We're very conscious that everyone is tired of Zooms and webinars and meetings and everything else. So we have content to talk about what we see in the world of blockchain from our perspective. However, we want this to be a conversation, clearly the POC joined for the purpose of learning something. So if there's anything you're curious about, anything you want to know, which we might have an answer to, or which we can follow up on, just either speak up or put on chat and we're going to address it to best of our ability. So my name is Lukas Staniszewski and I've been in this space for the last three years, spearheading the product development practice in IBM, largely focused on working with the open source community around Hyperledger Fabric, but most importantly, developing IBM's blockchain portfolio of products, which includes IBM and blockchain platform and such. I'm joined by Porter Stowell. Porter, do you want to do a quick intro of who you are and what you do? Sure thing, Lukas. Great to be here. Thanks, Marta, for the introduction. Lukas and I have been partners in crime now with IBM blockchain platform for what, two years now? Two years. I've been with IBM blockchain platform along with Alan Dickinson who's on the call for three years. And, you know, I'm also an offering manager with Lukas, and we cover slightly different aspects of how do we bring our product to market. But on a more personal note, I live in North Carolina at Research Triangle Park, which is IBM, one of IBM's larger blockchain hubs. Lukas is at the other one in New York City. We also have hubs in Hursley, UK, and other places around the Gold Globe. So with, you know, again, to echo previous points, we're going to make this a conversation with ourselves and we encourage you all to jump in at any point. But excited to be here today and talk some blockchain. Cool. Thanks, Porter. So let me let me just outline what we came to discuss. But again, we're flexible. So we'll start off with some high level trends of what we see in the market based on our conversations with clients, analysts and such. And for those of you who are maybe not familiar with what we do, IBM has been in this space for for a very long time. We'll speak a little bit about the history, but we were one of the initial contributors to HyperlogyFabric. We actually contributed the code, which then originated to be fabric. And we've been very active in the community. Since then, we've had literally hundreds of clients working on our products. And we've seen a lot in this market. So we're going to share a little bit of the latest trends and some high level industry specific things we're seeing. And then at the end of the day, blockchain is just the underlying technology, which you all know. And it's exciting to know and see what is happening on the industry level from a use case perspective. So we've picked a few use cases which we believe are relevant to the world we live in or that are relevant from a perspective of what is actually scaling in this market. And then we'll pivot more towards the actual underlying technology. And we're here to tell you a little bit about how we can help you, how we build a set of products, which can help you in actually addressing the business case and the end value. And then we're going to have a conversation about what we are thinking about in 2021 and beyond and what are the underlying technological things that we have to focus on. And that's going to be the most open and we're just going to have a conversation. We hope that you're going to post some questions so that we can tackle them as we go. And the objective today is, one, show us how we can help you and two, if any one of you is interested in a one-on-one conversation is to ultimately come to us and have a chat about all things blockchain. So with that said, let's start off with some observations. Go ahead, Borda. Yeah, thanks, Lucas. It's hard to talk about the market today without covering COVID in some way, shape, or form. I know we're all probably exhausted from talking about COVID, but this has had a dramatic impact on the blockchain market, specifically enterprise blockchain, both good and bad. You know, we've seen overall investment with blockchain decrease dramatically because of the pandemic. We see forecasts for 2021 cut across the board. And the reason for this is a lot of the key industries that we're looking into blockchain just aren't a position to invest in innovation like they were. We have infrastructure and consumer services, transportation, media retail. I mean, these were some of our most promising clients and, you know, they're facing larger challenges at the moment.  Until we get some level of stability and clarity, I can empathize with any CIO, CTO, like how do you allocate your budget and where do you invest your limited resources in this time of uncertainty. It's a really challenging environment on there. But with all that being said, because of COVID, it's really kicked blockchain enterprise blockchain up a level in a degree. So there's the notion of we need more immutability in these times of uncertainty now more than ever. And so this is really driving increased blockchain spend. And you can see that just since July, you know, from June, one year to July, this year conversations were 54% in such a short period of time. And because of the immutability, decentralized nature that enterprise blockchain touch, I'm sorry. Okay, probably just to mute. So this makes a lot of sense and is encouraging, you know, from all chaos comes opportunity, and it's great to see that blockchain and enterprise blockchain is, is kind of tap opportunity, really capitalizing on this chaos. And with that, you know, obviously healthcare comes to the forefront. We're seeing a lot of blockchain related COVID response cases. And we see healthcare really upping their investment and interest in all things enterprise blockchain. And with that, we'll also touch on some use cases and supply chain resiliency, you know, we've shown us from a firsthand experience that new vendors need to be onboarded quickly. And having a flexible and rapid supply chain is a paramount importance in these times of uncertainty so we're seeing a lot of exciting investment there as well. And the data is showing this out. So just from doing some basic social listening, you can see industries such as financial services, healthcare and industrial are really ramping up their interest in and mentions of blockchain. You know, we're, we see volume in blockchain marketplace is jumped by more than 36% from 600, you know, 675,000 in June to 920 that 20,000 plus in July. You know, we're across the board from social to other metrics, we're seeing an increase in activity, specific to industries that have a vested interest in trust and transparency. And, you know, we continue to see this trend in the data as well.  And right now we're seeing adoption on both sides of the fence. And, you know, it's not to say one is better than the other at this point. I think what the more important lesson here is that we need both, both to be successful. Our rising tide lifts all boats, and over time we will work to increase interoperability between these two spheres of our world at this moment. But when you see large businesses deepening their investment in enterprise blockchain and permission blockchain, this is a great thing. Same with permissionless. It's great to see the Ernst and Young's and Coca-Cola's of the world investing in permissionless as well. This is only going to bring more attention to the industry, create more opportunities, and eventually we'll get to a point of increased interoperability where, you know, blockchain can really deliver on the promise it's always sent out to deliver.  Again, it's, I still think we're in a period of learning trial and error and getting more and more applications into a production state and seeing let people see firsthand the value that distributed ledger technology can bring to their organizations and ecosystems. And just to add to this, like, we've all probably heard about the PayPal announcements in October. And the fact that in this week they said that they're going to drop the waitlist and if you think about, like, the significance of what PayPal is doing with the hundreds of millions of users they have and the tens of millions of merchants they have to buy, hold, store and use crypto. We've seen a huge spike in revisiting blockchain conversations with our clients because at this point, if PayPal is putting a huge bet on this, if JP Morgan is creating its standalone blockchain unit within its enterprise with 100 people, some of the biggest skeptics from two years ago, and they were the skeptics, are revisiting and putting a lot of money on this horse. For all of us on this call this is good because we are again seeing, as Porto said, a tide which lifts all of us, and we'll talk about how this all correlates together and how we see it working together. Anyway, back to you, Porto. Yeah, and personally, I think, you know, as Bitcoin continues to search to new at all time highs or close to it. I think this is also good for enterprise blockchain as well it drags the conversation and puts it on the forefront or more people's brains and all conversations are going to be productive at this point. With all that being said of permission permission less, we continue to see that hyper ledger fabric is the number one permission DLT. And, you know, it's from the you look at the developer community, who from a technology vendor perspective is supporting protocols with active engagements and what the large companies are doing and where they're going into production We continue to see hyper ledger fabric as the leader in this space. It's got the most mature ecosystem. And, you know, we constantly get re affirmation from all the sources and customers that we speak with that it is a it is the default standard for enterprise blockchain. And, you know, it's great that permission less is getting steam and there's there's absolutely some great use cases there. But for what businesses, we see businesses trying to accomplish today from a value standpoint, we continue to see hyper ledger fabric being the de facto DLT of choice. So, you know, we covered a lot of ground. We said we want to make this conversational. Any questions about the research or state of the market to date that people either want to contribute to or have questions