674: Welcome to DOGE! The Department of Grumpy Entertainment

674: Welcome to DOGE! The Department of Grumpy Entertainment

Author: Jason DeFillippo & Brian Schulmeister with Dave Bittner November 16, 2024 Duration: 1:19:42
In this episode of Grumpy Old Geeks, we break down the latest chaos in tech, pop culture, and humanity’s never-ending quest to out-stupid itself. Hackers are raiding Ticketmaster accounts (again), and Chegg is circling the drain after ChatGPT obliterated its business model. Meanwhile, Amazon is hawking boner pills that tanked Hims’ stock, 23andMe is laying off nearly half its staff, and Bluesky is quietly stealing users who’ve had it with Elon’s dumpster fire over at X. Driverless Waymo cars take over LA, nuclear safety gets outsourced to AI, and Apple wants to track your luggage with AirTags (but only on planes they like). Oh, and let’s not forget Mark Zuckerberg’s bizarre karaoke moment with Get Low. On the pop culture front, The Penguin finale cements it as TV’s best comic book adaptation, Moana smashes Disney streaming records, and The Beatles are back—kind of—thanks to AI. Plus, Mattel accidentally linked kids’ toys to a porn site, and some genius in a bear costume is faking car accidents for insurance money. It’s all as dumb, messy, and oddly entertaining as you’d expect. Tune in for the snark, stay for the schadenfreude!

There’s a certain flavor of chaos that defines the technology industry each week, and Grumpy Old Geeks serves as your brutally honest guide through the wreckage. Hosted by Jason DeFillippo, Brian Schulmeister, and Dave Bittner, this isn't a polite roundtable discussion. Instead, it feels like grabbing a drink with friends who have seen it all and have absolutely no patience left for corporate spin or broken promises. They pick apart the biggest tech news stories with a seasoned, cynical eye, always asking the messy questions about what actually went wrong and who should be held accountable. Listening to this podcast is like getting the unfiltered post-mortem from veterans who remember when the internet felt different. The tone is sharp, often funny, and deliberately irreverent-picture a conversation that’s equal parts informed critique and cathartic venting about the state of digital life. You’ll hear them dissect the moves of figures like Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg not as distant celebrities, but as players in a ongoing saga of power and missteps. It’s a weekly ritual for anyone who loves technology but is deeply frustrated by the direction it often takes, offering analysis that’s as informed as it is impatient. If you’re tired of sanitized tech commentary and want a take that pulls no punches, this is the place.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Grumpy Old Geeks
Podcast Episodes
733: Predator Friendly Hunting Ground [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:24:14
The tech world is currently a "nuclear war" over trademarks and alien catapult rants while AI safety researchers flee their posts; Meta and Discord are locked in a cycle of predator-friendly lawsuits and government ID br…
732: We’re Not In the Files! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:06
In this week’s FOLLOW UP, Bitcoin is down 15%, miners are unplugging rigs because paying eighty-seven grand to mine a sixty-grand coin finally failed the vibes check, and Grok is still digitally undressing men—suggesting…
731: I Want My 13 Trillion Dollars! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:19:24
EU vs. Grok, Tesla kills the S/X, mass tech layoffs, Waymo in trouble, South Korea’s AI mess, and record labels suing for $13T. Then: Super Bowl 60, Ted Lasso, Highlander, AirTag 2, new Muppets but no Animal Crackers. Bu…
730: Ethical Broads [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:26:31
California tells Grok to stop making deepfake minors, Musk’s Memphis methane datacenter gets busted, the FTC keeps trying to break up Meta & every government on Earth demands your ID before you’re allowed to have fun onl…
729: Alright Alright Alright™ [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:24:25
Grok gets blocked by world governments as the US Senate tries to stop the deepfake deluge; Meta abandons the Metaverse for AI hardware and high-powered political hires while Bandcamp bans AI slop; Apple and Tesla move mo…
728: No Face to Shoot [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:15:06
A year after the LA fires, we spiral into AI surveillance & protest safety to Meta ads, Disney spying, Grok’s legal black hole, robotaxis at dusk & Tim Cook’s $74M payday. Toss in MTV nostalgia, holiday gadgets & tech su…
727: Merry Slopmas [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:21:17
Hallucinating AI recaps, Tesla’s Autopilot under legal fire, TikTok’s shell game, Reddit fights age bans, iRobot sucks up Chpater 11 and “slop” crowned Word of the Year. Add orbital junk, fake books & Gen-X sideeye - it’…
726: Sycophantic and Delusional [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:17:31
Job Hugging is here, OpenAI’s in damage control mode, the AI bubble is overheating the grid, Instagram pricing games, Waymo gives birth and Uber is selling your data. Also: Disney’s AI dreams, EU smackdowns, and Jason wi…
725: The Mistake Machine [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:15:02
Spotify Wrapped thinks we’re 82, Palantir thinks war crimes are bad for business, and Google’s AI is wiping hard drives. Netflix buys Batman, Fallout S2, ROMCON, Knives Out, scientists invent the blackest fabric ever and…
724: Sam Altman’s Boutique [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:08:57
The DOGE is dead, Apple and HP are blaming AI for layoffs, teens are lonely (talking to bots!), greedy tech bros are pouring millions into fighting state AI regulations. Welcome to the tech industry, where nothing is a s…