Category Archives: Technology

Phone apps and other technology are proving to be a key way for countries to come out of coronavirus lockdown but also pose privacy and civil rights threats that could linger long after the crisis has passed, experts have warned.

Such technology has already proved central to responses to the threat from coronavirus. Almost as soon as the alarm was sounded, authorities turned to technology, initially using it to begin contact tracing, working out who had been within reach of an infected person and how the disease may have spread.

In the future, as restrictions lift and lockdowns come to an end, the use of technology may mean downloading an app that will coordinate the response and should help stem the spread of coronavirus even as people go back out into society. Suggestions have included everything from virtual immunity passports to allow people to go outside and anonymous trackers that would alert a person if they had been within the presence of another person who may have been infected with coronavirus, to more authoritarian solutions like apps that could chastise or even report their users if their location data shows them spending too much time outside.

Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

The visions proposed by technologists for countries like the UK and already adopted in some form by other places is that in the months to come, as lockdown lifts, our movements and networks could be governed by technology. Citizens will move back to something like normality, the hope is, but may sometimes be buzzed to say that their phone has been in contact with another phone that belongs to an anonymous person suspected to have Covid-19 and that they should stay indoors.

Such solutions will require access to peoples most personal data their location, their health history, and that of their friends if it is to be successful. The world could face a profound trade-off between the privacy of that data and the speed with which they are able to go back to normal and be forced to choose between the efficacy of such technology and the protection of the information it relies on.

As Covid-19 became more prevalent, and the nature of the pandemic changed, so did the nature of the data and technology that is likely to prove most useful to authorities. Instead of individual interactions, the focus has moved instead to patterns in the population, such as the tracking and enforcement of social distancing measures that attempt to slow the spread of the disease.

But perhaps the most lasting effects will come in the later phases, which are still some time away in the UK but can be previewed in other countries across the world. There, contact tracing once again comes into play as authorities attempt to stem the spread of the disease in the world once more and to enforce the more long-term rules as citizens emerge from lockdown.

It is during that time that technology could prove central in allowing people to leave their houses, by allowing authorities to track peoples movements and enforce any restrictions that are required to let them leave lockdown safely. Such technology has already been hailed as part of the reason for the success of countries like South Korea in leaving lockdown quickly and with relatively little reinfection.

In China, for instance, leaving the house after weeks of lockdown is reliant on having the right app with the right information. The apps display specific codes red, yellow or green and only those with the right colour are able to enter restaurants, get on public transport or move between different places.

But leaving lockdown could also be the time when those surveillance plans are extended into the future, leading human rights groups to warn that it could lead to a power grab from governments that could leave the world with more surveillance and less privacy than before. The solution relied on by countries with questionable human rights records, from China to Turkey, has allowed people some measure of freedom from lockdown but has also prompted fears about the kinds of data that it is gathering about its users.

The wave of surveillance were seeing is truly unprecedented, even surpassing how governments across the world responded to 9/11, said Edin Omanovic, advocacy director of Privacy International.

A man walks down a deserted Camden High Street

Photos Angela Christofilou

Goodge Street Station is one of the many stations closed to help reduce the spread

Angela Christofilou

An empty street in the heart of Chinatown

Angela Christofilou

People in masks in Chinatown a day after the lockdown

Angela Christofilou

A near-empty Piccadilly Circus during the first week of lockdown

Angela Christofilou

Sonja, my neighbour, who I photographed while taking a short walk. It was nice to briefly chat even from a distance

Angela Christofilou

A couple sit on the empty steps of the statue Eros in Piccadilly Circus

Angela Christofilou

Making sure I stay two-meters apart DArblay Street, Soho

Angela Christofilou

A mannequin behind a shop window. UK stores have closed until further notice

Angela Christofilou

A notice displayed on a shop window in Camden

Angela Christofilou

As part of the lockdown, all non-essential shops have been ordered to close.Image from Camden High Street

Angela Christofilou

A skateboarder wearing a mask utilises his exercise allowance in the Camden area

Angela Christofilou

Communities have been coming together in a time of need

Angela Christofilou

A woman stands alone in a deserted Oxford Street. Up until a few weeks ago, on average, half a million people visited the street per day

Angela Christofilou

A couple walk hand in hand down a street in Soho, a day before the stricter lockdown was announced

Angela Christofilou

During the first week of March, shoppers focused on stockpiling necessities ahead of a countrywide lockdown

Angela Christofilou

Many supermarkers are operating a queuing system to make sure only a limited amount of customers are allowed in at anyone time

