LAPD to Record Protest Helicopter Footage for Accountability

In a significant move towards greater transparency and accountability, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has announced that it will begin recording and storing helicopter footage of protests throughout the city. This initiative aims to improve public safety, enhance the department's response to civil unrest, and provide a clearer record of events during demonstrations. Here’s what you need to know about this new policy and its potential implications.

Why Record Protest Helicopter Footage?

The decision to implement this policy comes in response to several factors:

1. Public Safety Concerns: Protests can sometimes escalate into confrontations between demonstrators and law enforcement. By capturing aerial footage, the LAPD hopes to monitor crowd behavior, assess potential risks, and enhance safety for both officers and protesters.

2. Accountability and Transparency: Recording helicopter footage provides an additional layer of accountability for police actions during protests. This transparency can help address community concerns about law enforcement conduct and promote trust between the police and the public.

3. Historical Record: Documenting protests through aerial footage creates an official record of events, which can be valuable for reviewing actions taken during demonstrations and for historical context in understanding civil rights movements.

How the Policy Will Work

Under the new policy, LAPD helicopters will record video footage of protests in real-time. Here are key aspects of the program:

1. Storage and Management: The recorded footage will be securely stored for a designated period. This will ensure that the footage is accessible for review in the event of investigations or legal inquiries related to specific protests.

2. Use of Technology: The LAPD will utilize advanced aerial surveillance technology to capture high-quality footage, allowing for a comprehensive view of protest activities. This technology will help officers monitor the situation effectively.

3. Review Process: The department plans to establish clear guidelines for how the footage can be accessed and used. This may include protocols for reviewing footage during investigations or for training purposes.

Potential Benefits of the Policy

The implementation of recording protest helicopter footage is expected to yield several benefits:

1. Enhanced Situational Awareness: Aerial footage allows law enforcement to assess the scale and dynamics of protests from a broader perspective. This can help officers make informed decisions regarding crowd management and safety measures.

2. Documentation of Events: Capturing footage can provide an objective account of events, helping to clarify any disputes that may arise regarding police actions or protestor behavior during demonstrations.

3. Building Community Trust: By prioritizing transparency and accountability, the LAPD aims to foster trust with the communities it serves. Demonstrating a commitment to responsible policing can help bridge gaps between law enforcement and the public.

Concerns and Considerations

While the policy has the potential to improve safety and accountability, it also raises important considerations:

1. Privacy Issues: There may be concerns about privacy, particularly if the footage captures individuals without their consent. It’s essential for the LAPD to address these concerns and ensure compliance with privacy laws.

2. Potential Misuse of Footage: There is a risk that recorded footage could be misused or misinterpreted. Establishing strict guidelines for access and usage will be crucial to prevent any potential abuses.

3. Community Perception: The decision to record protests may be met with skepticism by some community members who fear increased surveillance. The LAPD will need to communicate the intentions behind the policy clearly and address any community concerns.

Conclusion

The LAPD’s decision to start recording and storing helicopter footage of protests marks a significant step towards enhancing accountability and public safety in Los Angeles. By implementing this policy, the department aims to foster transparency, provide a clearer understanding of events, and improve its response to civil unrest. As communities navigate the complexities of protests and police interactions, this initiative could play a crucial role in building trust and ensuring the safety of all involved.

How Artificial Intelligence Is Transforming Business

The world's reliance on technology keeps increasing as tech products improve. The relevance of artificial intelligence (AI) in recent years has been significant in manufacturing, automobile, services, and the entire corporate world. The evolution is happening too fast, and sometimes it's necessary to count AI's blessings as the technology disrupts businesses of all sizes. 

Here’s how artificial intelligence is transforming businesses. 

Enhancing Customer Experience

Today's customers have endless needs; their tastes and preferences evolve quickly. Several factors can account for this evolution but today's fast internet and social media usage statistics play a huge role. 

Now more than ever, businesses need to catch up with rapid customer behavior changes or lose them to competitors. Thankfully, businesses of all sizes have artificial intelligence, leveling the playing field in the race for customer trust and continuous patronage. 

