Geekly Update - 12 February 2020

The AskBobRankin Geekly Update

Remember Motorola's iconic flip phone, the Razr? It was the best-selling phone ever, and now it's back as a smartphone. (And yes, it does hang up your call with that satisfying snap.)

Samsung's newly announced Z Flip smartphone has something that Razr and other "foldables" don't -- a bendable glass screen. Reviewers seem to think that Samsung got it right this time.

I just spotted a super deal on Samsung's 1-Terabyte T5 Portable SSD, now $159 at Amazon ($40 discount). That's a lot of portable solid-state storage for the money. The T5 is shock resistant metal design and offers optional password protection. If you're looking for a deal on an internal SSD drive, the $99 WD Green 1TB Internal PC SSD makes an excellent replacement for an aging hard drive.

An article in Wired UK says fears of a robot uprising are unfounded, and folks should stop worrying about robots taking their jobs. Yeah, that sounds JUST like something a robot would write.

Remember the devastating Equifax breach from March 2017? Sensitive data for 145 million Americans was leaked, and the U.S. Department of Justice is accusing the Chinese military of orchestrating that hack, which took advantage of Equifax's failure to update vulnerable software.

Did you know that your USB-C wall charger has a tiny computer inside? Forrest Heller, a man with time on his hands, has taken the time to compare the compute power of three smartphone chargers with the Apollo 11 Moon Landing Guidance Computer. Turns out the chargers have bigger CPUs and more memory, but they will never fly to the moon and back.

Did you get swept up in the #BroomStickChallenge? NASA says it has nothing to do with magic, gravitational forces, or the day of the year. It's actually physics (and the broom's inherent low center of gravity) that allows you to balance a broom on its bristles.

If you're looking for an awesome wallpaper or screensaver image, look no further than Earth View. You'll find over 2500 beautiful landscapes, as seen from space.

"Alec" purchased a Tesla Model S from a dealer who had bought the car at a Tesla-sponsored auction. But after the sale, he discovered that Tesla had remotely disabled the “Enhanced Autopilot” and “Full Self Driving Mode” features, claiming that the new owner did not pay for those features.

Some Windows 7 users are getting a message that says "You don't have permission to shut down your computer." Before you pull the plug, several workarounds are available here.

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