697: Office of Defects

Summary

Grumpy Old Geeks - Episode 697: Office of Defects

Release Date: May 16, 2025

In Episode 697 of Grumpy Old Geeks, hosts Jason DeFilippo and Brian Schulmeister, joined by Dave Bittner, delve into a whirlwind of tech-related controversies, corporate missteps, and the ongoing struggles between human-centric services and automated systems. This detailed summary captures the essence of their candid discussions, peppered with notable quotes and insightful critiques.

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1. Crypto Chaos: Trump Tokens and Meme Coin Mayhem

The episode kicks off with a heated discussion on the latest crypto debacle involving former President Donald Trump’s personal meme coin. Jason highlights the dubious motives behind the scheme:

"220 crypto investors just bought their way into a private dinner with Donald Trump by spending big on his personal meme coin." [02:32]

Brian adds fuel to the fire by questioning the ethics:

"Imagine if Obama had done this... straight out grift and bribery, flat out." [03:05]

The hosts lament the participation of shady investors, including substantial sums from Chinese backers, questioning the true incentives behind such investments.

---

2. Elon Musk and The Boring Company's Federal Tango

Elon Musk surfaces again as the conversation shifts to his tunneling venture, The Boring Company, and its new collaboration with the Federal Railroad Administration on a multi-billion-dollar Maryland train tunnel project.

"It's not clear that Musk's company will actually get a contract related to the project, but I'm pretty sure it will." [05:32]

Brian criticizes Musk's pervasive influence:

"Seems like another conflict of interest for the billionaire who has exerted undue influence over the government ever since Donald Trump took office." [05:08]

The hosts express skepticism about Musk’s commitment, recalling his failed Cyber Loop project and questioning the efficacy of his current endeavors.

---

3. NFTs and Yuga Labs: From Hype to Havoc

The discussion turns to Yuga Labs, the masterminds behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club. Jason mocks the fragility of NFTs:

"Node says they're going to future proof the collection. They're going to put it on a zip disk and put two servers." [06:01]

Brian sarcastically simplifies NFTs:

"They're basically a receipt. You buy a receipt, you don't even get the actual images with it." [07:34]

The hosts criticize the lack of genuine ownership and the over-reliance on precarious storage solutions for digital assets.

---

4. Microsoft Layoffs: Navigating Corporate Cuts Amid Success

Despite reporting strong earnings, Microsoft announces a 3% global workforce reduction. Brian breaks down the possible reasons:

"Layoffs will be felt across all teams, levels, and regions within the company and are not performance-based." [08:02]

Jason suggests the company is preemptively adjusting to economic uncertainties:

"They can see how the economic winds are going. Yes, they do. And it's better safe than sorry right now." [09:03]

The hosts discuss the broader implications for the tech workforce, emphasizing the fleeting nature of software engineering careers:

"The clock starts ticking on your tech career as soon as you hit your mid-30s." [11:18]

---

5. AGI’s Glass Ceiling: Experts Predict Slowing Progress

An analysis from the nonprofit research group EPIC AI warns that advancements in reasoning AI models, such as OpenAI's O3, may face significant slowdowns within the next year due to computational limitations.

"Progress on reasoning AI models like OpenAI's O3 may start slowing down within the next year." [20:08]

Brian and Jason critique the relentless pursuit without foundational breakthroughs:

"They're trying to outrace everything that is known about what AI is right now, hoping there's going to be a breakthrough." [21:03]

The hosts liken current AI development to futile efforts, emphasizing that simply scaling compute power isn’t the solution:

"It's like trying to juice an orange with a sewing machine." [21:25]

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6. AI in Customer Service: Klarna’s Cost-Cutting Catastrophe

Klarna's aggressive shift to AI-driven customer service is spotlighted as a cautionary tale. The company reportedly replaced thousands of human agents with AI chatbots, claiming cost efficiency and enhanced performance.

"AI chatbots were handling two-thirds of customer service conversations within their first month of deployment." [13:23]

However, Brian and Jason argue this move backfired, leading to deteriorated customer experiences:

"It's really doing the work of 700 really bad agents." [14:49]

They emphasize the importance of human touch in customer service, criticizing Klarna for prioritizing profits over quality:

"He thought about his bottom line first, which just shows how big of an asshole he is." [15:24]

---

7. The Church Takes a Stand: Pope Leo Against AI

In a surprising turn, Pope Leo emerges as a vocal critic of AI advancements. During his first formal meeting with church cardinals, he identified AI as a major challenge to human dignity, justice, and labor.

"He pointed to the development of AI as one of the biggest challenges facing humanity." [24:15]

The hosts discuss the implications of such high-profile opposition to AI, pondering the balance between technological progress and ethical considerations.

---

8. Copyright Clashes: Trump's Administration vs. AI Training

The episode highlights the controversial firing of Shira Perlmutter, head of the U.S. Copyright Office, shortly after she released a report scrutinizing AI companies’ use of copyrighted material without compensation.

"Her replacement, installed by MAGA populists, may prove even more hostile to big tech." [25:58]

Brian underscores the irony of the situation:

"AI learned all about from the copyrighted materials that it consumed." [26:34]

The hosts perceive this as a strategic move by the administration to tighten AI training restrictions.

---

9. Tesla’s Robo-Taxi Under Scrutiny: Safety First?

Tesla faces federal scrutiny over its upcoming robo-taxi plans, particularly concerning full self-driving (FSD) software performance in low visibility conditions. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating potential safety deficiencies.

"Regulators now want to know if Tesla's robo taxis will use the same system or a more advanced, unsupervised version." [28:06]

Jason humorously remarks on the desire to join the Office of Defects, underscoring the skepticism towards Tesla's safety claims.

---

10. Employee Retaliation at Tesla: A Protest Gone Wrong

The discussion shifts to Matthew Lebrot, a former Tesla manager who was terminated after publicly blaming Elon Musk for declining sales. Matthew created a protest website and marked his dissent by vandalizing his company vehicle.

"HR alleged that he abused or misused company resources and he claims he was terminated for speaking out." [30:43]

Brian and Jason criticize Matthew's extreme actions, reflecting on corporate retaliation against dissent:

"He is 100% right. But he's also stupid." [31:00]

They highlight the toxic work environment fostered by Elon Musk’s management style.

---

11. Cosmic Decay: The Universe’s Accelerated Demise

Shifting from terrestrial issues to cosmic concerns, the hosts discuss new research from Radbound University indicating that the universe could perish much sooner than previously thought due to Hawking radiation.

"The cosmos could fizzle out in 10 to the 78th power years, a blink compared to the previous estimate of 10 to the 1100th power years." [33:58]

Brian grimly acknowledges the accelerated timeline, juxtaposing it with the ongoing economic and political turmoil on Earth.

---

12. Pop Culture Picks: TV Shows and Movie Trailers

The hosts transition to lighter topics, reviewing recent TV and movie releases:

• Star Wars and Andor: Brian lauds Andor as the best Star Wars content since the original trilogy, while Jason critiques the rushed feel of Rogue One.

  "Andor is by far the best Star wars content we have gotten since the original three movies dropped in the 70s." [39:17]

• Soundtracks and Music Festivals: They celebrate the enduring legacy of iconic soundtracks and express excitement for upcoming events like Nine Inch Nails' Future Ruins music festival.

• Disney Developments: The introduction of an interactive Mickey Mouse popcorn bucket sparks debate on Disney’s approach to blending nostalgia with modern technology.

  "It's an interactive Mickey Mouse that can blink and talk while you eat popcorn out of its head." [58:06]

---

13. Customer Service Woes: A Tale of Frustration

Closing the episode, Dave Bittner shares personal anecdotes highlighting the inefficiencies of automated customer service systems:

1. Flower Delivery Failures:

   • Dave recounts ordering flowers for Mother’s Day, only to face repeated delays and eventual cancellation without proper communication.
   • Brian advises listeners to opt for local, small flower shops over large corporations for more reliable service.

2. Comcast’s Chatbot Catastrophe:

   • Dave describes his struggle with Comcast’s chatbot when attempting to adjust his internet service, ultimately requiring his wife’s intervention to resolve the issue.
   • Brian echoes the sentiment, emphasizing the inadequacy of chatbots in handling nuanced customer needs.

These stories underscore the podcast’s recurring theme of frustration with impersonal, automated systems replacing genuine human interaction.

---

14. Final Thoughts and Community Shoutouts

The episode concludes with hosts acknowledging their Patreon supporters, celebrating birthdays, and sharing personal interests in TV shows like Murderbot, Star Trek, and Fallout. Despite the relentless grumpiness, the camaraderie among the hosts and their shared love for geek culture shines through, offering a relatable and engaging listening experience for fans.

---

Notable Quotes:

• "AGI is not coming anytime soon." – Jason [13:05]
• "It's just doing the work of 700 really bad agents." – Brian [14:49]
• "Imagine if Obama had done this... straight out grift and bribery, flat out." – Brian [03:05]
• "It's like trying to juice an orange with a sewing machine." – Jason [21:25]

---

Conclusion

Episode 697 of Grumpy Old Geeks offers a sharp, unfiltered take on the latest tech misadventures, blending humor with critical analysis. From crypto scams and AI failures to corporate layoffs and cosmic theories, the hosts provide listeners with a comprehensive and entertaining overview of the tech world's tumultuous landscape. Whether you’re a seasoned geek or simply tech-curious, this episode delivers insightful commentary wrapped in the hosts' signature grumpy charm.

Transcript

[Jason DeFilippo]

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[Brian Schulmeister]

And I'm Brian Schulmeister.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Brian, starting today, guess what?

[Brian Schulmeister]

What?

[Jason DeFilippo]

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[Brian Schulmeister]

Were you getting a lot of emails?

[Jason DeFilippo]

Well, I guess the. You know, the. The anus AI was getting overloaded, so.

