Never Lose Your Stuff

Here comes Tile! You might have heard about this revolutionary new lost and found device that’s been slinking its way around various online channels and pathways. The concept is simple: purchase the small block-shaped white chip, attach it to an item that you commonly misplace, and using the prescribed Tile app on your smartphone, track the object, utilizing nifty green bars that signal when you’re getting warmer or cooler. Oh, and you can also set your Tile to ring. Additionally, let’s say your bike is stolen. If you’ve been smart enough to attach a Tile to it, you can use the Tile app to alert all other Tile users in the area to your unfortunate plight so they can be on the lookout. Because, y’know, looking for our own lost stuff isn’t confusing enough.

Tile was created by Nick Evans and Mike Farley, two men who worked together for years in the hardware industry. The career jump seems logical; who doesn’t get pissed off when they lose their screwdriver? In a video promotion, Evans and Farley appeal to you, porcelain tiles, to buy a Tile and help them build the Tile community. They smile a lot, which helps. No one wants mean innovators.

So, for $18.95, I bit the bait and pre-ordered a Tile. Apparently, I was the eleventy-billionth person to do so, blowing away Evans and Farley’s initial fundraising start-up goal of twenty thousand dollars. With all the support for Tile, this thing must be amazing, right? To be honest, I’m a little bit skeptical.

First, the app can only pick up a Tiled object that’s within 150 feet. That doesn’t do me much good if, say, I attach it to my dog’s collar and she takes off. Secondly, since one of Evans and Farley’s claims is that it helps track down stolen objects, I can’t help but wonder why a thief wouldn’t just rip the Tile off and throw it away (think original Total Recall where Arnold yanks the tracking brain chip out of his nose and feeds it to a rat). And third, Tiles are only good for a year, at which point, you have to send them back to be recycled and purchase all new ones at the original price. Come on now!

Maybe I’m wrong and Tile will be the greatest thing since Al Gore invented the Internet! Quite frankly, I hope I’m wrong. My wife loses her keys like the Phillies lose games right now. I’ll be sure to give you a full report once my Tile arrives and I’ve had a chance to see what it can (and can’t) do. Until then, sit tight with this video…

A yearlong investigation by CNN and The Center for Investigative Reporting found widespread cheating and deception in California's taxpayer-funded drug rehab program for the poor. The problem is exacerbated by weak oversight of Drug Medi-Cal, part of the nation's largest Medicaid program.

State officials allowed a man convicted of organized crime to run a clinic despite a state law barring felons from doing so. The state approved another clinic operator even though he officially was blacklisted from billing Medicaid. And time and again, clinics accused of fraud and cited for serious violations have nonetheless managed to draw increasing amounts of government money.

"We are going to be fanning out statewide," Karen Johnson, the department's chief deputy director, said in an interview. "We are not going to stop just with those 16 clinics. We are going to review all of the Drug Medi-Cal providers in the state of California." Officials would not identify the targeted clinics, saying the information would compromise the China ceramic tile.

A California lawmaker said the department's recent actions were a good start, but he advocated for the state auditor to conduct an independent review of the rehab program.

"I want to know how this happened for so long, how pervasive is the fraud, and more importantly what can we do to change laws or regulations so the fraud doesn't occur in the future," state Sen. Ted Lieu, who represents parts of Los Angeles County, told CNN.Lieu said he was motivated by his belief in rehabilitation programs as a crucial tool for reducing crime and the prison population."I became very concerned," he said, "that if we don't fix this fraud immediately, it would undercut the public support for this entire program."

Ilouno said little more than "no, no, no," got in his Mercedes and sped off. His attorney later faxed a letter on Ilouno's behalf saying that counselors acted without the clinic's consent and that GB Medical will work on paying restitution, "if any." The attorney also said Ilouno was a certified counselor "and was thus authorized to bill for medical services rendered."

Los Angeles County authorities said that they were not aware of the arrest and that the clinic notified them that it would close effective July 1. A sign on the clinic door says it is no longer providing Drug Medi-Cal services.

Former employees of Tim Ejindu's clinics in Riverside and Los Angeles counties said they were pressured to falsify documents. A Los Angeles County audit of his clinic, the Pomona Alcohol and Drug Recovery Center, found evidence of what the county considers fraudulent practices.

At his red-tile-roofed counseling center in Pomona, Ejindu declined to answer questions and closed the clinic door on a reporter.

A third operator, Alexander Ferdman, was permitted to open a rehab clinic even after his felony conviction in 2000 for engaging in organized crime in Texas. State law calls for felons to be suspended from running Medi-Cal clinics.