<p>A no-holds-barred show about the Internet and how it's affecting our lives for good or bad. Hosts Jason DeFillippo & Brian Schulmeister have over 40 years of online experience and aren't afraid to tell it like it is. </p>
In FOLLOW UP, the child social media crackdown keeps expanding. Turkey just approved a ban for under-15s, and Sony will require age verification for PlayStation communication features in the UK and Ireland starting in June—because now you need to prove you’re an adult before trash-talking strangers online. Meanwhile, Anthropic’s prediction that fully autonomous AI employees would already be transforming business hasn’t materialized. Agentic systems are still struggling with basic workflows and, in some cases, slowing developers down. And in a more concrete reversal, Elon Musk acknowledged that pre-2023 Tesla Hardware 3 will never support Full Self-Driving. Customers who paid for the feature are now being steered toward discounted trade-ins, new cameras, and upgraded hardware—prompting obvious legal exposure.
IN THE NEWS: SpaceX is reportedly targeting what could be the largest IPO ever, at roughly a $1.75 trillion valuation, with dual-class shares that preserve Musk’s control through super-voting rights. Prediction markets continue to degrade: Kalshi suspended political candidates for trading on their own races, and Polymarket saw alleged manipulation via a tampered weather sensor at Charles de Gaulle Airport. On the AI front, Anthropic’s new Mythos model had a chaotic rollout—used by the NSA, applied to patch hundreds of Firefox vulnerabilities, and briefly exposed through unauthorized access in a developer portal. Amazon followed with a $25 billion investment in Anthropic, even as governments appear to access similar capabilities independently.
At the same time, the economics are tightening. Free tiers are shrinking, GitHub Copilot is shifting to token-based billing after costs doubled, and startups are normalizing six-figure monthly AI compute bills. Infrastructure growth continues unchecked: thousands of new data centers are planned across the U.S., while xAI faces scrutiny in Memphis over water usage and delayed mitigation projects. Environmental commitments increasingly resemble marketing rather than enforceable targets.
Policy signals are equally aggressive. DHS is exploring smart glasses for ICE agents with facial recognition and gait analysis by 2027. Palantir published a manifesto advocating expanded use of state power with rhetoric that raised concerns about ideological framing. On a lighter note, a University of California, Santa Barbara study suggests that brief exposure to experimental film measurably increases creativity compared to standard social media consumption.
MEDIA CANDY: Silo returns July 3 on Apple TV+, while The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3 is expected sooner than planned. Battlestar Galactica lands on Paramount+ and Pluto TV May 1. Dead Can Dance is releasing monthly singles via its Bandcamp imprint. Deezer reports 44% of daily uploads—about 75,000 tracks—are AI-generated, though only a small fraction of streams come from them, many flagged as fraudulent. And yes, Jessica Jones is back in Daredevil.
APPS & DOODADS: Apple patched the notification-cache bug that allowed forensic tools to recover deleted Signal messages. Roblox agreed to a $12 million settlement with Nevada and is rolling out facial age estimation, ID verification, and new contact controls, while still facing multi-state litigation. Cash App is targeting younger users—ages six to twelve—with parent-managed accounts, debit cards, and interest incentives. Separately, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction protecting ICE-tracking apps, ruling that government pressure on Apple and Meta to remove them likely violated First Amendment protections.
IN THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE: AI-generated Star Wars fan films are improving visually, even if performances remain rigid. The current era of Star Trek is effectively closing out with a large prop auction, notably excluding Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The broader discussion circles back to time compression—post-pandemic, and with age—and the persistent disconnect between economic scale and general dissatisfaction.
Sponsors:
DeleteMe - Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com/GOG and use promo code GOG at checkout.
Shopify - Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial today at Shopify.com/grumpy
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/743
Watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/iLiRLcgP7zM
FOLLOW UP
Sony will require age checks in the UK and Ireland to access PlayStation communication features
Turkey wants to ban social media for kids under 15
The Hardware in Your Pre-2023 Tesla Will Never Allow It to Fully Drive Itself, Elon Musk Admits
IN THE NEWS
Exclusive: Musk and insiders to retain voting control of SpaceX after IPO, filing shows
Kalshi suspended three political candidates from its platform for insider trading
Someone allegedly used a hairdryer to rig Polymarket weather bets
The NSA is reportedly using Anthropic's new model Mythos
Mozilla says it patched 271 Firefox vulnerabilities thanks to Anthropic's Claude Mythos
Anthropic is investigating 'unauthorized access' of its Mythos cybersecurity tool
Amazon will invest up to $25 billion in Anthropic in a broad deal
AI Companies Think Destroying the Planet Is an Acceptable Trade-Off for Unlimited Profits
Musk leaves Memphis high and dry
Startups Brag They Spend More Money on AI Than Human Employees
You’re about to feel the AI money squeeze
Exclusive: Microsoft To Shift GitHub Copilot Users To Token-Based Billing, Tighten Rate Limits
Homeland Security reportedly wants to develop smart glasses for ICE
Palantir posted a manifesto that reads like the ramblings of a comic book villain
What I Learned About Billionaires at Jeff Bezos’s Private Retreat
Researchers May Have Found the Antidote to Social Media Brain Rot: Experimental Film
This Scammer Used an AI-Generated MAGA Girl to Grift ‘Super Dumb’ Men
Jaw-Dropping iPhone Video of Earth Setting Behind the Moon Is Rightfully Breaking the Internet
MEDIA CANDY
Silo season 3 just got its Apple TV release date and first trailer
Silo — Season 3 Official Teaser | Apple TV
Surprise! ‘Rings of Power’ Season 3 Is Arriving Earlier Than Expected
‘Battlestar Galactica’ Is Blasting Back to Streaming
Dead Can Dance Returns with “Death Cults,” Their Second New Song in Five Years
Not a Soul Was Dancing to Sabrina Carpenter and Madonna at Coachella
Deezer says AI-made songs make up 44 percent of daily uploads
APPS & DOODADS
Apple fixes bug that cops used to extract deleted chat messages from iPhones
Roblox agrees to a $12 million settlement with Nevada
Cash App is targeting a new kind of customer: 6- to 12-year-olds
THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE
Star Wars: Darth Vader BEATS the Millennium Falcon to Cloud City (Fan Film)
Star Wars: Darth Vader Learns the TRUTH About LUKE SKYWALKER (Fan Film)
The Current Era of ‘Star Trek’ Is Ending With a Fire Sale
Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-5 Online Auction
Star Trek Universe: 60th Anniversary Auction Featuring Items from Set - Auction #1
Have you ever known anyone who was born in the 1800s?
