Geekly Update - 10 January 2024

The AskBobRankin Geekly Update

Krebs on Security reports that a man who lost $100,000 Bitcoin in a SIM-swap scam has convinced a court to serve notice of a lawsuit on the alleged thief, by sending him $100 worth of Bitcoin, tagged with metadata that contains a link to the lawsuit. It's the first time crypto was used to send a "You've been served" message.

This just in from the "Adding Insult to Injury" Desk: Last fall, Genomics firm 23andMe suffered a data breach that exposed the DNA data of 6.9 million customers. But instead of apologizing, the company is telling users it's their own fault for not using better passwords.

It's a bird, it's a plane... Actually, it's a combination washer, dryer, vacuum, and mopper from Eureka. The Eureka Dual Washing Bot will wash and dry your clothes, while putting a sparkle on your floors. I'll wait for next year's model, in hopes that it will wash the dishes and clean the toilet.

LG and Samsung introduced wireless see-through televisions at CES, the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show. But I thought the whole idea was to watcn what's ON the screen, not the wall behind it.

The 137-inch C Seed N1 foldable TV is not transparent, but at least the company is transparent about their target market. The N1 carries a formidable $200,000 price tag. If you didn't blink at that, there's a 165-inch model for $300,000. At the press of a button, the N1 folds down into a shiny metal box, just in case you want to free up 14 feet of wall space.

Walmart has announced plans to expand drone delivery to the Dallas Fort-Worth metroplex. Walmart customers can get "a broad assortment of items," ranging from baby wipes to birthday candles, delivered to their home in just minutes, according to Prathibha Rajashekhar, WalMart's senior vice president of Innovation & Automation. This is good news for those who need a quick junk food fix; some deliveries can happen as fast as 10 minutes.

If you're tired of tripping over all the dead mice your beloved feline is dropping off in your family room, relief is on the way. Flappie the AI cat door will scan your kitty for mouthbound contraband before allowing entry. The $400 gadget is said to be 90% effective at detecting dead animals in your pet's craw.

Microsoft Office Pro 2021 will set you back $440 (just a few bucks more than an AI-powered cat door). Or you can go with the subscription-based Microsoft 365 for $6.99/month. But if you're happy with the slightly older Office 2019 Home and Business suite, StackSocial will hook you up with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote for just $30. (Should I mention that the Office-compatible LibreOffice suite is free?)

In the past few years, over 700 UK Post Office employees were prosecuted and convicted of false accounting, theft and fraud. But it was Fujitsu's faulty software that made it look like money was missing. The BBC is calling this the biggest miscarriage of justice in British legal history. I guess they don't have the "show me the mnney" concept across the Pond.

A data broker called X-Mode Social buys and sells location data collected from unsuspecting users of smartphone apps. The good news:The Federal Trade Commission has banned X-Mode from selling (most of) that sensitive location data. The bad news: X-Mode is just one of many players in the lucrative data broker space. Now I'm not sure what the good news was.

And finally, this week's Just Here For The Headline entry: Ontario Woman's Nose Whistle Reaches 44.1 Decibels. In case you missed my earlier explanation, the JHFTH entries are stories that I decided to include without having any intention of reading beyond the headline.

Your thoughts on these topics are welcome. Post your comment or question below...