There are many other countries where you can see a partial solar eclipse. Hundreds of millions of people across Europe will get the chance to see a partial or total eclipse on Wednesday when the Moon passes in front of the Sun. There will be 94% coverage in Dublin and 83% in Oslo, Norway. Montreal will see an 18% bite out of the sun, tapering to 9% in New York and 2% in Norfolk, Virginia.

Finland to see partial solar eclipse on 12 August 2026. The solar eclipse will take place when the Sun is low above the west-northwestern horizon, meaning viewing opportunities will depend on local weather conditions and the position of buildings, trees and hills. The event in Finland is set to begin before 8pm and reach its peak just before 9pm.

Viewing Conditions Strategy
* Clear Western Horizon: Because late afternoon/evening eclipses occur lower in the sky, scout a viewing spot (a hill, field, or elevated deck) with an unobstructed view toward the west/southwest free from tall trees or buildings.
* Check Cloud Coverage: Plan a backup location 30–60 minutes away in case local cloud cover threatens your view.

Many people want to see the solar eclipse. A few warnings needs to be kept in mind to stay safe. ⚠️

Looking directly at a solar eclipse without proper protection can cause permanent eye damage.
Whether you’re in the path of totality or viewing a partial eclipse across Europe or North America, you must protect your eyes or use indirect projection. If you plan to look directly toward the Sun, standard sunglasses will not protect your eyes regardless of how dark or polarized they are. Use ISO 12312-2 Certified Viewers: Check that your solar glasses or handheld viewers are explicitly stamped with ISO 12312-2 compliance: ISO 12312-2:2015, “Eye and face protection — Sunglasses and related eyewear — Part 2: Filters for direct observation of the Sun.” The ISO 12312-2 standard is the main international benchmark for handheld, non-magnifying solar viewers used for direct observation of the Sun.
Inspect the Filters: Before looking up, check your lenses for scratches, tears, or pinholes. Discard damaged glasses immediately.
Putting Them On: Turn away from the Sun, put the glasses on securely over your eyes (or over prescription glasses), and then look up. Turn away before removing them.

“Do not look at the Sun through a camera lens, telescope, binoculars, or any other optical device while wearing eclipse glasses or using a handheld solar viewer,” the US space agency wrote in a post about eclipse safety.

If you don’t have ISO-certified glasses, use indirect projection to safely view the eclipse cast onto a surface. There are several DIY methods for this:
* Kitchen Colander: Hold a standard kitchen colander 1–2 feet above a sheet of white paper or the ground with your back to the Sun. Each small hole will project a mini crescent-shaped image of the eclipsed Sun.
* Pinhole Cardboard: Take two pieces of cardboard or stiff paper. Punch a clean pinhole in one piece. Stand with the Sun behind your shoulder, and hold the pinhole card so sunlight shines through the hole onto the second card acting as a screen.
* Natural Tree Shade: Find a nearby leaf-covered tree. The small gaps between the leaves act as natural pinhole projectors, casting dozens of mini crescent eclipses onto the ground.

What if you want to take a picture of solar eclipse? Many will be hoping to capture the celestial phenomenon on their phones or cameras. You need to be also careful with cameras. Experts have warned that pointing a digital camera or smart phone camera lens directly at the Sun could cause permanent damage to a device. ⚠️
Pointing your smartphone or camera at the Sun can permanently damage internal sensors, experts warn.
Direct exposure to the Sun, even when partially covered by the Moon, risks overheating a smartphone or digital camera. Pointing a camera at the Sun for a prolonged period could even burn parts of the internal sensor, creating dead pixels that cannot be repaired. “The best practice would be to hold a pair of eclipse glasses in front of your phone’s lenses when photographing the Sun at any point other than totality.”

A solar eclipse creates a rapid, temporary interruption in solar radiation, triggering immediate physical, biological, and technological changes across the path of shadow. Here is a list of some effects on nature and ecosystems:

Atmospheric and Weather Changes
Temperature Drop: Ambient temperatures typically fall by 5°F to 15°F (3°C to 8°C) within minutes as direct sunlight vanishes, with the sharpest decline occurring right at totality.
Eclipse Wind: As the ground rapidly cools under the Moon’s shadow, localized air convection changes, causing winds to quiet down or abruptly change direction before picking up again as light returns.
Humidity and Cloud Shifts: Relative humidity spikes near the surface. Low-altitude cumulus clouds, which rely on rising warm air from sun-heated ground, frequently dissipate during the eclipse.

