Grumpy Old Geeks – Episode 732: “We’re Not In the Files!”

February 7, 2026
Hosts: Jason DeFillippo & Brian Schulmeister
With: Dave Bittner

Episode Overview

This week’s Grumpy Old Geeks is a no-holds-barred round-up of spectacular tech failures and controversies—from the 2026 Bitcoin crash to social media crackdowns, AI gone amok, and the increasingly bleak state of our online and offline worlds. Armed with dark humor and old-school skepticism, Jason, Brian, and Dave rip into the latest developments involving Elon Musk, child safety initiatives, hilarious AI mishaps, regulatory attempts from governments worldwide, SpaceX’s orbital ambitions, pop culture indulgences, and the sweet escapism offered by the Muppets’ return. If tech had a walk of shame, this would be the red carpet.

Bitcoin Crash & Crypto Meltdown

Theme: The long-predicted crash of Bitcoin and the wider impact on the tech economy.

• Bitcoin Nose-dive: The guys rejoice as Bitcoin plummets below $61,000—a 30% drop on the week and more than 50% off its all-time high.
  • “Oh, you have no idea how my little black heart just shone when I saw that news.” – Jason (00:43)
• Wider Economic Consequences:
  • Brian worries for “people’s retirement accounts,” pointing to reckless institutional investment: “Stick to the regular stuff, please. And the institutional investors did not listen.” (01:07)
  • Reports that if Bitcoin dips to $50,000, “that’s game over,” as mining becomes unprofitable.
• Auto-Sell Carnage: Auto sell triggers at $70k exacerbated the drop, miners are shutting down.
• Myth of AI-Pivoting: Jason calls bullshit on miners claiming they can pivot old GPU rigs to AI tasks: “There is a definite architectural mismatch” (02:47)
  • “There's no pivoting and there's no hodling going on.” – Brian (02:50)
• Bitcoin’s Domino Effect: Bitcoin’s decline threatens Tesla (which holds large crypto reserves).
  • “It’s going to take down Tesla... That’s the only thing that held them up for so long.” – Jason (03:05)
• Epstein Crypto Conspiracy:
  • Amused discussion about the online theory that Epstein was Satoshi Nakamoto.
  • Jason: “There’s also theories that he killed JonBenet Ramsey. Come on.” (03:59)
  • “What is crypto for, Jason?” – Brian
    Jason: “Criminals.” (04:22)
    Brian: “It’s for crime.” (04:24)

Elon Musk, AI, and Platforms in Crisis

Theme: Elon’s many messes—from X/Grok AI to regulatory pushback.

• Grok Chatbot Scandal:
  • Musk claimed Grok would stop undressing people in AI-generated images.
  • “It has not stopped undressing men.” – Brian (05:09)
  • When pressed for comment, X now simply responds with “legacy media lies.”
• X Faces French Raid:
  • French prosecutors raided X’s Paris office for alleged complicity in child sexual abuse imagery and unlawful data extraction.
  • Both Musk and Linda Yaccarino summoned for hearings.
  • Jason: “People around the world are tired of our shit is the problem.” (05:55)
• Global Social Media Crackdown:
  • Spain to ban social media for under-16s, enforce real age verification (no more checkboxes), and make algorithmic amplification of illegal content a criminal offense. Tech CEOs to face criminal liability.
  • Countries joining the anti-social media movement: Denmark, Slovenia, Greece, Norway, Australia, UK, Malaysia, Egypt, Iraq, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Turkey, Russia.
  • “Finally, that's what will make the difference if they can no longer hide behind the ‘we're just a platform’ bullshit.” – Brian (07:57)
• Roblox Gets the Boot:
  • Roblox banned in Egypt, with emphasis on “protecting children’s moral and educational values.”
  • “Turkey and Russia also enacted blanket bans...citing...promotion of homosexuality and LGBT propaganda. Yeah, well, you know, bad reason, right outcome.” – Brian (10:29)
• Musk’s Megacorp Ambitions (SpaceX + X.ai + X):
  • Elon tries to “duct tape his entire empire together” into a single “super douchey company” (11:31)
  • SpaceX files to put one million satellites in orbit to form an “orbital data center” for AI.
  • Why? Jason: “We're going to space-cool our nudes.” (12:38)
  • Critique: This could make the night sky ugly and trap humanity on Earth (Kessler syndrome).
  • Others racing for orbit: Chinese firms, Bezos (Project Kuiper), and newcomers like Space Services.
  • “The ESA expects 100,000 satellites to be in orbit by 2030. Yay.” – Brian (16:25)
  • “By 2031, we're never leaving the planet again.” – Jason (16:29)
  • “It takes one guy with a rocket in his backyard...one bucket of ball bearings going at 25,000 miles an hour to just...kick off the...Kepler syndrome.” – Jason (16:29)

AI, Child Safety, and Data Horrors

Theme: The dark side of AI data and accountability.