[Brian Schulmeister]

I did share my five invitations with friends. But I gather none of them took you up on it.

[Jason DeFilippo]

No, there were. No. Nobody took up the invitation to my anus. Okay, so link in the show notes if you want to go. Go check out anus AI and see how. See how it works compared to other AIs that are not my anus.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Have you tried it?

[Jason DeFilippo]

I have not tried my anus yet.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Okay, let me know what you think. I don't really think I need a general AI agent that bridges minds and actions. It doesn't just think it delivers results.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah, I looked at the. I actually dug around for a little bit to see what it actually did, and it looks like it's about as useless as you would think it would be.

[Brian Schulmeister]

It's just a crappy agentic AI that doesn't do shit. Right?

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yes. And yes. Use the term agentic quite liberally with that because doesn't really do anything. Okay, so.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Well, can't wait.

[Jason DeFilippo]

It's just fun to save my anus.

[Brian Schulmeister]

It's the new Deliveroo.

[Jason DeFilippo]

It is. So 220 crypto investors just bought their way into a private dinner with Donald Trump by spending big on his personal meme coin, as we've been talking about.

[Brian Schulmeister]

I mean, can you imagine if Obama had done this?

[Jason DeFilippo]

Oh, God, Imagine.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Imagine this is just straight out grift and bribery, flat out. And this isn't even. I mean, at least these are like, you know, crypto bros. We. We have like, shady Chinese people buying, like, $200 million of these meme coins. I wonder what they're getting out of that.

[Jason DeFilippo]

I wonder what they're getting. Yeah. So the 25 biggest spenders dropped over $4 million to get the. The VIP perks, including a personal reception with, you know, mad President Donnie.

[Brian Schulmeister]

And yeah, technically it says your in quotes. And I wonder if I get to pick.

[Jason DeFilippo]

If I got to pick, it would definitely not be the Cheeto in charge. No. Yeah. And I would bring back Jimmy Carter, but he's dead, so.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Hey, guess you had your chance.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah, he wasn't the greatest president, but he turned out to be a very interesting dude.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Well, I mean, let's just not. Not to go too far down this rabbit hole, but since you brought up Jimmy Carter, let us not forget that the American government and people made him give up his peanut farm.

[Jason DeFilippo]

That's right.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Because of a potential conflict of interest as president. And we've got this motherfucker.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah. Yep. And so he got one wallet linked to billionaire Justin sun reportedly dropped $19 million on Trump tokens. Now, here's where the fun comes in, Brian. After these guys got their tickets, at least 30 of them who are confirmed guests dumped all their tokens.

[Brian Schulmeister]

What?

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yeah.

[Jason DeFilippo]

So they got the. They got the ticket and then said, okay, we're done, we're out. Which I going to make for a very interesting meet and greet once they get to the White House. Oh, like he knows somebody's going to tell him.

[Brian Schulmeister]

I bet somebody will, I'm sure.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah, I think they're going to get sat at the kids table in the back.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Right. Well, speaking of grift, Elon Musk's tunneling firm, Remember them? The Boring Company. Yeah, he's agreed to. I think air quotes are going to figure a lot into this episode. He's agreed to help the government's Federal Railroad Administration with a Multi billion dollar project to build a train tunnel in Maryland. It's not clear that Musk's company will actually get a contract related to the project, but I'm pretty sure it will. It seems like yet another conflict of interest for the billionaire who has exerted undue influence over the government ever since Donald Trump took office. Thank God Elon didn't have a peanut farm.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Oh, my God. So the funny thing about this is, you know, he's coming in to help, quote, unquote, Amtrak. Yes, Amtrak is already destroyed. There's nothing left. You know, I mean, he already tried to replace Amtrak with the Cyber Loop and that went real well. So I'm sure this is going to be just another money grab for whatever.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Well, it's all working out pretty well for him. The one place that the boring company is actually involved in trying to do something is in Las Vegas, which is being privately funded by Elon. But of course it's proceeding without much of the regulatory oversight that a project of such size and scope would traditionally have because Grift.

[Jason DeFilippo]

And we know what happened so far with the tunnel in Vegas. It was supposed to be these autonomous Teslas going like, you know, 100 miles an hour zipping down this road. No, it's just a bunch of guys driving you back and forth really slowly through a hole in the ground. Pretty much what it turned out to be. Yeah.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Unless you think that, of course, is all that's going on. Why, just last week we reported that the White House has been bullying tariff countries to adopt services from Starlink. Starlink has also has other nebulous and problematic pacts with the US government, including at the fa. My God, that was almost a month ago now. We've forgotten about that one.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Oh my God.

[Brian Schulmeister]

SpaceX has a variety of potential conflicts of interest, thanks to Doge's interactions with NASA. And another recent report also shows that the billionaires companies have may have saved nearly 2.37 billion from federal fines and penalties that were active under Biden, but have since been neutralized in the Trump era. That's where he's saving the money. For him, not us.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah, him, not us. Can we send him to Mars yet? Please, while we're digging up old failures. Yuga Labs. Yeah, the geniuses behind the Bored Ape yacht club. Remember NFTs, Brian? It was such a more innocent time. Such a scam artist. Yeah, well, they have just dumped their cryptopunks NFT collection onto Node Foundation, a nonprofit now responsible for babysitting pixelated avatars from the peak of The Let's Set Money on Fire era.

[Brian Schulmeister]

So basically a server. Yeah, I mean let's call it what it is. It's a fucking server.

[Jason DeFilippo]

It's a server full of JPEGs. That's it. Actually the cryptopunks were 8 bit, so maybe they were gifts.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Maybe.

[Jason DeFilippo]

I bet they were probably GIFs because as we know, NFTs are basically a receipt. You buy a receipt, you don't even get the actual images with it.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yes. That just gets held on a server.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yes. So Node says they're going to future proof the collection. They're going to put it on a zip disk and put two servers.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yeah, we have a RAID server.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Oh my God. Yeah. In the old days we would put it on a side quest and a zip disk.

[Brian Schulmeister]

That's right. Can't be too safe.

[Jason DeFilippo]

In the news.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Well, pink slips are common. Microsoft will be laying off 3% of its global workforce in an aim to streamline its operations and thin out its management structure. Unlike a lot of other pink slip reports that we've done, this is actually a company that is doing very well and does not need to lay off people for their stock price or anything else. So this should scare the out of a lot of people right now. Layoffs will be felt across all teams levels and regions within the company and are not performance based. The latest. This is the latest round of layoffs following deep cuts back in 2023 when Microsoft laid off over 10,000 employees. So this is all in attempts to weather a shaky economic environment. Wonder why we're having that made more challenging by on and off again tariffs. Wonder where those are coming from? A bevy of FTC antitrust activity directed at them and not other people. And the demand to burn billions in cash buying for pole position in the AI race, which is just dumb. And as we reported, Microsoft has actually stepped back away from that. So I'm not entirely sure that's one of the reasons for the layoffs right now.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah, I think that they're just, they can see how the economic winds are going.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yes, they do. And it's better safe than sorry right now. So that's what they're going to do. In addition to laying people off, they have raised prices on its Xbox consoles and removed entry level Surface laptops to drive more profits. And of course, as per usual with these companies when they do layoffs, last quarter Microsoft reported earnings that outperformed expectations for both revenue and profit.

[Jason DeFilippo]

So yeah, it's how it goes. We have more money. Let's keep it.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Remember when you Join a company. You're a family.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Oh, that's. Remember when that was a thing?

[Brian Schulmeister]

That's still. They're still trying. They're still trying.

[Jason DeFilippo]

The last company that I had was like, that was Kinko's, and that was a great company to work for. Until it wasn't.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yeah. There's a really interesting story about this that gets into. I mean, there's a lot of twists and turns in this one. I found it a pretty fascinating read. It's over at Gizmodo. Laid off. Metaverse engineer says he is door dashing and living in a trailer. Again. This is a harbinger of what's to come for many of us. A software engineer has revealed that while he once made six figures at a Metaverse company, his recent layoff means he's been thrust into a life of relative precarity, which involves doordashing, selling stuff on ebay, and living in a trailer.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Maybe he should try Deliveroo, which.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Well, it also tells me that he perhaps did not take care of his money very wisely. So he was laid off some 12 months ago, and it landed him in a situation that a few years ago would have seemed relatively unheard of. For a seasoned software engineer, the story kind of gets into a bunch of twists and turns. One of the reasons his money is tied up is he bought a bunch of properties, but then he had a bunch of things that happened with his family, so family had to move into them, so he's not making money off of them. Blah, blah, blah.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Okay, okay, wait a minute. He owns a bunch of property and. And he's been able to do this for a year? Yeah. Okay. He's. He's got more money.

[Brian Schulmeister]

He's doing better than most.

[Jason DeFilippo]

He's doing way better than I. Yeah, okay.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Like I said, lots of twists and turns. Lots of twists and turns in this one. Worth the reading, though. But it basically came down to AI Nuked his job, and he's. He basically wrote this huge thing, basically just telling people this is probably not unique. I don't think my story is unique. I think I'm at the early side of the bell curve of the coming social and economic disaster tidal wave that is underway. So basically he's just saying, read this. Prepare for shit.

[Jason DeFilippo]

You know, See, the thing is, I have a hard time feeling bad a for this guy because he does own property. But, you know, that's just me being me. The. The other side of this is we got, you know, kicked out of the technology sphere because we aged out.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yep, we aged out.

[Jason DeFilippo]

A long while ago, even though our skills were at the peak of, you know, their relevance, that didn't matter, you know, so being a software engineer is not something you want to do for longevity is all I'm saying. So I would just recommend people reevaluate if they even want to think about going into that sphere.