Animal and Wildlife Behavior
Diurnal Species (Daytime): Songbirds stop singing and head for roosts, honeybees cease foraging and return to hives, and livestock line up to head toward their barns, treating totality as sudden nightfall.
Nocturnal Species (Nighttime): Crickets, frogs, owls, and bats mistake the darkness for dusk, initiating night calls and nocturnal foraging early.
Disoriented Navigation: Species reliant on solar cues or light patterns—such as migratory birds, dragonflies, and marine organisms near the water surface—often freeze or temporarily lose direction during the shadow’s passage.
Anxiety and Grouping: Zoo observations note unusual social behaviors during totality; for instance, flamingos form protective huddles around chicks, while chimpanzees have been observed climbing high structures to gaze at the darkened sky.

Plant Life
Photosynthesis Shutdown: Photosynthetic activity halts sharply as solar irradiance drops.
Stomatal Closure: Pores on leaves (stomata) begin closing to conserve water, temporarily slowing down plant transpiration until full daylight returns.

Effects on Humans and Infrastructure:

Vision Safety
Solar Retinopathy: Looking directly at the Sun’s exposed disk—even during a partial eclipse—causes irreversible thermal damage to retinal photoreceptors. Because the retina lacks pain receptors, damage occurs without immediate warning. Standard sunglasses offer zero protection; viewing requires specialized ISO 12312-2 certified eclipse glasses.

Psychological and Emotional Impact
Awe and Collective Experience: Totality routinely triggers strong psychological reactions, including goosebumps, vocal emotional outbursts, and an intense sensation of awe. Psychological studies show that experiencing a total eclipse fosters elevated feelings of social connection and awe among crowds.

Electrical Grids and Logistics
Solar Power Fluctuations: Electrical grid operators must manage sudden drop-offs in solar energy generation followed by rapid “ramp rates” as the Moon moves past the Sun, requiring hydro, natural gas, or battery reserves to balance the grid. Britain’s biggest energy supplier urges people not to use washing machines or dishwashers during solar eclipse because the shutdown in solar energy generation will coincide with a usual surge in electricity demand in the UK.
Cell Towers and Traffic: Massive influxes of observers into narrow paths of totality often overload rural telecommunication networks and cause severe highway congestion before and after the event.

Teknologia 2025 event highlights included increased visitor and exhibitor numbers, with a strong focus on smart and sustainable industry, safety, AI, and the hydrogen economy.

Cyber Security Nordic brought together the leading industry players in the cyber security. The event was tailored for IT and ICT executives, cybersecurity experts, as well as private and public sector executives, decision-makers, and government officials responsible for cybersecurity.

Article links (in Finnish):
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2025/11/04/helsingin-teknologiamessut-alkaa-nailla-ohjeilla-selviat/
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2025/11/07/tekoaly-tuli-teknologiamessuille/
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2025/11/06/kyberturva-houkutti-kasvavasti-tietoturva-ammattilaisia/
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2025/11/06/teknologia25-palautumista-useilla-hyvinvointitekniikoilla/
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2025/11/03/uusia-reunalaskenta-ja-tekoalyratkaisuja/

Here are published material from the event:

https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2023/11/07/teknologia23-messut-aukesivat/
- I took picture

https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2023/11/08/teknologia23-suomessa-osataan-sirusuunnittelu-ja-piirituotanto/
- text and pictures

https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2023/11/08/suomalainen-iot-yritys-voitti-tietoturvapalkinnon/
- picture and text material

https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2023/11/10/teknologia23-tarjosi-passiivijaahdytysta-reunalaskentaan/
- text and pictures

More articles on event:

https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2023/11/09/biosignaalien-mittaaja-voitti-startup-kisan/

https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2023/11/09/tietoturvan-cyber-security-nordic-kiinnosti/

After a four-year break, electronics professionals gather in Munich for the Electronica trade fair. Expectations are high for both companies and visitors. The last time the Electronica fair was held online was in 2020, but now the event is returning as a traditional fair in the giant halls of the Munich fairs. Now Electronica is said to be the world’s most important industry gathering and this year the only global electronics trade fair.

The event has a total of 14 exhibition halls and a wide range of seminars on the most popular electronic applications. According to the fair organizer, there are more than 2300 exhibitors and the number of visitors is also aimed at tens of thousands.

Electronics component distributors will present themselves widely for the first time since the corona years at the Electronica22 trade fair in Munich, which starts today. In addition to local component distributors and the big Avnet and Arrow, the industry’s global online stores are included.

I will not be attending the event at the location, but I am following what happens there from the distance. I write about new interesting products are released to Uusiteknologia on-line magazine.

electronica Trend Index says “Electronics industry paves the way for climate protection”. Sustainability aspects of the electronics industry are presented and discussed on the event. This year, the focus is, among other things, on the future vision of an all-electric society based on CO2-neutral energies.

