Geekly Update - 21 April 2015
Is it legal to kill your computer, if it doesn't cooperate? Will Google help you find your lost phone? And is 3-D printing technology getting just a bit too fluffy? Get answers to these burning questions, and the scoop on the latest tech news, in this edition of the Geekly Update. It's guaranteed to make you 146% smarter. Read, think and comment! |
The AskBobRankin Geekly Update
Lucas Hinch was very frustrated with his laptop. So he took it into an alley and shot it eight times with a handgun, "effectively disabling it," according to police in Colorado Springs. Hopefully other laptops will take note of this story, and behave.
If you lose your Android phone (equipped with the latest version of the Google app, you can now type find my phone into Google Search, and it will.
Netflix is rolling out audio descriptions of its movies to accommodate the visually impaired, and the first most such accessible movie is “Daredevil,” the one about a blind lawyer turned superhero that nobody watched anyhow.
The European Union filed antitrust charges against Google, accusing the search giant of manipulating results to favorite its own comparison shopping service. The EU also launched an investigation of Android. In other world news, large corporations everywhere are doing things that make shareholders happy.
Virtue is its own reward, but vice can get you a new laptop. Denzel Michael panicked when his laptop froze with p0rn on-screen and he heard his mother coming up the stairs. So instead of closing the lid, he smashed the screen. The site he was viewing sent Michael a new laptop after he Tweeted the incident. Hopefully, Mom doesn’t use Twitter.
"Oklahoma, OK!" Two Tulsa roommates stabbed each other with broken beer bottles over whether iOS or Android phones are better.
On April 18, Google’s search algorithm changed to favor mobile-optimized websites in searches conducted on mobile phones. If your site isn’t “mobilized,” it’s time to make it so.
Ikea, whose wares are already difficult to assemble, is offering tables, lamps, and other furniture with built-in wireless chargers and multi-port wired charging hubs. I thought the idea is to make charging easier?
A 3-D printed bunny looks nice, but hard plastic is not cuddly. Disney, Cornell University, and Carnegie Mellon University came up with a 3-D “printing” technique that piles up pieces of felt and fuses them together.
Verizon was to have broken up its basic cable channel package into smaller bundles starting April 19 but ESPN objected, claiming it has a contractual right to have ESPN1 and ESPN2 included in the basic cable package.
In March, Microsoft’s Bing search engine captured 20% of the search market for the first time.
Post your comment below, or I'll change your default search engine to AOL...
This article was posted by Bob Rankin on 22 Apr 2015
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Article information: AskBobRankin -- Geekly Update - 21 April 2015 (Posted: 22 Apr 2015)
Source: https://askbobrankin.com/geekly_update_21_april_2015.html
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Most recent comments on "Geekly Update - 21 April 2015"
Posted by:
Robert Bailey
22 Apr 2015
The picture of the computer with the bullet holes looks like the side of a desktop computer, not a laptop. Am I wrong to be seeing the pix this way?
EDITOR'S NOTE: You're probably right, I thought it looked like a laptop at first.
Posted by:
coffeewoman58
22 Apr 2015
mmm... Daredevil is really good. I'm a Marvel fangirl, but it's a thousand times better than the lame Ben Affleck movie.
Posted by:
Stephanie
22 Apr 2015
Hi Bob, Your "Post your comment below, or I'll change your default search engine to AOL... " made me smile. :) Thanks for all you do and have a great day!
Posted by:
marge201
22 Apr 2015
As if I'd ever use AOL. LOL, Bob! Good stuff here. Busy working so no time to read more. Thanks so much for your excellent info!
Posted by:
Jon
22 Apr 2015
I have the perfect solution to losing a mobile - I don't have one - I can still hide from my wife as well.........
Just one of the benefits of being over 60!
Posted by:
Ed C
22 Apr 2015
Bob,
I like the Google find my phone shortcut, of course you have to be logged into Google in order to find it. The only way I knew how to do that was to go to https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager. There you can locate your phone, ring it or erase it.
Posted by:
Erick
22 Apr 2015
Regarding the report of the fellow who shot his laptop--I was working in a tech support call center when a customer, equally frustrated, threw his PC out the window and called back the next day to report his PC didn't work anymore. Unfortunately for the customer, the tech who had been talking with him kept notes of the incident and reported that that he heard the window glass breaking as the PC was thrown out.
