Monthly Archives: February 2022

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Amplitude, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMPL), the pioneer in digital optimization, today announced new and enhanced integrations across the technology stack to empower organizations to better unify, analyze, and act on customer data. Amplitude now has new integrations with Adobe Launch, AWS Redshift, Google BigQuery, Google Tag Manager, and MailChimp as well as an enhanced integration with HubSpot. This adds to the more than 60 existing integrations that unlock actionable customer insights that fuel faster product innovation. The new set of integrations allows customers to seamlessly ingest data into Amplitude, reduce time to implement Amplitude, and create more customized marketing campaigns.

Amplitude takes an open approach to help customers move data to and from its Digital Optimization System. Through its growing partner ecosystem, Amplitude is able to ingest data through customer data platforms (CDPs), data warehouses, SaaS platforms, and Amplitudes own software development kits (SDKs). Nearly 600 organizations already use Amplitudes data warehouse and cloud storage integrations with Snowflake, Google Cloud Storage, and AWS S3, and now companies using Google BigQuery and AWS Redshift can export data from Amplitude as well. With simplified access to new data sources and destinations, teams can eliminate data silos, enrich data sets, and increase visibility into customer behaviors.

As the demand for digital optimization increases, organizations are asking for easier and faster ways to both import their data into Amplitude and export enriched data to downstream applications, said Justin Bauer, senior vice president of product at Amplitude. Data management is a huge challenge for many leaders, so the breadth and depth of Amplitude's technology integration ecosystem is a powerful differentiator for our Digital Optimization System. Were becoming the go-to hub for customer data, making it easier than ever for companies to understand their customers, create better product experiences, and ultimately grow their business.

Today consumers expect intuitive, customized product experiences, and organizations are realizing that surface-level web analytics are insufficient. Instead, teams need actionable insights into user behavior across all digital touchpoints in order to manage, measure, and optimize their digital products and customer experiences. With new integrations into Google Tag Manager and Adobe, businesses can now easily migrate data from these traditional web and marketing analytics solutions to Amplitude, drastically reducing time-to-implement from weeks to minutes.

By connecting key marketing technologies to Amplitude, organizations can also say goodbye to one-size-fits-all marketing campaigns and ensure customers and prospects are served the right messages every time. With new integrations into Mailchimp, Klaviyo, and Customer.io, Amplitude customers can deliver on a variety of marketing use cases such as data-driven personalization, personalized customer journeys, and campaign automation.

Its impossible to overemphasize the importance of self-service analytics at Kahoot! said Mart Colominas, head of data at Kahoot! With Amplitude's ability to connect out of the box with our technology stack, we are able to remove data bottlenecks to not only receive insights faster but also spark further curiosity and experimentation within the product to improve the user experience."

In a further expansion of the Amplitude partner ecosystem, the team at Amazon Web Services (AWS) recently announced Amplitudes designation as an AI for Data Analytics (AIDA) solution. The sole product analytics solution with the AIDA designation, Amplitude leverages AWS artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning services to take the complexity out of AI-based insights and personalization.

Learn more about Amplitudes Data Connections here or request a custom demo today.

About AmplitudeAmplitude is the pioneer in digital optimization software. Almost 1,600 customers, including Atlassian, Instacart, NBCUniversal, Shopify, and Under Armour rely on Amplitude to help them innovate faster and smarter by answering the strategic question: "How do our digital products drive our business?" The Amplitude Digital Optimization System makes critical data accessible and actionable to every team unifying product, marketing, developers, and executive teams around a new depth of customer understanding and common visibility into what drives business outcomes. Amplitude is the best-in-class product analytics solution, ranked #1 in G2s 2022 Winter Report. Learn how to optimize your digital products and business at amplitude.com.

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Amplitude Launches New Technology Integrations to Unify Data and Expand Customer Choice in the Digital Optimization Era - Business Wire

Welcome to war in the age of big data.

Readily available satellite images, alongside TikTok videos, Twitter and other social media platforms have taken much of the element of surprise out of warfare and preparations for war. Look no further than the tensions surrounding Ukraine as the world worries over the potential for a Russian invasion.

Russias buildup of around 150,000 troops on Ukraines borders was highly visible via satellite images. And videos and photos were widely disseminated, providing plenty of whats known as open-source intelligence to experts and amateurs alike.

