Daily Archives: December 29, 2021

Second Circuit Freedom of Information Act: The New York Times Co. v. U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services – The Daily Record (Rochester, N.Y.)

Posted: December 29, 2021 at 10:36 am

By: Daily Record Staff December 29, 2021

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Second Circuit Freedom of Information Act: The New York Times Co. v. U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services - The Daily Record (Rochester, N.Y.)

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Yoko Ono’s work comes to Vancouver Art Gallery with Growing Freedom: The instructions of Yoko Ono / The art of John and Yoko – The Globe and Mail

Posted: at 10:36 am

John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Brochure Cover for Planting Acorns at Coventry, 1968, first public art collaboration.Courtesy Yoko Ono

Among the many fascinations served up by The Beatles: Get Back documentary series is the nature of Yoko Onos presence in the recording studio. She wasnt observing from the sidelines with the other spouses and associates. She was in the inner circle, literally, sitting alongside John Lennon, turning the fab four into a group of five. As the Beatles jammed and messed around and recorded what would become iconic songs, Ono was right there, quietly reading, sewing, sorting through mail or just sitting.

Ono was a household name at this point because of her celebrity boyfriend. But long before she met Lennon, she was a highly regarded conceptual artist. You can experience her work right now at the Vancouver Art Gallerys exhibition Yoko Ono: Growing Freedom: The instructions of Yoko Ono / The art of John and Yoko.

The work in the exhibition brackets the time period depicted in Get Back. Director Peter Jacksons three-part, nearly eight-hour series documents the intense four weeks in January, 1969, during which the Beatles, working toward what they had planned to be a TV special, created material for what would become the Let It Be album, including their legendary rooftop concert their final public performance.

The instructions of Yoko Ono.Blaine Campbell/Courtesy of Contemporary Calgary

As a viewer of the series, you get more than a front-row seat to it all; this is fly-on-the-wall level access.

In a couple of scenes, the bandmates read newspaper stories about themselves out loud. Reads one headline: Beatle John Lennon says: Im in love with Yoko.

While Onos relationship with and, ultimately marriage to Lennon meant she would never have to struggle to attract attention to her work (or a pay cheque), attention is one thing recognition quite another. Her art career would forever be eclipsed not just by his music career, but by their relationship. It became nearly impossible to experience her work in a vacuum.

I saw the VAG show earlier this fall. But after devouring Jacksons series, I wanted to go back for another look. Would the exhibition feel different?

With the context of the Beatles documentary floating around in my brain, I started with Cut Piece, Onos pioneering work of participatory art. In a film of her 1965 performance, Ono sits on the stage of New Yorks Carnegie Hall while attendees, following instructions supplied in a leaflet, ascend one by one to cut away a small piece of her clothing with a pair of scissors. Throughout, she remains still and expressionless.

Nobody says a word; Ono is more silent than she is during those recording sessions. But this time, she is centrestage. And alone, except for the visiting audience members. All you hear is the clickety-clack of their shoes as they ascend and descend from the stage.

Ceiling Painting (1966).Blaine Campbell/Courtesy of Contemporary Calgary

Ono met Lennon a year later famously, as she was preparing a solo exhibition at an experimental gallery in London. Lennon was intrigued by her Ceiling Painting (1966), where the participant climbs a ladder, picks up a magnifying glass and points it to a small panel on the ceiling. The word yes is revealed.

Lennon a superstar by that point later said if the word had been no, he would not have continued through the exhibition. He loved its optimism.

In Vancouver, Ceiling Painting stands at the centre of one of the galleries. (Its not the same physical work; these are realizations of Onos concepts.) It shares space with other examples of her Instruction works. Laugh Piece (1961): Keep laughing a week. Cough Piece (1961): Keep coughing a year. (I had to laugh, behind my mask.) Fly Piece (1963): Fly.

These were written long before she met Lennon, but its hard not to think of him when encountering Shadow Piece (1963): Put your shadows together until they become one.

The next part of the exhibition deals with the couples collaboration in life and art, including the greatest performance of their lives: How they parlayed intense media interest in their marriage to call attention to the atrocities of war. Their Crusade for Peace took place partly on Canadian soil. With the Vietnam War raging, they held Bed-Ins for Peace first in Amsterdam, then at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. They appeared at a hastily organized Seminar on World Peace in Ottawa (cooked up by young future cabinet minister, Allan Rock). They later met with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

Cut Piece (1965).Minoru Niizuma/Yoko ono

This is well-known history for many Canadians. But looking at photos from this time right after viewing the Jackson documentary, Lennon and Ono feel more familiar, somehow as humans, not celebrities.

