Stats are meaningless; ad-driven dystopia; Google lockouts; social media hearings; Gothamist shutdown; Toothbrush as a service; neural network nightmares; subscriptions, because 2017; Reaper; fooling AI; cheeseburger emojis; take me to the good part.
This episode of Grumpy Old Geeks is sponsored by eero! Go to eero.com and use the promo code GOG at checkout to get FREE NEXT DAY SHIPPING!
This episode is sponsored by Freshbooks! To claim your free month, go to FreshBooks.com/GRUMPY and, this is REALLY IMPORTANT, enter GRUMPY OLD GEEKS in the “How Did You Hear About Us?” section.
The Grumpy Old Geeks prefer Private Internet Access for all your VPN needs!
If you’d like to donate to the show please check out our page on Patreon and get all the behind the scenes goodies!
Listen or subscribe in iTunes!
If you like the show please click here and give us a rating or review in iTunes. It helps us out and lets us know people want more episodes!
Show Notes
FOLLOW-UP
Myspace Looked Like It Was Back. Actually, It Was A Pawn In An Ad Fraud Scheme
https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/remember-tom?utm_term=.wkRRaxJ9r#.evO45LaQ8
We’re building a dystopia just to make people click on ads.
https://www.ted.com/talks/zeynep_tufekci_we_re_building_a_dystopia_just_to_make_people_click_on_ads
Ambitious augmented reality earbud startup Doppler Labs shuts down
https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/1/16591970/augmented-reality-earbud-startup-doppler-labs-shuts-down-here-one
IN THE NEWS
Twitter employee on last day of job deactivated Trump’s account, company says
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/11/02/trumps-twitter-account-was-temporarily-deactivated-due-to-human-error/?utm_term=.e70e0486e6f0
A rogue Twitter employee shut down Donald Trump’s account
https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/2/16600732/donald-trump-twitter-account-gone-realdonaldtrump
Google is locking people out of documents, and you should be worried
http://mashable.com/2017/10/31/google-docs-locking-people-out/?utm_cid=mash-com-fb-tech-link#o0t99krvGaqb
Only Buy Bitcoin If You’re Ready to Lose It
https://lifehacker.com/only-buy-bitcoin-if-youre-ready-to-lose-it-1820006087
Bitcoin is too big to ignore, so exchanges are coming up with new ways to trade it
https://qz.com/1117239/cmes-bitcoin-futures-are-a-sign-that-the-cryptocurrency-is-becoming-a-mainstream-asset/
One Bitcoin Transaction Now Uses as Much Energy as Your House in a Week
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/ywbbpm/bitcoin-mining-electricity-consumption-ethereum-energy-climate-change
Uber Might Make More Money This Year Selling Real Estate in Oakland Than Actually Selling Rides
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2017/10/uber_might_make_more_money_selling_real_estate_in_oakland_than_selling_rides.html
Live updates: Facebook, Google and Twitter are testifying before Congress again now
https://www.recode.net/2017/11/1/16588374/live-updates-facebook-google-twitter-testify-senate-congress-russia-president-election
Al Franken Tears Into Facebook Counsel at Senate Hearing
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/10/al-franken-tears-into-facebook-counsel-at-senate-hearing/
Why Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is not testifying before Congress
https://qz.com/1117340/why-facebook-ceo-mark-zuckerberg-is-not-testifying-before-congress/
Senators blast tech companies over Russian meddling: ‘Do something about it — or we will’
https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/1/16591646/facebook-senate-hearing-feinstein-russia-google-twitter
Twitter Offered Russian TV Network 15% Of Its Total Share Of US Elections Advertising
https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexkantrowitz/twitter-offered-rt-15-of-its-total-share-of-us-elections
DNAinfo and Gothamist Are Shut Down After Vote to Unionize
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/11/02/nyregion/dnainfo-gothamist-shutting-down.html
Dear DNAinfo and Gothamist Readers
https://assets.dnainfo.com/message.html
Toothbrush subscription service Quip raises $10 million
https://venturebeat.com/2017/11/01/toothbrush-subscription-service-quip-raises-10-million/
Amazon adds an AR shopping feature to its iOS app
https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/01/amazon-adds-an-ar-shopping-feature-to-its-ios-app/
What it’s like to live in Phoenix? “Waymo units all over the damn place”
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2017/11/why-phoenix-is-becoming-the-self-driving-capital-of-the-world/#p3
Colorado Is Moving Forward With Plans for a $24 Billion Hyperloop
https://futurism.com/colorado-is-moving-forward-with-plans-for-a-24-billion-hyperloop/
APPS & DOODADS
Watching This Neural Network Render Truly Photorealistic Faces Is Creepy and Mesmerizing
https://sploid.gizmodo.com/watching-this-neural-network-render-truly-photorealisti-1819957128
