688: Why, Combinator?
Grumpy Old Geeks14 Mar 2025

688: Why, Combinator?

Pi Day gets its due; Y Combinator marks 20 years of “disruption”; Americans lose $12.5B to scams thanks to AI and social media; Deliveroo posts a profit but still tanks on Wall Street; Twitter’s security remains a joke; Pinterest steals user content for AI; and a rogue developer gets busted for a kill switch scheme. Severance Season 2 costs $20M per episode; Ted Lasso returns despite ending; Waymo’s driverless taxis rack up parking tickets; and Apple plans to turn AirPods into live translators. Meanwhile, the FCC launches a National Security Council, the U.S. housing agency flirts with crypto, and hermit crabs show better teamwork than Big Tech.

Sponsors:

DeleteMe - Head over to JoinDeleteMe.com/GOG and use the code "GOG" for 20% off.

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/688


FOLLOW UP

It's Pi Day.

The Man Behind The American Oligarchy


IN THE NEWS

Deliveroo turns first annual profit

FTC says Americans lost $12.5B to scams last year

Consumer Reports finds popular voice cloning tools lack safeguards

The FCC is creating a new Council for National Security within the agency

DOGE axes CISA ‘red team’ staffers amid ongoing federal cuts

Judge Calls DOGE Firings a ‘Sham,

20 Plagues Y Combinator Unleashed on the World Over the Last 20 Years

‘We Are Witnessing a New Brain Drain’ as Scientists Flee America for France

Elon Musk claims bad actors in Ukraine are behind “massive“ X cyberattack

The Real Reason Twitter Went Down

Developer convicted for “kill switch” code

Pinterest to Train AI Models on User Content

U.S. Housing Agency Considers Launching Crypto Experiment

Waymo was slapped with nearly 600 parking tickets

Are We Inside a Black Hole?


MEDIA CANDY

Severance is laughing at you

Somehow, Severance season 2 cost an enormous $20 million per episode

Eddy Cue and Ben Stiller interview each other about Severance

Paradise

The White Lotus

Black Mirror: Season 7 | Official Trailer

Ted Lasso Returning for Season 4

Apple Music Classical expands to the web

Aphex Twin Curates a Massive 191-Song Playlist

Playlist - Music selected by Aphex Twin for Supreme.

Matt Pinfield Comes Out of a Coma After Suffering Massive Stroke


APPS & DOODADS

AudioShake Launches Breakthrough AI Model to Separate Overlapping Voices

Zoom PodTrak P2

Apple reportedly plans to add a live-translation feature to AirPods

'Don't let your kids be on Roblox', Roblox CEO tells parents


AT THE LIBRARY

Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism by Sarah Wynn-Williams

Meta is trying to silence a former executive


THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE

Dave Bittner

The CyberWire

Only Malware in the Building

Gravity Falls

Baiting A Romance Fraudster

Hermit Crabs: Conga Line Cooperation

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

Episoder(735)

707: Someone Spilled the Tea

707: Someone Spilled the Tea

While Brian frolics somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, Jason brings in cyber-sleuth Dave Bittner for a jam-packed episode covering everything from Gen X’s slow descent into obscurity to furries, feds...

1 Aug 202543min

706: Let There Be Scams

706: Let There Be Scams

This week, we're drowning in the genius of our tech overlords as Elon Musk opens his Tesla diner, complete with $17 hotdogs and a blocked apartment view, while his $9 billion Neuralink startup claims ...

25 Jul 20251h 7min

705: Vibe Defunding

705: Vibe Defunding

Kicking things off, Jack Dorsey—a man with too much time on his hands—has vibe-coded his beard into an insecure messaging app that the company admits you shouldn't trust... yet. Meanwhile, if you want...

18 Jul 20251h 22min

704: I’m Lovin’ It

704: I’m Lovin’ It

Apparently, you can’t keep a good grifter down, as Billy McFarland’s seven-figure Fyre Fest deal collapsed, so he’s hawking the brand on eBay like a box of junk. Meanwhile, Indeed and Glassdoor are la...

11 Jul 20251h 22min

703: None More Black

703: None More Black

This week, we saddle up for another bumpy ride through the dystopian tech clown show. We kick off with the surveillance state’s greatest hits: ICE raids sweeping L.A., a website literally called FuckL...

27 Jun 20251h 16min

702: TikTaco

702: TikTaco

In this week’s episode, Trump delays the TikTok ban for the third time—because procrastination is the new policy—and Twitter’s old sign finds new purpose as desert firewood. Tesla continues its streak...

20 Jun 20251h 24min

701: Dancing in the Streets

701: Dancing in the Streets

This week, we light a candle for lost legends and torch a few bad takes. In Follow Up, Molly White reminds us that giving a damn still matters—despite the rising tide of apathy (and flaming robotaxis ...

13 Jun 20251h 18min

700: Going Antiquing

700: Going Antiquing

On this week’s episode of Grumpy Old Geeks, we kick things off with the glorious meltdown of two of our least favorite Bond villains: Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Not only is their public pissing match...

6 Jun 20251h 19min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
forklart
i-retten
popradet
stopp-verden
det-store-bildet
fotballpodden-2
rss-gukild-johaug
dine-penger-pengeradet
nokon-ma-ga
bt-dokumentar-2
hanna-de-heldige
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
frokostshowet-pa-p5
aftenbla-bla
rss-dannet-uten-piano
e24-podden