Grocery Outlet uses facial recognition technology to reduce shoplifting
Some Grocery Outlet locations in the Bay Area are using facial recognition software to deter shoplifting, prompting mixed reactions from shoppers and questions about privacy.
Some Grocery Outlet locations in the Bay Area are using facial recognition software to deter shoplifting, prompting mixed reactions from shoppers and questions about privacy.
Jul 18, 2026 · via ktvu.com
DigiFlight Names Jermaine Stanley Director of Cybersecurity Compliance The cybersecurity veteran will lead enterprise risk and compliance initiatives for defense contractors navigating strict federal requirements. - By Jesse Jacobs - Jul 17, 2026 An aerospace and defense consulting firm has appointed a new executive to oversee its enterprise cyber risk and compliance initiatives as federal contractors face stricter government security requirements. DigiFlight Inc. announced that Jermaine Stanley will step into the role of director of cybersecurity compliance. Stanley brings more than 25 years of experience in cybersecurity compliance, governance and enterprise risk management spanning the financial services, government, technology, insurance and non-profit sectors. In his new role, Stanley will guide defense contractors and federal suppliers through evolving regulatory frameworks. He previously served as the president of the ISACA Greater Washington, D.C. chapter and on the ISACA Foundation Board. Stanley holds a master's degree in software engineering, a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and multiple industry certifications, including CMMC Certified Professional. The appointment comes amid heightened scrutiny for the defense industrial base. The Department of Defense is intensifying its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification requirements, forcing federal suppliers to prove their cybersecurity readiness to maintain and secure mission-critical government contracts. Stanley's leadership is intended to help organizations accelerate these certification efforts and improve overall cyber resilience.
Jul 18, 2026 · via securitytoday.com
The Friday Checkout is a weekly column providing more insight on the news, rounding up the announcements you may have missed and sharing what’s to come. There’s a lot for grocers to like about Florida. It has a large and growing population. The state’s economy is on track to become a top 10 world economy, with a political climate that’s friendly to businesses. The weather is pretty swell, too. A few chains have sped after this opportunity. Sprouts Farmers Market, The Fresh Market and Aldi have all made themselves at home in the Sunshine State, while Florida-based Winn-Dixie recently relaunched its brand, full of optimism about its ability to win over shoppers even as it operates in the shadow of Publix, the 800-pound gorilla in the region. But for Kroger, Florida remains a Rubik’s Cube wrapped up in a padlocked steel chain. After decades of having a tiny presence in the state, the nation’s largest supermarket chain tried and failed to launch an e-commerce offensive via its Ocado-powered network of automated warehouses. More recently, the company’s Harris Teeter banner began outlining plans to expand into Florida, starting with the Jacksonville area. But according to reporting by the Tampa Bay Business Journal, the grocer recently nixed a plan to open up to 80 Harris Teeter locations in the state. The banner does intend to proceed with the Jacksonville location, the Jacksonville Daily Record reported. As Kroger turns away from Florida, Publix has pushed north, deep into Kroger country. As new CEO Greg Foran cleans up Kroger’s operations, the company doesn’t need to launch another protracted turf war. But Kroger’s desire to eventually build a presence in Florida one way or another likely won’t go away. To take on the big guns of Walmart, Amazon and Costco, it needs to build scale
Jul 18, 2026 · via grocerydive.com
