Bitcoin offers virtual alternative to traditional currency

Gerrit Lane’s daily routine on his computer involves checking his email, Facebook and two sites that monitor the market for a virtual currency called Bitcoin. Lane, a second-year mechanical engineering student, started investing in Bitcoin in fall 2011, just a year and a half after it was first invented. It was a risky move – […]

Court ruling bars California drivers from handling cellphones when behind wheel

Drivers in California can no longer hold their cellphones for any reason – including the use of map applications – while behind the wheel, based on a recent ruling from the appellate division of the Fresno County Superior Court. The decision adds on to existing state bans that prohibit texting and talking on the phone […]

ElectriCity: Online map charts LA energy consumption

From pastel to dark olive green, different neighborhoods across the Los Angeles area light up on an interactive online map. With the click of the “play” button on the map, a foliage of greens flashes on the screen, depicting changes in energy use over a period of 18 months. Researchers at the UCLA California Center […]

UC SHIP may increase premiums by 20 percent to pay for deficit

UCLA students on the University of California Student Health Insurance Plan may see premium hikes of about 20 percent in the next school year to help pay for an estimated $57 million deficit on the plan, depending on final decisions made by campus chancellors later this year.