Technology on Monday June 29, 2009

US: National sex offender registry delayed a year
By The Associated Press, Argus Leader (Sioux Falls)
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. has given states and American Indian tribes another year to feed a national Internet database set up to protect children by showing where possible predators live and work.
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SC: Woman linked to Sanford comments on e-mail
By Alexei Barrionuevo, The New York Times
BUENOS AIRES — The Argentine woman linked to Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina said Sunday that she had a "firm suspicion" of who broke into one of her e-mail accounts that discussed her relationship with the governor, but she declined to name the person.
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PA: Pennsylvania prisoners seeking exoneration via DNA may get help
By Bobby Kerlik, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Pennsylvania lawmakers might be asked to allow prisoners easier access to genetic tests that could prove their innocence.
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AK: Palin tweets that Emmonak residents are meeting subsistence needs
By Staff Writers, KTUU.com (Anchorage)
According to Gov. Sarah Palin's posts on Twitter, half of the people in Emmonak have met subsistence needs and the other half believe they can do the same.
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CA: Roadshow -- California's hands-free cell phone law is increasingly being ignored
By Gary Richards, The Mercury News (San Jose)
As officer Ruben Jones eased his California Highway Patrol cruiser onto the freeway last July 1 looking for drivers ignoring the state's new hands-free cell phone law, he figured he'd be one busy cop.
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IA: Iowa DOT Blocks Facebook, Twitter
By The Associated Press, KCCI-TV 8 (Des Moines)
The Iowa Department of Transportation has blocked the use of several online social networking sites from employee work computers because of security concerns.
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IA: Iowa DOT blocks tweets over security concerns
By William Petroski, The Des Moines Register
Don't try tweeting if you work for the Iowa Department of Transportation. The state agency is blocking the use of Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and other online social media applications for its 3,000 employees while they're on the job because of worries about computer security.
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MA: Some still slow to make the move to Fast Lane
By Noah Bierman, The Boston Globe
Every commuter and Sunday driver has seen the Soviet-style lines at the Turnpike tollbooths. Many get stuck in them. The waits - almost always in the cash lanes -- can last 15 minutes or longer during the summer travel season, while the drivers with the white plastic Fast Lane boxes whiz by.
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NM: N.M. Secretary of State's computer systems knocked out
By Heath Haussamen and Trip Jennings, New Mexico Independent
A week after a leaked link allowed a handful of people to preview the New Mexico secretary of state's new campaign finance and disclosure system on its Web site, officials now say problems have knocked out that and other systems that are necessary for the office to function.
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NY: State to pay up to $10,000 for eggs used in research
By Henry L. Davis, The Buffalo News
As far as medical researchers know, no state ever has allowed taxpayer funds to pay women for donating their eggs for embryonic stem cell research.
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OR: Oregon Senate OKs restriction on online schools
By Michelle Cole, The Oregonian (Portland)
The Oregon Senate has narrowly approved a one-year moratorium to keep statewide online public schools from starting or growing while a task force writes rules to govern them.
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PA: State lawmakers split over use of new media
By Lauren Boyer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
As many state legislators take the plunge into social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, state Sen. Jim Ferlo isn't exactly LOLing.
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SD: State turns to counties' homeland security funds to upgrade radio system
By Andrea J. Cook, Rapid City Journal
Every day, and especially during an emergency, Bennett County Sheriff Lindell Adair's most reliable tool for contacting his staff or other emergency personnel is a radio connected to South Dakota's digital radio network. "Our phones only work in about half the county," Adair said. "Without good digital communication, we're out of contact with everybody."
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VA: Senate panel takes up state IT agency inquiry
By The Associated Press, The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk)
A state Senate panel will be scrutinizing cost overruns and delays involving Virginia's six-year-old information technology superagency.
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WA: Stimulus funds offer new life to well-traveled highways
By Mike Prager, The Spokesman-Review (Spokane)
A series of state highway projects worth more than $20 million is about to get started in northeast Washington as a result of the federal economic stimulus plan approved by Congress earlier this year.
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WI: State budget deal reached
By Scott Bauer, The Associated Press, La Crosse Tribune
Oil companies would not face a new tax and illegal immigrants would not be issued special cards so they could drive legally on Wisconsin roads under a budget deal reached privately by Democratic lawmakers and released Thursday.
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