675: Your Own Personal Jesus

675: Your Own Personal Jesus

Author: Jason DeFillippo & Brian Schulmeister with Dave Bittner November 23, 2024 Duration: 1:19:34
In this episode of Grumpy Old Geeks, we dive into the wild, wacky, and often worrying world of tech, media, and everything in between. From a Swiss church using AI to preach the gospel to OpenAI facing a copyright conundrum, and a DNA testing company ghosting its customers, the news is packed with surprises. We also explore Neuralink’s Canadian trials, bizarre domain drama between Alex Jones and The Onion, and why Google might be forced to part ways with Chrome. Plus, a study reveals Tesla’s troubling accident stats, and Germany investigates an undersea sabotage. On the media front, we break down The Old Man, The Day of the Jackal, and Ken Burns’ deep dive into Leonardo da Vinci. Catch teasers for How to Train Your Dragon and The Studio, while Apple TV+ and streaming giants reshuffle strategies. In the gaming and cinema crossover universe, the Minecraft Movie and Silo Season 2 are making waves. We also geek out over Perplexity’s new shopping tool, Bluesky’s rise to 21 million users, and the evolving quirks of Threads and X. Meanwhile, Ghosts by Peter Cawdron lands on our reading list, and Dave Bittner brings the dark side of cybersecurity into focus, including reverse-engineered iPhone hacks and Graykey’s tech secrets. In closing, we pay tribute to Thomas E. Kurtz, co-creator of BASIC, and share some lighthearted shout-outs to the schmactors of the world. Tune in for all the grump and geek you love!

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
743: Category Five Dystopia [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:18:28
Elon Musk admitted Tesla FSD was vaporware for millions of customers; the AI money squeeze is killing free tiers while xAI drains Memphis's drinking water; Anthropic's Mythos got accessed by hobbyists and adopted by the…
742: Uncouth Yet Highly Litigious [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:25:31
Estonia and Australia prove social media bans don't work; ChatGPT is linked to mass shootings and stalking while also praising fart music; Allbirds pivoted to AI and immediately imploded; France dumped Windows for Linux;…
741: Moon Joy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:11:24
Greece bans kids from social media (announced on TikTok); the FBI pulls Signal messages from iPhone notifications; OpenAI wants liability shields for AI mass-casualty events; wheels fall off a Mercedes EV; and Dave Bittn…
740: To the Moon! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:39
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 e…
739: The Thin Black Line [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:02
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 e…
738: A Sprinkling of Random [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:24:05
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;…
737: Monetizable Content [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:27
Kids online protection is finally getting serious globally; Anthropic is in a lawsuit with the Pentagon over an AI that may have bombed a school; Meta bought a fake-AI social network while ignoring its own AI content pro…
736: People Aren’t People [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:59
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 s…
735: We’re Walking on Sunshine [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:23:38
Tax economists are winning bets against government efficiency while Tesla sues the DMV for hurting its feelings; AI is contributing exactly zero to the economy while Sam Altman tries to gaslight us into thinking his data…
734: A Bald Woody [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:25:13
Big Tech is busy handing user data to the feds while their AI bots generate "rectal" advice and child abuse imagery; the hardware supply chain is being devoured by thirsty LLMs while Tesla’s robotaxis crash into buses; w…