Geekly Update - 15 February 2017

The AskBobRankin Geekly Update

Nationwide Insurance cancelled a North Carolina homeowner's insurance policy. The reason: they poked around on her Facebook page and found a picture of an "ineligible dog."

Queue the “Y’don’t say” meme. Dr Ian Levy, technical director of the UK's National Cyber Security Centre revealed in a recent speech that security firms often overstate the abilities of hackers to sell more security software and services. He likened security hardware to “a magic amulet” and said the security industry’s business model is “medieval witchcraft.”

Google Home’s Super Bowl ad made Google Home devices in many homes do what the ad said after “OK, Google.” Imagine a commercial that sends your self-driving car off on a pizza run.

Carvana, a startup that lets you buy a car online and pick it up from a vending machine without ever seeing a sales person, has opened its third location. Seems to be working. "OK, Google… order me a Mercedes AMG C43 Coupe from Carvana."

A French man used his wife's iPhone to summon a ride with the Uber app. Now he's suing Uber for $47 million because the app outed his infidelity and led to his divorce.

Facebook is closing 200 Oculus Rift “pop-up stores” in Best Buy stores, citing poor sales. Sales reps reported that a week often went by without any customer requests for demos. Maybe real reality is all people can handle.

A wonderful new feature coming to Windows 10: Cortana will keep track of your commitments and nag you to fulfill them. Is this what Microsoft thinks consumers want instead of spouses?

A Florida man is suing a school district that would not stop robo-calling him about the absence of a child he doesn’t have, despite his repeated requests to correct the phone number in the school district’s database. He’s seeking $500 per erroneous call under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, asking for a total of $25,000. His suit will likely be dismissed because the TCPA applies only to “solicitation” calls, but he’ll surely get that phone number changed now.

Walmart.com is taking on Amazon Prime with free 2-day shipping, and it won’t cost you $99 per year. Minimum order is $35.

Ever wonder what elevators have to say? Elevator manufacturer KONE will let you read live conversations between some of its installed elevators and its maintenance department.

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