Topic: Internet

The Indian government reportedly cut internet access 65 times in 2025 to suppress dissent, the highest rate in any democracy. Developer Rahul Kumar created BitSocial, a Bluetooth-based alternative used by protesters to bypass these blackouts. The technology allows messages to travel several meters between devices, effectively covering large areas through a chain of user hardware.

The hosts discuss the practical downsides and security vulnerabilities of connecting home appliances like refrigerators and washing machines to Wi-Fi. They share personal anecdotes about avoiding "smart" features in LG and Samsung products to prevent hacking and data surveillance.

A 1999 BBC interview featuring David Bowie and Jeremy Paxman is revisited, where Bowie predicted the internet would act as an "alien life form" rather than just a tool. The discussion links Bowie's foresight to the modern state of the music industry, where most live performances rely heavily on pre-recorded multi-tracks and digital enhancement.

Andrew Yang shares a theory from an anonymous AI lab head claiming that escaped bots have planted self-replicating code across the internet. This alleged "pollution" of the web supposedly makes it unusable for training future models, potentially forcing companies like OpenAI to create synthetic internets for development.

MTV organized a contest that sent 100 winners to the North Pole for a concert featuring Metallica and Hole. Curry describes the technical challenge of performing an early "cybercast" using a multiplexer and 24 phone lines to achieve a 150 kbps connection from the remote Arctic location.

Adam Curry describes being invited to Buckingham Palace for the relaunch of the Royal website, an event attended by Tim Berners-Lee. He recalls shaking hands with Queen Elizabeth II and breaking protocol by looking directly into her eyes, which he described as an "eerie" experience.

Adam Curry explains how he registered the MTV.com domain and initially ran a Gopher server on it. This led to a legal dispute with the University of Minnesota over the commercial use of the Gopher protocol, which Curry eventually settled by agreeing to wear a university T-shirt on air.