TechGrumps | Angry people going on about technology

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Podcast

TechGrumps 3.3.6 Men are weird: The Return of the Glasshole

Who watches the watchmen? We don’t answer that type of dumb question in this podcast; we just wonder who is looking at your junk. And we look at why you may not want to stay on CSAM champion Elon Musk’s X platform.

Listen to your host Ryan Alexander with Ian Forrester, David ‘Andy’ Eastman, and Wendy Grossman.

Techgrumps 3.36

Mozilla, Firefox and AI
- https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/17/mozillas-new-ceo-says-ai-is-coming-to-firefox-but-will-remain-a-choice/
The return of smart glasses and wearables
- https://www.theverge.com/column/797938/optimizer-newsletter-wearable-hell-smart-glasses-smart-rings-ai-hardware
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx23ke7rm7go
Now at the “Get The F*** Off X/Twitter” stage
- https://www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safety/illegal-and-harmful-content/ofcom-launches-investigation-into-x-over-grok-sexualised-imagery
Paper about fake parts of real videos:
- https://arxiv.org/pdf/2508.21052s
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwygqqll9k2o
Tony Blair wants to be a Tech Bro, building AI tools to rival Palantir
- https://democracyforsale.substack.com/p/blair-bids-to-build-own-ai-tools-rival-palantir-tbi
AOB
- The AI summary in which a police officer turned into a frog (or in discussion of The Owl Who Was God)
  - https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-police-report-frog
- Making the familiar strange podcast
  - https://redcircle.com/shows/95190f06-ba12-47ae-9267-4aaa656f4e93
- Feed in to the future of the BBC
  - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz94q0v4kq2o
- FOSDEM 2026!
  - https://fosdem.org/
- Checkout scanners can tell you that you used a QR code not the barcode

Tagged ianforrester, davideastman, ryanalexander, wendygrossman, AI, google glass, X, Palantir, firefox

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Podcast

TechGrumps 3.3.5 Bless The TechGrumps (Special holiday special)

We should wish you all a Merry Christmas – but why would we do such a thing?

Enjoy this Holiday Nativity Special but with 5 wise men. Well, 4 wise men and Hannah. Actually, one wise Hannah and some others.

Listen to your host Ryan Alexander with Ian Forrester, David Eastman, Andy Piper and Hannah Field.

Hannah: is grumpy about marketers using “GEO” or “Generative Engine Optimisation”
- https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/dec/10/is-retail-ready-for-ai-shaking-up-how-we-shop?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Ian is grumpy about how social is eroding relationships, causing loneliness and exhaustion
Ryan is haunted because Claude knows his dungeon
- https://www.reddit.com/r/gifs/comments/1fkf65/this_scene_from_superman_iii_haunted_me_as_a_child/
David is worried about the Reverse Centaurs
- https://pluralistic.net/2025/12/05/pop-that-bubble/#u-washington
Andy is grumpy about lessons learned form Sleep dealer
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wR2XoNshl4&t=527s
- https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/sleep-dealer-2008-movie-retrospective
- https://medium.com/nerd-for-tech/are-llms-getting-devious-and-smart-enough-to-trick-you-on-their-own-65c83061e661
- “Ready Player Me” https://readyplayer.me/
- Don’t forget “Citizen Sleeper’
AOB
- Familiar strangers (not lovegrumps) podcast coming soon
- FOSDEM 2026
  - https://fosdem.org/2026/schedule/

Tagged GEO, holiday

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Podcast

Techgrumps 3.34 ChatGPT is not my wingman

This time ChatGPT is helping you date, while just dating you too. When will this thing just go away? Also local cyberattacks and Android getting a bit fruity (if the fruit is an Apple).

Grumps this time include the voices of Ian Forrester, David “Andy” Eastman, and Wendy Grossman.

Techgrumps 3.34

Local council cyberattacks
- https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252526106/Annual-costs-of-Hackney-ransomware-attack-exceed-12m
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y2w43ry5lo
Planes patches
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gp9d28p74o
The iOS of Android and the problems
- https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/11/google-will-let-android-power-users-bypass-upcoming-sideloading-restrictions/
- https://keepandroidopen.org/
GraphineOS blocked in France?
- https://proton.me/blog/grapheneos-france
The Rise of ChatGPT as an AI Dating Coach in 2025
- https://www.elle.com/life-love/sex-relationships/a68999668/chatgpt-ai-dating-coach-trend-interview-2025/
AOBs
- Look out for a new podcast with Ian & Jess
- Notes on being a man by Scott Galloway
  - https://bookwyrm.social/book/2149836/s/notes-on-being-a-man
- Drift Zero DJ – DJ hackday in 2026?
  - https://driftdj.com/
- NEO’s new $20,000 robot servant that has to be operated by a remote human
  - https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2025/10/29/this-20000-neo-robot-will-clean-your-home-but-theres-a-catch-and-its-kind-of-terrifying/

Tagged AI, Android, cyberattack, iOS, NEO

Podcast

Techgrumps 3.33 The Final Step Is Removing the Consumer

This time AI wants your browser. With OpenAI launching Atlas and the Apps SDK, first they will bypass the web and finally cut the end user out of the economic decision process.