If America's So Rich, How'd It Get So Sad?
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
In FOLLOW UP, while countries race to ban kids from social media, Estonia is opting out — its education minister arguing that bans just offload responsibility onto kids while governments and platforms avoid accountability. Australia already shows the limits: 61% of banned kids are still online, 70% say it’s easy to bypass, and major platforms are under investigation. The EU is rolling out an age-verification system using zero-knowledge proofs officials call “completely anonymized,” which sounds generous for a system that starts profiling you the moment it touches an account. Maybe retire the anonymity talking point.
IN THE NEWS, the AI-brain-rot narrative keeps accelerating: one study found just ten minutes of AI use increases dependency and degrades performance once it’s removed — with users simply “not willing to try.” ChatGPT praised a fart-noise “song” as having a “cool lo-fi, late-night, slightly eerie vibe,” which would be harmless if that same sycophancy wasn’t showing up in darker contexts — including two mass shootings with ChatGPT in the background, and a lawsuit from a San Francisco woman claiming the tool helped her ex escalate harassment with AI-generated reports and threats. That same week, Sam Altman’s house was attacked by a suspect targeting AI execs. Elsewhere: France is ditching Windows for Linux; Amazon faces scrutiny for allegedly keeping workers on shift next to a dead colleague; Snap cut 16% of staff blaming AI; Reddit is fighting an ICE subpoena to unmask a critic; Google is blending Polymarket odds into News; the FAA is recruiting gamers as air traffic controllers; and Allbirds briefly became an “AI company,” spiked, then crashed when reality set back in. Norway quietly cured another HIV patient, the rare story that isn’t bleak.
In APPS & DOODADS, California and New York are pushing DRM-style censorware for 3D printers, with New York tying it to felony penalties for certain files. The FCC’s router ban is already inconsistent — Netgear got a quiet exemption while others face an opaque process that could stall Wi-Fi 7. The Trump T1 phone still looks rough at $499 with a $100 preorder hook. Overcast raised its subscription to $29.99/year. Hidden iOS trick: long-press the App Store to go directly to Updates. Meta, after a $375M loss over child safety, is developing “Name Tag,” facial recognition for Ray-Ban glasses tied to Instagram — widely condemned — and reportedly plans to roll it out quietly. They’re also building an AI Zuckerberg clone for internal use. For older Kindles: jailbreak, use Calibre, and lean on Project Gutenberg.
MEDIA CANDY: Live Nation was ruled a monopoly — remedies pending, appeal already filed, so ticket prices aren’t changing soon. Anna’s Archive got hit with a $322M judgment for scraping Spotify — far below the $13T ask. YouTube Premium is quietly raising prices again, following Netflix and Spotify; subscriptions are now a one-way ratchet. Good Omens returns May 13, Godzilla Minus Zero lands November 6, and Hunt for Gollum is set for December 2027 with a stacked cast. Meanwhile, streaming platforms still refuse to list actual drop times, which continues to annoy everyone.
THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE: The Claude Mythos AI scare turned out to be marketing. The hype cycle giveth, and taketh away. Plus: new Star Wars chatter, Disneyland antics, a rebranded Muppets coaster, and AI Oakleys nobody asked for.
Sponsors:
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/742
Watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/Ogsa1dG1W_M
FOLLOW UP
Estonia is the rare EU country opposing child social media bans
Majority of Australian kids are still on banned social media platforms, study finds
EU Is Rolling Out an Online Age Verification App That Could Become the Global Blueprint
IN THE NEWS
French government says au revoir Windows, bienvenue Linux
Snap is laying off 16 percent of its workforce, blames AI
Why Do ChatGPT Users Keep Committing Mass Shootings?
Two suspects have been arrested for allegedly shooting at Sam Altman's house
There's yet another study about how bad AI is for our brains
Shoe company Allbirds pivots to AI compute in sign of a totally normal and healthy economy
Allbirds Stock Now Crashing as Reality Sets in About Its Delusional AI Pivot
The US government wants Reddit to snitch on one of its users through a grand jury
Google has reportedly started to add Polymarket data to News results
The FAA is encouraging gamers to get jobs in air traffic control
Norway Man Cured of HIV With Brother’s Stem Cells
APPS & DOODADS
Meta is reportedly building an AI clone of Mark Zuckerberg
The Dangers of California’s Legislation to Censor 3D Printing
Stop New York's Attack on 3D Printing
The Trump Phone Still Looks Like Total Trash
iOS 26.4 moves App Store updates, here’s how to open them fast
FCC exempts Netgear from ban on foreign routers, doesn't explain why
What to do if Amazon killed your Kindle
MEDIA CANDY
YouTube Premium’s US pricing is going up
Anna's Archive told to pay Spotify and record labels $322 million over unprecedented music scraping
Federal jury finds concert business Live Nation is a monopoly
Good Omens - Final Season Official Trailer | Prime Video
GODZILLA MINUS ZERO | First Look Teaser
THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE
Is Claude Mythos “Terrifying”? | AI Reality Check
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu | Final Trailer | In Theaters May 22
First look at Han Solo coming to Disneyland’s Galaxy’s Edge!