Posted by:
Frank Cizek
22 Apr 2015
[SIZE=7]NO! NOT AOL!!![/SIZE] ; D
And what a crappy group! Looks like a 2,000 yard target!
Seen this? WORLD RECORD 1000 yard shot with a 9mm Hand Gun! - S&W 929 by Jerry Miculek
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ3XwizTqDw&feature=youtu.be
Believe it? ; )
FC
Posted by:
RichF
22 Apr 2015
3D printed bananas - how disgusting. I imagine within a year or so printing food will advance to where it isn't so disgusting. (Now don't switch me to AOL. Haha)
Posted by:
Maura K
22 Apr 2015
I just read an article about 3D printers being used to make fabric (sort of) for fashion use. The small samples pictured looked a bit like chain mail, and of course, are kind of plastic-y in texture. Not much drape or softness to it. I admit I can't see how it could work unless the printer could extrude a substance that can hold a shape while being printed and then become flexible enough later to enable someone to wear it.
Posted by:
Frank Starr
22 Apr 2015
Anyone with a fully functioning laptop who's ready to shoot it is welcome to ship it to me instead. I'll even split the cost of postage :) . I simply _must_ retweet this post, with that enjoinder.
Posted by:
Jay
22 Apr 2015
The briar patch, the frier patch, the drier patch, the iron-on patch...anything but AOL. I won't rest until I see my post up, insuring me against something worse than a zombie azzualt. Have mercy on me,Bob!
Posted by:
Mike in Colorado Springs
23 Apr 2015
The yahoo article used a laptop in their display picture. Not sure why they did that since the newswires had the correct photo. The computer looks like an old Dell. Here's a link to the story that appeared in my paper, The Gazette, in Colorado Springs.
http://gazette.com/man-shoots-computer-in-colorado-springs-alley-gets-revenge-he-wanted-and-a-citation/article/1550042
Posted by:
Dennis
23 Apr 2015
Speaking of AOL, just curious: What percentage of your subscribers are AOL email accounts? I'd bet they are some of your LONGEST subscribers, Bob. I know I am!
P.S. I never use AOL search!
Posted by:
Jim
23 Apr 2015
Nobody watched Daredevil? Seriously! It was watched by plenty of people. Some very important people too watched it. Did you not see where new lawyers are flocking to NYC's Hell's Kitchen by the thousands to set up practice since the show aired? Also they had to ban trucks carrying radioactive spiders (chemicals?) and old men walking across the street and because 10 year old kids kept shoving them to the sidewalk.
Posted by:
Ekim Bbew
23 Apr 2015
Bob, have you been following MajorGeeks a bit much? Your browser change "threat" sounds an awful lot like the popup they had around Easter; "'Like' us or the Bunny gets it." :-)
EDITOR'S NOTE: I've been making these "threats" for over a year in the Geekly Updates. So maybe you got it backwards. :-)
Posted by:
loren
23 Apr 2015
There have been so many times when I have wanted to pound my computer into dust. I always thought my computer was supposed to do my bidding. No, it seems to have a mind of its own and will not stop doing what it does to pay attention to me. I don't know anymore what key to press to make it break away from whatever background task it is working on and respond to a command from me. Seems only the off button will do that effectively.
Posted by:
Bob Over
23 Apr 2015
AOL??? Are they still in business???
Posted by:
Robert
23 Apr 2015
Bob, as you will see by my email addy for this response I am a long time AOL user from back when version 1.0 was shipped out of floppy disks. My family used it as it had some of the best protections for their kids, and I still use it today to connect to the net when other options aren't available (which around where I live means I use AOL a lot). It's still the best option for my technically challenged/Internet challenged boss.
However, I agree on one point, I may use it to connect and for emails (yes I have Yahoo and GMail accounts too), but the search and other "features"... no. It's Chrome/Google/etc after connection for the "real" work.
Posted by:
James
26 Apr 2015
I'm perfectly satisfied with AOL as it serves all I need.
It appears that the holes in that laptop are made from different caliber cartridges.