[Brian Schulmeister]

The clock starts ticking on your tech career as soon as you hit your mid-30s.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Mid-30s is. You should be already packing up your desk because once you hit 39, it's over. You know, it is over, which is really annoying. So let's give a round of applause to the New York Times for being late to the party as usual and wearing the most beige outfit that the Gap could muster up. Brian. Okay, hat tip to Dan P. For the link to this one. And no Dan. You see, Dan said this. He's like, I'm sure you got this from a bunch of people, but I'm going to send it anyway because I want to. Well, Dan, you were the first, so thank you very much. This is an article over at the New York Times called Silicon Valley's Elusive Fantasy of a Computer as Smart as you. Well, what this is, is, this is an article about AGI, Brian. And the New York Times has finally come to the conclusion that, oh, wait, it might not be coming anytime soon. Something that we've been saying for, I don't know, three, four fucking years now. I had a nice little spiel about it, but I'm not going to give the New York Times any more airtime. So let's just move on and say, welcome to the party, pal. AGI is not coming anytime soon. The link will be in the show notes. If you want to go link, like, read this mediocre pile of books. Dung.

[Brian Schulmeister]

All right.

[Jason DeFilippo]

I would recommend against it.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yes. AGI is not coming. When it does, perhaps we might all be screwed, but it's not coming anytime soon. In the meantime, if you're like the guy, the Metaverse engineer that got laid off, there are jobs for you again. Some new ones have just opened up again. Unfortunately, it's just customer service because we talked about Klarna a while back. Klarna made a big deal about going all in on AI. They are a company that basically just does customer service. And company CEO Sebastian. I can't even pretend to pronounce this name. Sim.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Ski.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Sorry, the Internet.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Sebastian something.

[Brian Schulmeister]

I was driving through a tunnel. Driving through a tunnel? Yeah, he went all in, made a big stink about it. Lots of press releases. We are going to do this we are going to. I want my company to be OpenAI's favorite guinea pig. The company instituted a hiring freeze set out to replace as many humans on its payroll as possible with AI. By 2024, he was bragging about cutting company's workforce nearly in half, dropping from a headcount of 3,800 to 2,000 by shifting to AI alternatives. He called the cutbacks natural attrition rather than the result of layoffs. He also claimed that AI chatbots were handling two thirds of customer service conversations within their first month of deployment and went on to claim that AI was doing the work of 700 customer service agents. The problem is that it's really doing the work of 700 really bad agents. And that quality took a toll. So unfortunately, as he says, as cost unfortunately seems to have been a too predominant evaluation factor when organizing this, what you end up with is having a lower quality. Really investing in the quality of the human support is the way of the future for us. What an.

[Jason DeFilippo]

What an.

[Brian Schulmeister]

So what he found out is people don't like talking to chatbots, no matter how advanced they may have become over the past few years. A study conducted last year found that more than four in five people would choose waiting to a human over getting immediately served by a bot. Frankly, this is something that Klarna should have known two years ago when it went the AI route because it had humans in place for those exact roles. It seems the company opted to create a worse experience for its customers because it wanted to come across as forward thinking and innovative and wanted to save money until that worst experience actually proved more costly than paying people.

[Jason DeFilippo]

This is where the delusion of Silicon Valley really comes into play. These people see and read tech news thinking that AI is coming, AI is coming, and oh my God, we need to get at the beginning of the wave and get in on this so we can, you know, be, be the, the, the harbingers of the tech future that is going to be brighter for everyone. What they don't actually think about are their fucking customers. What is their job? They have a product that they're trying to sell to somebody and that product should be enhanced by whatever decision they make as, as they sit their fucking fat overpaid ass in the C suite. Not for shareholder fucking value. We've talked about this a million times. Fuck shareholder value. Think about your customers first. He didn't think about his customers first. He thought about his bottom line first, which just shows how big of an asshole he is. And then he has to hire everybody back. Hat in hand going, will you please come back and work for us?

[Brian Schulmeister]

Well, this is absolutely the problem with late stage capitalism that we're stuck in right now. It's the chase for shareholder value. You will create shareholder value if you actually do what your company is supposed to do and do it well. You become best in, best in market and then you've created all the shareholder wealth you need. Except for the fact we can start to talk about which is the need for constant growth, which is complete load of. If a company is doing well, it's serving the entire market. There's no need for them to create a bunch of different vertices just to continue to create shareholder value. That's. We need to reinvolve that anyways. Ranto.

[Jason DeFilippo]

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[Dave Bittner]

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Dive into our career advice articles for.

[Dave Bittner]

Expert tips and insights. And don't forget to check out our salary tools to ensure you're getting paid what you're worth. Side effects may include a new job, increased confidence, and a brighter future. Consult monster.com today and take the first step towards your new career.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Ready for your next job opportunity?

[Dave Bittner]

Visit monster.com now.

[Jason DeFilippo]

A new analysis from nonprofit research group EPIC AI warns that progress on reasoning AI models like OpenAI's O3 may start slowing down within the next year. These models have shown big improvements in solving math and programming tasks by using massive amounts of computing power and reinforcement learning. But EPIC says we may be nearing the limits of how much compute can actually be applied to that process.

[Brian Schulmeister]

We need to we need to liberate those servers holding those JPEGs for dirty yacht Club. We need that server.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah, can we. Hey guys, can we borrow a couple processes, please? OpenAI has already ramped up compute use by 10x compared to earlier models, and future plans involve even more. While reinforcement learning gains are growing fast tenfold every few months, they could soon hit a wall due to high costs and diminishing returns.

[Brian Schulmeister]

What returns? We have zero returns right now.

[Jason DeFilippo]

No, Brian, you know those benchmarks. They are getting better at the benchmarks, right?

[Brian Schulmeister]

Benchmarks.

[Jason DeFilippo]

And if they're not getting better at the benchmarks, let's change the benchmarks. Like we talked about last episode, it reminds me of an old joke that was how does a Microsoft engineer change a light bulb. How he redefines what dark means.

[Brian Schulmeister]

That's good. Yeah.

[Jason DeFilippo]

So these guys are just, it's a moving target. And this is the same race that Uber was in. Now hearken back to Uber was spending billions and billions of dollars in hopes that they could outrun their Runway to get to the point where self driving cars would be in place so they wouldn't need the taxi drivers anymore. So then they could pivot to that model and get away from having to pay people to drive their cars.

[Brian Schulmeister]

And then finally profit.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah, exactly. And finally profit. That was always the plan. We knew it was the plan. If you didn't know it was the plan, you haven't been listening to our show. So these guys, basically, they're trying to outrace everything that is known about what AI is right now, hoping, hoping against hope that there is going to be a breakthrough in the engineering to make these things actually do what they currently cannot do and then catch up and justify all the spending that they're putting in place. But what they're not telling you, and if you also listen to the show, we've been telling you that the way that the architecture works for these AI models and the reasoning behind them is not going to get you to that next level because it doesn't exist. It's like trying to, let's say, juice an orange with a sewing machine. That's about what you're trying to do there. It can kind of give you a little bit of just. But it's not what it's built for.

[Brian Schulmeister]

So did you know what AI can do, Jason?

[Jason DeFilippo]

What?

[Brian Schulmeister]

It can generate an image of you juicing an orange. With a sewing machine.

[Jason DeFilippo]

With a sewing machine.

[Brian Schulmeister]

That's what it can do.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Show art. Right now AI is like a shitty wedding DJ hopped up on Silicon Valley Hopium and just remixing everything that it's got in its little bag, saying it's.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Fun to play at the. Sorry, I was doing my wedding DJ in the background.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Ah yes, the Wedding Singer. Great movie. I should watch that again. But this, this is where, this is where we're at right now. You know, these companies are pulling back the, you know, the, the veil on. Oh, they're, they're going to run into walls with the current infrastructure and how that they're progressing on the path that they're progressing and that's just to take you kind of away from the fact that they're on the wrong road, they're on the wrong map. So they're not going to get where they're trying to go, period. No matter how much compute you throw at it, it will not work. So that's, that's kind of where it's at right now. So, yeah, Epic AI, thank you so much for your, your research paper, but it doesn't fucking matter.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Okay.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Just saying.

[Brian Schulmeister]

I'm with you. You know who else is with you? Jason.

[Dave Bittner]

Who?

[Jason DeFilippo]

Brian.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Shouldn't be a surprise because you guys are from the same city really, or at least spent a lot of time there. The Chicago born Robert Prevost, AKA the newly minted Pope Leo.

[Jason DeFilippo]

The Pope.

[Brian Schulmeister]

He is with you. The Pope. I like the Pope. The Pope hates AI.

[Jason DeFilippo]

I'm with the Pope.

[Brian Schulmeister]

In his first formal meeting with cardinals of the church, he pointed to the development of AI as one of the biggest challenges facing humanity. According to cnn, in our own day, the church office offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor. He told senior clergy members. So there you go. He's. He's with us. He chose the name Leo as a signal of his intention to follow in the footsteps of Pope Leo the 13th. 13th, that's 13. I'm sorry, I haven't been. It's not, it's not super bowl time, so I'm not up on my Roman numerals, Jason.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yes, yes. The ones to the right of the X mean it's additive. If it was to the left, it would be.

[Brian Schulmeister]

And they stopped using Roman numerals for movies. It's just like Superman 2 now.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Oh, man.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Superman double I. Damn it. Anyways, the Pope is against AI and he's going to try to do something about it. God knows what. I mean, literally.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Literally, God knows what. See, the problem that he has with all this machine learning is that they can put in the names and addresses of all of these clergy that were moved around and they could probably reverse engineer where all the abuse was taking, taking place.

[Brian Schulmeister]

I bet I can find out where Father John from, from my old church went after he impregnated that 16 year old girl. Yeah.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah.

[Brian Schulmeister]

I wonder why I left the church, Pope.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah. In a shocking move, the Trump administration fired U.S. copyright Office head Shira Perlmutter just one day after she released a report warning that AI companies may be infringing copyright law by training models on creative works without compensation. Shocker.

