technology Archives - Tennessee Star

Critics Question Gov. Whitmer’s $1.3 Million Spending on Holland Private Sector Jobs

June 7, 2021June 6, 2021 The Center Square

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Thursday the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) is spending taxpayer money on private business Mission Design and Automation in Holland Charter Township.

Mission will house new large-scale automation projects and space for offices and meeting rooms, but critics argue government funds shouldn’t be used to subsidize private enterprises.

Michigan awarded the private company $400,000 in taxpayer money through the Jobs Ready Michigan Program grant. The project is expected to generate a total private investment of $5.3 million and create 109 well-paying new jobs over two years.

Commentary: Remote Work’s Impending Transformation of Middle America

May 23, 2021May 22, 2021 Admin

Computer with video chat on screen and mug next to laptop

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed a great deal about America and Americans. Most have acquiesced to anything and everything government bureaucrats asked for in the name of public safety. Masks have been donned, churches have been shuttered, and many of us stayed at home for months, working remotely.

This last item may end up being the largest and most permanent transformation of the United States. The mobility that comes with remote work may end up transforming middle America as left-coast technologists migrate inward. Freed from the work-based ties that bind them to Silicon Valley and New York City, they can now easily take their jobs and their left-wing politics to the heartland, ushering in a transformative moment in American politics.

Thomas Edsall, writing for The New York Times, discusses how many from densely populated urban areas on the coasts are finding that remote work enables them to have big city paychecks while living in suburban or rural areas with lower costs of living.

Ohio Attorney General Joins Coalition Asking Facebook to Drop Plan for ‘Instagram Kids’ Platform

May 11, 2021May 10, 2021 Jordyn Pair

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has joined a coalition of 44 attorneys general in sending a letter to Facebook opposing the company’s plans to create an Instagram platform for children.

More Rural Georgia Counties to Get Internet Upgrade under Private-Sector Deal

May 2, 2021May 1, 2021 The Center Square

More rural Georgians are expected to gain access to high-speed internet under a private-sector partnership announced this week by Conexon Connect.

Conexon Connect is collaborating with Middle Georgia EMC to provide broadband access to nearly 5,000 homes and businesses in Dooly, Houston, Macon, Pulaski, Turner, Wilcox and Ben Hill counties.

“Our members have waited long enough for high-speed access to make telemedicine, remote learning, working from home and videoconferencing with loved ones a reality on a daily basis,” Middle Georgia EMC President and CEO Randy Crenshaw said. “Connect is making it possible for our cooperative to deliver this vital service at last. We are ready to show them all the opportunities that open up in a more connected community.”

Commentary: Too Much Data, Too Little Wisdom

April 20, 2021April 20, 2021 Admin

Every day, we are bombarded with information. A police shooting under questionable circumstances. A tense encounter between people of different races. A flood of statistics on COVID-19 cases, mortality, and vaccine effectiveness.

We receive the data in the form of easily digested soundbites and a never-ending reel of videos. We are supposed to respond by taking a stand and making a judgment. If there is any doubt as to what that stand should be, the mood music on the news and the explicit narratives on social media make it plain what we are supposed to feel and think.

Objectively speaking, these videos present as many questions as they present answers. Maybe it’s grainy and fast moving. Maybe the lens is distorting perspective. With YouTube, we can slow it down, rewind, and enhance the color. Ah ha! See! The kid dropped the gun a tenth of a second before the officer’s shot went off, says the know-it-all.

Minneapolis City Council Votes to Ban Facial Recognition for Police Use

February 14, 2021February 13, 2021 Admin

On Friday, the Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to ban facial recognition technology for police use.

The determination prohibits every city department from acquiring, obtaining, or using facial recognition technology or information derived from the technology.

Ohio Earns Defense Manufacturing Designation

September 7, 2020September 6, 2020 Admin

Ohio can receive a $5 million grant to improve manufacturing and train workers after the U.S. Department of Defense designated the state as a Defense Manufacturing Community, Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted announced in a news release.

Crom Carmichael: ‘We are Still in the Middle of the Storm and a lot of Things Are Going to Change’

March 28, 2020March 27, 2020 Julie Carr

Live from Nashville, Tennessee Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.– host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Crom Carmichael to the newsmakers line.