about I'll start. So what what is your opinion. I hear a lot of people more and more actually people saying, Well, all of this permission stuff that that's great but I think that ultimately will end up with public blockchain only this is like the middle stage of of development. So, that could be. However, the clients that we're working with a lot of them are, you know, we work with a lot of financial institutions, and you know they they protect their data. They have compliance issues, you know, all this, you know, a few of compliance issues that I can't even begin to under begin to understand or, and how that impacts what they do on a blockchain from a blockchain perspective. They're looking to create very, you know, discrete conversations and data sharing about what they're doing and how they're transacting with other organizations within that ecosystem for the for that specific example. They have very high levels of security and regulatory issues from data privacy, data residency, and they need to know absolutely who they're transacting with. Now could they somehow post that to a public network. Perhaps, but you know you need the security and privacy that they're currently not seeing within specific use cases. There are two points to that so so one case in point from our perspective that we see adoption in the future but there is a lot of different hurdles that companies will face like if you think about participating in any public blockchain doesn't matter like Zoom, Hedera or anything else, suddenly the company has to go into the custody of these assets tokens and such and that becomes a problematic accounting and finance problem because it's difficult to account for the value of these accounts. And the next expense, is it an asset who has permissions, where is it stored. So this is a new concept it's not necessarily a tricky concept but it's a new concept, and many companies are simply not fit for that. But that's like a tactical reason. I think the bigger reason is is one which is very relevant to the discourse of today's world which is a lot of people say, why wouldn't elections and voting be done on blockchain. The majority of us say yeah that's a brilliant case, but it becomes a little bit more tricky because if you suddenly allow yourself to run extremely important operations be it in the public or private sector, you're now vulnerable to that system. You're now vulnerable to denial of attacks and any other thing. And you are dependent on the underlying layer there. The layer is not yet mature enough to address cases which are very vulnerable in terms of security and such. There's a lot of things which are unknown so I think companies today are still in a proof of concept and pilot mode to test these but to move a production system where you have sensitive data and data that you cannot expose. I don't think the technology is there yet. It will be there eventually so long story short to your question. As blockchain purists or blockchain bulls. We believe that this the web 3.0 is an area which will change the world we live in. Now it's going to take time and some cases will need a closed ecosystem which will be done through permission. Others will benefit from open so that the future is very much about how do these coexist in the same way as how the web coexist with different different underlying technologies. Sorry, long answer. And eventually it's not going to be a binary choice it's going to be you'll be able to self select where you fall on the permission versus permissionless sector. At least hopefully yeah but again to Lucas's point it's going to take some time to get that. Hi Lucas and Porter I've got a question. Do you see a problem with the adoption due to a number of organizations having to. So for example you may start off with an organization but then everyone needs to be part of this consortium in order to be able to have that adoption do you see any blockers or issues there. So that's that's a that's like the crux of the enterprise network formation question so there's a few subsets of your question which is how do you incentivize people to join and network people being organizations if they have limited benefits tangible benefits. And how do you solve for that so there's a number of things we've observed in the market one is that if you're a market monopoly, you demand that clients or partners on board to a network. Because of the benefit they will receive of being a supplier that's that's one and that's kind of a not a long term solution. What we're seeing more and more of is that that it's important to distinguish what does it mean to be. A member of a network from a technological perspective like owning and node owning appear owning, whatever the construct is in the protocol you're working on in high budget fabric. Do you need up here now do you need to have access to the ledger do you need to be endorsing transactions, or do you need to participate in consensus, and what we're seeing over time is that, especially around the consensus level if you're building a private network, you. Not everyone needs to be the one participating in running the transactions through the consensus that's one, the second then becomes more tricky around who from the organizational level needs to own a node with access directly to the ledger endorse transactions. Initially, we thought that every organization would need that and benefit from that. To your point, we're seeing that it becomes a massive burden because if you're a small partner small company, going through the whole process of setting up the infrastructure, having the knowledge to build that out and actually the cost incurred becomes prohibitive. So, if we look at a topology of the growth of our networks we're seeing very few which are adding many, many nodes, what we see actually happening is companies working more on the application layer. So, you don't need to own an individual node yourself, you're participating either in a community a shared node, in which you have like given restricted access and permissions, and that reduces the cost. It reduces the burden of a member company actually going into the details of logic and that's like the big, big, big topic. We should abstract away from the blockchain conversation at some point and focus on the application layer because you're there to get data visibility to get whatever you need to get in your in your solution so. Long answer, but the point is their new model from a network topology perspective, which are far more suited than we believe two years ago for her how would you how would you add to this. Yeah, it's I see the networks that are successful have a structured approach to onboarding new members and like that governance model. And with that it's tied to the value proposition that that their application is looking to create. And what I see is the more laser focused you have on your use case and the specific problem you're solving. It makes it is the oil in the car that makes it all run that's what gets people through your governance process. And I think, you know, if I were to look forward and you know this is teasing out a subject will cover later.  So they can be successful because that that is the tricky part there's the business. There's the legal and the technology aspect the BLT of blockchain. And, you know, the business has come a long way. The technology is come a long way in any blockchain conversation it's rarely the technology that is the sticking point for adoption and proliferation. It is the the legal which can includes the governance structures. So, you know, hopefully there will be a lot more work done there creating more standard standard processes for anyone and everyone to follow. You know, focus on on the business logic and problem that they're actually trying to solve. James, we give you a very long answer to your question. No, no, thank you for that. I asked a couple of use cases and I don't want to take any much more of your time. Is there any way I can get in contact or with you guys directly to kind of go through that. I kind of work for a consultancy which are looking into blockchain at the moment so what is the best way of getting in contact with I'll post our emails here and like anyone on this call can just reach out to us and we'll schedule a one on one so I'll post both of our emails and just ping as well. Thank you everyone on the call gets the special treatment the VIP treatment so I see that happen. Gosh, I'm so sorry about Kumar raising his hand. So, I, I let you talk now so you can. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, hi sir. Yeah, hello. Yeah, is it possible to create a decentralization for the videos, or the any content one using the hyperlegia. So, what are you, you're trying to video, put up for the video blocking. Yeah. No, when, when we take a YouTube videos, so I can create a platform for that. So I can upload videos in my platform. Is it possible to create a decentralization using the hyperlegia. I'd be curious, you know, I think the tricky part is it's just like what are you storing on the ledger and what what aspect is decentralized, but you can always put something on the on the hyperlegia fabric for sure. So, I think the general answer here is, you can use distributed ledger and hyperlegia fabric for almost any use case you can come up with. It is a technology just like your, you know, databases artificial intelligence cloud and so on and so forth so can you use a technology to build a decentralized media platform sharing platform. Yes. Now question is what exactly do you want to decentralize and what's your, what's your use case specifically what why are you needing a blockchain. But I think that's kind of dive deep into that specific use case that you have so I think it will be great if you can follow afterwards. I can use directly on the videos or the content of the video. Well, yes, you can put a video on the blockchain. It probably doesn't make much sense but you theoretically could do it. Yeah, thank you. So, you know, I worked with one client who does video distribution. And why they were using blockchain as an example was, you know, I don't know where everyone lives but in the US, like we get we consume most of our video content like our movie content to Netflix and Hulu and these services. But when you go to an international market, the distributors are wholesalers of those videos. It's hard to track and trace who has rights to what video and for how long and through what outlet. And it's like it becomes a distributed network of trying to figure out who has your content into what markets. So there was a startup that was looking at using blockchain to facilitate and solve the problem that is international video distribution or movie title distribution. And it works really well for some of these, you know, non marquee titles, like independent films, for example, like how do you put these into markets in a secure way that you can a know who has rights to it, and for how long, how many views it's getting. So one from the movie producer to the to the distributor to the consumer has transparency as to how any specific title is performing.  