Author: Jeff Willoughby

Autonomous Mass transit hitting the streets of Columbus, Ohio

On By Jeff WilloughbyIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Columbus Ohio is getting a boost to their public transportation sector with the latest in U.S. funded autonomous technology testing. This week Columbus will become the first United States city to have a completely autonomous public transportation shuttle. These smart buses will travel on three mile rout that starts at the linden transit center, goes through the cities largest public housing development, and eventually stops at St. Stephens community house which services around 22,000 residents annually.

Stemming from the Smart Cities Challenge, a program implemented by the Obama administration aiming to encourage cities to step up and develop more advanced transportation modes, Columbus was able to beat out six other finalist cities to become the winner of a 40 million dollar federal grant, “Smart Columbus” was born.

Columbus is a fast growing city and with the rapid growth to its population transportation systems will begin to stress under the increased workload. The implementation of the new transit system will work towards connecting neighborhoods and making sure none are left behind. For example the south linden neighborhood has an above average infant mortality rate, the city hopes that this new transit technology will improve access for pregnant women to the St. Stephens clinic and its food pantry. Smart Columbus plans to have over 300 pregnant enrolled at the start of the program.

Article: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-05/self-driving-mass-transit-arrives-on-american-streets

Image: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-05/self-driving-mass-transit-arrives-on-american-streets

Sports Betting is Big Business

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Last week a major business deal took place between Barstool Sports, one of newest most recognizable sports media outlets in the country, and Penn National Gaming Inc. Barstool sports founder Dave Portnoy started the company back in 2003 as a gambling news periodical that grew to what it is today, a multifaceted multimillion dollar company. Since the roots of barstool are seeded in gambling the merger doesn’t only make sense from a companies standpoint it also adds a poetic punctuation mark to a past filled with barstool sports doubters.

Penn National reported that the deal was for a 36% stake in Barstool and in exchange Barstool got a massive check cut their way. Barstool sports received 135 million in cash and 28 million in nonvoting convertible preferred Penn National stock. Penn National also gets exclusive rights to use the Barstool brand in its gaming venues and products. After it was all said and done Barstool Sports value soared to 450 million dollars.

More than 17 billion dollars has been wagered since the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of legalized sports gambling netting 1.2 billion in revenue for sports books. When asked about the two companies business together Penn National Chief Executive Jay Snowden said that their companies brick and mortar casino’s older demographic will complement Barstools younger following. The name of the game for these gambling companies is retaining customers and by adding Barstool Sports loyal fan base to Penn National gaming a steady stream of gamblers will always be at their fingertips.

image: https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-barstool-sports-culture-of-online-hate-they-treat-sexual-harassment-and-cyberbullying-as-a-game

Article: https://www.wsj.com/articles/penn-national-gaming-to-buy-minority-stake-in-barstool-sports-11580274060

The 5G Boogaloo

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Industry is pushing the “race” to produce 5g. It seems as though 5g will be the next big thing in quest for global communication dominance but what is underlying conflict that makes the race to have 5g so important? Truth of the matter is that the race for 5g is not existent and only serves as buzz word for mainstream telecommunications giants like Verizon and Comcast to pander to lawmakers throughout the country. 

The race for 5g is nothing more than a bargaining chip these communications giants wield in order to produce company gains.  The company’s that can show the “best” 5g service maps are the one that win the race for government tax breaks, incentives, and subsidies. The companies will win but the consumers will lose. The United States technically won the battle for 4g but we don’t talk about that anymore. However, what we are left with after that grueling 4g race with china to see who will have the first nationwide coverage was higher monthly internet/phone bills, coverage that seems to lack the speed that was promised, and stellar customer service. Don’t get me wrong with the emergence of 5g coverage internet speeds will increase but so will the costs, and the ability to piggy back on the consumer will be easier due to the FCC’s decision to give up on consumer protection.

The race rhetoric only serves the interests of the conglomerates that created it. In a country that can’t afford to subsides school lunches to public schools, or has to cut spending on important infrastructure to keep its people safe, it only seems right to throw a couple billion towards the Verizon’s and Comcast’s of the world to insure that the country gets that fast 5g internet that it craves. What we’ll also get is more lack luster customer experience, price hikes, and potentially some new health problems from all the new high frequency 5g towers.

Article: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20200116/08134343743/race-to-5g-is-giant-pile-lobbyist-nonsense.shtml

Image: https://thegarnetmine.com/12493/uncategorized/are-the-new-5g-towers-a-new-concern/

Advertising Online Sports Betting

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Advertising for online gambling has never been more popular, it seems that every platform from podcasts to television is promoting it but is all this promotion necessary and the better question safe?

Its never been easier to lose your money now a days with Identity theft and cyber security breaches but people seem to have found another way to lose their life savings in a flash with fast action online sports betting. If you haven’t heard sports betting became legal in Pennsylvania in summer 2019, and business is booming for the states casinos and online bookmakers like fanduel and mybookie. Adverts and show hosts boasting about having the best picks guaranteed to make you money coupled with promotions offering you up to $500 dollars of free gambling credit aim to create action in the public. All this promotion is creating more degenerate gamblers.

People seeking help for gambling addiction has more than doubled since 2018 when online gambling became legal in New Jersey. Last year The Council for Compulsive Gambling of New jersey spent roughly a third of their 2 million dollar annual budget on ads to promote their online gambling hotline, which seems to be a step in the right direction. However when compared to the amount of money spent advertising online gambling that number is laughable. According to OnlinePokerRepot.com a typical gambling operator spends roughly 24 percent of their total revenue on advertisements, for New Jersey alone 24 percent of their total revenue is hovering around 80 million dollars.  The adverts seem to only promote gambling with a small aside at the end to mention to gamble responsibly. The future for the house seems bright.

https://nypost.com/2019/12/08/nj-addiction-experts-warn-ny-on-dangers-of-online-sports-betting/

image: https://www.inquirer.com/philly/business/pa-legal-sports-bookmakers-taxes-new-jersey-casinos-20180716.html