Modern customer relationship management resources use AI to personalize customer interactions. Personalization brings brands closer to customers, but how does AI get this assignment right? 

Predictive AI analytics helps businesses anticipate customer needs and issues even before expressing them. Using predictive analytics is not only fancy, but customers find it very useful, especially when e-shopping. For instance, predictive AI comes in handy when an e-commerce site suggests hand gloves after a shopper has ordered an oven. 

Improving Operational Performance

Efficient business operations define successful businesses. However, efficient operations depend on having the right tools and staff to get the job done. This can put a lot of pressure on businesses without the budget to procure capital-intensive tools or hire top-level business executives. 

For example, if you’re running a digital marketing business, you’ll need the best PCs and laptops with features optimized for speed and performance. So, whether you opt for Lenovo Business Chromebooks or other models, the aim is to choose an option with high specs that helps you work efficiently. Artificial intelligence leverages these high specs (and other tech improvements) for operational performance. 

Beyond performance, artificial intelligence disrupts business operations with the use of automation. Automation involves using robotic and other computer-assisted resources to complete repetitive tasks in less time and with fewer efforts. 

Automating repetitive tasks has already had its toll on global businesses, especially in the manufacturing industry. Staff members who undertake tasks that are heavily dependent on manual labor compete with intelligent machines to do their jobs better. Human-led operational efforts are prone to errors and wasteful outputs. AI-assisted operations guarantee efficiency. Even though many employees stand to lose their jobs, the long-term prospect is bright with openings in the creative sector.

Enhancing Cyber-Security Solutions

Protecting digital assets has become a non-negotiable business function as the business world enters a world dominated by work from home and IOT-influenced devices. Artificial intelligence helps systems self-learn trends and patterns, making it hard for past breaches to repeat. Beyond self-learning patterns and algorithms, artificial intelligence can also help detect anomalies faster.

Final Thoughts 

Generally, AI has a lot to offer for businesses of all sizes across all industries, far more than this list can capture. Feel free to deconstruct the full spectrum of artificial intelligence technology and adapt it to your business needs.

A Brief Guide to Embedded App Development

What is Embedded App Development?

Embedded application software is the root of smart devices such as intelligent thermostats and smartphones. An embedded application is software that is permanently contained in a device to perform a particular set of tasks. Software development is a mixture of technology, architecture, and domain knowledge to create and maintain applications by specifying, documenting, conceiving, designing, programming, testing, and debugging. Therefore, embedded app development is the process of creating and maintaining software that is permanently contained in a device to perform a specific set of tasks through specifying, documenting, conceiving, designing, programming, testing, and debugging using an embedded computer. An embedded computer is a microprocessor-based system designed specifically to perform a specific task; it comes with hardware and software designed to withstand different conditions and achieve specific tasks.

Embedded Systems 101

An embedded system is just a computer system; it contains a computer processor, peripheral devices, and computer memory used to perform a specific task either individually or within a bigger electronic or mechanical system. An embedded system contains an integrated circuit for real-time computing operations. We use embedded system applications in our everyday lives; the embedded system applications vary according to their complexity and the task it is designed to do. Examples include smartwatches, intelligent microwaves, and thermostats.

Basic Structure of an Embedded System

· Sensor

The sensor does the work of measuring variables in the real world such as temperature, lich, pressure, et cetera.

· A-D Converter

 An analog-to-digital converter translates the analog signal from the sensor to a digital signal.

·Processor and ASICs

They process the data from the sensor to examine the output.

· D-A Converter

A digital-to-analog converter converts digital data from the processor to analog data.

·Actuator

The actuator performs a task for the system, such as an electromagnetic solenoid or a motor.  

Skills necessary for embedded app development

As an embedded app development engineer, you will need certain skills, such as knowing programming languages and technologies. Some of these include; C and C++, KiCAD, python to build automation and scripting, nerves for embedded Linux, and phoenix or elixir for low latency power sockets. Moreover, embedded app development relates closely with the Internet of Things; hence it is necessary to have IoT knowledge on techniques and platforms such as PlatformIO to carry out embedded C and C++ projects and AWS IoT for MQTT pub-sub used for large-scale deployment projects. Embedded app developers need to have technical hardware design expertise for embedded systems and should be able to work with PCB design subcontractors and manufacturers. If you are looking for an embedded app development position, expertise in firmware development is a necessity, and knowledge in network systems will be a bonus.    