These events took place in 1969, just a few months after the Get Back sessions. Yet Lennon seems more grown-up and serious in his white suit and shaggy beard. Perhaps its partly the result of being out of the shadow of Paul McCartneys take-charge studio presence. Ono, no longer the silent observer, is now a participant, and Lennons equal in this collaboration. The duo, in place of the band, has more important matters to attend to. (The Beatles officially broke up in 1970.)

The next part of the exhibition concerns the other side of Onos instructions: what the viewer or participant, rather does with them. For Onos My Mommy is Beautiful (2004), visitors are invited to write about their mothers. A small gallery is filled with messages on Post-it notes. I love my mom sooooo mutch. I am soooo happy she is my mum, reads one.

Further along, for the final segment of the show, Yoko Ono: Water Event, Ono invited local Indigenous artists to create or choose a water container. Onos contribution of water completes the sculpture, the wall plaque explains.

Wish Tree (1996).Blaine Campbell/Courtesy of Contemporary Calgary

Throughout, people were snapping photos of pretty much everything with their phones, which underscored another thing I have been thinking a lot about since watching Get Back: how different those sessions would have been in a world of ubiquitous cellphones. The four of them and everyone else would have been buried in their phones instead of forced to talk to each other, to mess around, to get a little bored, to conjure up music to fill the void.

How much are we not creating because were looking at our phones?

Ono believes the viewer/participant is an essential part of the work. Further, context is so important. Artworks feed on each other. Every experience bleeds into the next, whether consciously or not. You see an exhibition twice in the space of two months, viewing a related documentary in between, and the experience changes so the art in fact changes. It is always in flux. But we need to pay attention.

The VAG show ends with Onos Wish Tree (1996), where participants are instructed to make a wish, write it on a tag (provided) with a pencil (sterilized) and tie it to one of the small trees in the space. I wish the end of Covid for the world, read one during my second visit. Another: I wish to keep laughing with friends and look at art forever.

The exhibition is at the Vancouver Art Gallery until May 1.

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Yoko Ono's work comes to Vancouver Art Gallery with Growing Freedom: The instructions of Yoko Ono / The art of John and Yoko - The Globe and Mail

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Freedom and stumbling across the secret to rekindling my lost desire to read books – Sydney Morning Herald

Posted: at 10:36 am

In recent years I have discovered that I like to read short books. I am not sure when this habit started, but I have a suspicion. After I stopped working in politics, when I began again to read in earnest and discovered just how little I had read, I began to keep lists of books completed. I would note down each title and the month and location at which I had turned the final page.

Because I was travelling a lot at the time, these lists are quite satisfying to look back at. I can live again, not only the story of the book, but the story that lies alongside it, the story of my life: the Laotian town where I read about Sylvia Plath, the Roman holiday on which I read The Flamethrowers. They were handy, too, for recommendations: if somebody asked me if I had read any good books lately, I had only to trawl through my list and pick the two that seemed most suited.

A list of books read soon tuned into an exercise in efficiency and comparison.Credit:Thinkstock

But what started as an aid to memory quickly turned as most things do these days into an exercise in efficiency and comparison. How many books had I read this year more than last? I didnt have to wait until the end of the year to check: in April I could see whether I had fallen behind my average. And sometimes I had, and so what was the solution? Short books. A casual observer could deduce this from the lists themselves: after I finally got around to reading Don Quixote, across a long series of cold dark mornings in London, the next two books were very short indeed.

This year, for me, has been a poor year for reading. I have read far less than usual, and struggled with lack of desire. I have picked up many books and set them down again. I am not alone in this: many others have written similar accounts. Short books have been the saving of my reading year: if it were not for brief volumes I would have read barely any books at all.

There are two common explanations given for this shift in our reading habits. One pre-existed the pandemic: the invasion of our lives by technology and its demands. The other is anxiety created by the threat of COVID. The argument is that our minds, worried about virus, are scanning for threats, engaged in constant vigilance. Part of that vigilance, psychologists have argued, is the hunt for information scrolling through Twitter, flicking from news site to news site in an attempt to control what cannot be controlled. In turn this advances the invasion of technology. The two factors, technology and fear, loop round and feed each other.

