Just two days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that California were indeed overcrowded and ordered the state to reduce its 140,000+ inmate population by about 33,000, a critical error was made and the blame is being placed squarely on a computer. California prison officials mistakenly released an estimated 450 inmates with "a high risk for violence" as unsupervised parolees in a program meant to ease overcrowding, according to the state's inspector general, reported the LA Times. more ›

The general pitch at Google I/O 2011 was this: Use Google's web-based tools and applications, combine with seemingly infinite storage space in the cloud, and bulky hard drives and desktop PC's will become remnants of our technological evolution. A Google account combined with a device running Android or Chrome OS will be all you need to do [almost] anything. more ›

As mentioned yesterday, Los Angeles was awarded $7.5 million in stimulus money to increase broadband access in the city. Now here are more details: via L.A. City Council President Eric Garcetti's blog: "The funds will allow us to install more than 2,600 public computer workstations, provide broadband connection at 72 computer center sites, expand WiFi networks at places such as parks and community centers, deploy portable wireless training stations, and upgrade networks used to connect thousands of computers to the Internet." more ›

When the first internet transmission happened, there was no celebration. In fact, the guys behind it back on October 29th, 1969 (40 years and one day ago), invented the internet and called it a night. That's because at the time, they had no idea that their solution to an annoying problem would start changing the world years later. In case you missed it, NPR yesterday did a fascinating report on the events leading up to the birth of ARPANET: more ›

Apple, who was one of the first California companies to offer equal rights and benefits to employees' same-sex partners, announced their $100,000 donation to fight Prop 8, the November ballot initiative that seeks to eliminate gay marriage. "We strongly believe that a person’s fundamental rights — including the right to marry — should not be affected by their sexual orientation," the company wrote on their website. "Apple views this as a civil rights issue, rather than just a political issue, and is therefore speaking out publicly against Proposition 8." more ›

There was an iPocalypse this morning when owners of the now older version of the iPhone went to upgrade the phone's software via iTunes. Users found that the process ended up resetting their phones and because iTunes servers became overloaded as thousands of people across the nation bought the new iPhone 3G, they could not activate the phone, therefore rendering the phone useless for hours. more ›

Just how "wired" are we in Los Angeles? more ›

I logged into my email this morning to find five Facebook Wall posts from old friends -- many of whom I haven't spoken to in a while. "Hm, what is this spontaneous outpouring of love? How is it that so many have been moved to reach out to me this morning?" I clicked on over to my Facebook account, only to find -- more ›

Reaction to Final BCS Standings. more ›

You know you're gonna do it. Don't lie. You're gonna be there in the dark, in the cold, along with all your friends and neighbors standing in line like a dope at 4:50am outside some Big Box store or a mall waiting for some kid to unlock the door so you can buy a $300 plasma tv or a $5 dvd player. It's America and no matter how cool we think we are, we're... more ›

Norman Mailer, the controversial and beloved novelist and winner two Pulitzer Prizes died today in New York City of acute renal failure. The author of almost 50 books, Mailer lived a life beset by tragedy, triumph and tribulation. He once ran for Mayor of NYC and was almost stabbed to death by one of his wives. Mailer was 84. Out of the ashes of one fire in San Diego, a man sold a charred,... more ›

Ahh how glorious the post-In Rainbows world is. Albums being released for free, people downloading them without being prosecuted--all is tranquil. Trent Reznor has announced that his forthcoming project with spoken word artist Saul Williams, The Inevitable Rise and Fall of Niggy Tardust, will be released in Radiohead fashion. However, as Trent explains, the only real difference is that Saul needs your support: "There are obvious similarities in how Radiohead just released their new... more ›

It's not like the Los Angeles Business Journal is out to get us. It's just that some media outlets outsource their online advertising to affiliate programs and some of those programs have malicious ads snuck into them by evil spammers posing as advertisers. That said, Google and StopBadware.org have now joined together to bring their internet neighborhood watch to your web block:What is this page? You landed on this page because Google's independent testing... more ›

The Associated Press busted a big story today. In order to see if Comcast was indeed interfering with filesharing, the AP tested a big file on the Internet via the popular filesharing software BitTorrent, a digital copy of the most famous text in the world - the Holy Bible. more ›

"Revelation satisfies all doubts, explains all mysteries except her own, and so illuminates the path of life, that fools discover it and stray no more." - William Cowper Sometimes I wonder how it happened. I try to think about how I used to be on the other side, a Cult of Mac hater...a Steve Jobs-despising PC fanboy. But now every time I boot up my Macbook Pro I think about how stupid I am... more ›

The fallout from Appalachian State’s upset over Michigan extended beyond Michigan falling out of the Associated Press Top 25 poll. The AP announced on Thursday that lower division schools are now eligible to be included in the poll. It’s great that the Championship Subdivision (aka Division I-AA) has a chance of being ranked alongside the big boys. While I highly doubt that a team even as accomplished as Appalachian State will crack the Top... more ›