Tools necessary for embedded application development

·Editor

A text editor is a necessary tool for an embedded app developer. The text editor allows you to write code in programming language for embedded system apps.

· Complier or Assembler

It would help if you had a compiler or an assembler to translate the code you have written into instructions called a hex code on which the microcontroller will operate. In simple terms, it translates the high-level to low-level programming language.

· Linkers

A linker is a program that combines the codes saved in various files into one final program for execution.

· Libraries

A library is a prior written program that already has some specific function, and you can use it instantly. You can control LEDs and read sensors.

· Debugger

The work of a debugger is to help you get rid of small mistakes and bugs.

· Simulator

A simulator is used to review and alter the code you have written using a simulation to test its functionality in a real-life situation.

The Future of Embedded App Development

The industry of embedded app development and the embedded systems, in general, is expected to grow rapidly in the next decade driven by the growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR), Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning and deep learning. The embedded app development industry's growth will lead to improved security, cloud connectivity, deep learning applications, mesh networking, reduced energy consumption, and visualizing tools containing real-time data. The global market for embedded systems was valued at 68.9 billion dollars in 2017 and is estimated to rise to 105.7 billion dollars by 2025.   

Ways You Can Multitask on a Road Trip Without Breaking the Law

If you are planning a road trip for the holidays, you might be dreading the long haul.  Furthermore, family road trips can be arduous and mind-numbingly boring. Thankfully, there are ways you can multitask on a road trip to make your drive productive and less monotonous.  While distracted driving is a fast way into a ticket – or worse – getting into an accident, you can still make the most of your trip without breaking the law.  Read further to learn how you can maximize your driving time, while still keeping yourself and your family safe on your next road trip.

Reconnect With Your Family

Some might say the whole objective of a family road trip is to reconnect with your loved ones.  However, family dynamics and differing personalities can often lead to squabbles and bickering.  This doesn’t have to be the case.  These days, kids have their faces stuck in their cell phones and tablets. So instead of having your kids huddled in the back hovered over their screens, why not use your long road trip to get to know them better?  Play travel games, have a sing-a-long, play a round of 21 questions.  You get the idea.  There are tons of opportunities to communicate, relate and reconnect with your family during the long hours on a road trip.

Promote Your Business

If you don’t have it already, get hands-free functionality for your car.  This allows you to make business calls, verbally contribute to business meetings, and take care of work details without dialing or texting on your phone.  This can save a huge amount of time and stress when you return to work after your road trip.  You might also consider advertising your business during your long haul.  Think about applying a wrap design around your car that promotes your business.  This allows you to get the word out about your business as you roll on down the highway.

Catch Up on Recreational Reading

Well, not actual reading. That would not be conducive to safe driving. We’re talking about audiobooks.  Depending upon the car you drive, you might be able to stream the latest mystery novel, thriller, or science fiction audiobooks from your dashboard.  Access apps on your car like Audible and listen to your favorite authors as you wind down the miles to your destination.  If you don’t have, or can’t access audiobook apps in your car, then go to the library.  Most libraries allow you to check out audiobooks you can play on your vehicle’s CD player.

Learn Something New

If recreational reading isn’t your thing, that’s okay.  Consider listening to educational programs on your long road trip.  Economics, world history, theoretical physics, or mythology – the opportunity to increase your knowledge is virtually endless with educational audiobooks.  If you have enough time on the road, you might even be able to start learning a new language!

Brainstorm, Set Goals, and Make Mental Notes

Driving long distances has a strange way of clearing the mind for many people.  Perhaps it’s the constant droning of the road or the lulling motion of driving that sets overactive minds in a more docile disposition.  Whatever the case, driving an extended amount of time is a perfect time to think about your hopes, dreams, and goals.  Set your phone to record and start brainstorming out loud.  You might be surprised at how uplifting and revealing this exercise is.  Furthermore, you can use these mental audio notes for your benefit and implement them when you get to your destination.

