Grumpy Old Geeks
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Ep 697: Office of Defects - Ad Free!
🕑 Added 2025-05-16 19:45:11 +0000 UTC
This week on Grumpy Old Geeks: FOLLOW UP kicks off with Manus madness, a $2 million ticket to Trump’s crypto cash-grab, and Elon’s Boring Company worming its way into an $8 billion Amtrak boondoggle. Meanwhile, CryptoPunks gets handed off to a nonprofit like an expired Groupon—proof the NFT hype cycle ends with a 501(c)(3) and a shrug.
IN THE NEWS, Microsoft trims another 3% of its workforce while a former Metaverse engineer delivers DoorDash from a trailer—living proof that “the future of work” is just working for the apps. Klarna quietly admits AI sucks at customer service and hires back actual people, just as OpenAI’s reasoning models hit the brakes. The Pope wants to exorcise AI, Elon’s backfiring Copyright Office coup leaves him empty-handed, and YouTube starts banning AI-faked trailers that made Screen Culture money off Marvel lies. Jamie Lee Curtis goes full Final Girl on Zuckerberg, and Tesla drama ramps up: robotaxis under investigation, employees revolting, and one poor dealership manager gets canned for telling the truth about ol’ Musky. Oh, and scientists say the universe might die sooner than expected—cool cool cool.
In MEDIA CANDY, Murderbot arrives May 16, NIN launches the Future Ruins Festival, and Star Trek and Star Wars both dig up classic soundtracks for some retro feels. Jessica Jones returns in Daredevil: Born Again, Fallout gets Seasons 2 and 3, and even Nobody 2 is back for more murder-dad mayhem. In THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE, Mr. Bittner shares two truly bleak customer service horror stories and gets bamboozled by a flower shop on Brian’s birthday (happy birthday, Brian!). Also: animatronic Mickey Mouse serves popcorn, Walt Disney’s ghost haunts the parks, Muppets get a pre-show for their 70th, and yes, there’s a guide to toilet-training your cat. Because sure, why not. Closing shout-out? Everyone is entitled to my own opinion.
Show notes at https://gog.show/697
FOLLOW UP
Leave it to Manus
A VIP Seat at Donald Trump’s Crypto Dinner Cost at Least $2 Million
Elon’s Boring Company Is ‘Helping’ the Government With an $8 Billion Amtrak Tunnel Project
CryptoPunks was just sold to a nonprofit
IN THE NEWS
Microsoft is laying off 3 percent of its global workforce
Laid-Off Metaverse Engineer Says He Is DoorDashing and Living in a Trailer
Silicon Valley’s Elusive Fantasy of a Computer as Smart as You
Klarna Hiring Back Human Help After Going All-In on AI
Improvements in 'reasoning' AI models may slow down soon, analysis finds
The New Pope Wants to Take on AI
Elon Musk’s apparent power play at the Copyright Office completely backfired
Copyright Office head fired after reporting AI training isn’t always fair use
YouTube Cracks Down on Fake Movie Trailer Channels Making Money
Jamie Lee Curtis publicly shamed Mark Zuckerberg to remove a deepfaked ad
Tesla's robotaxi plans have the attention of federal investigators
A Tesla Dealership Manager Blamed Elon Musk for Tanking Sales and Was Immediately Fired
Tesla Employees Against Elon
Open Letter to Elon
Open Letter to Elon - @openletter2elon
Scientists Just Moved Up the Death Date of the Universe
MEDIA CANDY
Murderbot premiers May 16th
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Nine Inch Nails Announce Future Ruins Festival, Celebrating Influential Music Composers
Andor
Rogue One
Long Way Home
Krysten Ritter Will Return as Jessica Jones in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2
Fallout Season 2 Coming in December and Season 3 Is a Go
Nobody 2 | Official Trailer
Superman | Official Trailer | DC
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Finally Returns This July
Star Trek: Prodigy May Need a New Home Again Soon
ESPN's streaming service will cost up to $30 per month and be called... ESPN
Fox One is a new streaming service that should launch before September
Max Renamed HBO Max as Warner Bros. Discovery Gives Up
Lived Through That - Episode 76 - Andy Prieboy
THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE
Dave Bittner
The CyberWire
Hacking Humans
Caveat
Control Loop
Only Malware in the Building
A SpaceX Employee Says He Was Fired for the Most Insane Reason
You Can Now Eat Popcorn Out of a Moving, Talking Mickey Mouse at Disneyland
Disney Says It Made Its Walt Disney Robot to Remind Fans He Was an Actual Person
Disneyland Didn’t Want to Do the Muppets Totally Dirty for Their 70th Anniversary
Muppets Pre-Show for World of Color Happiness! at Disneyland Resort for 70th Anniversary
How to Toilet-Train Your Cat: 21 Days to a Litter-Free Home
How to Toilet-Train Your Cat: 21 Days to a Litter-Free Home Download
CLOSING SHOUT-OUTS
everyone is entitled to my own opinion
Comments
John Holbrook
Same here.
Juan Garcia-Ripoll
For some reason the podcast link did not propagate this episode to PocketCasts. I have resubscribed and still not there, only here on the web.
