Geekly Update - 23 November 2010

The AskBobRankin Geekly Update

In a type of trend reversal, the incredibly popular mobile game Angry Birds will soon be coming to Xbox Live, Playstation Network and Wii. I have to admit, I killed more than a few green pigs myself last night.

Want to get someone a really personal gift? Sculpteo will develop a 3D avatar from pictures of you, including chosen clothing and a message on the base of a 7cm ($74.90) or 10cm ($129.90) figure. Voodoo pins not included.

If you were curious enough Monday morning to check out the livestream from CEO Mark Zuckerberg then you heard about @facebook.com. The new email system offers a social inbox that will filter messages and has been described as more like chat than email.

Not wanting to be left behind, AOL took this time to release a limited beta of its Project Phoenix. Similar to Gmail, it has a quick bar for sending short emails and IMs, tabbed interface for switching between message and the main box, and can be hooked up to social sites like Facebook. You have to wonder if the whole "rising from the ashes" thing is a bit of wishful thinking for AOL...

Entrepeneur has created a list of the 25 worst high-tech habits. Avoiding security software, failing to back up your computer and replying to spam are the top three.

Activist Brian Sodegren has dubbed November 24th as National Opt-Out Day to protest the lack of privacy involved in TSA's naked body scanners.

The two Apples have finally found common ground as the Beatles are now showcased at the iTunes store. All albums are available for download either by cut or their entirety, including their boxed set.

Walmart plans to open at midnight on Black Friday, but electronics will not be available until 5:00 a.m. Hopefully this will cut down on trampling deaths at Walmart entrances.

AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless have joined to produce ISIS, a "mobile commerce network" that gives your phone purchase power. Over the next 18 months they will be rolling out the service that will eliminate the need for cash, credit and debit cards. Yikes.

Are your kids bugging you for their own computer? The PeeWee Pivot PC 2.0 runs on Intel Atom, and has keyboard entry, touchscreen and digital pen input. At a price of $599.99 it has a security suite for protection, 15 included games and rugged drop and spill resistant casing.

Microsoft is pleased as punch that it sold 1 million Kinects worldwide in a mere 10 days. They predict that 5 million will be bought by the end of the year.