Posts tagged California at Switched

Posts with tag california

AT&T Retailer Accused of Pawning Used Nokias as New

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jul 17th 2008 at 2:01PM

Notice that your freshly-purchased N75 smells more like a week-old head of cabbage than a bundle of brand new plastic, glue, and circuitry? That's gross, and no, we don't want to touch it (seriously, get that thing away from us). Turns out you may not be alone, though -- a new class-action suit filed in federal court alleges that CommClub, an independent retailer in California, was selling used Nokias for AT&T's network as brand new devices.

For whatever reason, AT&T and Nokia are also named as defendants in the suit, though we're not sure exactly what role they played in CommClub's potentially nefarious dealings; at any rate, the class is looking to bring home some bacon for "injuries" suffered as a result of the bait-and-switch. You're going to go smell your N75 now, aren't you? [Source: RCR Wireless News]

Parking System Alerts Your Phone of Open Spots

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 15th 2008 at 2:46PM

We dig the idea in theory, we really do, but we can definitely see this causing more harm than good. Starting this fall, San Francisco will begin a trial involving wireless parking sensors in 6,000 of its 24,000 metered spaces, enabling antsy drivers to be alerted via street signs or cell phones when a spot becomes available. Only one problem -- give 50 anxious motorists the same message that a single spot is unoccupied, and you've just created a bona fide mess. Though it'd probably be fun to watch from the sidelines, wouldn't you agree? [Source: NYTimes via Core77]

Los Angeles Traffic Cam Brings Live Gridlocks to Your Cellphone

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 29th 2008 at 4:08PM

We have all ideas (okay, so we know it for a fact) that the Los Angeles Traffic Cam was designed for those living in LA, but we can't help but imagine how drivers in less congested cities could use this to make their own daily commute not seem so bad.

NBC4 and 3rd Dimension have teamed up to beam out live video and nearly live still shots from some 270 LA-area traffic cameras to those with compatible mobiles, and being that it's ad-supported, the whole thing is completely free to end users. Of course, for all you know, they could just loop a clip of gridlocked traffic during rush hour and call it reality. Sadly, said idea would almost work. [Source: LATimes Blogs]

Massachusetts Deemed Most Tech-Savvy State, Beating California

by Christine Whitney, posted Jun 21st 2008 at 3:15PM

Massholes. They think they're the best at everything. And oh, wait -- they are! The Smartest State has lots of "best" titles, between the Red Sox, Harvard, and now (again), technology.

Since 2002, the Santa-Monica-based Milken institute has been releasing reports on the technological state of affairs. That is, the institute ranks states based on criteria like tech-savviness of workers, commitment to tech growth, and economic gain from technology and science.

And Ol' Ivy, Massachusetts, always wins! Usually California, home to Silicon Valley and silicone boobs, comes in second, but not this year! The state slipped to an embarassing fourth place in the rankings, ceding its spot to Maryland and Colorado (ouch!). Mississippi came in last, predictably, but still wins for obesity.

We still love you, California. Don't blame yourself --this is probably Spielberg's fault. [Source: USA Today]

Target Sued Over Site's Visually-Impaired Accessibility

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Oct 15th 2007 at 11:22AM

A new ruling requires that Target.com and other sites allow for keyboard navigation and use alternate tags for images in order to make the sites accessible for the visually-impaired. These requirements sound simple enough, but may prove difficult for all of those dynamic, Flash-enabled pages that are popular among e-commerce sites. That means this ruling could cost site providers like Target, Wal-Mart, and Best Buy a lot of development money while web agencies rejoice.

US District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel, of the Court for the Northern District of California, ruled that the case of the "National Federation of the Blind vs Target" is eligible for class-action status, meaning that the suit against Target can go forward in court and make the company liable for the site's accessibility issues. Patel ruled that "the inaccessibility of Target.com impeded full and equal enjoyment of goods and services offered in Target stores."

Target has attempted to have the case thrown numerous times, but but has failed.

From Tech Crunch

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Google Earth Uncovers Swastika-Shaped Government Building

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Sep 26th 2007 at 4:09PM

Google Earth's omnipotent eye on existence has wrought many wonderful, strange and sometimes creepy discoveries. Giant bugs, Oprah tributes and even nude sunbathers have all been caught by the all-knowing, all-seeing Google-y eye.

