There’s a story about my town’s (Whitewater, Wisconsin’s) decision to equip its on-patrol officers with point-of-view cameras. A small video camera will record officer interactions with residents. Reportedly, all interactions will be recorded, and at the end of each shift, officers [will] download all videos into a general file that would get deleted automatically after…
Technology
CDA, City, Economy, Gov. Walker, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Local Government, Technology
The New Whitewater Start Up Grants (in Proper Perspective)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
Whitewater’s Community Development Authority has been working on a seed capital fund (working on this fund for some time), and today the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation has announced a $150,000 matching contribution to the CDA, and two grants – each in the amount of $10,000 – for entrepreneurs from that fund. The matching grant from…
Science/Nature, Technology
Another triumph of Elon Musk’s private SpaceX
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
America’s most extraordinary accomplishments in space lie yet ahead, and private efforts like the ones from SpaceX are among those forthcoming accomplishments. Just one example is SpaceX’s Grasshopper vertical takeoff, vertical landing capability. Step by step, SpaceX has been perfecting VTVL capability for rockets, thereby reducing recovery times, improving recovery safety, and cutting refurbishing costs…
School District, Technology
Technology Support in the Whitewater Schools
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
At the 8.27.12 board meeting for the Whitewater Schools, there was a presentation from Charlie Barr, Technology Coordinator, on the possibility adding a full-time technology supervisor to the few interns now working for him. The discussion took place from approx. 38:35 to 1:12:40 during the board meeting. I well understand the need for due diligence…
Science/Nature, Technology
NASA uses one spacecraft to photograph another descending toward Mars
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
America, Technology
An American Milestone: SpaceX’s Private Dragon Capsule Docks with International Space Station
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Those who contend that America’s best days are behind her couldn’t be more wrong: Here’s video of the privately-created SpaceX Dragon supply capsule docking with the International Space Station. There are no crew inside the capsule, and the docking is automated. Many peoples cannot yet design and launch automated capsules like this, and America has…
School District, Technology
Whitewater Schools’ Good Step on Internet Devices: A BYOD Policy
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
I see that the Whitewater Schools now have a bring-your own device (BYOD) policy. This is the right decision, allowing students to use the many useful, advanced devices available to students across America. Tablets, laptops, handhelds: facility in their use — and simple enjoyment of them — is now part of a proper schooling. The…
Law, Laws/Regulations, Liberty, Technology
The ACLU on SOPA/PIPA
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
The ACLU’s Rights Blog posted today on the controversy over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), and the post mentions the ACLU’s constructive role in limiting this latest regulatory overreach. (See, Online Protest Over SOPA Helps » Blog of Rights: Official Blog of the American Civil Liberties Union.) I have reproduced parts of their post…
Technology
The Year in Tablets: Product Reviews @ Wired.com
by JOHN ADAMS •
Technology
Wired: Researcher’s Video Shows Secret Software on Millions of Phones Logging Everything
by JOHN ADAMS •
Update, 12.3.11: Although there’s ample logging, it may not amount to everything. See, Carrier IQ hit with privacy lawsuits as more security researchers weigh in and Reasons Not to Panic About the Carrier IQ Controversy. Fascinating, yet — of course — deeply troubling: The Android developer who raised the ire of a mobile-phone monitoring company last week is…
Business, Technology
Adventures in Phone Shopping
by JOHN ADAMS •
I asked readers last week whether I should get an iPhone or stick with an Android one, having previously had three Android phones and more than that number of BlackBerry models still earlier. Comments were mixed, with some support either way. Poll results heavily favored the iPhone, and The Phantom Stranger’s recommendations (always reliable) made…
Technology
A £15 computer to inspire young programmers
by JOHN ADAMS •
Admirable innovation: It’s not much bigger than your finger, it looks like a leftover from an electronics factory, but its makers believe their £15 [$25] computer could help a new generation discover programming. The games developer David Braben and some colleagues came to the BBC this week to demonstrate something called Raspberry Pi. It’s a…