This is probably true, but I prefer a simpler explanation: for many reasons, some shared and some not, we are all by now very, very tired.

Whatever the cause, the reading I have not done this past year has left a gap. I was, thanks to the virus, already engaging with fewer people, fewer minds; and now that is more true still. It means, too, that in a year in which most of us have been restricted in our movements for long periods, that my mind has also been more caged: it has been exposed to fewer thoughts, it has visited fewer places, lived through fewer events. And you can tell this from my list, too, which began to tail off early in the year before fading to nothing in July. I have read some books since then, but did not note them down.

Recently, I have felt an itch; an urge to begin again to read. Immediately I thought about how to make best use of this. Perhaps I could start with the short books which sustained my list early in the year, and use them as a type of training-cycle, to ready myself for longer books. And as I began to have these careful, practical thoughts I felt the urge to read fizzle again.

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Freedom and stumbling across the secret to rekindling my lost desire to read books - Sydney Morning Herald

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Yes, Dolly Parton really did turn down the presidential medal of freedom (twice) here’s why – Salon

Posted: at 10:36 am

Dolly Partonseems like she'd qualify for the Presidential Medal of Freedom based on her cultural contributions alone, from songs like "Jolene" and "I Will Always Love You" to hit movies like "Steel Magnolias"(1989) and 1980's"9 to 5"(not to mention her Tennessee theme park,Dollywood).

But as all Dolly devotees know, her initiatives reach far beyond the entertainment world. She promotes child literacy through her Imagination Library which has donated more than 100 million books to kids since its foundation in 1995 and she also helped fund the development of Moderna'sCOVID-19 vaccine.

In short, you'd be well within reason to ask why Parton hasn't been offered the medal yet. But as she shared during a virtual appearance on NBC's"TODAY"earlier this year, she actually has been offered it twice, both during Donald Trump's tenure. The first time she turned it down because her husband was ill. The second offer came during the thick of thepandemic, and she decided to decline the award rather than have to travel to accept it.

As for whether Parton would accept a third offer, she's not sure. "Now I feel like if I take it, I'll be doing politics," she explained. In other words, she seems to be wary that the move would be read as an endorsement of one administration over another, and Parton isfamously mumwhen it comes to politics.

In any case, receiving the medal doesn't appear to be much of a focus for her. "I don't work for those awards," she said. "It'd be nice, but I'm not sure that I even deserve it. But that's a nice compliment for people to think that I might deserve it."

It's not the first time Parton has shown such admirable humility. This past February, when Tennessee's state government was working on getting the OK to install aDolly Parton statueon Capitol Hill, she asked them to kill the bill. "Given all that is going on in the world, I don't think putting me on a pedestal is appropriate at this time," she said in astatement (though she did allow that she'd be open to the possibility in some years' time).

[h/tTODAY]

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Yes, Dolly Parton really did turn down the presidential medal of freedom (twice) here's why - Salon

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Editors’ picks for 2021: ‘The big promises and potentially bigger consequences of neurotechnology’ | The Strategist – The Strategist

Posted: at 10:35 am

Originally published 28 October 2021.

In September, Chile became the first state in the world topass legislationregulating the use of neurotechnology. Theneuro-rights lawaims to protect mental privacy, free will of thought and personal identity.

The move comes amid both growing excitement and growing concern about the potential applications of neurotechnology for everything from defence to health care to entertainment.

Neurotechnologyis an umbrella term for a range of technologies which interact directly with the brain or nervous system. This can include systems which passively scan, map or interpret brain activity, or systems which actively influence the state of the brain or nervous system.

Governments and the private sector alike are pouring money into research on neurotechnology, in particular the viability and applications for braincomputer interfaces (BCI) which allow users to control computers with their thoughts. While the field is still in its infancy, it is advancing at a rapid pace, creating technologies which only a few years ago would have seemed like science fiction.

The implications of these technologies are profound. When fully realised, they have the potential to reshape the most fundamental and most personal element of human experience: our thoughts.

Technological development and design is never neutral. Weencode valuesinto every piece of technology we create. The immensely consequential nature of neurotechnology means its crucial for us to be thinking early and often about the way were constructing it, and the type of systems we doand dontwant to build.

