San Jose’s water is safe to drink. That’s the response of the city’s three water companies, after the release of the Environmental Working Group’s report earlier this week about the presence of hexavelent chromium in the tap water. The EWG agrees, though they suggest that people purchase a reverse osmosis filter.
Articles by Danny Wool
On Monday, Apple removed the new Wikileak app from its iTunes store, just three days after the app was released. According to Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller, the app violated its guidelines and failed to comply with local laws.
California Senators Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein plan to introduce legislation requiring the EPA to establish standards for chromium-6 in the nation’s tap water. The legislation is in response to a study that found that most of the nation’s tap water is tainted with the carcinogen. But Boxer and Feinstein will have to contend with a new Congress that is increasingly hostile to the EPA.
Denmark’s Saxo Bank is famous for its annual list of Black Swan predictions—predictions of unlikely events that would cause utter turmoil in the market. It claims that the most unlikely game-changer next year would be Facebook’s acquisition by Apple.
The SEC has launched an informal investigation against Mark Hurd over allegations that he revealed HP’s plans to acquire EDS two months before it was announced. The allegations were made by Jodie Fisher, with whom Hurd had an affair, who said that he told her of the purchase. HP is cooperating with the investigation, while Hurd’s lawyer insists that he, “acted properly in all respects.”
A study by the Environmental Working Group found that San Jose ranked fifth nationwide for chromium-6 contamination of its drinking water. The carcinogenic substance was made famous by Erin Brokovich’s campaign against PG&E, which settled for $333 million. Thirty years later, 31 out of 35 cities studied have excessive amounts of the substance in their drinking water.
A Wall Street Journal study has found that over half the smartphone apps available transmit identifying information to advertisers without the user’s consent. In addition to the phone’s ID number, apps often transmit information such as age, gender, location, and in the most egregious cases, they also monitor income, sexual orientation, political views, and a host of other information.
Google has released the Body Browser, a program that lets users explore the innermost workings of the human body from your own computer. A 3D model is used to explore the bones, muscles, circulatory system, and all the other systems that make the body tick. The program is still in beta version, and can only be accessed with Google’s Chrome browser.
Dan Fenton, CEO of Team San Jose, handed in his resignation on Thursday after six tumultuous years.The move came one week after City Council asked the City Manager to request new proposals for managing the Center and indicated that it could approve a new team by June.
Two incoming storms about to pound the Bay Area could leave 10 inches of rain in their wake. The storm center has gathered in the Gulf of Alaska and is gradually making its way down the coast, picking up water in the unusually warm air as it descends toward the Bay Area. With flooding in sensitive areas a distinct possibility, authorities are preparing to hand out sandbags and cautioning everyone to clean out their gutters before the storm strikes.