Also the AWS crash

AI browsers, WTF?
- https://netwars.pelicancrossing.net/2025/10/31/the-gated-web/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fountains_of_Paradise
Amazon goes down, what next?
- https://netwars.pelicancrossing.net/2025/10/24/its-always-dns/
- https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c5y8k7k6v1rt
Python software foundation rejects DEI strings
- https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/27/python_foundation_abandons_15m_nsf/
AOB
- Mozilla Festival 2025
  - https://www.mozillafestival.org/
- Enshittification (the book)
  - https://bookwyrm.social/book/1886312/s/enshittification
- QED
  - https://qedcon.org/
- Ian talks AI to the health insurances
  - https://amii.org.uk/events/
- Sir Tim’s book – https://bookwyrm.social/book/2087203/s/this-is-for-everyone
- Is Solid like Zandando? – https://fil.org/ecosystem-explorer/anytype
- And sky hooks explained in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fountains_of_Paradise

Tagged AI, AWS, davideastman, ianforrester, ryanalexander, wendygrossman

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Podcast

Techgrumps 3.32 Your Illegal Racially Motivated Stops Will Go More Smoothly

With the UK’s steps into the age gated internet and digital ID back again like the renegade master, the techgrumps have plenty to be grumpy about in this month’s podcast.

Grumps this time include the voices of Ian Forrester, David Eastman, Ryan Alexander and Wendy Grossman.

Techgrumps 3.32

UK Digital ID
- https://netwars.pelicancrossing.net/2025/09/26/the-absurdity-card/
Christie’s has quietly shuttered its digital art department
- https://news.artnet.com/market/christies-scraps-digital-art-department-2685784
Age verification and online safety
- https://www.wired.com/story/vpn-use-spike-age-verification-laws-uk/
Meshtastic and different networks
- https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/08/jack_dorsey_debuts_bitchat/https://www.wired.com/story/youre-not-ready-for-phone-dead-zones/
AOB
- Digital legacy – https://machinereadablewishes.cc/
- Fediforum 2025 – https://fediforum.org/ – October 7-8th
- Ian’s digital dating manifesto – https://datingmanifesto.cc/

Enjoy the mp3 audio, and why not share it with others.

Tagged agegated, AI, art, David Eastman, davideastman, digitalID, ianforrester, NFTs, ryanalexander, UK, wearable, wendygrossman

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Podcast

Techgrumps 3.31: Ten Thousand Steps Of Gemini’s Love Language

Will the real wearable owner please stand up? More failing AI and Hannah meets the Fediverse, in the latest attempt to try to explain it.

Grumps this time include the voices of Ian Forrester, Hannah, Ryan Alexander and Wendy Grossman. David was too jet lagged.

Techgrumps 3.31 audio.

Enjoy the mp3 audio, and why not share it with others.

My wearable says please stand-up
- https://www.politico.com/newsletters/future-pulse/2025/06/24/rfk-jr-wants-a-wearable-on-your-wrist-00419190
Switzerland releases a public LLM
- https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/770646/switzerland-ai-model-llm-open-apertus
AI is a 4 year trying to impress you with stupid moves
Hannah meets the Fediverse
- https://videos.elenarossini.com/w/64VuNCccZNrP4u9MfgbhkN
- https://youtu.be/p9c2f63pIag?si=UZJWGfsNCfZr6Eq_&t=209
AOB
- Fediforum is back for October 7-8
  - https://fediforum.org/
- Fediforum Europe at SFcon
  - https://www.sfscon.it/programs/2025/
- Supremacy (AI, ChatGPT, and the Race That Will Change the World) by Parmy Olson
  - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxL41ew53CE
- The AI karma
  - https://futurism.com/godfather-ai-ex-broke-up-chatgpt
- Nvidia CEO says American technology should be the world’s technology stack
  - https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nvidia-ceo-jensen-huang-says-us-tech-stack-should-be-global-standard-companies-are-built-on–including-china-003308243.html

Tagged AI, fediverse, wearable

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Podcast

Techgrumps 3.30 – We Did It For The Children

Look upon the rain soaked valley, see the innocent children gambol in the poppies. Only age verification can keep this bucolic vision of Britain real – and if you don’t agree you must be a pervert. So says Tech Bro Pete Kyle.

