It was around 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning, and Justin Wynn and Gary Demercurio were in a bit of a tight spot. Specifically, the two were being arrested on the third floor of Iowa’s Dallas County courthouse. 

But Wynn and Demercurio weren’t there to steal the only evidence linking them to some unnamed crime. Rather, reports the Des Moines Register, the two had been hired by the state court administration to attempt to obtain “unauthorized access” to court documents using “various means.” 

The two men work as physical penetration testers, or pentesters, for the cybersecurity company Coalfire and were simply doing their job. Unfortunately, that message somehow got lost in translation.  Read more…

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The Pittsburgh Left might be not in the rulebooks, but you better program any self-driving cars driving in the Pennsylvania city with that intel, because it’s going to happen. 

Uber is one of several autonomous vehicle companies testing in Pittsburgh that’s had to contend with the unwritten rules of the road that can sometimes manifest in aggressive ways. Drivers’ tendency in Pittsburgh to turn left before oncoming traffic has a chance to cross the intersection gave this dangerous move its moniker. As a result, Uber now has to train its cars to expect the abrupt left turn.

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Kyte wants to bring rental cars to users. 

That means no parking lots with special access instructions, lines at rental car agencies, or even reserved spots on the street. A contract worker — dubbed a “Surfer” — drops the car off at your location, and then it’s up to them to get home or wherever they’re off to next. 

They can take the bus, walk, or pack a scooter in the trunk and ride away, although the company doesn’t provide them. 

The idea is to deliver unused cars cars sitting in the parking lots of established rental agencies (it wouldn’t say which ones) to compete against services such as Getaround and Turo, which let strangers rent their cars to other strangers.  Read more…

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Let me be the first to say that falling asleep is a process. Maybe Ikea can help.

Insomniacs have tried it all: herbal teas, blue light filters, melatonin pills, cutting back on caffeine. But few things really help an insomniac fall asleep like boredom. 

Ikea launched a 14-day-long livestream on YouTube to celebrate its Festival of Sleep, a 12-day campaign to help Australians sleep better. The livestream is a spin-off of the Ikea Sleep Podcast, a series of narrated furniture catalogs. Dubbed Ikea Slow TV, the livestream “follows” a cargo ship’s two week journey from Asia to Australia as Kent and Sara Ericsson, the two hosts of the Ikea Sleep Podcast, read off the company’s new 2020 catalog.  Read more…

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Student ID photos might not seem like a very important part of the high school experience, but for seniors at North Farmington High School in Michigan, they’re everything.

The school has an annual tradition of allowing students to dress up to have their student ID photos taken — not in formal attire like you might think, but in creative costumes.

Many students take the student ID photo shoot as an opportunity to honor some of their favorite pop culture characters, memes, and more.

Jordan Paholak, for instance, assumed the role of Jim Halpert dressed as Dwight K. Schrute on The Office. Identity theft is not a joke, North Farmington High! Read more…

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While previous iPhone iterations have had fairly low amounts of RAM, this is the biggest RAM boost between generations.  Read more…

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With the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max each having three cameras, some are raising some concerns. Read more…

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The tools will seek to help with opioid addiction and overdose prevention. Read more…

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Elon Musk hopes to break records with his new Plaid powertrain, and based on his claims, that could become a reality. Read more…

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Uber and Lyft have been warning drivers about the end of flexible schedules, and passengers about more expensive rides that take longer to arrive, all thanks to a California bill that passed this week. 

But drivers and other gig workers are celebrating what could be a pathway to fair pay, benefits, and other employee rights, which some claim will come at only a slight cost to riders.

After the bill, called AB5, makes its way to the governor’s desk, it should go into effect on Jan. 1, 2020. It would make companies reclassify many independent contractors as employees, something Uber and Lyft have opposed.  Read more…

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