732: We’re Not In the Files!

In this week’s FOLLOW UP, Bitcoin is down 15%, miners are unplugging rigs because paying eighty-seven grand to mine a sixty-grand coin finally failed the vibes check, and Grok is still digitally undressing men—suggesting Musk’s “safeguards” remain mostly theoretical, which didn’t help when X offices got raided in France. Spain wants to ban social media for kids under 16, Egypt is blocking Roblox outright, and governments everywhere are flailing at the algorithmic abyss.

IN THE NEWS, Elon Musk is rolling xAI into SpaceX to birth a $1.25 trillion megacorp that wants to power AI from orbit with a million satellites, because space junk apparently wasn’t annoying enough. Amazon admits a “high volume” of CSAM showed up in its AI training data and blames third parties, Waymo bags a massive $16 billion to insist robotaxis are working, Pinterest reportedly fires staff who built a layoff-tracking tool, and Sam Altman gets extremely cranky about Claude’s Super Bowl ads hitting a little too close to home.

For MEDIA CANDY, we’ve got Shrinking, the Grammys, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’s questionable holographic future, Neil Young gifting his catalog to Greenland while snubbing Amazon, plus Is It Cake? Valentines and The Rip.

In APPS & DOODADS, we test Sennheiser earbuds, mess with Topaz Video, skip a deeply cursed Python script that checks LinkedIn for Epstein connections, and note that autonomous cars and drones will happily obey prompt injection via road signs—defeated by a Sharpie.

IN THE LIBRARY, there’s The Regicide Report, a brutal study finding early dementia signals in Terry Pratchett’s novels, Neil Gaiman denying allegations while announcing a new book, and THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE, vibing with The Muppet Show as Disney names a new CEO. We round it out with RentAHuman.ai dread relief via paper airplane databases, free Roller Coaster Tycoon, and Sir Ian McKellen on Colbert—still classy in the digital wasteland.

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/732

Watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/uFfEI2fuWaM

FOLLOW UP

Bitcoin drops 15%, briefly breaking below $61,000 as sell-off intensifies, doubts about crypto grow

Bitcoin Is Crashing So Hard That Miners Are Unplugging Their Equipment

Grok, which maybe stopped undressing women without their consent, still undresses men

X offices raided in France as UK opens fresh investigation into Grok

Spain set to ban social media for children under 16

Egypt to block Roblox for all users

IN THE NEWS

Elon Musk Is Rolling xAI Into SpaceX—Creating the World’s Most Valuable Private Company

SpaceX wants to launch a constellation of a million satellites to power AI needs

A potential Starlink competitor just got FCC clearance to launch 4,000 satellites

Amazon discovered a 'high volume' of CSAM in its AI training data but isn't saying where it came from

Waymo raises massive $16 billion round at $126 billion valuation, plans expansion to 20+ cities

Pinterest Reportedly Fires Employees Who Built a Tool to Track Layoffs

Sam Altman got exceptionally testy over Claude Super Bowl ads

MEDIA CANDY

Shrinking

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

The Rip

Neil Young gifts Greenland free access to his music and withdraws it from Amazon over Trump

Is it Cake? Valentines

APPS & DOODADS

Sennheiser Consumer Audio IE 200 In-Ear Audiophile Headphones - TrueResponse Transducers for Neutral Sound, Impactful Bass, Detachable Braided Cable with Flexible Ear Hooks - Black

Sennheiser Consumer Audio CX 80S In-ear Headphones with In-line One-Button Smart Remote – Black

Topaz Video

Epstein

Autonomous cars, drones cheerfully obey prompt injection by road sign

AT THE LIBRARY

The Regicide Report (Laundry Files Book 14) by Charles Stross

Scientists Found an Early Signal of Dementia Hidden in Terry Pratchett's Novels

Neil Gaiman Denies the Allegations Against Him (Again) While Announcing a New Book

THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE

Dave Bittner

The CyberWire

Hacking Humans

Caveat

Control Loop

Only Malware in the Building

The Muppet Show

Disney announces Josh D’Amaro will be its new CEO after Iger departs

A Database of Paper Airplane Designs: Hours of Fun for Kids & Adults Alike

Online (free!) version of Roller Coaster tycoon.

Speaking of coasters, here’s the current world champion.

I am hoping this is satire...

Sir Ian McKellen on Colbert.

CLOSING SHOUT-OUTS

Catherine O’Hara: The Grande Dame of Off-Center Comedy

Standing with Sam 'Balloon Man' Martinez

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.