Overcast Increased Premium pricing for new subscriptions
The Electric Mayhem Arrives at Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets
Oakley Meta Performance AI glasses
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
We kick off with a the Dodgers spanking the Blue Jays and torn allegiances in Brian's house, then dive into Europe taking dead aim at your kids' screen time. Ireland is rolling out a Government Digital Wallet that'll verify ages before young'uns can doom-scroll their lives away, while Greece went fully scorched-earth and announced a ban on all under-15s using social media at all — announced, naturally, on TikTok.
IN THE NEWS, the AI giants (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google) are playing nicely together for once, teaming up through the Frontier Model Forum to stop Chinese firms from essentially photocopying their models on the cheap — billions in revenue, national security, and the small matter of safety guardrails stripped out. Turnabout is fair play? On the legal gambling front, prediction markets scored a federal win as a US appeals court ruled New Jersey can't regulate Kalshi; the Trump family's fingerprints are all over the prediction market space (surprise!), and the data suggests 0.04% of accounts are hoovering up 70% of profits like it's a perfectly healthy ecosystem. Also: the FBI pulled deleted Signal messages out of iPhone notification caches, GoPro is laying off 23% of its workforce while somehow remaining optimistic, and OpenAI is backing an Illinois bill that would shield AI companies from liability even in mass-casualty scenarios... cool. On the plus side, Artemis II astronauts took amazing photos of the Moon... on their iPhones.
In APPS & DOODADS: Mercedes recalled its electric G-Wagons because the wheels might literally fall off, Amazon is sunsetting Kindles from 2012 and earlier for no reason anyone can figure out, and Apple Fitness on Apple TV is randomly scrambling workout stacks with no fix in sight — a premium locked ecosystem doing premium locked ecosystem things.
In MEDIA CANDY, the crew is watching The Pitt, The Boys, Shrinking, and Daredevil, and you'll want to sit down for this: Mel Brooks and Rick Moranis are back — Spaceballs 2 hits theaters a full year from now even though it's done. Italy slapped Netflix with a court-ordered refund for price hikes going back to 2017, while Netflix simultaneously raised prices for US subscribers and launched Playground, a free kids gaming app that works offline (Peppa Pig and Sesame Street, no ads, no in-app purchases — hook 'em on Dah Dum young!)
AT THE LIBRARY, Brian has given up on Breath and Jason reads Four Thousand Weeks and Art Spiegelman's Maus — the Pulitzer-winning Holocaust masterpiece that some people are still trying to ban, because humanity never fully learns.
Closing out with THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE, Treasury Secretary Bessent and Fed Chair Powell apparently called an emergency meeting with bank CEOs over Anthropic's new model "Mythos," which can apparently find and exploit vulnerabilities across major OSes and browsers. The boys also catch up on Maul: Shadow Lord, the Strong Songs podcast's Joni Mitchell deep-dive ("Passions soften into wisdom" — weeping on the plane, apparently), the belated discovery that Marathon launched and nobody noticed, and some genuine moon joy courtesy of NASA's Artemis II astronauts.
Sponsors:
DeleteMe - Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com/GOG and use promo code GOG at checkout.
CleanMyMac - Get Tidy Today! Try 7 days free and use code OLDGEEKS for 20% off at clnmy.com/OLDGEEKS
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/741
Watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/c_odV0tSa2k
FOLLOW UP
Ireland is testing out a digital wallet that conducts age verification for social media users
Greece will ban all kids under 15 from using social media
IN THE NEWS
OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Unite to Combat Model Copying in China
New Jersey has no right to ban Kalshi's prediction market, US appeals court rules
FBI used iPhone notification data to retrieve deleted Signal messages
GoPro to lay off over 20 percent of staff by the end of 2026
OpenAI Backs Bill That Would Limit Liability for AI-Enabled Mass Deaths or Financial Disasters
Artemis II astronaut puts all of our iPhone moon photos to shame
APPS & DOODADS
Mercedes-Benz recalls some G-Wagon EVs due to risk of wheels falling off
Amazon is cutting off support for older Kindles
Presto 08800 EverSharp Electric Knife Sharpener, 2-Stage System, Silver/Black
MEDIA CANDY
The Spaceballs sequel will be released in April next year
An Italian court ruled Netflix has to refund its customers for price hikes dating back to 2017
Netflix just released a standalone gaming app for kids
Anonymous - Real Stories of Alcoholism, Addiction, and Recovery
AT THE LIBRARY
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor
Four Thousand Weeks By Oliver Burkeman
THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE
Anthropic Model Scare Sparks Urgent Bessent, Powell Warning to Bank CEOs
S08E03 - "Both Sides, Now" by Joni Mitchell
I Wish I Didn’t Care About 'Marathon' Player Numbers, But I Do
Marathon Gameplay (No Commentary)
Mego Happy Days Figures and Fonzi Garage, Hot, and Stunt Cycle
HAPPY DAYS - Fonzie & Pinky Break Up - Fonzie Loves Pinky - 1976
Moon Joy, Courtesy of NASA's Artemis II Astronauts
CLOSING SHOUT-OUTS
Hip-hop pioneer, Afrika Bambaataa, dies aged 68
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Welcome to Grumpy Old Geeks, where we're starting to notice a patience epidemic! As people get used to barking orders at their AI, they're starting to talk to other humans with the same terse impatience. We discuss the enshittification of social media like Threads, which are now completely overrun with AI-generated slop.
This week, we dive into the corporate shenanigans of the tech world. OpenAI was caught secretly funding an advocacy group to push for age verification laws that just so happen to benefit Sam Altman's other company. We also cover Elon Musk's troubles, including all of xAI's co-founders quitting, a SpaceX satellite exploding, and Tesla's "fully autonomous" robotaxis being revealed to have remote human drivers.
Plus, we celebrate NASA's successful Artemis II launch, review a fantastic Premiere Pro plugin for multicam editing, and give our thoughts on shows like "The Pit" and "Downton Abbey."