[Brian Schulmeister]

They made doing that.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah. The report questioned whether such training qualifies as fair use, especially when it competes with the original works and recommended licensing models, rattling Silicon Valley and earning praise from copyright holders. Ironically, though, her replacement Leadership installed by MAGA populists, may prove even more hostile to big tech, potentially setting the stage for tougher restrictions on AI training practices. Didn't see that one coming.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Did not. Plot twist.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Plot twist. Great plot twist.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yes. Which AI learned all about from the copyrighted materials that it consumed.

[Jason DeFilippo]

It consumed, exactly. Well, YouTube is cracking down on channels posting fake AI generated movie trailers that trick viewers and profit from it. It wouldn't care except it's profiting. So channels like Screen Culture have been demonetized for misleading audiences with phony teasers for films like the Fantastic Four and Thunderbolts. The move marks a shift in YouTube's policy ahead of Comic Con season, with bans now extending across all linked accounts. Industry groups like sag, AFTRA have condemned the trend as exploitative and harmful to real actors, calling it a RA to the bottom for human talent in intellectual property. Well, then just release your trailers on time.

[Brian Schulmeister]

No, I'm. I'm with it. I. I'm. Facebook is flooded with these things now. I keep like, oh, my God, there's a. The. The Star wars is putting out a new movie, and it's like a really convincing, like, decent trailer for about three seconds, and then you go, my God, what the is this crap?

[Jason DeFilippo]

Why does Darth Vader have six lightsabers?

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yes, fingers. Finger lightsabers. Speaking of that, Jamie Lee Curtis is the latest celebrity to call attention to scam ads on Facebook and Instagram that use use AI manipulated video to hawk sketchy products. She also appeared to have encountered another issue familiar to many Facebook users. Struggling to get the company's attention in posts on Facebook and Instagram, the actress asked Mark Zuckerberg to intervene to stop the spread of a totally AI fake commercial of her. She basically just, like, shamed him into it because you can't go through customer service. They don't care. Have you ever sent an email or tried to use their customer service forms?

[Jason DeFilippo]

Oh, yes.

[Brian Schulmeister]

You never hear anything back. It just goes into a void.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Nope. Even when I was working for the studios and we had legit problems with some of the stuff. Like, remember back when you could build apps on Facebook back in the old days where they were kind of friendly to the companies building on their platform? Those days are long gone for those of you who don't remember. Yeah, we would literally try and get in touch with the API support, and they're like, no, we're working with Dancing with the Stars. You know, the Biggest show on television right now. Would you please answer our email? What's Dancing with the Stars? We don't watch television. We're not like we're working fast and breaking things. So excuse us. We will not write you back. We should have publicly shamed them.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yeah, that seems to be the only way.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yep. Well, federal safety regulators are scrutinizing Tesla's upcoming robo taxi plans, not trademarked by the way, launching a detailed inquiry into how its full self driving paren supervised software performs in low visibility conditions. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent Tesla a letter asking how it evaluates. Evaluates its safety of its self driving tech, especially as the company prepares to launch a paid ride hailing service in Austin this June. This probe stems from an earlier investigation opened after four crashes involving FSD and poor visibility. So here's the takeaway, kids. If it is raining or foggy in Austin, stay off the road. Regulators now want to know if Tesla's robo taxis will use the same system or a more advanced, unsupervised version and how the company plans to ensure passenger safety in conditions like fog, glare or snow. Now here's the. Here's the kicker, Brian. The investigation is being handled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Office of Defects. I want to work at the Office of Defects. The Office of Defects. I want that business card.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Definitely, definitely. What was that? It was the island of Broken Toys.

[Jason DeFilippo]

That's it.

[Brian Schulmeister]

We've got to send the Heat Miser over there.

[Jason DeFilippo]

I mean, my business card already says Schadenfreude Engineer, so I think Schadenfreude Engineer for the Office of Defects is the perfect title for the job that I want. My perfect job. Well, a former Tesla manager says he was fired after publicly blaming Elon Musk for the company's plummeting sales. Matthew Lebrot, who had worked at Tesla since 2019, created a protest website and even spray painted his cyber truck with anti Musk slogans.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Well, I mean, to be fair, that's a bit further than just publicly blaming him.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yes, he's claiming you can make a.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Post on social media, that's one thing, but I think I'd fire this guy too.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah, HR alleged that he abused or misused company resources and he claims he was terminated for speaking out. You think. You fucking think rolling into work with your fuck Elon cyber truck? I think that might look.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Okay. So this brings me to. But I'm not. Not to go off on too crazy of a. Of a tangent here, Jason, but I.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Mean Please, tangent away.

[Brian Schulmeister]

This guy has to be younger than us, right? This has got to be a millennial. There's just. Gen X would. Look, we all hated our jobs. We all publicly bashed our jobs. We've all said a gazillion things. We've said things to co workers, we've said things to family, we've said things to friends. You can, you can grumble and, and you can say things. You don't go up to your fucking boss and you say it. You don't paint your house with. I fucking hate Hewlett Packard. You're going to get fucking fired.

[Dave Bittner]

Yeah.

[Brian Schulmeister]

You fucking idiots.

[Jason DeFilippo]

It just reminds me of that scene from Fight Club after Robert Paulson dies. It's like, you morons, you're running around in ski masks and blowing things up. What did you think was going to happen?

[Brian Schulmeister]

Exactly. Unbelievable. No accountability. No. No common sense.

[Jason DeFilippo]

No.

[Brian Schulmeister]

It's insane. It's just. Oh, my God. I mean, look, he's right. There's no doubt about that. He is 100% right. But he's also stupid.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Stupid. I don't want anybody that stupid working for my company. That's why you got fired, Matthew. You're a fucking moron. So he. He did the website, Tesla employees against Elon, which, there's a link. There's a link to in the show notes, which is Tesla employees against Elon.com. easy enough to find.

[Brian Schulmeister]

I hope it's. I hope it's not a wide open WordPress site.

[Jason DeFilippo]

It might be.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Look, I guess he's smarter than his employees.

[Jason DeFilippo]

So I was thinking, it just. It just got me thinking, okay, I wonder if openlettertoelon.com is taken. Yeah. Turns out it is. And back in November 8, 2024, this guy, the author, writes a letter to Elon about he should start a business lending company to help the middle class. I'm like, okay, I don't know what the fuck you're smoking, but Elon doesn't want to hurt the middle class, you idiot. He wants to fucking destroy it. So this guy also creates an account on X called Open Letter to Elon. And it says, middle class guy, husband, dad to three, joined November 2024. It is. He's following 37 people and he has zero followers. So I'm thinking, okay, well, you, you write an open letter to Elon and you post it on his platform. I'm guessing this, this wasn't even shadow banned. This was just outright. No, nobody's allowed to follow this guy. And we're going to leave it up here as a warning to anybody else who tries to pull this shit in the future.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Because shot off the bat?

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah, pretty much. Pretty much. So that was just a fun, fun little, little aside, but I was just bummed that, you know, this guy got open letter to Elon.com and he just wasted it. Just wasted, wasted it.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Totally wasted it.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yep. Well, Brian, let's end this on a. On a high note. Scientists now believe the universe could die much sooner than expected.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Thank God.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Unfortunately, it's not next Wednesday, but that's relatively speaking. New research from Radbound University finds that due to Hawking radiation, even ultra dense remnants like neutron stars and white dwarfs will eventually evaporate. Their revised timeline is. Well, the cosmos could fizzle out in 10 to the 78th power years, which is a blink compared to the previous estimate of 10 to the 1100th power years. Well, still major eons away. That's a major acceleration in cosmic decay. And yes, they even calculated how long it would take a human to vanish via Hawking radiation. A modest 10 to the 90th power years. So obviously they have not checked the news on the tariffs because could be two Thursdays from now, who knows?

[Brian Schulmeister]

Still not enough time for the Democrats to get their shit together.

[Jason DeFilippo]

There's not going to be any. Brian, we are coming up on the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America. I don't think we're going to make it.

[Dave Bittner]

I don't.

[Jason DeFilippo]

I don't think we're going to make it to the 4th of July at this point. Media candy.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Well, I've been looking forward to today for quite some time and. And it's not because it's my birthday.

[Jason DeFilippo]

I forgot. Jesus. Happy birthday.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Oh, thank you.

[Jason DeFilippo]

It's on my list for later, but you just gonna jump the gun. But that's okay. Happy birthday.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yes, thank you. Well, today I've been looking forward to ever since the trailer dropped and it didn't look like Murderbot premieres today. They drop two episodes and then we'll get more episodes every Friday moving forward. So I have not watched it yet because apparently it came out at midnight time. So I was sleepy. Sleepy. You watched some?

[Jason DeFilippo]

I.

[Brian Schulmeister]

What do you think I did?

[Jason DeFilippo]

I don't know, Brian. It. The problem here. The problem here is I read the book, so I kind of knew what was coming and.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yeah, well, I. I read the book a long time ago, so I don't remember.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah, I don't know if it's gonna land. I don't know. It was late for me. I'm gonna try again for episode two tonight. I was not too impressed. But because I just know the story and it's. I, I was expecting. Not a comedy. That's the thing.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yeah.

[Jason DeFilippo]

And I don't know if it's a comedy, so.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Okay. All right. Well, it is my birthday, so I'll be having a glass of whiskey with it maybe.

[Jason DeFilippo]

There you go. Yeah, that might, might lube the. Lube it up. But.

[Brian Schulmeister]

All right. I'll be checking it out tonight. We will talk about it more next week. So with my kid, we. We play a lot of music in the house and we're trying to. We're moving away from the kiddie music because he's getting older and so we. A lot of the stuff that, that mom and dad listen to, but we do listen to an awful lot of soundtracks. We love playing sound soundtracks in the house. And we have been watching my kid and I have been watching Star Trek Lower Decks together, which has been a lot of fun to revisit by the way.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Cool.