Signs of a buildup began last spring, triggering concern, but alarm bells began to ring around December when we started seeing things that were a little unusual relative to earlier activity, said Lukas Andriukaitis, a Brussels-based associate director of the Digital Forensic Research Lab operated by the Atlantic Council, a U.S.-based foreign-policy think tank.

It was clear that more equipment and personnel were moving into position, with the buildup of troops and equipment in neighboring Belarus, in particular, raising concern, Andriukaitis said in a phone interview.

Andriukaitis said it also pays to know where to look for other types of publicly available information. Though they were shut down as the buildup gathered steam, it was possible earlier to access public railway databases in Russia. Images of train cars with identification numbers could be cross-checked with the database to determine where they came from and what units or equipment they carried.

Open-source intelligence, often abbreviated as OSINT, isnt brand new. Bellingcat, which describes itself as an independent, international collective of researchers, investigators and citizen journalists using open-source and social media intelligence to probe a variety of subjects, has won accolades for its work tracking covert operations by Russia and other subjects since 2014.

The continued growth of social media, available satellite imagery and data sets in general have transformed the field and altered the calculus around war and diplomacy.

Contrast Russias buildup around Ukraine to the 1991 Gulf War, when the U.S. and its allies employed a left hook, a massive flanking attack against Iraqi forces near Kuwaits western border.

The Iraqis had no idea it was coming because they didnt have satellite images; so they didnt see that equipment out in the desert, said Jeffrey Lewis, a professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, Calif.

While deception and misdirection remain part of any military playbook, as evidenced by the confusion around Russias troop movements this week, operational deception on the scale of that used in 1991 could be impossible to replicate today, according to security experts.

It also means the public, which previously had to rely on government leaks and news reports, can see whats happening for themselves, in nearly real time.

Meanwhile, the availability of images via social media and the tools to verify them represent the other major change, Lewis said. Geolocation and metadata can be checked to confirm if images are what theyre purported to be.

Social media also provides a platform for open-source intel operators to share their work with the public.

A spotlight was on open-source intel Wednesday as NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Russia was continuing its military buildup, in contrast with Russias claims that troops and units were returning to bases after participating in military exercises.

We have been very transparent. And the intelligence we are sharing is actually confirmed also with open sources, with the satellite imagery from commercial satellites, Stoltenberg said at a Wednesday news conference.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told ABC News Wednesday there were no meaningful signs of a Russian pullback and that the U.S. saw Russian forces that would be in the vanguard of any renewed aggression against Ukraine continuing to be at the border, to mass at the border.

Cyberattacks on Ukrainian banks and government websites Tuesday also kept tensions elevated.

There are some potential signs of troop movement from the forward operating bases on the Ukrainian border, but we cant say for sure that these movements are actually happening and in which direction, Andriukaitis said via email.

Images and analysis tweeted out by widely followed open-source analysts sought to make sense of the latest developments. Confusion over what is happening on the ground also illustrated the challenge presented by possible efforts to misdirect observers:

The threat of a major European ground war has periodically rattled financial markets. Stocks tumbled and oil futures soared on Friday, prompting investors to snap up traditional safe-haven assets, including Treasurys, after the U.S. warned an invasion could occur any day now.

Read: What a Russian invasion of Ukraine would mean for markets as Biden warns Putin of severe costs

Markets steadied Tuesday, with equities rebounding sharply, after Russia said it was withdrawing troops, but investors arent sounding the all-clear. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.16% ended 54.57 points lower, down 0.2%, on Wednesday, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.09% eked out a 0.1% gain. Oil futures CL.1, -1.84% rose 1.7%, with analysts looking for crude to surge above $100 a barrel in the event of a Russian attack.

See: Stock-market drops ahead of wars tend to resemble growth scares

So what does it mean when the whole world can watch as a country prepares for a potential, large-scale invasion? The Russians have attempted to misdirect observers over tactical details, but the task of building up and positioning more than 100,000 troops and the necessary equipment and supply lines makes it all but impossible to disguise the scope of whats taking place, analysts said.

And in the case of Ukraine, it appears Moscow wanted the world to know about its preparations as it also denied plans to invade. Indeed, the question may be whether Moscow is attempting to use the visibility of its movements to its advantage.

You have the opportunity to signal things because you know you will be seen, Lewis said.

All governments, including the U.S. and its allies, make decisions knowing that many of their actions will be visible. The fact that military movements on the scale of whats been taking place around Ukraine are costly and difficult mean that they also send a clear signal about determination and intent, Lewis said, which may be the part of the calculus when it comes to attempting to build leverage for negotiations.

