sign up today. For a limited time only, you can get OUR favorite VPN for as little as $2.03 a month. SetApp - With a single monthly subscription you get 240+ apps for your Mac. Go to SetApp and get started today!!! 1Password - Get a great deal on the only password manager recommended by Grumpy Old Geeks! gog.show/1password Show notes at https://gog.show/738 Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/pykGjOmMs5c FOLLOW UP GOG Ep 1: How to Make Money on the Internet - March 25th, 2013 The ‘AI-Washing’ of Job Cuts Is Corrosive and Confusing Race on to establish globally recognised 'AI-free' logo Billionaire Marc Andreessen says he has "zero" introspection, and that the idea itself is a modern invention. Gamblers trying to win a bet on Polymarket are vowing to kill me if I don’t rewrite an Iran missile story IN THE NEWS Atlassian to cut roughly 10% jobs in pivot to AI Meta is reportedly planning to cut up to 20 percent of its staff in upcoming layoffs Meta Is Building an Encrypted Chatbot After AI Agents Went Rogue and Exposed Sensitive Data Meta Says It Is Removing End-to-End Encryption From Instagram Direct Messages Meta is testing clickable links in Instagram captions for verified subscribers Encyclopedia Britannica sues OpenAI for copyright and trademark infringement Senators tell ByteDance to shut down Seedance 2.0 AI video app 'immediately' Things Are Suddenly Looking Incredibly Bad for Trump’s Social Media Company Trump administration will reportedly get $10 billion for brokering the TikTok deal The Billionaire Backlash Against a Philanthropic Dream Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post Now Setting Readers’ Subscription Prices With Uber-Style AI APPS & DOODADS Adobe agrees to pay settlement for making its subscriptions hard to cancel Everything you need to know to design with Stitch What is DESIGN.md? Warning: Your AI-Generated Password Is a Major Security Risk. Here’s What to Use Instead MEDIA CANDY Dune: Part Three | Official Teaser Trailer How ‘Dune: Part Three’ Is Changing the Entire ‘Dune’ Franchise "Paradise" has been renewed for Season 3 at Hulu, Variety has learned. Paradise on Hulu Mars Express Nathan Fillion Says ‘Firefly’ Animated Series In Development With Co-Stars Set To Reprise Roles; Concept Art Revealed Sarah Michelle Gellar Says a Single Executive Was Responsible for Killing the ‘Buffy’ Reboot ‘V For Vendetta’ at 20: We Spoke to Its Director About the Increasingly Relevant Comic Adaptation THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE Dave Bittner The CyberWire Hacking Humans Caveat Control Loop Only Malware in the Building Disney's 100% Rotten Tomatoes Masterpiece Returns This Fall With Brand-New Release Shhh… It’s zombie proof. Kia’s all-electric range The Last Quiet Thing by Terry Godier Evel Knievel Kings Island 1975 - Farthest Successful Jump at 133 feet 70's Evel Knievel Toy Commercial IDEAL Evel Knievel's 14 Greyhound Bus Jump Oct 25th 1975 HD enhanced. Epic WORLD RECORD. Craig Ferguson’s Evel Knievel Story is Wild!! Being Evel Wembley 50th Anniversary Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle Set – Limited Gold Edition Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle - Trail Bike Edition See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    1hr 24min
  7. Monetizable Content