Angela Christofilou

Stay Safe Curzon cinemas are temporarily closed under the new measures

Angela Christofilou

Pubs, restaurants and bars were ordered to shut as part of the lockdown

Angela Christofilou

There are fears that coronavirus could lead to permanent closure of struggling shops

Angela Christofilou

Camden Town is eerily silent on a normal working day

Angela Christofilou

Shops and supermarkets ran out of hand sanitisers in the first week of the lockdown. As we approach the end of the second week most shops now have started to stock up

Angela Christofilou

Empty streets around Soho

Angela Christofilou

A noticeboard on Camden High Street urges the public to stay at home

Angela Christofilou

Camden High Street, one of Londons busiest tourist streets turns quiet

Angela Christofilou

Thriller Live confirmed its West End run ended in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak

Angela Christofilou

Empty and eerie Soho streets after stricter rules on social distancing announced

Angela Christofilou

A woman pauses for a cigarette on Hanway Street, behind Tottenham Court Road

Angela Christofilou

A man steps outside onto Hanway Street, that sits behind what is usually a bustling retail hub

Angela Christofilou

A man walks down a deserted Camden High Street

Photos Angela Christofilou

Goodge Street Station is one of the many stations closed to help reduce the spread

Angela Christofilou

An empty street in the heart of Chinatown

Angela Christofilou

People in masks in Chinatown a day after the lockdown

Angela Christofilou

A near-empty Piccadilly Circus during the first week of lockdown

Angela Christofilou

Sonja, my neighbour, who I photographed while taking a short walk. It was nice to briefly chat even from a distance

Angela Christofilou

A couple sit on the empty steps of the statue Eros in Piccadilly Circus

Angela Christofilou

Making sure I stay two-meters apart DArblay Street, Soho

Angela Christofilou

A mannequin behind a shop window. UK stores have closed until further notice

Angela Christofilou

A notice displayed on a shop window in Camden

Angela Christofilou

As part of the lockdown, all non-essential shops have been ordered to close.Image from Camden High Street

Angela Christofilou

A skateboarder wearing a mask utilises his exercise allowance in the Camden area

Angela Christofilou

Communities have been coming together in a time of need

Angela Christofilou

A woman stands alone in a deserted Oxford Street. Up until a few weeks ago, on average, half a million people visited the street per day

Angela Christofilou

A couple walk hand in hand down a street in Soho, a day before the stricter lockdown was announced

Angela Christofilou

Follow this link:

Coronavirus: How technology and apps could allow the UK to leave lockdown but impose new restrictions of their own - The Independent

My mother is a public school elementary teacher in a low-income neighborhood of Salinas, California, a modest suburban town fueled by the agriculture industry. Of all the schools nationwide, I would have expected her school to be one of the last to transition from the classroom to distance learning during the ongoing coronavirus crisis. Almost 85% of her students come from low-income households, and many are the children of migrant workers.

Yet, to my pleasant surprise, my mothers school has been online for two weeks now, only days after Californias statewide shelter-in-place order came into effect. Not only that, she tells me that attendance is strong. Students whose families did not have a computer or internet connection were lent one temporarily with a hot spot connection from the school. In normal times, it would be nothing short of a miracle that a bureaucratic public school system could shift its centuries-old model so quickly. But these, of course, are not normal times.

If theres any light at the end of the tunnel with the coronavirus shutdown, it might just be schools such as my moms finally embracing the distance learning tools that have been available for years now. While the internet has the promise fundamentally to disrupt industries such as education and healthcare for the better, policymakers and professionals have dragged their feet for years. The coronavirus could finally push Americas largest and most important institutions to get with the program and unleash the promise of the 21st century.

This could clearly manifest in the healthcare industry, as state medical boards have strictly regulated telemedicine for years.

For private insurance, 49 states require that doctors are licensed in their jurisdiction to practice telemedicine a senseless cartel rule, considering that the internet can connect patients with doctors anywhere on the planet instantaneously. For Medicaid, states vastly differ on when patients can speak with their doctor remotely, what health information can be passed along electronically, and how much providers can be reimbursed for online versus in-person consultations.

Many of those long-standing laws are now out the window, with 46 states and D.C. having issued emergency exemptions for rules concerning telemedicine expanding access, matching in-person rates for reimbursements, and allowing doctors to consult with patients in other states.

Erick Wicklund gives a significant example in Americas second-most-populated state:

In Texas, for instance, Gov. Rick Abbotts March 14 State Disaster Declaration enables providers in the state to use telemedicine, including the use of telephone only to treat existing and new patients. Texas is well-known for the long-running battle between the Texas Medical Board and Teladoc over the states since-amended rule that a doctor must see a new patient in person before using telehealth.

