The LAPD needs to re-read the Constitution. They have no right to hoard license plate data collected from police vehicles and telephone poles. Their defense, that vehicles "may" be stolen, sought by an Amber Alert, or driven by a fugitive, is pathetic. The 4th Amendment applies here, and what "may" be possible falls far from implying what is "probable". But we appreciate the challenge of law enforcement, so a compromise could be to let the DMV track this information and release it only by warrant, or to filter out--in real-time--any license plate data that is not related to an ongoing investigation.

There is no question that child abductions are tragic, and that Amber Alert phone notifications (part of the national Emergency Alerts System) are a great idea. But the implementation of this notification program is terrible! iPhone users were jolted awake several times last night by their phone's "Alarm" ringtone, which is designed to sound like a 1950s military base under threat of imminent attack. On iPhones, the Amber Alert system uses this specific ringtone at full volume, even when in Silent Mode or Do Not Disturb is activated. Unless a tsunami is about to wash Los Angeles into the ocean, common sense tells us that particular sound is not necessary or appropriate, especially since it can be triggered in the middle of the night while people are sleeping. It's an all-or-nothing design, where the only option one has is to opt-out entirely. Given the ringtone choice, it wouldn't be surprising if many people did opt out. The poor decision to use this particular ringtone is a lesson in the importance of getting the details right.

The new web page attachment feature allows us to show a summary of a webpage along with the vox, whenever we include a URL in the vox. The current implementation is rough, but it works. To attach a web page summary, simply include a URL in your vox... as you're typing, the site should detect the URL, and if it is able to create a summary, it will display the summary details next to the vox text box, where you can write comments about the referenced webpage. For example: No parliament means no representation. Looks like Egypt may be headed for a dictatorship.