welcome to assignment 7. i'm carolyn tyler. today on our program.... >> involved in social media. we'll take a look at that on 7 on your side. >> plus, the california flood factor, what happens if the snow pack melts all at once and the effort to build a rock wall the old-fashioned way. >> social media sites l transfoe communicate. now there is a brand-new social network but it's for your car. michael finney tells us anyone can now send a message to any car in america.

>> i'm using that, are you? >> danielle sent a message to that blue pickup truck. she sent a voice activated message. >> i like your car. >> she is using a new social network that connects drivers through each other through their license plates. >> you can because they have set up e-mail and voicemail boxes for every license plate in america, yours, too. to to see your messages you have to claim your plate. that is register. >> we connected 250 million registered vehicles with a voicemail inbox and e-mail in-box and you can send a message to any car in the country. >> the founder hopes to break

the barrier between the world outside your car and create the next big thing in social media. >> it's the final frontier of connectivity because we spend five years of our lives in that metal box. >> he says it's a way for merchants to send coupons and discounts to drivers spotted nearby. some has high speed cameras that can capture license plate data for marketing and new version of honking your horn. >> the way to make accountability in roadways by letting drivers connect with each other and rate and rank each other. >> the toyota has a online a facebook profile with photo and yes, she says, it may be a new way to meet ignite in the next car. >> it happens a lot but a guy will text you.

i think it could be very exciting. >> you have a license plate, you may be able that back to where person lives and stalk them. >> this could be the newest way for a stranger to reach in someone's life. >> how do we prevent people from claiming your license plate? pretending to be you. >> at bump we take privacy very seriously. >> so they automatically automatically set it for private but it does share data for marketing purposes. >> they think it's a human invasion. >> they say it's time to remove the isolated anonymity of the roadways. >> an area of life where people should be held the most accountable. >> i think it's another outlet for people to abuse. >> what is your car's number?

it's your license plate number followed by bump.com. i've posted at link at abc7news.com. a caltrans project that required cutting down more than 100 oak trees has led to a restoration project in sonoma county. as dan ashley reports volunteers are making it happen. >> these little native grasses are part of a big dream. >> today we are planting, hopefully 10,000 grass plugs. >> this is the latest round of planting in a long term effort to turn an old ranch back to a native in area. they were widening the highway and they were going cut down over hundred oak trees.

in most cases they plant more trees but it goes a lot further. >> we renegotiated with caltrans instead of cutting the trees, let's use the funds to restore the woodlands. it's oak and the other species. >> caltrans is paying $450,000 to restore 8 acres of the nature preserve south of intersection. this volunteer planting crew is from sonoma high school. >> it's interesting working out doors and i like it. >> we get to help our community. >> last year the students planted acorns that are little trees growing inside these tubes for protection. >> these are 12 feet high. you can see about four feet, four inches. >> today they are working on what will grow under the trees. >> we are putting in native grass. >> one type of grass may look the same as the next but there

are big differences critical to the ecosystem. jeanie is the resident biologist. >> over here is a native grass species, it's called blue wild rye. >> they stabilize soil and help water penetrate but grass with the wrong kind of rooted is taking over. >> this plant right here is a really nasty weed. you can see it's really tough and really hard to pull out. a is a big deal because 90% of the rare or endangered species rely on nature grass lands for some part of their life. >> they are one of the most damaged habitat in the state of california. >> part of the money is being used to put in the plants now. receipts will be used for the future. in case you are counting the day we were there the students did manage to plant all 10,000 grass

plugs. >> it's worth it. >> dan ashley, "abc 7 news." there is a new tradition at san francisco city hall, it's called question time. an opportunity for supervisors to publicly question the mayor. >> it's taken three ballot measures and years of political debate to reach this moment in history. >> i want to welcome you to the chamber. >> it's called question time, a face to face between the board of supervisors and the mayor. it was mandated by the voters in november. this is much tamer version, model rowdy back and forth between the british prime minister and parliament. >> we went from $380 million to $306 million. >> mayor lee was not the mayor in mind, gavin newsom was in

when they put first put it on the ballot. it was non-binding and newsom refused to go along dismissing it as political theater but that is when it begin with critics and chicken suits following him all over town. no, sir that dramatic today. the questions are submitted several days in advance. >> can you share with us your thoughts on the need for pension reform and the need for benefit reform. >> he has five minutes to answer each and lee chose to read his responses. >> the supervisor and i have proposed legislation that reduce city costs and increases cost sharing by employees in the short term. >> i wanted to be detailed enough so i had a lot of information to share with them. >> i think -- you would get more

spontaneous answers and honest answers instead of this droning thing. >> i'll try to be more compelling next time. >> that formatted was negotiated between the mayor's office and the board. if a supervisor wants to ask aoe has to get a super majority to go along with it. >> still ahead, reading your brain waves, lab research that could soon be conducted at home but first... am. >> helping parents in crisis. the ripple effect the economy is having on local families and where more and more people are turning for help.

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hands down the world's best chicken. today is a kfc day. so bring home a real meal -- 10 pieces of that famous chicken, 3 large sides and 6 biscuits. enough real food to feed a family of four or more, just 20 bucks. today tastes so good. the long recession is having a ripple effect on so many families. that is why 18,000 calls a year are coming into the emergency talk line at the san francisco child abuse prevention center.