About the Above Photo: "Every Sunday from sunrise to sunset since February 15th 2004, a temporary memorial is erected in the sand just north of the pier at Santa Monica Beach in Los Angeles and at Sterns Wharf in Santa Barbara, California and other locations around the country by local chapters of Veterans For Peace (VFP) and volunteers. This memorial is known as Arlington West... By the end of July 2007, using the U.S.... more ›

Yesterday I flexed, I saved power, I took a quick shower in the dark, I refused to use AC in the middle of the day and I lost one candle (or at least, I have a new piece of art resembling, uh....). So what is this flexing your power thing?A Flex Alert is an urgent call for California businesses, governments and residents to voluntarily reduce their electricity use. The alert is used to prevent... more ›

The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) has issued a "Flex Alert" for today (July 5). Now CAISO manages the electricity grid in California, and they're trying to avoid potential electricity outages, especially during peak demand (4 pm). So you know how hot it is outside -- or rather how hot it's going to be in like an hour? Now imagine what would happen if we lost power...so try to do your part because every... more ›

Bad Manners @ Safari Sam's Thailand, Radars to the Sky, Blue Skies for Black Hearts, Fast Computers @ Silverlake Lounge Metal Skool, Inberst, Sound of the Struggle, It’s Revenge @ Key Club Patton Oswalt @ Largo Nomo, The Lions @ Temple Bar Health, Robin Williams on Fire @ Pehrspace Cracker & a Coaster, The Abe Lincoln Story, The Digs @ Mr. T's Bowl Eagle & Talon, Open Air Stereo, Van Gunn, Barcelona @ The... more ›

It may come as somewhat of a surprise that I, the vehement Apple fan and humble Macist would ever say anything even remotely negative about my favorite computer -- er, sorry "consumer electronics" -- company, but here I am saying just that. After much hype, speculation and furor all across the web and beyond, the Apple Worldwide Developer Conference Keynote went off this morning not with the expected bang, but with a whimper. And... more ›

Welcome to the latest edition of 'Ask the MACist', the column where I answer your Macintosh and other technology questions. Our question this week comes from Ryan in Silverlake. He asks: I'm seriously considering a new Mac but I always hear rumors about newer ones coming out so I always end up waiting. Should I just bite the bullet and do it or should I wait? When to upgrade or get a new piece... more ›

Here's some tech news that caught my eye this week. • Have shares of Apple, Inc.? Did 'AppleGate' affect you? I was a little worried there for a second as my stock seemed to be taking a bath. But all seems well now. Although, the fallout for Engadget still remains to be seen. • Also, Engadget's Ryan Block responds to the 'AppleGate' situation. • The iPhone gets approved by the FCC. So close, yet... more ›

Artist: Bebel Gilberto Album: Momento Label: Six Degrees Records Release Date: 04/27/2007 Queen of the bossa nova, Bebel Gilberto is on tour promoting her newly released album, Momento. She was supposed to play the El Rey last night and tonight but this hadto be rescheduled to a later date for some reason. With all the heat and fires and smoke, the smooth, soothing, and romantic tones of Bebel might be what the doctor ordered... more ›

Wow, this has got to hurt a little. People were a little miffed over at Digg last night, to say the least. Although, its interesting to see the power of the internet when people pull together in the same direction. Yes, piracy is bad but so is censorship. In truth, this number has been around the Internet for months so really, what's the big deal and why try to ban it now? Besides, its... more ›

Some interesting tech-related news from around the web this week. • Imitation may be a form of flattery (the sincerest kind, so they say) but AOL, I think you might have taken it a bit too far. • AT&T Chief Edward "Moneybags" Whitacre is retiring. His going away present? $158.5 Million. Not a bad present. I bet he won't try to return it. • Apple issues a fix for the battery issues that plague... more ›

Welcome to the latest edition of 'Ask the MACist', the column where I answer your Macintosh and other technology questions. Our question this week comes from Will in North Hollywood. He asks: I know there's a method for updating Mac OSX all the time and sometimes I get the window popping up saying I have updates. Should I always update when it tells me to? That's a good question and an important one to... more ›

Some interesting tech-related news from around the web this week. • Blackberry service had an outage this week in many parts of North America and for several tense hours, millions of users had to find something else to do with their thumbs. I feel their pain. But oddly, not in my thumbs. • Despite spending a boatload of cash to advertise Windows Vista, Microsoft has only managed to sell 244 legit copies of the... more ›

• Apple makes a deal with Music giant EMI to offer music at the iTunes Store with no DRM. If you don't know what DRM means, don't worry. It may not be around much longer. • Like Apple, Microsoft is apparently going to be making a deal with EMI for no DRM music too. Microsoft copying Apple? I'm shocked. • The saga continues for VOIP provider Vonage. First, they lose to Verizon. Then, they... more ›

Welcome to the latest edition of "Ask the MACist" the column where I answer your Macintosh and technology questions. Our question this week comes from Larry in Culver City. He asks: "I've got a Mac and I've got an XBox 360. Is there any way to get them to talk to each other?" Like Larry, I to am an avid XBox 360 user as well as a Macintosh lover so I have also been... more ›