Touch Base With Friends and Family

We’re all guilty of getting caught up in daily hustle and bustle.  We get busy and distracted to the point of neglecting the ones we love.  Or, perhaps you have distant relatives who you haven’t seen or heard from in an interminable amount of time. If you can relate, a road trip is a perfect time to activate the hands-free function in your vehicle and call those people you’ve lost touch with.  Pass the hours on the road by calling and reaching out to friends or family members.  They will love hearing from you, and catching up will make the hours of road time pass in a blink of an eye.

The Last Word on Multitasking During a Road Trip

Whatever you do or however you spend your time on your road trip, be sure to follow safety precautions such as wearing seatbelts, abstaining from texting, and following traffic laws.  Having said that, there’s no reason why you can’t enjoy your road trip, while simultaneously getting things done on the road.  So the next time you have a road trip, be safe and stay productive!

The Latest Technology in Construction Works

Innovative construction technology leads to major advances in the types of buildings people can construct.

For instance, the development of caissons and cofferdams opened the door for excellent underwater structures. On the other hand, advancements in tower crane technology opened up the possibility for tall skyscrapers.

The construction industry always releases innovations that can help improve the buildings they construct.

Here are some of the latest technologies in construction works.

Augmented Reality and Virtualization

Augmented virtualization and augmented reality offer a live view of the old environment and then add something new to it.

Seattle’s BNBuilders were the first people to use AR to show customers any changes that will happen in the existing environment before and after construction.

They used mobile devices and Apply iPads to share these photos on construction sites.

Augmented virtualization and augmented reality improve the accuracy of construction site plans. It helps save money and time. Furthermore, it also improves project management.

Because of this, these technologies help provide a more impressive outcome than expected. It now takes less money or time to construct major buildings.

Augmented reality also shows products before they’re created, such as a toy prototype. This allows people to see what the product would look like in real life.

Cloud-Based Collaboration Tools

Nowadays, the biggest struggle for construction companies is paper-based reporting. The latest platforms for reporting are mobile, digital, and they streamline the process.

This means that all the required information arrives at the right place every time.

Cloud-based tools can integrate a huge variety of processes. This includes enterprise deployment, planning and rollout, and data capture. Since it is digital, there isn’t any limit to the communication channels you can integrate.

Though cloud computing has made progress in construction slower compared to other technologies, this innovation allows for other technologies to emerge in the construction industry.

This includes big data analytics, augmented reality, virtual reality, the Internet of Things, information modeling, and much more.

Innovative and Green Materials

For those who don’t know, repurposing recyclables for construction started as early as the ‘60s. Today, eco-friendly construction is a lucrative and desirable investment for construction companies.

Nowadays, there are tons of materials that construction firms can repurpose. These materials have begun as mixtures with traditional materials.

Concrete or asphalt mixtures can even obtain better efficiency if you combine them with reusables. Wind and solar are also making their way into the construction industry.

3D Printing

3D printing in the construction industry has the possibility to change the sourcing for materials. For prefabrication, construction firms can print the materials for a project and then transport them to the job site, ready for use right away.

This can enable construction teams to get materials faster and streamline the process by getting rid of additional steps in the middle.

3d printing also allows the construction team to print materials right on site. This lowers waste and further saves on storage and transportation expenses.

Unfortunately, one of the current issues with adopting this technology is that it is pretty limited when it comes to mass production.

While a couple of 3d printers can produce on a bigger scale, they require a lot of investment first.

For your 3d printing DIY venture, there are a lot of videos online that can help you.

Drones and Robotics

For those who don’t know, the construction industry is one of the least automated industries. Its main source of productivity is manual-intensive labor. Because of this, robots are slowly playing a huge part in the process.

One of the biggest challenges for this is that robots need a controlled environment. They also require tasks that are non-variable and repetitive.