Sponsors:
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/740
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/IpzOakbBftY
FOLLOW UP
Austria is pursuing a social media ban for kids under 14
Group Pushing Age Verification Requirements for AI Turns Out to Be Sneakily Backed by OpenAI
OpenAI takes on another “side quest,” buys tech-focused talk show TBPN
IN THE NEWS
Elon Musk’s last co-founder reportedly leaves xAI
SpaceX loses contact with one of its Starlink satellites
SpaceX has reportedly filed for the biggest IPO in history
OpenAI Is Falling Out of Favor With Secondary Buyers
Oracle Lays Off Thousands to Offset AI Spending
Anthropic leaks part of Claude Code’s internal source code
Wikipedia Just Drew the Line on A.I.-Written Content
Tesla Admits Its Robotaxis Are Being Driven Remotely
Getting Stuck Inside a Glitching Robotaxi Is a Whole New Thing to Be Scared of
White House App Found Tracking Users' Exact Location Every 4.5 Minutes via Third-Party Server
Kash Patel's personal email account was accessed by hackers linked to Iran
NASA's Artemis II Live Mission Coverage (Official Broadcast)
MEDIA CANDY
APPS & DOODADS
Bluesky's next product is an AI assistant that helps build custom social media feeds
ChatGPT app launches for CarPlay on iOS 26.4
Apple Removes iPhone Vibe Coding App from App Store
Meta is testing an Instagram Plus subscription service with exclusive features
THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE
Journalist Sues FAA Over Drone No Fly Zone Designed to Prevent Filming ICE
Nicholas Carlini - Black-hat LLMs | [un]prompted 2026
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Meta fined $375M for child safety failures. Musk lost 3 lawsuits in a week. Sam Altman compared to a Nazi. Netflix raised prices again. The Pentagon can't quit Claude. Reddit wants your face scan. Star Trek's streaming era is over. But the thin black line holds! 🎙️
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/739
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/hdhHiOaclu0
FOLLOW UP
Polymarket is cracking down on insider trading with updated rules
Judge temporarily blocks Pentagon's 'supply chain risk' designation for Anthropic
IN THE NEWS
Jury rules against Meta, orders $375 million fine in major child safety trial
Jury rules against Meta and YouTube in social media addiction case
Elon Musk loses big in court; X boycott perfectly legal
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/03/elon-musk-loses-big-in-court-x-boycott-perfectly-legal/
Elon Musk misled investors during his Twitter takeover, jury finds
Elon Musk Will Have to Face the Music in Lawsuit Over DOGE's Government Overreach
OpenAI reportedly plans to double its workforce to 8,000 employees
Sam Altman Thanks Programmers for Their Effort, Says Their Time Is Over
https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/sam-altman-thanks-programmers-over
Sam Altman Confronted At Oscars Party Over Pentagon Deal
https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/sam-altman-confronted-oscar-pentagon-deal
https://gizmodo.com/r-i-p-sora-2024-2026-2000737664
Disney's Sora Disaster Shows AI Will Not Revolutionize Hollywood
https://www.404media.co/disneys-openai-sora-disaster-shows-ai-will-not-save-hollywood/
The Tech Bubble Might Finally Be Popping
https://slate.com/technology/2026/03/ai-openai-sam-altman-disney-sora-shutdown.html
Elon Musk announces Terafab project he claims will be the 'largest chip manufacturing facility ever'
Trump Rewards Big Tech's Biggest Bootlickers With Seats on AI Policy Board
Pinterest CEO says teens under 16 should be banned from social media (but not Pinterest)
Reddit is weighing identity verification methods to combat its bot problem
APPS & DOODADS
Twitter turned 20 and I feel nothing
https://www.engadget.com/social-media/twitter-turned-20-and-i-feel-nothing-140000602.html
FCC Bans All New Routers Not Made in America
https://gizmodo.com/fcc-bans-all-new-routers-not-made-in-america-2000737176
MEDIA CANDY
https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/star-trek-starfleet-academy/
‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ to End With Season 2 (EXCLUSIVE)
https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/star-trek-starfleet-academy-canceled-season-2-1236696816/
'Starfleet Academy' Deserved Better Than This
https://gizmodo.com/star-trek-starfleet-academy-cancelation-paramount-2000737569
https://www.netflix.com/title/70117295
https://www.disneyplus.com/browse/entity-85e7a914-c8e6-41db-95df-c740dc2cf1b7
https://tv.apple.com/ca/show/shrinking/umc.cmc.apzybj6eqf6pzccd97kev7bs
https://www.hbomax.com/shows/pitt-2024/e6e7bad9-d48d-4434-b334-7c651ffc4bdf
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | Official Teaser | HBO Max
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIu4sFKGi6E
Stephen Colbert to write next ‘Lord of the Rings’ movie after leaving late night
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/25/entertainment/colbert-lord-of-the-rings-hnk
Supreme Court rejects Sony's attempt to kick music pirates off the Internet
Netflix raises prices for every subscription tier by up to 12.5 percent
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/03/netflix-increases-prices-for-all-plans-by-up-to-2-per-month/
AT THE LIBRARY
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor
CLOSING SHOUT-OUTS
A celebration of Karl Wallinger’s Life & Music
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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
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
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.
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
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!!
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.
In this week's show we start with FOLLOW UP: The world keeps trying to protect kids online — Indonesia just joined Australia, Spain, and Malaysia in banning social media for under-16s, while COPPA 2.0 sailed through the US Senate unanimously. Meanwhile, Roblox is using AI to clean up its chat, because apparently "Hurry TF up" is the hill they've chosen to die on — even as they're still dealing with the whole "pedophile problem" thing from January. On the AI copyright front, Gracenote is the latest company to sue OpenAI for helping itself to proprietary data, joining a growing queue of plaintiffs who apparently didn't get the memo that everything is training data now.
