707: Someone Spilled the Tea

0:16Jason DeFilippo:Welcome to Grumpy Old Geeks. I'm Jason DeFilippo. Brian is off somewhere in the Pacific Northwest with the fam, so it's just me and Dave today. Dave will be joining me shortly for a chit-chat about the late and great Tom Lehrer. Now, a little follow-up. This is from The Economist, and we know a lot of our listeners are Gen Xers, so this is relevant to your interests. Forget the pity party for millennials and Gen Z. Generation X may be the real lost generation. Born between 1965 and 1980, Gen X is overlooked in pop culture and underrepresented in media buzz. But they're also the least happy, according to global polls.

0:55Jason DeFilippo:Stuck in the middle, Gen Xers are juggling aging parents and dependent kids while navigating midlife health issues and stalled careers. Their income gains have been the smallest of any generation, and thanks to the 2008 financial crisis and a sluggish job market, they missed out on key earning years and stock market booms. Homeownership? Turns out Gen X suffered the biggest drop compared to boomers. Many foreclosed during the housing crash. And with shaky pension systems and looming social security cuts, their future looks even grimmer. So next time you hear complaints from younger generations, remember, Gen X didn't just get ignored, they got screwed.

1:36Jason DeFilippo:Thank you, economist. Teens across the U.S. are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence for emotional support, advice, and even friendship, according to a new study from Common Sense Media. More than 70 % of teens have used AI companions like ChatGPT or Replica, with nearly a third saying the conversations are as satisfying or more than those with real friends. Experts are sounding the alarm. While AI offers constant availability and non-judgmental feedback, researchers warn it may stunt teen social development and critical thinking. No shit. Some even rely on AI to write breakup texts or sensitive emails, raising concerns about over-dependence.

2:19Jason DeFilippo:And the fact that you've got a girlfriend or a boyfriend, why would you want to break up with them over text or break up with them at all? Jeez. The study also uncovered disturbing trends. Minors using adult roleplay apps, weak age restrictions, and AI producing harmful or sexual content. Researchers urge parents to take note as most are unaware of how deeply AI has integrated into teen life. As one teen put it, AI is the new addiction. And with youth mental health already fragile, experts warn the risks of replacing real relationships with virtual ones are only just the beginning. Yay progress!

3:00Jason DeFilippo:In the news!

3:07Jason DeFilippo:So T, the safe women-only dating feedback app that swore it would empower women and protect anonymity, just Ashley Madison the shit out of itself. Turns out their idea of security was leaving their legacy database wide open, like the back door is not just unlocked open, it's flapping in the breeze open. Hackers snatched 72 ,000 images, including selfies, IDs, and personal verifications. plus, just for funsies, 1.1 million private DMs, then promptly spilled the whole lot onto the web. Because nothing says empowerment like having your face and life story plastered across revenge forums and mapped out for creeps to browse.

3:50Jason DeFilippo:Well, T's response? They disabled messaging, called in cyber experts, and they warble about compliance with law enforcement. Meanwhile, users are lawyering up for a class action lawsuit since apparently nobody at T had the bright idea to check if their anonymous safe space was actually, you know, safe. Now, women who signed up to protect themselves from stalkers and bad dates are dealing with widespread doxing, identity theft, and trolls raiding their selfies like it's hot or not in 2003. If you ever wondered what happens when Move Fast and Break Things meets Hey Girl, Tell me your secrets, now you know.

4:28Jason DeFilippo:So just to clarify what everyone is thinking, no, the T app wasn't vibe coded by a rogue AI on a Red Bull bender. While some vibe coding did creep in, the real enemy here was good old fashioned human laziness. Legacy code, zero security audits, and dusty Firebase settings straight out of 2017. So yeah, AI played a cameo, but this flop was written by hand with all the grace of a MySpace dev on a deadline. So don't blame on AI, what can be chalked up to good old human incompetence. Microsoft has released a new study identifying which jobs are most and least likely to be replaced by generative AI.

5:12Jason DeFilippo:Based on 200 ,000 anonymized Bing co-pilot chats, researchers found that roles involving writing, teaching, advising, and customer service are the most vulnerable. Topping the list, translators, historians, sales reps, and authors. Meanwhile, manual labor jobs like roofers, housekeepers, and dishwashers appear far safer from automation. Go figure. But the study cautions that AI isn't replacing entire jobs, just changing how tasks are done. Microsoft researchers emphasize their findings reflect current chatbot capabilities, not long-term economic impact. They also admit AI often fails at tasks requiring human intuition or basic factual accuracy.