Of course, the positive new policies of this exceptional time will not immediately become the new normal. Some states will doubtlessly revoke their emergency telemedicine policies when social distancing orders start to ease. Students will have to close their laptops and return to schools, and some schools havent made the transition online as well as my mothers in the first place.

This return to normalcy will be a key point for parents, patients, and the general public to stand up to our policymakers. If easing regulations worked in the worst of times, it certainly can in the best of times. And distance learning and telemedicine are just the beginning. There are so many innovations just waiting to be unleashed in these fields if we just let them.

Peter Thiel famously noted of past expectations of the future, We wanted flying cars. Instead, we got 140 characters. Its true the internet has the promise to improve the lives of millions in fields such as education and healthcare, but weve yet to see many groundbreaking changes implemented on a massive scale. The coronaviruss grand online experiment, combined with continued pressure for reforms when things return to normal, could finally unleash the 21st century weve all been waiting for.

Casey Given (@CaseyJGiven) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential blog. He is the executive director of Young Voices.

Go here to see the original:

Coronavirus could finally unleash innovative promise of 21st century technology - Washington Examiner

Many families are turning to video conference to celebrate Passover Seders because of the coronavirus. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Wednesday was the first night of Passover, a Jewish holiday celebrated with what is called a seder: big groups of family and friends sitting around the table, reading the story of Passover aloud. Songs are sung, prayers are said, symbolic foods are eaten, and a large feast is served that traditionally includes dishes like matzo ball soup and gefilte fish.

A snarky reply all email to Canlis restaurant results in a big donation

Now that were in quarantine, we cant gather. So how are people going to practice the seder ritual this year if they are separated from their family or, worse, all alone?

Theres the rise of the Zoom seder or the zeder as people are calling it, said Stephanie Butnick, deputy editor of Tablet Magazine and co-host of of Unorthodox, the worlds leading Jewish podcast.

The question we keep getting is, How are we all going to sing together? Because a big part of a Passover seder is the singing; you sing Dayenu, you sing Chad Gadya, she said. When you sing on Zoom, even when you try and talk at the same time, theres a weird lag, you cant really interrupt. But you have to remember that this is fun! Its supposed to be fun and uplifting. Yes, its a serious event, but were supposed to be around the table singing and, yes, this year it might be were sitting at a laptop singing and Uncle Myrons frozen on the screen. But its fun and were going to, I think, find a beauty and a sustenance in this ritual thats new this year.

For orthodox and Sephardic Jews, a sector of Judaism that originates from places like Spain and Turkey, Jewish law prohibits the use of technology on holidays. But something unprecedented happened this week.

A number of Sephardic rabbis announced that in situations of mental health, in situations of elderly people in isolation, it would be permitted to do Zoom for the seder, said Rabbi Ben Hassan of Seattles Sephardic Bikur Holim synagogue. To make sure that no one would be mentally or physically isolated to the point where there would be concern for their long term mental health.

Rabbi Hassans own mother will be alone on the holiday, across the country in Florida.

I put on Facebook recently, Please reach out to me if you have any concerns about spending Pesach alone and know that there are options for you. And a huge amount of people reached out to me privately saying people dont talk about mental health, people dont talk about the difficulties of spending a holiday alone, he said. It doesnt mitigate the entire thing, but to know youre not alone is a major factor for mental health.

For a lot of people, this will be the first time theyll have to cook the holiday meal, or the first time they havent spent the holiday with parents or grandparents.

Virtual happy hours and living room dates the new normal

The Hebrew phrase Gam zeh yaavor, This too shall pass. I think were going to get through this, Rabbi Hassan said. In the first ever Passover story, how did the Israelites spend Passover? They had to lock themselves in their homes and they could not go out, so they would not be killed. Thats the message Ive been telling everyone in Seattle. We stay in our homes and this plague will pass, coronavirus will pass. In two or three months, well be able to celebrate together as a community once again. These memories will last with us a lifetime.

A plague, indeed: The story of Passover includes The Ten Plagues.

Listen toRachel Belles James Beard Award nominated podcast, Your Last Meal, featuring celebrities like William Shatner, Rainn Wilson, and Greta Gerwig. Follow @yourlastmealpodcaston Instagram.

More:

Rabbis allowing Zoom, technology on Passover during quarantine - MyNorthwest.com

The Future Of Mixed Reality Technologies.

