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/1password Show notes at https://gog.show/738 Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/pykGjOmMs5c FOLLOW UP GOG Ep 1: How to Make Money on the Internet - March 25th, 2013 The ‘AI-Washing’ of Job Cuts Is Corrosive and Confusing Race on to establish globally recognised 'AI-free' logo Billionaire 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 story IN THE NEWS Atlassian to cut roughly 10% jobs in pivot to AI Meta is reportedly planning to cut up to 20 percent of its staff in upcoming layoffs Meta Is Building an Encrypted Chatbot After AI Agents Went Rogue and Exposed Sensitive Data Meta Says It Is Removing End-to-End Encryption From Instagram Direct Messages Meta is testing clickable links in Instagram captions for verified subscribers Encyclopedia Britannica sues OpenAI for copyright and trademark infringement Senators tell ByteDance to shut down Seedance 2.0 AI video app 'immediately' Things Are Suddenly Looking Incredibly Bad for Trump’s Social Media Company Trump administration will reportedly get $10 billion for brokering the TikTok deal The Billionaire Backlash Against a Philanthropic Dream Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post Now Setting Readers’ Subscription Prices With Uber-Style AI APPS & DOODADS Adobe agrees to pay settlement for making its subscriptions hard to cancel Everything you need to know to design with Stitch What is DESIGN.md? Warning: Your AI-Generated Password Is a Major Security Risk. Here’s What to Use Instead MEDIA CANDY Dune: Part Three | Official Teaser Trailer How ‘Dune: Part Three’ Is Changing the Entire ‘Dune’ Franchise "Paradise" has been renewed for Season 3 at Hulu, Variety has learned. Paradise on Hulu Mars Express Nathan Fillion Says ‘Firefly’ Animated Series In Development With Co-Stars Set To Reprise Roles; Concept Art Revealed Sarah 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 Adaptation THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE Dave Bittner The CyberWire Hacking Humans Caveat Control Loop Only Malware in the Building Disney's 100% Rotten Tomatoes Masterpiece Returns This Fall With Brand-New Release Shhh… It’s zombie proof. Kia’s all-electric range The Last Quiet Thing by Terry Godier Evel Knievel Kings Island 1975 - Farthest Successful Jump at 133 feet 70's Evel Knievel Toy Commercial IDEAL Evel Knievel's 14 Greyhound Bus Jump Oct 25th 1975 HD enhanced. Epic WORLD RECORD. Craig Ferguson’s Evel Knievel Story is Wild!! Being Evel Wembley 50th Anniversary Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle Set – Limited Gold Edition Evel 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: 100

Grumpy Old Geeks
Podcast Episodes
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…
713: Ourovibeos [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:22:37
This week on Grumpy Old Geeks, we dissect the digital dystopia where Tesla's market share tanks and Elon loses his richest-man crown; AI copyright lawsuits abound, from Anthropic's rejected settlement to Apple's alleged…