5:58Jason DeFilippo:Yeah, let's give it to the historians and the writers and the translators. Yeah, let's give AI to those people and replace their jobs with something that is basically factually inaccurate. Smart. Still, as OpenAI's CEO bluntly warned, entire job categories may soon be totally gone, bro. CEOs are already using AI to justify layoffs, and Microsoft's AI applicability score suggests white-collar jobs may be at greater risk than we thought. And in more fun AI news, ChatGPT users were shocked, shocked I say this week, after discovering that their private conversations were showing up in Google search results, surprising everybody because nobody knew people Googled for anything anymore.

6:42Jason DeFilippo:Fast Company broke the story, revealing that thousands of chats, some sharing intimate details about users' relationships, mental health, and even drug use, were indexed and visible online. While names weren't attached, the context was sometimes specific enough to potentially identify users. The leak wasn't a data breach, but rather a feature, not a bug, OpenAI had quietly enabled. Users who clicked Share on a chat were shown a checkbox labeled Make This Chat Discoverable, with a smaller, easy-to-miss warning below, saying it might appear in search results. OpenAI initially defended the language as clear enough, but after public outcry, the company pulled the feature entirely.

7:26Jason DeFilippo:Their chief information security officer admitted the design made it too easy for people to accidentally share highly personal content. Meta is facing a major copyright lawsuit from two adult film studios, Strike Three Holdings, and Counter Life Media. Over allegations, it pirated nearly 2 ,400 adult movies to train its AI models. Filed in California federal court, the lawsuit claims Meta downloaded the content via BitTorrent from private sites and even shared the files to speed up downloads, a practice known as tit-for-tat. The studios argue this helped Meta develop its movie gen and other AI tools capable of mimicking high-end adult film production.

8:08Jason DeFilippo:Evidence includes proprietary tracking data and links to 47 IP addresses allegedly tied to Meta or its contractors. The complaint also cites stealth IP addresses and hidden data centers used to obscure Meta's activity. The studios are seeking up to$359 million in damages for willful copyright infringement. Meta has not yet responded. Strike three, known for aggressive copyright enforcement, may settle, but a jury trial is still on the table. In northern Italy, fed-up farmers in the Dolomites are fighting back against Instagram-fueled tourism. With crowds of up to 4 ,000 people a day trampling across private land to capture scenic selfies, locals have installed turnstiles, intercharging tourists 5 euros, about 6 bucks, for access to popular photo spots.

9:01Jason DeFilippo:While Italian law guarantees free access to natural parks, farmers say this is a desperate response to trash, trespassing, and official inaction. One landowner called it a cry for help. Alpine Club president Carlo Zanella backs the move, blaming travel influencers for the chaos and urging the government to step in. comparing the situation to Venice's over-tourism fee. Elsewhere in Italy, authorities are cracking down on unruly summer visitors. New laws ban shirtless wanderers, impose beach caps, and fine people for digging umbrella holes, blasting boat music, or even walking barefoot. The message is clear.

9:41Jason DeFilippo:Respect the land or pay the price. A wave of new online age verification laws just went into effect, and the results are mixed. In the UK, the Online Safety Act kicked in on July 25th, requiring websites with adult content to implement, quote, highly effective, unquote, age checks. This means no more simply ticking a box saying you're over 18. Now, users might have to upload a government ID, use facial age estimation, or provide credit card details to access certain sites. And it's not just a British thing. In the U.S., a Texas law that the Supreme Court recently upheld requires similar age verification for websites with significant pornographic content.

10:24Jason DeFilippo:At least 24 U.S. states now require users to upload a legitimate ID, provide a credit card, or pass a biometric selfie scan before accessing adult content. The UK's Online Safety Act expanded age checks to most digital platforms that might harbor, quote, harmful material, end quote. Not just porn, but also anything from racy jokes to edgy discussions on Discord, TikTok, and even Wikipedia. Sites risk massive fines for letting minors slip through, and even direct messages or late-night scrolling by teenagers can trigger compliance nightmares. But in classic internet fashion, users have found hilariously creative ways to blow past these digital velvet ropes.

11:09Jason DeFilippo:VPN downloads surged up to 1 ,800 % in the UK as thousands pick Australia, the US, or quote, somewhere with more chill laws, letting them sidestep age verification with a single click. To bamboozle facial recognition age checks, some are using high-res images of Norman Reedus' face from the video game Death Stranding, or even rolling up with Sims characters, moving them from side to side for the camera to fool the systems. One person on social media joked that 60 % of the UK population is now Norman Reedus. And I saw another thread where people were using Twin Peaks' deputy director Gordon Cole, Titan's vinyl figures, to trick the facial recognition.

