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Tag: Los Angeles Times

  • Verizon Internet: Two Major Upcoming Changes

    This past week, Verizon announced that it will be making two major adjustments to the data usage of its customers—increasing upload speeds to match download speeds for nearly all of its FiOS service subscribers and limiting the data speeds for the top five percent of data users for its 4G network, according to the Los Angeles Times and Forbes respectively.

    The first change, announced in a news release this past Monday, comes with Verizon’s expectation that its users’ upload activity will double by the end of 2016. The increasing of upload speeds will allow users to upload videos to sites like YouTube nearly as quickly as downloading videos they want to watch.

    Verizon has about 6 million subscribers and its FiOS service—which relies on fiber-optic cables that allow for both faster download and upload speeds—is available in 20 markets, including 1.4 million households in Los Angeles.

    Verizon’s lowest plan, 15 megabytes per second download and 5 megabytes per second upload, will rise to 15-15, and the highest tier, 500-100, will switch to 500-500 in the coming months.

    The other major adjustment Verizon will make is the limiting of data speeds for the five percent of customers that use the most data on its 4G network. Called the “network optimization policy,” users that fall in this category will see their speeds grow slower when they use a cell site that is experiencing heavy demand, such as a buffering in internet gaming or a lagging of web browsing.

    The network optimization policy will affect the top five percent of users that have passed their minimum contract term and consume around 4.7GB of data per month or more.

    “We understand that our customers rely on their smartphones and tablets every day. Our network optimization policy provides the best path to ensure a continued great wireless experience for all of our customers on the best and largest wireless network in the U.S.,” said Verizon Wireless VP of Technology Mike Haberman in a statement.

    Verizon will notify customers of the network optimization policy through a message on August 1.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Insulin Inhaler Afrezza Approved By FDA

    Insulin Inhaler Afrezza Approved By FDA

    It took over a decade and nearly $1 billion of his personal fortune but Los Angeles inventor Alfred Mann’s quest to develop an inhalable form of insulin finally won approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Friday, according to the Los Angeles Times.

    MannKind Corp. of Valencia, Mann’s company, got the approval to sell the drug called Afrezza for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, but the FDA added a warning that those with diabetes and asthma or a serious lung disease should not use the drug.

    The drug, a powder administered through a device the size of an asthma inhaler, would be most often used at mealtimes to help control blood sugar levels. Although the company has suffered setbacks, with the FDA not approving the drug twice, Mann said he never gave up pursuing his quest.

    “I have never considered abandoning the effort because I firmly believe that Afrezza has the potential to bring significant benefits to the still growing and enormous population of people with diabetes,” Mann said

    He added, Afrezza “will address many of their unmet needs for mealtime insulin therapy, and has the potential to change the way that diabetes is treated.”

    “Today’s approval broadens the options available for delivering mealtime insulin in the overall management of patients with diabetes who require it to control blood sugar levels,” Dr. Jean-Marc Guettier, director of the FDA’s endocrinology division, said in a statement reported by Reuters.

    In the United States, diabetes affects 29.1 million people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

    Diabetes is a disease in which blood glucose levels are above normal because the body can’t produce or effectively use insulin, which enables glucose to get into the body’s cells. It can lead to serious health complications and is currently the seventh leading cause of death in the United States.

    “Given the current epidemic size and predicted growth of the diabetes patient population we are confident that Afrezza presents a significant commercial opportunity,” Mann said.

    Image via YouTube

  • Stacey Dash Joins Fox News As Paid Contributor

    Stacey Dash of Clueless fame is joining Fox News as a paid contributor and the Twitter backlash has been both harsh and swift.

    The 47-year-old actress, best known for her role as Dionne in Clueless, will offer “cultural analysis and commentary” on daytime and prime-time shows, according to an article by the Los Angeles Times.

    “Stacey is an engaging conversationalist whose distinctive viewpoints amongst her Hollywood peers have spawned national debates,” said Bill Shine, the network’s exec VP of programming.

    Dash publicly endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 Presidential Election and has been on Fox News before, with appearances on “Outnumbered” and “Fox & Friends.” Since her endorsement of Romney, she has publicly expressed support for stay-at-home moms and veterans.

    Dash told Elle magazine, “Feminism is being able to have the choice. The choice to be a CEO, to be an executive, to be a journalist, to be a congresswoman, to be a mother, a stay-at-home mother, to be a wife.”

    “Stay-at-home mothers are building our future,” she adds. “And I feel like if we had more of them, our society would not be in such a decline.”

    The Twitter backlash has been quick since the news broke. Users have called her a “turncoat,” said she has proven herself “mentally ill,” and remarked that Dash would “join the KKK if the check cleared.”

    This is not the first time her political views have sparked a range of personal Twitter attacks. When she endorsed Mitt Romney in 2012 instead of President Barack Obama, a “flood of personal criticism” came her way, according to the LA Times article.

    In that instance, she spoke with Piers Morgan, saying, “I’m … saddened and shocked, really shocked. Really shocked. But you can’t expect everyone to agree with you.”

    Image via Twitter

  • Rancho Cucamonga Fire Halted At 1,000 Acres

    Firefighters in the foothills east of Los Angeles have halted the growth of the wildfire that had grown to over 1,000 acres and had begun to surround it, according to an article by The Associated Press.

    The powerful Santa Ana winds have caused difficulty in stopping the growth of the fire and containing it. Wednesday’s winds were estimated at 60 to 80 mph, while Thursday’s winds were expected to be lower at 30 to 50 mph.

    Winds have grounded helicopters and planes in the attempts to halt the fire and one gust on Wednesday reached 101 mph. According to the Los Angeles Times report, two air tankers and three helicopters were on standby Thursday morning as they waited for winds to subside.

    “It’s not just the air and how it is over the fire, it’s also the air of where they’re taking off,” said Brian Grant of the U.S. Forest Service to the Los Angeles Times. “They have to get into that steep terrain and narrow canyons and the wind changes so rapidly…it’s not safe for the aircraft.”

    Several schools were closed the second straight day but residents of more than 1,600 homes were told they could return, so long as they were prepared to evacuate at a moment’s notice like they were forced to on Wednesday.

    About 700 firefighters with 55 fire engines and four bulldozers were building containment lines along the fire’s west edge, which is the side nearest to homes.

    The fire started Wednesday morning in the San Bernardino National Forest. The National Weather Service issued a red-flag warning of extremely dangerous fire conditions for Los Angeles, Ventura, and Orange counties until 8 p.m. on Thursday.

    The fire has started in the midst of a heat wave that has sent certain areas in Southern California into the 90s.

    “The bad news is, we’re going to have some tough, hot, dry, windy conditions to fight that fire, and in case any other fire gets started, it’s going to spread quickly,” said Miguel Miller, a forecaster with the National Weather Service, to the Los Angeles Times Thursday morning. “The good news is, conditions will improve this afternoon.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons