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A Vermont bill would bring emoji license plates to the US
With their ability to add a dash of color and whimsy to a text message, emoji have become an indispensable part of our online interactions. Thanks to a new piece of proposed legislation introduced last week in the Vermont House of Representatives, they could soon start making state license plates more colorful as well.
Microsoft will help expand rural broadband access in Vermont
Microsoft is continuing to help more people in rural areas gain broadband access through its Airband Initiative. It's teaming up with Vermont to expand connectivity there, while offering students access to digital skills and computer science programs.
Vermont passes first-of-its-kind law to clamp down on data brokers
Data brokers who trade your info behind the scenes will have to watch their step if they're doing business in Vermont. The state has enacted a first-of-its-kind law that both requires brokers to meet certain standards and punishes them if they fall short. They'll have to register in the state, maintain a "comprehensive" security program (including encryption for all sensitive data) and report any breaches. They'll face legal action if they break any of these terms or use data for illegal purposes, such as racial discrimination.
Hilton data breaches lead to $700,000 penalty
The attorneys general of New York and Vermont both announced today that their joint investigation into two Hilton data breaches has resulted in a $700,000 penalty and a promise to strengthen security. In February of 2015, Hilton was made aware of a cybersecurity breach that occurred between November and December of 2014. A second breach that exposed sensitive customer data between April and July of 2015 was uncovered that July, but the company waited until November of that year to inform those affected by the breaches. In all, over 363,000 credit card numbers were exposed.
Google’s comment-ranking system will be a hit with the alt-right
A recent, sprawling Wired feature outlined the results of its analysis on toxicity in online commenters across the United States. Unsurprisingly, it was like catnip for everyone who's ever heard the phrase "don't read the comments." According to "The Great Tech Panic: Trolls Across America," Vermont has the most toxic online commenters, whereas Sharpsburg, Georgia, "is the least-toxic city in the US." There's just one problem.
US utility offers clients cheap Tesla batteries for grid backup
For the first time, a power utility has teamed up with Tesla to use its battery packs for extra grid power during peak usage times. Vermont's Green Mountain Power (GMP) is not only installing Tesla's industrial Powerpacks on utility land, it's also subsidizing home Powerwall 2s for up to 2,000 customers. Rather than firing up polluting diesel generators, the utility can use them to provide electricity around the state. At night, when power usage is low, they're charged back up again.
Google Express delivery expands along the East Coast
East coast residents now have a new way to shop online. Google announced on Wednesday that it is expanding its Google Express online delivery service to a dozen states throughout the Northeast. Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont are all now within Google Express' delivery range.
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.
Want Tesla's home battery soon? Go to Vermont
Tesla's upcoming Powerwall battery might be sold out through mid-2016, but you might get one as soon as January... if you live in the right state, that is. Vermont's Green Mountain Power will offer the home energy pack to residents who want to save the environment (and lighten the load on the electrical grid) by generating and storing their own electricity. If you share the battery with GMP, you can either get a $31.76 credit on your bill (if you buy the Powerwall for $6,500 outright) or pay $37.50 per month with no money down. You can also buy the Powerwall without sharing it, if you'd rather keep all that juice to yourself.
Vermont Telephone Company's gigabit internet service is live, half the price of Google Fiber
Remember how Google Fiber's recent announcement for planned service in Austin by 2014 spurred immediate competition from AT&T? It's safe to say telcos in other areas have taken note about the gigabit speeds, not to mention the $70 montly pricing. According to the Wall Street Journal, Vermont Telephone Company is now offering gigabit service to some of its customers for the crazy-low price of 35 bucks a month. To keep things in perspective, WSJ notes that roughly 600 folks are subscribed (out of VTel's total base of about 17.5K) and that the company is essentially going to be analyzing whether the current pricing will remain for the long-term. With Google Fiber to continuing to expand, it's certainly promising to see how superspeed internet is trickling across the US -- and how easy it's been looking on the wallet.
