Your days of enjoying a combo plan of getting a disc or two via those red envelopes in the mail and streaming content from California-based Netflix are numbered, kids. Starting September 1, the popular site is implementing separate plans for streaming and physical disc borrowing. more ›

It was the ax-falling heard 'round the world, or at least among those who cherish their daily ABC "stories." When the network announced in April they were pulling the plug on long-running soaps "All My Children" and "One Life to Live" after 41 and 44 years, respectively, drama junkies (and grandmas) everywhere soaked through their hankies. But fear not: Both series will return with new episodes to be shown online. more ›

Pro Publica has published a database that makes it easy for you to compare your access to quality education and at what cost in an effort to provide insight into the opportunity gap demonstrated by economic difference in the classroom. more ›

Namesake, a Los Angeles-based startup, is hoping to fill that void. Founded in January 2010 by entrepreneurs Brian Norgard and Dan Gould as a place for professionals and creators to match ideas with opportunities and resources, Namesake.com is still in private beta but we've got invites for you... more ›

We spoke with AOL's Entertainment Practice Head Debbie Menin at Digital Hollywood Spring 2011 last week at the Ritz in Marina del Rey. We discussed the different ways in which consumers are using social media to inform purchases and decisions and how that in turn is informing the advertising industry. more ›

The FBI have conducted a raid on the Los Angeles apartment of an actor they believe uploaded theatrical releases like "The King's Speech," "127 Hours, " "The Fighter, " and "Black Swan," to file-sharing site The Pirate Bay, according to Wired. Wes DeSoto, a member of the Screen Actor's Guild, was allegedly the first person to upload those titles to the site in January. more ›

A 17-year-old student at Millikan High was arrested Thursday after allegedly threatening violence in a series of Facebook posts. The boy threatened to harm a "small number" of classmates just a few days after friending them on the social network, according to Long Beach police. more ›

Online shopping offers many benefits: unprecedented selection, effortless price comparison, and the ability to buy that Kobe beef iPod Nano case you’ve secretly coveted without wasting energy on unnecessary chores like putting pants on. Despite the benefits, online shopping is not without its headaches. In addition to the burden of keeping track of different logins and passwords, cybercrime is a growing threat. According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, US consumers lost $560 million to online fraud last year. more ›

Come on, do you really know all of your Facebook friends? As in, you've met them, spent time with them, have a bona fide relationship with them that qualifies as friendship. more ›

Last month at Twiistup 7 we had the opportunity to chat with the founder of Bakespace.com -- the social network for foodies. Babette Pepaj was bouncing around the networks as a reality TV producer before she decided to go full-time with her new-found passion for baking. The LA-based Bakespace.com is now one of the top online communities for recipe sharing and more. So before you step into the kitchen, check out Bakespace and be sure to save some leftovers for us! more ›

This Thursday night in Manhattan Beach we'll hear what the online dating game was, is, and what it can be from five distinct points of view. From shameless social media oversharing to sexting, twittercrushes and swingers socials, there's another world of possibilities for all you disgruntled JDaters and eHarmonists. more ›

Support local business without leaving your computer today thanks to a sale by one of our favorite chocolatiers. Compartes [Twitter] is running a "Chocolate Brown Friday" 24-hour online sale to celebrate the launch of their online shop. Their shopping site went live this morning, and today buyers can score 10% off everything by using the coupon code "ChocolateFriday." Compartes is a jewel of a chocolate shop in Brentwood that is gaining national attention (thanks to Oprah and People Magazine) for their phenom artisanal truffles and bars. If you're not ready to shop today, head over to their charming shop before the holidays to put together gift boxes for the sweet tooth on your list--or for you. We know those honey + peanut butter + sea salt truffles are damn good. Treat yourself; we won't judge. more ›

This week, the Metro Transportation Library debuted an impressive set of historical maps depicting transit lines and proposals for routes and systems. Among the multiple versions of our current subway system and systems long come and gone is a proposed monorail from 1960, the transit vision for LA in 1974, the map produced based on the Kelker-Deleuw study of 1925 (when the city's first subway was built), and a map from the time when the Red Line was called the Orange Line. more ›

Imagine if you could make urban graffiti disappear with a shake of your iPhone.... It's not that easy -- yet -- but LA-based FreedomSpeaks.com launched a new mobile tool that comes close. CitySourced enables anyone with an iPhone to report to 311 with the click of a button. See a pothole, snap a photo, and send it off. more ›

Yesterday, a city website published what turned out to be "a confidential report on police misconduct that included the names of hundreds of officers," much to the dismay of the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Police Protective League, abc7.com is reporting. Included in the report, which also was delivered to news media via e-mail, were "the names of about 250 officers that the internal affairs unit had investigated over allegations of racial profiling." The posting came down within an hour of being online, and the Police Commission along with LAPD reps issued apologies to the police union president, who called the incident "absolutely outrageous." more ›

