738: A Sprinkling of Random

738: A Sprinkling of Random

Author: Jason DeFillippo & Brian Schulmeister with Dave Bittner March 21, 2026 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; 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/1passwordShow notes at https://gog.show/738Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/pykGjOmMs5cFOLLOW UPGOG Ep 1: How to Make Money on the Internet - March 25th, 2013The ‘AI-Washing’ of Job Cuts Is Corrosive and ConfusingRace on to establish globally recognised 'AI-free' logoBillionaire 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 storyIN THE NEWSAtlassian to cut roughly 10% jobs in pivot to AIMeta is reportedly planning to cut up to 20 percent of its staff in upcoming layoffsMeta Is Building an Encrypted Chatbot After AI Agents Went Rogue and Exposed Sensitive DataMeta Says It Is Removing End-to-End Encryption From Instagram Direct MessagesMeta is testing clickable links in Instagram captions for verified subscribersEncyclopedia Britannica sues OpenAI for copyright and trademark infringementSenators tell ByteDance to shut down Seedance 2.0 AI video app 'immediately'Things Are Suddenly Looking Incredibly Bad for Trump’s Social Media CompanyTrump administration will reportedly get $10 billion for brokering the TikTok dealThe Billionaire Backlash Against a Philanthropic DreamJeff Bezos’ Washington Post Now Setting Readers’ Subscription Prices With Uber-Style AIAPPS & DOODADSAdobe agrees to pay settlement for making its subscriptions hard to cancelEverything you need to know to design with StitchWhat is DESIGN.md?Warning: Your AI-Generated Password Is a Major Security Risk. Here’s What to Use InsteadMEDIA CANDYDune: Part Three | Official Teaser TrailerHow ‘Dune: Part Three’ Is Changing the Entire ‘Dune’ Franchise"Paradise" has been renewed for Season 3 at Hulu, Variety has learned.Paradise on HuluMars ExpressNathan Fillion Says ‘Firefly’ Animated Series In Development With Co-Stars Set To Reprise Roles; Concept Art RevealedSarah 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 AdaptationTHE DARK SIDE WITH DAVEDave BittnerThe CyberWireHacking HumansCaveatControl LoopOnly Malware in the BuildingDisney's 100% Rotten Tomatoes Masterpiece Returns This Fall With Brand-New ReleaseShhh… It’s zombie proof. Kia’s all-electric rangeThe Last Quiet Thing by Terry GodierEvel Knievel Kings Island 1975 - Farthest Successful Jump at 133 feet70's Evel Knievel Toy Commercial IDEALEvel Knievel's 14 Greyhound Bus Jump Oct 25th 1975 HD enhanced. Epic WORLD RECORD.Craig Ferguson’s Evel Knievel Story is Wild!!Being EvelWembley 50th Anniversary Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle Set – Limited Gold EditionEvel 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.

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: 50

Grumpy Old Geeks
Podcast Episodes
754: Frankly Asinine Questions [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:56
AI keeps getting weirder, Meta keeps getting creepier, Waymos keep getting stuck, and somehow Gen X turned out to be America's critical infrastructure. It's another week in tech dystopia, and the Grumpy Old Geeks have th…
753: No-Talent AI Clowns [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:07:04
The AI revolution keeps delivering exactly the future nobody asked for. AI-powered hackers, Ford rehiring the engineers it tried to replace, Tesla settling another FSD lawsuit, robot strikes, satellite overload, Oracle w…
752: Grandma Got Run Over By a Tesla [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:18
AI companies are learning that rented platforms, runaway costs, and public backlash have consequences; Meta keeps proving surveillance is a product strategy; self-driving vehicles remain aggressively self-driving; billio…
751: Brewster’s Trillions [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:08:26
AI keeps embarrassing its biggest boosters; CEOs are learning to hide their automation fantasies; platform dependency remains a terrible business strategy; governments and corporations continue finding new ways to concen…
750: Douchebag Ping Pong [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:36
OpenAI wants Wall Street money; Anthropic wants everyone to slow down; Elon wants AI servers in space; crypto grifters want pardons; Meta wants your face; Apple accidentally made a good app; and somehow the lawyers were…
749: Surge Bananas [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:10
AI companies get sued, tracked, hacked, funded, and IPO'd; governments keep trying to ban kids from screens; Tesla rewrites history while BYD bets money on the future; and somehow the safest place this week is watching s…
748: Space Bone [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:52
Self-driving cars drown themselves; AI keeps getting dumber while executives keep firing humans anyway; surveillance capitalism mutates into full sci-fi horror; Jony Ive redesigns Ferrari into an Apple Store accessory; a…
747: Why We Sigh [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:22:52
Social media panic; AI backlash; Musk chaos; robotaxi disasters; crypto collapse; fake-content infestations; Star Wars exhaustion; surveillance capitalism and Gen-Xers desperately trying to back up their hard drives befo…
746: Reality is Frequently Inaccurate [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:19:40
Merch plugs; billionaire AI stupidity; methane-powered robot futures; scammy crypto ghosts; flood-seeking robotaxis; AI morality fanfic; poop surveillance capitalism; Wordle becoming network television; Spotify tracking…
745: Unwanted Senior Discount [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:08:24
Amnesty warns people about visiting America for the World Cup; AI continues speedrunning societal collapse through podcasts, surveillance, fake therapists, layoffs, and murder-planning chatbots; GameStop tries to buy eBa…