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Des Moines' city council is trying to 'opt out' of 'Pokémon Go'
The City Council of Des Moines, Washington is working hard to cut down on its residents' access to Pokémon Go, even going so far as to make attempts to "opt out" of the game.
Washington state sues Comcast over its 'deceptive' service plan
Comcast doesn't have a stellar reputation for delivering what you pay for, and Washington state is taking the cable giant to task for that shoddy service... if not quite in the way you expect. It just filed a lawsuit against Comcast demanding more than $100 million over the allegedly "deceptive" nature of the provider's Service Protection Plan. The $5 monthly package ostensibly saves you from technician fees when you ask for a non-essential house call, but the company conveniently didn't tell most customers that the plan doesn't cover cable wiring inside your walls -- you know, the most common wiring there is. Customers reportedly lost "at least" $73 million in wasted subscription fees as a result.
Olli is an IBM Watson-powered driverless electric bus
You might see a cute, driverless bus roaming the streets of Washington DC starting today. It's called Olli, and it's an autonomous electric minibus designed by Local Motors, which you might remember as the company that's planning to sell 3D-printed cars this year. While the automaker itself designed the 12-seater's self-driving system, it teamed up with IBM to use Watson's capabilities to power the EV's other features. Thanks to Watson, you can tell Olli where you're heading in natural language ("I'd like to go to [workplace.]") and ask it questions about how the technology works. Best of all, it won't kick you out even if you keep asking "Are we there yet?"
ICYMI: NASA's new telescope, amazing robot hand and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-777419{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-777419, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-777419{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-777419").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: NASA just started developing the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope, slotted to hit space by the mid-2020s. This will good 'ole Hubble still chugged away, analyzing the atmosphere of an exoplanet 40 light years away. University of Washington developed a robotic hand capable of carefully holding small, delicate objects by first 3D printing a hand based on a human skeleton, then adding tendons and muscles just where a person's would be. For those of you with any difficulty typing, this DIY creation pairs speech recognition with mechanical buttons for some riveting viewing. If you didn't read it, make sure to dive into the Apple vs. FBI debate here. As always, please share any interesting science or tech videos, anytime! Just tweet us with the #ICYMI hashtag to @mskerryd.
Google's self-driving cars hit the rainy streets of Washington state
Google is expanding its self-driving car test to the rainy and hilly city of Kirkland, Washington. In fact, citizens of the Seattle suburb have probably already noticed one of the company's Lexus RX450h SUV driving around over the past few weeks mapping the roads. The rest of the fleet of autonomous vehicles will be hitting the road next month.
Software glitch let 3,200 US prison inmates out early
Washington's Department of Corrections has been forced to admit that around three percent of the prison population has been released early since 2002. The issue, which was admitted yesterday by Governor Jay Inslee, surrounds a software glitch that's been incorrectly calculating the duration of inmates sentences. According to the Seattle Times, a Supreme Court ruling mandated that good time credits should be used to reduce prison terms. When the DoC's computer systems were amended to take that into consideration, however, there was an inaccurate calculation of how long a good time credit was. Unfortunately, it wasn't until 2012 when the family of a victim raised the issue of a prisoner's release, that the department became aware.
You can't fly drones near the Pope during his US visit
Thinking of using a camera drone to get some above-the-crowd footage of Pope Francis during his trip to the US near the end of September? The Federal Aviation Administration would really, really prefer that you didn't. It's instituting drone flying bans in key parts of New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, DC (where there are already strict limitations) throughout the Papal visit. Give in to temptation and you're breaking the law, even if you had no intentions of getting near the religious leader.
Washington state fines a crowdfunding project for stiffing backers
Regulators have already started clamping down on crowdfunding fraud, but they're now getting those project creators to pay up when they leave backers hanging. Washington state has ordered Ed Polchlopek III to pay a total of $54,841 in fines and restitution after he dropped his Kickstarter project, Asylum Playing Cards, without offering refunds. That's a hefty payout when the entire project raised just $25,146, only a small amount of which ($668) came from Washington-based contributors. Clearly, the state is as much interested in sending a message as compensating those who were left high and dry.
