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.

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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(736)

302: Security Badgers

302: Security Badgers

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3 Des 20181h 24min

301: Useful Idiots

301: Useful Idiots

Facebook admissions; everyone's an influencer; fake trumps real; Russia fines Google; holiday tech talk; GPS as a tech prosthetic; Elon goes to Mars; Ohio wants your bitcoin; no collusion; Singularity...

29 Nov 201856min

300: Tonight, We Dine in Hell!

300: Tonight, We Dine in Hell!

Our 300th episode; Amazon's amazing deal; science FTW; data leaks don't cost enough; Instagram crackdown; Apple Maps and sharing map data; Snap's new spectacles; Bitcoin has new low; Justified Ancient...

22 Nov 201854min

299: Donate Your Data Today!

299: Donate Your Data Today!

Self-driving car futurism; Facebook's REALLY bad week; Lime car dump; cities dance for Amazon; Snap subpoena; Indiegogo changes the model; WeWork starts a school; Bitcoin hard fork selloff; Kars4Kids ...

19 Nov 20181h 15min

298: Excelsior!

298: Excelsior!

Twitter on fire; deep fakes going mainstream; get rid of that red dot; Amazon to sell (most) Apple; Snapchat still hemorrhaging employees; Iron Fist; Salt Fat Acid Heat; more Star Trek is coming; fire...

15 Nov 20181h 4min

297: Double Rage Latte

297: Double Rage Latte

That doctored video; LA is burning; #GoogleWalkout working; Big Blue on the 'chain; Facebook discovers lying; Ev Williams is a hypocrite; Bird corrals; Amazon: kill & replicate; USPS Informed Delivery...

12 Nov 20181h 11min

296: Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior

296: Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior

Oh, Facebook, not again; virtual goes brick & mortar; internet freedom in decline; Google walkout for "real change"; humans are getting botlike; Bird suing cities; House of Cards; Daredevil; Spotify b...

8 Nov 201848min

295: Vitamin Melanoma

295: Vitamin Melanoma

We take the red pill; scooters killed Kenny; WeWork while WeDrink; scanning actors; AI stories; the sun giveth, taketh away; Wyden's smart privacy plan; Siri on Helium; smart thermometers; truth machi...

5 Nov 20181h 13min

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