July 18, 2025

705: Vibe Defunding

705: Vibe Defunding

Kicking things off, Jack Dorsey—a man with too much time on his hands—has vibe-coded his beard into an insecure messaging app that the company admits you shouldn't trust... yet. Meanwhile, if you want a piece of a legendary disaster, the Fyre Festival brand sold for a mere $245k after some shady bidding that might be a "shitty agentic AI" at work.

In the world of our future robot overlords, Nvidia's CEO calmly admitted "some harm will be done," while billionaires like Travis Kalanick are busy discovering "vibe physics" with Elon Musk's Grok—an AI that literally checks what its dad thinks before answering. But the real insanity? The internet is demanding an apology from Elmo's hacked account, proving we're mad at the puppet, not the puppeteer. On the more tangible front, Tesla is making desperate moves in Canada and India as sales collapse, while we learn that hackers have been able to stop US trains for over a decade remotely, but no one has bothered to fix the issue. Oh, and laid-off Candy Crush staff? They were forced to train their AI replacements on the way out the door. The future is bright.

Over in Media Candy, we're grudgingly impressed by Andor's 14 Emmy nods and the genius faux '90s action movie trailer for Karl Urban's Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat II. We also got trailers for Stranger Things 5 and Tron: Ares, where Jared Leto thankfully only speaks two words.

Finally, Dave takes us to the Dark Side for a nostalgia trip through the history of the Apple II and the Kaypro 2000 laptop, sparking a debate on why we all coveted a computer that, in retrospect, wasn't that great. This is contrasted with the modern reality of an IPTV pirate getting three years in prison and Metallica issuing a copyright strike against the Pentagon. To wrap it all up, a TEDx talk poses the ultimate question: Has tech delivered on its promises? We're still thinking about that one.


Sponsors:


DeleteMe - Head over to JoinDeleteMe.com/GOG and use the code "GOG" for 20% off.


Private Internet Access - Go to GOG.Show/vpn and sign up today. For a limited time only, you can get OUR favorite VPN for as little as $2.03 a month.


SetApp - With a single monthly subscription you get 240+ apps for your Mac. Go to SetApp and get started today!!!


1Password - Get a great deal on the only password manager recommended by Grumpy Old Geeks! gog.show/1password


Show notes at https://gog.show/705


FOLLOW UP

Jack Dorsey’s New App Just Hit a Very Embarrassing Snag

Fyre Festival’s Brand Rights Get a Fire Sale on eBay

Get Paid Podcast -Why AI Won't Kill Salesforce | Aaron Levie (Box)


IN THE NEWS

Windsurf's CEO goes to Google; OpenAI's acquisition falls apart

The CEO of Nvidia Admits What Everybody Is Afraid of About AI

Billionaires Convince Themselves AI Chatbots Are Close to Making New Scientific Discoveries

Newest Version of Grok Looks Up What Elon Musk Thinks Before Giving an Answer

Elon Musk Wants to Turn AI Into a Cosmic Religion

The TESCREAL bundle: Eugenics and the promise of utopia through artificial general intelligence

Study warns of ‘significant risks’ in using AI therapy chatbots

They’re Losing the Ability to Understand What They’ve Created

Laid-Off Staff At Candy Crush Maker Say They've Been Training Their AI Replacements

Memecoin Platform Pump.fun Raises $600 Million Within 12 Minutes

Hacked Elmo X account posts antisemitic remarks

Elmo Breaks Silence on His Antisemitic Social Media Posts

Tesla Makes a Desperate Move in Canada as Sales Collapse

As Sales Drop, Tesla Makes a Big Gamble on India

Hackers Can Remotely Trigger the Brakes on American Trains and the Problem Has Been Ignored for Years

DOGE Denizen Marko Elez Leaked API Key for xAI

A Company Tried to Put Real Estate on the Blockchain and Now It's Facing a Legal Disaster

Mark Zuckerberg says Meta is building a 5GW AI data center

A Cloudflare issue is breaking websites for some users


MEDIA CANDY

‘Andor’ Gets 14 Emmy Nominations in a Genre-Heavy Year

‘Slow Horses’ Renewed for Season 7 at Apple TV+

Mortal Kombat II | Official Red Band Trailer

See Johnny Cage in Uncaged Fury

Watch Karl Urban’s Johnny Cage Be a B-List Movie Star in This Faux Movie Trailer

Stranger Things 5 | Official Teaser | Netflix

Tron: Ares | Official Trailer

Murderbot

Fountain of Youth

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Dexter: Resurrection

The Institute

PlutoTV

7 Weird Sci-Fi Network TV Shows That Aired Just as Streaming Was Taking Over

Helix IPTV Owner Sentenced to 3 Years Prison For Piracy & Money Laundering

Metallica Issues Copyright Strike Against US Govt for Military Drone Video


APPS & DOODADS

Jack Dorsey's new app tracks your sun exposure

Taking a Photo in Dubai Could Land You with a $136k Fine or Jail

Pointer Pointer

Meta Cracks Down on Facebook Users Who Steal and Repost Others’ Photos

Hey Beautiful: Anatomy of a Romance Scam


THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE

Dave Bittner

The CyberWire

Hacking Humans

Caveat

Control Loop

Only Malware in the Building

Irish Video Game Orchestra

YouTuber faces jail time for showing off Android-based gaming handhelds

Are We Trek Yet?

Tech Promised Everything. Did it deliver?

Apple II History

Kaypro 2000 laptop

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.