11:50Jason DeFilippo:If you see one of these, you'll get it. It's pretty funny. Miners also snag a parent's credit card or older sibling's ID or crowdsource trusted adult accounts to slip under the radar. With age estimators still easy to outsmart, plenty just punch in fake birthdays and spin up fresh over-18 identities on sites that don't demand hard proof. For the over-the-top stuff that gets nuked from big networks, users just migrate to obscure smaller platforms that fly under the regulatory radar, sharing guides and exploits for anyone missing the glory days of the open web. Most of these systems are Swiss cheese for anyone with basic digital smarts and kids these days oh they have plenty and if you're stuck in age verification hell grumpy old geeks recommends private internet access just go to gog.show slash vpn and sign up today a federal jury in miami has found tesla partly liable for a fatal 2019 crash involving its autopilot system and awarded 329 million dollars in punitive damages The crash killed a 20-year-old woman and severely injured her boyfriend.

12:55Jason DeFilippo:The car failed to break at an intersection while Autopilot was active, striking another vehicle and a pedestrian. The jury assigned one-third of the blame to Tesla and the rest to the driver who was sued separately. Plaintiffs argued that Tesla allowed Autopilot to be used on roads it wasn't designed for, and that Elon Musk exaggerated its capabilities. Tesla plans to appeal, saying the verdict was wrong and blaming driver error. The ruling is a landmark decision since it's one of the first major legal defeats for Tesla's driver assistance technology. We've previously covered Elon Musk's new Tesla Diner in Hollywood, and there's some new news coming out of 404 Media.

13:37Jason DeFilippo:Living next to Elon Musk's Tesla Diner in Hollywood has turned into a waking nightmare for some residents of a neighborhood apartment building. While the retro-themed 24-7 diner with its massive four-story movie screen draws long lines of Tesla fans and curious tourists, neighbors say the experience has been anything but charming. Former resident Kristen Rose described the months of early morning construction, flashing lights, and roaring generators as absolute hell. She ultimately moved out, citing noise pollution, toxic fumes, and strobe lights blasting into the bedrooms, even with the blinds shut.

14:14Jason DeFilippo:Others soon followed, including an elderly couple who'd lived there for decades. Current tenants complain about crowds, traffic jams, and constant honking. One woman said she now sleeps with AirPods in just to drown out the chaos. Another likened the environment to living in Times Square without the upside. Residents say complaints to Tesla and building management went largely ignored, and no rent breaks were offered despite the disruption. Some, however, remained supportive. One top floor tenant called the diner the best thing to happen to Hollywood in 10 years, praising the joyful vibe and happy families.

14:49Jason DeFilippo:But with protests outside, reinforced gates, and a spike in vacancies, it's clear not everyone agrees. Before I welcome Dave this week, if you don't know who Tom Lehrer is, I highly recommend you stop the podcast and go listen to some of his work. There's a link in the show notes to literally everything he ever did. If you're on any of the major streaming services, you can find his music there as well. Tom was the original music troll, a math nerd with a piano in a pitch black sense of humor. In the 1950s and 60s, Tom Lehrer wrote savage, hilarious songs about nuclear war, racism, religion, and even pollution decades before satire went mainstream.

15:30Jason DeFilippo:Imagine Bo Burnham, Tim Minchin, and Weird Al rolled into one Ivy League professor with zero fucks to give about fame. He was an inspiration to millions and had one hell of a great run.

15:48Jason DeFilippo:The Dark Side. Ha! With Dave. Welcome to The Dark Side with Dave. Podcast super host Dave Bittner is joining us again for all the links to everything Dave does and his podcasts are legion. Please check out the show notes. Hi, Dave.

16:07Dave Bittner:Hello. Hello. Nice to be back.

16:10Jason DeFilippo:So, yes, Brian is off enjoying the wonderful Pacific Northwest today. So I thought that we really had to get together because we lost a legend last week. And I think between the three of us, you and I are the ones that probably affected the most. Tom Lehrer died last week. And Tom was one of those people that I always kept checking. I'm like, is he still alive? Is he still alive? I mean, he outlived Abe Vigoda for Christ's sake. Right. And so when he finally did die, I was just like, oh, it really kind of stung. So I thought we could get together and just talk a little bit about Tom for a moment.

