721: Pixel Predators
Grumpy Old Geeks
Jason DeFillippo & Brian Schulmeister with Dave Bittner
4.8 • 6.1K Ratings
🗓️ 7 November 2025
⏱️ 71 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This episode proves that nothing gold can stay, especially your 401k, as we kick things off with the revelation that October saw the worst tech layoffs since 2003, all while "Big Short" genius Michael Burry decided to bet a billion dollars on the inevitable AI bubble bursting. The villains of the week are legion: the FCC is officially making it easier for internet companies to charge us even more hidden fees; Elon Musk not only got his $1 trillion pay package approved—despite Tesla sales collapsing nearly 90% in some countries—but he also teased a flying car, clearly living in his own "Golden Dome" fantasy, which the Pentagon is happily subsidizing; and in a stunning display of entitlement, Mark Zuckerberg opened an illegal school, which is somehow less shocking than Meta’s claim that their massive porn stash was purely for "personal use," not AI training. The bad news doesn't stop there, with Texas suing Roblox over 'pixel pedophiles,' though at least a rural Michigan healthcare system is doing some good by using drones to improve care.
Jumping over to Media Candy, since we’re all emotionally scarred by the sheer awful-ness of The Witcher S4—a season so bad it "broke" The Critical Drinker—we need some comfort viewing. We’re deep-diving into the political chess of The Diplomat and escaping into the sheer volume of competitive cooking shows, including the standard Halloween and Holiday Baking Championships, plus the delightfully ridiculous Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking S2; we also took a look at Pluribus, Knife Edge, Black Rabbit, and the trailer for Tron: Ares, while cheering the fact that Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz are set to revive The Mummy franchise for a fourth film. In Apps & Doodads, we’re all mourning the eventual death of simple, good tech as we’re warned to enjoy Apple CarPlay while we still can, but at least the Lego ‘Star Trek’ Set is finally here for our inner child; the real question, though, is why Automattic Inc. thinks they can claim ownership of the actual word 'Automatic.'
Finally, The Dark Side with Dave Bittner reminds us that everything old is new again and ripe for monetization, whether it's Miss Piggy potentially bringing back The Muppets to the movies or the sleek, blacked-out remake of the Commodore 64, not to mention that cool Tron Arcade Cabinet Miniature Model. However, the present is still a complete dumpster fire: a Google AI model allegedly accused a senator of sexual assault, and internal documents show that Meta is earning a fortune on a massive deluge of fraudulent ads, proving that the only thing getting healthier is our paranoia, though Dave did throw in a curveball with some special jar lids and seeds for growing organic sprouts. We finish, as always, with the obligatory Closing Shout-Outs because even cynical geeks need validation.
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Show notes at https://gog.show/721
FOLLOW UP
October Layoffs Were the Worst Since 2003 and Hit Tech Workers Hard
IN THE NEWS
The Big Short Guy Just Bet $1 Billion That the AI Bubble Pops
Trump's FCC is officially moving to make it easier for internet companies to charge hidden fees
Pentagon will reportedly award SpaceX a $2 billion contract to help develop the 'Golden Dome'
Elon Musk teases a flying car on Joe Rogan's show
Tesla’s Sales Collapsed Nearly 90 Percent in Some Countries Last Month
Tesla shareholder meeting updates: Elon Musk gets his $1 trillion pay package
Texas AG sues Roblox, accusing it of prioritizing 'pixel pedophiles' over child safety
Mark Zuckerberg Opened an Illegal School at His Palo Alto Compound. His Neighbors Revolted
Meta Says Porn Stash was for ‘Personal Use,’ Not Training AI Models
How a rural Michigan healthcare system is using drones to improve care
MEDIA CANDY
Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking S2
Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars
The Witcher Season 4 - A Show So Awful, It Broke Me by The Critical Drinker
Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz Set to Revive The Mummy Franchise with Fourth Film
APPS & DOODADS
Enjoy CarPlay While You Still Can
The Lego ‘Star Trek’ Set Is Here, and It’s Exactly What You Want
Automattic Inc. Claims It Owns the Word 'Automatic'
THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE
Miss Piggy May Bring ‘The Muppets’ Back to the Movies
Relive the Commodore 64's glory days with a slimmer, blacked-out remake
Show and Tell: Tron Arcade Cabinet Miniature Model
Google removes AI model after it allegedly accused a senator of sexual assault
Organic Radish Sprout Seeds (16 oz) – Non-GMO, Heirloom Seeds for Sprouting and Microgreens
Meta is earning a fortune on a deluge of fraudulent ads, documents show
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Grumpy old geeks, a weekly talk show hosted by Brian Schulmeister and Jason DeFilippo discussing |
| 0:08.0 | with finer points of what went wrong on the internet and who's to blame. |
| 0:16.6 | Welcome to Grumpy Old Geeks. I'm Jason DeFilippoo. And I'm Brian Schillmeister and we're on video. |
| 0:22.7 | Oh, I know. It's so pretty. Look at that little LA hat you're wearing. |
| 0:27.2 | Well, yes, congratulations to the World Series champions back to back, your Los Angeles Dodgers. |
| 0:33.0 | I am only allowed to wear this hat in my house because I probably get beat in Toronto, |
| 0:39.4 | walking around in Toronto, not only just in my house, in the room alone, because both my |
| 0:44.1 | son and wife are very disappointed that the Toronto Blue Jays lost. So this is it for the hat, |
| 0:50.8 | in my room, by myself, under the covers, in darkness. On video to thousands of people. On video to thousands of people, because go Dodgers. Yeah, but, you know, if you did get beat by Blue Jays fans in the streets of Toronto, they would do it politely. They would, and they'd say, sorry, and then I would get free health care. Yeah, there you go. So, you know, it's a win-win. |
| 1:13.5 | It's a win-win. So anyways, back on to the news, you know, we can't know how bad the economy is, |
| 1:19.3 | Jason, if we can't get reports on it. That's part of the design, Brian. It's part of the design. |
| 1:25.3 | Except we kind of can. As we can tell, a lot of people can feel that the economy isn't doing so hot right now. |
| 1:31.3 | But, of course, do the government shutdown, we don't have much in the way of official economic data to give statistical clarity to that feeling, |
| 1:37.8 | rather than Trump saying everything's great and throwing a great Gatsby-themed party at this stupid place in Florida. |
| 1:45.5 | But more and more private firms are actually releasing economic analysis, |
| 1:49.4 | and much of the time it doesn't bode well for the American worker. |
| 1:52.1 | A new report shows that this October was a particularly brutal month for the U.S. workforce, |
| 1:57.5 | and there's especially bad for the tech industry. |
| 2:00.3 | This came from Career Transition Services firm Challenger Gray and Christmas. |
| 2:05.2 | It's going to be a challenging gray Christmas. |
| 2:08.6 | Yeah, it's going to be a very challenging gray Christmas. |
| 2:10.8 | Isn't the Challenger, the one that blew up? |
... |
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