Fresh off leading the Kitchener Rangers to a Memorial Cup championship, Jussi Ahokas has been hired as the new head coach of the Colorado Eagles, bringing a championship pedigree to the Avalanche's top affiliate. The Colorado Avalanche are bringing a proven winner into the organization. Fresh off leading the Kitchener Rangers to a Memorial Cup championship, Jussi Ahokas has been hired as the next head coach of the Colorado Eagles, the Avalanche announced Thursday. The 45-year-old replaces Mark Letestu, who departed this offseason to join the Vegas Golden Knights as an assistant coach. Ahokas arrives in Colorado after a wildly successful three-year run in Kitchener, where he transformed the Rangers into one of the Ontario Hockey League's premier programs. His teams won at least 40 games in each of his three seasons behind the bench, compiling a 135-52-13-4 record while capturing both the 2025-26 OHL championship and Memorial Cup title. His success earned league-wide recognition. Ahokas received OHL Coach of the Year honors and First All-Star Team recognition in 2024-25 before being named the Second All-Star Team's coaching representative following Kitchener's championship season. The Rangers also became a development powerhouse under Ahokas. Avalanche prospect Christian Humphreys flourished during his two seasons in Kitchener, recording 118 points (38 goals, 80 assists) in 91 games. Sam O'Reilly earned OHL Most Outstanding Player honors last season, while several other Rangers received All-Star and All-Rookie recognition during Ahokas' tenure. "Jussi has done a great job with every team and every league he's been a part of as a head coach, and we're excited to welcome him into the Avalanche and Eagles family," Avalanche assistant general manager and Eagles general manager Kevin McDonald said in a statement. "His track record of winning games in a variety of leagues and international tournaments is impressive, and he'll
Jul 18, 2026 · via thehockeynews.com
Drones, Plate Readers, and AI Facial Recognition: The Surveillance Technology Watching the Bay Area
Airdate: Monday, July 20, 2026 at 9 AM
When San Francisco police drone video surveillance was accidentally livestreamed on the internet last month, it revealed how extensively, and at what great detail, the city is watched from above. The use of surveillance technology is rapidly growing in the Bay Area, with increasing drone and AI-powered surveillance networks partnering with local law enforcement and government agencies. In 2024, the SFPD launched the Real Time Investigation Center, which included major investments in license plate readers, safety cameras and a drone program and Alameda County just approved the renewal of a $2.25 million contract with Flock Safety. It’s all raising concerns about privacy, data leaks, civil liberty infringements and the use of the technology to aid immigration deportations. We’ll discuss the state of surveillance tech in the Bay Area, and what it means for public safety and privacy.
Guests:
- Sheera Frenkel, technology reporter, The New York Times
- Andy Greenberg, senior writer covering security, privacy and hacker culture for WIRED
- Dhruv Mehrotra, investigative data reporter, WIRED
Jul 17, 2026 · via kqed.org
MSG Sharon Denny Boggs receives her PCS plaque from the S6 Officer in Charge (OIC) in recognition of her dedicated service and lasting contributions to the unit.
| Date Taken: | 07.10.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 07.17.2026 12:30 |
| Photo ID: | 9809763 |
| VIRIN: | 260710-A-VQ702-5718 |
| Resolution: | 4464x2976 |
| Size: | 1.96 MB |
| Location: | FORT SILL, US |
| Web Views: | 0 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade PCS Award Ceremony [Image 4 of 4], by SGT Arthur Gonzalez, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
Jul 17, 2026 · via dvidshub.net
In an interview with the lawyer Mark Lanier we referred to an ongoing case against Johnson & Johnson in the high court “with more than 7,000 claimants”. To clarify: there are 2,147 claimants registered with the court, but a total of more than 7,000 potential claimants have come forward. Also, Meta Ray-Bans are equipped with cameras but facial recognition technology is not a feature currently available within the glasses (‘This was a righteous case. A holy war’, 11 July, Saturday magazine, p18). An image of a palaeomastodon in Chris Packham’s new show Evolution was created by CGI, not using AI as we said (‘I can get very romantically excited by a fossil’, 11 July, What’s On, p2). Also, it was the hyrax’s ancestors that survived an asteroid strike, not the mammal itself. Other recently amended articles include: Showdown in the desert: the small town fending off a new California gold rush What Rumi’s magnum opus can teach us about greed and contentment in the digital age of envy Gina Rinehart’s estimated A$700m profit from SpaceX IPO wiped out as stock price dips Editorial complaints and correction requests can be sent to: guardian.readers@theguardian.com. You can also write to: Readers’ editor, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU, or leave a voicemail on +44 (0) 20 3353 4736.
