714: Crossfade This

The internet continues its chaotic march, with a TikTok deal potentially happening (for real this time, maybe), while LimeWire bought the Fyre Fest brand, because more viruses are always a great idea. Corporate America is going full AI-bro with massive layoffs at Fiverr, xAI, and Google, while OpenAI reveals people are using ChatGPT for pretty much everything but coding. Age verification is coming to apps and online services in California and New York, because apparently, teenagers need protection (after the fact). Elsewhere, nudists have declared war on SpaceX over rocket launches, and fans are ditching Elon since he started being so insufferable; even a Tesla engineer quit and roasted him spectacularly, all while NHTSA investigates Tesla's fire-prone door handles.

In the world of entertainment, we're catching up on Wednesday and Foundation S3 (just pretend the books never existed, your brain will be rewired!), and Upload wrapped up its truncated season nicely. The 2003 Freaky Friday was a fun, nostalgic trip through early 2000s L.A., reminding us of all the cool places that are now just... gone. Alien: Earth and Gen V S2 are on our watchlist, and we'll see if Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 lives up to its promise. The Witcher S4, featuring Liam Hemsworth as Geralt (aka the Dick Switch), drops in October, with Laurence Fishburne making it somewhat palatable. The Lilith Fair documentary is peak 90s, and Meta's latest dystopian product was so bad it made the Cybertruck demo look good. Apple's new AI features are cool, but the iOS 26 "liquid glass" update and its awful crossfade feature are less so; also, meditation apparently has a dark side, but binaural beats might just make you rave. Publishers Clearing House's bankruptcy means "forever" winners won't get paid (always take the lump sum!); international sellers are charging absurd shipping to avoid American buyers; and the deepfake Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kills Darth Maul (Live Action) is surprisingly good.

Steve Martin's Born Standing Up is still great life advice, and the Carrot App the Musical is, against all odds, amazing. Robert Redford has sadly passed, a legend who gave us Sneakers, and L.A.'s own Clayton Kershaw is retiring at the end of the season, a true one-team legend who deserves all the accolades.

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Show notes at https://gog.show/714

FOLLOW UP

A TikTok deal may finally be happening

LimeWire Revealed as Mystery Buyer of Fyre Fest Brand

IN THE NEWS

Fiverr is laying off 250 employees to become an 'AI-first company'

xAI reportedly laid off at least 500 AI tutors working on Grok

Hundreds of Google AI Workers Were Fired Amid Fight Over Working Conditions

OpenAI Reveals How (and Which) People Are Using ChatGPT

ChatGPT may soon require ID verification from adults, CEO says

California's age verification bill for app stores and operating systems takes another step forward

New York details its plans for online age verification rules

Nudists Declare War on SpaceX

People Who Loved Watching SpaceX Launches Can’t Stomach Them Anymore Since Elon Musk Started Being So Horrible

Tesla Engineer Quits, Roasts Elon Musk in Spectacular Fashion

NHTSA is investigating Tesla over its electronic door handles

MEDIA CANDY

Wednesday

Foundation (S3)

Upload

Devs

Freaky Friday (2003)

Alien: Earth

Gen V Season 2

‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Producers Promise Season 4 Will Be Better

Slow Horses Season 5

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

The Witcher Season 4 will hit Netflix in October with its new Geralt

Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery

APPS & DOODADS

New Apple Intelligence features are available today

iOS 26 lets you reduce Liquid Glass to be more like iOS 18, here’s how

Meta's most dystopian product yet...

Meditation And Mindfulness Have a Dark Side We Don't Often Talk About

BrainWave: 37 Binaural Series™

The Rise of the Indie Web Movement

Links - Marighoul

Stendig Calendars

AT THE LIBRARY

Flybot by Dennis E. Taylor

Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife by Eben Alexander

Cleave the Sparrow by Jonathan Katz

The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes by Donald D. Hoffman

The Code. the Evaluation. the Protocols: Striving to Become an Eminently Qualified Human by Jocko Willink, Dave Berke, Sarah Armstrong

I Don't Answer Questions: Pleading the Fifth! by David Ridings

Finding Your Comic Genius: An in-depth guide to the art of stand-up comedy by Adam Bloom

Disney and Webtoon’s Partnership Is Leading to a Massive New Comics App

THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE

Dave Bittner

The CyberWire

Hacking Humans

Caveat

Control Loop

Only Malware in the Building

Hanker for a Hunk of Cheese

‘The Muppet Show’ Is Getting a 50th Anniversary Disney+ Special

Carrot App the Musical...

Carrot The Musical on IG

Netatmo Home Weather Stations

Ambient Weather WS-2902 WiFi Smart Weather Station with AWN+ Included

Publishers Clearing House’s bankruptcy means ‘forever’ winners will no longer get paid

$2,000 Shipping: International Sellers Charge Absurd Prices to Avoid Dealing With American Tariffs

Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kills Darth Maul (Live Action)

Born Standing Up by Steve Martin

CLOSING SHOUT-OUTS

Robert Redford dead at 89

Sneakers

All-time Los Angeles Dodgers great Clayton Kershaw to retire at end of season

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