Now that is a diverse network of participants, and you're trying to aggregate that information across, you know, different user bases so you're getting you know who's consuming the video who has rights to and how you know all their financial performance metrics that are associated with that video distribution and consumption. So let's let's let's move on let's let's give our view on like what we know are the cases that are growing. It feels that we could have had a conversation about sometimes your presentation is this a blockchain use case or is this not we won't go down that path. But let's talk about what we think is is is excited what we don't think is exciting we can skip this and talk about you know the impact. Yeah, so you know, this is, we, as Lucas mentioned before we've been in blockchain for a long time now, and we've grown and a very exciting customer base that we're proud of. These are production clients doing real things in blockchain. And you know, while we were not going to dive into every single one of the examples, we just want to highlight some of the key, like how these some of these solutions have evolved over time. So within IBM, one of our marquee solutions is IBM food trust. So you can see that, you know, since its inception we have over 200 clients, we passed the 28 million transaction mark, and we have 20,000 products currently using the food trust solution. If you look at we trade we trade is a trade finance solution. It's got 16 of the largest banks across 15 countries in Europe, and it's, you know, it's got 60 million Euro value of transactions. So they're putting real business value through this network, and it's facilitating the speed of business as I like to say, you know, with major players, and their, their vendor ecosystem within Europe. So BCI out of Thailand, you know, this is the world's first blockchain based platform for government savings bonds, and issuing a total of $1.6 billion worth of US and US dollar terms, within its first couple years, within the first two weeks of going into true production. And you know we'll cover that a little bit more exactly what BCI is doing from a use case perspective. But you know all these companies are evolving. And, you know, if when we talk to analysts. One of the common things we hear about enterprise blockchain is in the trough of disillusionment. So you have your initial hype cycle, which kind of peeked out in 2018 with, you know, in sync with Bitcoin 20,000. But since then we've, we've really gone down into the trough and what that is done is, it's weeded out the pretenders. And what's left are organizations who have a very specific business problem that they're trying to solve and blockchain is just the technology that's helping them address that issue. They're not doing blockchain for the sake of blockchain. And you know what are these customers have in common. You know we've touched on it multiple times I'll do this quickly. You know that there's an existing business network. Those companies that have to create an ecosystem really are struggling, but those who already had an ecosystem in place that they can tap into with this value added offering are doing much better. And secondly, they have a real problem that they've been examining how they conduct business today, that there's some sort of friction, whether perceived or real, that incurs unnecessary costs or time delays. And there's an unsatisfied need for trust. And what does that mean I you know one of the common things or one of my favorite revelations in my three years of blockchain at IBM is the notion is, it's not that trust doesn't exist. It's that trust can be enhanced by blockchain. And what is the value of enhancing that trust for them a lot of times it means, you know, a massive reduction in costs or time and efficiency. And there's still a whole suite of revenue innovations that we really haven't even scratched the surface of. But it's, it's really challenging ourselves to think of, what could I do in my business world with enhanced trust. But these are the three ingredients that we commonly see. You know, with that, the other thing that we see in common from all of our customers is that they're using our platform as a key part of their blockchain strategy. They're, you know, we, you know, we're building off of hyper ledger fabric to make it easier and simpler for that people to build operate and grow their, their blockchain networks. Whether it's an assas or software deployment model. And you know this is the foundation that people are building their applications on top of. And we're going to go through the examples of what some of our customers are able to accomplish, because you know we take a lot of the heavy lifting out of blockchain, because this gets really complicated when you look at some of our production grade and what they're trying to accomplish. And the size of their networks, we're making or streamlining that process for them so they can focus on the business value they're trying to create. So, you know, we wanted to highlight some of our favorite use cases. You know, highlight the common use case as well so one of the common use cases we're getting is just track and trace capabilities within blockchain so straight provenance of, you know, where, where goods have come from, and where they're going. We've talked about food trust. This is a great example of food traceability and supply chain visibility, which started with a great story out of Walmart where Walmart went to a team of people and said, tell me the origins of these of this mango. We've been working about six, 10 people six days to locate exactly which farm those mangoes came from. And since that, since operating on the blockchain. Now that same query takes about two seconds. You can see the transparency that provides, you know, it's solving a real issue for customers and again, you can, you can absolutely understand why trust within the food supply chain is utmost importance to someone's brand and customer satisfaction. Within food trust, they've now created we've now created something called BTS, which you you get all the same capabilities of track and trace that food trust provides, but is agnostic to most any use case. So it's a great way for short cutting development so you don't have to recreate the wheel. If you want to do something track and trace related that mimics the food trust solution. Everledger is another example where they're trying to provide authenticity traceability and provenance around things like wine diamonds, olive oil, these commodity products that are really hard to determine their source of origin. Everledger is another one of our clients working with this type of application and you know, making great progress. I wanted to add something. Yeah, go ahead. The purpose of what we're doing now is to give you a glimpse of literally networks which are real. So this is not hand selected POC, which have been with us for three months. Those are actual real networks. But how does that relate to you? One thing which you can take away is that for the majority of the use case we're speaking about. So we're going to speak about procurement. We're going to speak about letters of guarantee and track and trace. We've built so called code samples. So for you to rather than rebuild an existing solution, there's a number of paths you can take. You can join a network and learn from that network as a member or you can replicate the model which they're doing in perhaps a different industry, perhaps a different market. So we will share the assets with you at the end, but we have a whole repository of samples that can kickstart your journey very quickly to address any of these use cases. So again, on our website in the links will share. If any one of these interests to you, you can learn about them join them or build your own. Sorry for that. Yeah, and you know, letters of guarantee. It's like I never knew this was such a problem but like, if you want to guarantee to, like it takes over a month in Australia to get that type of issuance. And it's paper based process. And now with, you know, with with blockchain, you can get that issuance within under under a day. This is, you know, again, facilitating the speed of business and it's, it's a real powerful use case and trade finance. And we're seeing it like people are really jumping on it because it provides a ton of value for people looking to have that level of assurance with who they're who they're dealing with and can they finance certain aspects of trading. Procurement is one of my favorite use cases, mostly because you know I've worked at IBM for almost eight years and if you've ever had to onboard a new supplier, or vendor into our ecosystem it is a painstaking process with zero visibility so I love the procurement solutions are probably my personal favorite. And what it does is it's expedites the process because now by joining at one of these networks as a supplier, you are your path to verification and ability to work with other vendors and customers within that network, you know, is decreased by 90%. So yes, you still have some custom work to do but for the vast majority of these examples. The time to market is, you know, way less than it's a much more structured process. You know, so you think of something like COVID. All of a sudden, you know, people needed to get, you know, ventilators from suppliers that they had hadn't traditionally worked with before like think of Ford Motor Company started producing ventilators within the first couple weeks. Other vendors as well came into the market to provide this equipment, but yet they're not in your traditional customer database or vendor database so how can you get them included and