Home offices, home education, and virtual meetingsin the span of a few weeks, this has become the new norm for many people around the globe. Companies, once hesitant to allow workers to telecommute, have been forced to allow their employees to work from home and meet virtually. Teachers and students meet over video chat while parents manage their kids school days. Friends hold parties over apps on their phones. The coronavirus has dramatically changed how we live, work and socialize and, with no end in sight, we are probably all wondering if things will ever go back to the way they were before.

I think the answer is at once both simple and complex. The longer the pandemic lasts, the more well get used to a new norm. We will continue to look for alternate ways to live, and that presents a massive opportunity for both augmented and virtual realities (AR/VR). When the pandemic ends, we will have far more options on how to engage with others. Technologies, including Mixed Reality Glasses, will deliver AR/VR content and provide such an immersive experience we may choose a virtual concert, meeting, or classroom over reality anyway.

Mixed Reality Glasses has long been a futuristic technology. Even after Google released its Google Glasses, they were something for the tech geeks and later, the gamers. Thats all about to change. In the next few years, Mixed Reality Glasses will become as ubiquitous as the smartphone, and it will change the way we live and do business.

Today, most of the big technology players are investing in Mixed Reality Glasses. Facebook is fast pursuing Oculus. Google is on the third generation of Google Glasses. Microsoft is targeting the business world with its HoloLens. Apple is rumored to have hundreds of employees secretly working on augmented and virtual reality products. Samsung excited thefans with the release of its HMD Odyssey +, and Sony has a leadership position with its PSVR. These companies have all seen the writing on the wall and have been pursuing what will arguably be the most game-changing technology of this decade for years.

As I tried to make sense of the viability of these products in this pandemic time, I reached out to a friend, Drew Perkins, CEO of Mojo Vision. He is one of the most hands-on visionaries in our technology circles. Not only does he come up with big and revolutionary solutions to common problems, he knows how to build viable companies around these ideas to deliver new products and services to users.

These days, Perkins is pursuing the development of smart contact lenses that will offer both vision correction and AR capabilities. He believes AR will be the most consequential technology of the 2020s and draws parallels between the emergence of AR and the release of the PC or smartphone. If Perkins is successful, his contact lenses will upend the already revolutionary Mixed Reality Glasses industry.

Perkins explained how his contacts would work. Not only will the lenses correct the wearers nearsighted or farsighted, they will also be capable of displaying text, images, and video content, as well as AR/VR content right from the contact lenses. Content viewed through the contacts could be requested by the user (such as text, email, or video) or it could be delivered based on a trigger in the real environment (a review about that nearby coffee shop, or indoor GPS to find an item on a store shelf).

Perkins has a strong scientific research team working to bring the smart lens to the market and believes that his smart lens will be first used by people struggling with vision impairment. The Mojo Lens will augment Mixed Reality Glasses, and people will be able to use either or both as needed. Perkins explained his concept as: Invisible Computing where you get the information you want when you want it, but it stays out of your way when you dont.

Facebook, Apple, Google, and startups like Mojo, are on the cusp of releasing significant and commercially viable products. We are still in the early stages of this new technology curve, and I expect it will take years to deliver the ultimate vision, but everyone is rushing to shape the virtual market. The coronavirus is adding pressure to the need to offer new applications for social distancing, telecommuting, and tele-education especially since no one knows how long the pandemic will last and how the world will look when it ends.

For entrepreneurs thinking about getting into the market, I believe there are three main segments for Mixed Reality Technologieshealthcare, enterprise, and consumer.

In healthcare, Mixed Reality Technologies (Glasses or Lenses) will present a different experience for telemedicine. A patient can have a virtual presence with a doctor who might be in a remote location. Surgeons in the OR can see content related to the surgery through AR or consult with another doctor remotely. Doctors will be able to support patients through telemedicine all over the world at a significant cost reduction. Hospitals will be able to increase productivity by delivering healthcare information in real-time, and disabled patients will be able to participate in the workforce through the aid of Mixed Reality Technologies.

The enterprise will benefit from the use of Mixed Reality Technologies to optimize work and support a new level of teleworking. Imagine in this new world how your smart glasses or lenses and your IoT computing systems will work together seamlessly to provide you with on-demand content to do your job, whether you are at the office, on the road, or working from home. For example, an architect designing a new building could access content related to the design and perform a feasibility study in real-time while working in his office or at home. No matter the location, the access to information, and the ability to be productive would be the same.

Consumers, especially in the gaming world, are primed for Mixed Reality Technologies. Teachers will be able to aid students in a personal way, even if teaching in a remote location. All of us will enjoy the freedom of holding a phone and will have access to information at the flick of an eye.