But what *is* a Neural Network? | Deep learning, Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aircAruvnKk&app=desktop
Gradient descent, how neural networks learn | Deep learning, part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHZwWFHWa-w&app=desktop
GOOGLE’S AI WIZARD UNVEILS A NEW TWIST ON NEURAL NETWORKS
https://www.wired.com/story/googles-ai-wizard-unveils-a-new-twist-on-neural-networks/
Sony Wants to Sell You a Subscription to a Robot Dog
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/bj778v/sony-wants-to-sell-you-a-subscription-to-a-robot-dog-aibo-90s-pet
TriLens
http://www.friidesigns.com/
IKEA’s smart lighting officially supports HomeKit
https://www.engadget.com/2017/11/01/ikea-tradfri-homekit-update/
Day One
http://dayoneapp.com/
Audible’s new romance audiobooks service uses machine learning to jump to the sex scenes
https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/01/audibles-new-romance-audiobooks-service-uses-machine-learning-to-jump-to-the-sex-scenes/
Controlling your Sonos with Amazon Alexa
https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4343?_ga=2.100805575.710780148.1509470687-2126392721.1503934149
How to enjoy my Synology NAS music on iTunes (Mac)
https://www.synology.com/en-global/knowledgebase/DSM/tutorial/Multimedia/How_to_enjoy_my_Synology_NAS_music_on_iTunes_Mac
Toilet paper roll takes down drone during soccer match
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/video/toilet-paper-roll-takes-drone-soccer-match-50870842
Apple isn’t saving bra photos — but your iPhone is looking at boobs
https://thenextweb.com/apple/2017/10/31/apple-bra-photos-iphone-looking-at-boobs/
MEDIA CANDY
Netflix Cancels ‘House Of Cards’, Says It’s “Deeply Troubled” Over Kevin Spacey Claims
http://deadline.com/2017/10/house-of-cards-canceled-kevin-spacey-scandal-netflix-season-six-1202197604/
Netflix Suspends Production on House of Cards Indefinitely Amid Kevin Spacey Scandal
http://people.com/tv/netflix-suspends-production-house-of-cards-kevin-spacey/
The Grand Tour Season 2 – Dec 8th
https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0731WKWHY/ref=dv_tgt2_rw_pri_pro/146-6423045-6290723
The Grand Tour: Season 2 Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_NRSoVncJQ
Vintage Video: Watch 3 of Oingo Boingo’s epic Halloween concerts from 1987 and 1990
http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/2012/10/31/oingo-boingo-halloween-irvine-meadows-video/
Stranger Things 2
https://www.netflix.com/title/80057281
Whisper – Horror short
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9gUIhkzNDk
Glaare
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5BkRwHu0DJI3hyK1iQUqer
New My Bloody Valentine album and tour confirmed by Kevin Shields
http://www.post-punk.com/new-mbv-album-and-tour-confirmed-by-kevin-shields/
AT THE LIBRARY
Relic – 1996 by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
http://amzn.to/2yiiQfU
What Does This Button Do? An Autobiography By: Bruce Dickinson
http://amzn.to/2hsrFcm
Time Enough for Love: The Lives of Lazarus Long by Robert A. Heinlein
http://amzn.to/2j0PcET
Borderlands Books Buys Permanent Home Thanks to Patrons’ Sponsorship
https://www.tor.com/2017/11/01/borderlands-books-buys-permanent-home-thanks-to-patrons-sponsorship/
SECURITY HAH!
The CyberWire
http://www.thecyberwire.com/
Dave Bittner
https://twitter.com/bittner
Fear the Reaper, or Reaper Madness?
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2017/10/fear-the-reaper-or-reaper-madness/
ReplyAll #109 Is Facebook Spying on You?
https://gimletmedia.com/episode/109-facebook-spying/
Ep 226: A Badder Meinhof – September 11, 2017
https://gog.show/ep-226-badder-meinhof/
Facebook swears they aren’t recording your conversations
https://thehustle.co/facebook-recording-conspiracy
Does Facebook Use Your Phone’s Microphone To Eavesdrop On Your Conversations?
http://digg.com/2017/facebook-phone-microphone-ads
All websites running WordPress urged to update NOW
https://www.welivesecurity.com/2017/11/01/wordpress-update-now/
Apple Warned About Evil Wi-Fi Attack That Installs Malware On iPhones
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2017/11/01/apple-iphone-wi-fi-hack-pwn2own
Researcher: ‘We Should Be Worried’ This Computer Thought a Turtle Was a Gun
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/pa339b/how-to-fool-artificial-intelligence-one-pixel
Signal launches true desktop app, giving you zero excuse to not use it
https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/signal-desktop-app/
Malware Mash
https://www.thecyberwire.com/podcasts/cw-podcasts-extras-malware-mash.html
MORON OF THE WEEK
German railway wants to name a train after Anne Frank—and the internet is outraged
https://www.dailydot.com/irl/germany-anne-frank-train/
Google CEO addresses hamburger emoji debate
http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/30/technology/google-cheeseburger-emoji/index.html
FEEDBACK LOOP
Visual Studio Code
https://code.visualstudio.com/
X1 Social Discovery
http://www.x1.com/products/x1_social_discovery/