    13 MAR

    Monetizable Content

    In this week's show we start with FOLLOW UP: The world keeps trying to protect kids online — Indonesia just joined Australia, Spain, and Malaysia in banning social media for under-16s, while COPPA 2.0 sailed through the US Senate unanimously. Meanwhile, Roblox is using AI to clean up its chat, because apparently "Hurry TF up" is the hill they've chosen to die on — even as they're still dealing with the whole "pedophile problem" thing from January. On the AI copyright front, Gracenote is the latest company to sue OpenAI for helping itself to proprietary data, joining a growing queue of plaintiffs who apparently didn't get the memo that everything is training data now. IN THE NEWS: Anthropic is suing the Pentagon after being labeled a "supply chain risk" — apparently because the CEO said AI shouldn't be used for mass surveillance or autonomous weapons, which the Trump administration heard as fighting words. The delicious irony: the Pentagon is still running Claude in active operations while trying to phase it out. Speaking of active operations, investigators now think a missile strike on an Iranian girls' school may have been triggered by bad AI-generated intelligence from that same Claude-based system. So yes, the autocomplete that hallucinates your grocery list is also maybe accidentally bombing schools. Meta's Oversight Board is begging the company to get serious about AI-generated content after a fake war video from a Filipino fake news account racked up 700K views — while separately, Zuckerberg dropped cash on Moltbook, a "social network for AI agents" that turned out to be mostly humans larping as bots and had a security flaw that exposed everyone's API keys. The guy who built it basically vibe-coded the whole thing. Meta's own CTO said he didn't "find it particularly interesting." And yet. Oracle is hemorrhaging jobs and drowning in debt chasing AI dreams, its stock down 50% from peak — a timely reminder that "AI will replace workers" is currently manifesting as "companies set money on fire and lay people off to pay the electric bill." Researchers confirmed AI is homogenizing human thought and creativity — a thing some of us have been screaming since day one. A DOGE engineer allegedly walked out of the Social Security Administration with databases containing personal info on 500 million Americans on a thumb drive. The Ig Nobel Prize is relocating to Switzerland because it's no longer safe to invite international guests to America. Nintendo is suing the US government to get its tariff money back. SETI thinks it may have been accidentally filtering out alien signals due to space weather. And Pokémon Go players unknowingly spent a decade building a centimeter-accurate surveillance map of Earth's cities that's now guiding pizza delivery robots — which, honestly, tracks. In APPS & DOODADS: The GOG clan in Clash Royale just hit eight years old — respect. OpenAudible is the cross-platform audiobook manager your Audible library deserves, especially if you've got over a thousand books sitting there judging you. And finally in MEDIA CANDY: Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 is here, and pretty beige. Live Nation settled its DOJ antitrust case for $200 million, kept Ticketmaster, and avoided a breakup — meanwhile court documents revealed employees joking about "robbing fans blind" and gouging "stupid" customers, which explains basically every concert ticket you've bought in the last decade. YouTube is now officially the world's largest media company at $62 billion in revenue. Bluesky's CEO is stepping down, which is either a bad sign or just the natural order of "person who built the cool thing hands it to the person who scales the cool thing." Dead Set — Charlie Brooker's 2008 zombie-in-the-Big-Brother-house miniseries — is worth a watch if you haven't. And trailers dropped for Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 (March 24th), The Boys final season (April 8th), and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (April 1st — yes, really). Sponsors: DeleteMe - Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com/GOG and use promo code GOG at checkout. CleanMyMac - Get Tidy Today! Try 7 days free and use code OLDGEEKS for 20% off at clnmy.com/OLDGEEKS Private Internet Access - Go to GOG.Show/vpn and sign up today. For a limited time only, you can get OUR favorite VPN for as little as $2.03 a month. SetApp - With a single monthly subscription you get 240+ apps for your Mac. Go to SetApp and get started today!!! 1Password - Get a great deal on the only password manager recommended by Grumpy Old Geeks! gog.show/1password Show notes at https://gog.show/737 Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DgSYnFF6twE FOLLOW UP Indonesia announces a social media ban for anyone under 16 Anthropic Sues Pentagon Metadata company Gracenote is the latest to sue OpenAI for copyright infringement Roblox introduces real-time AI-powered chat rephraser for inappropriate language IN THE NEWS COPPA 2.0 passes the Senate again, unanimously this time AI Error Likely Led to Iran Girl's School Bombing The Oversight Board says Meta needs new rules for AI-generated content Mark Zuckerberg Decides Meta Needs More Slop, Buys the Social Network for AI Agents Oracle Axing Huge Number of Jobs as AI Crisis Intensifies You can (sort of) block Grok from editing your uploaded photos Researchers Say AI Is Homogenizing Human Expression and Thought Social Security watchdog investigating claims that DOGE engineer copied its databases Nintendo is suing the US government over Trump's tariffs SETI Thinks It Might Have Missed a Few Alien Calls. Here's Why Ig Nobel Ceremony Relocates to Europe Amid Safety Concerns in Trump’s America APPS & DOODADS Clash Royale OpenAudible Bluesky's CEO is stepping down after nearly 5 years How Pokémon Go is giving delivery robots an inch-perfect view of the world Robot Escorted Away By Cops After Terrorizing Old Woman MEDIA CANDY Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 Live Nation settlement avoids breakup with Ticketmaster Court documents reveal Live Nation employees joking about robbing, gouging "stupid" fans YouTube Is the World’s Largest Media Company, MoffettNathanson Says Paradise Season 2 DAREDEVIL: Born Again Season 2 Official Teaser Trailer 2 (2026) The Boys Final Season Trailer The Super Mario Galaxy Movie | Final Trailer Dead Set See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    1hr 4min
  8. People Aren’t People