The applications for Mixed Reality Technologies are extensive, and the need for technologies like this has never been so apparent. When the global coronavirus pandemic finally ends, there will be some things we will never be able to return to as a society, and regularly working from an office may be one of those things. The silver lining may be that our lives will improve for the better because of it. Fewer people will sit for hours in traffic, the air will be cleaner from fewer cars being on the road, and families will find more time to spend with each other instead of in the car alone. Telemedicine, telework, and tele-education are here to stay, and innovators like Perkins are ahead of the curve to deliver game-changing solutions.

See the article here:

Mixed Reality Technologies To Reshape The Workplace Of The Next Decade - Forbes

How Technology Has Already Begun Using Your Biometric Data And Why its Trustworthy

No one denies that something needs to be done to protect our online data. From January to March of 2019, over 1.9 billion records have been exposed. While businesses were the most commonly hacked, educational and medical institutions were also victims of fraudsters.

Besides including sensitive medical information, the stolen data included names, passwords, addresses, and credit card numbers. Those wanting to wreak havoc on your accounts had plenty of information available to let them succeed.

Three years ago, it was estimated that one in 15 people would be a victim to identity theft. Of course, this is expected to increase.

What can be done to curtail this growth of online fraud? Some companies, institutions, and agencies are turning to biometric authentication to identify people. Over the last several years, companies have been scrambling to improve the technology behind biometric authentication. We are now at the point where such authentication can be trusted.

First, lets discuss the types of biometric authentication. Then, lets discuss why this type of security can be trusted, even with the most sensitive of information. Finally, we will explain how companies are turning to biometric authentication to allow online users to open accounts.

Biometric identification can include a whole host of technologies. It can consist of iris or fingerprint scans that we have seen on James Bond movies for decades. But it can also voice recognition and facial recognition software similar to what is used on iPhones. As technology improves, such forms of identification become more sophisticated.

If you are a sci-fi fan, you may have concerns regarding biometric identification. You may think of those novels you read in high school English class where the government gained control of all aspects of life and was not to be trusted. Perhaps, in part, because of these works of fiction, users still struggle with trusting this type of technology.

The reality is that we cant afford not to trust biometric identification. As technology advances, it is becoming clear that biometrics are safer than the old system of log-ins and passwords.

We say that biometric identification is a safer alternative, but caution must be given. Companies need to be able to share how this data is stored. They also need to be able to communicate what it is used for, so people can make informed decisions. This educational process is necessary anytime new technology is initiated.

For example, some fingerprint scanning software may not store all of the data points of the fingerprint. This means that even if that fingerprint data is somehow breached, the criminal would not be able to replicate the print for nefarious intent.

Other times, biometric information is only stored on the owners device. Think about how the facial recognition on your iPhone works. Apple does not save a scan of your face. It is only used to unlock your phone and its apps.

To return to our first point, we must learn to trust biometric data. Traditional logins and passwords have not proven effective. They are discovered by criminal elements sometimes because of a users error, but more often than not, even careful users may become victim to such data breaches.

We never know when a worldwide global pandemic will alter the way companies have to do business. More than ever before, companies must have a secure online presence in order to serve their customers. How can companies promise that they will be careful with their customers data when we have all been victims in the past?

One way that companies can better serve their customers is by using biometric data to make sure they know who their customer is.

To open an account, the customer must submit a quality scan of a government-issued photo ID. This photo will be compared with a database of thousands of IDs to see whether any red-flags appear on the validity of the document.

Next, the customer must take a selfie and submit it to the company. Technology is in place to ensure that the selfie is that of a live person and not of a photograph of a person. Facial recognition software scans the persons face to make sure it matches the image on the ID.

After the company is confident that the customer is who she says she is, they can then continue with whatever background and credit checks they deem necessary for their industry. The company wins because they have found a new client. The client wins because they know they are working with a company that values online security.

Like working with any technology, it is ever-evolving. Policies are written and rewritten to change with the times. It should be considered a work in progress.

Even though customers may still find a way to open accounts in other peoples names, no matter if biometric identification is used or not, we have still come a long way to improve digital security.

Share This ArticleDo the sharing thingy

The rest is here:

How Technology Has Already Begun Using Your Biometric Data - And Why it's Trustworthy - Analytics Insight

Friday, April 10, 2020

GoLocalProv News Team

View Larger +

Governor Gina Raimondo

Unemployment claim filings are hitting record highs nationally, and in Rhode Island, the latest numbers show that more than 175,000 in Rhode Island are out of work.