Russia is using it to their advantage, rattling their sabers as loud as possible to provide themselves with better bargaining chips, Andriukaitis said, adding that there is little downside to the approach, because if Moscow proceeds with an invasion, such surveillance isnt going to affect their operations at the strategic level at all.

The time required to geolocate and verify videos, for example, means there will be a delay, which would prevent open-source intel from being able to get ahead of the action or make tactical predictions, he said.

Meanwhile, the field, much like the world of big data, is constantly evolving, with data sources falling in and out of favor. Andriukaitis, a former officer in Lithuanias military, said that he enjoys the freedom to think outside the box offered by open-source intel work.

In the world of open-source intelligence, everything is on the table, he said.

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Here's the technology being used to watch Russian troops as Ukraine invasion fears linger - MarketWatch

MILWAUKEE Milwaukee native Montreal Cain wanted to find a way to reach more people struggling with mental health after his own experience as a caretaker of a loved one with mental illness.

"There was a moment when I couldn't find them, didn't know where they were and my peace of mind was just all over the place. I decided, you know, I'm going to educate myself and I'm going to make sure, not only I never feel like this again, but no one else in Milwaukee does," Cain said.

That incident motivated him to get his masters degree in Christian counseling, as well as mental health first aid certified.

Cain also has experience working with apple as an Accessibility Champion, helping people who are hard of hearing, or blind, or autistic.

So he combined that background in assisted technology with his desire to help those with mental illness and founded MERA Cares. MERA stands for Monitor, Engage, Recommend, Advocate.

"If we put technology first, we can reach the masses," Cain said.

MERA is a website, and soon an app, that helps connect people to mental health resources like therapists or psychologists. MERA can also send notifications to designated caretakers and providers to help prevent a crisis.

The program can also connect to an Apple Watch to monitor heart rate. That can help then identify triggers and help identify when to practice mindfulness.

"It's important that we take mental health into consideration in every single thing that we do," Cain said. "Mental illness is anything that can impact your social ability to interact with individuals, your skill sets and your daily living."

He said he's especially focused on addressing stigmas surrounding mental health in underrepresented communities and utilizing creative methods to get people hooked up to resources.

"In some communities, especially the BIPOC community, it's taboo to have conversations about mental illness. But we all have cellphones, so what if we use music as a way to attract people to mental health? What if we use different therapist, or community resources? Or even spaces like the Sherman Phoenix perhaps to have conversations about mental health."

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Milwaukee innovator user technology to expand access to mental health care - WTMJ-TV

Virginia lawmakers are pursuing a bill which would allow police to use facial-recognition technology in certain cases, a year after the General Assembly passed a measure curtailing the practice.

The proposal cleared the Senate earlier this week. It would only allow police to use facial-recognition tech when investigating a specific criminal incident or citizen-welfare situation.

Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, said evidence gathered from facial-recognition tech could only be used for exoneration, not for establishing probable cause for an arrest.

"You can't use it for broad surveillance or monitoring," Surovell asserted. "You have to have a specific case you're looking at, or you have to have a person in a hospital bed, and you don't know who they are, and you're trying to figure out who's there, or you have a dead body, and you're trying to figure out who that was and there's no ID on them or whatever."

Last February, the General Assembly passed a bill barring police from using facial-recognition technology unless they receive prior legislative approval, a measure The Associated Press referred to as "one of the most restrictive bans in the country." Opponents of facial-recognition tech, including many legislative Republicans, argue it's an invasion of privacy and prone to inaccuracy and abuse.

A 2019 report from the National Institute of Standards and Technology found Asian and Black people are far more likely to be misidentified by facial-recognition technology. The bill would require any facial-recognition tech used by police to be at least 98% accurate across all demographic groups.

Sen. Ryan McDougle, R-Hanover, expressed concerns on the Senate floor Tuesday the tech could still be misused.

"In this bill, even with the policies and the restrictions in place, there are no penalties if you violate it," McDougle pointed out.

The measure also would require departments to log inquiries into their facial-recognition software, and then publish a public usage report at the end of each year. With its passage in the Senate, the bill now heads to the House and its committees for further deliberation.

Solitary confinement has been widely condemned by human-rights activists, and a new bill making its way through the Virginia General Assembly would restrict its use in the state's prisons.

