Grumpy Old Geeks
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Ep 684: Don’t be a Dick - Ad Free!
🕑 Added 2025-02-15 04:39:13 +0000 UTC
In this episode of Grumpy Old Geeks, Jason and Brian dive headfirst into the latest tech absurdities, financial scandals, and Elon Musk's ongoing chaos. We start with the annual frustration of unsubscribing from an email list that just won’t quit before jumping into the latest gem from Musk himself: "Some of the things that I say will be incorrect." Meanwhile, British IT worker James Howells is back with his ongoing quest to unearth his lost Bitcoin fortune—this time with a plan to buy the entire landfill where he thinks it’s buried. And despite all the corporate posturing about a return to office, remote work remains steady, much to the chagrin of commercial real estate moguls still waiting for the workforce to return.
The Trump Coin debacle takes center stage, where early traders made a quick $109 million, but over 800,000 investors got wrecked to $2 billion. Adding to the dystopian financial landscape, Microsoft’s latest study finds that AI reliance makes people dumber, leading to cognitive atrophy as workers place too much trust in generative AI. Meanwhile, Thomson Reuters lands a major AI copyright win in the courts, striking a blow against legal AI startups. Over at Meta, the latest round of layoffs blindsided workers supposedly meeting performance expectations, proving that job security in tech is about as stable as Musk’s grasp on reality. A man in Alabama pleaded guilty to hacking the SEC’s X account to falsely announce Bitcoin ETF approvals, sending crypto markets on a rollercoaster ride.
On the media front, Mythic Quest Season 4 is out, and we’re cautiously optimistic despite needing a breather after Season 2. The White Lotus returns, but can it survive without Stifler’s mom? Meanwhile, Karl Urban's role as Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat II is a big win. Walmart’s acquisition of the Dawn of the Dead mall seems hilariously on-brand, while Netflix’s attempt at podcasting smells like another cost-cutting maneuver. Finally, in "good news," the odds of a newly discovered asteroid hitting Earth in 2032 are rising. At least it would mean an end to Jeep’s infuriating full-screen stoplight ads. Tune in for all this and more on Grumpy Old Geeks!
Show notes at https://gog.show/684
FOLLOW UP
Man in Search of Lost Bitcoin Fortune Wants to Buy the Landfill Where He Swears It’s Buried
There Hasn’t Been Much if Any Reduction in WFH in over Two Years, Despite the Hype about RTO
Early Crypto Traders Had Speedy Profit on Trump Coin as Others Suffered Losses
IN THE NEWS
Microsoft Study Finds AI Makes Human Cognition “Atrophied and Unprepared”
The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking: Self-Reported Reductions in Cognitive Effort and Confidence Effects From a Survey of Knowledge Workers
Meta's job cuts surprised some employees who said they weren't low performers
Silicon Valley Software Engineers Horrified as They Can't Easily Find Jobs Anymore
Man from Alabama pleads guilty over SEC's fake bitcoin post on X
Kanye West’s X Account Deactivated After He Declared “IM A NAZI” In Deluge Of Antisemitism
Shopify took down Kanye's swastika t-shirt shop, but another antisemitic storefront still operates
Shopify says risk of fraud, not Nazi swastika, was reason for Kanye West store takedown
Scarlett Johansson Calls for New AI Laws After Fake Video of Her Goes Viral
Google will use machine learning to try and tell if a user is under 18
UK drops 'safety' from its AI body, now called AI Security Institute, inks MOU with Anthropic
Buzzfeed is launching their own social network
Apple Maps plans to show 'Gulf of America,' following Google
Gov. Pritzker Says Lake Michigan Is Now Called Lake Illinois
Court orders the CDC and FDA to restore deleted web pages related to gender identity
EFF sues Elon Musk and DOGE to block their access to federal employee data
14 states sue DOGE, blasting Musk's 'unprecedented' power as unconstitutional
USAID workers sue Musk and DOGE over ‘unconstitutional power grab’ that left agency in chaos
US aid freeze claims first victims as oxygen supplies cut off
Elon Musk's Waste.gov Is Just a WordPress Theme Placeholder Page
Fucking DOGE.gov...
Robert Garcia drops a dick pic
Well, he is a dick
Anderson Cooper Snaps At Trump-Defending Chris Sununu On Live TV: ‘Don’t Be A Dick’
The Odds of a Newly Discovered Asteroid Hitting Earth in 2032 Keep Rising
MEDIA CANDY
Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary
Wall of Chefs
Mythic Quest
The White Lotus
Our First Look at Mortal Kombat II Is Exactly the One You Wanted
Walmart Bought the Mall From Dawn of the Dead, Because Subtext Is for Cowards
YouTube Surprise: CEO Says TV Overtakes Mobile as “Primary Device” for Viewing
APPS & DOODADS
Apple patches iPhone exploit that allowed for ‘extremely sophisticated' attack
Apple ordered to open encrypted user accounts globally to UK spying
Apple finally lets you move your digital purchases to another account
TikTok is back on the App Store and the Play Store in the U.S.
This is the First-Ever AI Image to Be Granted Copyright Protection
Apple Magic Trackpad
Better Touch Tool
Jeep Owners Furious Over Ads That Appear Everytime Their Car Stops
AT THE LIBRARY
Tiny Blunders/Big Disasters: Thirty-Nine Tiny Mistakes That Changed the World Forever (Revised Edition) (Tiny Blunders/Big Disasters Series) by Jared Knott
Barnes & Noble opening 60 bookstores this year
We Are Legion (We Are Bob) (Bobiverse Book 1) by Dennis Taylor
THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE
Dave Bittner
The CyberWire
Hacking Humans
Caveat
Control Loop
Only Malware in the Building
Disney Parks’ Most Infamous Earworm Is Getting Its First Extended Cut
End of the penny? Trump tells Treasury to stop minting the coin
Are pennies worth it? Trump's plan to scrap them didn't come out of nowhere
They talked about this twenty years ago on The West Wing.
Getting rid of the penny introduces a new problem: nickels
Boycott Tessla
Deport Elon - Red
#DeportElon Subtle
CLOSING SHOUT-OUTS
Bestselling novelist Tom Robbins dies at 92
Jitterbug Perfume
Comments
Mason Buhler
DOGE transparency reminds me of Hitchhiker's 😂 "But the plans were on display…” “On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.” “That’s the display department.” “With a flashlight.” “Ah, well, the lights had probably gone.” “So had the stairs.” “But look, you found the notice, didn’t you?” “Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard'."