Jul 17, 2026 · via theguardian.com
Bedford River Festival: What to expect over two days - Published Bedford will be filled with many different sights and sounds when its biennial River Festival returns on Saturday and Sunday. More than 300,000 visitors are expected to attend the event that was last held in 2024 and costs about £500,000 to stage. The free-to-attend festival will be held across the town, The Embankment and Russell Park, with events starting from 10:00 BST. Here is a guide on what to expect. What is on offer? The family area is at St Mary's Gardens, which also has a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) space. In Bedford town centre, hundreds of vehicles will be on display at the Festival of Motoring. At 17:00, on both days, a cavalcade of motors will drive through the town. The Sports Island will be next to the Butterfly Bridge, where anyone can try a range of sports including climbing, rugby, gymnastics, golf and squash. Close by at the Water Sports Arena, there will be paddleboarding, canoeing and kayaking. The arena will also host zorbing sessions, water obstacle races and canoe polo matches. An arts and culture area is being created at Mill Meadows, with live events and stalls. On Saturday, dragon boat racing will start from 10:00 and raft racing begins from 14:45 on Sunday. The Martyn Pearson Grand Parade of Cabin Cruisers and Narrow Boats are on both days with the Illuminated Boat Parade at 21:00 on Saturday. The Craft and Gift Marquee will be in Russell Park, and a specialist Festival Market around The Embankment Gardens. The Green Earth Vegan Lounge will be located at Castle Mound and a Wellbeing Tent will make its festival debut. Water music The Harpur Square will host the Music Service Stage. Along The Embankment, the BBC Music
Jul 17, 2026 · via bbc.co.uk
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to pay data broker giant Thomson Reuters $125 million for access to its databases of personal data — which includes peoples’ names, addresses, Social Security numbers, ethnicity, social media posts, and geolocation information — to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigate what it describes as “voters fraud” and immigration fraud, according to procurement documents reviewed by 404 Media. The document says Thomson Reuters is able to let ICE continuously monitor millions of people and entities of interest. The news comes after President Trump held a conspiracy-laden and unhinged press conference about election security on Thursday, setting the stage for potentially undermining the legitimacy of the upcoming midterm elections. It also follows ICE fatally shooting 2 people in a week. “Due to ICE’s re-prioritized mission, there is need for this data to be readily accessible to support the presidential mandate of the identification of Voters Fraud, Immigration Fraud and National Security,” the procurement document reads. “This data specifically validates and verifies school, benefit, immigration and other eligibility requirements.” Thomson Reuters is most well known for running the Reuters news agency, but the company is also a massive data broker and sells access to that data to companies and governments. Its data product, called CLEAR, promises to “Accelerate investigations confidently through a vast collection of public and proprietary records,” according to Thomson Reuters’ website. Thomson Reuters lists some of the data sources that feed into CLEAR, and 404 Media has obtained an internal list. It includes credit header data, which is the personal information someone provides to a financial institution to open a credit card like their address, which goes to the credit bureaus and then transferred to Thomson Reuters. The procurement document also says it includes social media, property records, geolocation information, license
Jul 17, 2026 · via 404media.co
Businesses generate enormous amounts of video, image, audio, and text data, but extracting useful insights from this information can be difficult without advanced tools. Reka Vision is a new agentic AI platform that is uniquely designed to help organisations understand, search, and analyse multimodal data across different formats. The platform combines visual understanding with AI-powered search capabilities to transform raw, unstructured information into meaningful insights and actionable outcomes. By analysing content from videos, images, audio, and text, Reka Vision helps teams uncover patterns, improve decision-making, and gain deeper visibility into their data. Designed for data-rich environments, the platform supports organisations looking to make better use of their growing digital information. Reka Vision provides a smarter way to interact with complex datasets by turning scattered content into an intelligent, searchable resource. Image Credit: Reka Vision What's Driving This Trend - Multimodal Data Search - Unified search across video, image, audio, and text creates new value by making fragmented enterprise content instantly discoverable and comparable. - Agentic Visual Analytics - AI systems that interpret visual information autonomously expand analytics beyond dashboards into richer pattern recognition across complex media libraries. - Unstructured Data Intelligence - The conversion of raw digital assets into organized insights introduces new possibilities for faster decision-making in data-heavy organizations. Who This Affects Most - Enterprise Software - Business platforms gain differentiation by embedding multimodal intelligence that turns internal knowledge stores into searchable operational resources. - Media and Entertainment - Large-scale content archives become more commercially useful when AI can classify, retrieve, and analyze visual and audio material at speed. - Security and Surveillance - Visual intelligence tools reshape monitoring environments by surfacing patterns and anomalies from vast volumes of video and sensor-based data.
