Geekly Update - 24 October 2018
Hey, is that a painting of YOU in the Louvre? Will DNA testing prevent you from committing the perfect crime? And will artificial intelligence prevent all future wars? Get answers in today's Geekly Update -- it's jam-packed with the latest tech news. This issue is guaranteed to make you 146% smarter -- you'll see why. Read, think, and, comment! |
The AskBobRankin Geekly Update
Ancestry.com and other sites that offer DNA testing could expose nearly everyone’s identities, even if they have never been tested.
If your PC’s sound does not work following a Windows 10 October Update, here is how to fix it.
Oopsie… Facebook chose the perfect time to offer Portal, its $200 to $349 competitor to Amazon’s Alexa: right after allowing millions of users’ accounts to be compromised.
Public Goods is a startup that sells their own private-label consumer products at its cost, earning its keep with an annual membership fee. The company says it's goods are typically 60% cheaper than those found on Amazon.
A free app finds paintings in museums that contain people who look just like you.
Artificial intelligence can be used to predict outbreaks of violence and prevent total war, thereby saving countless lives, argues a new book.
Here is where to download 1,792 graph paper, lined paper, note paper, postcards, score sheets, music paper, budgets, calendars, brochures and more printable templates free of charge.
Convert PDF files to other formats without charge, registration, ads, or watermarks.
Machines are only going to free you for more fulfilling work, says Walmart. Now come out from behind that cash register, fulfill a busy Mom’s grocery order, and put it in her car so her horde of screaming brats stay out of the store.
A “gorgeous” all-glass smartphone shows camera notches how it should be done.
The myTuner Radio site lets you listen to over 50,000 radio stations in 200 countries for free. (But not all at the same time.)
DuckDuckGo hit a record high of over 30 million searches in one day, accounting for just one fifth of one percent of all searches. Google Search does that many every 15 minutes.
A new voice-activated shortcut in iOS 12 lets you start recording encounters with police by just saying something like, “Cheese it, the cops!”
Google+ is going away, and at least one member of that ill-fated social network has a sad.
Heat maps show the challenges of keeping Google’s worldwide network of data centers from turning planet Earth into a mini-Sun.
Your thoughts on these topics are welcome. Post your comment or question below...
This article was posted by Bob Rankin on 24 Oct 2018
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Article information: AskBobRankin -- Geekly Update - 24 October 2018 (Posted: 24 Oct 2018)
Source: https://askbobrankin.com/geekly_update_24_october_2018.html
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Most recent comments on "Geekly Update - 24 October 2018"
Posted by:
JP
24 Oct 2018
Another good place for printables:
https://www.freeprintable.net/
Posted by:
pdsterling
24 Oct 2018
I notice you mention creating PDFs for free. now how about something that will convert PDF to Word *text* and not a Word Text Box. any ideas? any advice would be gratefully appreciated!
Posted by:
Lucy
24 Oct 2018
pdsterling ... I may have misunderstood what you were asking but I can highlight text in a .pdf (I save them using cutepdf writer) and can then paste the words in Libre Office Writer (a great free substitute for Word.)
Bob has written articles on both of them. Word documents work perfectly in Libre Office Writer .. it is seamless, I have never had an issue with Word docs.
Posted by:
Mike Hampshire
24 Oct 2018
DuckDuckGo? didn't AskBob just cover that. Good going Bob.
Posted by:
Stuart Berg
24 Oct 2018
pdsterling,
You need a PDF conversion tool with OCR (Optical Character Reader) capability. A good free one is
the ByteScout PDF MULTITOOL (FREE for non-commercial usage).
https://bytescout.com/products/pdfmultitool/index.html
Posted by:
Laurie
25 Oct 2018
Google+ is the only social networking site I actually bothered to use. Bob’s linked article actually states specifically why when the author states, “Google+ was the one network where I could have intelligent conversations about technology.”
Google+ is set up as interest-based communities where people post articles and information about the subject matter of interest, and people discuss. Yes, like anywhere on the Internet, you get your share of fanbois, disrupters and the like, but overall, things are kept under control and stay on topic. But, it seems Google+ does not have the membership numbers to justify continued support. (No, I do not believe the recent security hole is the main reason for the decision to shut down the service.)
Most of us are now in the process of relocating to other, lesser known, but similarly structured social networking sites, such as MeWe.
Posted by:
RonnieG
25 Oct 2018
I downloaded My Tuner Radio and now I can't get rid of it. Windows cannot find the file to uninstall it. What should I do?
Posted by:
Robert A.
25 Oct 2018
JP: Actually www.printablepaper.net is just another webpage of freeprintable.net. The author sorts all of his various printable forms and documents into categories and gives each category its own website URL.
Posted by:
bret
25 Oct 2018
AI is just a tool. If it could help prevent conflicts, then it could also be tweaked in order to create them.
Posted by:
Charles
25 Oct 2018
Got a kick out of the facebook thing. They chose to push it out right after a big data breach. With FB it's impossible to NOT push it out right after a big data breach. It would never come out. The article even mentioned it was delayed by the Cambridge A scandal. It makes me feel good to know they may be hit with a billion plus fine for the latest oops. I've been on a hiatus from the service for a while and my life seems so much richer and more connected with things that matter.
Posted by:
Steve Stephenson
26 Oct 2018
RonnieG re. "My Tuner Radio"
Try downloading and running "Revo Uninstaller".
Else try "regedit", search for "My Tuner Radio" occurrences and delete. Can be laborious but should help.
Posted by:
SamG
29 Oct 2018
Bob; You mentioned Wins 10 messing up the sound. I read it messes up search. Bought this older laptop with Wins 7 installed and was in the process of setting it up over a few days of time. With Windows updates set for "automatic", I noticed the computer's speed slowing to about 1/3. Browsing update logs revealed September's security update (kb4457144) failed and retried OVER 6500 times in a 24 hour period! Lesson learned. Even if you don't like auto updates, don't let the computer auto-update.