The bill would limit the use of solitary confinement to 15 days, and set requirements before someone is placed in isolation.

Sen. Joseph Morissey, D-Richmond, the bill's chief patron, told the Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee this month ending the practice has fiscal benefits, noting other states have eliminated solitary confinement and closed specialty facilities.

"Colorado closed a segregation facility built for 316 prisoners," Morissey reported. "After doing that, they saved $13.6 million in 2013 and 2014, without any negative impact."

The bill defines solitary confinement as isolating a person for 20 or more hours per day. The Virginia Department of Corrections (DOC) said it has ended "restrictive housing," another term for solitary confinement, in favor of what's known as "restorative housing," which offers people in prison a minimum of four hours out of their cell each day.

Kim Bobo, executive director of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, alleges restorative housing is yet another term for solitary confinement. Bobo's organization held a statewide series of prayer vigils this past Sunday in support of the bill.

"Whatever you call it, isolating people for long periods of time is torture," Bobo contended. "The DOC claims it has implemented new approaches for reducing the use of solitary confinement. Perhaps, but frankly, pastors and family members tell us different."

The bill passed the Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee, and has been referred to the chamber's Finance Committee for further deliberation. A similar bill passed the Senate last year, but failed to make it to the House for a vote. If passed by the full General Assembly, it would take effect July 1.

Critics of Gov. Pete Ricketts' call for the Nebraska Legislature to fund a new prison argue the money would be better invested in programs with proven track records for reducing crime and preventing people from entering the criminal-justice system.

Fran Kaye, a retired professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a 25-year prison volunteer, said mental-health programs, addiction treatment and job-training programs can reduce crime and make communities safer.

"Prisons are really kind of an awful idea, when you come to think about it," Kaye remarked. "I mean, you don't want to be in a position where you're punishing people after they've done something wrong. You don't want them to do wrong in the first place."

Supporters say the proposed 1,500-bed prison, listed as a $240 million line item in an appropriations bill, will create jobs and is necessary to address the state's overcrowded corrections population.

Kaye cites research showing Nebraska can end overcrowding by limiting the use of stacked sentencing and getting more people back into communities through diversion programs and parole.

She added Nebraska is not a wealthy state, and only developers will benefit if lawmakers approve a project with a quarter-billion-dollar price tag.

"You get as much money for building a preschool as you do for building a prison," Kaye pointed out. "Why don't we build more treatment centers? You get as much money for building a treatment center as you do for a prison. Why don't we build more job-training centers?"

Pointing to the state's high recidivism rate, Kaye said Nebraska has done a poor job helping people who have served time heal and re-enter society as contributing community members. She believes building another facility will not make those communities safer, in part because prisons create an environment known to lead to violent behavior.

"Fear, shame, isolation, exposure to violence, powerlessness," Kaye outlined. "What do prisons create? Why in the world would we spend all that money on an institution that is best at creating violence, and is lousy at healing?"

January is National Human Trafficking Awareness Month, and combating the problem is especially important in Nevada, which is home to the largest commercial sex trade per capita in the country.

More than 5,000 people, mostly women and girls, are sold for sex in Nevada each month, according to a 2019 study from Creighton University.

Melissa Holland, executive director and a cofounder at Awaken, a Reno-based nonprofit that helps survivors of sex trafficking get their lives back, said the traffickers target local teenagers.

"Over the last four years," she said, "Awaken has seen victims come out of every single high school in Reno-Sparks and most of the middle schools."

All sex trafficking is illegal, online or otherwise, in Clark and Washoe counties, which include Las Vegas and Reno. But solicitation of an adult for sex is only a misdemeanor, punishable by a $1,000 fine or up to six months in jail. Brothels are legal in certain parts of 10 other Nevada counties.

Holland said she'd like to see the sex trade banned in every county - or at least, to have the penalty raised to what's known as a gross misdemeanor.

"We have a sex tourism community here, which unfortunately means this is where traffickers come to groom girls and to traffic them," she said. "Traffickers want to come to Nevada because the laws have done half the work for them, in terms of desensitizing people to prostitution."

Awaken and other groups like it offer transitional housing, a drop-in center and counseling, and make presentations at local schools. The Nevada Attorney General's website also has links to multiple agencies and programs designed to help victims.

