Grumpy Old Geeks – Episode 741: "Moon Joy"

Hosts: Jason DeFillippo, Brian Schulmeister, with Dave Bittner
Date: April 10, 2026
Episode Theme:
The week’s episode dishes out Grumpy Old Geeks’ signature blend of no-bullshit takes on tech news, regulatory shakeups, security oopsies, AI anxieties, and pop culture obsessions. The hosts dissect news “train wrecks”—from global policy shifts to Silicon Valley’s latest ironies and failures—peppered with dark humor, generational shrugs, and a stubborn quest for meaning (or at least functional gadgets). It's a tech walk of shame with baseball, space nerd joy, and a dash of nostalgia.

Main Discussion Themes

• Digital age verification and regulation in the EU and abroad
• Tech giants' hypocrisy and global AI competition
• Prediction markets, regulatory capture, and political conflicts of interest
• Tech security “oopsies” and fading product support
• Layoffs, tech marketing spin, and business models
• Pop culture reviews, media consumption, and nostalgia
• Deep-dive on the week’s AI panic
• Personal anecdotes, rants, and community updates

Key Topics & Insights

1. Baseball Banter & Life in Toronto

00:04 – 02:01

• The show opens with banter about the Dodgers vs Blue Jays, with Brian relishing LA’s wins and recounting a family excursion to a game in Toronto (“...the third game was Wednesday ...we pulled the kid out of school a bit early, said they had a dentist appointment and went off...”).
• Sets the relaxed but irreverent tone for the show.

2. Digital Age Verification & Social Media Bans

02:01 – 04:32

• Ireland: Testing a government digital wallet for age-verifying social media access.
  • “People could store digital versions of their birth certificates, driver's license, European health cards and more.” [Brian, 02:41]
  • Mandated by EU regulation by end of 2026.
• Greece: Social media ban for under-15s to combat screen addiction; age checks pushed to tech companies and a “Kids Wallet” app for parents.
  • “But fuck them, they can't vote yet.” [Brian quoting Greek PM, 04:15]
• Messy global patchwork: “The tide is going everywhere. Except for the good old USA...” [Brian, 04:28]

3. Hypocrisy in AI Model Protection

04:53 – 06:42

• OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google are teaming up to prevent Chinese companies from copying their AI models.
  • “They're worried that somebody's going to steal what they have already stolen.” [Jason, 05:24]
  • The irony isn't lost: “How dare you do the thing we’ve been doing.” [Brian, 06:34]
  • Praises for Chinese innovation (e.g., DeepSeek’s open models and efficiency).

4. U.S. Prediction Markets, Polymarket & Kalshi

06:43 – 08:49

• Court rules U.S. CFTC has sole authority over Kalshi (not states), keeping prediction markets open.
• Trump-world influence: “Donald Trump Jr. is a paid advisor to Kalshi...” [Brian, 07:25]
• Concerns over regulatory capture, grift, and the mainstreaming of “bets on everything.”

5. Signal, iPhone & Digital Forensics

08:50 – 10:46

• FBI recovers deleted Signal messages from Apple’s notification cache.
  • “It sounds like some bad programming on Apple’s part...” [Brian, 09:17]
  • User error highlighted (preview messages on lock screen); both user & Apple at fault.
  • “This was just a kind of a fuck up on all levels... Apple should have fixed this. The user should have known better.” [Jason, 10:24]

6. GoPro’s Fall from Grace & AI Creep Into Hardware

10:56 – 14:50

• GoPro layoffs: 23% workforce cut as company bets on “AI-centric” camera relaunch.
• “It’s a fucking camera. Keep your AI out of my camera.” [Jason, 12:55]
• GoPro’s brand ubiquity is gone; rivals like DJI and Insta360 now dominate.
• Olympic tech & gadget nostalgia.

7. AI Liability Shields & Illinois Pushback

15:24 – 17:33

• OpenAI backs a bill to limit developer liability in “frontier AI” mishaps, if certain “safety” reports are filed.
• “They have absolutely acted intentionally and recklessly with their sycophantic fucking AI.” [Jason, 15:58]
• 90% of Illinoisans oppose; state history with big-tech facial recognition lawsuits cited.

8. Artemis 2, iPhones, and Space Nerd Joy

17:33 – 19:31

• Artemis 2’s return to the moon: GoPros and iPhone 17 Pro capturing “breathtaking” far-side photos.
• “It's science, man. Science. I know the fucking world is shit right now, but boy did we need this.” [Brian, 18:27]
• NASA budget threatened, but beloved in the public eye.

Notable Moment

• “Every second has been a lifeline to not killing myself. Thanks to OpenAI.” [Brian, 18:34]

9. Apple & Tech Oopsies: When Good Products Go Bad

Apps & Doodads, 19:36 – 30:42

• Mercedes Benz G Wagon EV recall: Wheels may literally fall off because old hardware can't handle EV mass (“When you build a car, you have really one job. Keep the wheels on.” [Jason, 19:56])
• Amazon deprecating old Kindles and Fire tablets: Users lose access to store, new downloads; years-old devices now “bricked.”
  • “It's an e-ink reader. Why would you discontinue support for that?” [Jason, 22:08]
  • Old-school Kindle customer rage.
• Apple’s growing software sloppiness:
  • Signal notification bug
  • Apple Fitness app stacking bug: pre-made workout stacks are now shuffling randomly after latest update.
  • “Cracks have appeared in Apple’s once titanium steel programming... It would be very rare to have any bugs or errors and if there was, they fixed them toot sweet. But that has not been the case anymore.” [Brian, 26:56]

