691: Cry Me A River (to Cool Off My AI)

691: Cry Me A River (to Cool Off My AI)

This week, the Geeks wade into a swamp of tech meltdowns, governmental facepalms, and the usual Elon-flavored absurdity. Kicking things off, protesters take their beef with Tesla to the streets while Proud Boys decide this is the hill to vroom and die on. Meanwhile, Elon’s privacy prayers have finally been answered—thanks to new FAA rules, he and Tay-Tay can jet around untracked like it’s 1999. Oh, and while Earth dodges a killer asteroid, the Moon might be signing up for an unplanned smackdown. Sorry, Luna.

In the news, Signal’s reputation as the go-to encrypted app takes a nosedive thanks to Republican Senate drama and an Inspector General with receipts. The NSA warned us. Nobody listened. Now it’s “SignalGate” season. Elon continues his narcissist Voltron strategy by having xAI buy X (from Elon). Trump, meanwhile, is moonwalking into a $2.3B Truth Social payday, while his meme coin tanks post-tariff tantrum. OpenAI flexes with new AGI funding and 700M AI-generated images (probably 699M of them cursed), while the first therapy chatbot actually helps someone and a brain-voice interface starts sounding a lot like Skynet: The Prequel. Oh, and in shocking news: Trump’s war on “information silos” is code for “your personal data is about to be someone else’s business.”

Media Candy serves up a grab bag from punk docs (Turn It Around) to jungle pulp throwbacks (Tales of the Gold Monkey), and yes—Stephen Collins is still problematic. Apple’s prepping new AI-powered health apps, emoji drops, and a food tab for News+, because why not. WhatsApp now wants to be your phone, Alexa+ disappoints, and Zuckerberg tries to make Facebook usable again with a “Friends-only” feed. Meanwhile, Bill Gates pulls a nostalgia flex by dropping OG Microsoft source code like it’s a rare vinyl. In other dark corners: Kermit the Frog is now giving commencement speeches, Val Kilmer sadly exits stage left, and Elon fails in his bid to buy a state supreme court. Hands off, Elon. Just… hands off.


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Show notes at https://gog.show/691


FOLLOW UP

Crowds Turn Out Across the U.S. for ‘Tesla Takedown’ Protests

The Proud Boys and Militias Come to Tesla’s Defense

Taylor Swift and Elon Can Finally Fly Private Without Being Tracked Thanks to New FAA Rule

Earth Is Safe From Menacing Asteroid—but Our Moon Might Take the Hit


IN THE NEWS

Republican chair of Senate Armed Services Committee calls for investigation into Signal chat

DoD Inspector General Says He’s Looking Into SignalGate

Waltz’s team set up at least 20 Signal group chats for crises across the world

NSA warned of vulnerabilities in Signal app a month before Houthi strike chat

Trump administration fires director of National Security Agency

xAI, Elon Musk's AI company, just purchased X, Elon Musk's social media company

Trump kicks off sale of $2.3bn Truth Social stake

You’ll Never Guess What Happened to Trump’s Meme Coin After He Announced His Tariffs

OpenAI: New funding to build towards AGI

Oxygen Levels in Earth's Lakes Are Plummeting, Study Reveals

ChatGPT users have generated over 700M images since last week, OpenAI says

First Therapy Chatbot Trial Yields Mental Health Benefits

US Senate committee opens review into Meta’s efforts to gain access to China

Brain-to-voice neuroprosthesis restores naturalistic speech

Generative AI Leadership & Strategy Specialization

President Trump’s War on ‘Information Silos’ Is Bad News for Your Personal Data


MEDIA CANDY

The White Lotus

The Studio

Orphan Black: Echoes

Orphan Black

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law

Tales of the Gold Monkey

Stephen Collins

Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk

Genres are bustin’ out all over in Strange New Worlds S3 teaser

Ferris Bueller's teacher schools Trump on tariffs


APPS & DOODADS

Project 2025 Tracker

Apple is reportedly on track to launch the M5 iPad Pro and MacBook Pro later this year

Apple is said to be developing a revamped Health app with a built-in AI doctor

iOS 18.4 is available now with new emoji, Apple News+ Food and priority notifications

