Providence Technology Group

Sacramento Regional Transit District’s (SacRT) light rail network claims it is the first in California to accept open-loop contactless payments. The roll-out, in collaboration with CalSTA’s and Caltrans’ California Integrated Travel Project (Cal-ITP), began on the Green Line in late June and has been extended across all light rail trains. For this demonstration, transit-focused payment service provider Littlepay is handling payment processing at the heart of an end-to-end solution. Keep reading this article at smartcitiesworld.net

San Francisco startup Zippin, which develops technology powering checkout-free retail stores in the style of Amazon Go, has tripled its funding with a new $30 million round to scale its platform across “tens of thousands of stores” by 2025. The Series B trough — courtesy of new and existing investors OurCrowd, Maven Venture, Evolv Ventures and SAP — brings its total backing to more than $45 million. The company said the new money will fund further development of maintenance functions and time-to-deployment. Zippin’s technology facilitates entry and purchases for customers via a smartphone app and utilizes overhead cameras and shelf sensors to monitor goods… Keep reading this article at bizjournals.com.  

Smoke from several large wildfires burning in Northern California can be seen traveling miles into the atmosphere. As of Aug. 24, wildfires in Northern California—including the McCash, Antelope, River Complex, Monument, and Dixie fires—have scorched more than 1 million acres of land. The Dixie Fire, the state’s second largest in history, accounts for 731,310 acres. Keep reading this article at phys.org.

It’s safe to say that esports — multiplayer video games played for live or online spectators — and the general concept of watching people play games online have exploded in popularity in recent years. Twitch, a live-streaming platform for gaming, measured more than 9 million active streamers as of April 2021. YouTube channels for popular gamers draw tens of millions of views. Flagship publications within the gaming world have suggested that professional esports players are athletes. Even the Sacramento Kings have gotten in on the burgeoning trend with an esports facility inside Golden 1 Center and their team, Kings Guard Gaming, which plays NBA 2K in a virtual league. Keep reading this article at comstockmag.com  

As Humboldt State University gears up to welcome the first wave of students back  on Saturday, the campus released its “near-final draft” of a self-study conducted as part of the process for becoming California’s third polytechnic campus, a final version of which is slated to go before the California State University Board of Trustees for consideration in January. With the designation, HSU forecasts a rapid increase in enrollment over the next few years, growing from this fall’s student class of about 5,500 to nearly 11,000 students by 2028. And it would bring a name change, with the current recommendation being California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt — or Cal Poly Humboldt, for short. Keep reading this article at northcoastjournal.com.

California’s new stricter data privacy law takes effect January 1, 2023 but companies must be ready to provide a personal data report for the prior 12 months to any California resident — it’s one of several provisions in the new law that are not well understood but could result in massive fines. If you’re like most people, you’re probably using Google Chrome as your default browser. It’s hard to fault Google’s record on security and patching but privacy is another matter for the online ad giant. The upcoming California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) is considered a pioneer in data privacy and it strengthens the current California Consumer Privacy Act with stricter rules. Enforcement is also beefed up with the creation of the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) plus the...[Read More]

Companies like to talk about their journey in raising money and growing over time, and one waypost for such journeys is to reach the ringing bells of a stock-market debut. PowerSchool Holdings, Inc. heard those bells today, as the company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange—though the initial price ended up on the low end of expectations. It looks like the company, which offers student information systems for schools, will raise about $711 million, with shares priced at $18 each (some thought the price could be as much as $20). Much of that money will apparently go toward paying off debt and covering fees related to going public, though officials say they are also putting $1 million in a donation to “philanthropic initiatives to benefit K-12 educators.” Keep reading this article a...[Read More]

Today, the Sacramento Kings announced the franchise’s first-ever digitally designed Non-Fungible Token (NFT) depicting the 1985 commemorative pin given out in the inaugural season of the Kings in Sacramento and an industry first combination of the digital nature of NFT’s, ownership, and representation in the real world. “This NFT blends the digital and real world, signifying an iconic and memorable moment in our franchise’s history,” said Sacramento Kings Owner and Chairman Vivek Ranadivé. “This digital representation of our past connects to our proud future and provides the ultimate fan an extraordinary opportunity to unlock unique features and leave a mark on Golden 1 Center.” Keep reading this article at nba.com.

Planetary scientists estimate that each year, about 500 meteorites survive the fiery trip through Earth’s atmosphere and fall to our planet’s surface. Most are quite small, and less than 2% of them are ever recovered. While the majority of rocks from space may not be recoverable due to ending up in oceans or remote, inaccessible areas, other meteorite falls are just not witnessed or known about. But new technology has upped the number known falls in recent years. Doppler radar has detected meteorite falls, as well as all-sky camera networks specifically on the lookout for meteors. Additionally, increased use of dashcams and security cameras have allowed for more serendipitous sightings and data on fireballs and potential meteorite falls. Keep reading this article at phys.org

Shaping the future of clean mobility California continues to be a global leader in innovation for zero emission vehicles. What does this mean for the future of the state as it relates to clean mobility? Greater Sacramento, the state capital, is paving the way: creating assets, policies and initiatives to advance the green economy and technology. Since 2018, the Greater Sacramento Economic Council (GSEC), Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), City of Sacramento, Sacramento County, California Air Quality Management District (CARB), Sacramento State, UC Davis, Terzo Power Systems, SACOG, Los Rios Community Colleges in partnership with PEM Motion out of Germany worked on building a world-class facility called the California Mobility Center (CMC) to help electric vehicle companies comme...[Read More]

After more than a year of restrictions, quarantine, and social distancing, Sacramento County is ready to get back to normal. The county, one of the largest in California, reopened along with the rest of the Golden State in June. Now, they plan to let the lessons of the pandemic guide them as they help businesses get back on their feet, prepare schools for in-person learning in the fall, and bring back some sense of normalcy. But how did Sacramento County get here? And what did they learn? Keep reading this article at the Greater Sacramento Council

LineVision, Inc., the world’s only provider of non-contact overhead line monitoring solutions announced today that its unique LiDAR-powered V3 monitoring system will be installed across power lines in the greater Sacramento region for the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD). The pilot project will focus primarily on power lines originating from the Upper American River Project hydropower stations in the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Lake Tahoe, which generates nearly 700MW of clean energy and accounts for nearly 20% of SMUD’s customer demand in an average water year. The pilot project will monitor transmission assets to identify if additional capacity is available during certain times of the year and will allow SMUD to proactively alleviate renewable energy bottle necks...[Read More]