>> the volunteers on the 24-hour talk line at san francisco prevention center is dealing with more and more intense calls with parents in crisis and counselors are on staff toand ss to help keep families together. >> we provide mental health for individuals, couples and children. immediate emergency drop-in services. >> called thursday morning for counselor. she guided me flew the situation as a first time mother, nursing advice. >> caregivers that come to the center seats available while

they attend counseling services. >> we have a nursing and get an evaluation and assessment. >> this is the lead agency in an effort to study the impact on children that witness domestic violence or violence in the community. >> we found out the research that has been done, people have been acting out a lot of behaviors they saw. so we try to get the services to children and families. >> some are so cash strapped they can't even afford to buy diapers. the ones that come for treatment know they can get basic services like diapers. >> they can get children's clothes. and community partners are helping.

$100,000 of donated money to help fix up part of the shelter. >> cheryl jennings, "abc 7 news" >> california could face a serious flooding threat if the snow in the sierra begins to melt all at once. laura anthony has more. >> this past winter will be remembered for near record snowfall in the high sierra. while it's a bounty for the water situation, it could create big problems for those downstream. >> main area of concern is in the san joaquin river valley. >> dave is chief of california's snow survey. >> that what snows in the southern sierra, those reservoirs are full, they will have a major juggling act to get it down into the

valley without inundating the system. >> already the rivers are running high especially in the san joaquin valley. state managers have released water gradually but if the weather gets too warm, too soon things could change. >> fit gets really hot, the flows will come down in a way to create flood issues. >> the former chief of flood operations for the army corps of engineers. >> we have a snow pack that is going to provide more water than we can deal with. it's going to fill all the rest advisories. >> they are going to be carrying water in them and next two months. >> biggest concern is west of modesto. >> this is checkpoint of san joaquin, all the water that comes out, merced and stanislaus

all comes together here and has to come through this channel. >> a major levee broke flooding a vineyard and prompting evacuation of nearby residents. the central valley system with aging levees is much the same as it was. >> here in stanislaus, these trailers have already been evacuated because of the high water. >> these are trailer parks as last resort but we had to move them up for safety reasons. >> the water could come down couple months. >> we'll be right on it. we'll work on it every day and keep it out of here. >> for these folks, the river is a constant reminder there is too much of a good thing.,>> still o

discover. next step in video games. making them sound as good as they look.

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if you ever have conference calls or played video games, all the voices seem to come from one place but the it's changing with a new kind of surround sound. >> in video games, 3-d has made tremendous progress on the screen but not in headphones. gamers like to chat with each other while playing online. surround sound doesn't work for player voices. >> surround sound is great but what is not great, when you are playing with your buddy and

everybody else sounds like they are all in the middle of your head. new technology is working to change that. >> multichannel voice chat in a game. >> so right now, voice chatted comes out of the center channel, no matter where you are or where the person is doing the talking. what this does it chris, mixes that audio in realtime with the rest of the audio. >> you can't appreciated this in a broadcast because you normally don't listen to in it surround sound. but when your opponent is tailgating you, you hear him from behind you. >> that is called spatial location. it's not just about games. in a conference call you could drag and drop other people from one ear to the other. another effect is occlusion. >> if i step behind a wall my voice sounds behind the wall. >> you must be playing the game

online, the sound needs to be processed. so the game must be enabled with axion technology. need for speed will be the first game to use it. with the next step, richard hart "abc 7 news." >> technology developed here in the bay area could soon be done at home. health and sciences reporter carolynohnson has a portable monitor that allows scientists to scan brain waves. >> the volunteer wearing this head set is communicating with a brain wave monitor. it appears a 5,.

he believes the device could hem people better regulate their

sleep. >> having to wake up, but just fine in the morning. >> and the benefits of charting brain waves could stretch beyond sleep. clinical trials are researching from migraines to epilepsy. >> still ahead, doing it the old-fashioned way. one local man super human effort to build a wall by hand. and facing an ob can't see. these sweehoney clustery things have fiber? fiber one. almost tastes like one of jack's cereals. uh forgot jack's cereal. [ jack ] what's for breakfast? uh, try the number one!

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zbloopdz one local man is giving a lot of dedication to build a wall. as wayne freedman reports he is moving 60 tons of rock by hand. >> of all struggles, none may be more classic than one man versus

one very large rock. ancient type of spectacle in a modern type setting. they say you can't get blood from prosecute astein. >> you can get blood on the stone. >> there will be blood spots along the stone. that is doing it the old-fashioned way. >> no rebar. it's like a pyramid. >> a it's a rare and unusual sight. >> so says nolan hughes four months into the project that will surround a garden in front of his east bay home. for nolan, not any type of wall will do. it looks natural. it's something you see in nature. you don't see great walls. you see random collections of

walk. >> but there is nothing random about this. ask this 5'7", 130 pound man and lifted 50 tons and placed it like a puzzle is. >> you get to know your stone. there are some that i don't remember. the big ones i do remember. >> how big? when michael began, the bed of that trolley was straight. >> what has it done to you? >> oh, nothing. >> by any measure what he is accomplishing here is a feat, an old-fashioned feat, mind over matter. and you still only know half of it. >> i have m.s.. >> seven years with the disease that any time an arm could go numb or off balance. maybe 300 pound stones don't see so daunting. >> i will not give into a stone. i will not let the stone whip

me. i won't let that whip me. >> so the toil, one stone at a time. one day at a time. one wall at a time. with each a work of heart. from alameda county, wayne freedman, "abc 7 news." >> that is all for this edition of assignment 7. i'm carolyn tyler. thanks for joining us and we'll see you next time. >> next at 5:00, they wanted to hear what she has to say. curiosity from those that live in the antioch neighborhood where jaycee dugard was held captive. she is talking publicly for the first time. and the showdown to prevent a government default. also.... [ bell ringing ] >> an ancient tradition in san

francisco to honor victims of the march disaster