Jul 17, 2026 · via trendhunter.com
German lawmakers approve live facial recognition use by federal police Germany’s Federal Police appear on track to get new powers in a broad update of their governing rules, including a legal basis to use live facial recognition in public in certain emergency situations. The changes were approved by the Bundestag, but without the necessary numbers to constitute a final decision, as some lawmakers had already left the proceedings when the vote was held. Once the majority is confirmed, following the summer recess at the earliest, the new rules will go before the Federal Council for final approval. “Live” or “real-time” facial recognition is prohibited in public spaces under the European Union’s AI Act except in specific circumstances, like time-sensitive investigations of kidnappings or terrorism. The legislation establishes rules for German Federal Police to use LFR in cases where there is urgent danger to the state or an individual. It also provides legal backing for police use of video analysis for automated threat detection, along with digital surveillance tools, expanded collection of digital data and the use of both drones and anti-drone technology. The Bundestag passed the Federal Police Act in a simple standing vote, rather than an exact count. The Act updates a set of regulations put in place in 1994 for the country’s 55,000 federal police officers. German investigative journalist outlet Corrective, however, claims that video clearly shows the necessary 316 representatives necessary to establish a majority were not even present in the Bundestag when the vote was held. The combined votes of the CDU/CSU and the SPD would be sufficient to reach a majority, so a repeat vote, which an official notice from the Bundestag mentions as a possibility, is likely to produce the same result. In the meantime, none of the opposition parties has objected to the
Jul 17, 2026 · via biometricupdate.com
SSG Yessenia Leahy receives her PCS Award from HHB Commander 1st Lt. Conner Elbin in recognition of her outstanding service and dedication to the unit.
| Date Taken: | 07.10.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 07.17.2026 12:30 |
| Photo ID: | 9809740 |
| VIRIN: | 260710-A-VQ702-9742 |
| Resolution: | 4464x2976 |
| Size: | 2.04 MB |
| Location: | FORT SILL, US |
| Web Views: | 1 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade PCS Award Ceremony [Image 4 of 4], by SGT Arthur Gonzalez, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
Jul 17, 2026 · via dvidshub.net
Dropping from 54GB to 4GB, Apple is in talks with PrismML. Is model compression technology about to boom? What? Large language models are finally getting "weight loss shots" too? This isn't just made up. According to CNBC reports, Apple is in talks with the startup PrismML, a company renowned for its recently launched model compression technology. Apple aims to evaluate the feasibility of running larger-scale AI models directly on iPhones using this technology. (Image Source: CNBC) You know, over the years, whenever the AI segment comes up at smartphone launch events, I usually instinctively reach for my water bottle. It's not that I have any grudge against manufacturers. It's just that everyone is far too familiar with this routine. First, let the AI summarize various elements on the screen, then use image editing tools for personalized color grading or erase passersby from photos. This year, a new feature has been widely added: calling a voice assistant to order you a coffee. But we can't blame smartphone manufacturers entirely. Current mainstream large models simply can't fit into mobile phones, and the trimmed-down on-device models lack sufficient intelligence. In the end, all manufacturers can promote are cloud-updated features. For example, once Doubao launched an AI podcast function, almost all mainstream manufacturers followed suit within three months. Here's the question: if a full large model is slimmed down enough to fit on a phone, can on-device AI assistants finally become fully functional? From 54GB to 4GB: Is model compression technology about to go mainstream? First, let's explore these two questions together with Leitech (ID: leitech): Who is PrismML? According to its official website, PrismML is a startup specializing in model compression. It spun off from a California Institute of Technology research team and is backed by Khosla Ventures, Cerberus, and Google. Its research
Jul 17, 2026 · via eu.36kr.com
