TWiT 1097: Gina and the Glueballs

TWiT Shows This Week In Tech
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New episode of This Week in Tech: Episode 1097, “Gina and the Glueballs,” is now available.

Host: Leo Laporte · Guests: Denise Howell, Joey de Villa, Gina Smith

Topics covered:

  • :robot: Mark Zuckerberg’s 6,500-word essay on open AI and superintelligent personal agents — vision or power play?
  • :mobile_phone: Google’s Pixel 11 hardware event, including Pixel Tag and Pixel Watch 11
  • :balance_scale: App store shakeups: Google forced to host rival stores after Epic’s win, plus Apple’s proposed off-store commissions
  • :locked: Anthropic’s AI watermarking pledge and Amazon’s use of Twitch content for AI training
  • :birthday_cake: The IBM PC’s 45th birthday and new evidence for glueballs in particle physics

#TWiT #Podcast #Tech

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Great show, but I thought IBM did try an sue Phoenix and Compaq et al for copying the BIOS, but, because they could prove in court that they created the BIOS in a clean-room environment, with nothing but the inputs and outputs described in the official documentation, that IBM backed down, before they actually got to trial.

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Another great panel, was so good to see Gina up there. The part about John made me sad and the fact someone was stupid enough to make that comment about Leo is beyond the pale especially given Leo has been quite open about his feelings on their relationship.

I will say this whether John believed the moon, covid, etc stuff does not really matter. His listeners did. I watched a friend’s mother die of COVID after the vaccine was available and it was a cruel and awful way to go as you beg your last breath. She was the type of person to get every vaccine and during COVID YT sent her down a rabbit hole that started with her watching one of the CDC press conferences to get real info. Her daughter saved the history and you can see what the algo served up. Months later no vaccine, buying prepper stuff, etc. The reason I bring this up is at the end she had a few podcasts on her device, most of which had to be watched from Rumble since the rest of the internet was not really a home for this type of stuff and No Agenda which came via a YT recommendation.

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I used to listen to No Agenda and really enjoyed it, at the beginning. It was fun and I didn’t take it seriously, all the stuff about eminent domain, as Adam’s flat was demolished and he moved to Texas. It was shortly after that, and I was an Executive Producer of one episode back then, that it started to go off the rails in my opinion, from being light hearted banter and pointing fingers at serious subjects to being whacks, out there conspiracy theories and I just gave up on it.

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Leo’ s self-described utopianism really got to me today in the discussion of AI and education.

The majority of kids today do not have the luxury of learning for learning’s sake, or love of material, or any of the ideal reason for gaining knowledge. Kids today, as they did back when I was growing up in the 70s and 80s, have to worry about family situations, bullying, neurodivergent challenges (that back in my day were misnamed or not known or considered) - to say nothing of some basic necessities like food, shelter, or safety, or just learning how to be a kid and mature.

Teachers have to contend with, often times, angry parents, school boards, funding issues and the like. I would believe that a teacher that has to pay for school supplies out of their own pocket, large classrooms, shortage of teachers, salary issues, and the like may have some hurdles in maintaining the ability to teach for love of teaching, or love of learning, and instilling the same attributes in all of their students - especially when those student may have the barriers I mention above.

I myself do not have a salary where I can afford utopianism. I’m 56 and my salary reached 6-digits for the first time in my life last year, so I’ve struggled to afford the tech that I have so that I can remain within some reasonable distance of whatever the current trends are. I try to keep my eyes to the horizon, but I also have to look down to see where I’m going so that I don’t fall in a hole on my way to the promised land. It oftentimes sounds like the people pursuing the Greater Good are the ones who won’t be negatively impacted by it. Or, as I said previously with regards to Jason Calacanis - it seems fine to move fast and break things when it’s other people’s things that get broken.

I wish that there was more consideration of the realities of life and how tech has impacted it. Utopianism is well and good, but we have to live in the world we have today. We teach firearms training because a firearm can inflict serious harm. We license and/or certify doctors, EMTs, lawyers, architects, engineers, accountants, and so many other professions because the skills they wield can also be used to inflict disproportionate harm if used improperly. But we seem to think it’s acceptable to give what is potentially the most impactful technology developed to anyone without regard for how they might use it and call the aftershock of that use “the greater good”.

I don’t have an answer, but I am concerned that if we don’t try to ask the questions and work toward answers - it may become too late to find the answer.

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I’ll be honest. While I liked the panel, I was disappointed there wasn’t more discussion on the new Pixel lineup.

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It is too rare a treat to hear Denise Howell on the show. I really miss This Week in Law - she made it fun as well as informative. I wish Hearsay Culture and R&D with D&D (Denise’s podcasts) were more widely available as I seem to only see a few episodes a year in PocketCasts.

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Great panel, really enjoyed the show. Made me laugh that Leo baulked when one of the panel used the term enshittification but was happy to mention buttplugs, anal beads and later a discussion about WiFi enabled sex toys!

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I don’t usually listen to TWiT unless I catch it live but this comment made me consider catching this episode over the weekend when I have nothing to do :grinning_cat_with_smiling_eyes:

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I thought so as well!

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I also give a thumbs up for the panel. It is quite interesting that I, as a non-American, have not seen J. Dvorak at his best. I have not seen his writing, and when he appeared on a TWiT show, I saw a cranky man who often complained about things. I wish I could have read his work and listened to his podcasts when he was at his peak.

I cannot stand No Agenda. At the beginning, I thought they were basically making fun of various situations in the US, but after Trump was elected, it became obvious that they were part of a wider wave that has cost the US so much.

Leo replied to one of my questions in the past about who he thought were the best tech journalists, and he told me that John was one of the best. Unfortunately, I found out about him late in his career and I couldn’t see what was so great about him.

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I grew up with John’s writing in the UK in the 80s and 90s, with PC Magazine, which was an import for years,

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