Tag: CALIFORNIA

In about a month, the city of Marysville, California will test the country's first "smart" red light system, which is designed to predict and prevent traffic collisions at intersections. According to Sacramento's Fox 40 News, the city has incorporated predictive software into an existing red-light camera system, which is located at the intersection of 3rd and F streets. The system predicts when ...

Share A California teenager who called his teacher a "fat ass" on Facebook has avoided punishment from his high school, thanks to the ACLU. In December, 10th-grader Donny Dunlap received an unusually large amount of homework from his biology teacher, so he decided to vent about it on Facebook. In a status update, the teen announced that the teacher is a "fat ass who should stop eating fast ...

As the government and utility companies have continued to work towards modernizing our energy infrastructure and ushering in the era of the smart grid, they've met with surprisingly strong resistance across the political spectrum. The backlash against wireless smart meters has been particularly strong in California, where Tea Party conspiracy theorists and overzealous left-wing Luddites have ...

If you're a California resident planning on filing a lawsuit against your employer, you probably shouldn't communicate with your lawyer via your work e-mail account -- because whatever you say won't be protected under attorney-client privilege. Yesterday, the Sacramento Third Appellate District court ruled that e-mails sent from work accounts can't be considered legally confidential, because ...

The next time you get caught drinking and driving in Huntington Beach, California, you may get more than just a mark on your record; you could get tagged on Facebook, as well. Huntington Beach city councilman Devin Dwyer is calling on local police to begin posting mug shots of repeat DUI offenders on Facebook. Dwyer's proposal initially called for all drunk drivers to be publicly shamed on the ...

The Fourth Amendment requires all law-enforcement officials to obtain a search warrant before seizing a suspect's personal property. According to the California Supreme Court, though, the law doesn't apply to cell phones. In a 5-to-2 vote, the court ruled that police don't need a search warrant to search an arrested individual's cell phone -- because cell phones, in essence, are like clothing. ...

Watch out, West Coast Web jesters, because a new California law prohibiting online impersonations officially went into effect this weekend. Violators of SB 1411 will face a fine of up to $1,000 and/or a year in jail. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed SB 1411 back in September, and immediately drew the ire of free speech advocates from around the country. While the law doesn't explicitly ...

Last night, the San Francisco Giants defeated the Texas Rangers to win the World Series. Giants fans, naturally, did what sports fans do best after their team wins a championship: riot in the streets. Of course, Giants fans aren't just any sports fans; they're savvy social media users, too. Amid all of last night's revelry, Giants fans found the time to check in from the riots on Foursquare, and ...

Marijuana enthusiasts have never exactly been known for their lightning-quick speed, but as Californians prepare to vote on a measure that would legalize the drug, many have been rushing to the Internet to secure themselves marijuana-related domain names. The logic behind the rush is pretty straightforward: legalized weed constituting a brand new kind of marijuana industry. And a new marijuana ...

A new California law has worried free speech advocates by criminalizing the practice of impersonating someone else online. SB 1411, introduced to the California legislature in February and recently signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger, makes it a misdemeanor to impersonate someone without their consent "through or on an Internet Web site or by other electronic means for purposes of harming, ...

Highlights from this morning's other big tech headlines.... Toyota's Prius, which once symbolized and dominated the eco-friendly car movement, apparently just isn't friendly enough for California anymore. The state is revoking the vehicle's HOV lane privileges (while maintaining those same HOV rights for "super-clean cars" like the Tesla). [From: Discovery Treehugger] The Netflix ...

California legislators might soon turn motorists' license plates into mobile digital ads, a measure proposed by Senator Curren Price that could help the state's cash-strapped economy. The AP reports that California could soon become the first state to use electronic license plates that flash ads when a car is stopped at a red light. These plates, developed by San Francisco startup Smart Plate, ...

Film icons and legendary crooners once dominated the political landscape in California, but the Golden(less) State currently bears a crippling $20 billion deficit and an agonizing 13-percent unemployment rate. Last fall, an onslaught of tech moguls supplanted the celebrity grandstanders in Cali's political limelight, and all audaciously promised to capitalize on their successful corporate ...

Facebook's been on the receiving end of a lot of bad press lately, thanks in large part to its morally nebulous privacy policy. But apparently, the site has become so universally hated that politicians are now using it as a weapon to attack their electoral opponents. Two weeks ago, we reported on Kamala Harris, a popular Democrat running for the office of California's attorney general and her ...

Share The dust-up over Facebook privacy has entered the political sphere, and we're not talking about the recent push for the FTC to investigate the company. The social network's former privacy chief, Chris Kelly, is seeking the office of California Attorney General, and his role in shaping policy at the company has become a point of contention during the Democratic primary. Kamala Harris, ...