get their make sure their product is trusted, and you know, supporting the market. And same with trust your supplier. This is a faster way to get onboarded and dealing with customers I kind of like it as the face, the my space of supply chain vendors, where it's literally joined the market and let people find you and onboard to more quickly and easily find new vendors to work with. In the COVID space, I think one of the more exciting developments has been on digital health pass. And what this is is, how do you how do you enable this economy to get up and running again. I have a friend who, you know, manages a theater here in North Carolina, they have Broadway shows musical acts, and they have no pathway forward to safely and securely opening up those venues, like they, their only path forward for revenue viability is to have people inside. So is digital health health pass can support, you know, entertainment venues, workplaces on providing some level of assurance on who is walking into those facilities, making sure that they've been tested. And that, you know, these encrypted digital wallets that have your certification that you have some sort of COVID response or tests that is valid for a specific duration of time. Can this allow the economy to reopen in a healthy way in a private secure way that no PII or health data is or metadata is obtained from your health records. But it's a really great and difficult question that involves credentialing and blockchain and permission blockchain that we're seeing, you know, across IBM today. So let's pause here. Go ahead. Exactly. Go ahead. Well, my question really was some of the things that you're talking about are very heavy on identity. Obviously, in hyper ledger we have many kids and we love them all equally so we have also hyper ledger in the and I was wondering if within your organization or your project, have you been experimenting with interoperability between say hyper ledger in the end hyper ledger fabric. So, so a few answers. So yeah there's in the areas or so it seems that there's quite a few opening up in that space so we have an organization which has been working on in the on in the for quite a while and it's more so to address the identity case, my pure perspective so we have a number of security and identity management solutions which are built on on indeed. Now from an interoperability perspective it's interesting you say so we we spoke yesterday with our Nola or which is our representative on the on the technical steering comedy and he he urged us to look more closely into this we haven't done anything per se we have looked. But interrupt is a is a broad as you know concept in of itself. Many different definitions so we'll speak about a number of them because, you know, there is interrupt or leveraging India as a framework but there is also interrupt with other frameworks be it within your family like they so, or it's outside of our family, such as pure theory and more or else. So, I hate giving indirect answers, we don't have anything today. We're looking at how to leverage this because it becomes clear per my comments about voting for the comments about these solutions that identity will play a key role, and just building an identity or a certificate or a CA or an MSP. An individual network doesn't make sense. A year ago we were very bullish on the notion of networks of networks, like some of our fortune 500 clients are working on 10 different use cases in supply chain trade finance, procurement and so forth. And as it stands they're building 10 different networks that that is unsustainable. So, the central identity will play a key role be it on an individual or organizational or functional level.  Well, I was just looking at the clock Lucas and we don't have that much time left so I'm going to, I'm going to hand it over to you and chime in with comments. Okay, so we have 15 minutes I'm going to try and give you a reason for why you should come and try our platform and everything else say, you can do for free. Let's start off with what is it that we do so IBM as you all probably think is this massive company which does everything in anything, but we also focus very much on on the whole notion of how can we abstract away and build a solution which lets you focus on the end value. So we've developed the so called IBM blockchain platform and a portfolio of tools.  Everything is built on hyperledger fabric, and our platform can run on any underlying environment, as long as it is Kubernetes. So a lot of people think IBM blockchain platform IBM cloud. You can use IBM blockchain platform on whichever cloud you want to deploy it to. So let me give you a few reasons for why you should reach out to us for a follow up or why you should click on our marketing pages and go and do a 30 day trial. One, as you probably can tell, we've been in the space for a long time and we have consistently been argued to be the number one player in the space because of our involvement in the community. Join any hyperledger meetup join any, any webinar and you'll see go to the GitHub pages go to the community, you'll see our active contribution and this task of knowledge which we have correlates to how we know this product and we know this industry. Ultimately this one throat to choke. If you want to do blockchain, we can give you the people and the expertise and this is evident in how quickly we adopt open source versions in our product. This is a very tricky thing because fabric specifically fabric I'm speaking to fabric has a quarterly cadence on average to release the next version with the next capabilities. So from a software development perspective from a commercial platform like ours, it takes time to adopt the features, build the tooling on top and such. But as you can see in this chart, we've done like the adoption of the open source version within 30 days if it's a minor version, and within a quarter if it's a major release like fabric 2.0. And rest assured that if you were to look for someone with a platform which has the latest features, we do support these very quickly. Now, I've mentioned this early but let's conceptualize it a little bit. So of course you can take open source fabric and you can deploy it anywhere, but as probably many of you know it becomes a complex operation. If you work with a network with a hundred organization with tens of thousands of channels, it becomes very difficult if you don't have a management console. So our console lets the users both one deploy where you want to deploy like I said but also manage all these different node deployment so your members will be running in many different places in one central place and this this matters because the blockchain should not restrict anyone. The point of blockchain is to include everyone from a perspective of a network. So if you're now saying that you can only run in one environment or something else you're limiting your option. So what we're saying here deploy it anywhere connect your nodes in one central place. I mentioned the tooling like the tooling is literally the bread and butter of what we do and the big chunk of our work. I'll give a few hypothetical examples but managing permissions of hundreds of members requires changes to endorsement policies and changes within the member permissions and such doing this on an individual level becomes extremely time sensitive on boarding new members through fabric we've done some tests. If you were to do it open source without any tooling yourself, it takes hours. And then if you go into products in which you should focus on onboarding a member quickly for the discussion we have with James. We allow you to do it in a few minutes. So the point is that our platform has been built in a way to abstract away all these things which are not value additive for you, but are essential for your network to grow. This is a key point. So I'm going to conceptualize it first. The enterprise permissioned space has been criticized that it is not decentralized and distributed that has been a whole more criticism for the last few years. So the argument is, consensus is run by one company chain code or smart contracts are written one by one company and you cannot run the solution in many different environments. That is a myth. The truth is that with the technologies and fabric and the technology we provide, you can connect your notes running anywhere. Any organization can participate and run consensus, any and all within your network. Of course it becomes more challenging and tricky but you can do it. And with the latest version of fabric we allow companies to come together and write their smart contracts and agree on the smart contracts together. So the point is both in the fabric but also on our level we build the tools which allow you to build this ultimate flexibility and decentralization as much as you need it to be so. Tools, I mentioned the platform tool per se, but that's not it. That's not everything. So you can manage your notes, but you need to do everything around it as well. So I mentioned code patterns before. So we have a repository of assets which can kickstart your development time from a use case perspective. We also have an extension to VS code, the Microsoft IDE platform in which we let you write debug and test your smart contracts. So that is a separate environment in the environment which our developers prefer. So you can go again for free, go and write and test that. And we've recently focused on automation because when you scale, when you get into production, adding many members doing operations and scale requires automation. We've done that through the so called Ansible playbooks. Very quickly in the interest of time, we work with Fortune 500s. So, and others, sorry, not to not to not to say only Fortune 500, but at the end of the day enterprises care about security resiliency and such. So, all of the things I've mentioned are doable, but now you need to have a secure layer. So as I mentioned, we've built, we build our product on Kubernetes. In Kubernetes, what Kubernetes lets you do is, is built your ha or high availability strategy in any way you want to. So we've done that through the UI and you can deploy your nodes or ever and built as robust or not robust solution as you want to key management keys are essential for any blockchain solution. We're now integrated with some cool something called the hardware security model module in which you can store