New York City to keep track of water use with wireless monitors
New York City residents will now be able to track their water use in real time. The city has installed wireless meters in The Bronx (the program will expand in the future), and residents will be able to see how much water they’re using at any given moment. The idea is to encourage people to cut down on their water consumption. “Wow, I used X-Number of gallons of water during that shower, let’s see if I can make that X-Minus-One next time.” And so on.
If you’re not into the whole green movement, then maybe you’d be interested in saving money—an altogether different kind of green movement. The city’s mayor, Michael Bloomberg, says that the average single family in New York spends around $800 per year on water. So if saving Mother Earth isn’t anywhere on your agenda, then perhaps turning that $800 per year into, say, $750 or $700 per year may be more your style?
While the program will initially launch in The Bronx, the entire city is expected to be fitted with wireless meters by January, 2012.
One possible result of the new system: tiered pricing. If the city knows how much water you use, then it may be able to charge you a different rate than your neighbor. So if you’re a single person who uses only a small amount of water per year you wouldn’t pay as much per unit as someone who uses an incredible amount of water per year.
The Mayor says he doesn’t see why should a move would be illegal, tiered pricing. But that’s sometime in the future, so don’t get too worked up just yet.
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New York City to keep track of water use with wireless monitors
The “Tube” shall be getting Wi-Fi, old chum
Pip pip and cheerio! The London Tubemaster General, Mayor Boris Johnson ESQ 1st Class Deceased is proposing that the tube lines in London have Wi-Fi coverage. While does not want cellular coverage – then they’d have to have quiet cars – but he does wish people to enjoy email, saying “I think people do want the facility of looking at their Blackberry, or whatever it happens to be.”
This will complement the free above-ground Wi-Fi that will appear in the city for the 2012 Olympics.
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The “Tube” shall be getting Wi-Fi, old chum
San Francisco Passes Cell Phone Radiation Label Law
San Francisco has just passed what is sure to be the first of many over-zealous laws in the U.S. related to cell phone radiation. The city's Twitter-addicted mayor signed into law a measure requiring that retailers post the the SAR (Specific Absorption Rate, or the rate at which the electromagnetic radiation is absorbed by the body) next to each handset in at least 11-point font.
The law isn't the first of its type to be proposed, but previous measures (in California and Maine) have been soundly defeated in the face of understandable skepticism and inconclusive medical studies. A spokesperson for Mayor Gavin Newsom, Tony Winnicker, told the New York Times that the effort was not about discouraging cell phone use, but rather about consumer education. "We think that for the consumer for whom this is an area of concern, it ought to be easier to find," he told the paper.
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San Francisco Passes Cell Phone Radiation Label Law originally appeared on Switched on Wed, 16 Jun 2010 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Vietnam Uncovers New iPod Touch, Germany Investigates Google Snooping
Highlights from this morning's other big tech headlines....
- Apple may have to mount a wholesale offensive against Vietnam if developmental gadgets keep surreptitiously appearing in the Asian nation. An iPhone 4G recently surfaced, and now an iPod Touch with a 2-megapixel camera has materialized, as well. This begs just one important question: When can we get one? [From: Engadget]
- Google claimed this week that its practice of collecting and storing personal information while performing Street View maneuvers was completely inadvertent. The German government is now asking the company to reveal exactly what was gleaned from open wireless networks, as the practice could violate data protection laws and result in penalties as high as $380,000. [From: The New York Times]
- The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) supposedly ended its shock-and-awe campaign to prosecute and terrify illegal file-sharers in 2008, and court records indicate that the organization has indeed become significantly less litigious. Infringement lawsuits peaked in 2005 with almost 6,000 cases, but 2009 only hosted 2,192. The RIAA has instead concentrated its recent efforts on unmasking and blocking illegal file-sharers, a plan that has apparently achieved about as much success as France's similar program. [From: Wired]
- London Mayor Boris Johnson apparently wants to turn his city into the world's largest Wi-Fi zone in time for the 2012 Olympics. In hopes of turning London into a tech mecca, Johnson wants a router in "every lampost and every bus stop." As Engadget has keenly pointed out, though, there has been no mention of the word "free," so tourists should probably have those credit cards ready. [From: Engadget]
- Last fall, analysts estimated Twitter's worth at $1 billion, despite the site's inability to generate tangible revenue. Over the past few months, Twitter has been implementing various plans and significant partnerships, though, including its new "promoted tweets" campaign. COO Dick Costolo claims that the rapidly expanding system will involve hundreds of major companies by the end of the fourth quarter, and that the site hopes to "really blow it open in Q4." [From: Reuters]
- Yahoo! News has steadily increased its reputation for actually breaking major stories, and the site is reportedly bolstering its growing reputation as an aggregator of pertinent information. According to the New York Times, Yahoo! is purchasing Associated Content, a consortium of almost 400,000 freelance contributors who comprise "the world's largest online media company." [From: The New York Times]
Vietnam Uncovers New iPod Touch, Germany Investigates Google Snooping originally appeared on Switched on Wed, 19 May 2010 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
New Bus For Ye Olde London Borrows From The Fifth Element
The Mayor of London, yes, they have a mayor, revealed the long-awaited new London bus today. For those of you unaware that the Old London Bus needed updating, I can assure you it did. And the long bendy ones favoured by other countries just would not do for Ye Olde London - aside from their habit of killing cyclists on tight corners and bursting into flames.
The old Routemaster bus is an icon on London, but the iconic 1954 design needed a revamp. It needed that crucial Fifth Element look cities really ought to be buying into in 2010.
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New Bus For Ye Olde London Borrows From The Fifth Element
Computer Glitch to Blame for Years of Raids on Elderly Couple’s Home
Since 2002, the NYPD has conducted over 50 raids on the same house in Brooklyn. Each time, it has made the same mistake, all thanks to one computer glitch.
According to the New York Post, the whole snafu began in 2002, when police entered the Brooklyn address of Walter Martin, 83, and his wife Rose, 82, into an alert database. They originally used the address to run a test on the system, but, for some reason, it was never removed, and has since been buried so deeply that police haven't been able to dig it up. After complaining to New York police authorities and even writing a letter to Mayor Bloomberg back in 2007, the Martins were told that the problem had been fixed. Early Tuesday morning, though, Walter and Rose once again woke up to the sound of police banging at their door, and suddenly found themselves in the middle of a raid so aggressive that officers even broke a window in the process.
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Filed under: Computers
Computer Glitch to Blame for Years of Raids on Elderly Couple's Home originally appeared on Switched on Mon, 22 Mar 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Apagamos la tele analógica, encendemos la tercera dimensión, análisis y especiales de la semana 106
Mucho televisor esta semana en los análisis y especiales de Xataka. El traspaso de poderes está cerca de concluir, y tanto el apagón analógico como el paso a las tres dimensiones han centrado nuestros especiales y análisis de la semana, en la que también el día del Padre ha sido importante.
- Si con nuestro especial Regalos tecnológicos para el día del Padre has acertado, háznoslo saber en los comentarios. Tenías cámaras de fotos, GPS o teléfonos móviles, entre otras ideas para regalar.
- El apagón analógico también ha comenzado esta semana su protagonismo en Xataka. Ya sabéis que el 3 de abril todo se apagará y solo será posible ver la televisión a través de la señal digital. Para que puedas sobrevivir a ello, hemos empezado el especial Sobrevivir al apagón analógico, donde además de expicarte por qué este cambio, vamos proponerte diferentes tipos de sintonizadores para que escojas el que más se acerca a lo que necesitas.
