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
723: Don’t Want No Samsung [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:13:36
From Larry Summers fleeing the OpenAI board to Nvidia tanking, Bitcoin crashing, Grok praising Elon, and a Tesla robotaxi driver asleep at the wheel, yeah, tech is weird. New trailers, open-sourced Zork, broken keyboards…
722: Does a Podcaster Shit in the Woods? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:19:42
Seriously, after sports betting and social media finally ruined everything, we discuss why AI is still a total fraud and the easiest way to cure all disease is just to stop watching the Victoria Beckham documentary; we a…
721: Pixel Predators [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:08:29
The tech world is eating its own as mass layoffs hit and the "Big Short" guy bets against the AI bubble; billionaires are busy with illegal schools and trillion-dollar paydays while Meta is earning a fortune on fraudulen…
720: Sad Max Mode [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:08:15
Amazon fires 14,000 to “embrace AI”; Meta torches billions; Elon recalls Cybertrucks and builds Grokipedia; Microsoft wins OpenAI’s trillion-dollar lottery; Spotify’s still fascist; Grammarly rebrands, Affinity sells out…
719: Uniquely Devoid of Feeling [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:22:02
Corporate overlords are ushering in an "infrastructure of meaningless" with AI, automation, and tech that enables scams and creepiness; thankfully, there's still great TV (Gen V, Slow Horses, The Diplomat) to help us cop…
718: Net Unhelpful [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:06
As California tries to regulate AI companion chatbots, the inventor of "Vibe Coding" admits the practice is "net unhelpful"; Elon Musk's companies demonstrate continued disregard for rules while a crypto kingpin meets a…
717: Quantum of Nope [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:52
The Grumpy Old Geeks delve into government hypocrisy and corporate incompetence as Open AI/Nvidia/AMD are just one massive bubble of floating money; an app to track ICE agents was pulled, only for ICE to make its own sur…
716: Release the CrackerBot! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:13:02
The world is collapsing under the weight of AI, fake outrage, and inevitable lawsuits; all movies now have "old movie pacing"; please send money so we can keep complaining.
715: Our Wizard Lies [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:07:42
TikTok diplomacy drags on; Amazon pays up; Palantir sells butt shorts; AI is both savior and Antichrist; YouTube flirts with misinformation rehab; Disney jacks up prices; furries ride the Metro.
714: Crossfade This [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:22:31
The internet continues its chaotic march with a TikTok deal looming and LimeWire buying Fyre Fest; layoffs are hitting AI companies across the board, including Google and Elon's xAI, while new age verification laws threa…