Tim Cook says privacy is a fundamental, moral right
It should surprise no one that, while being honored as a champion of privacy, Tim Cook threw shade at Google for its attitude toward its customer data. As TechCrunch reports, Apple's CEO was speaking at a Washington-based civil liberties non profit and said that his company believed that people had a "fundamental right to privacy." He went on to say that "the American people demand it, the constitution demands it and morality demands it." It's a song that the executive has played several times before, expressing distaste for companies who seek to monetize a user in ways other than to sell them expensive gadgets.
Washington state police now need warrants to spy on cellphones
The US government might have only started taking a serious look at the civil liberty implications for stingrays and other cellphone surveillance devices, but Washington state isn't willing to wait. Governor Jay Inslee has just signed a bill into law requiring that police obtain warrants before using stingrays to simulate cell sites and intercept communications. They have to explicitly state their intention to use these gadgets (the FBI sometimes encourages departments to keep stingray use a secret), and they must toss out any information from people who aren't targets in a given investigation.
Department of Energy 3D prints an all-electric Shelby Cobra
Carroll Shelby's iconic Cobra roadster has been making jaws drop for half a century now. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Cobra's debut the US Department of Energy built one of its own. The new Cobra's entire chassis and bodywork--from the passenger monocoque to the grille and headrests--were 3D printed from carbon fiber reinforced ABS using the Big Area Additive Manufacturing (BAAM) machine at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. And while the exterior of the new Cobra is nearly indistinguishable from its predecessor, they look nothing alike under the hood. The DoE's Cobra is, in fact, completely electric.
Amazon's grocery service stops delivering beer and wine
We hope you weren't counting on AmazonFresh to stock up on alcohol for your next big party. GeekWire reports that beer and wine have vanished from the internet grocery service without either a warning or any indication as to whether or not the booze will return. We've reached out to Amazon for an explanation, but it's possible that Amazon is simply playing it safe with regulations. Some states don't allow alcohol delivery, and those that do (such as Amazon's home state, Washington) have regulations that determine both who can make deliveries and how the goods reach your door. Whatever the reasons, you're going to have to either switch to alternatives like Drizly or else get your adult beverages the old-fashioned way. [Image credit: Andrew Hitchcock, Flickr]
DC airport tries using face recognition to catch imposters
If you come to the US through Washington DC's Dulles airport in the near future, don't be surprised if Customs and Border Protection takes your snapshot before letting you through. The agency has confirmed to Motherboard that it will be testing a facial recognition system which captures a photo and compares it against your passport picture to see if you're an imposter. The relatively short (2 to 3 months) trial won't rely solely on face detection to flag suspicious travelers, but it could give customs agents a way to double-check identities without relying so heavily on keen eyes and intuition.
Seattle PD has a YouTube channel for its body camera footage
Seattle's officer-worn camera footage is making its way online, but if you were hoping for anything Cops-like you're likely to be disappointed. In accordance with privacy measures, faces aren't the only parts of a shot that are blurred out -- most of the time it's the entire frame, and audio's been scrubbed as well. Seattle's police department's using methods recommended by volunteer hacker Tim Clemans, and according to SPD Blotter, the redacting process only took half-a-day to process four hours of raw video. Comparatively, the force's old methods would take upwards of a 60 minutes to obfuscate a single minute of footage.
DJI no longer lets you fly its drones in Washington, DC
' DJI really, really doesn't want to see its drones in the news for the wrong reasons. Just a day after the world learned that one of its robotic vehicles crash-landed at the White House, the company is pushing out a "mandatory" firmware update for its Phantom 2 drones that prevents you from flying anywhere within a 15.5-mile radius of downtown Washington, DC. The move is practically necessary given FAA guidelines barring unmanned vehicles from flying in the area. However, it also means that there's no longer much point to owning a DJI drone in the US capital -- unless you refuse to install any upgrades or regularly head out of the city, you now own a very expensive paperweight. [Image credit: US Secret Service]
Apple cozies up to U.S. government with increased lobbying
With personal devices getting more powerful every day and the launch of a wearable on the horizon, Apple is reportedly ramping up its presence in Washington in order to help calm any concerns. Bloomberg reports that Tim Cook's photo op with Orrin Hatch in December was just a small sample of Apple's ramped-up focus on making nice with the powers-that-be. Apple has never been a huge player in Washington, at least when compared to other large tech firms, but their efforts have been expanded a bit as of late. This is seen as a response to increased scrutiny over potential privacy issues, and Apple's hiring last year of Amber Cottle, former Democratic Staff Director on the Senate Finance Committee, seems to already be paying dividends.
