Here are Some Tech Tidbits We've Come Across

With technology occupying an ever-larger share of the news cycle, it’s impossible to catch every little development in the industry. We come across a lot in our web travels that doesn’t fit squarely in the Techwire niche but which is worthy of mention. Here are some tidbits we’ve come across in recent days.

Unprepared but ready to pay: With the California Consumer Privacy Act set to take effect in January, a new survey indicates that many large companies aren’t prepared — and are willing to spend money in order to batten down the hatches.

Forbes magazine reports: “To prepare for the new rules, 72 percent of respondents said they plan to invest in technology tools, while 71 percent said they expect to spend more than six figures on related to compliance. One-fifth of surveyed professionals expect to spend more than $1 million.”

Eyes and ears in the sky: San Francisco is floating a $19 million proposal to equip streetlights with technology that can record video and audio — and which can even detect flooding, gunshots and the sound of glass breaking.

The Gold River-based anyCOMM Holding Corp. would install thousands of devices on street lights that can record videos and audio, the San Francisco Examiner reported. Defenders say the technology isn’t sensitive enough to record private conversations.

Seeing green over ride-share potential: California could reap a bonanza of "$1 billion or more" in new taxes from the stock offering of ride-hailing service Lyft, according to the state's former treasurer John Chiang.

“Experts say Lyft's initial public offering and an even bigger IPO expected in April from rival Uber will create many newly minted millionaires in the Bay region. The state stands to benefit by taxing the capital gains from stock sales,” says this story from CNBC. “According to its regulatory filing Monday, Lyft is gearing up for an IPO that values the company at near $20 billion. Lyft itself proposes to raise more than $2 billion in proceeds from the offering.”

CompTIA sees champion in Stern: A tech consortium has given two thumbs up to state Sen. Henry Stern for his backing of the industry, earning him honors as the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA)’s 2019 California Tech Champion.

The award is given to lawmakers who advocate for the technology in state legislature and “have shown consistent support for this vital economic sector,” per CompTIA. Stern, a member of the California Legislative Technology and Innovation Caucus, was given the award last month.

Putting the squeeze on fake oil: UC Riverside researchers are using technology to ferret out real, pure olive oil from the diluted stuff, as counterfeiting of the stuff is a growing problem, particularly in Italy. California, another producer of olive oil, could also have a stake in the outcome.

Researchers flash-froze samples of pure olive oil and diluted oil and compared the results using software that produced "chronoprint" images. "The difference was so big, so obvious and so consistent the researchers concluded that chronoprints and image analysis algorithms can reliably detect some types of food and drug fraud."