your private keys in the most secure environment possible. And lastly, certificate management as we've learned ourselves is a very complex operation. So we've built the tooling for you to renew manage and such last point, boring, but important is certifications. If you work with a bank, you will need ISO and talk to. So we are ISO certified and we're going to talk to you now. I feel I've been running very quickly. So rather than run very quickly, just going to caveat this and then I'm going to stop. We also participate in a number of other conversations. As for Martha's question, we're looking at how to integrate identity, we're looking at interoperability from a perspective of how can many different frameworks work together but we're also looking to move into the world of tokens. So tokens within fabric standardization of the taxonomy with the interwork alliance, but also how can we connect with public permission chains such as header. So we wanted to have a conversation about the future. We have two minutes or three minutes or rather than us talking about the future or any quick words and let's open it up for any questions. Now, I, given the time, let's, let's see what our esteemed guests have for questions or thoughts on the future or what we presented. Hello. We are doing some projects with Hello, you hear me. Yep. We are doing some projects with already with IBM Poland for energy and everything you said to there is important and it's, it's relevant. We appreciate the cooperation IBM, and we have already the treatment there. But if you can give us additional will be very happy I will send some information from my email address so we will be in contact and I'm in New York but please just email me and we're going to get on a separate call. I of course speak Polish so


Proudly, we hail. From New York City where the American stage begins, here is another transcribed program with a cast of outstanding players and featuring Bill Quinn. Public service time has been made available by this station for your Army and your Air Force to bring you this story as Proudly, we hail the Army Chaplain Corps. This is the story of an Army Chaplain based on his own experiences. It shows us how these dedicated men are active in the safety of a stateside camp or in the danger of a Korean hill. Our first act curtain will rise in just a moment after this important message. They shall not march alone. That was the determination of the church and clergy during World War II. The youth of America is on the march again. Whether they go alone or with the church beside them depends entirely upon how clergymen respond to the urgent plea for chaplains. The chaplain service depends on you to fill the needs at home and abroad. Will you consider this matter carefully and if you can possibly be spared from your present assignment, make application now. Simply write to the office of the chief of chaplains, Washington 25 D.C. The need is now. Do not let them march alone. Write the office of the chief of chaplains, Washington 25 D.C. And now with Bill Quinn in the role of Chaplain Lynch, your Army and your Air Force present the proudly we hail production the courage you gave us. My name is Robert E. Lynch, the son of Mr. and Mrs. William A. Lynch of Glenwood Gardens, Yonkers, New York. I was ordained a Catholic priest in 1943 and volunteered for the Army Chaplain Corps in April 1945. I remember while I was preparing for the priesthood that I'd hoped and dreamed that my assignment would not be an ordinary one. I wanted a tough parish, a challenging parish, and I found my challenge. For in the Army Chaplain Corps, the world was my parish. My job was to bring the men closer to God to help them learn to live well so that if God called them, they'd be able to die well, and if God spared them they could return clear-eyed, clear-minded, and clear-hearted to serve God and their fellow men. Yes, Chaplain Lynch had his wish, a challenging parish. His first assignment was to the islands of the South Pacific and the varied problems of a peacetime Army. As always, his door was open to help the men find solutions to their problems. As always, there were the special and regular religious activities, activities which helped guide the men toward a fuller, better life. But then, in the summer of 1950, A extreme, extreme, Communist Army hits smashing blow in Korea, extreme. Armed aggression in Korea and into the breach rushed the armed might of the United Nations. With the American Hate Cavalry Regiment was Chaplain Lynch. How much he was with them is a matter of record. Listen. By direction of the President and pursuant to authority contained in AR-6045, the Bronze Star Medal First Oak Leaf Cluster with the device, for a heroic achievement in connection with military operations against an enemy of the United States, is awarded to the following named officer, Chaplain Captain Robert E. Lynch, 0932-603 Chaplain Corps, United States Army, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Eighth Cavalry Regiment, First Cavalry Division is cited for heroism and action against an armed enemy on 12 March 1951 near Odachi, Korea. I can't see why you shouldn't come this far, Father. No, I climb like a cat, Doc. And Lynch has Irish for links. That's a cat. Nine lives. Besides that stuff we heard back at Battalion Aid wasn't good news. No, it sure wasn't. A lot of men hit. The Chinese are still holding the top of the hill. Oh, it's... It's cold. Plenty cold. Yeah, they're real heavy up there, but they're dishing it out heavy, too. Battalion Aid said that you... Medics would need help. You can see that again. Over there, Chaplain. First stop. To the right, there? Yeah, near the big rock. Let's go. Okay, fella, your legs. Any place else? No. Just... my leg. Chaplain, please help me roll them over in this bag, huh? Right. Howdy, Doc. Perfect. I gotta rip up these pants. All right, steady. Steady, fella. You'll be fixed up in a minute. They're giving this short slug to get it down, huh? All right. Come on, fella. Let's get this down. Legs... You'll be all right, fella. Now, this might sting a little. Hold on. I'll wrap them up.  It's all right to move them. I'll, uh, I'll take them back. You go on. I'll join you later. As well. Better give them a half, Kerry. Okay, fella. I'll help you get back. Can I walk? My legs... It's like they're not there. They're there all right. Don't worry. Hang on now.   Yeah. They'll lean against me. Full. Lean against me. Hide against me. Yeah. That's it. Okay, fella. How's it now? Don't you try. Just lean against me. You think you can make it alone? I think so, doc. He's not too heavy. Good. See you later. Good luck. So long, doc. Good job, push. Chaplin Lynch returned to the front lines and moved from wounded to wounded, aiding the hardworking medics, helping to evacuate casualties to rear areas, encouraging and reassuring those remaining without thought of the danger to himself. His courageous devotion to duty highly inspired those present and was an instrumental factor in maintaining a high state of morale throughout the action. Chaplin Lynch's heroism reflects great credit on himself and the military service. As a chaplain, I was privileged to help the men out of various difficulties, help them solve complex problems. Sometimes I was fortunate enough to play a small part in loosening the intricate knots brought on by their own desire to lend a humane hand wherever they could. If this sounds at all critical, please don't misunderstand. I only want to point out that wherever our men are located, they automatically, practically without effort, get themselves happily involved in projects helping to help us. The story of Curly is a good example. Wish we could move out in the open instead of through this stuff. Stamford, I feel a heap safer here. It's worse than barbed wire. Now, what are you whispering for? Shh, keep it down, Tex. Keep it down. Okey-dokey, okey-dokey. I just can't figure what... Well, it's simple. You see the little fellas are off this hill and over on the next one. But there could be some left behind to pick us off. Breaking us traveling mouse-like through this here briar is a mighty good personal strategy. It sure is. Wait. Drop. Maybe that big bush with the flowers. Yeah, right, birdie, too. Yeah, but take a look at that straggly one next to it. Yeah. Okey. Now look under it. Yeah. Just beyond it. What do you see? I reckon something's moving around like in a shell hole, huh? Right. Look, give me about two lengths for a start. Then follow me and keep me covered. Okey-dokey. Be a... Look at him. He's all eyes. Got a smile like a morning glory. All eyes and bones. Chop-chop, have no... He looks like he's had no chop-chop in a long time. He looks real starved, real hungry. Yeah, sure, guys.  Nothing but a box of crackers. Come on, break them out, break them out. Not bad sheep they're in. Yeah, boy. Hey, whoa, wait a minute. Choke on all that at least. Easy, boy, easy now. Here, try some of this water to wash it down. You better ration him on those crackers. Right, little at a time. Okey-dokey. Well, anyhow, he's a lot happier now. He sure is. What's that? Someone's coming. Look out. Oh, Bernstein, you scared the daylights out. Well, you look at that. Where did you get him? Well, I guess he was here all the time, wandering around. I'm looking to meet. Hey, kid, you want my chocolate? Hey, thank you, Bernie. What are you gonna do with him? You can't leave him here. And you guys better get going yourselves. Most of the platoon has passed you already. Look at the kid put that stuff away. Open your eyes on him. Yeah, he's all eyes. Okey-dokey. Okey-dokey. Hey, you better do something with the kid in fast. You can't leave him here. Yeah, I guess, uh, I guess we'll have to send him back in an orphanage or something. That kid needs plenty of feeding.  He'll never get back by himself. Hey, wait, Bernie. Did you see the chaplain around anywhere? Father Lynch? Yeah, he was at the bottom of the hill with his Jeep. He's going to follow up the platoon up to just ahead of the next one. Okay, now look.  Okay, Stamford. We'll turn the kid over to him. Look at him. He's a cute character, all right. What he needs is milk, eggs, cereal. And heavy cream and strawberries. Hey, Bernie, come on, come on. Pass the word. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, Eddie! Eddie! Pass the word down for Father Lynch to head this way. Tell them to look for Stamford and Texas. They're waiting. Well, see you guys, and you with the mouth full. See you later. So long, Bernie. So long, Bernie. You know, Tex, I've been thinking we gotta give this kid a name. Well, most kids have them. With that haircut, we could call him Baldi. No. Why not? He's got hair. How about Q-Ball? No. Why not? That's what all I call it. Yeah, it ain't respectful. All right, then. How about Curly? Well, ain't too bad. Good. His name is Curly. Hey, Curly, you got a name now. How do you like that? Curly. Okay, okay. After this mess is over, I'm going to be a charter member of the Honorable Water of Mountain Goats. Hey, brother. Hi, brother. Hi. Hey. What's this, a prisoner? Well, not exactly. We found him in this hole here, and he was pretty hungry. Uh-huh. He got his belly full of chocolate and crackers and water. Good. Poor kid. Hello there, Bustin. Okay, okay. His name's Curly, father. Good name. Well, I guess your fellas want me to take him back to an orphanage. Well, I can do that right away. My jeep's at the bottom of this young mountain. Shouldn't be up here anyway. I'll have him in an orphanage in less than an hour. Well, you see, father... Best place for him to. You see, we... Good thing you found a little fella. Curly, huh? Gave him a name. Now, he'll be all right at the orphanage. I'll get those dirty rags off him, and get all cleaned up, and he'll be happy. Well, come on, little fella. Come on, get in my arms. I'll give you up on my shoulder. Come on. There. I'm sure you understand. Now, up on my shoulder. Okay, okay. That's a boy. And off we go for the orphanage. Bill Quinn featured in the role of Chaplain Lynch in the proudly-we-held production The Courage You Gave Us will return in just a moment for the second act. The altar was strange. It came out of a suitcase and was set up on the hood of a jeep. The church, too, was different. A field marked by shell craters. Just the day before, it had been under mortar fire. Overhead the leaves rustled. The congregation had assembled under a group of trees, necessary camouflage because of enemy planes. Preacher and people were in uniform. The whole setting was unique, and yet in essence it was like a service back home. The same divine truce, the old familiar hymns, the prayers of the ancient church. It meant a lot to these men to have the chaplain there to be reminded of the Lord to sing God's praises. Priests, ministers, and rabbis are needed now to conduct services for men of their face in the troubled areas of the world. If you are a clergyman under 38 years of age and have college and seminary training, write today, write now, to the office of the chief of chaplains, Washington 25 D.C. You are listening to Proudly We Hail, and now we present the second act of the courage you gave us. The greatest battle a soldier fights is his personal conquest of fear. And many times the chaplain, like Chaplain Lynch, is right there on the spot to help. That's it. That's it, Father. For an hour now it can go on like that. The medics are there already, Lieutenant. Every minute for more than an hour. They got young Teddy Gordon, a terrific little corporal. Every minute. Yes, I know, I know, but the medics are working. Ray Johnson was hit. Best topkick I've ever known. Good man. Good man. He had...get this, Father.  All paid up and waiting for him. Father, everybody talks about chicken farm. Everybody plans on one, like somebody wants a weekly newspaper or a small delicatessen in a busy neighborhood. Everybody dreams like that, Father. Everybody. God bless him. Ray dreamt like all of us do. Always about the future. What happens to a man's dreams, Father? We're here because of the dreams and prayers of our people and our own dreams and prayers. There go more dreams, Father. Several sets of dreams. They got us zeroed in and they know it. They're not just lucky, we're zeroed in and now it won't be long before another wave comes screaming over that ridge. Three waves have been beaten back already. But every wave gets worse. Three, you say? The next one will be beaten back, too. We've got to. We need this post. We need it bad, but how much can the men take? I know. It's nerve-wracking. It's more than that, Father. Look out there. Look at the men's faces.  Look at them. Every man out there is scared stiff, not just normal fright. I know. How about yourself? Myself? I don't know, Father. I don't know. I do know I'm real scared. Fine. That makes two of us. You have courage and you have a heart. God be with you. I'm going out and talk with the boys. Oh, Father, no, no. Better stay here. I didn't mean you- It's okay, Lieutenant. Don't worry. It's okay, Lieutenant. Don't worry. Chaplain Lynch made a tour of the hell of that battlefield, giving new spirit and will to live to the desperate men holding that position. His bravery was- but let's listen to the way one squad leader described it over his walkie-talkie-to-command. Lightning steady and striking, paydirt with a no-worms belly. Next time those screaming maniacs hit us, we'd be through. Then a guy who must have the legs of Jesse Owens and an extra pair of lungs starts running around. Talking to the men. He was all over the place. We could see him everywhere. He was armed, all right. Real big weapons. Get this up from man to man. Every time he left a guy, that guy would be laughing, grinning and ready for anything. Grinning and ready for anything. Yes, Father Lynch's heroism did not go unnoticed. Official recognition was recorded too in the peaceful calm of an auditorium. By direction of the president and pursuant to authority contained in AR-60045, the Silver Star Medal for Gallantry in Action is awarded to the following named officer. Chaplain, Captain Robert E. Lynch, 0932-603, Chaplain Corps, United States Army, Headquarters 8th Cavalry Regiment, is cited for gallantry in action against an armed enemy on 5 and 6 June 1951 near Yongchon, Korea. The enemy was subjecting a forward observation post to an intense artillery barrage, and Chaplain Lynch fearlessly moved about the area inspiring all present by his courage and calmness, giving encouragement to the frightened men. His voluntary decision to remain in the danger area despite the heavy enemy fire indicated extraordinary courage and devotion to duty. Chaplain Lynch's gallantry reflects great credit on himself and the military service. It is sometimes difficult, even bewildering to accept honors awarded for the performance of one's duty, but there are unexpected rewards for a Chaplain, Protestant, Jewish, or Catholic. Like a letter I received from a young ex-soldier written to me just this past Christmas Eve. I am very happy to know that you returned safely. I thank God that you are here. You may not know me, but I served with you in the 1st Cavalry Division. I remember when you came to the outfit. You inspired us, gave us the confidence we needed. I can't explain what it was, Father, but you made everything easy. That time you spent with Fox Company, I'll never forget. I hope, Father, you'll answer this letter. I'd really appreciate it very much because I was there when you said Mass on Christmas last year and how you made us feel that everything was all right. I'll sign off now, Father, but I hope I'll hear from you soon. I was with F Company, 8th Cavalry Regiment, and I'll always remember the courage you gave us. Thank you, Bill Quinn, for a very stirring portrayal. And in just a moment, after a brief but important message, I'd like to introduce the man upon whose experiences we've faced this story, the real life, Chaplain Robert E. Lynch. Pick up a coin. Stamped on it, you'll find the words, in God we trust, not in our wealth, not in our natural resources, not in our might, in God we trust. That spirit of humility, that dependence upon God, has always characterized our nation. National emergencies make us even more aware of our need for heaven's help. America's fighting men look for divine direction and seek religious leadership from their chaplains, men trained in the truths of God, men aware of human needs, men dedicated to service. The army is calling for more such men, clergymen who will volunteer their services during this emergency. The Office of the Chief of Chaplains, Washington 25 D.C. will be glad to furnish details. If you are an ordained clergyman, under 38 years of age, and with college and seminary training, write to the Office of the Chief of Chaplains, Washington 25 D.C. And now Chaplain Lynch, welcome on Proudly We Hail. Ken, I want to add my thanks and congratulations to you and to everyone connected with this presentation. Hearing this story has made me relive, not the happiest, because there was too much suffering on the part of our men to be the happiest, but by all means the most memorable time of my life. Just to recall, living, eating, and sleeping with these outstanding and wonderful soldiers, every one of whom is truly a hero is a grand memory. And as a sequel to this story, and as an example of the kindness which is so much the part of our soldiers' hearts, I would like to tell you that Curly is being taken care of in an orphanage in Seoul. And that a donation made up by the soldiers involved in this episode will make it possible for Curly to come to the United States when he reaches the age of 21. Okie-dokie? And to all of you within the sound of my voice, I would like to say that if you are a qualified priest, minister, or rabbi, I heartily recommend to you a tour of duty in the Army Chaplain Corps. Write for full information to the Office of the Chief of Chaplains, Washington 25 D.C. I hope that tomorrow's mail to the Office of the Chief of Chaplains will be bulging with urgently needed applications of clergymen to follow their men wherever they may go in this present emergency. I hope so too, Chaplain Lynch, and thank you very much. This has been another program on Proudly We Hail, presented transcribed in cooperation with this station by the United States Army and United States Air Force Recruiting Service. This program featured Bill Quinn as Chaplain Lynch. This is Kenneth Banghart speaking and inviting you to tune in the same station next week for an interesting story on Proudly We Hail.