However, since we’re now seeing construction sites becoming more and more advanced, people can now program robots so that construction firms can use them in large-scale projects.

For instance, they can use drones to deliver materials to the site. This lowers the number of vehicles needed on site.

Another example is that construction firms can use drones for site safety. They can monitor sites and use the cameras attached to the drone to identify any hazardous areas.

The Internet of Things

The IoT (Internet of Things) is an already vital piece of construction technology. It is greatly transforming its way of working.

For those who don’t know, IoT is made up of sensors and smart devices that all share information with each other. A construction manager can control it from a central platform.

The uses of the IoT can be huge since it means that a safer, more efficient, and smarter way of working is now possible.

For instance, you can incorporate IoT on a cement mixer. Whenever that mixer runs low on cement, the sensor will detect it. Then, it will order itself more cement. This improves productivity and efficiency.

Machine Learning and AI

AI (artificial intelligence) is intelligence shown by a machine to copy the behavior of a human being. ML (machine learning) is a field of AI where a computer can learn from data given without being programmed explicitly.

Today, a couple of construction firms use AI and ML to program machines and robots to automatically design and calculate house building.

These technologies continue to help advance construction technology. Today, the industry is able to benefit from improved efficiencies.

When you’re using a computer on a construction site, make sure you bring hand sanitizers and sanitize your hands after you use them.

Conclusion

Technology is rapidly moving in the construction industry. Nowadays, innovations in construction influence all aspects of the industry. This includes safety for workers and planning of the project.

With the right technology and the correct tools, the construction industry will be ready to leap forward for the next advancements.

5 Ways Retailers Increase Revenue With Location

Automation is rapidly catching up with retailers, and the next year will be a key year for them in this direction. Radical optimization of store management is the only way that retailers can operate at a lower cost.

Over the past decade, retailers have been addressing the challenges and opportunities posed by the rapid adoption of smart mobile devices by consumers since the launch of the Apple iPhone in 2007. Today, tech-savvy consumers regularly shop digitally, beyond the traditional store. The new consumer behavior has led retailers to redesign their retail space to blend a digital and physical experience that is pleasing and relevant to consumers and that strengthens each retailer's brand.

While these changes are beneficial to consumers, they are at odds with the concept of "self-service" in the operating model of the 20th-century store. In order to serve consumers who start their purchases outside the store but finish them in the store or deliver them directly to the consumer, retailers have to bear new costs that cannot simply be reimbursed at high prices.

As the industry enters the new year, retailers face the challenge of rethinking how their operating processes and systems will support the new sales environment. This is where automation comes into retail.

A combination of IoT (Internet of Things), AI (Artificial Intelligence), ML (Machine Learning) and robotics will be used more often in distribution centers, order management systems, and in stores to perform a wide variety of tasks, from order picking to inventory management and cashier-less store management. In addition, retailers will increasingly use AI/ML "algorithmic" data analysis to automate decision making for routine operating processes.

Some analysts predict the automation of direct delivery of "last mile" orders - from flying drones to automatic vehicles. Although these technologies are being tested in the UK and the US, retailers have many opportunities to optimize processes in traditional stores to operate at higher speeds and at lower costs and to provide the level of service required by today's experienced in-store customers. 

The search behavior of users changes and their expectations grow 

Today's users need immediate answers in situations where they want to know, do, buy or go somewhere else. The concept of micro-moment has enabled marketers to obtain reliable, measurable, and relevant information about consumer behavior.

Analysis of consumer behavior and expectations has proven very useful to marketers. Many companies used the concept of micro-moment as the basis for a strategic plan to work with mobile technologies. This allowed marketers to highlight the most important moments in communication with users and to promptly respond to their requests. In addition, traditional models and approaches were re-evaluated: from determining the share of advertising impact and analysis of business results to ensuring the convenience and usefulness of the content. 

New behaviors and expectations 

Today's consumers are used to getting what they need, here and now. They take constant access to information in a way that is convenient for them for granted. The person always strives for more. It is obvious that the requirements for the volume of useful information, the level of personalization, and the speed of obtaining results will grow. 