16:50Dave Bittner:Yeah. I mean, what a brilliant satirist, right? I mean, and I guess I learned about Tom Lair in the late 70s, early 80s, you know, when you're that time in your life when you're starting to check out comedy and comedy albums. And which I think I started with old Bill Cosby albums. And then, you know, eventually somebody said, hey, have you checked out Tom Lair? and I remember looking at one of the albums and on the back of the album, he had all of the negative reviews of his previous album. I thought to myself, okay, this is my kind of guy. But I mean, has there ever been a smarter satirist? I was thinking about this and the only one I could think of was maybe Peter Shickley.

17:41Jason DeFilippo:Yeah, I don't think so. And yeah, I came into Tom Lehrer late because I was a huge fan of standup comedy. I had all the Eddie Murphy tapes. I listened to the Bill Cosby, the Richard Pryors and all of that. But it wasn't until I went to live with my dad when I was like around 14 or 15. And he introduced me to Dr. Demento and specifically Tom Lehrer because of the song, The Vatican Rag. Okay. Because my dad was a huge fan of Tom Lehrer when he was back in college. It was just one of those things where I was just like, as soon as I heard it, I'm like, okay, well, I have to have everything that this man has ever done.

18:16Jason DeFilippo:Right. And then became a Tom Lehrer completionist, as it were. Yeah. But I don't know anybody that has, you know, has made more of an impact with such a short career than he has for that genre of music, for sure.

18:31Dave Bittner:Well, and also for my generation, you know, I'm a couple years older than you. He was so foundational through the work that he did for the electric company. Yep. And I think some of it might have made its way onto Sesame Street as well. But like to this day, one of my all time favorite jokes is his song about Silent E, where he says who can turn a he says he turned a damn into a dame. But my friend Sam stayed just the same. Like what a smart, funny joke to toss at eight year olds. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He just had a knack. And of course, in his career was like this whole musical thing was just a side gig.

19:14Dave Bittner:It was a dalliance. It was not his main thing. I think it's probably the thing in his life that made him the most money once his albums started taking off. But he was a mathematician.

19:26Jason DeFilippo:Yeah. And he was he was a prodigy. I didn't even realize how, you know, how smart he really was because he skipped a couple of grades and got into Harvard when he was 15. Mm hmm. Graduated magna cum laude in mathematics at 18. And then a year later, got his master's. It's like, OK, well, overachieve much. Right.

19:47Dave Bittner:You know, right. Yeah. I was reading through some of his biography stuff. And when you think about that, it's surprising that he did not have a Ph.D. But the stuff I read said that he kind of dallied with one over the course of about 15 years and just never bothered to finish it. I guess didn't really get in the way of any of his career aspirations to not have it.

20:10Jason DeFilippo:Yeah, really. He did what he loved to do.

20:13Dave Bittner:Yeah. There's a funny story that I saw come by that I've included a link to. There's a series of posts over on Blue Sky, and it's titled The Delightful Story of a Prank Tom Tom Lehrer played on the NSA. And this is just a wonderful story. It starts, it's written by someone who says that they worked as a mathematician at NSA during the second Obama administration and the first half of the Trump administration. And they had enjoyed Tom Lehrer's music. And this person had access to the NSA's research directorate, which has an electronic library. So just for fun, this person did a search on Tom Lehrer and up came a unclassified research paper.

20:59Dave Bittner:And it's called Gambler's Ruin with Soft-Hearted Adversary, whatever that means.

21:05Jason DeFilippo:Okay.

21:06Dave Bittner:But in the paper, there are five sources that are cited throughout the body of the paper, but the bibliography lists six sources. And the third entry in the bibliography that is never referenced in the paper says, analytic and algebraic topology of locally Euclidean metrizations of infinitely differentiable Riemannian manifolds by N. Lobachevsky.

21:37Jason DeFilippo:Okay, okay.

21:39Dave Bittner:So you're laughing. Yeah. Did you get the joke? Yes. So Tom Lair had a song about this made up character named Lobachevsky, who was famous for stealing other people's work. It was a song about the new mathematics and how it was all about stealing each other's work. So Tom Lair snuck into this bibliography for a research paper he did for NSA, a lyric from one of his songs from an album that had come out a couple of years earlier. Now, the person who discovered this wrote a letter to Tom Lehrer asking if he had ever gotten in trouble for it. And Tom said, no, no one ever discovered the joke. And so the person who wrote this said he was a comedian who could quietly tell a joke and wait more than 60 years for the payoff.