Someone didn't get the memo, apparently. Despite California's Public Utilities Commission giving ridesharing services the all clear on a statewide level, Los Angeles' Department of Transportation has sent cease-and-desist warnings to Lyft, Sidecar and Uber, claiming that all three are breaking local laws by operating without city permits. Drivers could face arrests and lose their cars if they keep serving customers, according to the notices. Not surprisingly, the ridesharing firms have a very different opinion. Uber tells Engadget that it's operating a limousine-like service which only needs PUC permission to operate, and Lyft says it's talking with the Mayor's office to resolve what it believes is a "state issue." For now, we're at an impasse -- let's just hope that Los Angeles follows in New York's footsteps and tries to reach a happy medium.
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Finding things to do and places to go has never been easier thanks to services that neatly pull all the options together. Weotta hopes to be another weapon in your discovery app arsenal after expanding its coverage to the whole of the US, having initially been limited to 40 cities. As the company's CEO told Forbes, the free iOS app uses "phrase extraction and natural language processing" to source its local suggestions from the nooks and crannies of the internet. That same wizardry is used to steer its rating system, which is based on what's said about a venue or event rather than aggregating numerical scores. It'll learn your likes and dislikes, tailoring recommendations as it gets to know you better, but you can discover what's happening in the area for yourself using the search feature. Via Facebook Connect, the app will also tell you what's popular among your peers. While Weotta is only available for iOS, it's attracted funding from Google Ventures, which is a recommendation in itself that suggests you give it a whirl. when.eng("eng.perm.init")