When the city of Pasadena approved the police department’s request to purchase three new automatic license plate readers, Commander Jason Clawson promised the city’s public safety committee the department wouldn’t share any data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.“Robust policies and procedures are in place to prevent the system and the information it gathers from being … [Read more...] about Police in Pasadena, Long Beach pledged not to send license plate data to ICE. They shared it anyway
Technology
Unfair ratings cost some Instacart shoppers hundreds a week. Here’s what’s happening
Bags of groceries don’t just vanish into thin air. But in case the laws of physics ceased to exist, Loreen Zahara does her due diligence. The Instacart shopper keeps receipts for purchases and even photographs them upon delivery — on a customer’s stoop or in front of their garage.Yet when one customer gave her a one-star rating over a missing bag of pineapples and another … [Read more...] about Unfair ratings cost some Instacart shoppers hundreds a week. Here’s what’s happening
How the ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ botched launch reveals the need for industry change
“Cyberpunk 2077" was always going to be hotly anticipated and highly debated. But now it’s a cautionary tale. Since Keanu Reeves appeared last year at the Electronic Entertainment Expo to announce his participation in the title, excitement for the game has been at a level that greets a new Marvel film. And the fact that it would deal with topical subject matter — including … [Read more...] about How the ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ botched launch reveals the need for industry change
This capitalist commune is trying to cure L.A.’s loneliness. Plus there’s free coffee
On a Sunday evening in late September, with wildfire smoke hanging in the air, a few dozen people gathered in the rooftop kitchen of a Hollywood apartment building called Treehouse for their weekly communal dinner.The building’s co-founder and chief executive, Prophet Walker, stacked plates and cleaned up cutting boards behind the tiled kitchen island, while the building’s … [Read more...] about This capitalist commune is trying to cure L.A.’s loneliness. Plus there’s free coffee
The most important company you’ve never heard of is being dragged into the U.S.-China rivalry
It’s been called Taiwan’s Silicon Shield, and without it much of modern life would cease. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., or TSMC, makes more than half the world’s contracted semiconductor chips and lies at the center of the technology supply chain, churning out circuitry found in iPhones, Amazon cloud computers, graphics processors that power popular video games and … [Read more...] about The most important company you’ve never heard of is being dragged into the U.S.-China rivalry
To appreciate life in 2020, I can’t stop playing games about death
The game “What Comes After” opens with a relatable nightmare. Vivi, wearing a face mask on the subway, is overly exhausted and stressed about the very thought of going home to another evening of absolutely nothing, presumably in our present-day pandemic. She doesn’t go home, however. She falls asleep on mass transit. This is hellish.No wonder Vivi is relieved, upon waking, to … [Read more...] about To appreciate life in 2020, I can’t stop playing games about death
Judge fines Uber $59 million, threatens license in California over assault data
California regulators issued a $59-million fine to Uber and threatened to suspend the company’s operating license in a Monday ruling. At issue: the company’s ongoing refusal to hand over detailed sexual assault data.Uber has spent a year stonewalling state regulators’ requests for additional information on sexual harassment or assault claims made by its customers and drivers. … [Read more...] about Judge fines Uber $59 million, threatens license in California over assault data
222 L.A. tech companies pledged to improve on diversity. Have they made any progress?
Two years ago, a number of L.A.'s leading tech investors gathered for a swanky party to launch a program called PledgeLA. Its purpose: to change the mostly white, mostly male face of the tech industry in Southern California.With support from the mayor’s office and the deep pockets and local connections of the Annenberg Foundation, PledgeLA has been asking venture capitalists … [Read more...] about 222 L.A. tech companies pledged to improve on diversity. Have they made any progress?
Twitter scrambles to contain damage after bitcoin scam targets celebrities
The attack announced itself one account at a time. Elon Musk. Kanye West. Bill Gates. Joe Biden. Barack Obama. Within a span of minutes Wednesday, some of social media’s biggest power users posted near-identical messages soliciting bitcoin payments with an offer to pay back twice as much.As more and more giant accounts chimed in — Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos, Apple — it quickly … [Read more...] about Twitter scrambles to contain damage after bitcoin scam targets celebrities
This heartbreaking video game about the joys of life deeply resonates in 2020
“Before I Forget” is the reminder I didn’t know I needed. Be forewarned: This is a game with moments of sadness. “Before I Forget” left me in tears in the middle of a weekend afternoon. At times, its 60-minute interactive text can even be frightening — though emotionally scary, not in the horror sense. Still, while there is the terror of an illness at its core, “Before I … [Read more...] about This heartbreaking video game about the joys of life deeply resonates in 2020