A major driver behind research on neurotechnology by governments is its potential applications in defence and combat settings. Unsurprisingly, theUnited StatesandChinaare leading the pack in the race towards effective military neurotechnology.

The USs Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has pouredmany millions of dollars of fundinginto neurotechnology research over multiple decades. In 2018, DARPA announced a program called next-generation nonsurgical neurotechnology, or N3, tofundsix separate, highly ambitious BCI research projects.

Individual branches of the US military are also developing their own neurotechnology projects. For example, the US Air Force is working on a BCI which will useneuromodulationto alter mood, reduce fatigue and enable more rapid learning.

In comparison to DARPAs decades of interest in the brain, Chinas focus on neurotechnology is relatively recent but advancing rapidly. In 2016, the Chinese government launched theChina Brain Project, a 15-year scheme intended to bring China level with and eventually ahead of the US and EU in neuroscience research. In April, Tianjin University and state-owned giant China Electronics Corporation announced they arecollaboratingon the second generation of Brain Talker, a chip designed specifically for use in BCIs.Expertshave describedChinas effortsin this area as an example ofcivilmilitary fusion, in which technological advances serve multiple agendas.

Australia is also funding research into neurotechnology for military applications. For example, at the Army Robotics Expo in Brisbane in August, researchers from the University of Technology Sydneydemonstrateda vehicle which could be remotely controlled via brainwaves. The project was developed with $1.2 million in funding through the Department of Defence.

Beyond governments, the private-sector neurotechnology industry is also picking up steam; 2021 is alreadya record yearfor funding of BCI projects.Estimatesput the industry at US$10.7 billion globally in 2020, and its expected to reach US$26 billion by 2026.

In April, Elon Musks Neuralink demonstrateda monkey playing Pongusing only brainwaves. Gaming company Valve is teaming up with partners todevelop a BCI for virtual-reality gaming.After receiving pushback on itscontroversial trials of neurotechnology on children in schools, BrainCo is now marketing amood-altering headband.

In Australia, university researchers have worked with biotech company Synchron to developStentrode, a BCI which can be implanted in the jugular and allows patients with limb paralysis to use digital devices. It is nowundergoing clinical human trialsin Australia and the US.

The combination of big money, big promises and, potentially, big consequences should have us all paying attention. The potential benefits from neurotechnology are immense, but they are matched by enormous ethical, legal, social, economic and security concerns.

In 2020 researchers conducted ameta-reviewof the academic literature on the ethics of BCIs. They identified eight specific ethical concerns: user safety; humanity and personhood; autonomy; stigma and normality; privacy and security (including cybersecurity and the risk of hacking); research ethics and informed consent; responsibility and regulation; and justice. Of these, autonomy and responsibility and regulation received the most attention in the existing literature. In addition, the researchers argued that the potential psychological impacts of BCIs on users needs to be considered.

While Chile is the first and so far only country to legislate on neurotechnology, groups such as the OECD are looking seriously at the issue. In 2019 the OECD Council adopted arecommendation on responsible innovation in neurotechnologywhich aimed to set the first international standard to drive ethical research and development of neurotechnology. Next month, the OECD and the Council of Europe will hold aroundtableof international experts to discuss whether neurotechnologies need new kinds of human rights.

In Australia, the interdisciplinaryAustralian Neuroethics Networkhas called for a nationally coordinated approach to the ethics of neurotechnology and has proposed aneuroethics framework.

These are the dawning days of neurotechnology. Many of the crucial breakthroughs to come may not yet be so much as a twinkle in a scientists eye. That makes now the ideal moment for all stakeholdersgovernments, regulators, industry and civil societyto be thinking deeply about the role neurotechnology should play in the future, and where the limits should be.

Editors' picks for 2021: 'The big promises and potentially bigger consequences of neurotechnology' | The Strategist - The Strategist

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Paralyzed Man Creates First-Ever Tweet Using Only His Thoughts Thanks to Implanted Brain Chip – Tech Times

Posted: at 10:35 am

A paralyzed man who came from Australia has tweeted the first-ever post made possible through his thoughts. The first "direct-thought tweet" was created thanks to the paperclip-sized brain chip.

(Photo : National Cancer Institute from Unsplash)

According to a report from the Independent on Monday, Dec. 27, the 62-year-old ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) patient has written the first tweet using only his brain through Synchron's brain-computer interface.