That outdated system is slowing down the processing of claims and delaying payments to out of work Rhode Islanders.

Rhode Islanders are filing more claims in a day than the state has ever received in a month -- Rhode Islands technology is obsolete, using what is termed obscure COBOL computer language ,which was developed in 1959.

Wanted urgently: People who know a half-century-old computer language so states can process unemployment claims, wrote CNN on Thursday.

Obsolete 1950s computer code is causing unemployment chaos amid huge lines: Appeal for retired programmers who know obscure COBOL language to fix outdated computer system in states across U.S, reported the Daily Mail, who wrote that officials in New Jersey,Kansas,Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, Mississippi, and Oklahomahave "all admitted struggling to [process] growing applications."

Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training spokesperson Angelika Pellegrino told GoLocal on Thursday,Rhode Islands system does currently require programmers with COBOL proficiency,"

"We currently have 4 COBOL programmers, and are looking to increase capacity," she added.

View Larger +

Grace Hopper, PHOTO: USN

According to Wikipedia:

COBOL was designed in 1959 byCODASYLand was partly based on previous programming language design work byGrace Hopper, commonly referred to as "the (grand)mother of COBOL." It was created as part of aUS Department of Defenseeffort to create aportableprogramming language for data processing.

It was originally seen as a stopgap, but the Department of Defense promptly forced computer manufacturers to provide it, resulting in its widespread adoption

2018 Flood Nearly Destroyed DLT's Tech Infrastructure

For years DLT officials knew their system was decades outdated, non-scalable and failed to have basic backup.

While the state continues to upgrade its IT systems to modern, cloud-based environments over time, there are numerous legacy systems that still exist. The Department of Labor & Training IT system is one of those legacy systems. We continue to evaluate all options for hosting, management and disaster recovery to ensure cost-efficient, safe and secure protection of the states data," Brenna McCabe of the Raimondo administration told GoLocal in 2018.

The disclosure unveiled that Rhode Island has been operating an outdated and highly vulnerable technology infrastructure in many agencies.

View Larger +

1981 PC, PHOTO: Brandon Ziga Cortez

As GoLocal reported in 2018:

Flooding from the overnight storm has put key customer-facing websites including the Teleserve system that provides telephone and Internet access to Unemployment Insurance (UI) claims temporarily offline," the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training (DLT).

"Rainwater seeped into DLTs data center at 1511 Pontiac Avenue in Cranston, powering off computer systems automatically. The state Department of Administration is working with DLT to assess the full impact and restore power as soon as possible, said the agency.

According to multiple sources, DLT officials were panicked that critical data was lost. The backup protocols are outdated and incomplete.

See more here:

Rhode Island's 1950s Technology is Slowing Processing and Payment of Unemployment Claims - GoLocalProv

WASHINGTON, D.C. Today, the U.S. Department of Energy announced up to $38 million in funding for a new Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program, Submarine Hydrokinetic And Riverine Kilo-megawatt Systems (SHARKS). The program seeks to design economically attractive Hydrokinetic Turbines (HKT) for tidal and riverine currents.

Americas tidal and riverine currents remain a valuable resource for the generation of clean and reliable electricity, said Under Secretary of Energy Mark W. Menezes. Developing efficient, economically attractive hydrokinetic turbine technologies will enable the United States to utilize those resources and continue to diversify our energy generation infrastructure and increase grid resiliency.

The SHARKS program builds upon the foundation of previous ARPA-E programs focused on utilizing our nations natural resources to explore new ways to generate renewable power, said ARPA-E Director Lane Genatowski. We view this program as a great opportunity to further diversify Americas energy needs, and provide new and efficient energy generation sources for the nations grid.

Tidal and riverine energy resources are renewable, have the advantage of being highly reliable and predictable, and are often co-located with demand centers, while HKT devices can be designed with low visual profiles and minimal environmental impact. These energy-producing devices are also uniquely suited for micro-grid applications, supplying energy to remote communities and other blue economy and utility-scale applications.

The SHARKS program will develop HKT system designs while encouraging the application of Control Co-Design (CCD), Co-Design (CD) and Designing-for-OpEx (DFO) methodologies. These approaches require a wide range of disciplines to work concurrently during the concept design stage, as opposed to sequentially, and teams will require expertise from various scientific and engineering fields to optimize simultaneously. SHARKS will fund the development of new HKT designs that represent this challenge; including the development of new solutions for hydrodynamics, mechanical structures, materials, hydro-structural interactions, electrical energy conversion systems, control systems, numerical simulations and experimental validations. SHARKS projects will work towards a reduction in Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) of up to 61.5% compared to current state-of-the-art HKT systems.