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Virginia Bill Would Expand Police Use of Facial-Recognition Technology - Public News Service

Coloradolawmakers are seeking to restrict the use of facial recognition technology in the states government, law enforcement and schools with the introduction of a new bill.

If passed, Senate Bill 113 would establish several limitations and regulations for the use of artificial intelligence facial recognition services by government agencies and law enforcement agencies in the state. The bill would also completely prohibit the use of facial recognition technology in public and charter schools until 2025.

Bill sponsor Sen. Chris Hansen, D-Denver, said the state needs to slow down and reevaluate its use of facial recognition technology due to disproportionate identification issues for people of color.

That, to me, is a signal that we need to use caution and proceed carefully here, Hansen said. Theres a lot of great things that this technology enables, but theres also some significant problems if you get false positives or false negatives. The error rates for the current technology is very high for people of color.

Multiple studies have found a racial bias in facial recognition technology. For dark-skinned women, the technology had an error rate of 34.7%, compared to 0.8% for fair-skinned men, according to a 2018 study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Similarly, a federal study in 2019 found that Asian and African American people were up to 100 times more likely than white men to be misidentified by facial recognition technology.

Because of these issues, cities such as San Francisco, Boston and Portland have banned the use of facial recognition technology by police and local agencies. The proposed Colorado bill would not ban the technology, but it would establish strict limitations.

Under the bill, government agencies using facial recognition technology would have to notify a reporting authority, specify why the technology is being used, produce an accountability report, test the equipment and subject any decisions that result from the technology to human review.

Law enforcement agencies would be prohibited from using facial recognition technology to establish probable cause, identify an individual from a police sketch or create a record depicting an individuals actions protected by the First Amendment. Law enforcement agencies would also need special permission to use facial recognition to conduct surveillance, tracking or real-time identification.

Theres no prohibition here, but lets stop and take a good look at this technology before it has possible downsides, Hansen said. Lets look carefully at how its being used. Lets have human review of any results. And lets think carefully about how were going to use it in a public setting.

The bill would also create a task force responsible for studying issues related to the use of artificial intelligence, operating until September 2032.

The task forces findings would be used to help inform the use of facial recognition technology in schools after the bills ban ends in 2025, Hansen said.

While it is unclear whether any Colorado schools currently use facial recognition technology, nationally, public schools have used the technology for discipline, like identifying students seen skipping class or breaking rules in security footage.

Hansen said the bill has received little opposition from legislators so far. However, the Colorado Information Sharing Consortium a data privacy and data sharing government entity comprised of 86 Colorado law enforcement agencies said it strongly opposes the bill.

(The bill) would prohibit law enforcement agencies from using facial recognition technology to help identify persons who commit major crimes like those in Washington D.C. on Jan. 6, said David Shipley, executive director of the consortium. It would also essentially prohibit use of facial and voice recognition technology in jails to help interrupt planning of future crimes or to help manage the inmate population.

Shipley said the consortium is working on potential amendments to the bill to protect civil liberties while serving and protecting the public. Jenifer Waller, CEO of Colorado Bankers Association, said her group is also hoping to amend the bill to ensure it does not hinder the investigation of financial crimes.

Hansen said he is working with the groups and expects to make a few amendments to the bill during the committee process. Nevertheless, he is confident that the bill will make it through the legislature.

Theres a bipartisan concern about privacy and misuse of technology, Hansen said. We can demonstrate that there are issues and that problems have arisen, so I feel really confident we will be able to successfully get this to the governors desk.

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Bill seeks to restrict the use of facial recognition technology in Colorado - coloradopolitics.com

Imagine having headlights that dont blind oncoming drivers but that do a better job of showing whats up ahead, hopefully cutting down on crashes and saving the lives of people both in and out of vehicles.

Thats what a vehicle safety rule given the green light by federal regulators aims to do, and one that automakers, safety advocates and others are cheering.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announceda final rule on Tuesday to make new headlight technology, known as adaptive driving beam headlights, legal in the United States. The rule, which follows ayears-long process of information-gathering and discussions on the topic, amends the current federal regulation related to headlights to allow the technologyand make sure it operates safely.

The technology, which can use "advanced sensors, data processing software and headlamp hardware," to improve how headlights illuminate roads, other vehicles, objects, animals and pedestrians, has been legal elsewhere, but now its on track for use on newvehicles in the United States.

That could be key as the United States grapples with increasing crashfatalities, particularly among pedestrians and bicyclists. Road deaths, for instance, hit 38,680 in 2020 and could go higher for 2021 when the numbers are finalized, according to federal government data.