IN THE NEWS: Anthropic is suing the Pentagon after being labeled a "supply chain risk" — apparently because the CEO said AI shouldn't be used for mass surveillance or autonomous weapons, which the Trump administration heard as fighting words. The delicious irony: the Pentagon is still running Claude in active operations while trying to phase it out. Speaking of active operations, investigators now think a missile strike on an Iranian girls' school may have been triggered by bad AI-generated intelligence from that same Claude-based system. So yes, the autocomplete that hallucinates your grocery list is also maybe accidentally bombing schools. Meta's Oversight Board is begging the company to get serious about AI-generated content after a fake war video from a Filipino fake news account racked up 700K views — while separately, Zuckerberg dropped cash on Moltbook, a "social network for AI agents" that turned out to be mostly humans larping as bots and had a security flaw that exposed everyone's API keys. The guy who built it basically vibe-coded the whole thing. Meta's own CTO said he didn't "find it particularly interesting." And yet. Oracle is hemorrhaging jobs and drowning in debt chasing AI dreams, its stock down 50% from peak — a timely reminder that "AI will replace workers" is currently manifesting as "companies set money on fire and lay people off to pay the electric bill." Researchers confirmed AI is homogenizing human thought and creativity — a thing some of us have been screaming since day one. A DOGE engineer allegedly walked out of the Social Security Administration with databases containing personal info on 500 million Americans on a thumb drive. The Ig Nobel Prize is relocating to Switzerland because it's no longer safe to invite international guests to America. Nintendo is suing the US government to get its tariff money back. SETI thinks it may have been accidentally filtering out alien signals due to space weather. And Pokémon Go players unknowingly spent a decade building a centimeter-accurate surveillance map of Earth's cities that's now guiding pizza delivery robots — which, honestly, tracks.
In APPS & DOODADS: The GOG clan in Clash Royale just hit eight years old — respect. OpenAudible is the cross-platform audiobook manager your Audible library deserves, especially if you've got over a thousand books sitting there judging you.
And finally in MEDIA CANDY: Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 is here, and pretty beige. Live Nation settled its DOJ antitrust case for $200 million, kept Ticketmaster, and avoided a breakup — meanwhile court documents revealed employees joking about "robbing fans blind" and gouging "stupid" customers, which explains basically every concert ticket you've bought in the last decade. YouTube is now officially the world's largest media company at $62 billion in revenue. Bluesky's CEO is stepping down, which is either a bad sign or just the natural order of "person who built the cool thing hands it to the person who scales the cool thing." Dead Set — Charlie Brooker's 2008 zombie-in-the-Big-Brother-house miniseries — is worth a watch if you haven't. And trailers dropped for Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 (March 24th), The Boys final season (April 8th), and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (April 1st — yes, really).
Sponsors:
DeleteMe - Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com/GOG and use promo code GOG at checkout.
CleanMyMac - Get Tidy Today! Try 7 days free and use code OLDGEEKS for 20% off at clnmy.com/OLDGEEKS
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/737
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DgSYnFF6twE
FOLLOW UP
Indonesia announces a social media ban for anyone under 16
Metadata company Gracenote is the latest to sue OpenAI for copyright infringement
Roblox introduces real-time AI-powered chat rephraser for inappropriate language
IN THE NEWS
COPPA 2.0 passes the Senate again, unanimously this time
AI Error Likely Led to Iran Girl's School Bombing
The Oversight Board says Meta needs new rules for AI-generated content
Mark Zuckerberg Decides Meta Needs More Slop, Buys the Social Network for AI Agents
Oracle Axing Huge Number of Jobs as AI Crisis Intensifies
You can (sort of) block Grok from editing your uploaded photos
Researchers Say AI Is Homogenizing Human Expression and Thought
Social Security watchdog investigating claims that DOGE engineer copied its databases
Nintendo is suing the US government over Trump's tariffs
SETI Thinks It Might Have Missed a Few Alien Calls. Here's Why
Ig Nobel Ceremony Relocates to Europe Amid Safety Concerns in Trump’s America
APPS & DOODADS
Bluesky's CEO is stepping down after nearly 5 years
How Pokémon Go is giving delivery robots an inch-perfect view of the world
Robot Escorted Away By Cops After Terrorizing Old Woman
MEDIA CANDY
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2
Live Nation settlement avoids breakup with Ticketmaster
Court documents reveal Live Nation employees joking about robbing, gouging "stupid" fans
YouTube Is the World’s Largest Media Company, MoffettNathanson Says
DAREDEVIL: Born Again Season 2 Official Teaser Trailer 2 (2026)
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie | Final Trailer
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Microsoft's anti-"Microslop" censorship backfired spectacularly; Australia is cracking down on AI age verification while Meta is busy targeting toddlers; prediction markets are basically just insider trading with extra steps; AI chatbots are getting people killed and exposing spy operations; the Moon landing got pushed again; Opera got nostalgic at 30; Sony bought Charlie Brown; and Netflix is making documentaries with robot people now.
Show notes at https://gog.show/736
Watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/6lw2Hy_U8QA
Sponsors:
DeleteMe - Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com/GOG and use promo code GOG at checkout.
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
FOLLOW UP
Australia will consider requiring app stores to block AI services without age verification
A Day in the Life of an Enshittificator
IN THE NEWS
How Meta Executives Talked About Child Safety Behind the Scenes
The Great Insider Trading Reckoning Reportedly Hits OpenAI
Khamenei market meltdown on Kalshi shows how prediction markets still can’t decide what ‘counts’
Some Alleged Polymarket Insiders Made a Fortune on U.S. Strikes on Iran
Polymarket Decides Incentivizing a Nuclear Detonation Might Be a Bad Idea
A Chinese official’s use of ChatGPT accidentally revealed a global intimidation operation
‘Our Bond Is the Only Thing That’s Real:’ A New Lawsuit Alleges Google Gemini Drove a Man to Suicide
The Data Centers Have Arrived at the Edge of the Arctic Circle
Big tech companies agree to not ruin your electric bill with AI data centers
TerraPower gets OK to start construction of its first nuclear plant
The Supreme Court doesn't care if you want to copyright your AI-generated art
The $100 Billion OpenAI-Nvidia Deal Is Not Happening
NASA Announces Major Change to Plans For Putting Humans on The Moon
The US Senate empowers NASA to fully engage in lunar space race
Astronomers Estimated the Lifespan of Alien Civilizations, and It’s Not Looking Good for Us
MEDIA CANDY
Charlie Brown now works for Sony
These AI Avatars in a Netflix True Crime Doc Are Disturbing Viewers
Netflix buys Ben Affleck’s AI film tech company, InterPositive
APPS & DOODADS
Opera Has Turned 30 and Is Celebrating With a Compelling Tribute to Web Nostalgia
Meta hit with a class action lawsuit over smart glasses' privacy claims
AT THE LIBRARY
Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs by Miranda Sawyer
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Starting off in FOLLOW UP, we’ve got a tax economist who actually made money betting against the "efficiency" of Elon’s budget-slashing fever dreams, while Tesla is busy trying to dodge a $243 million jury verdict for an Autopilot-assisted fatality. Not content with being legally liable, Tesla is also suing the California DMV because they’re offended someone called their "Autopilot" and "Full Self-Driving" marketing deceptive—ironic, since Jack Dorsey just "proactively" halved the staff at Block to make room for more AI slop. Speaking of which, Goldman Sachs is here to remind us that all this AI spending added a grand total of zero to the US GDP last year, mostly because we’re just exporting all that cash to overseas chip makers while 80% of execs admit the tech hasn’t actually done anything for productivity yet.