Naturally, the techgrumps are backing this all the way. Ian Forrester, David “Andy” Eastman, and Wendy Grossman fall over themselves to ensure Our Children stay in the fields where they belong.

Techgrumps 3.30 audio

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Techgrumps 3.30
- UK’s online safety act requires users to verify their age for adult content
  - VPN usage massively up! – https://mashable.com/article/proton-vpn-uk-age-verification-signups
  - The gated internet – https://reason.com/2025/07/28/the-age-gated-internet-is-here/
  - https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/the-great-british-firewall-age-verification-has-failed/
- What happened to hobbies?
  - https://youtu.be/OLQkNUjQPUo?si=M3b4wArK8ztUN3bu
- Any other business
  - Empires of AI – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_AI
  - John Oliver on AI Slop – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWpg1RmzAbc
  - Silicon Valley’s sudden embrace of Christianity – https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/christianity-was-borderline-illegal-in-silicon-valley-now-its-the-new-religion
  - Open rights group hits 20 years! – https://www.openrightsgroup.org/events/org-at-20-cory-doctorow-in-conversation-with-maria-farrell/
  - Derailed: The Story of HS2 – https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002fv8b
    - Kate Lamble investigates the extraordinary inside story of Britain’s most ambitious and controversial rail project.

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Podcast

Techgrumps 3.29 – Please verify your AI partner

From BlueSky non-growth, to AI boyfriends through staring at an orb. I remember in the old days you just paid thruppence and went to a dance in the church hall, now its all AI intimacy and splitting your iris into three parts. And that Elon Musk, he’s a right one isn’t he?

Grumps this time include the voices of Ian Forrester, David “Andy” Eastman, and Wendy Grossman.

Techgrumps 3.29 audio

Enjoy the mp3 audio, and why not share it with others.

Stuff we mentioned in the show

The Fediverse and Bluesky
- https://netwars.pelicancrossing.net/2025/06/27/revival/
World Orb launches in the UK
- https://eandt.theiet.org/2025/06/09/sam-altmans-eyeball-scanning-device-designed-tell-humans-bots-arrives-uk
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-66128111
AI Boyfriends
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/cathyhackl/2025/06/23/confessions-of-a-futurist-i-dated-four-a
- https://shows.acast.com/metaverse-marketing/episodes/dating-ai-loving-human-exploring-ai-relationships-metas-new
AOBs
- Titan: the OceanGate Disaster = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt35628853/
- Mountain Head – https://www.imdb.com/title/tt35396529/
- BBC R&D’s Social research – https://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/articles/2025-06-social-media-change-issues-problems-report
- The Bookworm and the Fireflies has launched – https://thebookwormandthefireflies.com/

Tagged David Eastman, ianforrester, techgrumps, wendygrossman

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Podcast

Techgrumps 3.28 – If no-one monetizes no-one HAS to monetize

Another quick turnaround on the podcast. However the Techgrumps those perpetually displeased connoisseurs of digital disappointment—are still finding things to grumble about from last month. Apparently, the revolutionary AI is just a rehash of something from a by gone era.

Grumps this time include the voices of Ian Forrester, David Eastman, Wendy Grossman and Ryan Alexander.

Techgrumps 3.28 audio

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Remember to use the #techgrumps on any social networks you maybe using to message us or learn more about how to be a guest on the show

Topics discussed this month…

Stay grumpy, tell your friends, subscribe and play it again…

Tagged David Eastman, ianforrester, ryanalexander, techgrumps, wendygrossman

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Podcast

Techgrumps 3.27 – The New Frankenstien, virturally corpse free

The Techgrumps are after a quick turn around, however there is plenty more to be grumpy about!.

Grumps this time include the voices of Ian Forrester, David Eastman, Wendy Grossman and Ryan Alexander.

Techgrumps 3.27 audio

Enjoy the mp3 audio and share with others.

Remember to use the #techgrumps on any social networks you maybe using to message us or learn more about how to be a guest on the show

Topic discussed this month…

Can’t remove the Meta AI button from WhatsApp
NAS DRM on hard drives?
The Vatican guide to AI
Digital Legacy and victim sentencing
GDS playbook for AI
Ryans Enshittification corner
- Duolingo flys too close to the sun
- Discord looking to IPO
AOB (any other business)
- Surveillance tips for protesters
- So you want to be a dissident
- EFF tips
- RFK-JR wants to test vaccines against a placebo
- Mozilla Festival 2025
- Republica 2025 – Six feet under the data centre
- Dungeon Crawler Carl, Project Hail Mary, and Murderbot

Stay grumpy, tell your friends, subscribe and play it again…

Tagged David Eastman, ianforrester, ryanalexander, techgrumps, wendygrossman

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