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Apple says eight states have signed up to let people store IDs in Wallet
Arizona and Georgia are first up, with six more to follow.
Louisville wants a fleet of drones to survey areas after shootings
Earlier this week, the mayor of Louisville, Kentucky told reporters that he wants the city to field a fleet of drones that automatically survey areas after guns are fired. The city would detect firearm discharges using its existing ShotSpotter system, WDRB reported, and immediately send the UAVs to the scene, potentially before emergency responders are even called. But this isn't coming out of nowhere: Louisville could just be the first of over 300 cities that have applied to a federal program that provides funding for local governments that are trying to start their own drone programs.
Apple invests $200 million in Corning's US glass manufacturing
Apple is awarding $200 million of its billion-dollar Advanced Manufacturing Fund to Corning Incorporated for research and development, "capital equipment needs" and high-tech glass processing. In a statement, Corning's CEO Wendell P. Weeks said that this has created around 1,000 jobs domestically, and will benefit its Harrodsburg production facility in Kentucky, specifically.
Coal company plans Kentucky's biggest solar farm for old mine site
Amid the decline of coal power, one fossil fuel company is refurbishing one of its old strip mining sites as a solar farm. Berkeley Energy Group is setting up two sites in eastern Kentucky as test locations to see if the concept is feasible. Early estimates peg the farm's production at 50 to 100 megawatts, which would yield five to ten times more electricity than the largest existing solar facility in the state.
Facebook users pretend the 'Bowling Green Massacre' is real
Some of Facebook's users are using the Safety Check feature to mock outright falsehoods made by Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway. In a recent interview with MSNBC's Hardball, Conway fabricated a terrorist attack called the "Bowling Green massacre" as a way to defend the president's immigration ban.
State-run healthcare websites aren't as secure as you'd think
Health insurance websites in California, Kentucky and Vermont apparently aren't as secure as they should be. According to the Associated Press, based on the vulnerabilities found by the Government Accountability Office, other states' health care websites could be just as ripe for intrusions. Without naming names, the GAO reported that one state didn't encrypt passwords, another didn't have the right type of encryption server-side and the last anonymous state failed to "properly use a filter to block hostile attempts" to visit its site.
Cell service out for thousands across the American Southeast
Cellular service appears to be down across every major provider throughout Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky with Nashville, Chattanooga, and Knoxville being the hardest hit. According to the website Down Detector, more than 10,000 AT&T, 1,000 Verizon, 7,000 T-Mobile and 300 Sprint customers are without internet or phone access. None of the affected companies have disclosed the specific reason for the outage yet, though they all have already issued vague statements about how they're working on the issue. Update: Verizon is reporting the issue is resolved as of 8PM ET, however we haven't seen an update from the others yet.
Amazon won't charge for shipping on small, light items
In an effort to better compete with rival eBay, Amazon announced a new service today that offers free shipping on small, lightweight items for every customer -- not just Prime members. Dubbed "Fulfillment by Amazon Small and Light" the new shipping scheme will bring tiny items your door in four to eight business days without the need for a minimum order value. The items just need to weigh less than 8 ounces, measure under 9x6x2 inches and cost less than $10 to qualify. Amazon reportedly hopes to attract a wider customer base including cost-aware shoppers -- ie folks worried that shipping and handling will cost more than their ear bud inserts. Additionally, the new program will act as an alternative to the company's existing $99 a year, delivery-in-two-days Prime subscription.
Kentucky law could let kids swap foreign language classes for coding lessons
Concerned that not enough is being done to help kids with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) subjects? Kentucky's Senate has just passed a bill that would count computer-programming classes as foreign language credits. That way, if students wanted to learn to code in favor of, say, French or Spanish, they'd be able to count that study toward their high school graduation. Senate Bill 16 will now pass to the Kentucky State House, but it seems like the sort of sensible policy that we'd expect from the home of Bourbon.