Making informed decisions 

Remember the last time you used your phone to find information or make a decision. This could be something important, such as finding a family car or planning a trip. Or there could be something simpler: a choice of pens for a kitchen set, a search for folk bee stings or hiking socks.

People want to make informed decisions, and they are increasingly using phones to find the information they need. This is also clearly visible in the statistics. The number of mobile search queries with the word "best" has grown by 80% in the last two years. This is not only true for over-the-top solutions. People use phones to search for information on virtually any issue. Thus, over the past two years, the number of requests for toothpaste from mobile devices has increased by more than 80%, and requests containing the phrase "the best toothpaste" - by more than 100%. Prior to the advent of smartphones, the search for information required more effort from users. The process is now much simpler and faster, and on any issue, from the most important to almost insignificant, you can weigh the pros and cons and make an informed decision. 

Location accounting 

People expect digital content to be adapted specifically for them, including their location. A few years ago, it was supposed that such information was provided by users themselves. For example, in order to find a sushi restaurant nearby, the user had to specify a city or district or enter the word "nearby". Now it is expected that the system will collect all the necessary data on its own and offer suitable options simply on request "sushi".

And that's not all. Over the past year, smartphone users have become much more likely to buy goods on mobile sites and in applications that adapt the information to the location. People expect that offers will be picked up automatically on the basis of geodata. 

Prompt access to information 

Did you ever need to make a last-minute reservation at a restaurant? Or a hotel room? People are increasingly relying on mobile devices. Every day they shop at the last minute and make spontaneous decisions based on the information they get from their smartphones. Today, users are 50% more likely to buy immediately with a smartphone than they were a year ago.

Mobile technologies significantly expand the possibilities of users. People spend less time on preparations because the smartphone is always with them. And they expect companies to understand their needs and offer only what they really need. 

Conclusion

Every business needs money. To improve the cash flow of your business it is advised to prefer digital payments and POS using QuickBooks pro hosting from daas providers. If the entrepreneur has not money, the best solution to his problem is personal business loans, which he can easily get. Each investment in the business will turn in great profit.

Retailers benefit from a very dynamic and flexible response to changes in customer demand, location, and competitor activity. The potential for geodata is enormous as evidenced by the success of Amazon, Walmart, DNS-shop, and other major retailers.

Soon the market will change radically: those who can apply geodata correctly will win the race. If you don't do it now, in 3 years the struggle for the buyer will be lost.

The only difficulty is the availability of quality data. If the store does not have them, it is necessary to start collecting and processing them now, and it will be possible to return to the question of optimization in a year when there will be a sufficient amount of accumulated data.

Ford Patents RoboCop "like" Police Cars

Ford Patents RoboCop "like" Police Cars

A recently published patent from Ford could be the first glimpse of the dystopian AI nightmare we’ve all feared. The patent describes a self-driving police car that can monitor for traffic violations, then chase down the perpetrators to deliver a ticket with the cold, unfeeling efficiency that can only be achieved with a machine.

The patent, which was originally filed in 2016, doesn’t completely replace the human officer. Ford envisions this system as working with or without a person behind the wheel. An officer could handle complicated police work with the AI as backup. Without a human partner, the self-driving car could still do basic traffic enforcement.

The car would have the ability to monitor traffic and identify vehicles breaking the law. It could then initiate pursuit of the car in question, which indicates Ford is expecting to have so-called Level 4 or better level of autonomy. That means the car can drive itself in varying conditions without a human in control. Level 5 autonomous driving would mean no human control at all. Currently, Waymo is the most visible developer of level 4 and 5 autonomy, but Ford and GM are both believed to be at a similar point in development.

This AI police vehicle would also support a law enforcement version of the “internet of things.” Ford’s patent shows how the car could plug into wireless sensors like red light cameras and speedometers to collect evidence that a car has indeed broken the law. Here’s where things start to get serious. If it’s a minor violation that doesn’t require chasing you down, the AI police vehicle could just send a citation wirelessly to your car as it drives past. Imagine that — a police car that just cruises down the highway autonomously and leaves a trail of speeding tickets in its wake.

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