697: Office of Defects

This week on Grumpy Old Geeks: FOLLOW UP kicks off with Manus madness, a $2 million ticket to Trump’s crypto cash-grab, and Elon’s Boring Company worming its way into an $8 billion Amtrak boondoggle. Meanwhile, CryptoPunks gets handed off to a nonprofit like an expired Groupon—proof the NFT hype cycle ends with a 501(c)(3) and a shrug.

IN THE NEWS, Microsoft trims another 3% of its workforce while a former Metaverse engineer delivers DoorDash from a trailer—living proof that “the future of work” is just working for the apps. Klarna quietly admits AI sucks at customer service and hires back actual people, just as OpenAI’s reasoning models hit the brakes. The Pope wants to exorcise AI, Elon’s backfiring Copyright Office coup leaves him empty-handed, and YouTube starts banning AI-faked trailers that made Screen Culture money off Marvel lies. Jamie Lee Curtis goes full Final Girl on Zuckerberg, and Tesla drama ramps up: robotaxis under investigation, employees revolting, and one poor dealership manager gets canned for telling the truth about ol’ Musky. Oh, and scientists say the universe might die sooner than expected—cool cool cool.

In MEDIA CANDY, Murderbot arrives May 16, NIN launches the Future Ruins Festival, and Star Trek and Star Wars both dig up classic soundtracks for some retro feels. Jessica Jones returns in Daredevil: Born Again, Fallout gets Seasons 2 and 3, and even Nobody 2 is back for more murder-dad mayhem. In THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE, Mr. Bittner shares two truly bleak customer service horror stories and gets bamboozled by a flower shop on Brian’s birthday (happy birthday, Brian!). Also: animatronic Mickey Mouse serves popcorn, Walt Disney’s ghost haunts the parks, Muppets get a pre-show for their 70th, and yes, there’s a guide to toilet-training your cat. Because sure, why not. Closing shout-out? Everyone is entitled to my own opinion.

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Show notes at https://gog.show/697

FOLLOW UP

Leave it to Manus

A VIP Seat at Donald Trump’s Crypto Dinner Cost at Least $2 Million

Elon’s Boring Company Is ‘Helping’ the Government With an $8 Billion Amtrak Tunnel Project

CryptoPunks was just sold to a nonprofit

IN THE NEWS

Microsoft is laying off 3 percent of its global workforce

Laid-Off Metaverse Engineer Says He Is DoorDashing and Living in a Trailer

Silicon Valley’s Elusive Fantasy of a Computer as Smart as You

Klarna Hiring Back Human Help After Going All-In on AI

Improvements in 'reasoning' AI models may slow down soon, analysis finds

The New Pope Wants to Take on AI

Elon Musk’s apparent power play at the Copyright Office completely backfired

Copyright Office head fired after reporting AI training isn’t always fair use

YouTube Cracks Down on Fake Movie Trailer Channels Making Money

Jamie Lee Curtis publicly shamed Mark Zuckerberg to remove a deepfaked ad

Tesla's robotaxi plans have the attention of federal investigators

A Tesla Dealership Manager Blamed Elon Musk for Tanking Sales and Was Immediately Fired

Tesla Employees Against Elon

Open Letter to Elon

Open Letter to Elon - @openletter2elon

Scientists Just Moved Up the Death Date of the Universe

MEDIA CANDY

Murderbot premiers May 16th

Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Nine Inch Nails Announce Future Ruins Festival, Celebrating Influential Music Composers

Andor

Rogue One

Long Way Home

Krysten Ritter Will Return as Jessica Jones in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2

Fallout Season 2 Coming in December and Season 3 Is a Go

Nobody 2 | Official Trailer

Superman | Official Trailer | DC

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Finally Returns This July

Star Trek: Prodigy May Need a New Home Again Soon

ESPN's streaming service will cost up to $30 per month and be called... ESPN

Fox One is a new streaming service that should launch before September

Max Renamed HBO Max as Warner Bros. Discovery Gives Up

Lived Through That - Episode 76 - Andy Prieboy

THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE

Dave Bittner

The CyberWire

Hacking Humans

Caveat

Control Loop

Only Malware in the Building

A SpaceX Employee Says He Was Fired for the Most Insane Reason

You Can Now Eat Popcorn Out of a Moving, Talking Mickey Mouse at Disneyland

Disney Says It Made Its Walt Disney Robot to Remind Fans He Was an Actual Person

Disneyland Didn’t Want to Do the Muppets Totally Dirty for Their 70th Anniversary

Muppets Pre-Show for World of Color Happiness! at Disneyland Resort for 70th Anniversary

How to Toilet-Train Your Cat: 21 Days to a Litter-Free Home

How to Toilet-Train Your Cat: 21 Days to a Litter-Free Home Download

CLOSING SHOUT-OUTS

everyone is entitled to my own opinion

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