flickr – Tech Today w/ Ken May

Public defender lambastes judicial ruling to not fix flawed court software

Enlarge / The René C. Davidson Courthouse, at 1225 Fallon Street, in Oakland, hosts the Alameda County Superior Court. (credit: Wally Gobetz / Flickr ) The public defender’s office in Alameda County, California, has recently appealed a local judge’s recent rejection of its demands to fix an upgraded court software. That software led to the unconstitutional and erroneous jailing of some of its clients. “These delays and errors violate Government Code § 69844 ’s express requirement that Superior Court clerks enter judicial orders ‘forthwith,’ as well as the constitutional right to a complete and accurate record on appeal and the Fourth Amendment prohibition upon unlawful arrests and illegal searches,” Charles Denton, an assistant public defender, wrote in his April 10 brief . Denton largely reprised many of the same arguments that his office made when he appeared before the Superior Court. Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Public defender lambastes judicial ruling to not fix flawed court software

Waze’s ‘Order Ahead’ is a quicker way to grab food on the go

Waze is a valuable travel buddy because of the many ways it can assist you on the road. The navigation app helps drivers avoid traffic , it integrates with Spotify , and it has a growing ride-sharing platform . In an effort to aid users in all commute-related endeavors, drivers can now place a Dunkin’ Donuts order right from the Waze app. Dunkin’ is the first eatery included in Waze’s new “Order Ahead” feature, which made its debut as part of a software update made available today. The ordering process seems clunky initially, but easy enough to use once it’s set up. First, users pick their favorite items via the Dunkin’ Donuts app, using the existing on-the-go ordering feature. Then, the Waze app will locate the nearest Dunkin’ and allow users to place their preset order with one tap. Google, which owns Waze, says that more companies will be added to Order Ahead soon. As The Verge notes , restaurants like McDonald’s , Taco Bell and Starbucks have mobile ordering capabilities in their apps, so it seems likely Waze will integrate with them at some point. Order Ahead is meant to be used before you hit the road for obvious safety reasons, but as The Verge points out, the feature could be particularly valuable in self-driving cars. Autonomous vehicle technology is quickly evolving , so adding features like these could make Waze more versatile in situations when operating a car doesn’t require as much of our attention. Order Ahead is a promising addition to Waze, but it could also be a storage nightmare if apps for each supported restaurant need to be installed on your phone. If Waze eventually manages true integration with all of your favorite dining destinations, though, it could become a killer all-in-one driving app. Images: Mike Mozart via Flickr (Dunkin’ Donuts sign, lead); Waze via Dunkin Donuts (App screenshot) Via: The Verge Source: Dunkin’ Donuts

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Waze’s ‘Order Ahead’ is a quicker way to grab food on the go

DeLorean Motor Company will start building new DMC-12s

Ian Weddell @ Flickr The DMC-12 was styled by the legendary Giogretto Giugiaro. The gullwing doors suggested exotic performance that the underpowered car was never able to provide. 5 more images in gallery The DeLorean DMC-12 might have been destined to pass quietly into obscurity, that is until its starring role in 1985’s Back to the Future . A little more than 8,500 DMC-12s left DeLorean’s factory in Northern Ireland between 1981 and 1983, until it all fell apart following founder John DeLorean’s arrest by the FBI on charges of drug trafficking. But Doc Brown souped up his DeLorean with a flux capacitor, imbuing the DMC-12 with iconic status in the nerd canon. Soon, you’ll be able to buy a brand new one—production is about to resume on this side of the Atlantic, in Humble, Texas. The Texas-based DeLorean Motor Company —not directly related to its defunct predecessor—has been supplying parts and rebuilding or restoring DMC-12s for many years. Now it is able to build new cars as well, following changes to the laws governing low-volume auto manufacturers. The 2015 Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015 rolled up a lot of different transportation-related bills, including one that now allows companies to build replica vehicles without having to satisfy modern safety regulations, as long as fewer than 325 are made each year. Replica cars still have to meet current Environmental Protection Agency standards for emissions, so the DMC-12’s old Peugeot-Renault-Volvo V6 is out. DMC’s CEO told Houston’s KPRC2 that the final price will depend upon whichever engine replaces the old unit, although new cars should still cost less than $100,000 (£70,000) There could even be an electric variant , although little has been heard about this version for some time now. Read on Ars Technica | Comments