Electronics industry contributes greatly to EU climate goals

The companies from the electronics and digital industry surveyed make a high contribution to the taxonomy-compliant environmental goals, in particular to climate protection (56 percent) and to avoiding pollution (55 percent). Above all, the digitization of processes is an important lever for conserving resources (64 percent). The companies’ other activities for achieving the climate goals comprise recycling and waste management (59 percent) and the acquisition of green electricity or their own renewable energies (50 percent). After all, almost half of those surveyed (48 percent) stated that their company manufactures products that help users to save energy or conserve resources.

Electric mobility not considered significant for climate neutrality

When asked about the most important measures for achieving climate neutrality in the EU, the vast majority of those surveyed named the expansion of renewable energies (85 percent), followed by investments in research and development (76 percent) and increasing energy efficiency (72 percent). What’s notable is that only 28 percent of those surveyed from the electronics industry see electric mobility as an important lever here. When asked what the biggest hindrance was to achieve this climate goal, those surveyed named bureaucratic hurdles (78 percent) and geopolitical tensions (73 percent), followed by unclear or contradictory legal conditions (58 percent), supply bottlenecks (57 percent) and a lack of acceptance in society (53 percent).

Reducing energy costs contributes to competitiveness

Companies need to act sustainably in order to remain competitive. Those surveyed consider the greatest opportunity that these measures offer to be the fact that, with them, companies can reduce their energy costs (70 percent). Other important goals mentioned include retaining customers in the long term (50 percent), building resilient supply chains (47 percent) and getting the younger generation enthusiastic about the industry (44 percent).

Exhibitor list 2022
https://exhibitors.electronica.de/exhibitor-portal/2022/list-of-exhibitors/

Links to some press releases from event newsroom:

https://electronica.de/en/newsroom/press-material/press-releases/detail/smart-energy-for-a-sustainable-future.html

https://electronica.de/en/newsroom/press-material/press-releases/detail/the-automotive-industry-leading-the-structural-transformation.html

https://electronica.de/en/newsroom/press-material/press-releases/detail/electronica-trend-index-2022.html

https://electronica.de/en/newsroom/press-material/press-releases/detail/anticipation-in-the-industry-is-high.html

https://electronica.de/en/newsroom/press-material/press-releases/detail/electromechanics-key-components-for-industry-and-the-automotive-sector.html

Article links:

https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2022/11/15/elektroniikan-komponenttijakelijat-tiivistavat-esittaytymistaan/

https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/14250-suurin-odotuksin-elektroniikan-olympialaisiin

It has been said earlier that climate crisis is going to change the way we watch sports: in the future, Winter Olympics will likely take place on completely artificial snow. And by “the future,” we mean “starting now.” As detailed by a report from Loughborough University London, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics are set to be the first ever where not a flake of natural snow will be on the ground – it will virtually all be human-made. So This Year’s Winter Olympics First Ever To Take Place On 100 Percent Artificial Snow. To make it happen 49 million gallons of chemically-treated water will make up the slopes for this year’s Winter Olympics.

Olympics is shown on television by many broadcasters. Many of the challenges that broadcasters faced when covering the Summer Olympics in Tokyo will remain as Covid continues to impact everyday life. However, there are a number of lessons learned and this new broadcast came just half year after summer event. Beijing IBC will be smaller than Tokyo’s because event is smaller.

There is some new TV technology taken to use. The TV Technology Behind the Beijing Winter Olympics article says that UHD, Immersive Audio and 5G highlight tech advances for Olympic Broadcast Services. More than 6,000+ hours of content is expected to be produced, and an increasing portion of it being delivered to non-traditional broadcast providers.

The most important technologies in covering this event are cloud and IP communications. Using IP tools and the cloud played an important role in planning and designing the IBC and its production workflows. Cloud allows to build a virtual infrastructure to be established long before we even go to the facility. For the Tokyo games as well as Beijing, OBS has teamed up with Alibaba Group to create OBS Cloud, a suite of custom-made cloud-based solutions specifically adapted to the extremely demanding, data-heavy broadcast workflows. “IP delivery is very important for the broadcasters to be able to easily to convert the content that we’re giving to them to formats that are used by the devices that they are putting online.”