[Brian Schulmeister]

What a great show. So I was just playing Star Trek music recently and then I put on the Star Trek the Wrath of Khan original motion picture soundtrack and I even texted you about this because I'm so. I was blown away. It is such a, a great soundtrack. Like the theme is just awesome. It just gives me shivers when I listen to it. So just wanted to give it a highlight here on the show. And then that of course made me think of the goat of soundtracks. The Star wars, the Empire Strikes Back original motion picture soundtrack, which is probably the best of all soundtracks that there are.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Okay.

[Brian Schulmeister]

And because the universe moves in mysterious ways. As I was extolling the virtues of soundtracks and texting you about it and playing all the soundtracks known to man. Nine Inch Nails have announced the Future Ruins a one day music festival taking place in the Los Angeles Equestrian center on Saturday, November 8, 2025. I would love to go this, to go to this. This is not a normal music festival. No, it is a first of its kind music festival. A day long event where the world's most influential film and television composers step out from behind the screen and onto the stage. So Reznor and Ross, they're also going to have John Carpenter, Danny Elfman who I have seen do orchestral stuff live in London which is am all kinds of people. Mark Mugler's Baugh. Just a great lineup of great composers. I would kill to go to this. It sounds amazing.

[Jason DeFilippo]

This I might actually be able to go to because it's not that far and it's not downtown.

[Brian Schulmeister]

And it won't be crazy because it's all soundtrack work.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah, this. This actually might be decent.

[Brian Schulmeister]

You need to go for me, Jason. You need to be my proxy. Go.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Okay. You gonna buy my ticket?

[Brian Schulmeister]

No.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Damn.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Gog show.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Okay, okay, I'll check that out for sure. Because, yeah, it literally is right up the road for me. I can. I can do this one. I can do this one. Okay, let's get to Andor, because as we know, Dave Bittner is never going to watch this.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yeah, he'll get to it in three months.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah. So spoiler alert. We kind of know what happens at the end of Andor already because we've all seen Rogue One. So if you haven't seen Rogue One or Andor and you don't want any spoilers, you might want to fast forward for a few minutes.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Okay.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Okay. So what is the BB1 why thing at the beginning? The countdown? The what?

[Brian Schulmeister]

What does before Battle of Yavin.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Oh, okay. See, I don't know these things.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yeah, Dave would know that.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah, I know, but he doesn't watch the show. So I. I wasn't. I. I got behind and then I started watching one episode which 10 turned into more episodes. And then finally I watched all the episodes like not moving from my bed and I was. I was. Was so, so into it that I immediately rolled into Rogue One. Because now I want to get your take on the end. The final batch of episodes I thought were picture perfect as far as setting the scene for rolling into Rogue One. What did you feel like, Brian?

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yeah. First off, I will say I think Andor is by far the best Star wars content we have gotten since the original three movies dropped in the 70s.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Hands down. Down.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Hands down. Yeah, hands down. Just best acting, best directing, best plot, best. Perfect for its time. It's all about fascism. Hint, hint. Gee, I wonder what he was talking about. It was absolutely a stunning piece of work. I never would have imagined that season two would be this good after season one. Not that I didn't mind season one. Season one was good. But season two was some of the best TV I've seen in recent years. The final year, these last three episodes of this dropped. Perfect, perfect roll into Rogue One, tied up all the loose ends, lets you know where all the characters have gone, leads directly into it as Rogue One then leads directly into a new hope. What I did think though was I think last week the two year before was peak andor like this was a bit of a letdown. In comparison as it would be. You know, it's, this is the Return of the Jedi to last week's Empire Strikes Back.

[Jason DeFilippo]

I, I, I, I would tend to agree on that. I just think they did such a masterful job of tying everything together with that, that last, that last set of episodes. It was especially the last episode. I thought the last episode was just beautiful.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yeah, it was well done. And that, that whole walking scene at, at the end where they do they, they show you kind of where everybody's at at the end of it. It just made me like, I, I almost heard Sia singing Breathe in the background at the end of Six Feet Under.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah.

[Brian Schulmeister]

The other best ending of TV of all time. You know what I mean?

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah.

[Brian Schulmeister]

So, so, yeah, it was, it was masterfully done. I did not roll into Rogue One like so many people did just because I don't have the time, but I do want to watch it again. It's funny, I saw a lot of commentary online. Rogue One just feels so rushed. Well, yeah, it's a hour and a half movie compared to the 12 hours you just watched. Of course it feels rushed compared to Andor.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah, I mean, I didn't, I didn't go into the whole movie. I just want to see the first 15 minutes, you know, and just to get into the characters. And the funny thing is, I saw so many posts over on Blue sky, like, don't forget Jen Erso is the actual star of Rogue One. I'm like, nope, not anymore, honey.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Not anymore.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Not anymore. Nobody gives a shit about her anymore. Yeah. And it did feel rushed, but the funny thing is, it was as long as it needed to be.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yeah, yeah, it told the story perfectly. I mean, I loved Rogue One when it came out. I thought it was stunning and great, but the, the backstory that Andor has added to it, and then, you know, of course that leans directly into, into A New Hope and, and the original trilogy that we all love. So masterfully done. I don't think we'll see anything like that coming out of the Star wars universe again anytime soon. I think we're back to lightsabers and, and all, and epic battles and all that sort of stuff. But I do hope that they think about this and how well it done it did and explore things from this perspective more often instead of just the, the grand, you know, know, wizards making things fly around.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah, exactly. So, yeah, just, just the, just this. I mean, it was just a perfect story. They really, they really nailed it and very well done. And the really sad part is when you go, when you do watch Rogue One, Tarkin and Leia. Oh, man. Yeah.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yeah.

[Jason DeFilippo]

CGI has come a long way since just 2016. So.

[Brian Schulmeister]

You know what, though? Leave it. It. Don't. Don't do it, Lucas.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Don't with it. Don't go back in and, and fix all the CGI and add stuff left, right and center. Just leave it's of its time and. And we all get it.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Okay. We're. We're not done.

[Jason DeFilippo]

It's good enough. It's good enough. So Long way home did drop this week too. I watched the first three episodes. It's delightful. It is a delightful show just like the other ones. And I think this one actually is even a little better because the other ones had this sense of they were under time constraints to get to different places in different times that gave them this, you know, this false urgency. And this, this one, they're just, they're just out for a ride, you know, so it's like there's no rush to get anywhere before, like the Trans Siberian Express is going to be, be leaving and they're going to be stuck in the tundra for six months or whatever. This is just a couple guys driving around Europe on their motorcycles and it's beautiful. They're in Norway right now and just the scenery in Norway is like, oh my God, I would love to be there. I would just love to be there right now. No people, no tariffs, no nothing. Just waterfalls in rocks. Looks beautiful. Anyway, I love it. So good. Now what's also really good is Jessica Jones. Our favorite badass, Private Ie, is set to make a comeback and join the Disney plus Marvel street level hero roster. That's right, Brian. Variety has reported that Kristen Ritter has officially signed on to reprise her role on Daredevil Born Again Season two. All right, that's all that matters.

[Brian Schulmeister]

That makes me happy. Now sign her up for Jessica Jones.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah. Bring back. Get. Born again. Jessica Jones. Born again. All of them.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yes. Yep. Except not. Not Charlie. Not. Not the kung fu guy.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Not the kung fu guy. You can even bring back Luke Cage because I think he got. I think he got short shifted on the, on, on the screenwriters for Luke Cage. That was. That was a good show, but the writing was just awful. Awful. And Fallout season two is coming in December and season three has been greenlit, so looking forward to that. Fallout was just. Oh, man, if you haven't seen Fallout so good, Walton Goggins is just genius in everything. I'm glad, people. I mean, I. Yeah, he was great in White Lotus. But you got to go back and watch him in Sons of Anarchy where he plays basically trans hooker. It's just awesome.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Okay.

[Jason DeFilippo]

And the trailer, the official trailer for Nobody 2 came out this week as well. The Bob Odenkirk movie where he plays kind of an action hero.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Right.

[Jason DeFilippo]

You saw nobody, Correct?

[Brian Schulmeister]

I did, yeah.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah. It was a good movie. It was a really good movie.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yeah, I liked it.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah. So this is kind of Nobody meets Vacation. It really is. Nobody meets Vacation. So I wonder if we'll even get a Chevy Chase, you know, cameo, something.

[Brian Schulmeister]

That would be nice. Or Christy Brinkley.

[Jason DeFilippo]

I'll take you either one. Yep. So it was good. I like the trailer. It was a little. A little too much story, but I think that movie isn't really. It's not that much about story, let's be honest.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yeah, that's true. And speaking of something that's probably not going to be too much about story now that we've had a longer look at it. We. We saw the teaser. I was intrigued by the teaser, but the first official trailer for the new Superman has dropped and. Boy, there's a lot of fucking characters in there. Yeah, I'm not so sure about this.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah, yeah, that teaser looked intriguing, for.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Sure, but teaser was great. This looks like a fucking mess. So we'll see. We'll see what happens. We got some good news from Star Trek Land. Star Trek. Strange new worlds will finally be returning this July. It's not that far away now. July 17th, with a two episode premiere just a month shy of marking two.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Years since the conclusion of the second season, July 17th. Let's hope we haven't. We don't. We're not in Civil War two at that point. But we'll see.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yeah, we'll see. And Star Trek Prodigy can't seem to score any luck. Last week it was confirmed that Netflix, who saved Prodigy from being completely scrubbed off streaming services last year after Paramount pulled the plug on the show during the production of its greenlit second season, is about to lose the streaming lights rights for Prodigy's first season next month, with rights for the second season set to expire at the very end, end of 2025. So who knows where this is going? Why, why Paramount isn't just going to go ahead and pay for it and buy it and have all Star Trek under one umbrella is beyond me. But that's why I'm not like a David Zaslav type who can't pick a name for a streaming service, I guess.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah, the thing about Star Trek Prodigy is. Who cares?