With the holiday season right around the corner, it's time to start thinking about gatherings, celebrations, indulgences, and treats. Of course, sometimes we get in a holiday rut; the same old-same old cookies, cupcakes, and pies. LAist recently got tuned into a truly delicious alternative, the Los Angeles based Sweet Square, who make really scrumptious squares and bars available by order. We were lucky to sample some of their four-cornered fare, including the Oatmeal Fruit Squares, the S'mores, their fudgy Brownie, and, our favorite of the bunch, the Peanut Butter and Jelly. more ›

So let's say you've got some high-quality homegrown all bagged up and ready to go but no one to buy it--I mean, let's face it, the economy these days doesn't leave much room for luxury items--where can you go? Well, the internet, obviously. Since the goods have a pretty fixed street value, eBay might seem out of the question, so the next logical choice for online wheeling, and, in this case, dealing, is the mecca of the mundane, aka Craigslist. more ›

Now that the U.S. is catching up with the rest of the world's mobile phone addiction, we can use our nimble thumbs to engage in some quality worldchanging. We've learned a lot about what's possible with mobile from Google, Apple, and Nokia in the past year alone. Now is the time take the baton and move forward. more ›

LA Observed's Kevin Roderick gave blogging some major props in his weekly KCRW report, citing three big names in the local blogosphere who are part of the changing face of mainstream media: the Times' Patrick Goldstein, Patterico’s Pontifications' Patrick Frey, and Witness LA.com's Alan Mittelstaedt. He ends with this thought that hits right at home here: "Blogs, the better ones, are changing the media scene in Los Angeles -- like everywhere. Even with the occasional dishonest actors that go with that, I think we’re all better off." more ›

For the past few months we've noticed our friends randomly appearing in sidebar ads on Facebook and thought, "ZOMG Zuckerberg, are we all being used so you can pick up all of our friends for your third-party app-monkeys? more ›

This week's Senate Committee Hearing on the Future of the Internet featured notable speakers on both sides of the net neutrality debate including Stanford Prof. Lawrence Lessig, FCC Commissioner Kevin J. Martin, Patric Verrone, President of the WGA-West, and Michele Combs of the Christian Coalition. more ›

Our photo storage/sharing network of choice, Flickr, is finally offering a video component. In other words, Flickr will store, stream, and enable the embedding of any kind of content that can be produced by a basic digital camera (now that most shoot moving as well as still pictures). A Flickr Pro account is required to upload video, which at $25/year was already necessary to upload more than 100mb of photos each month. Also, at least for the time being, videos are restricted to 90 seconds (and no larger than 150mb). more ›

We caught up with Mahalo Daily host/producer Veronica Belmont at Community Next over the weekend to discuss her daily (weekdays) video podcast for Santa Monica-based Mahalo. more ›

Students these days are so lazy...Instead of taking it to the streets like their parents' generation and brandishing signs and making noise they're opting to stay inside, chained to their computers. Except sometimes they discover that the medium is what makes the message, and in the SGV right now students who want the Gold Line extended to Montclair have found that their campaign is positively viral. more ›

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New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who rode into office on the high horse of morality after years of spearing Wall Street robber barrons as the attorney general, has been linked to a prostitiution ring that has operated in Los Angeles. more ›

If you care for "Just For Laughs", "According To Jim" and all things Tuesday ABC, they're new. We have a premiere tonight on Bravo, our new source of reality TV. This time they're launching Millionaire Matchmaker featuring Patti Stranger (right) who performs the very public service of hooking up desperate, misunderstood, and underprivileged millionaires with compatible mates - Patti, I hope someday a grateful society brings you the honors you deserve. more ›

As you might have guessed, we're pretty big into gaming over at my house -- our console set-up includes the both generations of the Xbox, not one but TWO PS2's (one for the living room, one for the bedroom), a Dell XPS with a wide-screen monitor (for PC gaming), a Nintendo Gamecube, a Nintendo 64, an SNES, and a Gameboy -- oh, and possibly a Sony PSP floating around somewhere. Our 50" big-screen is optimized for the best gaming experience, with surround-sound Bose speakers and wireless networking. more ›

The week in Los Angeles bookish events from Monday, January 7th - Sunday, January 13th. Readings, signings and bookish events this week include Andy Summers, Jami Attenberg, Judith Freeman, Alice Fulton, J.A. Jance and Robert Gottlieb. more ›

With yesterday's revelation that all 72 actors nominated for the upcoming Golden Globes are expected to not attend the January 13th ceremony, the appeal of the telecast comes sharply into question. The decision was made by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) in order to show solidarity to their fellow strikers, and was announced by their union president Alan Rosenberg, who said: "After considerable outreach to Golden Globe actor nominees and their representatives over the past several weeks, there appears to be unanimous agreement that these actors will not cross WGA picket lines to appear on the Golden Globe Awards as acceptors or presenters," (E! Online). more ›