694: Hammers Don’t Hallucinate
Grumpy Old Geeks
Jason DeFillippo & Brian Schulmeister with Dave Bittner
4.8 • 6.1K Ratings
🗓️ 25 April 2025
⏱️ 86 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week on Grumpy Old Geeks, Fyre Festival rises from the ashes yet again—but not as a festival, because even Billy McFarland finally figured out he’s better at selling pipe dreams than tents. Meanwhile, Amazon and Microsoft are tapping the brakes on their AI data center dreams, Google’s AI keeps confidently explaining made-up nonsense like it’s gospel, and Kevin Roose once again tries to convince us to have empathy for the glorified autocomplete machines. (Spoiler: We won’t.) Also, OpenAI wants to buy Chrome even though they can barely afford their own lunch tabs, Perplexity says the quiet part loud about stalking your browser habits, and Meta lays off more VR developers while pretending they care about human rights.
In the “it’s all stupid, but at least it’s entertaining” department: Uber gets sued for making it harder to cancel than joining Scientology, Adam Neumann dupes investors again, sperm racing is now a real thing (and yes, there’s crypto involved), and Bluesky caves to the almighty blue checkmark. Plus, Affinity Suite reminds us you don’t have to sell a kidney to escape Adobe, The Wheel of Time gets an open-world game that’ll probably drop after the heat death of the universe, and Wednesday Season 2 is on the way, because Netflix refuses to let its only hits rest.
Stick around for The Dark Side with Dave where we grumble about Andor Season 2, lament bad writing decisions, geek out over old-school arcade games, and learn that memory colors are apparently a thing. Oh, and if you’re feeling fancy, go ahead and thank ChatGPT for wasting millions in server bills—because if Sam Altman’s crying about manners costing money, we’re grabbing the popcorn.
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Show notes at https://gog.show/694
FOLLOW UP
Fyre Festival is becoming a music streaming service that might not be a scam this time
Billy McFarland Is Selling Fyre Fest
IN THE NEWS
Amazon Follows Microsoft in Retreat From Ambitious AI Data Center Plans
You can trick Google's AI Overviews into explaining made-up idioms
Dan Rather’s Metaphors Anchored in Folksy Truisms
If A.I. Systems Become Conscious, Should They Have Rights?
A Strange Phrase Keeps Turning Up in Scientific Papers, But Why?
Google will keep third-party tracking cookies on Chrome as they are
OpenAI wants to buy Chrome and make it an “AI-first” experience
ChatGPT’s responses will now include Washington Post articles
FTC sues Uber over claims the company makes subscriptions hard to cancel
Meta conducts layoffs in Oculus Studios, impacting VR exercise app Supernatural
Meta’s Oversight Board Is Worried Meta’s New Policies Will Harm Human Rights
Adam Neumann’s Flow raises $100M+, more than doubles valuation to $2.5B
Chinese AI startup Manus reportedly gets funding from Benchmark at $500M valuation
Two Guys, One Track: Sperm Racing Is Now a Thing—Yes, It Involves Crypto
RAMMS+EIN - 14.12.1997 – Palladium, Los Angeles, CA, United States
MEDIA CANDY
Wednesday: Season 2 | Official Teaser Trailer | Netflix
Apple TV+ has its own spin on Indiana Jones, and it looks epic
APPS & DOODADS
Bluesky is getting blue checkmarks and an official verification system
The Wheel of Time Is Getting Its Own Open-World RPG Video Game
THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE
The Glorious, Terrible Delirium of Mon Mothma’s Liberating Andor Moment
Strong Songs - The Music of the Muppets
Arcade Game: Lunar Lander (1979 Atari)When arcade games were boring.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Quick shout out to today's sponsor, Insta 360 and their new X5 camera. If you've ever wanted drone-like shots without an actual drone, this is it. The X5 shoots stunning 8K, 360-degree video, even in low light. You just hit record and forget about angles. The camera captures everything. Later, pick your shots with AI tools in the app. It's fast, smart, and makes your footage look pro. |
| 0:21.9 | It's also rugged as hell, replaceable lenses, three-hour battery, waterproof to 49 feet, and killer |
| 0:27.0 | stabilization. And yeah, that invisible selfie stick makes you look like you've got your own film |
| 0:31.9 | crew. Here's the deal. First 30 people who use code GOG at store. Insta360.com get a free 45-inch invisible selfie stick |
| 0:39.5 | worth $25. Hit the link in the show notes or go to store.insta360.com and use code GOG. Grab yours |
| 0:46.1 | while it lasts. |
| 0:50.0 | 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. |
| 1:04.0 | Welcome to Grumpy Old Geeks. I'm Jason DeFilippo. And I'm Brian Schilmeister. Well, it's been a busy week in the news, but particularly for the fire festival, Jason. |
| 1:12.7 | Again? |
| 1:13.7 | Well, everything has happened except for the festival. |
| 1:17.0 | Okay. |
| 1:17.7 | Quite busy. |
| 1:18.3 | So first news broke that Sean Rake, who co-founded the True Blue Streaming Network for Crime and Investigative content, I'm sure we're all subscribers to that. |
| 1:27.1 | Oh, yeah. |
| 1:28.1 | Bought some of the IP from Billy McFarland. |
| 1:32.7 | And basically he is planning to leverage the Fire Festival name, |
| 1:36.9 | one that inspires confidence in everyone. |
| 1:40.0 | Yeah. |
| 1:40.6 | For a new music streaming platform because we don't have enough of those. |
| 1:44.8 | Well, you know, since it is a streaming network for crime, maybe. |
| 1:50.4 | He was just getting the IP because he's going to do a documentary maybe or waiting for |
| 1:55.8 | this the next crime to happen so he can get the scoop. |
... |
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