HID Launches Facial Biometrics for North American Markets New biometric readers bring seamless facial recognition security to small and medium-sized businesses. - By Jesse Jacobs - Jul 17, 2026 Facial recognition technology is becoming more widely available for everyday office security. HID announced the North American release of its Amico biometric facial recognition readers. The launch aims to make hands-free biometric access accessible for a broader range of organizations, including small and medium-sized businesses. While facial biometrics were historically reserved for high-security government facilities and critical infrastructure, recent advancements in artificial intelligence and edge processing have reduced both deployment costs and complexity. The technology reduces security risks associated with lost physical credentials or forgotten passwords. The new readers are designed for physical access control at entry doors and are available in 3.5-inch and 7-inch touchscreen models. The devices support five separate authentication methods, including facial recognition, physical cards, PINs, QR codes and mobile access credentials. This allows organizations to transition to biometrics gradually without replacing existing security badges. The system is designed for high-traffic environments such as offices, healthcare facilities, educational campuses and commercial buildings to speed up entry times. The architecture includes data privacy options, such as template-on-card technology. This feature stores an individual's biometric data directly on their personal physical credential rather than inside a centralized database. The larger 7-inch model also supports on-screen user interactions, including visitor guidance and organizational messaging, allowing the hardware to function as an interactive building touchpoint. The readers are now available throughout North America through authorized company partners.
Jul 17, 2026 · via securitytoday.com
If you've paid attention to policing over the last decade, you've probably noticed that local police departments have quietly transformed into something that looks much closer to a miniature NSA than the neighborhood departments most Americans imagine. As surveillance technologies become cheaper and easier to deploy, police departments continue purchasing them while local legislatures, state legislatures, and Congress struggle to keep pace. At the same time, private companies have built billion-dollar businesses around convincing governments that more surveillance automatically means more public safety. Flock Safety is one of the clearest examples of this trend. The company has rapidly expanded across the country by selling automated license plate reader systems to local governments, backed by investors who see surveillance technology as an enormous growth industry. As these systems continue to spread into cities and counties, it's easy to look at where things are headed and conclude that the surveillance state is simply inevitable. I understand why people feel that way. But accepting that conclusion guarantees the very outcome we fear. If we decide these technologies can't be stopped, then we stop trying to stop them. Fortunately, the last year in Wisconsin has demonstrated that organized communities can still influence surveillance policy. Wave of Surveillance Tech Local law enforcement has access to technologies that allow them to collect extraordinary amounts of information about ordinary people, often with very little public awareness. Unlike federal intelligence agencies, however, these technologies aren't operating somewhere far away in Washington. They're sitting in our own cities and counties. Many departments now use cell site simulators, often called Stingrays, that impersonate cell towers and force every nearby phone to connect, whether or not the owner is suspected of a crime. Others purchase software that scrapes social media accounts for enormous amounts of personal information. Many have access to
Jul 17, 2026 · via aclu-wi.org
Abstract The prediction and recognition of unstable human walking patterns are of high importance for active video surveillance, smart environments, and assistive healthcare, particularly for fall detection in the elderly. This research investigates the utility of Gait Energy Images (GEIs) combined with deep learning, vision transformers, and few-shot learning architectures to enhance the classification of stable and unstable pedestrian walking patterns. We evaluate and compare twelve methodologies: six classical or feature-based machine learning models (Linear SVM, HOG + SVM, LBP + RBF-SVM, Random Forest, XGBoost, and an adapted GaitSet baseline), three deep learning models (MobileNet, Vision Transformer (ViT), and YOLOv8-cls), and three episodic