[Brian Schulmeister]

I still don't get who the audience is. I can, you can go back and find my rant about it. When it first came out, I tried to watch it. It's not for kids, it's not for adults. They're trying to pitch it as it's like a continuation of the Spirit of Voyager because they have Janeway on it. But I just don't get the show.

[Jason DeFilippo]

No. And the animation style is just like the Star wars animation style. So I don't know what universe I'm in. When I was watching it, I'm like, is this Star Wars, Is this Star Trek? Is this something completely different? What is this thing that we're watching? I think that's the universal assessment. So though.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yeah. So I, I don't get it. But you know, Paramount, you've got everything else, so why you wouldn't have this is beyond me. You even have the original Star Trek animated series that nobody watches. So, you know, phone up, just get them all. And streaming service news. ESPN is about to launch their long awaited standalone streaming service and has announced some key details. The first being it's going to cost $30 per month. Just for one streaming service.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yeah. So I guess if you're super into sports, this is a, maybe a must have for you, but I think you're better off just bundling it with Disney, which I'm not entirely sure what that price will be, but there you go. They're not calling it ESPN plus or anything, they're just calling it espn. So that won't be confusing.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah, really.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Fox is also releasing their very own streaming service shortly. According to a report by Variety. It's going to be called Fox one. Bucking the trend. And the company plans to launch the platform at the start of the NFL season because they have the rights to that. So there you go. They CEO Lachlan Murdoch, son of Rupert, says it'll be holistic of all of our content, sports and news. So finally a platform for both Bob's burgers and angry rants about men with painted nails.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Not. Not looking forward to that one.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Nope. And as mentioned previously, the once and future HBO Max will take up the title again this summer, they announced in an irony free press release. With a straight face, the company boasts that the name change is also a testament to WBD's willingness to keep boldly iterating its strategy and approach. And here boldly iterating its strategy is presumably a chat GPT translation of ass covering retreat.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Let me just take this guy out.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Back this guy doesn't know what the fuck he's doing. I don't understand. Do you know how much money they've spent on rebranding?

[Jason DeFilippo]

Do you know how much money they've spent on him? He's made almost. Almost $400 million so far.

[Brian Schulmeister]

And I'm sure the re. The. The. What is this? The fourth rebrand has cost about that much, if not more.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Exactly. This guy's just burning money is wrong with these people. We're done with this guy.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Just keep making the good shows, please.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yep. Speaking of good shows, I found a great podcast episode this week with my friend Andy Preboy. He was on an episode of Lived through that. Lived through that is like this American life with a rock and roll twist. Listen to iconic musicians from the 80s and 90s tell stories about pivotal moments in their lives. Folks like, like Nirvanas, Chris Novoselic, indie icon Tanya Donnelly, members of the British band Squeeze, and so many more like Andy. It's a great little episode and highly recommended. It just dropped the other night, I think, like Thursday night or Wednesday night at midnight, and I was like, oh, let me listen to this. And I was up, you know, way too late, past my bedtime, because it was really good.

[Brian Schulmeister]

I. I can't remember if I've listened to this podcast before or not. There's chances I have.

[Jason DeFilippo]

I think. So, yeah.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Awful lot of people that I. I really like. I mean, then there's also the Wayne Chung guys. Like, who gives a shit about that? But there's a lot of great people in this list. I just wonder if it's one of those ones where I couldn't stand the hosts and I didn't keep up with it.

[Jason DeFilippo]

The host doesn't even speak, so he, like, introduces it and then goes away. So it's. I. But I think you have reviewed this one on the show before. It's really good. I highly recommend it especially.

[Brian Schulmeister]

I'm gonna go back through it because there's an awful lot of people I'm really intrigued by in here.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Well, I don't care if you go back through the whole thing. Just listen to Andy's episode.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Okay, I'll download Andy's.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah, and they're doing. He's doing. He had so much material from Andy that he's doing a bonus episode next week. It has kind of the Story of Tomorrow, Wendy and some of the Wall of Voodoo stuff. So looking forward to that.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Excellent.

[Jason DeFilippo]

The Dark side.

[Brian Schulmeister]

With Dave.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Welcome to the Dark side with Dave. Podcast super host Dave Bittner decodes all things cyber on the Cyber Wire Every Day Exposes Deception with Joe Kerrigan on Hacking Humans. Dives Deep Into Privacy with Ben Yellen on Caveat, Breaks Down Industrial Cybersecurity on Control Loop and even brings the laughs on Only Malware in the Building. Hello, Dave.

[Dave Bittner]

Hello, gentlemen. How's everybody doing?

[Jason DeFilippo]

I think I have you beat now.

[Dave Bittner]

Oh, go on.

[Jason DeFilippo]

So you have five shows that you're working on.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Oh, boy. I can hear the unzipping of the pants now.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Here we go. Okay. Grumpy Old Geeks Schmacters, the Kara Golden show, how to Woo Christopher Lockhead, Follow youw're Different, Get Paid AI and Revenue Renegades. I got seven active shows now, baby, and I haven't slept in weeks and I still have no money at the end of the month.

[Brian Schulmeister]

I've got one and I'm trying to get to zero.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Well, okay, actively tried to keep you from getting to zero. So babysitting Brian on my list as well. Great.

[Dave Bittner]

So if I count off, I've got Cyberwire, Caveat, Hacking Humans, Research Saturday. Only Malware in the Building. Grumpy Old geeks. So that's six.

[Brian Schulmeister]

We're missing research Saturday on your list of LinkedIn. Jason, you're going to have to redo that.

[Dave Bittner]

It's kind of a subcategory of the daily podcast, but it is its own thing.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah.

[Dave Bittner]

Yeah. Well, congratulations. I don't know. Is that a congratulations? Yeah, I was going to say, I don't know if congratulations are in order. I certainly know and sympathize with what it is like to have multiple podcasts be your responsibility every week. So my heart goes out to you, my friend.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it. I haven't slept more than five hours in three weeks or two weeks.

[Dave Bittner]

But here's my question. Are any of your shows a daily?

[Jason DeFilippo]

No, but. So Kara golden has three. Well, Dave, do you also edit your shows and produce your shows and publish your shows and sell advertising. Advertising for your shows?

[Brian Schulmeister]

Write your own material?

[Dave Bittner]

No, no.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Most people don't know, but we actually script Dave for him on the Grumpy Old Geeks.

[Dave Bittner]

It's not even Dave. It's just. It's Robo Dave.

[Brian Schulmeister]

We replaced him with. What's the hell? A long time ago.

[Dave Bittner]

Long ago. Yep, Yep. Absolutely. Yeah.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah. Three. Three of my shows now are video, so I'm in premiere most of the days, which takes seven times longer than the audio show goes.

[Dave Bittner]

Yeah.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Oh, surprisingly, I get paid the same.

[Dave Bittner]

Hmm. Good deal. Good deal.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Who's your agent? Great deal. I love it.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Jason has chose to represent himself, Dave. Yeah, well, it's one way to go.

[Jason DeFilippo]

I think I'm just going to go with that guy that just does doordash and sells on Etsy and lives in a trailer. I think he's got it figured out.

[Brian Schulmeister]

I think he. Yeah, he knows what he's doing.

[Dave Bittner]

Right, right. So instead of pursuing greater income, you were pursuing more work, fewer things to pay for. So that's it.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yes.

[Dave Bittner]

I'm just living in a shack.

[Jason DeFilippo]

That's it.

[Dave Bittner]

Yeah.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Best way to make a penny is to save a penny, Dave.

[Dave Bittner]

That's true, that's true.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Me and Dino living in a Jeep. That'll be it. So I put this story in here because we've had so much bathroom talk about what it's like to poop at work and the. The trials and tribulations of finding the right bathroom. Well, a former SpaceX employee is suing the company, claiming he was fired for taking too long in the having Crohn's disease. According to the federal lawsuit, 58 year old Douglas Altscher says managers threatened to terminate him if he used the restroom too frequently, denied his doctor's note, and eventually fired him for deficient performance. The suit also alleges toxic chemical exposure, unpaid breaks and wage cuts. It's the latest in a growing list of complaints about working conditions at Elon Musk's companies, including high injury rates at SpaceX and retaliation against employees who raised safety concerns. So pooping on the job is verboten at SpaceX.

[Dave Bittner]

I mean, I googled ADA and pooping and as one does.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah, and should have put that into my anus. AI. Well, it's purposely built for it and.

[Dave Bittner]

What it came up with, it says if a person's IBS symptoms significantly impact on a major life ability, IBS would qualify as a covered disability. So seems to me like this gentleman, certainly, if nothing else, has a case. We don't know how much time he was spending in the bathroom. But it also seems to me like, if possible, this would have been a perfect candidate for work from home.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yeah, but Elon doesn't like that, remember?

[Dave Bittner]

That's right, that's right.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Well, look, I think we know the real reason that this guy got fired and we touched upon it a little earlier in the podcast. SpaceX is not, you know, not what I would call Silicon Valley company, but it's certainly a tech company and it's certainly run by Elon King of the Tech Bros. At this point, I would say take a look at this guy's age.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Oh, he's 58.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Let's get him the out of here.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah.