Leaked Docs Reportedly Show Huawei Secretly Built Up North Korea’s Wireless Phone Network

July 23, 2019July 22, 2019 Admin

by Chris White A Chinese tech company at the center of President Donald Trump’s trade war with China secretly helped North Korea maintain its commercial wireless network, The Washington Post reported Monday. Huawei partnered with a massive Chinese state-owned company called Panda International on projects in the communist nation…

Detecting Deepfakes by Looking Closely Reveals a Way to Protect Against Them

July 5, 2019July 4, 2019 Admin

by Siwei Lyu Deepfake videos are hard for untrained eyes to detect because they can be quite realistic. Whether used as personal weapons of revenge, to manipulate financial markets or to destabilize international relations, videos depicting people doing and saying things they never did or said are a fundamental threat…

Blackburn Calls on Tech Giants to Embrace First Amendment and Use Their Powers Responsibly

April 11, 2019April 10, 2019 Jason M. Reynolds

“Its time for tech companies like Google and Facebook to start embracing the spirit of the First Amendment,” U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. The senator made the remarks during a hearing titled, “Stifling Free Speech: Technological Censorship and the Public Discourse.” Video of…

Commentary: US Schools Are Leaving Students Ill-Equipped to Compete with Artificial Intelligence

February 28, 2019February 27, 2019 Admin

by Kerry McDonald We have long known that the robots were coming, but now that they are here, the mismatch between our modern education system and the technology-fueled workplace is glaringly apparent. As robots expertly perform routine tasks and increasingly assume broader workforce responsibilities, we must ask ourselves an…

SHOCK: Medical Students’ Surgical Abilities Declining Rapidly in a Growing Digital Age

November 7, 2018November 7, 2018 Admin

by Annie Holmquist Whether it’s for something as serious as cancer or as routine as a kidney stone, no one likes to hear that they have to go under the surgical knife. But such unhappy news is often lightened once a patient has the chance to talk to the surgeon…

Drones Can Help Farmers Grow Better Crops

August 12, 2018August 11, 2018 Admin

by Elizabeth Lee The tools available for farming have come a long way since Dale Cope was a boy. “One of my chores for my parents is to go weed the garden with a hoe. Now, I’m not going to send a hoe out there, I’m going to fly…

President Trump Set to Tighten Controls in Foreign Access to Tech Investment

August 8, 2018August 7, 2018 Admin

Already threatened by escalating U.S. taxes on its goods, China is about to find it much harder to invest in U.S. companies or to buy American technology in such cutting-edge areas as robotics, artificial intelligence and virtual reality. President Donald Trump is expected as early as this week to sign…

JC Bowman Commentary: Exposed in a Technological Age

July 24, 2018July 23, 2018 JC Bowman

An old and wise saying challenges us to: “Believe nothing you hear, half of what you read, and some of what you see.” It is critical to examine issues from all angles, rejecting gossip, mistruths, bias or information not supported or misinterpreted. Put what you see or read into proper context to make sure what you think you are seeing is factual.

The Left’s Delusions on Economics and the Slow Decline of Human Employment

July 11, 2018July 11, 2018 Julie Carr

During Monday’s broadcast of The Gill Report – live on WETR 92.3 FM in Knoxville – conservative political commentator and Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill questioned whether the left truly understands the dynamics of equality and economics and how mandating the rise of minimum wage may inadvertently deplete a human…

TDOT Commissioner Says Nashville Transit Plan Would Have Helped No One

June 26, 2018June 25, 2018 Jason M. Reynolds

TDOT’s leader said Nashville’s transit plan failed at the ballot box because it “had no bearing on regional traffic” and would not help anyone, the Nashville Business Journal reports. John Schroer made the comments at a town hall meeting last week at Williamson Inc., the Williamson County Chamber of Commerce.…

Identity Politics Is Now Undermining Science

May 26, 2018May 25, 2018 Admin

by Michael Liccione The prestige of science in our culture is well-earned. That scientists discover truths (or at least serviceable approximations to truths) is undeniable. The evidence for that is how successfully scientific findings have been applied for centuries as technology, which has improved life greatly for countless people. Sound…

FACT CHECK: Did Cambridge Analytica ‘Hack’ Facebook?

March 26, 2018March 26, 2018 Admin

Many people on Twitter claimed that data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica hacked Facebook to access the personal information of 50 million users. “Hey so the Facebook hack is a HUGE deal. Cambridge Analytica had info on 50 million people and gave that data to the Trump US election campaign,” said…

Facebook Under Fire for Developer’s Data Mining

March 21, 2018March 21, 2018 Admin

The Facebook backlash is intensifying. Congressional leaders, regulators in the United States and Europe and state officials are putting pressure on Facebook to answer questions about fresh allegations over how the social networking giant was manipulated in the run-up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Former Governor Phil Bredesen Fears His Senate Campaign Has Been Hacked

March 10, 2018March 10, 2018 Admin

Former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen fears his 2018 U.S. Senate campaign has been hacked, potentially marking the first known cyberattack targeting the November mid-terms merely eight months until Election Day. Campaign aides last month “received multiple emails that appeared to be from the campaign’s media buyer,” Robert E. Cooper Jr.,…