Steven Cliff, NHTSAs deputy administrator, said the agency is making the change for headlights to improve safety and protect vulnerable road users.

NHTSA prioritizes the safety of everyone on our nations roads, whether they are inside or outside a vehicle. New technologies can help advance that mission, Cliff said in a news release.

More: Death on foot: America's love of SUVs is killing pedestrians

Michael Brooks, chief operating officer and acting executive director for the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, said the new technology is key because it doesnt require driver action and it also addresses the outsized role that night driving plays in crashes.

Its a pretty big deal, as it marks the first important step in allowing for advanced lighting that could prove incredibly effective at reducing crashes. About half of accidents occur at night, and only about a quarter of our miles are driven at night, so we are looking at a lot night crashes in the U.S., a portion of which would certainly be prevented or mitigated through better visibility, Brooks said.

The technology is significantly more advanced than automatic high beam technology currently availablein some vehicles here. Brooks noted that with regulatory certainty automakers will also be more inclined to invest in research, and he predicted that the technology would continue to improve.

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, said shes grateful that NHTSA movedforward on the rule earlier than required as part of last years Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The rule change itself was mandated as part of the law, according to NHTSA.

This new rule will save lives and make our roads safer. Its a simple fix to help keep pedestrians and bicyclists safe, while also ensuring drivers have a better view of the road ahead, especially at night, Dingell said in a statement.

The move to allow this type oftechnology in the United States dates back more than a decade. Following discussions with NHTSA officials,Toyotafiled a formal petition with the agency in 2013.

Aaron Fowles, a Toyota spokesman, provided a statement to the Free Press, notingthe automaker's early push to allow the technology:

As the original petitioner, Toyota appreciates NHTSA issuing this final rule, allowing automakers to install adaptive driving beam headlights on new vehicles. We look forward to reviewing the final rule and continuously working with NHTSA and other stakeholders towards further improving motor vehicle safety.

The company offers the technology on vehicles sold in Europe and Japan.

More: Feds set small goal for road fatalities, but getting to that number would be big deal

Toyota isn't the only company that's been interested in developing more advanced headlights.

Stu Fowle, a spokesman for General Motors, said GM has been advocating for approval of adaptive headlight systems in the United States, noting that the company has sold vehicles equipped with such systems in both Europe and China.

Why were advocates has to do with the benefit not only for drivers, in terms of improved nighttime visibility, but for their benefit for oncoming traffic to not be impacted by high beams inadvertently left on. GMs adaptive headlight system uses 34 beam patterns to provide the benefits of high beams all the time, while placing shadows over oncoming vehicles. The camera technology that enables adaptive headlights is already in use in the U.S. today with our automatic high beams offered on a number of models; the adaptive headlight system would bring added benefits, Fowle said.

More: GM had most vehicles recalled last year; Ford had most recalls. Takata fueled both

Support for the technology was echoed by John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an industry group representing GM, Ford, Chrysler-parent Stellantis, Toyota, Volkswagen and others.

Research shows the safety benefits of this technology, which can help provide enhanced down-road visibility without increasing glare to oncoming vehicles. We are reviewing the final rule and look forward to continuing to work with NHTSA and other stakeholders on our shared priority of a safer transportation future," Bozzella said.

Ellen Edmonds, a spokesperson for AAA, said the group has argued in favor of the technology and thatresearch has shown its benefits.

"In 2019, AAA released research, which found that European vehicles equipped with (adaptive driving beam technology)increase roadway lighting by as much as 86% when compared to U.S low beam headlights," Edmonds said, describing the technology as the "the first real solution to providing more light for drivers at night."

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence.Become a subscriber.

Excerpt from:

New headlight technology that improves safety, cuts down glare OK'd by NHTSA: How it works - Detroit Free Press

CANONSBURG, Pa., Feb. 16, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HashiCorp (NASDAQ: HCP), a leader in multi-cloud infrastructure automation software, and River Point Technology, a digital service provider, announced a partnership to accelerate adoption of HashiCorp's products. The partnership will extend the prescriptive offerings that River Point Technology has successfully deployed with many of HashiCorp's customers. As companies work to build out their digital transformation journey in the midst of the Covid pandemic, it is imperative that the pace of business requirements be met.

