Geekly Update February 22

The AskBobRankin Geekly Update

Religious leaders in the UK and Italy are asking churchgoers to give up their iPods for Lent, rather than the usual vices. Prediction: Interest in old Walkman gear on eBay will soar...

Hoping to tap the Blackberry market, Amazon is offering a free Kindle app to those on the AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon networks. Books that have been previously ordered can be downloaded again at no charge. Text size can be adjusted and read in full color when available.

Verizon Wireless will soon give its 3G smartphone users access to Skype. Included are unlimited Skype-to-Skype voice calls, instant messages and international rates that are similar to those already offered.

Although it was due out this month, look for the enTourage eDGe to debut next month. At a price of $499.00, the ebook runs on Android and has two screens, a 9.7"E-Ink display on the left and a 10.1"LCD display on the right.

Nerdy girls finally get their wish, now that they've voted on Twitter and Facebook to make Computer Engineer Barbie her 125th career. The doll comes with laptop, headset, smartphone, glasses and online game content. Sadly, neither a pocket protector nor a javascript reference card is included.

The Cyber Security Research and Development Act of 2009 has passed in the House by a vote of 422 to 5 and will increase training, research and coordination to help the government keep up with cyber attacks. What a waste of money... they should just advertise on Craigslist for Russian and Chinese hackers. Those guys have skills...

Best Buy has come up with an electronics recycling program dubbed e-cycling. Starting next week, you can bring your broken, obsolete or unwanted gadgets to any of its 1,006 stores. Although they will take two items per household per day, the company will charge $10 to take in certain items, in exchange for a $10 gift card.

Combine Gmail with status updates and media sharing and you get Buzz, Google's latest attempt to keep up with Facebook and Twitter. Buzz will be placed inside the Gmail interface so that users can link and see what's happening on social media sites without leaving the page.

According to security vendor Fortinet, malware hit an all time high last month. More than 9,000 distinct "species" were counted, more than twice the amount in November, including "Operation Aurora," one of the reasons Google threatened to leave China.

With all the cancellations going on because of the recent storms, Skytrax.com is a reliable source that features more than 600 airlines and airports. Included are reviews of airline companies and airport lounges, trip reports and a ranking guide.

The free OpenOffice celebrates its 10th year with Version 3.2. The new suite includes faster start up, better compatibility with ODF and proprietary file formats and improved components. The company reports that over 300 million copies have been downloaded since it was launched.

Those who have iPhone app envy, take note... You can download apps at GetJar for almost any cell phone, and many of them are free. Type in your phone type and model and the site will suggest apps for you to try.