The startup which focuses on neurotechnology helped Philip O'Keefe to create the tweet. According to the company CEO Thomas Oxley, there's no need anymore for voices or keystrokes since a person can post a tweet just by using thought.

Related Article: Speech Neuroprosthetic: Brain Wave Technology Helps Paralyzed Man to Speak--How?

In April 2020, Synchron began implanting the Stentrode device to O'Keefe after his condition worsened. At that time, he could not do even simple tasks without assistance from someone.

To avoid the need for brain surgery, the brain chip was inserted into the jugular vein. Since then, the patient was able to communicate with his loved ones. He could also play computer games such as "Solitaire."

"When I first heard about this technology, I knew how much independence it could give back to me," Mr. O'Keefe said in a press release, Daily Mailreported.

O'Keefe added that the system can be compared to learning to ride a bike. It would take a lot of practice before a person gets used to it. Once you master how it works, the Australian said that it would become natural in the long run.

The implanting procedure of the brain chip was not an easy task. It took four (4) hours to insert into the patient's brain. After that, he could now interpret messages on a computer.

Per Oxley, Synchron considers the "fun holiday tweets" as an important moment in the field of brain implant computer interface.

According to the startup, the first in-human research will happen in 2022 in the United States.

Back in May, Tech Times reported another case of a paralyzed man who has been given some hopes to write texts once again. According to the report, the immobilized patient managed to type 90 characters per minuteusing the text-to-thought method.

The process works by translating the brain signals into texts through thought processing. With that, the paralyzed man was able to write 16 words every minute which the experts considered as a huge feat for someone who cannot fully move a part of his body.

Before the test became successful for humans, the scientists first experimented with it with monkeys. In 2017, a group of researchers saw that it was effective for the said animals.

In another health news report, Tech Times wrote that Apple stores in New York City have temporarily shut downamid the COVID-19 spike.

Read Also: AI-Based Platform EvoWalk Can Now Help Muscle-Impaired Patients to Walk Again Using Stimulation Device: How it Works

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Joseph Henry

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Paralyzed Man Creates First-Ever Tweet Using Only His Thoughts Thanks to Implanted Brain Chip - Tech Times

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Top staycation and no-fly cruises from the UK with Oceania Cruises – World of Cruising

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To carry Iran’s flag by Nikkhah Bahrami in Tokyo among top moments from 2021 – Tehran Times

Posted: at 10:33 am

TEHRAN To carry Irans flag by Iran basketball center Samad Nikkhah Bahrami was chosen by fiba.basketball among memorable moments in Asia & Oceania basketball.

Another calendar year gone by with 12 months jammed with exciting action in Asia & Oceania basketball. To look back at what was yet another eventful year, FIBA has listed some of the most impressive moments in 2021.

Being an Olympian is already one of the highest achievements ever for an athlete. But being an Olympian and being your countrys flag bearer for the Opening Ceremony?

The average person can only imagine how that would feel.

This was an honor that was bestowed to four of Asias basketball stars for the Tokyo Olympics this past year.

Rui Hachimura waved the flag of the host nation proudly while Samad Nikkah Bahrami (Iran) and Patty Mills (Australia) also did the honor for their nations as players the mens basketball national teams. Khulan Onolbaatar was also the flag bearer for Mongolia as a member of the womens 3x3 basketball team.

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To carry Iran's flag by Nikkhah Bahrami in Tokyo among top moments from 2021 - Tehran Times

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Ericson Year in Review 2021 – Jul-Dec – Ericsson

Posted: at 10:33 am

In case you missed it, check out part one of our 2021 overview, Ericsson Year in Review 2021: January to June

July: 5G markets warm up in the Americas

5G momentum continued into the second half of the year with a spree of landmark 5G deals and records.

In the US, a multi-year 5G extension agreement with key partner Verizon grabbed headlines and delivered a major boost to the US digital market through a deal that would see Verizon enhance and expand its 5G offering to US consumers and enterprises.

5G deals with Virgin Media O2 in the UK, and later, Faroese Telecom in the Faroe Islands, ensured that 5G deployment also remained strong in Europe.

Ericsson delivered two 5G firsts in July. The first, in partnership with Telia Sweden, saw the companies trial a new inactive state feature, enabling up to three times faster access to network resources and reduced battery consumption for smartphone users. For the second, Ericsson partnered with MediaTek to set double the uplink speed record on mmWave using carrier aggregation.