Inside UPS' Worldport: How a shipping titan moves 2,000 packages every 17 seconds
Online shopping seems like a straightforward process: hunt down the perfect item, trudge through the checkout pipeline and await a package's inevitable arrival. The trip between a warehouse and your doorstep, however, involves meticulous organization on a massive scale. In order to pull off such a feat, United Parcel Service (UPS) relies on Worldport in Louisville, Ky.: a 5.2 million-square-foot processing facility that's capable of sorting up to 416,000 packages an hour. Within Worldport, 70 aircraft docks and 155 miles of conveyor belts await the arrival of packages from over 220 countries and territories. So, what happens when UPS gets ahold of those parcels destined for air delivery? The folks clad in brown took us inside their largest sorting hub to find out.
Bluegrass Cellular offering homespun wisdom, iPhone 5 for $150 on November 2nd
When we think about Kentucky, we're put in mind of dusky beverages, Harland Sanders' chicken and its legendary derby. That's why it's so nice to see regional carrier Bluegrass Cellular offering the iPhone 5 on its network. The handset arrives on November 2nd, with the 16GB variant setting you back $150 on any of its plans, the cheapest offering you 200 minutes, Unlimited texts and 3GB data for $65. We've got all of the plans laid out for you after the break, so grab your twelve-string and join in.
iPhone 4S to launch with select regional carriers April 20th
Been hankering after an iPhone 4S, but just can't tear yourself away from that great local network? Well, if you live in a select handful of locations, you might just be in luck, as it seems Apple has been working with some of these smaller operators to give them a piece of the pie. The lucky carriers we've heard about so far include nTelos in Virginia, Alaskan Communications, GCI (Alaska), MTA (Alaska), Appalachian Wireless (Kentucky), and Cellcom (Wisconsin). The golden date for all the above is April 20th, and deals of course will vary. Hit the source and coverage links below or PRs after the break for the deets, and let us know if your local network's been spotted putting up the iPhone bunting too.[Thanks everyone who sent this in]
Owensboro, Kentucky students to receive 2200 MacBook Airs
Man, talk about lucky in Kentucky. Students and staff in the Owensboro, Kentucky district will all be issued Apple's newest ultraportable MacBook Air thanks to US$5 million in stimulus funding, Electronista reports. The MacBook Air's small size and increased durability compared to the plastic and spinning-platter hard disk MacBook were key factors in the school district's decision to go with the aluminum chassis, SSD-based MacBook Air. Local reporters say students will be banned from "illegal websites" and "gambling over the internet." (As an aside, whoever selected the B-roll for the report seems to have no idea what a MacBook Air is, as the footage instead shows some anonymous netbook). Teachers have already received their MacBook Airs, but students reportedly won't receive them until a month or so into the school year. I'll admit it, I'm a little jealous of these kids. Back in my day, we had ten Apple IIe units to share among the entire elementary school. No internet, no portable computers, certainly nothing like the iPad... and we were thankful. All kidding aside, it's great to see that Apple's remained committed to education even as its cheaper computers like the eMac and the plastic MacBook have disappeared into the mists of history.
