Tag: Agency

science and technology

Japan Sports Agency and JADA Host Online “2020 International Seminar” in Partnership with WADA

[email protected]_84

TOKYO, Dec. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The Japan Sports Agency (JSA) of the Japanese Government and the Japan Anti-Doping Agency (JADA) hosted the annual “International Anti-Doping Seminar in Asia & Oceania” on December 1-3. The 14th annual seminar was organized as “GoVirtual” for the first time due to COVID-19. 2020 is a landmark year for anti-doping organizations (ADOs) as the revised World Anti-Doping Code (2021Code) and International Standards will become effective from January 2021. The seminar in this significant timing has brought together more than 200 people from 52 countries/regions online to exchange information matching the needs of ADOs, and the participants virtually united despite the time difference.

Images: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/release/202012038062?p=images

The theme of the 2020 seminar was “Are you ready!?–for the 2021Code & International Standards and for beyond.” JADA developed the agenda with WADA based on the input from the anti-doping community in Asia and Oceania in

… Read More
technology

Labor agency alleges Google illegally fired two workers who tried to organize

[email protected]_84

The company fired four employees last year in the wake of protests, but the NLRB only took up two of their cases. One of the said workers, Kathryn Spiers, added a pop-up notification to an internal version of Chrome that reminded her colleagues about their right to organize. At the time, Google said it “dismissed an employee who abused privileged access to modify an internal security tool.”

The other former Google employee named in the complaint, Laurence Berland, was fired after viewing his co-workers’ calendars. Google said it let Berland go over data security violations. Berland was involved in organizing against Google’s partnership with an anti-union consulting firm. If Google decides not to settle the complaint, the case will go before an administrative judge.

Google has faced other accusations of retaliating against employees who have organized protests and reported workplace issues. Workers have demonstrated over the company’s handling of sexual

… Read More
technology

Google broke labor law by retaliating against workers, federal agency alleges

[email protected]_84

google-hq-sede-mountain-view.jpg

Laurence Berland, who was fired from Google, at a rally last year.


James Martin/CNET

A federal agency on Wednesday alleged that Google broke US labor laws by surveilling, interrogating and firing employees who organized protests against the search giant, according to a complaint filed by the National Labor Relations Board.

The filing addresses the firings Google workers including Laurence Berland and Kathryn Spiers, who were terminated by the search giant last year after the company said they had violated its internal policies. The NLRB complaint, however, alleges some of those policies are unlawful and that Google illegally questioned its employees about “protected concerted activities.”

Google on Wednesday defended the action it took against employees. “We strongly support the rights our employees have in the workplace, and open discussion and respectful debate have

… Read More
technology

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to leave telecom agency on January 20

[email protected]_84

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, a Republican, says he is leaving the telecommunications regulator on Inauguration Day.

President-elect Joe Biden will choose a new Democratic head for the agency. A new administration typically picks a new chairman.

Pai has presided over a contentious FCC over the last four years. He undid net neutrality rules that barred internet service providers like Comcast and AT&T from favoring some types of online traffic over others in 2017 and championed other deregulatory efforts. He has also worked to free up spectrum for cellphone companies so they can roll out 5G, the next-generation wireless standard that promises faster speeds, and cracked down on Chinese telecom companies as national security threats.

The incoming FCC is likely to try to reinstate net neutrality rules and focus on closing the “digital divide,” getting internet service to Americans who don’t have it because it’s not available or they

… Read More
science

European Space Agency is sending a giant claw into orbit to clean up space junk

[email protected]_84

screen-shot-2020-11-30-at-3-16-34-pm.png

The Claaaaaaaaaaaaawwww…


ClearSpace

There are roughly 2,800 live satellites currently orbiting Earth. That’s a lot, but it’s absolutely nothing compared to the amount of defunct objects — AKA space junk — also circling the globe. 

Scientists estimate that almost 3,000 dead satellites are currently orbiting our planet, which doesn’t account for the 900,000 pieces of debris, less than 10 centimetres long, that could potentially cause a catastrophe should it hit the wrong satellite at the wrong time. 

