Geekly Update - 12 June 2013

The AskBobRankin Geekly Update

Verizon's "Share Everything" plan seems aptly named... On May 5, the UK’s Guardian newspaper exposed the NSA’s daily collection of all Verizon customers’ calling records (though not the content of calls). The next day, the paper revealed that the NSA’s PRISM program has been monitoring all traffic on nine leading Internet services since 2007. Of course all the companies deny this is happening.

“Never attribute to malice what is adequately explained by stupidity.” Only 37% of data security breaches are attributable to hackers, while 35% are caused by employee or contractor errors and negligence. “System glitches” account for the remaining 29%.

Google won’t approve facial recognition apps for Google Glass “at this time.” The company says strong privacy protections will have to be developed first. What might those protections be? How about a flexible circuit board you can stick on your forehead, which conveys your privacy preferences? Yes, that should work.

Looking for lookers: a recruitment service has been added to BeautifulPeople.com, a dating site that admits only applicants deemed attractive by existing members.

One-third of new marriages start online, according to a study by eHarmony’s scientific advisor. Half of those couples met on dating sites. The study found that married couples who met online are marginally happier than those who met offline.

iPhone data speeds are deliberately throttled by three of the top four U.S. carriers, or maybe Apple itself. So claims Joe Brown, one the developers of TweakIOS.com, a site that provides hacked carrier updates to IOS users. Only T-mobile does not throttle iPhone speeds, he says.

Apple will launch an iPhone trade-in program soon, a first for the company, in an effort to boost flagging upgrade sales. AT&T currently offers up to $200 for iPhone 4 and 4S trade-ins.

Google Glass is being banned from casinos across the USA. State regulators are ordering bans because card players could transmit images of their hands to confederates for purposes of cheating. What will they do when this technology is built into contact lenses?

KALQ is the new QWERTY: a digital keyboard app for Android tablets enables rapid thumb-typing with a unique key layout. The developer says you’ll only need eight hours of practice to thumb-type as fast as you can with ten fingers.

A working Apple I computer signed by Steve Wozniak sold for a record $671,400 on May 26, 2013. The vintage 1976 machine was won in a German auction by an anonymous Mid-East buyer. Hey, I've got a couple of PC Jr's in my attic. How about $100K for the pair?

Is that a banana in your search engine? Nutrition information will pop up neatly summarized in Google searches for foods and meals. The new feature started rolling out in the UK on May 30, and should be available in the USA by now. (Hmmm, it seems to work only when I'm NOT logged into my Google account. Weird...)

Tired of waiting for Google’s fiber optic network to reach your home town? Consider moving to Mombasa, Kenya, where 5,000 residences are getting the ultrafast Internet access now from Jamii Telecommunications.

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