Change the default apps on iPhone

WhatsApp can be your default calling and texting app on iPhone

Alexa+ is out, but missing a lot of features Amazon demoed last month

Facebook’s new Friends-only feed ditches all the algorithmic junk

Bill Gates Publishes Original Microsoft Source Code in a Blog Post

Red Salsa


THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE

Dave Bittner

The CyberWire

Hacking Humans

Caveat

Control Loop

Only Malware in the Building

Kermit the Frog named University of Maryland commencement speaker


CLOSING SHOUT-OUTS

Bletchley code breaker Betty Webb dies aged 101

Val Kilmer, Top Gun Actor and One-Time Batman, Dead at 65

Elon Musk tried to buy Wisconsin's Supreme Court. He lost.

Hands Off!

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

Jaksot(731)

145: The Curse is Real

145: The Curse is Real

The Grumps strike again, RIP Abe; more income inequality news, so meditate the pain away; our robot overlords are on the way; what's going on at Twitter?; Amazon on the march; Ello, Peach; X-Files; Hipster Vodka; Tyson takes on B.O.B.; Cthulhu wallpaper! Show notes at http://grumpyoldgeeks.com/145 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

29 Tammi 201655min

144: Internet of Poop

144: Internet of Poop

The Internet's taken a scatological turn this week; bad news from the WEF; Tidal's billing problem; Verizon kills Net Neutrality; blinding us with science; quantified break-ups; coffeeshop cube-farms; your stupid password; building a better pyramid. Show notes at http://grumpyoldgeeks.com/144 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

22 Tammi 201658min

143: Flux Decapitator

143: Flux Decapitator

Facebook's death-feed; RIP middle class, Bitcoin, desktops, Soundcloud, Foursquare; sexual harassment in Silicon Valley; going post-mobile; hidden Airbnb cams; Internet of Things hackery; Cloverfield 2?; Epic Tea Time; silly, Snapchat is for kids! Show notes at http://grumpyoldgeeks.com/143 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

16 Tammi 201659min

142: That Drone Really Tied the Room Together

142: That Drone Really Tied the Room Together

The grumps abide news from CES; pre-net life; Lumosity lied; Zuck's Hoodie Home AI; taking down power grids; Everkey vaporware; Oculus Rift, Drone B4UFLY & cutting cords with Tablo; drunk movie reviews; Sobchak meets Trump; the great dogs pants debate. Show notes at http://grumpyoldgeeks.com/142 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

8 Tammi 201649min

141: Should Auld Grumps Be Forgot

141: Should Auld Grumps Be Forgot

Sending out 2015 and ringing in 2015 2.0 with robot birds, leaving it at the office, suing Spotify, stealing art, crowdfunding intellectual properties, Uber, legislating not-hoverboards, voter record hacks, crazy McAfee, saving Matt Damon & Star Wars. Show notes at http://grumpyoldgeeks.com/141 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

1 Tammi 201656min

140: Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly

140: Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly

A holiday potpourri of delights: Force blockers; internet famous, cash poor; Elon Musk; Taylor Swift; music windowing; driverless cars; phishing, hacking & drone nets; the fate of Abrams; schadenfreude'n Shkreli; new Yule log v2; Tiffani Amber Thiessen! Show notes at http://grumpyoldgeeks.com/140 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

18 Joulu 20151h 29min

139: The Bill Murray Disruption Clause

139: The Bill Murray Disruption Clause

Marissa Mayer, Martin Shkreli, Airbnb, Zano, Trump, Apple Music, Silicon Valley job production & other fails; whiskey pronunciations; to-do apps & “offboarding”; Ricky Gervais & Carrie Fisher; emoji history; passive aggressive texting; orgasmic fungus. Show notes at http://grumpyoldgeeks.com/139 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

11 Joulu 20151h 26min

138: We Are 138!

138: We Are 138!

Kickstarter, delayed; 7,728 years of Adele; Zuckerberg does good, gets yelled at; Apple changing cables again; Li-Fi from light bulbs; big hacks & lifetime subscriptions on the Dark Web; Pornhub wins Christmas; sipping whiskey with Nick Offerman. Show notes at http://grumpyoldgeeks.com/138 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

4 Joulu 201554min

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