Samsung wants to get into the self-driving car business

It’s too soon to crack wise that Apple will design a self-driving car and Samsung will build it , but we’re another step closer to that being a reality. The Korean conglomerate is launching a new division of its business that’ll manufacture car components for other companies, beginning with in-car infotainment gear. According to the release, the eventual aim is to branch out into the components necessary to build autonomous vehicles for other companies. The move follows that of its local rival LG, which formed a vehicle components division in 2013 and is now gearing up to produce components for car companies. According to the Wall Street Journal , Samsung’s move into the automotive components business comes at a time when its smartphone arm is suffering. The company recently moved mobile chief JK Shin out of his office in favor of a younger, hipper replacement in the hope of reviving its flagging profits. Of course, that may turn out to be a fools errand, given that the mobile industry’s boom years seem to be at an end. On the upside, self-driving cars share more than a few components with smartphones, so it makes sense that Samsung’s know-how would transfer across. Expertise in battery technology, GPS, mobile computing, wireless chips, touch screens and similar tech are all found in autonomous vehicles, so it should be fairly simple. In addition, by producing the components for other companies, there’s a smaller element of risk than if it attempted to go it alone straight out of the gate. Those with longer memories will also recall that Samsung used to actually make cars in the ’90s, although the project was ill-fated. The company launched Samsung Motors in 1994, but by the time it had begun to produce vehicles, the 1997 Asian financial crisis forced it into a sale. The division was picked up by Renault, although Samsung maintains a 19.9 percent stake in the firm, as well as control over use of the name Samsung. Via: Vincent Se Young Lee (Twitter) Source: WSJ , Reuters , Samsung

5Gbps broadband is coming to Britain, for £399 per month

Words like “superfast” and “ultrafast” are thrown around all the time to describe home broadband in the UK. Of course, what we really want to know are the cold, hard numbers. Download and upload speeds, man. That’s why Gigaclear has us chomping at the bit with its latest announcement — 5Gbps broadband , which it’s trialling right now with a small batch of UK customers. If you’ve never heard of Gigaclear before, we don’t blame you. The company was founded in 2010 and only operates in 36 rural communities, spread across five English counties. You can check your postcode here , but the chances of you falling under its fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) network are pretty slim. Even if you own one of the 10, 000 homes with Gigaclear access, you’ll have to pay some serious cash for the new speeds. The company will be charging £399 per month for homeowners and £1, 500 for businesses when the trial expands to all Gigaclear customers next year. Got a Scrooge McDuck pile of cash in your basement? Otherwise, this is all just a pipe dream. Source: Gigaclear

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5Gbps broadband is coming to Britain, for £399 per month

Amazon’s grocery service now requires a $299 yearly membership

Amazon warned late last year that it would eventually require a $299 yearly membership just to use its AmazonFresh grocery delivery service. And like or not, the internet giant is making good on its word: shoppers in New York City, Philadelphia and Seattle (and possibly other cities) are finding out that they need that pricey Prime Fresh subscription before they can go food shopping. The outlay gives you free delivery on all orders over $50, on top of the benefits of a regular Amazon Prime membership, but it’s now considerably more expensive if you only occasionally want groceries shipped to your door. So far, tests that would open the door to standard Prime members (who’d always pay delivery fees) haven’t led to anything concrete. The pricing doesn’t stack up well next to rivals like Instacart, which both costs less up front ($99 per year) and waives the delivery fees at a lower threshold ($35). However, it’s doubtful that Amazon will have a change of heart in the near future. The company is one of the old hands in the online grocery delivery business, and it had a long time to do the math — it’s likely convinced that an all-encompassing $299 plan is more sustainable than a groceries-only option. [Image credit: Andrew Hitchcock, Flickr ] Via: GeekWire Source: AmazonFresh

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Amazon’s grocery service now requires a $299 yearly membership

New subreddit chronicles the most public “blue screens of death”

The new subreddit Public Blue Screens of Death. I swiped my credit card at a gas station last week, and as I replaced the nozzle, the pump’s display screen froze, blanked, and then rebooted. I had never seen such a thing before. Not sure if I had actually paid for the gas or not, I went inside and told the cashier. “It happens,” she said. Indeed it does. Thanks to our ever-more-computerized world, crashed software and arcane error messages are a common sight in public-facing displays. A new subreddit called Public Blue Screens of Death aims to chronicle these public crashes, especially those that result in the infamous Windows “blue screen of death” (BSOD). This isn’t the first such collection of BSODs, of course. The Flickr group ” Public Computer Errors ” has been around since 2005 and contains 1,500 images—but its remit extends far beyond the BSOD. More commonly, public BSODs are collected into humorous, one-off roundups . The new subreddit aims to be an ongoing archive of such material, however, and it has been skinned to resemble an old Windows display. Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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New subreddit chronicles the most public “blue screens of death”

When Are You Going to Get Your Prescription MDMA?

Not long ago, the idea of walking up to a clerk behind a counter and getting a baggie of weed seemed ludicrous. Now, in states where recreational or medical marijuana is approved and regulated, it’s a routine, mundane part of life. Are psychedelics next? Read more…

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When Are You Going to Get Your Prescription MDMA?

Beautiful Pieces of the 1893 World’s Fair Discovered In Storage In Chicago

The 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition was the prototypical World’s Fair. It brought together wonders of engineering, the latest technologies and consumer products, and music and art from far-off lands. Sadly, almost all of its buildings are no more—but in Chicago, three lovely fragments of one have resurfaced . Read more…

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Beautiful Pieces of the 1893 World’s Fair Discovered In Storage In Chicago

A Century-Old Device May Be the Future of Electronics

There’s a new device in the works over at DARPA, the agency known for pushing the technological envelope with mind-controlled prosthetics and drone-launching submarines . This latest innovation? The vacuum tube. You might remember it from the first time humans invented it, way back in 1904. Read more…

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A Century-Old Device May Be the Future of Electronics