A California Democrat is hoping to pass legislation that will allow location tracking technology on all "alternative" license plates and registration cards.Democratic Assemblywoman Lori Wilson is looking to replace existing legislation about digital license plates. In October 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law that allowed the digital identifiers.Wilson, who sponsored the bill, called the digital plates at the time "a product of convenience" and claimed she is "all about giving people choice here in the state of California."'Locating, tracking, watching, listening to, or otherwise surveilling the employee.'The plates boasted features predominantly pertaining to the digital renewal of registration as opposed to a traditional license plate sticker system or paper registration.NPR reported at the time that the plates were capable of being equipped with GPS tracking for employers or for the owner themselves. Now, Assemblywoman Wilson is advocating for new legislation, AB 3138, which would have any vehicle that is fitted with one of the digital plates include "vehicle location technology."Digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation told Reclaim the Net that the new bill "directly undoes the deal from 2022 and explicitly calls for location tracking in digital license plates for passenger cars."The bill goes on to state that if the tracking devices are used by an employer to "monitor employees," it can only be done during work hours or if it is "strictly necessary for the performance of the employee's duties."In the bill, "monitor" is defined as including "locating, tracking, watching, listening to, or otherwise surveilling the employee."The leading developer of the new digital plates is Reviver, who also happens to be sponsoring AB 3138. Reviver is a California-based company that offers the effective computer screens called the RPlate for $39.95 per month, or $699 outright.Its features are rather underwhelming, which include "light or dark mode" with custom banner messaging, in-app registration renewal, and "tamper-proof mounting."Reviver was hacked in 2022, according to Autoweek, with hackers allegedly able to see the real-time location and registration address of the plate owner. They could also delete or alter the owner's tag or mislabel the vehicle as stolen. Reviver responded by applying a patch to protect against the vulnerabilities that were exploited in its software.The company's website even features a page that asks "can [the RPlate] be stolen or hacked?"Its answer reads, "The RPlate Battery and RPlate Wired have tamper-proof mounting, robust built-in anti-theft features, and communicate using secure cloud communication. We have taken measures to deter hacking and ensure all information is secure."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Agents planning the July 13 Donald J. Trump rally in Butler Township, Pennsylvania, were encouraged by U.S. Secret Service headquarters not to ask for extra event security, a whistleblower told Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri.An Aug. 23 letter from Hawley demanded an explanation from acting Secret Service Director Ronald L. Rowe Jr., who earlier suggested before Congress that no security assets had been denied for the Butler event.“You must explain this apparent contradiction immediately,” Hawley wrote.A whistleblower “with knowledge of Secret Service planning” for the Butler event said agents in the Pittsburgh field office did not ask for more security resources in their manpower requests “because agents on the ground were told not to ask for them in the first place,” Hawley wrote.'These serious allegations suggest that the failures to protect the former president extended to top officials at the agency.'The senator demanded Rowe provide his office with a list of which security assets were left out of the request for the Trump rally and indicate if he was aware that Secret Service officials advised the Pittsburgh office to leave them out.“Importantly, these resources included counter-sniper teams and Counter Surveillance Division (CSD) personnel,” the letter said. “According to public reports, counter-snipers were ultimately approved, but only the day prior to the event—leaving them an insufficient amount of time to conduct a proper site assessment.”The whistleblower said the lead advance agent for a “protectee trip” typically submits manpower requests to the local Secret Service field office, which forwards them to the Office of Protective Operations for final approval.“According to the allegations, officials within this office preemptively informed the Pittsburgh field office that the Butler rally was not going to receive any additional security resources because Trump is a former president and not the incumbent president or vice president,” Hawley wrote.Hawley referenced a previous whistleblower who said Counter Surveillance Division personnel “would have handcuffed the gunman in the parking lot after he was spotted with a rangefinder, but they were not present that day,” the letter said.Nearly an hour before he opened fire on the rally, would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks was spotted by local counter-snipers using a rangefinder, a device utilized in sports and shooting to estimate distance to a target. Secret Service was responsible for the security failures at the July 13 Donald J. Trump rally while trying to blame local police, a district attorney said. Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images Crooks shot Trump in the right ear, killed volunteer firefighter Corey Comperatore, 50, and seriously wounded David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74. Crooks was killed by a counter-sniper’s bullet after he had fired eight times. A local SWAT operator fired at Crooks from the ground and struck the stock of his rifle, ending Crooks' shooting spree.At an Aug. 2 press conference, Rowe said the Counter Surveillance Division has a heavy workload in the National Capital Region securing permanent protective sites but goes into the field “when requested.”“I know that there's been allegations that that I personally cut or that I, let's see, that I denied requests,” Rowe said. “The Counter Surveillance Division has been out there supporting the former president's detail at some very high-profile events. They continue to provide that support, and they're out there providing support right now.”Hawley said the new allegations “suggest that CSD personnel, counter-sniper teams, and other critical security assets were not included in the manpower requests for the Butler trip because Secret Service officials told the requesting agents that they would be denied.”Rowe’s decision to place five field agents on leave as a result of July 13 is an insufficient response to the tragedy, Hawley said.“These serious allegations suggest that the failures to protect the former president extended to top officials at the agency,” he said.Hawley has written to Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security officials with whistleblower allegations numerous times since the shooting. In July, Hawley said the majority of security personnel at the Butler event were not from the Secret Service but from Homeland Security Investigations and were “unfamiliar with standard protocols typically used at these types of events.”On July 22, he said there had been an individual assigned to cover the roof from which Crooks launched his attack “but this person abandoned his or her post due to the hot weather.”Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

One of the weirdest moments in Star Trek history is that bit in the tenth film where Picard and Worf drive about a desert planet in a buggy. Now you can recreate that moment to your heart’s content in Starfield, with the Rev-8 vehicle giving you all the fun of four wheels. It’s safe to say that it’s a hit, with fans loving being able to pootle about on mysterious worlds or downtown in New Atlantis. This is a Bethesda game, however, so modders are already hard at work making this cool car even cooler. Continue reading Starfield fans waste no time launching mods for the RPG’s space car MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Starfield mods, Starfield outposts, Starfield traits

Created in the ancient city of Sippar in present-day Iraq, these Babylonian tablets feature the warnings and predictions of royal astronomers whose job it was to watch the night sky and report the omens foretold in the stars to the king. The post Researchers Decode 3,800-Year-Old Babylonian Astrological Tablets And Find Ominous Warnings appeared first on All That's Interesting.

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Valve has finally, officially announced Deadlock, in the most minimal way imaginable. The game now has a Steam page that lists Valve as its developer and publisher, and a simple notice: Deadlock is in early development with lots of temporary art and experimental gameplay. Access is currently limited to friend invite via our playtesters. Valve provides no other details, just an animated teaser image. (You can see a still screenshot of it above.) The system requirements only mention that the game requires a 64-bit processor and operating system. Some details about Deadlock trickled out in May from closed playtests, and by August, tens of thousands of people were playing the game as more players invited their friends to check it out. The... Continue reading…

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), a compound that is naturally found in the body, has been found to help protect against chronic diseases, such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Production of CoQ10 decreases with age, and taking certain medications and other factors can result in...

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., is demanding Facebook and Google provide information regarding their policies on censoring free speech, citing "increasing attacks on free speech facilitated" by the major tech companies.