Internet predator edugame heads to Kentucky schools
A new computer game designed to teach children about the dangers of internet predators is on its way to local middle and high schools next fall, reports Kentucky.com. Titled Missing, the game sees a young boy go missing after establishing an online relationship with a mysterious person known as Fantasma (protip, kids: don't hang out with a guy called Fantasma). Players are tasked with finding clues about the boy's whereabouts, thus seeing how they could find themselves drawn into similar situations.Funding for the game totals $300,000, which was secured by an earmark in the recently passed omnibus spending bill in Washington. In response to the general criticism received by earmark spending, Kentucky Representative Ben Chandler stated that he tries to limit his requests to worthwhile projects, saying, "Any project that is going to protect our young people, in my view, can be easily defined as a good project."Frankly, they could probably save a lot of money by scrapping the project and doling out a few copies of Hogan's Alley. We've been spotting predators since 1985, son. [Ed.'s note: Let's give a warm welcome to Joystiq's "internet-predator" tag. How many times ya think that will pop up?!] [Via Kotaku]
Suspected pedophile targets Texas girl using PS3 and camera
Texas ABC affiliate ABC-13 is reporting that a 24-year-old Kentucky man, named Anthony Scott O'Shea, was using his PlayStation 3 to request nude self-pictures from an 11-year-old Texas girl. According to police, Mr. O'Shea did not own a computer and was solely employing his PS3 and the PlayStation Network to speak with the girl. When she refused to take them, he supposedly threatened to remove her from his friends list, saying, "Friends do things for each other. You're on my friends list. If you don't, I'm gonna remove you." Using a camera attached to her PS3, the Texas girl then sent Mr. O'Shea the pictures which, according to police, Mr. O'Shea distributed through email "across the country." Parents of the 11-year-old girl notified authorities immediately when they found out about the actions, but apparently their daughter remained steadfast in her opinion of Mr. O'Shea, asking police, "Why is my friend going to jail?" Mr. O'Shea is being charged with: Sexual performance of a child Online solicitation of a minor Promotion of child pornography Those sound like three pretty good reasons right there. According to GamePolitics, Sony provided technical assistance to the Texas police in helping to track down O'Shea.[Thanks, Gian S.!]
DISH Network adds HD locals in Louisville, Kentucky
Residents of Louisville, Kentucky have been begging and pleading for HD locals for what seems like ages now, and at long last the yelling and hollering can subside. As of now, residents of the city with DISH Network can receive three of their local broadcast stations in high-def: WHAS-TV (5170), WLKY-TV (5171) and WAVE-TV (5172). As expected, they're being delivered via MPEG-4, so you'll need a receiver compatible with that format in order to tune in.
Insight comes clean with 33 HD channels for Louisville market
Back in October, we heard that Insight Communications was fixing to carry 56 high-definition channels by early next month in the Kentucky region. Now, we're being treated to a delicious dash of confirmation. The Courier-Journal is reporting that 33 new HD channels will be added in and around Louisville, KY by December 18th as part of an upgrade program dubbed Digital 4.0. Wondering about what will be added? Try HD versions of A&E, AMC, The History Channel, USA, SciFi, Bravo, Sundance, National Geographic, FX, ESPNews, ESPNU, Disney, ABC Family and The Weather Channel -- and that's not counting the ten new HD on-demand options. Unfortunately, all this HD love won't be arriving as a gift for all, as fees for new subscribers to Insight's digital packages will be boosted around $2 to $3 per month. Ah well, at least you folks are getting something from your increase.
Insight testing 100Mbps high-speed internet in Kentucky
Details are exceptionally vague at the moment, but Insight Communications is currently testing an internet service capable of hitting (theoretical) download speeds as high as 100Mbps. Not that we haven't seen similar services offered from fiber providers or anything, but generally speaking, 50Mbps is the high-end of what DOCSIS 3.0 provides. Then again, the article never specifically mentions said protocol, so we're left to wonder exactly what's going on and when it'll expand from this so-called "trial" stage. Can you tell we're tense with anticipation?[Via DSLReports]
Lexington, KY's WTVQ gets major makeover as part of HD news transition
It's one thing to simply fork out some cash for new equipment and pull the lever on HD newscasts, but Lexington, Kentucky's WTVQ-TV is doing it real big when it takes its local news to high-def this month. Starting on October 30th, not only will locals view the evening news in HD, but they'll see a new anchor team, a new news set, a fresh graphics arrangement and revived vivaciousness all around. We've always heard that going all out was the only way to go -- guess we'll see how the ratings react in around a week.[Thanks, Eric]
Mediacom adding 20 high-def channels in Kentucky
20, now that's a sizable figure. Mediacom is fixing to switch off its analog service and move to all-digital in the Cadiz, Kentucky region, and with that will come quite a few new high-def channels. The carrier is already warning folks that they'll need an internal ATSC tuner or digital set-top-box to receive programming after November 19th, and on that same day, the new high-definition stations will hit the EPG as well. No word on what exactly those channels will be, but surely you'll find one or two out of 20 you can enjoy.