Jersey Shore getting Verizon LTE on May 17th...
...just in time for photos of Snooki's kid to be whisked around the world at 4G speeds. (P.S. - Northern Vermont, Long Island, Cape Cod, Delaware beach communities and the gorgeous Outer Banks of North Carolina are going live soon as well, sans drama.) [Photo credit: Craig Barritt, Getty Images]
Buy iBank today and help Vermont flooding relief efforts
IGG Software, makers of the popular iBank financial software for Mac, has announced that 100% of sales revenue from their apps generated on Monday, August 29 will be donated to Vermont's relief programs for those affected by the flooding resulting from Hurricane Irene. Furthermore, IGG will double the total amount of sales with a matching contribution. In a press release [PDF] IGG states: "IGG Software, Inc. has been Vermont-based since shortly after its founding in 2003. The majority of its employees are also located in towns throughout Vermont, many of which were hit by devastating flash floods that destroyed homes, roads and bridges. Some of IGG's team members were affected personally with significant property damage and, in one case, an emergency evacuation." IGG Software makes the popular iBank 4 (US$59.99) and iBiz 4 ($39.99) apps for OS X. Users can buy the apps either through the Mac App Store or IGG's online store. All revenue will be donated no matter which store the apps are bought through.
Bina48 is one humanoid robot you're going to want to hang out with
The photo you see above is of Bina48, one of the most advanced humanoid robots around. Bina48 resides at the Terasem Movement Foundation in Bristol, Vermont, and while she doesn't exactly excel at conversation, she's far more coherent than many we've spied. Bina is a body-less robot modeled on a real Bina, who spent hours talking to the bot to give her human personality traits and vocabulary idiosyncrasies. While she often gives some pretty confounding responses, her existence and nearly constant evolution is pretty impressive and we're going to keep our eye on her as we move toward the future. Check out the video after the break.
Going to Vermont for a White Christmas? Relax - you'll have 3G service
So, you and your song-and-dance partner have decided that you're going to follow a few classy dames that you met at a nightclub in Florida up to Pine Tree, Vermont, where they're going to be spending the Christmas holidays performing their sister act at a lodge. The only problem is, you have AT&T service and you've heard that 3G service is nonexistent anywhere in the Green Mountain State. How are you going to be able to stream a live video from your iPhone 3GS to the Ed Harrison show so you can get your old Army buddies together for a tribute to the lodge owner, who is the General you served under in WW2? There will be no problems this White Christmas, since AT&T is in the process of lighting up their 3G network in Vermont starting today. This week, service will roll out in Bennington, Brattleboro, Brownsville, Killington, Vernon, Warren, West Dover, and White River Junction. By New Year's Eve, service will be extended to Burlington, Colchester, Essex Junction, Fayston, Hartford, Jamaica, Jeffersonville, Middlebury, Rutland, South Burlington, St. Albans, Stowe, Waitsfield, West Rutland, West Townshend, West Wardsboro, Williston, and Winooski. In the first quarter of 2010, Barre, Montpelier, and Northfield will finally see the light of 3G goodness glowing in their iPhones. Wait a second... I didn't see Pine Tree in that list. Maybe it's not going to be a Merry Christmas after all! A tip of the TUAW Santa hat to Vermont resident Bradley M. for sending us the news.
Unsolicited laptops sent to state governments never get used, now under investigation
Tempting though it may be, shipments of HP and Compaq (another HP brand) laptops sent to various US state governments have been sent either back to the manufacturer or to local investigators with nary even a game of Spider Solitaire in its account logs. As it turns out, the packages of three to five machines sent to each state -- West Virginia, Vermont, Wyoming, and Washington -- were never ordered, and in at least three of the cases were purchased with fraudulent credit cards of unknown origin. Even with the shipments apparently coming from HP directly, officials are playing it safe and working under the guise of the machines possibly having malicious code running through its circuitry. You know who the biggest victim in all this is? That guy in Human Resources who legitimately bought a Mini 1000 and had it shipped to the state's office for pickup. Worst. Timing. Ever.