Etsy bans sale of questionable Washington Redskins merch
The debate over the appropriateness of the Washington Redskins' name has been raging for what seems like ages now, and even homegrown e-commerce operations are feeling the effects. Consider Etsy, for instance. The fast-growing purveyor of neat and offbeat products recently updated its policies to ban the sale of any merch with the Redskins' name or logo. Washington's trademark burgundy and gold are still in the clear, as is the word "Washington" itself... and that's about it. Etsy has already started reaching out to sellers whose wares run afoul of the new rule, but it'll probably be a while before the site is fully purged. Just take a look: here's still plenty of seemingly verboten Redskins-branded swag to be found on Etsy at this point, while sellers of more innocuous wares (like a HTTR "Hail to the Redskins" wristband that doesn't actually say "Redskins") are being told they're out of luck. It's possible that the furor over the Redskins name could come to a close soon - NFL commissioner Roger Goodell threw his support behind Redskins' owner Daniel Snyder, but his tenure might not last much longer as a result of his handling of Ray Rice's domestic abuse controversy.
Amtrak wants trackside WiFi that keeps you online for the whole ride
To put it bluntly, Amtrak's current on-train WiFi sucks; even if you don't mind sharing 10Mbps with hundreds of passengers, there are significant gaps in coverage. Relief may be on the horizon, though. The mass transit company is soliciting bids for a trackside WiFi project that would deliver at least 25Mbps across whole routes. The improved access would both keep you connected for more of your trip and let Amtrak lift some of its restrictions on streaming media and other bandwidth-heavy tasks. If all goes according to plan, you might not have problems watching an online movie (or at least, listening to online radio) during a lengthy journey.
Washington state files suit over unfulfilled Kickstarter rewards
The state of Washington has filed a lawsuit against Altius Management, the company behind the successfully-Kickstarted Asylum Playing Cards. Despite exceeding its initial goal of $15,000 by more than $10,000 in October 2012, rewards have allegedly failed to reach backers' hands. The suit seeks restitution for backers, the state's cost and attorney's fees, and $2,000 per violation of the Consumer Protection Act in civil penalties. "This lawsuit sends a clear message to people seeking the public's money," Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a press release. "Washington state will not tolerate crowdfunding theft. The Attorney General's Office will hold those accountable who don't play by the rules." For what it's worth, Kickstarter itself would seem to agree; its Terms of Service make a project creator legally obligated to fulfill rewards when their project is successful or to offer refunds if they cannot deliver said rewards. Crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter come with a certain amount of risk. The project you backed might be delayed. It might not be particularly good. It might get bought out by a larger company. Sometimes, as is allegedly the case here, you might not even get what you backed at all. While Kickstarter's ToS seem pretty cut-and-dry on the issue, this lawsuit may nonetheless change how the website handles crowdfunding in the future, as well as the public's perception of Kickstarter. [Image: Altius Management]
Gigabit Squared outlines Seattle fiber prices: 1Gbps for $80 per month
Ultra-high-speed fiber-to-the-home from Gigabit Squared isn't scheduled to light up Seattle until 2014, but the outfit's just revealed what it aims to charge for its blisteringly-fast internet service. Folks who are content with the bare minimum can pay a $350 installation fee and net 5Mbps up and 1Mbps down at no charge for 60 months, and can then convert to $10 each month for 10Mbps both ways. With a one-year contract, residents of The Emerald City can avoid the setup charge and score 100Mbps down and 100Mbps up for a $45 monthly bill. If pure speed is your prime directive, 1Gbps up and down will be available for $80 per month, and with no cash put towards installation. Aching to hook up to the web at those eye-watering speeds? You'll have to live in Seattle's West Campus District, First Hill, Capitol Hill or Central Area neighborhoods, as they'll be the first connected to Gigabit Squared's pipes. There's no sign-up process just yet, but it's scheduled to go live next month. Update: We've corrected the story to reflect that the free plan can be converted to a $10 monthly plan after 60 months, which boosts speeds to 10Mbps up and down. [Image credit: Eli Duke, Flickr]
