Geekly Update - 04 February 2015

The AskBobRankin Geekly Update

You can cancel that Robot Overlord welcome party. Bill Gates shares Elon Musk’s concerns about artificial intelligence, though he thinks it may be “a few decades” before machines rule humanity. He also feels “stupid” for knowing only one language (English, not C++).

A drone aircraft that crashed on the White House lawn has been traced to a drunken government employee in a nearby apartment. The unidentified idiot works for the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, which gathers intelligence for DoD using advanced technology – such as drones. But the egg-faced agent swears this one “belonged to a friend.”

They know what you did last summer... And perhaps what you're doing right now. A new radar device is being used by over 50 U.S. law enforcement agencies to see inside houses. The device can detect movement as slight as breathing. But don't worry, they'll only use these things on the bad guys.

Sharing your Netflix password with a friend would be a felony under President Obama’s proposed changes to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

The FTC ordered prepaid wireless carrier TracFone to refund $40 million to customers who bought “umlimited” data service and then had their data speeds throttled by up to 90% when they exceeded certain data limits. Affected TracFone brands include Net10, Straight Talk, Simple Mobile, and Telcel America.

Sony reached its limit with Music Unlimited, and pulled the plug on its own music streaming service. Not to worry... Spotify will carry Sony tunes in the future.

Comcast struggled to explain how a customer’s name was changed to “A**hole Brown” on his monthly bill. Now other Comcast customers are coming forth with insulting name-changes.

General George S. Patton’s estate is suing a game developer to stop release of a video game that revolves around the WW II hero’s life. Patton died 69 years ago, but California (where the game maker is based) is one ten States where the “right of publicity” extends beyond death… 70 years beyond, in this case.

Waze, the Google app that uses crowd-sourcing to map road hazards including speed trap locations, is under fire from the National Sheriffs Associaton for three reasons: officer safety, speeding ticket revenue, and speeding ticket revenue.

What would you imagine is in “the world’s most advanced toolbox?” Well, the $169 Coolbox sports bluetooth speakers, LED lights, dual handles, a whiteboard, wheels, retractable power cord, 3 way power splitter, internal rechargeable battery, USB charger, tablet stand, and more. Oh, it holds a lot of tools, too.

You’d think the maker of TurboTax, the most popular tax software in the U. S. would know better than to try to chisel more money out of its penny-pinching customers, but Intuit Corp. had to learn the hard way. After enormous outcry about the movement of critical schedules from the mid-range Deluxe to pricier versions, the CEO apologized and announced refunds and free updates for all.

Your thoughts on these topics are welcome. Post a comment or question below, or I'll throttle your data...