The Tokyo Summer Games represented the first Olympics that the OBS provided UHD/HDR coverage and the 2022 Winter Games will mark the first such 4K UHD/HDR coverage of the winter event. Although various broadcasters have recently dabbled in UHD coverage of the Games, OBS developed an infrastructure that allows them to synchronize content whether it’s in 1080i HD or 4K UHD, making it easier for rights-holding broadcasters to manage and access ultra high-resolution content. Like very many earlier times Panasonic will serve as the official provider of a large part of the broadcast production gear to cover the Games.

For audio, OBS expanded its options to go beyond 5.1 channel audio that had been the norm up until Tokyo. For Beijing, OBS will provide immersive audio that is discreet and not compressed so it can meet the broadcaster distribution standard. And with a unified HD/UHD production infrastructure, “whether broadcasters pick up HD or UHD they will always be able to receive immersive audio.”

OBS’s coverage is increasingly using 5G wireless. The use of 5G “is even more important because in the Games we have a serious problem with the lack of frequencies, because we need a large number of RF crews just to do our coverage,” Salamouris said. “And 5G helps because you can rely on an established network to do our wireless transmissions instead of relying on dedicated technology that we don’t have enough of anymore.”

Related article links:

The TV Technology Behind the Beijing Winter Olympics

Broadcasting the Games – how the TV industry delivered the Olympics during a state of emergency

How video production has adapted to showcase the Olympic Games to the world

Olympics 2021: The host broadcast facts and figures for TV coverage of the world’s biggest multi-sport show

A friend called from a big computer festival Assembly 1999 that was starting. It was one of the biggest this type of event in Europe with thousands of people coming with computers. Some of my friends was running big screen and video streaming for the event.

They had all the stuff rented and set up for the event by the AV contractor. Everything worked flawlessly on the previous day. But on the first day the audio and video system started picking up lots of noise. The audio signal had mains humming in it, and video signals had “humming bars” on them. As more computers get powered up on the hall, the worse the noise becomes. We are not talking about few computers, there was over two thousand computers on the hall.

Same event 2010

I walked in to the even with my tool-set. Solving the audio problems involved sorting out the lines that picked most noise. Most of the audio connections were analogue (both balanced and unbalanced) and most video connections used composite video interface. I walked in to the event with necessary tools. A combination of audio signal isolation transformers and “ground lift” on some balanced audio lines made situation OK.

Video signals were a tougher problem. There were some very long video line runs from the main video mixer to different locations (projectors for big screen, smaller screen etc..). Those long video lines seemed to have lots of noise in them. I measured form 100 mA to 1 ampere mains AC current on coaxial cable shields on the cables with most humming bars! Disconnecting some of those longest lines made the video system to work noise free, but what to do because we can’t live without connections to video projectors.

The main program on the event was starting on the next day, so this problem needs to be solved so that everything works flawlessly or at least “well enough” by tomorrow. I know I would needed some type of video signal isolation devices for those problematic video lines, but our equipment supplier did not have them. It was already quite late night, so it was impossible to try other sources.

Fortunately I had one prototype of video “humbugging” transformer with me. It was a common mode choke built by winding thin 75 ohm coaxial cable over a suitable toroid transformer core. This device reduces the amount of current flowing on coaxial cable shield and reduces the noise pickup. I built the device based on some old documentation (someone sent me old document from BBC on hum bugging transformers). I tested this DIY “humbugging” transformer on one of the video lines, and it worked very well. The amount of noise on that video line was reduced to point that it could no longer be detected on the big screen.

The problem is that there were also other lines that seemed to need the same kind of treatment. I went to home lab, trying to gather whatever parts I could find to build more such devices. I ended up building three more on the night from the part I could find – I even managed to find nice plastic cases for them. Next morning I came with my brand new “humbugging transformers” to the event. They worked and saved the show next day. What I made looked pretty much like this inside (this is a later made version that uses the same box).

In the end the video equipment provider that rented most of the video gear for the event end up buying my boxes after the event at decent price. I ended later making some more for this company. I ended up making more on then when needed for some video companies. Quite often when I first rented few of them to solve an emergency, they wanted to buy them for themselves.

They have performed very well on many video systems to solve ground loop problems. There are passive hum suppressor transformers that will very effectively remove the hum from the video signal, but do not affect the video signal otherwise. Those special transformers act like a common mode coils, which stop the annoying ground loop currents on the shield of the coaxial cable, but provide a straight path for the signal inside the cable. This type of device is capable of passing the signals from DC to tens of MHz without problems. The hum suppressor transformer both reduces the current flowing on the cable shield and compensated the voltage differences that would otherwise be between cable ends and eventually get to the signal.

