Classroom QR codes to boost UNC Emergency Preparedness

Stephanie Beck
QR codes - University of North Carolina

The University of North Carolina is using the barcodes and an app to improve safety. A group of University of North Carolina (UNC) faculty, including representatives from Campus Safety, University Police, the Center for Faculty Excellence, biology professor Kelly Hogan and others have developed and launch new emergency preparedness projects including classroom QR codes. The barcodes are placed on the podiums of large lecture halls to inform faculty in case of emergency. Scanning the QR codes provides the faculty member – or whoever else happens to be at the front…

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Criminals in Brazil are benefiting from Elon Musk’s Starlink internet service

L. Green
Starlink internet - Word Criminal on paper

The technology was meant to provide connectivity in the Amazon rainforest, but criminals are using it. Brazilian federal agents are increasingly finding Starlink internet units on the sites they raid in the Amazon rainforest. The agents are shot at, and the criminals often escape, but the technology is being left behind. Starlink internet services are a division of Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The company has nearly 4,000 satellites in low orbit, providing with people in remote areas of the world – such as the Amazon rainforest – with online connectivity. The…

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All social media apps have risks similar to TikTok

John Montgallo
different Social media apps

A transparency group is cautioning that the Chinese platform isn’t the only one posing risks. A nonprofit advocacy group called the Tech Oversight Project is urging Congress to hold US social medias accountable ahead of hearing testimony from TikTok’s CEO. The group says the US platforms pose similar national security and mental health risks to TikTok. The nonprofit has stated that Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Meta Platforms Inc.’s social media apps such as Facebook and Instagram, Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc’s products all employ comparable harmful business practices to TikTok. Moreover,…

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Facial recognition technology to be implemented for Paris 2024 Olympics

Sam Lambert
Facial recognition - Paris with olympic rings in background

France Television has been running a number of tests with the tech on Paris streets. Though it can’t really be seen as we go about our everyday lives, facial recognition technology has been making its way into a broad spectrum of our typical activities, from unlocking smartphones to interacting with certain businesses and when traveling. Even when we feel we’re just another face in the crowd, we are far from going unnoticed. Facial recognition technology advances have made it increasingly challenging for people to be able to move around anonymously,…

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Rémy Martin celebrates 50th anniversary of hip-hop with QR codes

Jorge Gonzalez
QR Codes - Bottle of Rémy Martin cognac

The barcodes direct scanners to features that place the spotlight on a broader showcase of Black culture. French company Rémy Martin, best known for its production and sale of cognac, has launched a new campaign celebrating the drink’s connection to Black culture and is using QR codes to help share information and features about hip-hop, which is generally believed to be turning 50 this year. The campaign includes a larger push than has previously been the case through VSOP Mixtape. The new campaign using QR codes is meant to highlight…

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