Geekly Update - 06 August 2014

The AskBobRankin Geekly Update

Researchers at the Technical University of Denmark have developed a 43 Terabit-per-second fiber optic network. You could download a 1 GB movie in 0.2 milliseconds if you had the latest fiber optic network technology. Put another way, you could upload to Dropbox the entire contents of a 1 TB external drive in one-fifth of a second.

The main benefit of Google Fiber for consumers may not be higher speeds; instead, the gigabit service’s entry into monopolized markets may force companies like Frontier Communications to offer lower, tiered pricing plans.

Smart power meters are being pulled from electricity customers’ homes in Saskatchewan, Canada, following several incidents in which the meters burst into flames. Privacy advocates were already burned up about smart meters, which can tell power companies when you’re home and what you do with your juice. I can *GUARANTEE* mine would burst into flames, too. :-)

The Silent Power PC is still just a prototype, but it’s a cute one. It sports a passive cooling system that has no noisy fan; instead, it has a silent but silly-looking copper metal foam pad on its top. It weights only 3.3 pounds and measures just 160 mm (6.2 in) wide, 100 mm (4 in) deep, and 70 mm (2.75 in) tall; however, that bulk doesn’t simply vanish. If your hard drive crashes, you can always use this gadget as a dish scrubber.

The Virgin Mobile division of Sprint, in its noble effort to provide more affordable ways for the poor to remain poor, will introduce a $12 per month wireless Internet service that lets you connect only to Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or Twitter, and you can choose only one. But for only $10/month more you can waste time on all four social media networks.

Who's laughing now? Personal Audio LLC, a patent troll company that tried to extort money from every podcaster, is trying to drop its frivolous lawsuit against comedian Adam Carolla – but he won’t let them, the trolls complain in a recent press release. Carolla raised over $450,000 from fans to fight Personal Audio, and apparently he’s using it to drain Personal Audio’s legal budget.

The Huffington Post has published “8 Ways Technology Makes You Stupid” but failed to include the Huffington Post in its list.

Watson, IBM’s famous supercomputer, has digested and analyzed thousands of Department of Defense “transition aids” written to help military service members successfully move into civilian life. Members of financial services provider USAA can ask Watson questions in natural language, e. g., “How do I apply for VA medical benefits.”

“Take me online to the ball game…” A South Korean baseball team installed three rows of robotic “fans” in its stadium. They enable fans who can’t make it games to send video selfies expressing messages of support… and the robots can even wave or do “the wave.” It seems popular; over 90,000 messages have been sent via the robots so far this season.

Columbia, Virgina is a tiny, 226 year-old town that's asking the Internet for $20,000 to stay in existence. If they fail to raise the needed funds, the town will be assimilated into the Borg. Or something like that. So far they've raised just north of $500 after a week of online panhandling.