Connecticut State Police implements new immersive training tool
The MILO Range Solution and Simulator puts the user into a first-person point of view requiring split-second decision making.
21 trooper trainees graduate Connecticut State Police academy
'It listens to your commands, along with the instructor that's also listening to your commands,' Trooper First Class Pedro Muñiz said. 'How you speak, and what you say, if you react or don't react to a certain situation, it shows you a little glimpse of what could possibly happen in reality.'
This technology teaches recruits how to communicate under pressure to de-escalate a situation. According to the MILO website, MILO police training simulator scenarios are designed to accomplish several training tasks, fostering better, faster, safer tactical, operational, procedural and ethical decisions.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Boston Globe
27-06-2025
- Boston Globe
Crypto industry moves into the US housing market
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Advertisement But from homebuyers and crypto enthusiasts, there is growing demand. In a recent survey, roughly 14 percent of homebuyers said they planned to sell crypto assets to help get the cash to cover a down payment on a home, up from 5 percent in 2019, according to Redfin, the residential real estate brokerage company. In 2017, David Doss sold some of his crypto holdings to raise cash for the down payment on a home in New Jersey. He said he would have preferred that there had been a way to keep his crypto while getting the cash equivalent but that option didn't exist when he bought his house. 'The intersection of crypto and real estate is evolving pretty darn quickly,' said Doss, who advises wealthy investors on crypto investing. 'It's a meeting of the oldest asset class with one of the newest.' Pulte's order might have allowed Doss to keep some of his crypto holdings. 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Prahl, 35, who has been investing in bitcoin since 2016, said he was interested in tapping the equity in both his home and in several apartment buildings he owned to buy more of the crypto currency. Prahl has been talking to a company called Sovana, which was founded by a former Google executive, about using some of his real estate holdings as collateral to buy more bitcoin. Sovana would buy bitcoin, using a formula based on the equity in a person's properties, and then put the crypto currency into a secure account. At the end of the deal, the person and the company would share the profits. Advertisement If bitcoin drops in value, the property owner must make up the deficiency. 'It's an alternative way to tap into that commercial equity that doesn't affect the business,' Prahl said. 'And not having to make any payment is a real killer feature.' Although the details of the FHFA's policy shift are scare, on its face it signals a shift in how the Trump administration is overseeing Fannie and Freddie. Under past administrations, the two firms have tended to be risk averse after nearly collapsing during the financial crisis when millions of homeowners defaulted on their mortgages. In a post on X about the new policy, Pulte said he made the decision for Fannie and Freddie to count crypto among homebuyers' assets after 'significant studying.' He added that it was in 'keeping with President Trump's vision to make the United States the crypto capital of the world.' This article originally appeared in .
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Yahoo
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) May Soon Count Toward U.S. Home Loans as FHFA Eyes Crypto Amid Housing Crisis
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) may be inching toward mainstream mortgage finance after U.S. housing regulator Bill Pulte said the Federal Housing Finance Agency will examine how cryptocurrency holdings could factor into mortgage eligibility; the move comes as the U.S. housing market struggles with slumping loan originations and high interest rates. Pulte's June 23 post on X signaled openness to integrating digital assets into the mortgage system; he argued that rethinking collateral requirements could help unlock homeownership, particularly as traditional credit metrics exclude millions of crypto-holding Americans. Mortgage originations plummeted to near-record lows in 2024 and remain weak in 2025; supply constraints, elevated rates, and investor buying have pushed homeownership out of reach for many. Crypto-backed loansoffered by boutique lenders like Milo and Strikehave remained niche, often focused on second homes or investment properties. A broader endorsement from the FHFA could reshape that landscape. In 2024, the Federal Housing Administration issued more than $230 billion in single-family loans; if crypto holdings become acceptable collateral, retail investors could gain a powerful new path to homeownership. Bitcoin advocates argue the asset's transparent custody and liquidity make it ideal for regulated lending. Mitchell Askew of Blockware said Bitcoin's blockchain-based structure is perfect collateral, while CJ Konstantinos of People's Reserve called the move a no brainer to derisk mortgage-backed securities. Still, experts caution that crypto's volatility presents new risks for lenders and regulators. With 20% of Americans now owning cryptomost with holdings under $50,000any shift to recognize it within federal housing programs would be a major milestone in Bitcoin adoption. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Yahoo
Can AI help solve Hartford's pothole problem?
HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Hartford city leaders are looking to a cutting-edge artificial intelligence tool to help tackle the challenge of potholes and other road defects. 'Since I've been mayor, I have, almost from the get-go, gotten complaints from residents about conditions of roads,' Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said at a press conference on Thursday. GUIDE: Low-cost or free summer activities for New Haven youth, families Arulampalam was joined by representatives of Vialytics, a German firm that developed the technology that Hartford will deploy on municipal vehicles to detect roadway hazards. The technology utilizes an iPhone camera mounted on the inside of a vehicle's front windshield. Using Vialytics' app, the vehicle's driver must first complete a short calibration before heading out on the streets. Once the vehicle is on the road, the app automatically captures images of the road every 10 to 15 feet, Vialytics's staff said. Then, the images are fed into a proprietary A.I. model, which has been trained to recognize more than a dozen roadway defects, including potholes and cracks. 'At first, humans were training that algorithm and actually clicking where see a crack, where we see a pothole,' Tom Cummins, a member of Vialytics's U.S. team, said. 'Over time, the AI, the model itself, is actually learning what a crack looks like, what a pothole looks like.' Law enforcement agencies in Connecitcut preparing for 'No Kings' protests Saturday For the capital city, Arulampalam said the deployment of A.I. to assist their two human road inspectors will help fill in cracks — literally and figuratively. Currently, the city relies on its inspectors and public complaints to identify roads in need of repair. That system can often miss hazards and inadvertently skew repair orders toward neighborhoods that are more likely to have residents who are familiar with filing complaints, city officials said. Vialytics' software is designed to provide more comprehensive coverage while ensuring that each of Hartford's neighborhoods receives the attention they need. Having a constant technological eye keeping tabs on the conditions of the capital city's roadways can raise privacy concerns. Still, Vialytics' top American executive stated that the German company operates under the European Union's data privacy regime, as outlined in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). GDPR is generally considered to be stricter than any of the applicable data privacy laws in the United States. Vialytics's systems do not collect license plates and faces, the company executive said. Arulampalam said the new technology is going to be impactful for residents not only because it will help address existing potholes but also because it will enable city public works officials to more easily identify smaller defects before they turn into bigger hazards — all at a cost of less than $40,000 to the city in the upcoming fiscal year. 'This innovation is going to lead the way for quality of life in the city and make a huge difference for our residents,' Arulampalam said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.