• AI-generated Child Abuse Material:
  • 1 million+ reports to the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 2025, mostly from Amazon.
  • Amazon claims it doesn’t know how this content made its way into training data—a story reminiscent of “research” defense from Pete Townshend, The Who (17:37)
  • “Having such a high volume come in through the year begs a lot of questions about where the data is coming from…” (18:09)
  • “You think it's your fucking data, assholes.” – Jason (18:17)

Social Media, Layoffs & Privacy

Theme: Mass layoffs, privacy, and subversive resistance inside Silicon Valley.

• Pinterest Layoff Hack:
  • Pinterest laid off 15% of staff but refused to disclose who was affected.
  • Two engineers developed a tool to track when Slack accounts were deactivated—creating a master layoff list, in violation of company policy.
  • “Pinterest, your entire business model is a clear violation of copyright law.” – Jason (21:35)
  • Engineers fired, but grumpy geeks give them props for creative resistance.

Pop Culture Riffs: TV, Movies & Media

Theme: Streaming hits and misses; what’s old is new again.

• Anthropic’s Claude AI Jabs at OpenAI
  • Anthropic splurges on Super Bowl ads mocking OpenAI for plans to integrate ads into ChatGPT.
  • The Claude ad: Chat advice interrupted by a “cougar dating ad” pop-up.
  • “That’s very funny. And maybe useful.” – Brian (24:10)
• Apple’s “Shrinking” S3 Disappointment:
  • Season three premiers weakly: “Even my wife, who lives for these kind of shows, was like, I don’t know if I can watch this.” – Brian (25:20)
• Grammys and VMAs:
  • “I’ve aged out.” – Brian (26:13)
• Starfleet Academy Rant:
  • Hologram science and forced texting-visuals in Star Trek rage-inducing for Jason and Brian.
  • “This hologram person, I call so much bullshit on that. Nobody has taken the time to actually think it through.” – Jason (28:18)
• Movie: “The Rip” (Affleck/Damon):
  • Praised for being “just a movie…not trying to create the Godfather.” – Jason (32:21)
• Neil Young Activism:
  • Makes his music/film archive free to Greenland, but pulls from Amazon Music as protest against Bezos's politics.

Apps & Tech: Headphones, Old Files, and AI Video Tools

• Sennheiser In-Ear Headphones:
  • Both hosts try new affordable in-ear monitors and compare the sound quality. AB testing: “Apple Music is way better.” – Brian (35:49)
• Topaz Video for Restoring Old Video:
  • “It definitely smooths things out, maybe a little bit too much...grain is just gone.” – Brian (39:31)
  • Request for listener suggestions for better video clean-up tools.

Software Oddities & AI Tools

• “Epstein” GitHub Repo:
  • Scans LinkedIn contacts against publicly released Epstein court documents.
  • “There are a lot of reasons you can be in the files.” – Brian (41:10)
• Prompt Injection Attacks on Self-Driving Cars:
  • Signs saying “proceed” or “turn left” can hijack vision systems.
  • “We talked about making our stop sign T-shirts years ago…well, it turns out researchers have shown this works.” – Jason (41:34)
• Social Media Sharia Law:
  • Satirical aside on punishing parents and CEOs in countries that crack down on social media misuse.

Book & Library Corner

• Charlie Stross’s Regicide Report (Laundry Files #14):
  • Jason: “It’s very much like the old days, the old Laundry Files books” (43:34)
• Terry Pratchett & Early Dementia in Writing:
  • Research finds a measurable, subtle decline in Pratchett’s use of adjectives before Alzheimer’s symptoms—possibly a use case for AI detection.
  • “The one thing we’ve now figured out it’s good for is something we can’t actually test for.” – Jason (45:08)
• Neil Gaiman’s Defensive Medium Post:
  • Gaiman announces a new book “the biggest thing I’ve done since American Gods,” amid controversy over the “Good Omens” finale.

