675: Your Own Personal Jesus

In this episode of Grumpy Old Geeks, we dive into the wild, wacky, and often worrying world of tech, media, and everything in between. From a Swiss church using AI to preach the gospel to OpenAI facing a copyright conundrum, and a DNA testing company ghosting its customers, the news is packed with surprises. We also explore Neuralink’s Canadian trials, bizarre domain drama between Alex Jones and The Onion, and why Google might be forced to part ways with Chrome. Plus, a study reveals Tesla’s troubling accident stats, and Germany investigates an undersea sabotage.

On the media front, we break down The Old Man, The Day of the Jackal, and Ken Burns’ deep dive into Leonardo da Vinci. Catch teasers for How to Train Your Dragon and The Studio, while Apple TV+ and streaming giants reshuffle strategies. In the gaming and cinema crossover universe, the Minecraft Movie and Silo Season 2 are making waves.

We also geek out over Perplexity’s new shopping tool, Bluesky’s rise to 21 million users, and the evolving quirks of Threads and X. Meanwhile, Ghosts by Peter Cawdron lands on our reading list, and Dave Bittner brings the dark side of cybersecurity into focus, including reverse-engineered iPhone hacks and Graykey’s tech secrets.

In closing, we pay tribute to Thomas E. Kurtz, co-creator of BASIC, and share some lighthearted shout-outs to the schmactors of the world. Tune in for all the grump and geek you love!

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Show notes at https://gog.show/675

IN THE NEWS

Deus in machina: Swiss church installs AI-powered Jesus

There’s No Longer Any Doubt That Hollywood Writing Is Powering AI

OpenAI accidentally deleted potential evidence in NY Times copyright lawsuit

DNA testing company vanishes along with its customers' genetic data

Neuralink gets approval to start human trials in Canada

The Weirdest Domains Alex Jones Has to Give to The Onion

DOJ: Google must sell Chrome to end monopoly

Trump Admin Reportedly Wants to Unleash Driverless Cars on America

Study Finds Tesla Has Higher Rate of Fatal Accidents Than Any Other Car

Germany says cut undersea data cables were sabotaged

Anyone Can Buy Data Tracking US Soldiers and Spies to Nuclear Vaults and Brothels in Germany

Microsoft is building wooden data centers to slash carbon emissions

MEDIA CANDY

Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson Did Super Bowl Viewership Numbers

The Old Man

The Day of the Jackal

Leonardo da Vinci by Ken Burns

The Studio — Official Teaser | Apple TV+

Apple TV+ will license its movies to other services to reduce losses

How To Train Your Dragon | Official Teaser Trailer

How to Train Your Dragon Director Justifies the Live-Action Film’s Existence

A Minecraft Movie | Official Trailer

Silo S2

Kingdom Uncovered: Inside Saudi Arabia

Dune: Prophecy

William Shatner’s Captain Kirk Faces a Long Goodbye in This Stunning Star Trek Anniversary Short

765874 - Unification (4K)

Daniel Ek just cashed out $35.8 million in Spotify shares. But that’s nothing compared to his co-founder… who just cashed out $383.8 million.

Dashaun Wesley: Labels

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy Promise New Podcast to Discuss Destruction of U.S. Government

APPS & DOODADS

Introducing Shop with Perplexity

Apple Lost the Plot on Texting

Bluesky hits 20 million users

Bluesky CEO Jay Graber says X rival is 'billionaire proof'

Bluesky Post Count and Author Stats

Threads will prioritize accounts you follow instead of randos

AT THE LIBRARY

Ghosts (First Contact) by Peter Cawdron

THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE

Dave Bittner

The CyberWire

Hacking Humans

Caveat

Control Loop

Only Malware in the Building

‘Star Wars: Visions’ Renewed for Season 3 at Disney+

Researcher reverse engineers iPhone's Inactivity Reboot feature

Leaked Documents Show What Phones Secretive Tech ‘Graykey’ Can Unlock

Thomas E. Kurtz, a Creator of BASIC Computer Language, Dies at 96

CLOSING SHOUT-OUTS

Schmactors

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