You can find more information on my ground loop noise reducing boxes at
https://www.epanorama.net/blog/2009/09/06/build-humbugging-transformer/ and https://www.epanorama.net/blog/2009/09/15/build-video-isolator/ and https://www.epanorama.net/blog/2010/08/12/audio-isolation-transformers/.

I ended doing more audio and video tricks to keep this event running,

Here are some interesting news I saw today on my newsfeeds:

Sony introduced an electrical concept car prototype.

Finnish companies Bittium and Rightware show their talent for Android in cars.

Qt is showing newest HMI (Human-Machine-Interface) for cars (Qt for Android Automotive OS HMI) and Canatu shows touch controls.

Nvidia and Asus show computer monitors with 360 Hz (2.8 ms) refresh rate.

LG’s 8K and 4K OLED TVs at CES 2020

LG Display’s flexible screen first look at CES 2020

Sandisk shows that you can now fit 8 terabytes of storage to your pocket.

Pollen Robotics is selling an open-source platform designed for prototyping and research purposes. Take a look at Pollen Robotics Reachy hands-on at CES 2020

Pilgrim Beart (CEO / DevicePilot Ltd.) gave keynote speech “The seven habits of highly effective IoT companies”. According to him, traditional control and monitoring is the first step of IoT, which should be developed to optimize the efficiency of companies through IoT. IoT will not be a mature market for a long time, so it is best to develop the related business through partnerships and collaborative models.

Every start-up IoT company should consider how security and upgradeability will be implemented right from the start. IoT’s business should be seen as a revenue-generating service business instead of a one-time hardware selling transaction.

According to Pilgrim Beart, 5G will change some IoT applications, but many IoT applications do not need new 5G features, but need more extensive data coverage than the 5G network can provide for a long time. The use of blockchain technologies in IoT applications is also challenging due to their typically very high energy consumption, but in some rare applications their use makes sense.

I can agree with those views pretty well. I think that at least at the short term both 5G and blockchain technologies seem to be over-hyped. There are some special applications for which those fit well and are absolutely needed, but large majority of IoT applications at the moment and in near future do not need to use them.

Aloke Barua (Microchip) presentation “IOT – Mapping the Value Beyond the Hype” gave presentation “IOT – Mapping the Value Beyond the Hype” that contained both business value slides and some technical details. The interesting parts were the data on estimated business value what different IoT applications bring.

IoT security is now very important and will be more important in the future because almost everybody seem to want their IoT devices to be safe.

Second inspirational keynote was “Accelerating IoT with AI at the Edge” by Eddie Seymour (European Technical Director, NVIDIA). Eddie Saymour spoke on NVIDIA’s view on the application of AI technologies to IoT (thus becoming AIoT). According to Eddie Saymour, AI is a new industrial revolution. For its successful exploitation, we need open minds and creative, unusual thinking. A start-up company using AI technology needs to find a unique challenging function that can be solved with AI to succeed.The presentation had huge number of examples where NVIDIA AI has been used in in real life applications by small and big companies.

In this picture keynote speaker Eddie Saymour holds a handy $99 NVIDIA Jetson NANO AI card computer in his hand. He says some people already call it “Raspberry Pi for AI”.

IoT security matters. In his presentation, Antti Tolvanen (Etteplan) introduced the regulation of cyber security for IoT devices. Because of the widespread impact of IoT devices on people’s lives and the risk of poor data security, many countries have begun to regulate IoT security. The EU Cybersecurity Act, adopted in March 2019, has laid the foundations for regulating IoT in the EU.

The security of consumer IoT devices is now covered by ETSI TS 103 645, and corresponding definitions for IIoT applications and 5G devices are coming up. There is a voluntary system for certification of equipment against current requirements, and after two years it will be decided whether to make one of these mandatory.

The US and China also have their own legislation on the safety of IoT devices. US IoT security in many ways in the same direction as the EU for essential requirements.

Watch the demo competition live on Finnish national TV!

The legendary Assembly demo competition will be shown live on national (Finnish) YLE TV2 channel on Saturday August 4 starting around midnight after the ROG Tournament CS:GO Finnish Championship 2018 Finals.

You can view event also on-line: AssemblyTV hosts interviews, chats and of course the compostudios throughout the party at twitch.tv/AssemblyTV. You can also watch AssemblyTV’s latest videos on Youtube.

Demoscene is the art of real-time: the combined talents of programmers, musicians and graphics artists resulting in amazing audiovisual shows, demos, that run in real time on your computer.

See some of the best works ever released in the ASSEMBLY Archive.

Arduino Day is a worldwide birthday celebration of Arduino. It’s a 24-hour-long event organized by the community and Arduino’s founders, where people interested in Arduino come together.