10. Gadgets & Lifehacks

25:33 – 26:40

• Electric knife sharpener: Presto 08800 recommended over chef-y, expensive models.
  • “Did a beautiful job. The knives are great. Slice through everything. Now it slices, it dices, it cuts through a fucking can.” [Brian, 25:25]

11. Media Candy: What They’re Watching & Reading

34:11 – 45:12

TV Reviews

• The Pit: New high watermark in medical drama.
  • “It’s competence porn. I’m there for it.” [Jason, 34:19]
• Shrinking: Once-promising Apple TV+ show is meandering.
  • “Started up here and just kind of went... Nothing matches that first season.” [Brian, 34:58]
• Daredevil reboot: “Same fight scene over and over again.” [Jason, 37:13]
• Spaceballs sequel: Finished, but weirdly delayed until April 2027 (“Put it out already!”)
• Netflix’s price shenanigans: Italian courts force refunds; elsewhere, more hikes. New “Playground” gaming app for kids.
• Personal milestone: Jason’s podcast "Anonymous" is back with new episodes.

Books

• Breath (James Nestor): Abandoned for lack of useful content.
• 4000 Weeks (Oliver Burkeman): Highly recommended “life management” book.
• Maus: Jason discovering the classic graphic novel—“Wow, it's amazing. I can't wait to get to the second book...” [Jason, 44:44]

12. The Dark Side With Dave (Dave Bittner Segment)

45:21 – 68:49

Space & Star Wars

• Artemis 2’s landing: Shared hope and joy.
• Star Wars: Maul Shadowlord on Disney+: Dark, underworld vibe; surprisingly good.
• Strong Songs Podcast: Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” breakdown leaves Dave weeping on a plane.
  • “As you get older, your passions soften into wisdom.” [Kirk Hamilton, quoted at 57:05]
  • The value of “emotional release” and why it’s OK for grown men to weep.

Security Scare of the Week: Anthropic’s Mythos AI

• AI finds zero-days at scale: Panic, regulatory meetings.
  • “This tool will cause an avalanche of bug reports that there won’t be time to mitigate.” [Dave, 51:18]
  • “If Anthropic built one, someone else is going to build one... It’s Pandora’s Box.” [Brian, 53:32]

Nostalgia: TV, Toys, and Childhood

• Love Boat: Pinky Tuscadero cameo sparks memories.
• Toys: Fonzie’s (lame) stunt cycle vs. Evel Knievel’s.
• Desire for classic commercials: “I would actually skip the show. Like, I don’t even want to see the show. I want to see all the original commercials...” [Brian, 67:04]

Uplift

• NASA’s “Moon Joy” astronaut video—"If you can't take love to the stars, why do we even do it?" [Dave, 68:01]
• “It's a happy little boost, I think, when we all could use one.” [Dave, 68:44]

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Tech Hypocrisy:
  “They're worried that somebody's going to steal what they have already stolen.” – Jason [05:24]

• On US Regulatory Capture:
  “Their own person who’s in charge of their own commission that they've decided is in charge of regulating this says, hey, we don't need to regulate this. See how that works?” – Brian [07:47]

• On Security Gaffes & Apple:
  “Cracks have appeared in Apple's once titanium steel programming…” – Brian [26:56]

• On Hope from Space:
  “It's science, man. Science. I know the fucking world is shit right now, but boy did we need this.” – Brian [18:27]

• On Emotional Aging:
  “As you get older, your passions soften into wisdom.” – (quoted by Dave from Kirk Hamilton, 57:05)

• On the State of Tech:
  “It's a fire hose torrent of just... trying to figure out what is just PR bullcrap versus what's real news and what these things can really do...” – Brian [54:47]

Timestamps for Major Segments

• 00:04 – Baseball & Toronto banter
• 02:01 – Ireland and Greece: Age verification & youth internet bans
• 04:53 – OpenAI, Anthropic, Google vs. China: AI model drama
• 06:43 – Kalshi/Polymarket, prediction markets, CFTC power grab
• 08:50 – FBI, Signal, iPhone notification forensics
• 10:56 – GoPro layoffs, “AI-powered” hardware, industry shifts
• 15:24 – Illinois fights AI company liability shield
• 17:33 – Artemis 2 moonshot; iPhone's moon photos
• 19:36 – Mercedes G Wagon EV, Kindle/Fires deprecated, Apple bugs
• 25:33 – Knife sharpener recommendation
• 34:11 – Media Candy: The Pit, Shrinking, Daredevil, Spaceballs, Netflix news
• 45:21 – “The Dark Side with Dave”: Star Wars, Security meltdown, Strong Songs, nostalgia, Moon Joy

Final Thoughts & Community

• Patreon, Paypal, and tip jar thanks to dedicated listeners; sponsorships are fading, so listener support is the future.
• Closing moment: Recognition of hip-hop legend Afrika Bambaataa’s passing—marked by grief and moral complexity.

Overall Tone & Takeaways

The hosts offer their trademark blend of sarcastic humor, exasperation, and occasional optimism. This week, the hope and joy from the Artemis 2 mission stands out against a backdrop of tech ironies and blunders. The show is a cathartic look at a world where AI is moving too fast to regulate or understand, tech companies keep screwing their users, and pop culture is both a comfort and a distraction. Through it all, the Grumpy Old Geeks continue to “stay grumpy”—and perhaps a little bit hopeful.

For Further Info

• All episode links, gadgets, and articles referenced are in the show notes at GOG Show
• Discord, Patreon, and listener community links at GOG.show/donate and GOG.show/contact

"If you can't take love to the stars, why do we even do it?" – NASA Artemis 2 Astronaut [68:01]

Stay grumpy.