[Dave Bittner]

Yeah, that's, that's depressing. Yeah, maybe I need to start squirreling away like Jason's doing.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yeah, yeah, one can age out of this very quickly. Let's move on to greener pastures, as it were, while Disney fans await the arrival of Walt Disney's high tech robot. This summer for Disneyland's 70th anniversary, an interactive Mickey Mouse that can blink and talk while you eat popcorn out of its head is now available for purchase. Monkey brains moving and blinking bucket you can dig into while engaging in fun conversation starters with a simple hey Mickey. It's pre programmed with a handful of phrases, but the real treat is the moving head and blinking eyes. It's astounding in a little creepy, but in a cute way at least. And I have to give them credit for not saying that it's packed with AI to make it do it.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Oh, oh, Mickey, you're so fun. You blow my mind. Hey Mickey.

[Brian Schulmeister]

They actually don't list that in the article. I don't know what the cost is. It's got to be expensive, right? Yeah, it's, it's. No, just normal buck bucket.

[Dave Bittner]

Yeah, I don't really understand why they're still making these popcorn buckets. In other words, just make it a little Mickey. Make it a little interactive Mickey because people collect them. Yeah, that's true.

[Brian Schulmeister]

I mean, you know, you can't do, you can't do a high profile movie now with unveiling without unveiling a popcorn bucket for it.

[Dave Bittner]

I guess what I'm complaining about is when the functionality of the thing far strays from the original functionality of the thing. In other words, this is way more interactive Mickey toy than it is popcorn bucket.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yeah. So last time we were at Disneyland last summer, my son found this little interactive Darth Vader where you tap on its head and it just spouts phrases at you and it's super cute and it's a lot of fun and we have a great time with it, but it's also not a popcorn bucket bucket. It's just the toy.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Right, Right.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yes. Just make the toy. And that's interesting. And why make it a popcorn bucket as well? But it's just, you know, if we can pry money from their cold dead hands, we will.

[Dave Bittner]

I have two. Two interactive R2D2s. I have one that is about 7 or 8 inches tall that sits on my desk. And I have one that's probably about 18 inches tall that's in my home Theater at home sits next to the movie screen there. Life goal is to get a full size R2D2, which I think Adam Savage refers to as a happiness machine. If you have a full size R2D2 in your house, how can you not be happy?

[Jason DeFilippo]

So are you prioritizing the full size R2 D2 over the full stormtrooper outfit or which comes first?

[Dave Bittner]

Here's the thing. If I can afford a full size R2D2, I can afford both because the stormtrooper uniforms are not terribly. Actually, you guys set me up with the most expensive part, which is the helmet. Since I have a top notch helmet, I could get the rest of the stormtrooper. The thing that's really holding me back from getting the rest of the stormtrooper is the that at this point, if I were to pull the trigger and get the stormtrooper outfit, I would.

[Brian Schulmeister]

If you were to pull the trigger, you'd miss.

[Dave Bittner]

That's true. Good one. Thank you. I would be the fat trooper.

[Jason DeFilippo]

I was going to say you'd have to modify your diet to be able to stay inside of it. That's harder at our age.

[Brian Schulmeister]

We should be more cosplaying porkins.

[Dave Bittner]

Yes, exactly. So I would be. I'd need whatever the imperial version of Spanx are to wear under my stormtrooper suit. So that's kind of been keeping me from pulling the trigger. What it should do is motivate me to lose the weight. But so far that hasn't happened. So yeah, you know, these are. These are fun things to think about. But the. I just. It's hard to pull the trigger on some of these things when they're. There's really not that practical. On the other hand, I have a new appreciation for a recent appreciation for the fact that life is freaking short. So don't postpone joy.

[Brian Schulmeister]

True. Very true.

[Dave Bittner]

Right?

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yep. So one of the things that caught my eye from that article was the fact that they were talking about the arrival of Walt Disney's high tech robot this summer, which I had not heard about. So I immediately had to find the article about that. When Disneyland turns 70 this July, main Street's Opera house will play host to the return of Walt Disney who will sit down with audiences and tell his story in robot form. The response has been mixed, especially among members of the Disney family. The Disney's grand nephew, Roy P. Disney was present in support of the announcement. Meanwhile, Walt's granddaughter Joanna Miller wrote a Facebook post stressing that he would not have wanted to be turned into an animatronic the idea of robotic grandpa to give the public a feeling of who the living man was just makes no sense. It would be an imposter.

[Dave Bittner]

It's just to which I say, have.

[Brian Schulmeister]

You been to the park?

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah, right, right.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Have you been? Because that is what the park is.

[Dave Bittner]

Right. If there were anyone in the world, if you made a list of people most appropriately to be turned into an animatronic robot, Walt would be at the top of the list.

[Jason DeFilippo]

I mean, the very top of the mountain for sure.

[Brian Schulmeister]

So I'm actually looking forward to seeing this because I know the technology has come a long way since the hall of Presentation and all that sort of thing. So I'm excited.

[Dave Bittner]

Right. Yeah, me too. What do you guys think of. So the hall of Presidents is closed right now in Disney World anyway for refurb. And I'm putting big air quotes around refurb. But what do you guys think about the notion that the hall of Presidents needs to be reworked? The last time I was in the hall of Presidents, which was probably four years ago ago, people were booing and cheering for presidents.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yeah.

[Dave Bittner]

So my point being that it does not. It no longer has the reverence that it once had for the office of the presidency. So I've heard people say that, you know, wouldn't this be a great place to use the Muppets?

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yes.

[Dave Bittner]

Turn it into a Muppets hall of Presidents.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Entertainment has moved on and, and the concept of what Disneyland is, has moved on. Walt was very much into education. The part. I, I, I don't know how you have a park that sits, that sits a Marvel Land and a Cars Land and the Star Wars Land with the hall of Presidents. I'm quite frankly astonished that anybody even goes into the hall of Presidents anymore. Except for maybe to get into some air conditioning.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Conditioning.

[Dave Bittner]

Yeah, air conditioning and a good nap.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yeah.

[Jason DeFilippo]

I think what you should do is electrify the seats within just a DBE notification that if you, if you, if you talk too loud, you just get a zap in the ass.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yeah. Yeah. And speaking of the Muppets. As the Muppets presence at Disney parks continues to evolve, the beloved Jim Henson Company characters are marking their 70th year anniversary at the same time at Disneyland. With that in mind, Disney experiences in Muppet Studios decided to collaborate on a special show to fit perfectly along with the cell celebrations across the Disneyland resort. Well, not quite a special show. The first showing of World of Color Happiness, the nighttime water spectacular at Disney California Adventure is premiering. And the Muppets get the special greeting before the show. At least they're doing something.

[Dave Bittner]

Yeah. I put a link in here to the. To a video of it.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Oh, excellent.

[Dave Bittner]

And it's good. It's good. I mean, when I say it's good, I mean it is in the spirit of the Muppets. It feels Muppety. It feels like it's written by someone who gets the Muppets. And so there's several really funny moments in it. And I think the characters are true to themselves, so I think they did a good job with it. It's one of the better Muppet things I've seen lately. And how nice to see them getting some love from Disney in a forward facing place. So I like it.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yeah. They're still going to do the Muppet roller coaster in Florida, but I'm hoping to be able to catch this when I go to LA for the summer.

[Dave Bittner]

Ah, okay.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Al writes in hi. I was not able to find an online copy of Digital Dreams, the work of the Sony Design center by Paul Kunkel for Dave, but I was able to find one of his other classic works, how to Toilet train youn cat 21 days to a Litter Free Home. He gave us some links.

[Dave Bittner]

Oh, well, golly, thanks, Al.

[Brian Schulmeister]

I mean, if you want to collect all of his works, Dave.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Right. If I want to.

[Dave Bittner]

Right. I think Paul Kunkel only has three books and I already own one of them, which is his work on the Apple design team, which we talked about last time.

[Brian Schulmeister]

He must have had an awful experience toilet training his cat to veer off into this category for his third book.

[Dave Bittner]

Right. I have never been a cat owner. I've never owned a cat. I've never lived with a cat. I always say that I don't have enough self confidence to be a cat owner. Owner. I need the unconditional love of a dog. When I come home, I want the dog there greeting me.

[Brian Schulmeister]

I want my pet to want me.

[Dave Bittner]

Right, exactly. I don't want the indifference of a cat. And I understand people love cats and good for you. I'm happy for you. But not something I have a lot of experience with, nor much interest in either. So the notion that people toilet train their cats is kind of of fascinating. Seems like the kind of thing you'd see on America's Funniest Home Videos.

[Jason DeFilippo]

I think I first saw that on real people back in the day.

[Dave Bittner]

Yes, yes.

[Jason DeFilippo]

So here's the little tagline. Paul Kunkel, who toilet trained his first cat while in college and who has continued to train his own and friends cats ever since presents a foolproof 21 day program for teaching any litter trained cat between the ages of 6 months and 10 years to use a toilet instead of a litter box. Older cats can still be trained, but the process will probably take longer, requiring nothing more than magazines and or newspapers, masking tape, heavy duty plastic wrap and a supply of fresh litter. The plan begins with you placing the box next to the toilet and after gradually raising it to the height of the seat, ends with the cat, well, using it like any other member of the family for life. Why the magazines and newspapers, I wonder? Can do you teach your cat to read at the same time as you're teaching it to poop in the toilet?

[Brian Schulmeister]

Please. The cat scrolls Instagram. Come on.

[Dave Bittner]

Yeah, I was gonna say the cat can no longer poop without having a mobile device.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Well, this book did come out in 1991, so it was pre device era, so.

[Dave Bittner]

Right.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Yeah.

[Dave Bittner]

And then I guess the thing is that you also have to train the cat to flush. Right? Which it seems like a cat would be able to do.

[Brian Schulmeister]

I don't know. I'm not sure an 8 year old can at this point.

[Jason DeFilippo]

That's true.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Just saying. Look for my new book.