For more information on ARPA-Es SHARKS program, click here. To apply for funding, visit ARPA-E eXCHANGE here.

###

Visit link:

Department of Energy Announces $38 Million to Support Hydrokinetic Turbine Technology Development - Energy.gov

During the last week of February, as it was becoming clear that a novel coronavirus was spreading quickly around the world, University officials started preparing a contingency plan for the remainder of the semester that involved evacuation and turning Harvard into a virtual campus, one that could run without students, faculty, and staff on University grounds.

The whole scenario was unprecedented. There was no playbook for how to move approximately 5,000 classes online and keep the Universitys operations running remotely without interruption. Anne Margulies, University chief information officer and head of the Harvard University Information Technology (HUIT), would be facing one of most complex, difficult challenges of her career.

After the Universitys decision on March 10 to send students home for the remainder of the semester and later to close down the rest of campus, HUIT staff worked feverishly to execute the plans key steps. It was no small feat.

We were planning with a lot of things changing rapidly and without knowing exactly what our target was, said Margulies of the first few days in the process. Rapid planning amid so much uncertainty was one of the hardest things I had to do.

As difficult as it was, that the University had experience with online learning helped. The Extension School had been offering online courses since 1997, and the free online learning initiative HarvardX launched the first of its Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in 2012. In addition, recent IT investments within the University, from improving information security to moving some systems to the cloud to implementing the learning management system Canvas at every School, played a major role in the shift.

Still, the task was daunting. Harvard has more than 36,000 undergrads, graduate students, and fellows, along with 18,000 employees, including faculty and staff.

The first week that Harvard went online went as smoothly as we could have hoped for. We felt genuinely relieved.

Anne Margulies

HUITs strategy consisted of three steps: increase the Universitys IT infrastructure; prepare training resources; and set up contingency plans and all of it had to be executed within two weeks. To ensure that the business of the University would proceed seamlessly, HUIT staff quadrupled the virtual private network (VPN), rolled out the instant-messaging platform Slack to give faculty, staff, and students an additional way to communicate with each other in real time, and secured with vendors the continuity of services. To sustain thousands of classes and meetings, the University scaled up its capacity on the online-meeting service Zoom, as well its service desk systems. To help the community make the online shift, HUIT trained 600 people in Zoom, and, with the Office of the Vice Provost for Advances in Learning, created online training resources for students, faculty, and staff and posted them on the site Teach Remotely. The Extension School also helped produce training material.

Bharat Anand, vice provost for advances in learning, said the work has been a collective effort: Each School set up its own command-and-control center, but they leaned on each other for ideas and shared best practices on technology and pedagogical resources.

Its been Harvard indeed, One Harvard at its best, not just in terms of communication and coordination, but also in the level of skill, resourcefulness, and generosity, said Anand, who is also the Henry R. Byers Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.

Faculty are leaning into the technology rather than simply living with it. The learning curve around Zoom has been steep. Student attendance rates and engagement are high, and perhaps most interesting, faculty members are discovering and sharing new pedagogical approaches that leverage technology.

A key aspect of the process was to integrate Zoom into Canvas to ensure that all classes could move online, said Margulies. Students and professors were already using Canvas to post things like calendars, grade books, assignments, and course materials, and to even host chats and discussions. March 23, the first day of online learning, was called Super Bowl Day, and HUIT staff were at the ready to offer real-time support, but they were unsure of what might happen.

Harvard wasnt the only school that was going fully online. said Margulies. There were many major employers and universities making the same shift at the same time Harvard was. People were understandably concerned that the whole internet was going to break up or that the Zoom platform couldnt possibly support the load. There were big unknowns.

Read more here:

Harvard University Information Technology helps shift to online - Harvard Gazette

SAN DIEGO, April 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Trac Solutions, Inc. (OTCPink: PSYC) (Global or the Company) is announcing that they have terminated the MOU and rescinded their offer to acquire World Innovation Technologies, LLC. (WIT).

From a capitalization perspective, once we took a deep look at the business, it wasnt justifiable for our business model. We are very impressed with their technology and product offerings but believe a better avenue will be to explore potential business initiative partnerships and synergies outside of an acquisition. While this is regrettable, I am convinced it is in the long-term best interests of the Company, said Vanessa Luna, CEO.