few-shot learning techniques (Prototypical, Matching, and Relation Networks) under data-scarcity regimes. To facilitate this evaluation, we introduce the Unstable and Stable Walking Pedestrian (USWP) dataset, constructed by fusing and harmonizing sequences from seven public action recognition databases, containing 3250 unique GEIs with a subject-independent evaluation protocol to prevent identity-based domain leakage. Our experiments demonstrate that the YOLOv8-cls model achieves an overall accuracy of 96.92% (97.14% on Loss-of-Balance anomalies and 94.67% on Active Motion anomalies), significantly outperforming the conventional Linear SVM baseline (75.38%) and MobileNet (91.08%). Conversely, Relation Networks exhibit lower few-shot performance (71.08%) due to optimization complexities in learning similarity metrics from sparse data. Leave-One-Dataset-Out (LODO) cross-validation reveals an average generalization accuracy of 83.28%, indicating significant domain bias across source databases and underscoring that within-dataset evaluations overestimate real-world generalization. Computational complexity analysis shows that MobileNet provides an optimal trade-off for real-time edge deployment (4.2 ms latency), while preprocessing ablation studies demonstrate that integrating the Segment Anything Model (SAM) with MediaPipe-derived Regions of Interest (ROIs) yields a 12.50% absolute improvement in accuracy by eliminating background noise. Similar content being viewed by others Introduction With the rapid advancements in the field of computer vision, pedestrian action recognition has emerged
Jul 17, 2026 · via nature.com
Our teen daughter is a deeply sensitive, perceptive kid who longs for close friendship but often feels sidelined; she reads slights quickly, ruminates and compares herself harshly. Her 16th birthday was heartbreaking: the in-person warmth and social-media love she expected didn’t materialise, and she’s crushed. We try to parent with empathy and backbone, validating her feelings while nudging her towards agency: widening her circles, getting busier and repairing frayed ties without begging for approval. But how do we wisely accompany a teenager whose self-worth is repeatedly tested by imperfect peers (in her mind at least) and the distortions of online recognition? What practices, language and boundaries help a highly sensitive adolescent convert disappointment into dignity and build friendships rooted in mutual regard rather than constant self-surveillance? Eleanor says: I hate to think of how many other sensitive, clever kids have shared your daughter’s experience. You put it well; your own worth gets tested because peers don’t respond the way you’d like. It can set off a chain reaction: you wonder whether it’s them who sucks or you. This makes friendships feel unstable because either you haven’t got many or you get them by approval-seeking – as if you have to whittle off bits of yourself. And that whole package can push you online, because when you don’t get real recognition for who you are and how you’d like to be valued, you’ll accept simulacra. You want to be seen but you’ll settle for views. You want to be liked but you’ll settle for likes. One reassurance: time might help. The more unusual you are, the more unusual it is to find people like you, necessarily. School isn’t a good reflection of how well that will go, because your company at school is just a fistful from the same geographic or
Jul 17, 2026 · via theguardian.com
Video analytics continues to transform, improve and deliver. What started as motion- and rule-based scrubbing and filtering has evolved into sophisticated, artificial intelligence-driven platforms capable of understanding, interpreting and predicting events in real time for both professional monitoring centers and end users. Today, AI-powered video analytics has redefined the industry by improving security, operational efficiency, customer experiences and decision-making processes. The shift from traditional video analytics to AI systems represents more than a technological upgrade; it marks a complete transformation in how professionals and end users leverage visual data. The Evolution of Video Analytics Initially, traditional video analytics systems were designed primarily for surveillance and monitoring. These systems depended on predefined rules, motion detection and basic pattern recognition to identify specific events. While useful, they often generated false or irrelevant alerts and alarms and required significant human oversight. For example, simple environmental changes or people who are known and authorized would trigger