Scientists and engineers are currently hard at work trying to solve the problem, but the European Space Agency is currently in the beginning stages of executing one of the more bizarre solutions: A space claw that will grip larger defunct satellites and steer them back into the earth’s atmosphere where

… Read More
technology

Behind the decline of the world’s oldest ad agency J. Walter Thompson

[email protected]_84

  • J. Walter Thompson was the world’s oldest ad agency, but revenue at the largest office in New York is now a fraction of its peak.
  • The JWT name disappeared in a merger in 2018, marking an end to an agency that produced timeless campaigns for clients like Kraft and Kellogg’s, and is about to move out of its longtime New York headquarters.
  • JWT suffered from a faltering digital transformation, financial pressure at the holding company level, and a lawsuit accusing its former CEO of sexism and racism that scared potential clients and hires away.
  • Today, JWT stands as a cautionary tale and reflection of an industry shaken by changes in consumer behavior and the rise of Facebook and Google.
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

In early 2016, United Airlines needed help. Its stock price was down, CEO Jeff Smisek had resigned over a DoJ investigation into alleged political

… Read More
technology articles

The UK is creating a new agency to regulate Big Tech

[email protected]_84

The UK plans to create a new agency to regulate large tech companies such as Google and Facebook. Starting in April 2021, the newly minted Digital Markets Unit (DMU), which will be a part of the country’s existing Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), will enforce a code that will set new limits on tech’s biggest platforms, as well as attempt to create a more level playing field for smaller rivals. 



a man wearing a suit and tie


While the code has yet to be introduced, it will be designed to give consumers more control over their data and break down restrictions that make it difficult to use competing platforms. It may also give people the option to decide whether they can be subjected to personalized advertising. To enforce the code, the DMU will have the power to block and reverse decisions made by large tech companies. If they don’t comply with its directives, it will also have

… Read More
new technology

Google to Face a New Regulator as U.K. Plans Tech-Focused Agency

[email protected]_84

(Bloomberg) — The U.K. government approved plans for a separate regulatory program for companies including Facebook Inc. and Google, saying the new competition unit would be given powers to impose fines to rein in the dominance of the largest tech companies.



a flat screen television: The Facebook Inc. logo sits on screens ahead of the global launch event of "Workplace" at the Facebook Inc. offices in London, U.K., on Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. Workplace is meant to help employees collaborate with one another on products, listen to their bosses speak on Facebook Live and post updates on their work in the News Feed.

© Bloomberg
The Facebook Inc. logo sits on screens ahead of the global launch event of “Workplace” at the Facebook Inc. offices in London, U.K., on Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. Workplace is meant to help employees collaborate with one another on products, listen to their bosses speak on Facebook Live and post updates on their work in the News Feed.

The Digital Markets Unit will be housed inside the antitrust regulator from April, with powers to enforce a new code of conduct and potentially “suspend, block and reverse decisions of tech giants,” the U.K government said Friday.

Loading...

Load Error

The move comes after the Competition and Markets Authority called

… Read More
technology articles

Terranet to Partner with Leading Consulting Agency AFRY

[email protected]_84

With a Signed LOI, Terranet Joins Forces with AFRY to Secure Their Role in the Autonomous Driving Industry

Lund, Sweden, November 13, 2020 – Terranet AB (Terranet/the Company), (Nasdaq: TERRNT-B.ST), developers of advanced driver-assist systems and the creators of breakthrough 3D motion awareness technology VoxelFlow, today announced their upcoming partnership with leading Swedish-Finnish consulting and engineering firm, AFRY (previously ÅF).

The signed LOI will cement Terranet’s and AFRY’s long-standing partnership, with the specific mandate of promoting advanced engineering services within 3D motion perception, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving. Terranet’s deep knowledge in 3D motion perception stems from their existing product, VoxelFlow, a technology positioned to be the future of autonomous driving with its ability to classify dynamic moving objects at extremely low latency using very low computational power. VoxelFlow’s rapid edge detection will provide automotive brands a superior alternative to today’s camera-based computer vision and artificial intelligence

… Read More
sci tech

Space-based solar power stations research launched by UK Space Agency and government | Science & Tech News, Reports

[email protected]_84

From an idea first mooted in 1941, the UK has launched research into whether solar power in space could be beamed back to Earth as a sustainable energy source.

The concept was first thought up by science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov; now the UK Space Agency and UK government are aiming to make the idea a reality.

Space-based solar power (SBSP) stations would capture the solar energy omitted by the sun that never makes it to Earth, and beam it back down using lasers to meet energy demands.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

October: Astronauts launch for new fast-track ISS approach

It is thought that energy could be beamed anywhere on the planet, save for the poles, according to the UK Space Agency.

The research will be led by consulting firm Frazer-Nash, and will look at the viability of the stations, the engineering involved, and whether

… Read More