Texting

Re "The future is on board," Business, Sept. 30 If these genius utopians at Google touting driverless cars sincerely want to save thousands of lives and improve traffic flows, there is probably something they can invent tomorrow: a device that disables those insidious texting machines the instant you take the transmission out of park. John Thomas Pico Rivera ALSO: Postscript: Sprawl -- is that all? Letters: How to prevent a nuclear Iran Letters: Lecturing Obama on foreign policy

Decrying "how much was lost for so little," a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge Friday sentenced two men to lengthy prison terms for killing a teenager three years ago over an insulting text message. Zareh Manjikian was sentenced to 50 years to life in state prison, and Vahagn Jurian was given a 25-years-to-life term in the shooting death of 19-year-old Gombert "Mike" Yepremyan. "The life of a young man … is lost over a single, thoughtless word in a text message," Judge Gregory A. Dohi said.

When translation apps are a dime a dozen, don't waste your time testing them. Download SayHi Translate and use it at home or on your next trip abroad. It's just as useful for business as it is for leisure travel. Name: SayHi Translate Available for: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad What it does: Interprets 32 languages and dialects. Speak into the device and watch as your words appear in the conversation box. You select the language, and the translation is then spoken.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. -- The release Friday of previously sealed court documents in the case against Colorado movie theater shooting suspect James E. Holmes offer a glimpse of evidence that could be presented during his trial. Among the potential evidence: a text message he sent to a classmate, contents of his computers, and a notebook sent to his psychiatrist. Also, Holmes' attorneys are planning to call an expert to testify on Holmes' mental condition, the documents said. The defense has previously said Holmes is mentally ill. Judge William Sylvester has granted a prosecution request that additional physical evidence be gathered from Holmes.

Voters in Virginia are the latest to get a taste of an increasingly popular type of political attack: the anonymous text message. "Tim Kaine calls for radical new tax on all Americans," reads a text message attacking the Democratic candidate in the hotly contested Virginia Senate race. Aside from being false -- Politifact recently debunked a similar claim by Kaine's Republican opponent, George Allen -- the message came from an email address that used portions of Kaine's name, giving the appearance that the message might have come from Kaine himself.

Bark. Bark. Bark. Bark. Bark. Bark. Bark. Bark. Bark. Bark. Bark. Bark.Bark. Bark. Bark. Bark. Bark. Bark. That's the sound of Rode Dog , an app designed by sixth-grader Victoria Walker in collaboration with David Grau, a creative director and designer at WLDG, an interactive agency in Santa Ana. All that barking is designed to get you to stop texting and driving. And they just got $20,000 from AT&T to bring it to market. Walker and Grau created Rode Dog at the "It Can Wait" Hackathon run by AT&T in Los Angeles.

It occurred to me the other day that it is becoming less and less necessary to speak. Why talk when you can text, tweet or email? Why pick up the telephone when Facebook brings you up to date with every detail of your friends' lives? It feels like the human voice is becoming irrelevant, and I'm thrilled about it. You see, I have a daughter who can't speak. When Eva, who is now in her late 20s, was 6 months old, we received the official diagnosis of cerebral palsy. It wasn't a surprise.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Btw, send $$ 2nite. Thx! Democrats tried out some new technology at their convention on Thursday, asking supporters to send in cash via text. President Obama campaign manager Jim Messina, a metrics-obsessed campaign technician, got the honors of the doing the asking, and he asked for donations from the podium of the Democratic National Convention. “Every morning, the first thing I read are the numbers from the day before,” Messina told the crowd. “Not poll numbers or money.

With this app, you can become both a student and teacher of the world. Name : Tagwhat Available for: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Android What it does : Expand your knowledge of your destination with text, pictures and sometimes video on topics such as food, sports, history and more. Collect the content you like and add it to a log of places you want to visit. Cost: Free What's hot: The Superslider is a refreshing new concept in travel apps. As you are reading about a specific location, click on the tiny arrow in the lower left corner of your screen.

The cabs lined up Sunday outside the One-Eyed Gypsy saloon, letting out leggy women in diaphanous tops and shorts. "Lil Death" club night was just starting. And it was almost midnight. Since I began trying to find out what goes on in Los Angeles after dark, one thing has stood out as axiomatic: Nothing happens until midnight these days. For years, I've been fast asleep when the action jumps off. "They don't come out until 11:30," a club manager said. "It's like clockwork. " It's partly an economic thing.