    6 MAR

    People Aren’t People

    Microsoft's anti-"Microslop" censorship backfired spectacularly; Australia is cracking down on AI age verification while Meta is busy targeting toddlers; prediction markets are basically just insider trading with extra steps; AI chatbots are getting people killed and exposing spy operations; the Moon landing got pushed again; Opera got nostalgic at 30; Sony bought Charlie Brown; and Netflix is making documentaries with robot people now. Show notes at https://gog.show/736 Watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/6lw2Hy_U8QA Sponsors: DeleteMe - Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com/GOG and use promo code GOG at checkout. Private Internet Access - Go to GOG.Show/vpn and sign up today. For a limited time only, you can get OUR favorite VPN for as little as $2.03 a month. SetApp - With a single monthly subscription you get 240+ apps for your Mac. Go to SetApp and get started today!!! 1Password - Get a great deal on the only password manager recommended by Grumpy Old Geeks! gog.show/1password FOLLOW UP Microsoft Bans the Word “Microslop” on Copilot Discord, Gets So Humiliated That It Locks Down the Whole Server Australia will consider requiring app stores to block AI services without age verification A Day in the Life of an Enshittificator IN THE NEWS Meta’s what-if for tweens How Meta Executives Talked About Child Safety Behind the Scenes The Great Insider Trading Reckoning Reportedly Hits OpenAI Khamenei market meltdown on Kalshi shows how prediction markets still can’t decide what ‘counts’ Some Alleged Polymarket Insiders Made a Fortune on U.S. Strikes on Iran Polymarket Decides Incentivizing a Nuclear Detonation Might Be a Bad Idea A Chinese official’s use of ChatGPT accidentally revealed a global intimidation operation ‘Our Bond Is the Only Thing That’s Real:’ A New Lawsuit Alleges Google Gemini Drove a Man to Suicide The Data Centers Have Arrived at the Edge of the Arctic Circle Big tech companies agree to not ruin your electric bill with AI data centers TerraPower gets OK to start construction of its first nuclear plant The Supreme Court doesn't care if you want to copyright your AI-generated art Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei calls OpenAI's messaging around military deal 'straight up lies,' report says The $100 Billion OpenAI-Nvidia Deal Is Not Happening NASA Announces Major Change to Plans For Putting Humans on The Moon The US Senate empowers NASA to fully engage in lunar space race Astronomers Estimated the Lifespan of Alien Civilizations, and It’s Not Looking Good for Us MEDIA CANDY Charlie Brown now works for Sony These AI Avatars in a Netflix True Crime Doc Are Disturbing Viewers Netflix buys Ben Affleck’s AI film tech company, InterPositive APPS & DOODADS Opera Has Turned 30 and Is Celebrating With a Compelling Tribute to Web Nostalgia Web Design Museum Meta hit with a class action lawsuit over smart glasses' privacy claims Apple Macbook Neo AT THE LIBRARY Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs by Miranda Sawyer See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    56 min
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Hosts & Guests

About

We dissect the tech news train wrecks of the week, calling out what went wrong and who’s to blame. Think of this podcast as if Kurt Cobain threw down with Tom from MySpace, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg in a back alley brawl. No mercy, no filter—if tech had a walk of shame, this would be it.

Information

  • Creator
    Jason DeFillippo & Brian Schulmeister with Dave Bittner
  • Years Active
    2013 - 2026
  • Episodes
    747
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Grumpy Old Geeks LLC. All Rights Reserved.
  • Show Website
    Grumpy Old Geeks

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