Billionaire Larry Ellison predicts an AI-fueled surveillance system that monitors citizens’ behavior. Amazon tells employees to return to the office five days a week.
HaLow Wi-Fi sets a new world record with a nearly 10-mile range.
Welcome to Hashtag Trending. I’m your host, Jim Love. Let’s get into it.
During a recent Oracle financial analysts meeting, Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle, shared his thoughts on the future of AI-powered surveillance. Ellison discussed how artificial intelligence could be used to analyze data from a vast array of surveillance tools—security cameras, police body cameras, doorbell cameras, and vehicle dashboard cameras.
He suggested that this constant monitoring would ensure “citizens will be on their best behavior.” Ellison stated, “We’re going to have supervision. Every police officer is going to be supervised at all times, and if there’s a problem, AI will report that problem to the appropriate person.”
Ellison also mentioned the potential for AI drones to replace police cars in high-speed chases, saying, “You just have a drone follow the car. It’s very simple in the age of autonomous drones.”
And while no one argues with the need for police to have all the right tools, this idea of constant AI surveillance raise some real questions about privacy, security, and the balance between safety and individual rights.
Sources include: Business Insider
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In a significant policy shift, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has informed corporate staff that they are now expected to work from the office five days a week, starting January 2, 2025. This change moves away from the company’s previous policy, which required employees to be in the office at least three days a week.
Jassy explained that being in the office strengthens the company’s culture and enhances collaboration, innovation, and team connection. He stated, “We want to operate like the world’s largest startup… deeply-connected collaboration is needed when inventing and solving hard problems.”
Exceptions to the new policy will be limited to “extenuating circumstances” or must be approved by the organization’s senior leadership.
Additionally, Amazon plans to simplify its corporate structure by reducing the number of managers to “remove layers and flatten organizations.” Each senior team is expected to increase the ratio of individual contributors to managers by at least 15% by the end of the first quarter of 2025. In addition, there will be a way for employees to identify any time “bureaucracy” gets in the way of doing their job.
According to the company, this new policy aims to increase agility, ownership, and speed in decision-making.
Sources include: CNBC
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HaLow Wi-Fi sets a new world record with a range of 9.9 miles.
For anyone who has ever wondered why the office wifi can’t make it all the way to their desk, Morse Micro has achieved a new world record for Wi-Fi that will astonish you. In a recent test conducted in the rural Joshua Tree National Park, the HaLow (802.11ah) standard, company successfully connected over a distance of 9.9 miles (15.9 kilometers), which, for those keeping track, is nearly five times the previous record.
The HaLow Wi-Fi connection reached a throughput of 2 Megabits per second at this maximum range. The test demonstrates the potential of HaLow for long-distance, low-power connectivity, which could be particularly useful in rural areas and industries like agriculture.
Previously, Morse Micro conducted a test in San Francisco, achieving a range of 1.8 miles with varying speeds. The latest achievement corresponds to the theoretical maximum range of HaLow, showing promise for applications where traditional Wi-Fi and cellular networks are limited or unavailable.
While HaLow may face interference challenges in urban environments, its long-range capabilities could make it valuable for outdoor work, IoT devices, and situations where extended coverage is needed without relying on cellular data.
It’s an impressive milestone, and it will be interesting to see how HaLow technology develops and whether it becomes more widely adopted in the future.
Sources include: Tom’s Hardware
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And that’s our show for today. You can find show notes at our news site technewsday.com or .ca—take your pick.
Thanks for listening. I’m your host Jim Love. Have a terrific Tuesday.