River Point Technology has packaged subscription solutions that enable an organization to progress through the maturation of adopting modern solutions such as HashiCorp. The RPTAcceleratorTM subscription is built for organizations within all levels of maturation on their journey, from those who are just starting to more advanced organizations that are looking to gain accelerated adoption.

"The pace of digital transformation has only accelerated in the face of Covid, however the challenges of adopting new technology with limited resources are very real for companies of all sizes. We've been refining our subscription methodology to allow companies to leverage the power of automation without having to start from scratch," said Jeff Eiben, Founder and Owner of River Point Technology. "Our customers love that we're there with them through the journey to provide a level of accountability while serving as a safety net as they progress."

HashiCorp believes infrastructure enables innovation, and they are helping organizations to operate that infrastructure in the cloud. Their suite of multi-cloud infrastructure automation products underpin important applications for the largest enterprises in the world. As part of the once-in-a-generation shift to the cloud, organizations of all sizes, from well-known brands to ambitious start-ups, rely on HashiCorp's products to provision, secure, connect, and run their business-critical applications.

"River Point Technology's continued investments and expertise in multi-cloud and digital transformation makes them an ideal partner to help HashiCorp's enterprise customers operationalize a cloud operating model at scale. 57% of respondents to our 2021 State of Cloud Strategy Survey say there is a multi-cloud skills shortage, making our partnership with System Integration partners like River Point Technology critical to joint customer success," said Michelle Graff, Global Partner Chief at HashiCorp.

About HashiCorpHashiCorp is a leader in multi-cloud infrastructure automation software. The HashiCorp software suite enables organizations to adopt consistent workflows and a standardized approach to automating the critical process involved in delivering applications in the cloud: infrastructure provisioning, security, networking, and application deployment. HashiCorp's open-source tools Vagrant, Packer, Terraform, Vault, Consul, Nomad, Boundary, and Waypoint were downloaded approximately 100 million times during the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2021. Enterprise and managed service versions of these products enhance the open-source tools with features that promote collaboration, operations, governance, and multi-datacenter functionality. For more information, visit hashicorp.com or follow HashiCorp on Twitter @HashiCorp.

About River Point TechnologyRiver Point Technology helps enterprises tackle their most aspiring Cloud and DevOps projects with transformative capabilities redefining what is possible for their organization. River Point Technology was founded to support our clients at the crossroads of strategic vision, the ability to execute, and create successful Day 2 Readiness and Adoption outcomes. The River Point Technology teams bring a gamut of business and technical domain knowledge to enable success for your organization across the entire Cloud and DevOps lifecycle. For more information, visit riverpointtechnology.com or visit our LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/company/river-point-technology-llc.

Press Contact

Dani Shirer, dshirer@riverpointtechnology.com

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HashiCorp and River Point Technology Announce Partnership - GlobeNewswire

U.S. Chamber of Commerce executive vice president Neil Bradley discusses the Q4 MetLife and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index, which revealed inflation and worker shortages are the 'two principal headwinds hurting small businesses.'

The coronavirus pandemic has devastated many small and medium-sized businesses across America over the last two years, but many who have survived have come out stronger on the other side with new technologies and streamlined operations.

Carlyn Parker, the director of operations at Dependable Cleaners in Massachusetts, said that the coronavirus pandemic "decimated" the dry cleaning industry as her business's sales plummeted to 10% of prepandemic levels.

"It really made all of us look at every single thing that we do every day and say, Is it necessary? Is it not necessary? Or could we do it a better way?" Parker told FOX Business about her mindset at the time.

An open sign at a small wine shop during the COVID-19 pandemic. (iStock)

Dependable Cleaners incorporated Verizon's One Talk phone system so that one number can ring on multiple devices. The One Talk app allows calls toring on both your cell phone and/or business phone so calls never get missed in or out of the office.The app also has a texting feature so Dependable can directly text with customers on the go.

The upgrades were game-changers for the company, which has been in Parker's family since 1944 when her grandparents started it.

"All of these efficiencies really made a difference for us to be able to stay in business over the last two years," Parker said.

CONGRESS EXPLORING MORE COVID RELIEF FOR SMALL BUSINESSES AS OMICRON SURGES

About 63% of small business owners said last September that they were digitizing their business to enhance the customer experience, according to a survey conducted last year by Verizon and Morning Consult.

In many ways, the pandemic simply accelerated trends that were already happening, according to Verizon Business Markets President Aparna Khurjekar.