It's Chris! Welcome back to one of my favorite videos to film every single year. We're gonna be doing a Christmas unboxing haul, unwrapping with you. I do this every single year where I unwrap my Christmas presents, my book Christmas presents that I've received from you guys and from my family. The Christmas jumpers on. I'm so excited! Merry Christmas. So, I am speechless, I'm gonna be honest. You guys have been so generous with sending me some books for Christmas. I like, I am so thankful and appreciative. It's so very kind of you. Every year, I cannot believe how generous and kind you guys are. So, we're gonna unbox these. My family also got me some. I asked them to get me less this year. So, I've got five from my family. I'm so excited. If you know me, you know I love Christmas. These are my favorite videos to film. I love seeing what you guys have picked at me or my family have picked at me. They often pick great. So, we'll start with what you guys have gifted me. I actually feel sick. Okay, first, first book. Wow, okay. These are all the parcels that I have. Oh my God, this one's a tricky one to open. Oh, there we go. Received since the start of December. I have saved them all. Oh, this one's, this one's in a wrapping. Oh! Okay, what does the card say? Happy holidays from Caitlyn. Thank you, Caitlyn, let's see what it is. Right, what is this book? Oh, we've got Stay Awake by Megan Golding. Oh my God, exciting, exciting, exciting. Okay, this is Megan Golding's release from this year. If you don't like the UK cover, that's what we have in the UK. But I have been so excited about this. I really enjoyed the night swim by Megan Golding when I read it last year. I think I read it last year. I just think her writing is so good. And the premise of this one is our protagonist wakes up in a taxi with no idea how she got there and she sees, or written on her hand, Stay Awake. And I think she wakes up with like a knife in her hand.  Wow, crazy, you're crazy, girl. And I think there's a crime and it says Stay Awake or something similar like in blood on the wall, I don't know. I have heard so many good things about this. Everyone has really been enjoying it. I think it's just gonna be like a fun, quick, fast pace thriller.  Like a chapter is literally just like a page long. So it's gonna be really fast paced. And I think it's a very unique premise. I really like books that are kind of playing with like a speculative element, a thriller with a speculative element. So, yes, oh my God, thank you so much, Caitlin. Number two, let's see what we've got. I love Christmas. Who got this? They know this stuff. Oh, Jenny! Jenny, Jenny, Jenny, you're so kind. What has Jenny said? As a fellow Chrissy Devote, I had to add this to your hardback collection and naturally, this is the perfect time. Thank you for another year of incredible content. Watching your channel always brings me joy. Jenny! Jenny got me the adventure of the Christmas pudding by Ika Thakristi. Look at her. Are we not obsessed? But she's beautiful. Right. But she's beautiful. I love these hardcover designs that Harper Collins have been doing. Oh my God, look on the inside. Yeah, I love these hardbacks that Harper Collins has been doing and this is perfect. This is, I think, gonna be my Christmas read next year. This year, I'm reading a Christmas romance across the few Christmas days. I think I'll go back to an Ika Thakristi Christmasy mystery. This is Six Stories, first collected together by Agatha herself. Thank you so much, Jenny. That is so incredibly kind. I love, I love the design of this one. Okay, wow, thank you so much. This parcel took a little bit of a battering. Ooh! Okay, we've got The Retreat by Sarah Pierce. So this is the author of The Sanatorium, which I have read and we're following the same character, I believe, the same detective. This is from Amy. Merry Christmas. Of course, I had to get my Facebook tube or something. Hope you enjoy, Queen, from Amy. Amy, thank you so much! So I've been really excited to read The Retreat. I thought The Sanatorium was a pretty good debut. So The Sanatorium, it's like this converted old sanatoriums and made into a luxury hotel. I would say the first two thirds of it were great in my opinion. Like such fast pace, like a really good mystery thriller hybrid where you've got a mystery running throughout it. It feels, you've got a detective, but also there was like moments when my heart was pounding, you know, like in a good thriller does.  My heart's going pitter-patter, pitter-patter.  So I'm excited about this one. I think this is about, yeah, a wellness retreat off the coast of Devon. A woman is found dead, but then there's another victim and we've got the same detective from The Sanatorium. So we're kind of following her story. She's got a lot of storyline to do with trauma and stuff and there's some cliffhangers from The Sanatorium. So thank you so much. I was so excited. You guys are picking such good ones. I mean, they're all books from my wish list. So like you can't really pick badly. Okay, next one. Gosh, my heart is racing.  I didn't think anyone would get this one. Clara. Clara says, Merry Christmas. This was a surprising five star route for me this year. I hope you enjoy it. And it is Poster Girl by Veronica Roth. So here's the situation with this one. I never read, Veronica Roth was, which one was she? Which, which early 2010s sci-fi dystopian? Was it Divergent? Is Veronica Roth Divergent? I feel like Veronica Roth's Divergent. Anyways, I never read Veronica Roth when she was that girly back in the day. It doesn't tell me under, also by Veronica Roth, it only says chosen one. So we're pretending the past didn't exist. We are going to pretend we didn't hear that. So yeah, I was never interested in that. That's not my kind of thing. This is dystopian-esque though. I recently this year read the forward collection, which is six sci-fi really short novellas. And for me, the Veronica Roth one, which is arc, I believe was by far the best one. It was so good. It was, like it made me really emotional in like, it only, it's only like 20, 30 pages long. And so I've been really intrigued by this and I love the cover for it. I think it's so cool. It's a haunting dystopian mystery that explores the expanding role of surveillance in society and inescapable reality that we welcome all too easily. I'm super interested in this. After reading arc, I'm super intrigued. And this also has like a mystery running through it about missing child. I think we're following like the ex poster girl of the regime who is now in jail and has the offer to be freed if she tries to find this missing girl. So I didn't think anyone would get this, but I've had really good things about this. And I feel like I loved, I was so shocked at how much I loved arc that what a great pick of bestie. Next one. Wow, this is, I love Christmas. So this is from, oh, Maya, one of my patrons. Thank you, Maya. I just read this one. It reminded me of darker wants and future witches. So Maya has sent me Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher. I'm so excited. This makes me so happy. There's loads of T. Kingfisher on my wish list because I wanna get into T. Kingfisher. Everyone's been loving, obsessed with T. Kingfisher this year and I've never had anything by her. I'm beyond excited. Oh my God, this is probably gonna be my first T. Kingfisher. I'm speaking too fast. I know I am. I'm so sorry. Take a deep breath, calm down. I know this one is about a girl whose sister is married to an abusive prince and I think she wants to rescue her. I've had such good things about this. I know Mara really liked this one and me and Mara are listening to my book Twins. Or at least I'm pretty sure Mara liked this one. Yes, I am. Cause Mara is the one who I've heard talking about it the most. Yes, I'm pretty sure it was on Mara's best, was it on Mara's best or? I don't know. My memory is really bad. Anyways, I feel like T. Kingfisher could become a new favorite author for me. I feel like, you know, the people who I typically have very similar reading tastes to have actually been loving T. Kingfisher this year. So wow, Mara, what a wonderful choice. Thank you so, so much. Next one, let's see what we have. Oh my God, you guys were so kind. I just can't get over it. Thank you so much. Okay, what, oh, okay. This is gonna be a difficult one to read. Okay, so this is from Meg. Thank you so much, Meg. I recently listened to this audiobook, which I can highly recommend. I think everyone should read this. Hope you enjoy it. Meg is very kind of gifted to me. Know My Name by Chanel Miller. I am scared to read this. I know it's gonna be heavy. Chanel Miller was the woman who was sexually assaulted by Brock Turner and she wrote that impact statement that was very, like, became viral everyone when she was, I think, still anonymous. Know My Name, she is telling her story. I'm not sure if I'm gonna be able to listen to the audiobook, I'm gonna be quite honest. I may just have to read it physically, but I have heard so much wonderful, wonderful things about this speaking of Mara. I do know this was Mara's top non-fiction of this year. She gave it five stars. I don't know if excited to read this is the right word, but I do wanna get back into reading more non-fiction and this is one that I wanna put really high up my list because I have just heard so many wonderful things about it and I think stories like this are, you know, like Meg says, everyone should read this. They're incredibly important to be heard. So thank you so, so much for gifting this to me. Next one, let's see what we got. Oh, this looks pretty. Oh, okay, okay, okay. Who is this from? Let's see. Oh my God, okay. This is from My Secret Center. So over on my Patreon this year, we ran a secret center and this is from, I don't know who this is from. This is from My Secret Center. How exciting. So My Secret Center has done, like this is a great pick, has picked Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel. I recently read the gloss, it's right here. Can I reach it? Oh, I read the gloss hotel this year. I wanna say it at the start of this year and I really enjoyed it. I loved her writing. I actually do like how these look together. They look cute together, right? I was actually surprised at how much I really enjoyed the gloss hotel and so it made me really wanna pick up all of Emily St. John Mandel's stuff. So what is this one about? I've forgotten. Oh, girl. Too much drama for me. I've forgotten because Emily St. John Mandel's plot is always impossible to describe. Sea of Tranquility is a virtuoso performance, a novel that investigates the idea of parallel worlds and possibilities