About Global Trac Solutions, Inc.(OTC Pink:PSYC)

Global Trac Solutions is a diversified holding company dedicated to identifying new and emerging technologies specific to a variety of industry verticals ranging from Branding and Marketing, Fintech, Business Development, Sales and Distribution, High-Risk, Nutraceuticals, and more. We focus and leverage our teams diverse experience to effectively execute go-to-market strategies in order to position the companies we engage with for rapid growth and a structure to enhance profitability potential. We believe in a forward-thinking approach that embraces groundbreaking new technology and innovations while providing our partners with the infrastructure and vision necessary to evolve into the industry leaders of the future. We truly are the right TRAC to follow.

Formerly, Global Payout Inc. (GOHE): From 2014-2019 Global was focused on the payments and financial industry sectors with an emphasis in high-risk.

Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer:

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "ongoing," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "will," "would," or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by, which such performance or results will be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time the statements are made and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainty and other factors that may cause our results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from the information expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this press release. This press release should be considered in light of all filings of the Company that are disclosed on the OTC Markets.com website.

Corporate Contact:

Global Trac Solutions, Inc.www.globaltracsolutions.com (619) 925-3202info@globaltracsolutions.com

Continue reading here:

Global Terminates MOU with World Innovation Technologies Other OTC:PSYC - GlobeNewswire

A Cheetah sprints across a black background illustrating the concept of speed.

Research in animal communications conjures up images of Jane Goodall studying the great apes in Tanzania. Indeed, a great deal of research in the field is on higher level functions such as social interactions, animal cognition, or even emotional life. However, underneath all the higher level functions, there is a much more basic elemental aspect of intelligence consisting of simply surviving in the physical world. This capability seems to be so innate that there is little research on its basic functionality. What are the key characteristics of this capability ?

First, there is a large class of intelligence which is connected to perception of the physical future behaviour of other actors in the environment. Key ideas include:

Second, there is a basic calculation of physics. No, animals are not solving Newtons equations of motion. However, animals innately maintain balance, calculate interception trajectories, and manage the potential for threats to physically harm them.

Third, animals maintain a basic virtual mental model of their surrounding environment, and this model seems to generate an expectation which drives perception. The difference between perception and expectation combined with absolute distance seems to be central concept to drive behavior. For example, a surprise awareness of an unknown object in close proximity drives a highly visceral response.

With this range of perception, mental modeling and non-verbal cross species communication, animals do threat assessment(Autonomous Technology Term), and path planning(Autonomous Technology Term). Of course, humans have exactly the same capabilities in the lower levels of the human brain. Something like the Ellen Scares Guests video effectively demonstrates this principle.

What does all of this have to do with Autonomous Vehicles in a well regulated transportation network ?

Research on all the accidents to date with AVs has shown that the vast majority of them are caused by humans hitting AVs in low-speed rear-end collisions. Why do humans hit AVs at a higher rate than other humans ? It appears the answer is a miscalculation of the AVs future behaviour.

It is the nature of human beings to anthropomorphize and we also do so with automobiles. Humans interpret the micro-breaking, micro-accelerations, drift in the lane, and other factors in our own threat assessment of the situation. All of these nonverbal movements are a source of active communications for human beings. In addition, layered on top of this interpretation is more explicit non-verbal communication through eye-contact or hand gestures. Overall, this creates a non-verbal language-of-driving which effectively makes the whole cooperative transportation system work.

When autonomous vehicles do not participate in this communication, they create a danger to the overall system. AV researchers are just starting to look at aspects of this problem with a focus on the near term problems such as interpreting the potential movements of pedestrians at intersections. However, the fundamentals seem to be much deeper and broader. To be effective, it is likely that AVs will have to be able to interpret a broader language and this analysis may well have to extend to the behaviour of animals (deer, cats, dogs, etc) as well.After all, they share the road in residential settings. Note, this language-of-driving may well have regional dialects. The language of a Boston and Cincinnati driver has some variation.

"The primary and under appreciated challengein the application of autonomy is understanding & exploiting human/machine teaming, says Ken Ford, CEO of the Institute for Human Machine Cognition (IHMC).

With the world of Natural Language Processing (Alexa, etc), researchers have built a reasonable understanding for spoken and written language. However, this much more basic form of communication and perception is just at its beginning stages of understanding.

It seems the capability is so innate that we didnt know we did it, until we had to recreate it in autonomous systems.

Note: There is a companion article How Safe Is Safe For An AV ? The Answer (Expectation And Communication) which maybe of interest to the reader.

See more here:

Is Progress In Autonomous Technology Gated By Research In Animal Communication? - Forbes