The Muppets: Pop Culture Salve

Special Segment with Dave Bittner

• Muppets Return!
  • Dave, elated: “It felt like authentic Muppet humor...nailed it in terms of making it feel like they continued where they left off.” (47:21)
  • “I definitely felt that way. I hadn't felt that good in quite some time. It was just pure escapism and magic.” – Brian (49:12)
  • Discussion of possible future celebrity hosts—Ricky Gervais, Lady Gaga, Goldblum, Patrick Stewart & Ian McKellen (“they could do all the Shakespearean stuff—the Muppets, it would be wonderful.” – Brian, 51:47)
  • Parental perspective: Brian’s son loved both the new and classic episodes.
• Disney CEO Change:
  • New CEO, Josh D’Amaro (current theme parks and experiences head) seen as either continuity for Disney’s DNA or a wild card.
  • “Whether you bring back the Muppets or not is probably going to be one of his first big decisions. At least that affects all of us.” – Brian (54:52)

Nerd Fun: Paper Airplanes, Roller Coasters & Rent-A-Human

• Paper Airplane Database:
  • Old-school paper plane nostalgia. “My go-to was always the V-Wing.” – Brian (57:47)
• Roller Coaster Geeking:
  • Wild Dubai record-breaker, classic wooden coasters, and personal favorites.
  • “My friends brought my girlfriend with me. So they're like, you're going to have to go on roller coasters because your girlfriend likes roller coasters and you don't want to be a wuss.” – Jason (66:18)
• Rent A Human.AI:
  • Satire becomes real: people list themselves for hire to perform AI-assigned tasks.
  • “Makes me glad I’m old, Dave.” – Brian (68:28)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “The vibe currency is no longer feeling the vibe.” – Brian, on crypto’s collapse (00:38)
• “It's for crime.” – Brian, on the real use-case for crypto (04:24)
• “No, no, I’m on [AirPod] two.” – Brian, on tech upgrades (35:59)
• “Pinterest, your entire business model is a clear violation of copyright law.” – Jason (21:35)
• “By 2031, we're never leaving the planet again.” – Jason (16:25)
• “Shrinking is back...and I've got to say, it was not good. Even my wife...was like, 'I don't know if I can watch this.'” – Brian (24:45)
• “I definitely felt that way. I hadn't felt that good in quite some time. It was just pure escapism and magic.” – Brian, on new Muppets (49:12)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:24] Bitcoin’s Crash & Financial Fallout
• [05:26] Elon Musk, GROK, and AI Sex Scandals
• [05:55] France Raids X, Global Social Media Crackdown
• [09:17] Roblox and Global Child Tech Regulation
• [12:03] Musk’s Orbital Megacorp: SpaceX, Satellites, and AI
• [17:11] AI-generated Child Sexual Abuse Material
• [20:15] Pinterest Layoffs & Privacy Hack
• [23:14] Anthropic Mocks OpenAI in Super Bowl Ads
• [24:36] Apple TV’s “Shrinking” Disappoints
• [32:21] Neil Young Protests via Streaming
• [35:49] Headphone Showdown: Sennheiser vs. AirPods
• [39:31] AI/Video Restoration Tools (Topaz Video)
• [41:34] Prompt Injection Attacks on Self-Driving Cars
• [43:22] Charlie Stross's "Regicide Report"
• [44:39] Terry Pratchett & AI Detection of Dementia
• [46:53] The Muppets Return – Review & Nostalgia
• [54:52] Disney’s New CEO (Josh D’Amaro)
• [57:47] Paper Airplane Nostalgia
• [63:22] Roller Coaster Geekery
• [68:16] RentAHuman.AI
• [70:17] Ian McKellen’s Heartwarming Interview (Link in show notes)

Final Thoughts & Shoutouts

• Remembrance of Catherine O’Hara’s passing and her impact on comedy and pop culture.
• Appeal for listener support via Patreon/Paypal/tip jar.
• Listener request: GoFundMe for Sam “Balloon Man” Martinez, a beloved balloon artist facing hospitalization.

Stay Grumpy!

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