Moving into IN THE NEWS, Sam Altman had the audacity to compare ChatGPT’s energy-sucking habits to the 20-year evolution of a human, though the internet wasn't exactly buying the "my bot is just like a baby" defense. Anthropic actually stood its ground against the Pentagon’s demand for killer robots and mass surveillance, so naturally, the military just signed a deal to put Elon’s Grok in their classified systems instead—because what could go wrong with an "edgy" LLM in the war room? Meanwhile, cities are dumping AI surveillance contracts as citizens start a literal "smash-the-snitch-box" campaign against Flock's license plate readers, Google’s AI is busy inserting racial slurs into news alerts, and the White House is apparently harboring a staffer moonlighting as a racist "masterpiece" creator on X. We’ve also got Reddit being slapped with a $20 million fine in the UK for being lazy with age checks, while Discord and Apple scramble to build verification tools that hopefully won't leak your entire identity to a hacker in Belarus.
In MEDIA CANDY, the Paramount-Skydance merger is leaving the industry in a cold sweat of "synergy" layoffs, but at least we’re getting more Game of Thrones spinoffs and Star Trek reboots to rot our brains. Face/Off 2 lost its director, Ryan Coogler is taking on The X-Files, and Google wants to use AI to turn music into generic "lo-fi" background noise for the masses.
Over in APPS & DOODADS, OpenAI is planning a 2027 smart speaker that literally watches you through a camera—because you definitely wanted a $300 Sam Altman-shaped eye in your kitchen—while the Dark Sky creators are back with "Acme Weather" for the low price of $25 a year.
We wrap up THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE with a deep dive into "Under Pressure" and Coruscant’s urban sprawl, leaving us to reminisce about the days when KPT Bryce was the pinnacle of tech—back when "generative art" was just a fractal that took six hours to render.
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/735
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/jdz--v3eeU4
FOLLOW UP
Guy Bets Entire Life Savings Against Elon Musk, Wins
Tesla sues California DMV after it banned the term 'Autopilot'
Jack Dorsey just halved the size of Block's employee base — and he says your company is next
IN THE NEWS
Sam Altman: Know What Else Used a Lot of Energy? Human Civilization
Statement from Dario Amodei on our discussions with the Department of War
Anthropic Tells Pete Hegseth to Take a Hike
Cities Are Shredding Their AI Surveillance Contracts en Masse
Kalshi Suspended a California Politician and a YouTuber for Insider Trading
Discord delays age verification to address user concerns
Apple introduces age verification for apps in Utah, Louisiana and Australia
MEDIA CANDY
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
'Face/Off 2' Director Adam Wingard is Now/Gone
Ryan Coogler's X-Files reboot gets the green light at Hulu
Mortal Kombat II | Official Trailer II
Google's AI Slop Machine Is Coming for Your Music
Dropping Names... and other things with Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner
APPS & DOODADS
OpenAI will reportedly release an AI-powered smart speaker in 2027
Instagram Will Notify Parents When Teens Use Search Terms Related to Suicide
The creators of Dark Sky have a new weather app
This App Warns You if Someone Is Wearing Smart Glasses Nearby
THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE
Strong Songs - S08E02 - "Under Pressure" by Queen and David Bowie
The Problem with Coruscant (Planet Cities Explained)
Reminds me of KPT Fractal Explorer
KPT Bryce 1.0 with John Dvorak and Kai Krause
Bald Mr Clean mascot "retired"
My childhood disappointment with scrubbing bubbles.
CLOSING SHOUT-OUTS
Actor Robert Carradine Dies At Age 71
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
If you thought the internet was a dumpster fire before, the EU LAUNCHES SECOND INVESTIGATION INTO GROK because Musk’s bot won't stop generating nonconsensual imagery. Meanwhile, META LARGELY FAILS TO PROTECT KIDS FROM AI CHATBOTS, proving that their internal safety checks are about as effective as a screen door on a submarine. If that doesn't creep you out, AFTER RING PRIVACY BACKLASH over police partnerships, a LEAKED EMAIL SUGGESTS RING PLANS TO EXPAND ‘SEARCH PARTY’ from finding lost dogs to total neighborhood surveillance. Of course, REDDIT, META, AND GOOGLE VOLUNTARILY GAVE DHS INFO on users critical of ICE, because why stand up for privacy when you can just comply?