In Latin America, while many 5G spectrum auctions were delayed owing to the pandemic, Ericsson pressed ahead in laying the groundwork by announcing major 5G initiatives with TIGO in Bolivia, Paraguay and Honduras, and agricultural equipment manufacturer John Deere in Brazil.

August: 5G accelerates in East Asia and Oceania

Ericsson racked up the 5G milestones again in August, this time with a flurry of activity across East Asia and Oceania markets.

The month kicked off with the announcement of a 5G first in Australia: the combined operation of 5G mid band and mmWave of a single device to network connection. The demonstration, which utilized New Radio Dual Connectivity (NR-DC) technology, formed part of Ericssons ongoing commitment to the Australian market, together with partners Optus and MediaTek.

In Taiwan, Ericsson supported Asia Pacific Telecom to launch the islands first 5G non-standalone multi-operator core network. This was followed by the delivery of another Ericsson-powered 5G network in the region, this time in Jakarta with Indosat Ooredoo.

In Saudi Arabia, Ericsson and stc took another significant step closer to Saudi Vision 2030 with a major deal to deploy Ericsson 5G Core and switch on 5G standalone across the kingdom. stc was among the first service providers in the world to launch 5G, with commercial services available since June 2019. According the June 2021 edition of theEricsson Mobility Report, 5G subscriptions are forecasted to reach 62 million in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region by 2026.

Meanwhile, urban 5G deployments received a boost with the commercial release of three new zero-footprint Ericsson street solutions, enabling fast plug-and-play deployments that that seamlessly blend in with streetlights, buildings and other urban hardscapes.

September: Imagine Possible goes live

September marked a new era for Ericsson with the announcement of the company's renewed purpose, Imagine Possible. The new purpose was also paired with a renewed company vision of a world where limitless connectivity improves lives, redefines business and pioneers a sustainable future.

5G momentum remained strong in September with new deals announced with DNB in Malaysia and Bhutan Telecom in the Kingdom of Bhutan. While, 5G standalone gained more ground in Europe and Australia owing to new Ericsson 5G Core agreements with A1 Telekom Austria Group and TPG Telecom respectively.

In Singapore, Ericsson and Singtel switched on one of the worlds first 5G standalone(SA)networks. On the back of the historic milestone, the partners also signed a memorandum of understanding with several global industry partners with the ambition to develop advanced 5G enterprise solutions in Singapore.

Energy-saving radios were making news in Europe, as Ericsson and Vodafone UK completed the first deployment of Ericssons new energy-efficient antenna-integrated 5G radio. The breakthrough trial which offered a taste of future sustainable networks saw Vodafones daily network energy consumption decrease by an average of 43 percent in direct comparison to previous generations, and as much as 55 percent at off-peak times.

October: Sustainability in the headlines

Ericsson began October by celebrating a historic anniversary with long-term partner Telia. In October 1981, Ericsson supported Telia in switching on the first-generation (1G) mobile network. Since laying that foundation, a staggering 5.2 billion people worldwide now rely on the breakthroughs achieved in that Ericsson and Telia innovation.

Just a few weeks after the anniversary, the partners added another page to their joint innovation story by trialing new safety features on a 5G-connected electric self-driving bus. The project, which moved one step closer to full operations with the trial, featured other partners including Urban ICT Arena, Intel, Keolis, and T-Engineering.

5G-based innovation such as this would be fundamental to decarbonizing industries and achieving global climate targets those were the incisive findings of two key reports published in October. The first, an MIT Technology Review Insights report, found that 5G will be key to generating enterprise efficiency gains and new sustainable operational processes.

The second, an Ericsson-commissioned industry analysis, found evidence that an accelerated roll-out of 5G connectivity across Europe and the UK will have an immediate and catalyzing impact in reducing CO2e emissions.

October also saw Ericsson mark a significant sustainability milestone, with the mapping of one million schools worldwide, as part of its Giga initiative together with UNICEF and ITU to connect every school to the Internet. There was also a 5G breakthrough India, with the successful completion of Indias first rural 5G trial together with Airtel.

Ericsson closed out the month with a major portfolio addition of a new Critical IoT software product, Time-Critical Communication.