[Dave Bittner]

Yeah, I'm still trying to get my 26 year old to put the toilet seat down when he's done. Like to understand that he's a contributing member of society and there are some things that a gentleman simply does and does not do, but you pick your battles. Before we wrap up here, I have two items I just wanted to highlight for the grumpy part of grumpy old gear. A little ranting is in order here. I had two customer service run ins this week that have left me frustrated, so I thought I'd share. Okay, the first one was, as we know, about a week ago was Mother's Day. And so my mother passed away a few years ago, but I wanted to send some flowers to a close relative who lives a couple hours away. So I called up one of the big online flower providers and put in my order and off it was supposed to go. And Sunday comes and goes and I get a message that says, we're terribly sorry, but your delivery is not going to happen today. We've scheduled it for tomorrow. We understand how important it is to have these things delivered to loved ones and we apologize for the incomplete convenience. I'm thinking to myself, okay, whatever, it's Mother's Day. It's on a Sunday. They're very busy. The person I'm sending this to is very understanding. Like they're not one of those people who will hold this over you, you know that? How dare you. The flowers you send me be late. So I'm like, all right, fine. Monday rolls around. 4 o' clock Monday. We are terribly sorry that we are not going to be able to deliver your flowers today. We understand how important it is to you to have these things delivered to loved ones on time. And this will be scheduled for tomorrow.

[Brian Schulmeister]

At least use ChatGPT to vary up the emails.

[Dave Bittner]

I'm like, okay, fine, I'll wait another day. Next day, four o' clock rolls around. We are so sorry that we are unable to deliver your flowers today. We've rescheduled it for tomorrow. I'm like, okay, fine. So the next morning I sit down at my computer and I send a little note to customer service and I say, look, all I want is someone to be straight with me. Are these flowers ever going to be delivered or is this just a way for you to convince me to cancel my order? Because if it's just the best thing for us to do is to part ways, let's do that so I can move on with my life and not have this day to day sort of leading on. I got no response other than a message saying your order has been canceled.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Wow.

[Dave Bittner]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Nice. So there's two things I've learned over many Mother's days and various other flower delivering occasions which maybe will help you in the future. And any listeners. First off, Mother's Day flower delivery always do Saturday. Do not even attempt to try to have them delivered on Sunday. Moms will not care. They will be happy to get the flowers early.

[Dave Bittner]

Right.

[Brian Schulmeister]

And secondly, never use any of these services. The big, the big flower services. I'm thinking specifically of one that might start with 1, 800. What I have always done is I have used the Google bot to find a local, local small flower shop very, very close to the the delivery address and call them up if they do not have a website. Most do have websites these days and they, they appreciate and they appreciate your, your sir, your, your custom because they are a small mom and pop shop and not a big corporation and they're also local and will deliver.

[Dave Bittner]

That is indeed what I ended up doing.

[Brian Schulmeister]

There you go.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah.

[Dave Bittner]

The funny thing was the woman I, I spoke to is a very small town and the woman I spoke to was delightful small business owner, all those kinds of things. And she said to me, well, when would you like this delivered? And I said, well, as soon as possible. She said, well, I can't deliver it. Today, because I'm not having flowers delivered till tomorrow because I didn't really think there'd be many deliveries the rest of this week.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Right.

[Dave Bittner]

I said, fair enough, that is fine. And so they got delivered the next day, which of course added another day to the delivery here. But, yeah, but in the end, the person was delighted that they got them, you know, no, no hard feelings. And I, I ended up doing what I should have done from the very beginning, which is, as you say, Brian, you know, go to the local place and find the local, not the big place.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Yeah.

[Dave Bittner]

By the way, happy birthday.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Oh, thank you very much. I will expect my flowers in two weeks. Crap.

[Dave Bittner]

So the other one, as I've shared here, a couple months ago now, my father passed away. And so we are in the process of preparing his home for sale. And as part of that, we have a relative is living in the house, sort of house sitting and helping prepare the house for sale. And so because of that, I have not shut off the Internet and Comcast, you know, cable in the house for the sake of this person living there.

[Brian Schulmeister]

I'm already feeling pain.

[Dave Bittner]

Yeah. However, they did not have to have a $300 a month Comcast bill for a single person living in the house with, you know, I think my father had six TVs all around the house that had cable boxes, they're paying monthly rentals and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Also, this person does not need gigabit Internet at the house. So all I wanted do was dial down the service, Right. I didn't want to disconnect the service. I just wanted to save some money, just scale it back, cut it in half, right? So I go to Comcast's website and of course, what they really want you to do is talk to the chatbot. I said, all right, let's give this a whirl. So I bring up the chatbot and it comes up and it says, hi, how can I help you today? And I say, hello, I am trying to dial down the service for a loved one who recently passed away. I'm just trying to save some money. So my understanding is you want to save some money. That's correct, yes. I'd like to save some money for my deceased relative who. Who no longer lives in the home while we prepare to sell the home. Great. Let me look at your bill and I'll see what kind of money I can save. You standby. Very good. I'll just wait here. Comes back, I'm waiting. Few minutes pass, comes back, great news. I can save you $50 a month and add a mobile line to your account. Does that sound like a great deal? No, my dead father doesn't need a mobile line, thank you very much.

[Brian Schulmeister]

I mean, unless it would work. You guys have figured that out?

[Dave Bittner]

Somebody actually mentioned I posted about this and said, boy, that would be one hell of a long distance call. Which is true. So I just said, no, thank you. I will pursue other avenues. And I disconnected with the chat bot. But you just reminded me that these chatbots are completely ill equipped for anything that is outside of a very narrow band of normal exchanges. And they make it so hard to actually find a real live human being. So what I ended up doing in the end was I sicked my wife on them and she took care of it, so cut the bill in half.

[Brian Schulmeister]

That's. That's usually a good way to do it.

[Dave Bittner]

Yeah, yeah. I was like, honey, I am frustrated. Would you like to have a run at this? And she was like, oh, let me add them.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Let me. Yeah, so.

[Dave Bittner]

Which is probably what I should have done to begin with. But anyway, so, you know, eventually I will have to shut off the service and. Yeah, but I also want to contrast this. That in my journey with all the things that I've had to take care of with my father's estate. Everyone except for Comcast has been delightful. They've been helpful, they've been kind, they've been understanding, they've been patient. So this is really what makes this stand out, is how boneheaded it was from start to finish and that it didn't have to be this way. Way.

[Brian Schulmeister]

But, yeah, those chatbots, they just don't. They're. They're not ready for prime time.

[Dave Bittner]

No, absolutely not.

[Brian Schulmeister]

But they've been put in prime time pretty much everywhere, right?

[Jason DeFilippo]

Everywhere.

[Dave Bittner]

Right.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Which is why I used to go to websites for customer service. I. I just won't anymore. I'll find a phone number. Yeah, it's just the. The websites are just useless.

[Dave Bittner]

Well, and it reminds me of the story I. You guys covered earlier in the show about that company that had gone all in on AI and then decide, oh, this doesn't work.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Work.

[Dave Bittner]

We need to hire people.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Hire those people back that we fired.

[Dave Bittner]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Funny that. So. All right, well, that's what I have this week, so take care and I'll talk to you guys soon.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Talk to you soon.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Over at patreon, we've got two new people, Lucas and figure 15. Welcome. And thanks to Gordy, who upped their pledge. And from the legacy files, we've got Kenny, Jordan, James, Dan, Sam, Brian, Tara, Zaddy, Mortis, Gary, and Michael. So thank you everybody for being a patron.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Thank you so much. Over at PayPal, we've got miles, Shari, Natalie, Nathaniel and Arcadio.

[Jason DeFilippo]

Over the tip jar we've got Sean, Tony and Theodore. And nobody at the merch store. No reviews either. But just a quick reminder, if you want to help support the show, you can go to GOG Show. Donate where we have a plethora of options, or you can go to pick patreon.com gog and for as little as $3 a month, you get the show a little bit early ad free and in high definition. And you can give us more than that if you want, but $3 will get you in the door and if you pay for the whole year, you get it at a discount. So thank you very much for supporting your favorite nerds.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Thank you.

[Jason DeFilippo]

I've got a shout out this week to the Everyone is titled to My Own Opinion Substack newsletter by Jeff Tedrick. It is the greatest newsletter about the Trump administration to hit the Internet. I highly, highly, highly recommend it. It is filthy and pulls no punches.

[Brian Schulmeister]

It's very funny. I enjoy it as well.

[Jason DeFilippo]

It is the greatest thing I found. Yes, and happy birthday to my Brian's, you, Brian, and our friend Brian Blondale, who also celebrated a birthday this week. So welcome to being older, you old fucks.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Youngest of the Brians and youngest on this podcast podcast still. Thank you very much. So yes, but.

[Jason DeFilippo]

And not that young.

[Brian Schulmeister]

No, not that young. I wish Brian a happy birthday as well and then thank you for my birthday wishes. I'm looking forward to finishing this podcast and then doing nothing and drinking like a fish. Now those days are long gone. Dinner with the family and I'll have a little bit of whiskey tonight with Murderbot. All right, until next time, I'm the older and not necessarily one wiser Brian Schulmester.

[Jason DeFilippo]

And I'm Jason DeFilippo. Thanks for listening to grumpy old geeks. Get all the links to goodies from Today's episode at GOG Show 697. Want to keep the grumpiness alive? Toss a few bucks our way at GOG Show. Donate every penny helps keep the show on the air. Love the show.

[Brian Schulmeister]

Share it.

[Jason DeFilippo]

There's a share button in your podcast player. Use it to spread the grumpiness to friends, foes and everyone in between and we'll love you for it. Swing by GOG show to join our discord and chat with us and other show fans. Got thoughts, feedback, cool links. Hit us up at GOG show Contact. And hey, don't forget to leave a five star review at GOG show Review and we'll read it on the show. Oh, and guess what we've got. Merch. Snag your grumpy gear now at shop Gog show. Stay grumpy.