and plays with the very line along which time should run. Okay, fun, that's all I need to know. I'm just, I'm gonna read more Emily St. John Mandel. I really like this cover as well. I'm so excited. I just thought her writing just felt so rich and detailed but also to the point, like it was a very unique style of writing that I hadn't read a lot before. Three more gifted from you. This is just so kind. Okay. Okay, yes. This is from another one of my patrons, Lauren, who Lauren, I love you. You're always very, very, very kind. Lauren has gifted me The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager. I am so excited through this. This is genuinely one of the books that I have been wanting to buy the most because I just wanna know. I just, you know, Riley Sager has been a little bit controversial the past couple of years. Not in terms of like controversy but like dividing opinion, you know, the past couple of years with his releases. I didn't love Survived the Night but I just feel like I'm gonna love this. I really do. I just have this feeling that I'm gonna love it. I did not tell you. I just think she's very delusional and maybe possibly insane. I've read every Riley Sager. My favorite Riley Sager, the only five star I've ever given him was Last Time I Lied but I also enjoyed Look Every Door and Home Before Dark. I did not enjoy Final Girls or Survived the Night. So that's my Riley Sager journey and I'm intrigued by this. I'm also so excited for his ones coming out next year. It sounds really, really good. But I know this is about a woman who lives across the lake from this couple and she sees, I think, them fighting and then the woman goes missing. I just feel like me and Riley might vibe on this one. This is probably one of the books I've been thinking about the most lately. I've really been so excited to read this. So Lauren, listen, you picked so well because I have just been really looking forward to reading this. So thank you so much. I can, oh, I'm not kidding. If I was to buy a book myself of my wish list, this has probably been one of the ones I would have bought because I've just been very intrigued by it. Next one. Oh, what is this? Oh, we have got Maybe and Another Life by Taylor Jenkins-Reed. This is from Melanie. Merry Christmas Meg. Hope you have a fantastic festive season. I love your content and can't wait to see what you have planned for 2023. Melanie, thank you so much. That is so incredibly kind of you. I listen. Every full-length novel that I have read from Taylor Jenkins-Reed, I have given five stars. Now, I know, I really wanna read her backlist but I know this is all the different vibes. So I'm not necessarily expecting the five star vibes like I do for her modern books but I have just been so excited to read some of her backlist. I think this one is like actually kind of like sci-fi-esque where like we're following the main character's life through two different parallel lives that she could have lived from like one decision that she makes, I think. Which is kind of like, I feel like Ms. Taylor was like, oh, I'm so creative right from the beginning, I don't know. I feel like I loved her Jenkins-Reed's writing. I always say her writing is just amazing. So I feel like I could still give this five stars. So thank you so much, Melanie. Final one that you guys picked off my wish list. Let's see what we have. This is one of the books that I was most excited for. Who got this for me? Of course you did. So this book is from one of my patrons, Melissa, who is just so incredibly kind. Shacked Melissa, Melissa is just like amazing. Melissa really helped me run the Secret Center on the patron this year. So Melissa says, Merry Christmas. I hope you have a wonderful time and a happy new year. It's our wives under the sea. I, Melissa, I always associate this book with you. I have been so excited. I love the UK cover. Isn't the UK cover just like beyond? It's so cool. I just noticed about like these wives on this deep sea mission and their relationship isn't quite right and something changes going on. I am so excited. This is, I'm just beyond excited for my 2023 reading, guys.  I can't wait. This is a five-star prediction for me, I would say. I just think it's gonna be my kind of thing. It's gonna be this quiet, introspective hover. I'm so excited. Then let's get into the gifts my family have gotten me. So we've got two that my grandparents have gotten me first. Let's open these. Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. Okay, so I love the cover for this one. Okay, we have got Death on Gokumen Island by Sashiyokamizo, I love this cover. So this is now my third in the series that I haven't read that I own, but I should get through some of them soon. So Sashiyokamizo is a very famous Japanese mystery author and Pushkin Vertigo are slowly translating his books. This is the fourth one that has been translated. And it's kind of like golden age crime, but from Japan. And I just think it's so interesting to read this stuff and to see what mystery tropes pervade across cultures on which ways they're different. I've only read the first one that got translated The Honjin Murders, but I do wanna make my way through all of these. Okay, wait, the detective, the main detective, like the Poro arrives bringing news of a death. It triggers a series of grotesquely staged murders.  Okay, I'm super duper, duper excited. What a great pick. What have we got next? Let's see. Oh gosh, I'm pretty sure my dad wrapped these and he is just like, it's impossible to get. Oh, this is one I've been so excited for. I'm pretty sure this is one I heard again from Mara, just this old book all around me. In Defense of Witches, Why Women Are Still on Trial by Mona Sherlock. So this was originally written in French. It's been translated into English. Yeah, this is basically about the history of women being framed as witches and witchcraft and the way in which kind of witch archetypes, modern witches are how that's been kind of the idea of a witch has now pervaded into modern society as well. I am so intrigued by this. I also really like the cover. I think it's so cool. And again, hoping to read an iOS this every year, but I really am hoping to read more nonfiction. So yes, this is one that is on the top of my listie. Then we've got three from my parents as well. Let's see what we've got. They always pick really good books. So let's see what we've got. Oh yes, this would be perfect to read now. Maybe I'll have to read this in January or February. We have got White Out, which is the sequel to Blackout. This is a kind of, I don't wanna call it an anthology in a way that like this is where authors have all written separate short stories. It's by Donnel Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nick Stone, Andrew Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon. And it's like a romance book that they all kind of write separate parts of, but it all comes together in one. And this one is set just before Christmas. Oh my God, I'm not gonna read this right now. It has to wait. It'll either be in January or February or I will save it to next year. I really loved Blackout. And again, I thought how it was different from a typical anthology really set it apart in that like their stories all connected and overlapped. And it was obviously planned this all together. So when I heard they were coming out with Whiteout, I was incredibly excited. Oh my God, we've got like texts and stuff. So excited. Okay, yes, I love it. I love it. Wow, great pick, Mum. I am so proud of her I could cry. Then what is this? Oh, I knew she'd pick this. We have got the Cat Who Saved books. Can you, you can't really see the cover. It's like the light. Whoa, I don't really know much about this. It was about a cat and books. I know a lot of people have been really enjoying it. It's very short. I knew my mum would pick it. We love cats. Look at the cat.  I think it's about a little like second hand bookshop that exists and a cat there. I don't know. I've heard it's pretty touching, emotional. I mean, it's about cats and books. They're literally my two favourite things. So I'm pretty sure I'm gonna love this. And yeah, I knew this would be one that my mum would pick because she's just sees cat and she goes, right? Like, and then final. Why did they say love Steve and Jen? I love mum and dad guys, come on. Oh, okay. Yes, yes, yes. Another nonfiction that I've been super excited for. We have got Undocted by Adam Kay. So this is the author of This Is Going to Hat, which I've spoken about quite a few times. But if you don't know, that was the diaries of Adam Kay while he was a junior doctor in the NHS. And it's very harrowing. It's very emotional. It's very angering, but joy-filled. Like it's incredible. It's so well done. And I believe this is him kind of writing more of a reflection on what it was like to leave being a doctor because he quit. Alternating between hospital admissions and personal ones, this book looks back at Adam Kay's extraordinary medical education and the scars that he has been left with. He's very funny, right? The books are super funny. They have kind of this dark humor to them that I feel like in order to work in the NHS in the present day and have some semblance of like sanity after it's been so wrecked by the conservative government here in the UK. Yeah, you have to have. So I'm really, really excited to read this. My mum probably picked it because she also loved this as a kind dad. So great pick, mum. Can I get all these books? Can I hold them all up at the same time? Let's see. Whoa, these are all the books I got for Christmas. Yeah, I am so happy. There are so many there that I am just so incredibly excited to read. So thank you, I'm gonna put this down again. Thank you so, so much to any of you that got me a Christmas gift on my wishlist. I cannot tell you how thankful and appreciative I am. It truly means so much. And I'm just so thankful. So thank you so much. I hope that you guys had a wonderful Christmas if you do celebrate it. Let me know which of these that you have enjoyed or let me know which of these that you want me to read so you know if you wanna read it or not. I would love to know. If you got into the end, comment any kind of Christmasy emoji down below. Christmas tree, wrap presents, Santa Claus, anything Christmasy down below. Thank you guys so much for watching and I'll see you very soon in another video. Bye.