And what do we spy here? No, that's not the international headquarters of a white supremacy group -- but good guess. Believe it or not, this swastika-shaped building complex is a U.S. Naval barracks in Coronado, California. The buildings were built in the 1960s but, according to the Navy, their sinister configuration wasn't discovered until the construction project had already broken ground -- which was apparently too late to do the decent thing and modify the designs a bit. But that's beside the point, anyway. Are we to believe that not a single person involved in a construction project for the U.S. Navy ever looked at a set of blueprints? Is it also just a coincidence that the buildings sit at the intersection of Tulagi and Bougainville -- two streets named after famous WWII battles?

Whew. Let's reel in the paranoia a bit.

According to a report by CBS's San Diego affiliate, News 8, architect John Mock still stands behind the design of the buildings, which he insists were never meant to look like a swastika and for which he actually won an award. Nonetheless, change is on the way thanks in large part to Missouri-based radio host Dave vonKleist, who has been vocal about the structure since he first stumbled upon it in Google Earth in 2006. Today brings word that the Navy is finally relenting to vonKleist's calls to action and intends to spend upwards of $600,000 to camouflage the structure with landscaping, walkways and solar cells, all of which will hide the offending shape from aerial views.

For some seriously haunting conspiracy theory surrounding the Coronado barracks (including parallels drawn to 9/11), read the full News 8 report.

From News 8 and LA Times

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California Bans Cell Phone Use For Teen Drivers

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Sep 14th 2007 at 2:24PM

If you're a teen in California don't even think about touching that cell phone while driving anymore. On Thursday California became the 15th state (along with Washington D.C.) to ban cell phone use for teen drivers. Older drivers will still be allowed to use hands-free calling devices, but those text-crazy teenagers will have to make do without their trusty mobiles.

The Governator was quoted as saying, "We want to eliminate any extra distractions so they can focus on paying attention to the road and being good drivers." According to the California Highway Patrol, cell phone use is now the primary cause of accidents, and Ford Motors produced its own study which showed that teens are four times more likely to be distracted by their cells than adults. One only needs to look at recent headlines for proof. This past July, a 19-year-old British girl was imprisoned after killing another woman in a car accident -- the girl had been texting at the time of the crash. Just a few weeks prior to that, five girls in Upstate New York were killed in a horrific wreck in which text-messaging was to blame. More recently, a Cincinnati teenager was struck by a train and severely injured after walking on train tracks while texting.

Under the new California law, first time offenders will be fined $20 and subsequent infringements will be $50, with exceptions for emergency calls.

From USA Today

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1,000 Cell Phones Smuggled Into CA Prisons

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jul 2nd 2007 at 2:10PM

Cell phones are dangerous, not because of radiation or electric fields, but because they can help prisoners organize. In the last year, the state of California has confiscated over 1,000 mobile phones from prisoners, and one can only guess how many are still in circulation.

Law enforcement officials are afraid that inmates could organize simultaneous riots in all of the state's 33 correctional facilities, or hatch an escape plot via text messages or the internet.

Having a cell phone can also be very lucrative for a prisoner, potentially more lucrative than drugs. Inmates can rent the phone to other prisoners for up to $20 for 5 minutes. A perk of this business for the inmates is that it's not a felony, so if they get busted (again), there will likely be no additional jail time.

That said, selling drugs does have one advantage: Its hard to look slick trying to inconspicuously palm off a Nokia N76.

From Textually.org

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Statewide Text Alerts in Cali

by Tim Stevens, posted May 11th 2007 at 12:02PM

In the wake last month's Virginia Tech shootings, a company called Rave Wireless made headlines for its service that allows school administrators to quickly and easily send emergency text messages to students. Now comes word that the great state of California is looking to implement a similar alerting system sometime in the next 12 to 14 months. The system would send text messages to all mobile users in a given area -- identified by their proximity to a cell tower -- notifying them of things like storm warnings, Amber Alerts and messages from the Emergency Broadcasting System.

Interestingly, California officials are also claiming the technology could be used to send text messages to people who were in an area that was later determined to be a risk, like, say, everyone who ate at a restaurant that was found to be serving contaminated food. Given the number of shady-looking hot dog carts in the downtown L.A. area alone, that sounds like a great idea to us.

From Textually.org

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AT&T Retailer Accused of Pawning Used Nokias as New

Parking System Alerts Your Phone of Open Spots

Los Angeles Traffic Cam Brings Live Gridlocks to Your Cellphone

Massachusetts Deemed Most Tech-Savvy State, Beating California

Target Sued Over Site's Visually-Impaired Accessibility

Google Earth Uncovers Swastika-Shaped Government Building

California Bans Cell Phone Use For Teen Drivers

1,000 Cell Phones Smuggled Into CA Prisons

Statewide Text Alerts in Cali

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