Geekly Update - 10 June 2015

The AskBobRankin Geekly Update

In a four-story government building in St. Petersburg, hundreds of Kremlin trolls work 12-hour days flooding the Internet with Vladimir Putin’s view of the world. If only we knew where the “Washington trolls” work.

Only in Japan (or first, anyway) will you find the “Internet of Animals,” better known as AniCall. A digital collar on a pet communicates via Bluetooth with a smartphone app, enabling behavior and health monitoring, and lost-pet alerts to neighboring Anicall users. Remember when a cat could just be a cat?

CIRFU.NET is the domain where the FBI parks hundreds of domain names of websites it has shut down, including file-sharing service MegaUpload.com. But oopsie... the FBI allowed CIRFU.NET to expire, and a p**n peddler snapped it up.

Woolworths supermarkets in Australia leaked the gift card data of nearly 8,000 customers, enabling thieves to steal $1.3 million worth of value stored on the cards.

Why doesn’t your dog or cat recognize your face on a smartphone screen? Scientists say dogs see differently, while cats just don’t give a darn about you.

Here's a new way to wake up disappointed every morning. SensorWake is a new alarm clock that wakes you gently with the mouth-watering aromas of coffee, hot pastries, fresh cut grass, and even the sweet, sweet smell of cash.

What is the sound of one atom? We still don’t know, really, but you can listen to the sound of atoms crashing into other atoms in an experiment aimed at furthering quantum computing.

A woman donated several boxes of her late husband’s gadgets to an electronics recycling firm. Among the discards was an Apple One computer with a wooden case hand-built by Steve Wozniak, which sold for $200,000. The shop is seeking the woman, who did not leave her name, to give her half of the proceeds.

Google Maps has partnered with real-time public transit data providers in 25 locations to tell commuters exactly where that bus or train that was supposed to be here 15 minutes ago is right now.

SanDisk has released a 128 GB USB flash drive ($120) that is the size of a dime and is sure to get lost in seat cushions.

George “I guarantee it” Zimmer, ousted head of Mens Warehouse, has launched zTailor, an “Uber for tailors” app that will bring a tailor to you for custom alterations of the suit you bought 20 pounds ago.

The ultimate stay-cation... Choice Hotels Intl. is seeking $145,500 in damages from a Florida man who discovered that the lodging chain’s rewards system did not delete gift card credits he was given after he canceled the reservations that earned the credits. "Frequent-stay programs are common throughout the industry and neither Choice nor its competitors offer rewards for frequent reservations," the lawsuit said.

Your thoughts on these topics are welcome. Post a comment or question below, or I'll slowly drain all your gift cards...