In the news, we look at OPENCLAW, OPENAI AND THE FUTURE as the project’s founder joins the Borg, even though META AND OTHER TECH FIRMS PUT RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF OPENCLAW because it’s basically a security hole that can click your mouse for you. Peak stupidity has arrived with RFK JR'S NEW CHATBOT giving rectal dietary advice, while AI COMPANIES BOUGHT OUT ALL OF WESTERN DIGITAL’S HARD DRIVES through 2026, meaning you can't have storage because the bots need it more. Even VALVE ADMITS STEAM DECK AVAILABILITY IS AFFECTED by this memory hoarding. We also touch on STEVE BANNON SUED OVER MAGA CRYPTO SCHEME, LOS ANGELES COUNTY FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST ROBLOX for being a safety nightmare, and the fact that TESLA ROBOTAXIS REPORTEDLY CRASHING at four times the human rate. TESLA DODGES 30-DAY SUSPENSION by simply killing the word "Autopilot," while NEW YORK HITS THE BRAKES ON ROBOTAXI EXPANSION to keep the chaos at bay. Finally, POLYMARKET WITHDRAWS EXPLOSIVE ARTEMIS BETTING MARKET because betting on dead astronauts is too much even for them, leading the ETHEREUM CREATOR STARTING TO THINK THIS WHOLE PREDICTION MARKET THING MIGHT BE GAMBLING. As NEVADA SUES KALSHI and Jack Dorsey oversees INSIDE THE ROLLING LAYOFFS AT JACK DORSEY’S BLOCK—using AI to summarize the misery of his employees—just remember: YOU’LL BE SORRY WHEN YOU HEAR WHAT JUSTIN BIEBER’S $1.3 MILLION BORED APE IS WORTH NOW. Hint: it’s twelve grand.
In this week's MEDIA CANDY, we’ve got FREE BERT, KAT WILLIAMS: THE LAST REPORT, and the eternal return of SHREK. We’re checking out MARK ROBER on Netflix, the return of MONARCH: LEGACY OF MONSTERS, and the trailer for GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON'T DIE. If you need a soundtrack for the apocalypse, Thomas Benjamin Wild Esq has you covered with STOP USING GENERATIVE A.I and the Gen-X anthem I'VE NO MORE F*S TO GIVE!.
Moving to APPS & DOODADS, OBSIDIAN TO NOTES is a $14 well spent, unlike CURSOR and VISUAL STUDIO CODE which are getting bogged down by slow models. APPLE’S AI PENDANT sounds like a watered-down Humane pin that relies on your phone to think, and APPLE PODCASTS AND VIDEO remains a pipe dream because bandwidth costs money. We’ve reached the point where THERE’S A GRIM NEW EXPRESSION: “AI;DR” for things not worth reading, and THERE'S A NEW TERM FOR WORKERS FREAKING OUT over being replaced—AIRD, or AI Replacement Dysfunction—which is basically the low-grade panic of being made obsolete by a machine that thinks bananas go in your bum.
AT THE LIBRARY, we’re thumbing through CLEAVE THE SPARROW, THE REGICIDE REPORT by Charles Stross, and Robin Ince being NORMALLY WEIRD AND WEIRDLY NORMAL.
Then we descend into THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE, where the Muppets are taking over with THE MUPPET SHOW and MUPPETS NOW. We catch the latest on THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU and TOY STORY 5, while tracking the PENTAGON PIZZA INDEX to see if war is breaking out. For the kids, we look at a 3D PRINTER / ENTRY LEVEL FOR KIDS like the Bambu Lab A1, and for the nerds, A STAR WARS-CENTRIC RSS FEED and a NEAT IDEA FOR AN RSS READER, “CURRENT,” which lets news drift away like water under a bridge. We wrap it all up with some HORROR IN UNDER TWO MINUTES and IMPECCABLE COVERS OF 80S SYNTH MUSIC, because at least the 80s had better soundtracks than this AI-generated nightmare.
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/734
FOLLOW UP
EU launches second investigation into Grok's nonconsensual image generation
Meta largely fails to protect kids from AI chatbots, per its own tests
After Ring privacy backlash, company abandons plans for police partnership
Leaked Email Suggests Ring Plans to Expand ‘Search Party’ Surveillance Beyond Dogs
Reddit, Meta, and Google Voluntarily Gave DHS Info of Anti-ICE Users, Report Says
IN THE NEWS
OpenClaw, OpenAI and the future
Meta and Other Tech Firms Put Restrictions on Use of OpenClaw Over Security Fears
RFK Jr's new chatbot advises the public on 'best foods to insert into rectum'
AI Companies Bought Out All of Western Digital’s Hard Drives for 2026 Already
Valve admits Steam Deck availability is affected by memory and storage shortages
Steve Bannon sued over MAGA crypto scheme
Los Angeles County files lawsuit against Roblox over child protections
Tesla Robotaxis Reportedly Crashing at a Rate That’s 4x Higher Than Humans
Tesla dodges 30-day suspension in California after removing Autopilot
New York hits the brakes on robotaxi expansion plan
Polymarket withdraws explosive Artemis betting market after backlash
Ethereum Creator Starting to Think This Whole Prediction Market Thing Might be Gambling
Nevada sues Kalshi for operating a sports gambling market without a license
Inside the Rolling Layoffs at Jack Dorsey’s Block
You’ll Be Sorry When You Hear What Justin Bieber’s $1.3 Million Bored Ape Is Worth Now
MEDIA CANDY
GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON'T DIE | Official Trailer | February 13 - Only in Theaters
STOP USING GENERATIVE A.I (Original Song) by Thomas Benjamin Wild Esq
I've No More F*s To Give! by Thomas Benjamin Wild Esq
APPS & DOODADS
Apple’s AI Pendant Sounds Like a Watered-Down Humane Ai Pin
There’s a Grim New Expression: “AI;DR”
There's a New Term for Workers Freaking Out Over Being Replaced by AI
AT THE LIBRARY
Cleave the Sparrow by Jonathan Katz
The Regicide Report (Laundry Files Book 14) by Charles Stross
Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal: My Adventures in Neurodiversity by Robin Ince
THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE
The Mandalorian and Grogu | Official Trailer | In Theaters May 22
Toy Story 5 | Official Trailer | In Theaters June 19
Impeccable covers of 80s synth music
Top Gun - Opening Theme (Synth Cover)
CLOSING SHOUT-OUTS
Green Eggs and Ham narrated by the Reverend Jesse Jackson
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
We kick things off in FOLLOW UP with the ongoing "nuclear war" between Automattic and WP Engine, where discovery has revealed Matt Mullenweg’s alleged hit list of competitors and a desperate attempt to bully payment processors—because nothing says "open source" like an eight-percent royalty shakedown. Meanwhile, the Harvard Business Review confirmed what we already knew: AI isn’t reducing our work; it’s just compressing it until we’re all working through lunch and burning out faster while Polymarket turns our collective brain rot into a literal "attention market" where you can bet on Elon’s mindshare.
