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(736)

222: Grumpy Old Manifestos

222: Grumpy Old Manifestos

Dwindling earnings; Tech-bro manifestos; Snapchat stock drop; Uber board’s b*tch-fight; Amazon’s secret brands; charging with FIRE; 3-D tires; Disney uncouples from Netflix; Lemmysuchus; Hardcore Hist...

14 Aug 20171h 30min

221: The Snark Tower

221: The Snark Tower

The smartphone generation; Facebook FTW; Uber on fire, literally; Hyperloop is a go; Bitcoin split; Shatner being Shatner; the Circle; Cobra Kai; Themis Files; #LeakTheAnalyst; IoT regulation; hacker ...

7 Aug 20171h 32min

220: Road to Nowhere

220: Road to Nowhere

AI nerdfight; siliCONs; Paint, undead; App-ocalypse; Taco Mode; Twitter tanking; Roomba mapping; drones falling out of the sky, the Cheetos of the Beast; Alexa slacking; pizza-taco-burgers; Take On Me...

31 Jul 20171h 39min

219: Wow! Wow! Wow!

219: Wow! Wow! Wow!

Star Trek utopia vs Star Wars dystopia; dark web takedowns; sex-bots; robot drowning; SnapMap; Google Glass 2.0; self-driving disease havens; droning drones; Doctoress Who; SocialStar camp; Microsoft ...

24 Jul 20171h 58min

218: Shaka, When the Walls Fell

218: Shaka, When the Walls Fell

Net Neutrality Day of (in)Action; What Did We Do; Amazon’s Geek Squad; Snap, Blue Apron stock; ads within ads; Magic Leap’s Mixed Reality; Sous-vide botnets; Twin Peaks; 80s & 90s music love; Laundry ...

17 Jul 20171h 26min

217: Surveil and Chill

217: Surveil and Chill

Measuring AI; retail apocalypse continues; robot journalists; Soundcloud, Microsoft layoffs, Jawbone shutters; drone identification; Xbox One; hackintosh; internet TV; MeDoc; cryptocurrency hacks; Zip...

10 Jul 20171h 38min

216: Lunchroom of Effervescent Healing

216: Lunchroom of Effervescent Healing

The Dumb Ages; misogynist silicon valley losers; Google’s $2.7b fine; Kiwi coders; 10 years of iPhones; drop in on Alexa; hackintoshes; YouTube TV fails; is vinyl back, no; Eddie Izzard; Petya NotPety...

3 Jul 20171h 41min

215: I Have a Bad Feeling About This

215: I Have a Bad Feeling About This

Apple giveth, Apple taketh; Kalanick Uber’s out; Tesla streams; battery tech; AI language; social media for introverts; world building is hard; Opie Solo; Payola 2.0; Banksy unveiled, maybe; Jazz chic...

26 Jun 20171h 37min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

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