A late Christmas gift for Vermont: iPhone arrives in mid-January
Dave Caolo reported back in August that after a proposed Verizon/Unicel merger, AT&T would be awarded overlapping service areas in Vermont to prevent a monopoly in the state. However, in the months since then, things have changed around. On Monday, WCAX reported that AT&T has signed a deal to acquire Unicel. The result? The iPhone officially comes to Vermont starting in mid-January. And it's not the only thing coming to the state. The deal will also create 75 new jobs. Want to follow the ongoing saga of the iPhone's long trek to Vermont? The iPhone Vermont blog has done a fantastic job in keeping folks abreast of the changes in wireless service for the state. Thanks for the tip, B. Marriner!
Comcast adds 9 HD channels in Vermont, 10 in Pennsylvania
Vermont and some Pennsylvania Comcast subscribers should have a few additional HD choices on their sets in short order. Harrisburg and Hershey, PA subscribers can expect 10 new high definition channels Friday, with AMC HD, Animal Planet HD, Big Ten Network HD, CNN HD, Fox New Channel HD, FX HD, The History Channel HD, NHL Network HD, Speed Channel HD and The Weather Channel HD. Vermont launched nine new networks today, including Disney HD, ABC Family HD, TLC HD, AMC HD, Science Channel HD, Animal Planet HD, Sci-Fi HD, The Movie Channel HD and Showtime 2 HD. Go forth, and feed your HDTV the episodes of Mad Men and Battlestar Galactica it's been wanting.Read - VermontRead - Pennsylvania
AT&T finally coming to Vermont, not just here to eat all your Ben & Jerry's
In the wake of Verizon's acquisition of Rural Cellular, something very interesting, unexpected, and delightful happened: AT&T finally found itself a way into Vermont. Long an AT&T-free zone, the merger of Verizon and Rural networks there stands to leave much of the state without any wireless competition, so the FCC's concession requirements demanded that the combined CDMA behemoth spin off a little bandwidth for AT&T's use. Of course, it's going to take a little time to get everything set up, but rest easy, Vermonters: that BlackJack II you've been desperately craving is nearly within reach.[Via TUAW]
At last, the iPhone comes to Vermont
After a fourteen-month wait, the iPhone is finally coming to Vermont."But isn't Vermont a part of the US?" you ask. Well yes, but AT&T -- the iPhone's exclusive carrier in the US -- has no wireless coverage in the Green Mountain State, so the iPhone has never officially been made available. Some enterprising Vermonters have set up blogs and even gone underground with their jailbroken iPhones, but that's all about to change.Earlier this week, Vermont's WCAX TV reported that area providers Verizon and Unicel have merged, and AT&T will be awarded overlapping service areas to prevent a wireless monopoly in Vermont.The wait is almost over, Vermonters! Now you can enjoy standing in long lines like the rest of us.Thanks, B. Marriner!
Smart Card Alliance calls RFID licenses unsafe, can't say why
We're all for some genuine privacy concerns or legitimate RFID security scenarios, but we think this Enhanced Driver License scenario might be a bit overblown. The new licenses, which are due to launch in Vermont and Washington in 2008, are designed to expedite passport-free border crossing into Canada and Mexico. The critics point out that the RFID tags emit a unique ID tag that can be picked up by standard equipment, but beyond that they haven't really locked down a specific threat that a leaked ID number could be to users. "I'm tapping in to the emotion of those people who are sensitive to their rights to privacy," said Randy Vanderhoff of the Smart Card Alliance, which is promoting a competing standard. The licenses are completely voluntary, and both Vermont and Washington are going to be offering radio-blocking sleeves to users to allay any privacy concerns.[Thanks, SickNic]
