Geekly Update May 11

The AskBobRankin Geekly Update

Love the sound of your own voice or just want to irritate your mate? Nokia's Own Voice app for GPS allows you to record your driving instructions with 53 commands. Head over to the Ovi Store for the free application. "LEFT! I said make a LEFT, you idiot! Now I have to recalculate the whole route..."

Consumer Reports' recent State of the Net Survey claims that 2 out of 3 households use social networking sites, about twice as many as a year ago. Nine percent of the 2000 taking the survey experienced problems such as malware, scams, identify theft or harassment, allegedly as a result of careless activity on social networking sites. Kinda makes you go "huh," don't it?

Nintendo has announced a black Wii for North America and a new bundle that includes a remote, nunchuck, Wii Sports Resort and the Wii itself, still at a price of $199.99.

On the other hand, if someone has been bugging you for an Xbox 360 (or you were waiting for an excuse to purchase one for yourself,) the Arcade Spring 2010 Bundle has been released for $199.99. Included are games Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and Viva Piñata.

Amazon will be adding access to Facebook and Twitter to its Kindle later this month. The update will also allow users to sort books, lock the device, zoom, change font and share book passages with others. Still doesn't slice vegetables, however.

Seems the folks at the SEC aren't the only government employees viewing porn on the public's dime. The Sunshine State News captured a video of Sen. Mike Bennett checking out porn while in the Senate. Bennett claims it was an email that another government employee sent him. But when pressed for proof, he declined to provide specifics to reporters.

Anxious to jailbreak your iPad? There is a free Spirit download that works with any activated iPhone OS device. Use at your own risk, as the developers caution that crashes or errors will require a factory restore. Oh, and there are those pesky security holes that appear when you do the jailbreak process...

ViewSonic Corp. has a new 27" full HD monitor with a 1 ms response time (the first at that size.) The VX2739wm was meant for entertainment and gaming with its 1080p, 1920x1080 panel with a 100,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. The $349.00 monitor has built-in speakers, ECO mode, a 4-port hub and HDMI, DVI and VGA video connectivity.

One Click Diner is a recent startup that helps you locate a restaurant in your area, order online and even find coupons. There is also a mobile service and small businesses are encouraged to sign up. Thanks anyway, but I prefer the digital pizza.