alerts, reduce system reliability and create user fatigue. Human operators still needed to analyze video manually. AI has dramatically changed this landscape. Modern AI-powered video analytics systems analyze video streams intelligently. Instead of merely detecting motion and patterns, these systems can identify specific wireless devices and their owners, recognize faces, classify behaviors, track movement patterns and interpret complex scenarios with a high degree of accuracy. AI enables systems to learn continuously from data, improving performance over time and reducing false positives. One of the most significant advancements in AI video analytics is device recognition. AI models can not only distinguish between people, vehicles, animals and other objects within a scene. With certain device-recognition systems, individuals can be identified by the wireless devices they possess, including cellular telephones, tablets and Bluetooth devices. New Capabilities Every Day Capabilities delivered by platforms including Home Aware by Ubiety Technologies allow organizations to
Jul 17, 2026 · via securitysales.com
Hey there! 👋 This is **Part 2** of our enorasisCore Hackster series. In Part 1 you trained a model in the browser and shipped it to an Android app with MIT App Inventor:Here we keep the same training workflow — but the output goes to a **$5 ESP32 board** instead of a phone screen. Hold colored paper to your webcam → the browser recognizes the color → the ESP32 onboard LED lights up wirelessly. No cloud, no Python, no app store. Just paper, a board, and Bluetooth. **Who is this for?**• Teachers who want a **desk-sized STEM demo** (science fair, open day, first AI lesson)• Students who already tried Part 1 — or anyone starting fresh with hardware• Makers who like instant feedback: change a class name, retrain, LED follows **Why this project is worth 45 minutes:**• ✅ Same no-code Train UI as Part 1 — no second platform to learn• ✅ Visible result: everyone in the room sees the LED change• ✅ Educator flashes firmware once; students only use the browser• ✅ Real BLE — the same wireless idea as professional IoT, on a beginner budget Step 1: Flash the ESP32 (educator — one time)Students never open Arduino IDE. Flash the board before class — at home or the night before. Get the firmwareDownload the.ino from here Download Arduino ESP32 Boards ( board manager ) : Find the Port Right-click the Start button, select Device Manager, and expand the Ports (COM & LPT) NOW Select Board and Port : ———————————————————————————————————— Board settingsThese two settings trip people up — double-check before Upload: · Board: Waveshare ESP32-C3 Zero · USB CDC On Boot: Enabled After upload, press reset. The onboard LED should cycle red → blue → green → off. That self-test means the board is ready. ———————————————————————————————————— Class names in
Jul 17, 2026 · via hackster.io
It seemed like Immich came out of nowhere, but suddenly all my colleagues appear to be using it. I'm not as into self-hosting as some of them, so perhaps that's why I'm surprised, but the more I look into it, the more obvious it seems that this photo management solution is turning into a sleeper hit. The question is: why? At first glance Immich doesn't seem to be all that, but there's a reason (or five) people are dropping their cloud subscriptions in favor of managing their own digital photo collections. It actually feels like Google Photos Imitation, flattery, and all that jazz I did a roundup of the services we've left for open-source alternatives not too long ago, and Immich was high on the list not only because of how polished it is, but how boldly it emulates the look, feel, and operation of Google Photos. Now, Google Photos is probably the most widely used photo management app in the world, given that its on virtually every Android device, so it makes sense to make the transition as easy as possible. It also helps that Google Photos is well-designed and easy to use, and that's always worth copying. Immich is basically a Trojan horse helping you slip into self-hosting without feeling like you're giving up polished, commercial software. In other words, and I mean this in the kindest way, it doesn't feel like typical open-source software. It solves the hardest problem: automatic phone backups Trust is what matters most While I personally love the AI search aspect of Google Photos, and it helps me find the right images in the tens of thousands of photos I've taken since the service launched, that's never been the main value proposition. It's that any photos I take with my phone get automatically
Jul 16, 2026 · via howtogeek.com