Geekly Update - 20 Jul 2017

The AskBobRankin Geekly Update

Crappy service? Thousands of Brits agreed to clean sewer lines because they didn’t read the fine print in the terms of service of a free public WiFi service.

An umbrella-sharing startup launched in 11 Chinese cities with 300,000 umbrellas. It ended (or folded) the way you would expect.

You'd expect that people who work at Google might be involved in debugging software. But they're also trying to eliminate real bugs. Google's biotech division is participating the Debug Project in Fresno California. That involves breeding and releasing a million sterile male mosquitos each week, in an effort to kill off the dangerous ones that carry Zika, Dengue and other diseases.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates made some uncannily accurate predictions in the last century. Read about them and what Bill predicts for the future.

Privacy issues can always be worse. Would-be p**n viewers in Russia must first sign up with a social network that serves as their age-authenticator. But it also collects their addresses, phone numbers, and even passport data.

First we had data, then Big Data, and now ENORMOUS DATA! Have tech giants like Google and Facebook amassed so much data about users that it’s impossible for startups to catch up and topple them?

“Insanely accurate” lip-syncing tech could help fake news sites produce totally made-up videos that are virtually indistinguishable from the real people featured in them.

Genetic engineers have embedded an animated GIF of a running horse in living bacteria… because they can. Send some of those genetic engineers over here to mow my lawn if they have so much free time.

Discover a new book every time you visit your home page with this Chrome extension.

“Honey” is a Chrome extension that automatically finds the coupon code that saves you the most money on any item you’re about to purchase.

Samsung is targeting movie theaters with a gigantic 4K resolution LED display that measures more than 33 feet diagonally.

A Chinese mall offers husband storage pods in which men can relax and play video games or surf the Web while their wives shop. I wonder which spouse controls the door lock?

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