687: Uncanny Spaceballs

687: Uncanny Spaceballs

Author: Jason DeFillippo & Brian Schulmeister with Dave Bittner March 8, 2025 Duration: 1:05:12
Techdirt has embraced politics as tech’s twin dumpster fire; Google’s AI Mode proves the internet is just Clippy with better PR; Billy McFarland’s Fyre Festival 2 is literally lost at sea; Tesla sales plummet as Elon’s antics spark protests; Sergey Brin wants engineers to work 60-hour weeks to build their replacements; Trump Media funneled cash to Don Jr. while indie musicians can’t afford to tour; Technicolor collapsed overnight, stranding 10,000 workers; SpaceX exploded—again; Netflix’s remake of A Different World became nightmare fuel; Y Combinator startups are coding on pure vibes; OpenAI is monetizing AI agents at $20K/month; Russian propaganda is infecting AI chatbots; hackers unbricked the Humane AI Pin to make it slightly less useless; ChatGPT now helps Mac developers introduce unexpected bugs; for escapism, read The Tempest by Peter Cawdron or On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder; and in peak dystopia, 82% of indie artists can’t tour—at least we still have humor.

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
654: Life EULA [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:39
ID authentication systems are a bad idea; Tesla traps a toddler inside car, vandalized Cybertrucks & Cybertruck run amok; Rivian makes a deal with VW; celeb crypto spam deepfakes & hacks; Assange free; META tags real pho…
653: To Violate, or Not to Violate? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:17:45
Opting out of META AI data training; 11 steps, or be in the EU; why I hate Elon, let me count the ways; SCiFi Foods, Fisker shut down; social media warning labels; TikTok child privacy case; Safe SuperIntelligence; Apple…
652: Casual Pirates [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:23:21
OpenAI was open to bidding wars between USA, China & Russia; AI hitting wall where it can't get smarter; visibility set to zero; walking back Windows Recall; Tesla FSD false advertising, SpaceX bad behavior; refreezing t…
651: Inci Dont’s [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:47
Humane AI chargers go up in flames; Google scales back AI Overviews; we've all been pwnd; Windows Recall a Category 5 s-storm; Microsoft downsizes mixed reality division; leaked Google privacy incidents; ChatGPT AI hype…
650: The Ewok Line [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:29
Google AI search is a mess; robocall fines; no one wants a used Tesla; Neumann gives up on WeWork; OpenAI, Twitch give up pretending they have Safety Advisory boards; Vimeo says no to AI; xAI raises 6 billion; massive Ti…
649: Garbage In, Garbage Out [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:17:49
Dead Internet Theory & Shrimp Jesus; the Portal is back; Apple set photo visibility to zero; jailbreaking major LLMs; OpenAI party time; getting some decent data in; you win an award, now you're suspended; Google sends D…
648: Some Superheroes Ride Motorized Scooters [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:54
Inappropriate portal behavior; RTO drives away top talent; Apple may add OpenAI to iOS; garbage in, garbage out; AI continues to promise more than it can deliver; Twitter redirecting to X; entire Supercharger staff fired…
647: DarJar [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:17:04
Neuralink, insulin pump software bugs & abandoned brain implant technologies; Dorsey peaces out from Bluesky; Dell RTO tracking; Meta pumps businesses for customer support; Uber hits a financial snag; Spotify's new royal…
646: Thanks, Gary! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:45
Kagi not worth it; RIP Passcodes; Sora demo not exactly Sora; FCC fines carries for selling location data; TikTok ban signed; Meta's ad-buying AI blows through budgets; fighting the algorithm; OpenAI privacy complaints;…

«1...678910