November: Ericsson announce intention to acquire Vonage

November saw the announcement of a major acquisition intention as Ericsson announced plans to acquire global provider of cloud-based communications, Vonage. The acquisition, which underlines Ericssons strategy to expand its presence in wireless enterprise and broaden its global offerings, would spearhead the creation of a global network and communication platform for open innovation. Commenting on the significance of the deal, Ericsson President and CEO Brje Ekholm, said: Vonage gives us a platform to help our customers monetize the investments in the network, benefittingdevelopers and businesses.

Ericsson celebrated ten years of the Ericsson Mobility Report in November. The new report featured a look back at key mobile trends over the past decade, uncovering a 300-fold rise in mobile data traffic since Ericsson signature report was first published.

In the same month, Ericsson also released two more insights-packed reports: a new 5G Pacesetters report from Ericsson ConsumerLab which revealed how frontrunning service providers are three times more likely to retain customers and almost twice as likely to grow average revenue per user (ARPU) and mobile services revenues; and the latest instalment in the Ericsson IndustryLab Future of Enterprise series, predicting widespread transformation of manufacturing and production enterprises by 2030.

As soccer fans worldwide began to return to stadia en-masse, the focus turned to major events in 2022 with Ericsson announcing a network management partnership with Ooredoo Qatar. The agreement would see Ericsson support state-of-the-art network optimization and event management in eight connected stadiums across six cities, in addition to enabling unforgettable 5G experiences in Qatars airports, fan zones and major tourist attractions.

Ericsson also racked up more 5G milestones in November, with the announcement of a new deal to deliver 5G standalone together with SK Telecom in Korea. Meanwhile, in France, Ericsson announced plans to launch the countrys largest industrial 5G network together ArcelorMittal France and Orange Business Services.

December: Ericsson turns the page on a landmark 5G year

Innovation and sustainability topped the headlines in December as Ericsson looked to close the year on a high.In Australia, Ericsson teamed up again with Telstra and Qualcomm to set another 5G speed record. During a live demo in Queensland, the partners set an uplink speed record of close to 1Gbps, the highest recorded on a commercial network, using 5G dual connectivity and carrier aggregation.

In the US, Ericsson shifted autonomous vehicle development into the next gear with the announcement of Ericsson Routes, a new live test environment in San Francisco developed for autonomous and connected vehicle companies.

Ericsson President and CEO Brje Ekholm, who attended the 2021 Global Forum for Children and Youth in December, announced that Ericsson has pledged to support one million children and young people with access to digital learning and skills by 2025, through Ericssons Connect to Learn program.

December also saw the announcement of the winners of the annual Ericsson Innovation Awards, this year picked up by Team BlisCare, ofRashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University, India, with theirinnovative solution to enable equal educational opportunities for visually impaired people all over the world.

As a landmark year for 5G and innovation drew to a close, Ericsson took an imaginative look ahead to the world of 2030 with the release of its annual Ten Hot Consumer Trends report. The report, which gauges consumer predictions of future technology trends, found that many consumers expect to soon enjoy global experiences, interactions and social connections in a networked physical setting that is close to home.

Ericssons technology leadership was showcased to the word in December as part of Sweden Day at the Word Expo. Malaysias Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) 5G network also became the latest to join Ericssons leading list of live commercial 5G neworks.

Selected July to December Ericsson news links

Ericsson and Verizon ink landmark multi-year $8.3 Billion 5G deal

Virgin Media O2 selects Ericsson 5G Core to power Standalone network

Faroese Telecom selects Ericsson for 5G

Industry-first 5G feature enables lower latency and increased battery life

Ericsson and MediaTek set uplink speed record on mmWave using carrier aggregation

Ericsson and Millicom - TIGO drive digital inclusion in Latin America

Ericsson and John Deere partner to boost 5G innovation in agribusiness

Optus, MediaTek and Ericsson technology innovation boosts 5G coverage area

Ericsson supports Asia Pacific Telecom to launch Taiwans first 5G Non-Standalone Multi-Operator Core Network

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Ericson Year in Review 2021 - Jul-Dec - Ericsson

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2021 Year in Review | Defining moments in Indias crypto saga this year – Economic Times

Posted: at 10:33 am

India has a weird relationship with cryptocurrencies. The government was twice set to introduce a crypto bill seeking to ban all private cryptocurrencies this year before backing out. Meanwhile, demand for these digital assets has exploded across the country amid the pandemic, and especially in 2021.

