SMART CITY FANATIC

The very fact that we have a day to monitor and promote wellbeing? Is something to celebrate! Here are some gratuitous tips to add to the in tray of advice you may hear today.  1: Mental HEALTH.   Note. Not mental 'illness'. That positive reclaiming of language? Is itself, a step forward. You need not be 'ill' to stay 'well'. IE: taking good care of your wellbeing,. psychological mood etc. All good.  Proactive. Pre-emptive protection of YOUR mind/soul and its physical and professional crossovers. Those are no longer privileges but essential RIGHTS. USE THEM! 2: Recognise the signs.   Depression vs melancholia? Both can be deadly and destructive. In any event, try and nip negativity in the bud. We all have bad days, momentary sighs of despair and sadness. But if those become pervasive and core to your outlook? And your energy feels drained? GET HELP.  A Doctor may prescribe something, yes. There is no stigma to saying yes. Equally? No problem asking to reduce/mov...

We have been paying attention to Women in industries. You should, too. So, this week: let me introduce ANNABEL SCHOFIELD.  Ms Schofield kindly sat down and agreed to collaborate on, amidst her busy schedule.  You are about to read about Annabel's inspirational journey: past, present and future. Beautiful, all of it!  Here. We. GO!.. 1: Plug your latest project(s). What are you up to and when can we see/hear about it etc?  I am in the pre-pre production stages of my first feature film as producer. It’s a script called Schwinn Varsity and I’ve been working on it since 2017. It’s a coming of age, road-trip comedy which will shoot early next year in Los Angeles. Hopefully will be completely finished by autumn 2023.  Set in the summer of 1977, this not-quite coming-of-age comedy centers on two 14-year-old boys who undertake an epic, two-day bicycle trek across suburban St. Louis, finding adventure and peril along the way. Their goal? A legendary motherlode of adult ...

  FLOOD EXPO 2022 AND THE CONNECTION TO NEW MAPPING PLATFORM TECH (and yes, dammit: time to admit, this was and indeed, IS an Urban Hawk backed Blog!). #notanadvert ;) There are countless contexts in which the #POLARONWORLDENGINE can and will be applied by URBAN HAWK . Each area will be, gradually and carefully, unveiled and explored. Self contained and yet connected, logically.  Gamified, professionally relevant, insurance savvy, commercially aware!  AI/VR/AR friendly, accessible, up to the minute, state of the art visual mapping.  All launched in partnership with specific platforms, across sectors. Now, we cannot give away ALL our secrets. That would spoil the surprise, box us in and be bad business. What we CAN reveal, however, is that the pilot programme is imminent, starting OCTOBER, 2022. #POLARONISCOMING!  This will be a mainly B2B effort, at first. The B2C dimension will grow both organically and fairly quickly, from that sure footing. Influencer drives,...

 Satellites are CHANGING. At a speedy, stunning rate. Their formation, shape, deployment, ownership. With that, inevitably, come new applications, too. Each of which has an innate utility, a benefit, an environmental and socio-economic progress attached. Can it save the world? No. Sorry. That's on YOU. And how you USE the tools!  But even so, IF we do continue to advance this (and 'we' as a world can and will)? Then it might just be good news that comes from said satellites and not some end of the world disaster, so much as a news story about SAVING things? Case in point: RAIN FORESTS!  Swarm satellites are used by the Texas-based Rainforest Connection to monitor illicit logging and poaching in more than 32 nations.  'Guardians' are solar-powered acoustic sensors that sit high in the treetops and appear to be part of the tree from the ground up. The sensors send a signal to one of Swarm's satellites overhead if they detect the sound of illegal activity up to 1...

There is a problem: environmental and economic concerns continue to clash. If unabated, a crisis looms. And insurance is the first battle ground, it seems? Via litigious possibilities.  Corporate insurance rates are rising due to legal actions related to climate change. In response to the alleged inability of Shell's management and non-executive directors to present a strategy to reduce emissions swiftly, ClientEarth is considering legal action against them.  Environmental difficulties are "a new and substantial issue," according to David Powell, head of technical underwriting at the Lloyd's Market Association, and are "very much on the agenda of D&O underwriters. "Insurers are enquiring more about their clients' climate policies and talking about "enhancements" to those policies.  The Bank of England issued a warning in May that specialised D&O insurance were particularly vulnerable to lawsuits relating to climate change.  According t...

The photos produced by DALL-E 2, which was released just last year, are four times as detailed as those produced by the original DALL-E. It makes sense given that, just five years ago, AlphaGo, a deep learning model created by Google's DeepMind, was the greatest story in the A.I. world. Nice gimmick! Just not the advancement most people care about, right? . Bigger picture here: Observe what happens with text produced by artificial intelligence.  Screenplays, communications, and game development can all be done by large language models like OpenAI's GPT-3. Medicine: MILLIONS of proteins, now MAPPED!  Over a million individuals have joined up for GitHub's Co-pilot, which enables programmers to work more quickly by completing code snippets automatically. AI is also writing code. In short? Growth is accelerating. Applied to EVERY sector! Use AI as a buddy to stay ahead of the game! To see other super applications of new tech: Sustainability Roadmap And:  City Maps Or:  ...

It's time for transport to become truly smart, mobile and connected. Thankfully, the UK Parliament agrees! On September 9, 2020, the UK government released a response to the Smart Data Review from the previous year. "Smart Data's next moves. Open Banking, which predated it by about a decade, was mentioned as an example of how to "put consumers and SMEs in charge of their data and enable innovation." The primary motivator being legislation to support and assist in its adoption. Transport is mentioned specifically in relation to "legislating to require participation." The authors make it very clear that they want to "mandate corporate involvement in Smart Data programmes across the economy" through law. Data within various accounts of any method of transportation can be linked using "bottom-up" ways to open and smart transport data. However, a "top-down" mandate requiring participation from the entire industry speeds up adopt...

  Jillian Bullock : Inspirational Influencer!  Definitely a name to watch. Jillian kindly sat down with us and answered some questions. A real pleasure.    1: Tell us about your latest projects: I recently launched my health, fitness and wellness Youtube channel called Mind, Body, Spirit Connection where I give people advice, tips, and information on how they can get in the best physical, mental, spiritual, and sexual condition in their lives regardless of their age.   I am also in development on a new film I wrote and will produce and direct. It’s called Rebirth and involves boxing.     2: What turns a victim into a victor? It’s all about mindset. Learning how to build resilience. Channeling positive energy by being around positive, productive people. Reading books and watching videos on success, victorhood, happiness, health, and wellness. Letting go of excuses. Not having a pity party every chance you get. Having gratitude for what...

 Aesthetics count. Be your Best Self. Take CHARGE of your appearance, as YOU want it. In the age of tech and business development, there is no barrier to defying age and honing body, face, mind and soul.  And in that spirit? We turned to one of our favourite, upcoming, influencer names.  Cheryl Cavanaugh kindly gave us some time to sit down and talk about the things that matter. Here we go! 1: How did you become an influencer? I didn’t choose the Influencer life, the influencer life chose me!  I have always had a passion for makeup.  My Mom was a cosmetologist.  While scrolling on Instagram one day I came across a line of cream makeup that looked very interesting.   Being 55 with changing skin, I was intrigued.  I bought a few of the makeup items and immediately fell in love.  I wanted the whole line, but I didn’t want to pay full price…so I inquired about becoming an artist for the makeup.   I found out there were no minimums for sal...