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Technology isn't the only hurdle for computer-driven cars.

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Technology isn't the only hurdle for computer-driven cars.

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The Amplify tablet is specially designed for K-12 classroom interaction. While the company touts the ability to improve teaching and learning, critics have questioned News Corp.'s motives.

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The Amplify tablet is specially designed for K-12 classroom interaction. While the company touts the ability to improve teaching and learning, critics have questioned News Corp.'s motives.

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L.A. Times consumer columnist David Lazarus tackles your questions this week.

Elizabeth from Brookfield, Vt., recently had her credit card compromised. She went through the drill, got a new card in short order, but then got a letter from the card issuer saying her credit limit is being lowered to reflect her spending. But might that impact her credit score?

Lazarus says Elizabeth deserves kudos for understanding the debt-to-credit ratio. In other words, how much you are actually borrowing versus how much you can borrow (i.e. how much credit you have). "The best rule of thumb here is, if you keep that ratio to around 30 percent, give or take, with plenty of head room, creditors [will be happy]," says Lazarus.

Lazarus says if her credit limit comes down, the amount of head room she will have above her borrowing will shrink. Thus, her debt-to-credit ratio will get bigger -- and she will look like more of a risk to her creditors. He advises her to look into whether she can opt out of having her credit limit lowered, and maintain the higher credit limit.

For more advice -- including how to deal with an elderly person's big debt -- click play on the audio player above.

A group of Native Americans says the NFL's Washington Redskins should not be allowed to trademark the team name, which they say is offensive. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, part of the U.S. Patent Office, heard the case Thursday.

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When he was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and other charges in 2005, Stephen Slevin had no way of knowing that initial findings about his mental state would put him on a path to spend more than 22 months of solitary confinement in a New Mexico county jail, despite never having his day in court.

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By some accounts, sticky fingers could be costing the school $250,000 a year. The dining halls at the school have just started stocking the chocolate and hazelnut spread.

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Chávez's remains will be displayed at the Museum of the Revolution, near the presidential palace.

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Organizing for Action, which was formed from the Obama for America campaign committee to promote the president's second-term agenda, now says it won't take money from corporations or PACS. Critics say they'll believe it when they see it.

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The chairman of the Armed Services Committee said the best thing for the country would be for him to serve the next two years without the distraction of a campaign.

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Students of color have long been punished in far higher numbers than white students in Seattle. The Education Department is looking at whether black students are disciplined more frequently and more harshly than white students for the same behavior.

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Feeding on flowers with caffeinated nectars gives bees a memory boost, new research shows. Turns out, other studies have found humans can get a similar boost in short-term memory with caffeine — if they're exhausted.

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If you go back and the read the congressional record for yesterday’s session of the U.S. Senate, you’ll see the word "drone" mentioned 489 times. Sen. Rand Paul held the floor for almost 13 hours yesterday, filibustering President Obama’s nomination of John Brennan to run the CIA.

Brennan was confirmed, but Sen. Paul was questioning how the administration uses drones, specifically against Americans. It was a debate about the military use of drone technology but there is a small and growing civilian market in drones.

No jet engines. No hellfire missiles.

So far, just cameras mounted on a thing that looks like an Erector Set with small rotors on top. About the size of the top of a small coffee table. You can get an idea of what these civilian drones look like by clicking through the slide show above.

“Ten years ago, this was unobtainable. You know, this stuff was military industrial stuff, tens of millions for each sensor and today it’s pennies and it’s in your pocket," said Chris Anderson, the CEO of the drone-making firm 3D Robotics, who was until fairly recently the editor of Wired magazine.

Anderson said his business model is simple -- “the beauty of hardware is that the business model could not be more head-slappingly obvious. You charge more than it costs. That’s it.”

The company posts their designs online and charge around $500 to $700 to purchase a pre-built drone from them. For Anderson, the future of drones is about looking beyond military use and the stigma attached to them.

“Remember the Internet used to be a military technology. Computers were invented to calculate artillery trajectory. We forget that. GPS was designed for those cruise missiles," said Anderson. He points to a tradition civilians repurposing military technologies for personal uses. “And so if we do our job right, someday, people won’t associate drone use with military because the vast majority of drones that they see will be civilian.”

And when it comes to privacy concerns, he’s not worried. “How do you feel about camera phones? These are just camera phones with wings.”

So what will fill the R&D space of 3D Robotics in 10 years? Anderson hopes that first and foremost, we’ll forget that drones used to be military. Instead, drones will be commonplace -- he likens them to a personal computer.

“We’re at the level right now where it’s clear that you can have such a thing as a personal drone, that drones can be cheap and easy," he said.

.@kairyssdal flying a drone at @3drobotics vine.co/v/bHMP91DTY5O

— Marketplace(@MarketplaceAPM) March 4, 2013

Commercial fishermen have the highest rate of on-the-job fatalities of any occupation in the country. The winches that shrimpers use to pull in their nets pose particular hazards, an analysis of deaths and injuries finds.

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It will take more than a week for Alaska's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, which began Saturday, to cover nearly 1,000 miles. But every minute counts — and several mushers are trying out special pants that allow them to race without stopping for bathroom breaks.

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China's so-called fan subtitle groups are trying to change the country's thinking. Every week, thousands of young Chinese gather online to translate popular TV shows like The Newsroom into Mandarin. Some do it for fun, but others see it as a subtle way to introduce new ideas about free thought and questioning authority into Chinese society.

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Some have proposed a culinary approach to the millions of locusts that made their way from Egypt to Israel this week: Eat 'em up. Plenty of world cuisines can offer inspiration, but there's a catch: Rabbis don't agree locusts are kosher.

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The nomination survived an epic, nearly 13-hour filibuster by Sen. Rand Paul, who demanded an explanation of the Obama administration's targeted killing program.

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America's still-awful job market, in two charts.

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