692: Confabulation and Frivolity
Grumpy Old Geeks
Jason DeFillippo & Brian Schulmeister with Dave Bittner
4.8 • 6.1K Ratings
🗓️ 11 April 2025
⏱️ 88 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, the boys kick things off with some serious déjà vu as Fyre Fest’s favorite grifter promises he’s totally throwing another festival — because nothing says “I’ve changed” like doubling down on the same scam. Meanwhile, the IRS decided to become ICE’s BFF by casually sharing migrant tax data, and their commissioner moonwalks out right after. Also: Microsoft’s long game of “let OpenAI set the money on fire while we build empires” is going exactly as planned.
In the news, it’s Elon all day: Starlink might be doing the same government freebie hustle Microsoft perfected, DOGE is monitoring your comms for anti-Musk snark, and apparently has enough data on your family to build Black Mirror Season 8. Tesla’s financials are circling the drain so hard they won’t even take their own Cybertrucks back as trade-ins, but don’t worry — Elon’s ready to bail out Twitter/xAI with monopoly money. Over in the UK, the cops are one coffee away from full Minority Report, and MIT confirms what we already knew: AI doesn’t have morals, just vibes. Speaking of AI, someone sent an avatar to court. Yes, really.
In Media Candy, it’s a smorgasbord: The White Lotus is back, Murderbot looks like a win, and the Tron: Ares trailer wants you to care again. There’s also a full Ask A Ninja drop for your 2006 nostalgia, and “Donald Trump Rides a Cock Horse” makes us long for the innocent absurdity of Morrissey Rides a Cockhorse. Over in Apps & Doodads, we’ve got AI dumbbells (because of course), Instagram still pretending the iPad doesn’t exist, and the Scotty Peeler — the tool you didn’t know you needed. Finally, Dave’s back in The Darkside, riffing on malware, The Owl House, and how ChatGPT sometimes gives your image prompts a side of Lovecraftian horror. RIP to some true legends: Dave Allen, Al Barile, and Clem Burke — your music lives louder than ever.
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Show notes at https://gog.show/692
FOLLOW UP
Fyre Fest Founder Insists Another Festival Is Coming
I.R.S. Agrees to Share Migrants’ Tax Information With ICE
IRS agrees to share tax data with immigration authorities
Microsoft’s AI masterplan: Let OpenAI burn cash, then build on their successes
IN THE NEWS
Social Security Website Crashes Blamed on DOGE Software Update
DOGE is reportedly using AI to monitor government comms for anti-Musk and anti-Trump chatter
Here's All of the Data That Elon Musk's DOGE May Have on You and Your Family
UK is going full Minority Report with ‘murder prediction’ research
MIT study finds that AI doesn't, in fact, have values
Elon Musk sets the stage for Tesla to bail out Twitter/xAI at an insane valuation
Tesla Is So Cooked That It's Now Refusing to Accept Cybertrucks as Trade-Ins
Justice Department Says It Will Pull Back on Prosecuting Crypto Fraud
Citation Needed - Issue 81 – Crypto crime is legal by Molly White
Reflexive AI use isn’t optional anymore
Tech founder charged with fraud for 'AI' that was secretly overseas contract workers
Pro Tip: Don’t Send Your AI Avatar to Testify for You in Court
Trump’s TikTok Plan Upended by Chinese Objections Over Tariffs
France to ban students from keeping smartphones in schools
A Tiny Piece of Mouse Brain Has Finally Been Mapped in Mindblowing Detail
MEDIA CANDY
Ask A Ninja Omnibus What Year Is This?
Tron: Ares‘ First Trailer Brings Us to a Whole New Grid
The Murderbot TV show trailer is here
Murderbot — Official Trailer | Apple TV+
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning | Official Trailer (2025 Movie) - Tom Cruise
Brian Eno’s Windows Reboot Chime Inducted Into National Recording Registry
Donald Trump Rides a Cock Horse
Decades After "Morrissey Rides a Cockhorse," Moz Is "Way Worse"
Morrissey Rides A Cockhorse - Warlock Pinchers
APPS & DOODADS
Scotty Peeler - Label and Sticker Remover
Slipdrive - Portable Hard Drive Sleeve for Laptop
The year is 2025, and Instagram is reportedly 'working on' an iPad app
Derek Sivers - Tech Independence
Kabata - The world’s first AI powered dumbbells
Nintendo delays Switch 2 US pre-orders following Trump tariffs
United States Disappeared Tracker
THE DARKSIDE WITH DAVE
CLOSING SHOUT-OUTS
Dave Allen, Gang of Four Bassist, Dead at 69
Al Barile, Guitarist for Hardcore Pioneers SSD, Dead at 63
Blondie Drummer Clem Burke Dead at 70
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Grumpy old geeks, a weekly talk show hosted by Brian Schulmeister and Jason DePhilippo discussing the finer points of what went wrong on the internet and who's to blame. |
| 0:16.3 | Welcome to Grumpy Old Geeks. I'm Jason DeFilippo. And I'm Brian Schilmeister. Jason, I'm so excited. My bags are packed. We are we are less than, |
| 0:23.9 | or actually a little bit over a month away from Fire 2 festival. Oh man. Can I come too? |
| 0:30.2 | Sure. Why not? We might be the only people there. |
| 0:32.9 | Oh, that would be great. I'll bring the cheese if you bring the bread. If you, of course, recall the initial fire festival, which is a total disaster, fire, and they went to jail for it, and he's out of jail. |
| 0:44.0 | And, of course, immediately announced a second one, which initially had a location placed solidly in the ocean. |
| 0:50.1 | Yes, that was fun. |
| 0:51.2 | Yep, that was fun. |
| 0:52.0 | And then we found out it was going to be some island. |
| 0:54.4 | And the island, of course, had never heard of him or anything. |
| 0:57.0 | And then he claimed that he had, of course, talked to the city officials on that island and was going to sort it out. |
| 1:02.6 | But the island probably holds 50 people. |
| 1:05.2 | So, you know, not happening. |
| 1:06.5 | Okay. Now he says that actually it's going to be in Playa del Carmen, which is a larger city on the actual, on Mexico itself, not an island. |
| 1:15.7 | On the mainland. |
| 1:16.4 | On the mainland, as it were. |
| 1:18.0 | Okay. |
| 1:18.6 | But of course, the city wrote in Playa del Carmen, there will be no event called fire to. |
| 1:23.1 | There's no registration nor planning. |
| 1:25.2 | This government prioritizes order, safety, and truth, |
| 1:29.2 | which is Mexico. |
| 1:31.3 | I don't know about that. Yeah. I don't know about that, but, you know, history be repeating |
... |
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