Arizona Brings a Big Location Boost to State 911 Calls

by  Staff

As part of its NG911 efforts, the state can now fix the location of mobile phone calls to within three feet. Emergency calls from landlines also are getting better in a project that could offer lessons for others.

As part of its NG911 efforts, the state can now fix the location of mobile phone calls to within three feet. Emergency calls from landlines also are getting better in a project that could offer lessons for others.

The 1960s are finally coming to an end in Arizona — at least when one considers emergency dispatch calls.

The state's Department of Administration has announced a big improvement for 911 calls: The ability of responders to “zero in on your longitude and latitude data within three feet when you call 911 from a cell phone,” according to a statement.

 Read full story at Government Technology…

Harnessing Data for Safer Communities

by  Taw North

The ability to gather, store and analyze almost unlimited amounts of data has transformed almost every aspect of society, including law enforcement.

When ranking the most significant developments of the digital age, the evolution of data storage does not garner many glamour points. Yet few innovations have had such a profound impact on the ability to develop new technologies and perform tasks previously unimaginable. The ability to gather, store and analyze almost unlimited amounts of data has transformed almost every aspect of society, including law enforcement. While the possibilities of using data to improve safety and ensure justice are seemingly endless, harnessing this power does not come without its challenges.

The data deluge: Challenges of managing and analyzing information In the modern law enforcement landscape, the emergence of real-time crime centers has opened possibilities and presented significant challenges. The central challenge they face is the overwhelming deluge of data from diverse sources. To gain a deeper understanding of this issue, we need to examine the multiple streams of data inundating real-time crime centers, including body and patrol vehicle cameras, traffic cameras, private commercial cameras, news reports, weather updates, 911 and 311 calls, social media feeds and law enforcement databases.

 Read full story at American City & County…

NOAA Awards Key Contract for Space Situational Awareness System

by  Frank Konkel

Slingshot Aerospace, Inc. nabbed a contract worth up to $13.3 million to provide a “presentation layer” for the Traffic Coordination System for Space.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded a multi-million dollar contract this week to Slingshot Aerospace, Inc. to provide the website and user experience for the Traffic Coordination System for Space, or TraCSS.TraCSS — pronounced “tracks” — is a three-phase effort being developed through NOAA's Office of Space Commerce to provide situational awareness data and information services to civil and private sector space operators and to support space safety, sustainability and coordination.

“We are delighted to welcome Slingshot to the team to help us bring TraCSS to the entire world,” Richard DalBello, Director of NOAA's Office of Space Commerce, said in a statement. “Their visualization tools will make our technical data accessible via a modern interface reflecting the latest innovations in software and user experience design.”

 Read full story at NextGov…

A New 'File Search' Feature Is Coming to the Windows 11 Taskbar

by  Mikael Markander & Joel Lee

Microsoft is testing a File Search Companion integration for the Windows 11 taskbar.

Last month at Ignite 2024, Microsoft unveiled a new feature called Microsoft 365 Companions, which are basically integrations in the Windows 11 taskbar and Start menu that will make it easier for you to spot and find all kinds of details and information with just a few clicks.

According to Windows Latest, Microsoft is now testing one such integration called File Search Companion. This web-based feature will allow you to search for files across Microsoft 365 apps and OneDrive directly from the Windows 11 taskbar.

First details came from @EpicbP on Twitter, who shared photos of the File Search Companion in action. Among other things, it will be possible to limit the search by file type, which would make it easier to find exactly what you need (e.g., a Word document or Excel spreadsheet).

 Read full story at PCWorld…

Certain Names Make ChatGPT Grind to a Halt, and We Know Why

by  Benj Edwards

Filter resulting from subject of settled defamation lawsuit could cause trouble down the road.

OpenAI's ChatGPT is more than just an AI language model with a fancy interface. It's a system consisting of a stack of AI models and content filters that make sure its outputs don't embarrass OpenAI or get the company into legal trouble when its bot occasionally makes up potentially harmful facts about people.

Recently, that reality made the news when people discovered that the name “David Mayer” breaks ChatGPT. 404 Media also discovered that the names “Jonathan Zittrain” and “Jonathan Turley” caused ChatGPT to cut conversations short. And we know another name, likely the first, that started the practice last year: Brian Hood. More on that below.

The chat-breaking behavior occurs consistently when users mention these names in any context, and it results from a hard-coded filter that puts the brakes on the AI model's output before returning it to the user.

 Read full story at arsTechnica…

Don't Fall for It! Hackers Are Trying to Get You to Scam Yourself

by  Kim Komando

Great — now scammers are tricking people into scamming themselves. Here's how to avoid falling for their tricks.

It's Computer Security Day, and there's no better time to remind you malware is lurking everywhere. From phishing emails to unsuspecting ads, just one wrong click can compromise your personal info or infect your devices.

Don't panic! Knowing how to spot the early warning signs can save you a world of trouble. Let's make your devices malware-free zones.

 Read full story at KimKomando.com…

California Can't Use All Its Solar Power. That's a Huge Problem.

by  Stephen Council

As residents see sky-high bills, California's solar plants don't even operate at full capacity

Over the past two decades, California has become a juggernaut of solar energy production. But that doesn't mean its residents are reaping huge benefits.

A new analysis by Los Angeles Times staff writer Melody Petersen found major problems in the state's current solar economy. Oversupply of solar power is causing California's operators to regularly halt production or even pay electricity traders to take power off their hands. Sometimes, other states snag the extra energy for cheap. Meanwhile, California residents, businesses and factories pay around two to three times as much for power as the national average.

There are a range of factors at play, but a key takeaway from the Times's analysis is that California's most-in-the-nation solar panel buildup isn't enough for an ideal alternative energy model. Millions of dollars of electricity go to waste because the infrastructure isn't in place to store or move all the solar power.

 Read full story at KSBW…

Georgia Power Says Data Center Growth Will Cause Electricity Demands to Triple in Next Decade

by  Stanley Dunlap

Georgia Power projects that over the next decade the state will be leading the nation's second industrial revolution, led by artificial intelligence boosting data centers, which could triple the state's energy consumption.

According to Georgia Power's projections, the company's projected 12,000 megawatts load growth will triple by the mid-2030, which is consistent with the state's consistently upward trending economic prospects the company cites as it requests a significant expansion of its energy capacity.

“The latest data continue to support Georgia Power's expectation for continued and robust economic growth in Georgia and the timing of new large loads,” the company's Nov. 18 economic development outlook reads. “The pipeline of committed and potential economic development projects continues to grow.”

 Read full story at 

WABE…

Public-Private Financing for Transmission Projects Could Save California Billions, Report Finds

by  Sean Wolfe

A new report suggests that relying solely on traditional investor-owned utility (IOU) financing could significantly burden California ratepayers.

New analysis suggests that relying solely on traditional investor-owned utility (IOU) financing for transmission infrastructure upgrades could “significantly” burden California ratepayers, while public-private financing models could save Californians up to $3 billion annually, or approximately $123 billion over 40 years.

The analysis, commissioned by the the Clean Air Task Force (CATF) and Net Zero California (NZC), notes that California will require an “unprecedented” amount of transmission infrastructure as outlined in the California Independent System Operator's (CAISO) 20-Year Outlook. Additionally, the analysis offers a few cost-saving strategies that the groups say could maintain development efficiency:

 Read full story at Power Grid International…