Transitioning to IN THE NEWS, Elon has officially pivoted SpaceX from Mars to the Moon, presumably because building a "self-growing lunar city" is easier than admitting the Red Planet is hard, though his xAI all-hands rant about "ancient alien catapults" suggests he’s been staring at the sun too long. Between X allegedly taking blue-check lunch money from sanctioned Iranian leaders, Meta facing trials for creating "predator-friendly hunting grounds," and Russia finally pulling the plug on WhatsApp, the internet is looking more like a digital dumpster fire than ever. Add in Discord leaking 70,000 government IDs, OpenAI shoving ads into ChatGPT while safety researchers flee the building like it’s on fire, and a "cognitive debt" crisis eroding our ability to think, and you’ve got a recipe for a tech-induced psychosis that even crypto-funded human trafficking can’t outpace.
In MEDIA CANDY, we're wondering about the soft-core porn intro in the latest Star Trek: Starfleet Academy while Apple buys the total rights to Severance for seventy million dollars—because in-house production is the only way to keep those ballooning budgets under control. Super Bowl trailer season gave us a glimpse of The Mandalorian and Grogu and a Project Hail Mary teaser, while Babylon 5 has finally landed on YouTube for free, proving that even 90s serialized sci-fi eventually finds its way to the clearance bin.
Over in APPS & DOODADS, Meta Quest is nagging us for our birthdays like a needy relative, while Roblox had to scrub a mass-shooting simulator—because "AI plus human safety teams" is apparently just code for "we missed it until it hit the forums." Ring’s Super Bowl ad for "Search Party" accidentally terrified everyone by revealing a mass surveillance network for pets that’s a slippery slope toward a police state, and Waymo is now paying DoorDashers ten bucks just to walk over and close the car doors that autonomous tech still can’t figure out.
Wrapping up with THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE, we dive into the Mandalorian Hasbro reveal where Sigourney Weaver’s action figure comes with no accessories because her existence is enough of a flex. We explore the grim reality of "RentAHuman," where humans are paid pittance to pretend AI agents are actually doing work, and look at "Trash Talk Audio," which sells a $125 microphone made out of a literal old telephone for that authentic Gen-X "get off the line, I'm expecting a call" aesthetic. From Marcia Lucas finally venting about the prequels and a rare book catalog specifically for our aging generation, we’re reminded that while the future is a chaotic mess of "GeoSpy" AI and corporate reshuffling at Disney, at least we still have our cynical memories and some free versions of Roller Coaster Tycoon to keep us from losing it completely.
Sponsors:
CleanMyMac - Get Tidy Today! Try 7 days free and use code OLDGEEKS for 20% off at clnmy.com/OLDGEEKS
DeleteMe - Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com/GOG and use promo code GOG at checkout.
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/733
FOLLOW UP
Automattic planned to target 10 competitors with royalty fees, WP Engine claims in new filing
AI Doesn’t Reduce Work—It Intensifies It
Polymarket To Offer Attention Markets In Partnership With Kaito AI
IN THE NEWS
Unable to Reach Mars, Musk Does the Most Musk Thing Possible
Elon Musk’s X Appears to Be Violating US Sanctions by Selling Premium Accounts to Iranian Leaders
Meta Faces Two Key Trials That Could Change Social Media Forever
WhatsApp is now fully blocked in Russia
DOJ may face investigation for pressuring Apple, Google to remove apps for tracking ICE agents
Discord Launches Teen-by-Default Settings Globally
Discord says hackers stole government IDs of 70,000 users
Free Tool Says it Can Bypass Discord's Age Verification Check With a 3D Model
OpenAI Researcher Quits, Warns Its Unprecedented ‘Archive of Human Candor’ Is Dangerous
OpenAI Fires Top Safety Exec Who Opposed ChatGPT’s “Adult Mode”
Anthropic AI Safety Researcher Warns Of World ‘In Peril’ In Resignation
Musk’s xAI loses second co-founder in two days
America Isn’t Ready for What AI Will Do to Jobs
Monologue: No, Something Big Isn’t Coming
The Scientist Who Predicted AI Psychosis Has a Grim Forecast of What’s Going to Happen Next
Crypto-Funded Human Trafficking Is Exploding
MEDIA CANDY
Project Hail Mary | Final Trailer
Minions & Monsters | Official Trailer
Disclosure Day | Big Game Spot
The Mandalorian and Grogu | A New Journey Begins | In Theaters May 22
Babylon 5 Is Now Free to Watch On YouTube
Apple acquires all rights to ‘Severance,’ will produce future seasons in-house
APPS & DOODADS
Tumbler Ridge Shooter Created Mall Shooting Simulator in Roblox
Here's how to disable Ring's creepy Search Party feature
Waymo Is Getting DoorDashers to Close Doors on Self Driving Cars
TikTok US launches a local feed that leverages a user's exact location
Apple just released iOS 26.3 alongside updates for the Mac, iPad and Apple Watch
THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE
Your First Look at Hasbro's 'Mandalorian and Grogu' Figures Is Here (Exclusive)
I Tried RentAHuman, Where AI Agents Hired Me to Hype Their AI Startups
Roger Reacts to Star Wars - A New Hope
Marcia Lucas Finally Speaks Out | Icons Unearthed: Unplugged (FULL INTERVIEW)
What’s wrong with the prequels?
CLOSING SHOUT-OUTS
Robert Tinney, who painted iconic Byte magazine covers, RIP
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.