Geekly Update - 25 Jan 2018

The AskBobRankin Geekly Update

Do you need to curtail your screen time? There’s an app for that called “The Hold”. It provides rewards such as movie tickets when you don’t use your phone. The Guardian tells us how well it works.

An artificial intelligence program beat the average reading comprehension score of an unspecified number of humans “with a score of 82.44 versus 82.305.” Of course, this means “millions of customer service jobs are at risk of automation”... in China… eventually… perhaps.

If your WiFi speed has been problematic since October, 2017, it may be due to Google hardware devices such as Chromecast and Google Home. A firmware glitch sometimes causes these devices to go into “sleep” mode yet still flood WiFi networks with data, causing throughput to plummet.

"Desperately seeking Claudia." And not just any Claudia. A student at Missouri State University accidentally swiped the wrong way on a dating app, and Claudia was gone. So he went old-school, and emailed every Claudia on campus. One of them replied, and agreed to a donut date.

One wealthy speculator “likely” drove the price of Bitcoin from $150 to over $1,000 in early 2017, sparking the whole year’s cryptocurrency feeding frenzy. Researchers think they know who it is.

A drone rescued two people immersed in rough ocean waters off the coast of Australia by dropping a flotation device right next to them.

Small businesses are being warned by the IRS to watch out for phishing emails that request “replacements” of employees’ W2 forms. Information from the forms can be used for tax fraud and identity theft.

Apple temporarily banned from its app store an app called WeHe, which detects ISPs’ potential violations of Net Neutrality principles. WeHe was restored to the store after the developer helped Apple understand how the app works.

“Roomba for the restroom” is how one might describe ToiBot, the automatic toilet-cleaning robot from Israel.

Oops! The NSA is apologizing profusely for violating a federal judge’s 2007 order to preserve surveillance data relevant to several ongoing privacy lawsuits. It seems the spy agency never took some of the steps it was supposed to take in order to preserve the data.

And finally, IT WASN'T ME! Apparently "Bob" was having trouble with delivery drivers finding his house. So he put up an official-looking sign along the road in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, which complied with Department of Transportation standards. Local officials were amused, but removed the unauthorized sign. I actually do have this problem with delivery drivers not being able to find my house. Maybe I'll put up a sign.

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