In this Friday, April 3, 2020, photo, a woman walks by local stores during the coronavirus pandemic in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

"Digital transformation, irrespective of the size of the business, was already in vogue before, prepandemic," Khurjekar told FOX Business. "What the pandemic did is pull forward, in many cases by years, the speed and pace of that transformation and speed and pace of adoption."

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Three-quarters of small business owners now say that the changes they've made over the past year will help their business long term, according to a Salesforce report last year.

"The companies that have come out strong are a lot more confident about not just their future, but being able to differentiate in that future," Khurjekar said.

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Small businesses incorporating new technology to survive the coronavirus pandemic - Fox Business

GILPIN COUNTY, Colo. As officials continue to investigate the cause of the Marshall Fire, which destroyed more than a 1,000 homes, the rest of Colorado has been reflecting on their own ability to combat such a fire.

"Gilpin County is plagued with the issue of one way in and one way out roads," said Nathan Whittington, spokesperson for the Gilpin County Office of Emergency Management.

The ability to evacuate becomes an even bigger concern when considering the thick trees and dry brush that surround the county's population of about 6,000, along with the tens of thousands of families that recreate in the area at times, according to Gilpin County Sheriff Kevin Armstrong.

"We need as much time as possible that we can to get those people out," Armstrong said. "We all know that the Marshal Fire took off like gangbusters."

In hopes of preventing another destructive wildfire, the county is testing out new technology, known as N5 sensors, that can alert first responders of a newly sparked fire early.

Denver7

"We can detect a fire from about half mile to a mile away," said Debra Deininger, a representative of the company N5 Sensors. "The sensors detect particulates, gases and infrared signatures, and looking at the signature combined from all three of those, we can tell if there's a fire."

A prototype of the N5 sensor was first available for testing last year in California in controlled situations. Last week, Gilpin County became the first place the sensor detected a fire in a real-life situation.

"We left the sensors out overnight, and that was actually the first time that we saw an unplanned signature and we're able to report it," Deininger said.

The sensors detected signatures of a flame from a controlled burn that forestry crews were unaware of 36 minutes before a human did, according to Whittington.

"The sensor actually indicated that one of the [burn] piles was igniting at 8 p.m. at night, and we were able to get a 36 minute head start before an actual 911 call came in," Whittington said.

That amount of time can make all the difference, which is why the county would like to place roughly 150 N5 sensors near subdivisions and other vulnerable areas.

Denver7 asked the state whether they would consider this technology elsewhere, should it be proven to be effective. The state's Division of Fire Prevention and Control said in part, "We are prepared to support fire departments and counties with preparedness and planning, early detection, aggressive initial attack efforts, and management of extended attack fires."

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Gilpin County tests new technology that could allow early detection of wildfires - The Denver Channel

If you've been using pixelation to redact sensitive information, you may want to use a different method instead as a security researcher has developed a new way to successfully recover pixelated words from redacted documents.

Lead researcher at the security firm Bishop Fox, Dan Petro has published a new blog post detailing how he was able to completely recover text from an image that was redacted suing the pixelation method.

While both news outlets and researchers often using pixelation or blurring to hide text in sensitive images published online, Petro has demonstrated that it is much safer to use opaque bars to hide text instead.

Petro began his research into how retrieve pixelated words from redacted documents after Jumpsec Labs put forth an open challenge for anyone to decipher the text in a pixelated image. After studying a number of pixelation and deobfuscation techniques, he came up with a solution for the challenge and sent his findings to Jumpsec Labs.

While there are a number of existing photo editing tools for enhancing pixelated images of people or landscapes, up until now there hasn't been a tool capable of recovering text found in pixelated images.

For this reason, Petro and Bishop Fox have released a new open source tool on GitHub called Unredacter. The tool is able to correctly reconstruct a document's original text in its entirety if it was redacted using pixelation.

Petro provided further insights on how users that need to redact text in a document should do so in his blog post, saying:

The bottom line is that when you need to redact text, use black bars covering the whole text. Never use anything else. No pixelization, no blurring, no fuzzing, no swirling. Oh, and be sure to actually edit the text as an image. Dont make the mistake of changing your Word document so that it has black background with black text.

Thankfully, many of the best PDF editors such as Adobe Acrobat DC already provide the ability to redact text in sensitive business documents.

Via BleepingComputer

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This amazing technology can retrieve pixelated words from redacted documents - TechRadar