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An AI restaurant ordering service company has found that people on the autism spectrum “are naturally drawn to it and naturally do incredibly well with it.” The company hopes it helps provide opportunity and purpose.
Big tech players like Facebook, Google and Twitter have claimed that they’re doing their best to detect and prevent violence, but Texas says it’s yet to be seen. Tech companies see thousands of requests, police see imminent danger.
Officials with the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission are finalizing a proposal for Virgin’s Hyperloop One to build high-speed transit to other metro areas, a plan that could help create a “mega-region.”
In 2009, the Rust Belt city was hit hard by the recession as car factories closed, leaving the city with a $6 million budget deficit and nearly $100 million in debt. But as 2020 approaches, the picture is very different.
Economists estimate the state loses the money to companies claiming deductions for irregular profits. That’s more than the state is spending this year to preserve environmentally sensitive land.
Gov. Charlie Baker signed a bill that bans flavored tobacco products beginning June 1, 2020, but the policy is expected to reduce revenue by $93 million, according to the Beacon Hill Institute for Public Policy Research.
Windsor Town Manager Ken MacNab said of the town’s pending ordinance requiring electrical appliances and prohibiting installation of gas appliances for future low-rise residential developments. Windsor is just one of many towns and cities looking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by decreasing natural gas dependencies, but many are wary of the switch to electric-only in the wake of the wildfires that were sparked by California electric utilities. (San Francisco Chronicle — December 3, 2019)
The estimated cost to have Pegasystems Inc. build the U.S. Census Bureau an electronic version of the 2020 Census. This amount is about $40 million more than the projected cost when the company was first hired in 2016. Additionally, it was found during 2018 testing that the website was hacked by Russian IP addresses. “He got into the network. He got into where the public is not supposed to go.”
In efforts to keep up with the technological times, Gov. Laura Kelly’s advisory council supported millions in new taxes in the digital economy. But others are concerned that Kansas should first focus on restoring fiscal health.
Google workers claim they were fired for speaking out. Google says they were fired over data misuse. More and more, workers are holding their companies accountable “not just in the business side of what they do.”
Two Washington state universities have partnered to take on misinformation and digital counterfeiting hoping to help the public “sort fact from fakery.”
Brightline will test infrared sensors and drones in efforts to prevent suicide by train. Since the beginning of operation, there have been more than one death per month, and “about one for every 29,000 miles the trains have traveled.”
Four regional groups have supported the construction of a $10 billion high-speed magnetic levitation train to Washington, D.C. Officials hope it will offer “opportunity to change the county and Northeast Corridor in a fundamental way.”
Four pilot projects in the Los Angeles region have been awarded $500,000 to grow zero-emission transportation efforts. Part of their focus will be connecting underserved communities to new travel opportunities.
Ed Mierzwinski, a consumer advocate at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group said of Wells Fargo, as well as several smaller banks, now turning customer spending data into profit by identifying potential retailers for the customer. While tech companies have notoriously been the ones to use data mining to tailor advertisements to increase profits, banks are transitioning their role and now “think they are the same as a department store or an online merchant.” (AP News — December 2, 2019)
The proportion of households nationwide that will be receiving paper copies of the 2020 Census by mid-March. As the Census shifts toward a primarily online platform, many counties, especially those in rural areas, are concerned about residents’ accessibility to participate. Some companies are even installing free Internet connections to ensure participation.
A cord will entangle suspects by wrapping around their arms or legs as a means to detain without force. The Los Angeles Police Department hopes that this will de-escalate situations and “It if can save lives, it’s better.”
Three of Spokane’s city council members voted against the slow-moving, self-driving bus, Olli, on Monday, which halted the pilot program’s progress. Now, the fate of the two shuttles is uncertain.
New York state’s Lockport City School District must make a few policy tweaks before their facial recognition programs will be okayed. The tweaks will “prevent students’ photos from being programmed into the system.”
Telemedicine has been growing in Indiana since 2015, but there are still gaps in the coverage. For many rural patients, “inadequate Internet speeds or unreliable services can be a major barrier” to adequate care.
The lack of technological awareness is becoming more difficult to work around as Congress is confronting the complexities of cryptocurrencies, facial recognition and digital privacy on an almost daily basis. It’s time for Congress to shake the dust off and catch up.
Companies like Facebook and Google have ushered in change — much of it positive — for individuals, communities and governments. But we still have a responsibility to ask whether they're serving the public interest.
Funding for public colleges peaked in 2000 at $9,443 per student. In 2018, funding was $4,552 per student, placing Pennsylvania among the bottom of states for percentage of tax revenues allocated to higher education.
It’s the largest-ever legal award against the state of Oregon. A jury determined last week that the state had breached its contract with 13 rural counties by failing to maximize logging revenues on state land.
By using a public-private financing model to overcome a revenue shortfall, the county has been able to move closer to building a new $267 million courthouse to replace one that once housed a trial for gangster Al Capone.
From reporting on congress to building the first mobile streaming news network, small-town, North Dakotan Ed O’Keefe has extensive media experience. And as CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation, O’Keefe is creating an experience that preserves and shares Roosevelt’s legacy.
Joshua Tucker, professor of politics at New York University, said of Twitter’s permanent suspension of Danielle Stella for “repeated violations” of the platform’s policies. Danielle Stella, a Republican hopeful for Ilhan Omar’s Minnesota Representative seat, tweeted that Congresswoman Omar be tried for treason and hanged. (New York Times — November 30, 2019)
The value of sales purchased via smartphone on Black Friday, the most ever. The total amount spent online during Black Friday this year amounted to $7.4 billion.
With the switch to electronic storage, identity theft has become streamlined and efficient with just a few keystrokes. “You really can’t protect your information. All you can do is monitor it.”
As Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, continues to grow, transportation technology upgrades are inevitable and exciting. But officials don’t yet know which will solve the issues, so “they’re making plans for all of them.”
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