Indias crypto market grew 641% from July 2020 to June 2021, helping turn a region spanning central and southern Asia and Oceania into one of the worlds fastest-growing cryptocurrency markets, according to a Chainalysis report from October.

The crypto bill, take 1: In January, a Lok Sabha bulletin said the government would introduce a bill in the budget session of Parliament that would ban all private cryptocurrencies and set up a framework to create an official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India. But in the end, the bill is not tabled.

Dont ban, regulate: In March, cryptocurrency players represented by industry body Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) appealed to the government not to ban cryptocurrencies, proposing instead to develop mechanisms to regulate the ecosystem. The body reasoned that cryptocurrency has been generating jobs across a variety of functions such as legal, compliance, technology, marketing, business development, finance, both in India and abroad.

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Dogecoin mania: In May, Dogecoin mania reached Indian cryptocurrency exchanges. They witnessed record-breaking trading volumes of Dogecoin and a massive surge in traffic. Binance-owned WazirX's Doge/INR trading slowed its entire system.

Crypto adoption: In August, India was ranked second in terms of crypto adoption amid a bull run in cryptocurrency assets globally, a report by blockchain data platform Chainalysis showed. India was second only to Vietnam in the study, which ranked countries according to the total cryptocurrency received, the amount of cryptocurrency moved in transactions under $10,000, and P2P trade volume, all weighted for purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita.

Indias first crypto unicorn: Also in August, India got its first crypto unicorn after CoinDCX raised $90 million in a Series C round, led by Facebook cofounder Eduardo Saverin's B Capital.

A second soon follows: In October, CoinSwitch Kuber, a cryptocurrency platform for retail traders, became a unicorn after it raised $260 million, the largest funding round by any crypto company in India. The fundraising was co-led by Silicon Valley-based venture fund Andreessen Horowitz and Coinbase Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Nasdaq-listed Coinbase Inc.

World Cup ad blitz: Indian cryptocurrency exchanges collectively spent more than Rs 50 crore during the ICC T20 World Cup in October and November. Data showed that cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX advertised seven times per match on every channel during the tournament, spending a total of Rs 40 crore on sponsorship on Star Sports. Rival CoinSwitch Kuber focused on Star's video streaming service Disney+Hotstar during the World Cup.

Stakeholders meet RBI for the first time: In November, the Reserve Bank of India met crypto players meet for the first time to discuss grey areas. The meeting called by the RBI was attended by senior central bank officials, three exchanges, a crypto broker and the industry body Indiatech.org, which had prepared a white paper on cryptocurrencies.

Crypto bill, take 2: In November, the government once again appeared likely to introduce a bill on cryptocurrencies during the winter session of Parliament beginning November 29, amid concerns over such currencies being allegedly used for luring investors with misleading claims and for funding terror activities.

Crypto bill skips Winter session: But the bill was delayed again as the government was reportedly considering changes to the proposed framework. The issues being debated included the need for wider consultation and seeking comments from the public, and whether the central bank digital currency (CBDC) to be introduced by the RBI should be a part of this bill or dealt with under the RBI Act.

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2021 Year in Review | Defining moments in Indias crypto saga this year - Economic Times

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Daily Archives: December 29, 2021

Second Circuit Freedom of Information Act: The New York Times Co. v. U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services – The Daily Record (Rochester, N.Y.)

Yoko Ono’s work comes to Vancouver Art Gallery with Growing Freedom: The instructions of Yoko Ono / The art of John and Yoko – The Globe and Mail

Freedom and stumbling across the secret to rekindling my lost desire to read books – Sydney Morning Herald

Yes, Dolly Parton really did turn down the presidential medal of freedom (twice) here’s why – Salon

Editors’ picks for 2021: ‘The big promises and potentially bigger consequences of neurotechnology’ | The Strategist – The Strategist

Paralyzed Man Creates First-Ever Tweet Using Only His Thoughts Thanks to Implanted Brain Chip – Tech Times

Top staycation and no-fly cruises from the UK with Oceania Cruises – World of Cruising

To carry Iran’s flag by Nikkhah Bahrami in Tokyo among top moments from 2021 – Tehran Times

Ericson Year in Review 2021 – Jul-Dec – Ericsson

2021 Year in Review | Defining moments in Indias crypto saga this year – Economic Times

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