Grumpy Old Geeks
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Ep 690: An Insult to Life Itself - Ad Free!
🕑 Added 2025-03-28 18:56:15 +0000 UTC
This week on Grumpy Old Geeks we kick off with a refreshing reminder that the Dunning-Kruger Effect is alive, well, and apparently running the show—especially when it comes to everyone’s least favorite tech overlord. Elon’s approval rating is cratering while experts warn he could blow a hole in federal spending; war plans are accidentally texted and top U.S. officials’ passwords are found online because security theater is now performance art; 23andMe files for bankruptcy as users rush to delete their genetic breadcrumbs; TikTok attempts a patriotic glow-up to stay alive in the U.S.; OpenAI admits trying to make chatbots honest only turns them into bigger liars, while MIT research shows lonely users are emotionally clinging to ChatGPT like it’s Wilson from Cast Away; Amazon wants the Consumer Product Safety Commission erased like a bad Yelp review; sanctions lift on Tornado Cash while Trump’s favorite crypto bank launches its own stablecoin; the Twitter bird sells for $34K and Tesla freezes its autopilot test in China; AMC screens a Swedish film “visually dubbed” by AI, while a director fights YouTube takedowns of TPB-AFK; hacker docs like Citizen Four, We Are Legion, and The Internet’s Own Boy dominate our discontented summer watchlist; gadgets include the AirFly Pro 2 for inflight headphone sanity and Consent-O-Matic for click fatigue relief; Napster rises from the grave for $207 million; and we wrap with John Scalzi, Cory Doctorow, Srdja Popovic, and the undead return of KISS—because retirement is just a suggestion.
Show notes at https://gog.show/690
FOLLOW UP
Dunning-Kruger Effect
DOGE’s Supposed Savings Are About to Cost the U.S. a Lot of Money
Elon Musk's Approval Rating Is 'Falling Through the Floor,' Polls Show
The Guy Who Predicted the 2008 Crash Issues Warning About Elon Musk Torpedoing Federal Spending
IN THE NEWS
The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans
Private Data and Passwords of Senior U.S. Security Officials Found Online
DNA testing firm 23andMe files for bankruptcy as demand dries up
How to delete your 23andMe data
Rebuilding TikTok in America
OpenAI Says Disciplining Chatbots for Lying Just Makes Them Worse
OpenAI CEO Responds to ChatGPT Users Creating Studio Ghibli-Style AI Images
David Findlay on Bluesky
Early methods for studying affective use and emotional well-being in ChatGPT: An OpenAI and MIT Media Lab Research collaboration
Joint studies from OpenAI and MIT found links between loneliness and ChatGPT use
Amazon wants the Consumer Product Safety Commission deemed 'unconstitutional'
US lifts sanctions on Tornado Cash, a crypto mixer linked to North Korean money laundering
Trump-backed crypto bank joins stablecoin wars with new dollar-pegged token
The 560-pound Twitter logo has sold for $34,000
Tesla halts driving-assistance software trial in China, pending approval
MEDIA CANDY
You Gotta Eat Here Restaurants In Toronto, ON
Common Sense - What’s Good for the Goose
AMC Theatres will screen a Swedish movie 'visually dubbed' with the help of AI
Daredevil
For the Win
Dodgers confirm they will visit President Trump at White House next month
Adolescence
The Residence
Director Uses Takedowns to Remove Pirate Bay Docu "TPB-AFK" from YouTube
My Summer of Discontent Hacker Documentary Watch List
Freedom Downtime
We Are Legion The Story of the Hacktivists
Citizen Four
Deep Web
The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz
Good Copy Bad Copy
The Great Hack
Zero Days
Kill Chain: The Cyber War on America's Elections
Severance
SEVERANCE - PILOT EPISODE - "MISTER"
Severance: The Lexington Letter
Lumon Terminal Pro
Season 2 writing on Reddit
APPS & DOODADS
The AirFly Pro 2 wireless headphone dongle offers improved sound and volume control
Napster just sold for $207 million
Consent-O-Matic
AT THE LIBRARY
The President's Brain Is Missing - A Tor.Com Original By John Scalzi
When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi
Picks and Shovels by Cory Doctorow
Blueprint for Revolution: How to Use Rice Pudding, Lego Men, and Other Nonviolent Techniques to Galvanize Communities, Overthrow Dictators, or Simply Change the World by Srdja Popovic
CLOSING SHOUT-OUTS
KISS Officially Confirm First Performance Since Retiring from Touring
Comments
Count Sqwueekula
Ah, if only I could easily share the ridiculous statements Copilot on Teams has given me at work. Today it stated there were 13 billionaires in Trump’s cabinet; when I corrected by saying some of those listed had net worths nowhere near a billion dollars it then revised its opinion and stated, “I apologize for the confusion. After reviewing the information it appears I made an error in my previous responses. As of now, there are no confirmed billionaires in Trump’s cabinet.” And it STILL cannot tell you how many Rs are in strawberry. Gahh, I hate that my company is shilling so hard on us using this shit(cough cough, brokerage firm, cough cough, begins with a V, cough cough, they want to use agentic AI for client investing)
