721: Pixel Predators

This episode proves that nothing gold can stay, especially your 401k, as we kick things off with the revelation that October saw the worst tech layoffs since 2003, all while "Big Short" genius Michael Burry decided to bet a billion dollars on the inevitable AI bubble bursting. The villains of the week are legion: the FCC is officially making it easier for internet companies to charge us even more hidden fees; Elon Musk not only got his $1 trillion pay package approved—despite Tesla sales collapsing nearly 90% in some countries—but he also teased a flying car, clearly living in his own "Golden Dome" fantasy, which the Pentagon is happily subsidizing; and in a stunning display of entitlement, Mark Zuckerberg opened an illegal school, which is somehow less shocking than Meta’s claim that their massive porn stash was purely for "personal use," not AI training. The bad news doesn't stop there, with Texas suing Roblox over 'pixel pedophiles,' though at least a rural Michigan healthcare system is doing some good by using drones to improve care.

Jumping over to Media Candy, since we’re all emotionally scarred by the sheer awful-ness of The Witcher S4—a season so bad it "broke" The Critical Drinker—we need some comfort viewing. We’re deep-diving into the political chess of The Diplomat and escaping into the sheer volume of competitive cooking shows, including the standard Halloween and Holiday Baking Championships, plus the delightfully ridiculous Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking S2; we also took a look at Pluribus, Knife Edge, Black Rabbit, and the trailer for Tron: Ares, while cheering the fact that Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz are set to revive The Mummy franchise for a fourth film. In Apps & Doodads, we’re all mourning the eventual death of simple, good tech as we’re warned to enjoy Apple CarPlay while we still can, but at least the Lego ‘Star Trek’ Set is finally here for our inner child; the real question, though, is why Automattic Inc. thinks they can claim ownership of the actual word 'Automatic.'

Finally, The Dark Side with Dave Bittner reminds us that everything old is new again and ripe for monetization, whether it's Miss Piggy potentially bringing back The Muppets to the movies or the sleek, blacked-out remake of the Commodore 64, not to mention that cool Tron Arcade Cabinet Miniature Model. However, the present is still a complete dumpster fire: a Google AI model allegedly accused a senator of sexual assault, and internal documents show that Meta is earning a fortune on a massive deluge of fraudulent ads, proving that the only thing getting healthier is our paranoia, though Dave did throw in a curveball with some special jar lids and seeds for growing organic sprouts. We finish, as always, with the obligatory Closing Shout-Outs because even cynical geeks need validation.

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Show notes at https://gog.show/721

FOLLOW UP

October Layoffs Were the Worst Since 2003 and Hit Tech Workers Hard

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