November 9, 2026 | The Gigman’s Life
Today’s Breakfast Talk was brought to you by the letters T-H-N-C and the number 420. Don’t ask. It’s Monday, folks!
Welcome back to another morning at The Gigman’s Life, where the conversation doesn’t always follow a script, the technology doesn’t always cooperate, and eventually I have to stop talking and go make some money.
Today’s show was a perfect example of why this channel has never been exclusively about Uber, Lyft, or delivery apps. It’s about working, technology, building things, figuring things out, and trying to make a living in a world that never stops changing.
And sometimes, that means spending your morning fixing something that worked perfectly fine yesterday.
OBS Updates: When Production Technology Decides to Have a Monday
You know that old IT rule about not making unnecessary changes to a working production environment?
Well, guess who got reminded of it this morning?
After updating OBS, my Advanced Masks plugin stopped working. That’s the plugin responsible for the camera cutout you see during the livestream.
The plugin was still installed, but OBS wasn’t recognizing it correctly.
Nothing like discovering a software compatibility problem when you’re supposed to be broadcasting!
Having spent years working with computers and IT security, I know better. Updates should be tested before they affect production. Preferably when you have time to troubleshoot and recover.
But that’s technology. Sometimes we learn the same lessons more than once.
Raspberry Pi: Giving OBS Tools a New Home
While dealing with the OBS update, I’ve also been working on running OBS Tools from a Raspberry Pi.
The idea is simple: why make the streaming computer handle everything when a small, inexpensive computer can host some of the supporting services?
I’m working toward using the Raspberry Pi for HTML overlays, information displays, and eventually a combined YouTube and Rumble chat feed.
Imagine seeing both platforms’ conversations in one place, with their respective icons showing where each message originated.
That’s the kind of project I enjoy.
We also talked about the rumored Raspberry Pi Zero 3. If a future model brings Raspberry Pi 4-class processing power and additional memory into the Zero form factor, it could be a useful upgrade for lightweight servers and embedded projects.
But until then, the Zero 2 W still has plenty of possibilities.
Uber, Lyft, and the Problem With Cash Orders
Here’s another thing that bothers me about how gig platforms operate.
Uber has introduced cash payments for certain orders, and eligible drivers can find themselves enrolled without specifically choosing to take cash transactions.
I don’t want to handle cash orders.
Not because I’m opposed to cash. Cash tips? Absolutely! Thank you very much!
But collecting payment for an order is a completely different responsibility.
Now I’m handling somebody else’s money, making change, reconciling accounts, and potentially having future earnings adjusted because of a cash transaction.
That’s not what I signed up to do.
If a platform wants drivers to take on additional financial responsibilities, drivers should actively choose to accept them.
And that choice should be clearly explained before the feature is enabled.
Autonomous Vehicles: Driving Isn’t the Entire Job
We also returned to one of my ongoing concerns about autonomous vehicles.
Everybody wants to talk about how well these vehicles drive.
But what happens when the passenger needs assistance?
Suppose an elderly passenger exits a driverless vehicle, takes a few steps, falls, and cannot get back up.
Who’s going to help?
What if the passenger cannot close the door? What if there’s a medical emergency? What happens when severe winter weather makes the situation worse?
A human driver can recognize that something is wrong, communicate with the passenger, and contact emergency services.
Autonomous transportation companies need to demonstrate how their systems will handle those situations, too.
And let’s remember something important: transporting passengers isn’t always just about getting a vehicle from point A to point B.
There’s a human responsibility involved.
Not every vehicle is equipped for every passenger’s needs, and not every driver is trained to provide physical assistance. That’s why accessibility, appropriate equipment, and proper training matter.
Technology doesn’t eliminate those responsibilities.
AI, Middle Management, and the Changing Workplace
Artificial intelligence is going to change employment. In many workplaces, it already is.
One area worth watching is middle management and administrative work.
Businesses are increasingly asking whether some layers of administration are necessary.
But eliminating positions isn’t automatically the same as improving productivity.
Some jobs exist because somebody needs to coordinate people, solve problems, and take responsibility when things go wrong.
That’s something technology still needs human judgment to accomplish in many situations.
The bigger question is how we keep people working productively as technology changes the kinds of jobs available.
We shouldn’t simply be asking which positions can disappear.
We should be asking what useful work people can do next.
And Yes, We Had Our Usual Detours
What would Breakfast Talk be without wandering into completely different conversations?
We touched on Mel Brooks, Spaceballs, Hollywood sequels, trademarks, software updates, hardware projects, and the occasional completely unnecessary tangent.
And that’s the point.
I’m not trying to produce another scripted show where somebody tells everybody else what to think.
I share what I’m working on, what I’m experiencing, and what I find interesting.
Sometimes that’s rideshare. Sometimes it’s technology. Sometimes it’s a 3D printer, a Raspberry Pi, or a piece of software that decides to make my morning more entertaining than planned.
It’s all part of making a living.
Join the Conversation
If you watched today’s Breakfast Talk, I’d like to hear what you think.
Are autonomous vehicles ready to replace human drivers? Are gig platforms placing too many financial responsibilities on drivers? Is AI going to eliminate unnecessary management or create new problems? And how much control should we have over updates to the systems we depend on?
Agree or disagree, leave a comment.
The goal isn’t simply to shout that something needs to change. It’s to have a conversation about what should change and why.
And if you’re doing gig work in Massachusetts, keep paying attention to what’s happening with driver protections, the App Drivers Union, and the regulations affecting our livelihoods.
Watch and follow The Gigman’s Life:
- Website: https://thegigmanslife.com
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thegigmanslife
- Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/theGigManlife
Breakfast Talk streams Monday through Friday, usually around 8 AM Eastern, with additional conversation often continuing on Rumble.
Now I’ve got OBS to maintain, projects to finish, a vehicle to keep running, and bills to pay.
Because apparently, talking about making money doesn’t actually pay the bills!
It’s a Gig Man’s Life indeed.