GoKawiil
Tech News
Tropical Storm Isaias intensified into a hurricane in the Gulf as of Wednesday evening, prompting Alabama and Florida to declare states of emergency on Thursday. Several live tracking tools are now available online to follow the storm's projected path toward the Gulf Coast.
Florida and Rhode Island have indicated they have no near-term plans to support Apple Wallet digital driver's licenses, even as more US states roll out the feature. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis publicly opposed digital IDs, citing risk of government abuse, after the state discontinued an earlier digital ID program in 2024. In Rhode Island, AAMVA board chair Walter Craddock said he's waiting for broader demand and more places that accept mobile licenses before investing in the technology.
A visit to Disney University in Florida revealed how Disney trains its employees through simulated environments, clear shared objectives, and rigorous product testing. These methods aim to prepare staff for real-world challenges and improve service quality. Such practices are designed to foster a culture of continuous learning and adaptability within Disney’s vast operations.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced a lawsuit against TP-Link, alleging the company misrepresented the security of its routers and falsely claimed separation from China. Uthmeier said Chinese state-sponsored hackers exploited TP-Link routers that lack auto-update capability and no longer receive support, and that despite claims of Vietnam-based manufacturing, less than 1% of parts used there are Vietnamese-sourced.
A woman in Florida was detained after Anthropic's review team flagged a conversation with its AI model Claude, in which she allegedly threatened to attack the Lee County Sheriff's Office and mentioned acquiring a firearm. The company reported the incident to authorities, leading to her arrest on a felony charge for making threats of violence. Court records show the charge was filed on September 30 under Florida law concerning threats of mass violence.
Liz Lindseay Isaacs told a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee that a Flock Safety license-plate camera wrongly linked her Dodge Durango to a fatal hit-and-run, leading to her arrest and 13 days in jail, including time in solitary confinement. Prosecutors dropped the charges after realizing the vehicle identification was wrong, and she is now suing the Florida police department involved, alleging two officers falsely claimed to see damage on her vehicle. Flock told CNN the incident stemmed from human error unrelated to its technology.
A Bonita Springs, Florida woman was arrested on a felony charge after Anthropic's human review team flagged a Claude chatbot conversation in which she allegedly threatened to 'shoot up' the Lee County Sheriff's Office and later referenced acquiring a gun. Anthropic reported the exchange to law enforcement, which led to her arrest at home without incident, with court records showing a Sept. 30 charge under Florida's statute covering written threats of mass shootings or terrorism.
A Bonita Springs, Florida woman, Carli Michelle Heller, was charged with making a written threat of violence after she wrote in Claude, which she used like a diary, that she planned to attack the local Sheriff's office. Anthropic's safety systems flagged the September 26 entry, a human reviewer deemed it credible, and the company reported it to law enforcement, who located and detained Heller without incident.
HEYDUDE, the Crocs-owned shoe brand, posted an Instagram and TikTok collaboration with the University of Florida's Theta Chi fraternity promoting branded sneakers. The posts drew criticism online after it emerged that two former Theta Chi members face sexual cyberharassment charges for allegedly distributing a nonconsensual intimate video of a former UF student, identifying her by name.
Officials in St. Lucie County, Florida discovered 11 license-plate reader cameras installed along roads without any permits or links to local or state agencies. Authorities say they have not determined who installed the devices or where the collected data has been going.
Researchers deployed umbrella-like shading devices over coral reefs in the Florida Keys to test whether reducing sunlight exposure can help corals survive periods of extreme ocean heat. The experiment is aimed at limiting coral bleaching, a stress response triggered when warming waters cause corals to expel the algae they depend on for nutrients and color.
After St. Lucie County, Florida decided to stop using Flock surveillance cameras and began removing them, officials discovered 14 devices beyond the 52 they believed were installed. The Sheriff's Office later claimed three of those unpermitted cameras without explaining the lack of paperwork, leaving 11 cameras whose owners remain unidentified.