- La tercera pata que sostiene la parte de especiales de esta semana en Xataka es la tercera dimensión. Estuvimos en la presentación de los televisores de Samsung que salen a la venta estos días y que darán el pistoletazo de salida para el resto de las marcas. En la segunda parte del año será cuando de verdad veremos la reacción del consumidor y cómo se lo toman las marcas que tanto han puesto en los televisores 3D.
Teen Hauled to Jail For Overdue Library DVD [Crime]
What started as a routine traffic stop ended with a Colorado teen doing hard time. The offense? Not returning a "House of Flying Daggers" DVD to his local library. Come on, Colorado. You're better than that.
Apparently young Aaron Henson, an impressionable lad all of 19 years old, fell in with the wrong DVD-borrowing crowd sometime last year. Henson packed up the flick for a move, forgot that he had it, and ended up with a warrant for his arrest:
The city said it sent an overdue notice and bill, neither of which were returned.
The city then sent a summons, which was returned.
Then, the city sent a new court date order, it was not returned. And when Aaron failed to appear for the second court date, the city issued a warrant.
Why all the fuss? Because apparently the municipality of Littleton, CO values the DVD of a 2004 release at $31.45, and any "theft" over $30 gets prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Also of note: Littleton, CO has apparently never heard of Amazon.
Anyhow, the whole mess get straightened out after Henson's family forked over a $200 fine for the DVD, $200 to remove the car from the impound lot, and $60 in court fees. And while Littleton has acknowledged its mistake and the mayor swears it won't happen again, the arrest is still on Aaron's record.
Just so long as no one got hurt, I suppose, except for the integrity of our judicial system. [The Denver Channel via Consumerist]
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Teen Hauled to Jail For Overdue Library DVD [Crime]
OMGWTF! Woz likes the Nexus One!
So you’re the dude who co-created Apple. You don’t really have a formal role at Apple anymore and you just kind of hang out with cool people and talk about Apple a lot and, in the McDonald Land of Apple, you’re kind of like the goofy, lovable Grimace to Steve Jobs’ maniacal and dangerous Mayor McCheese. So you talk to a local NBC affiliate and make an off-hand remark about liking the Nexus One. What do you think happens next?
Splashy headlines! “Apple Cofounder Confesses: He Loves the Google Phone!” Wild subheads! “Steve Wozniak admits he’s jumped to Google’s ship!” The belief that general approval and usage of competing technology equates to varletism! Efforts by a mainstream news organization to stir up fanboy in hopes of gaining traffic!
Well, all of that worked and how. Because Woz said, and this is the quote:
Wozniak made his latest revelation with a coy laugh and without actually speaking the Google device’s name. Instead, when asked what his favorite gadget is, Wozniak said, “Well, it’s the latest one. It’s a non-Apple product, but it’s a gadget that just came out yesterday.”
He is a traitor to the cause. He must be liquidated. His refusal to shower unyielding praise on his former company is tantamount to high treason. Or maybe NBC Bay Area could cover more pressing stuff, like California’s budget crisis or the wars going on or earthquakes around the world. Oh well. Woz sells.
That said, they basically got what they wanted. Sadly, Steve Wozniak could say that dogs are great pets and all cat-loving Windows users would throw bricks through his window. Why not milk that division?
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OMGWTF! Woz likes the Nexus One!
Philadelphia wants to buy Earthlink’s former hardware, keep municipal WiFi dream alive
It never came to pass. Philadelphia's city-wide WiFi plan was announced in 2006 and then, after struggling on for two years, died when Earthlink decided it wanted nothing to do with muni wireless. A private company called NAC bought the hardware last year and now the city wants to buy it from them for $2 million. The Mayor's Office pledges to "provide free internet in targeted public spaces," which is somewhat less aggressive than the previous city-wide reach, but ditching the $20/month that Earthlink was asking seems like a fair trade. The only question now is exactly which spaces will be targeted, and if South Street Philly Bagels doesn't make the list that's a damn shame.
Philadelphia wants to buy Earthlink's former hardware, keep municipal WiFi dream alive originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.