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L’Oreal Professionnel AirLight Pro Review: Faster, Lighter, and Repairable
Sun, 22 Dec 2024 13:32:00 +0000
L'Oréal's first professional hair dryer combines infrared light, wind, and heat to drastically reduce your drying time.
Match ID: 0 Score: 30.00 source: www.wired.com age: 3 days
qualifiers: 30.00 fitness
Best Running Shoes (2024): Asics, Hoka, Nike, On Running
Sat, 21 Dec 2024 14:02:00 +0000
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Match ID: 1 Score: 25.00 source: www.wired.com age: 4 days
qualifiers: 25.00 fitness
In Waning Senate Days, Kyrsten Sinema Screwed Workers and Spent Campaign Cash on Stay at French Castle
Fri, 20 Dec 2024 10:00:00 +0000
The Arizona senator’s prodigious campaign spending in global wine hot spots can’t possibly be related to the campaign she’s not running, says an ethics complaint.
The post In Waning Senate Days, Kyrsten Sinema Screwed Workers and Spent Campaign Cash on Stay at French Castle appeared first on The Intercept.
The lack of oversight of home-schooling standards is a scandal, writes Tony Mooney, while Brian Waller says police and children’s services should have protected Sara at home and David Newton laments the 2010-15 coalition government’s dismantling of safeguards
The horrendous torture and murder of Sara Sharif has, at last, shone a light on the inadequacies of the way we have monitored home education (Judge in Sara Sharif case warns of ‘dangers’ of automatic right to home school children, 17 December). For a decade I was an inspector of home education for two education authorities, and I became increasingly disturbed by the blatant – but legal – slackness of the recording that was required.
Remarkably, I found that I had no legal authority to meet the children to monitor the provision of their education. Although most parents allowed me into their houses, a few merely provided me with work that their child had done – but I had no way of knowing its authenticity. I was overruled by one director of education when I wanted to investigate further. Even when I did meet the children, it was only once a year, and in most cases the level of education I found was pitiful. Two decades later, there is no evidence to suggest things have improved.
Continue reading...Seasons greetings, glitterati! Which judge has been on the egg nog – and who will win the silver star? Join us for every minute of the ho-ho-hoofing
Which dances will be delightful? Whose footwork will be frightful? And who will be Strictly’s worst ever Widdicombe? It’s just 11 days since Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell lifted the fabled glitterball trophy in one of the most joyous Strictly moments ever. It’s a mere four days since we were treated to anniversary documentary, Strictly Come Dancing: 20 Fabulous Years. Now we’ve got another sequin-spangled gift to unwrap.
Season’s greetings, glitterati. Michael here, your regular choreographic correspondent. I hope you’re having a merry old time. Don’t peak too early because the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special airs at 3.55pm today on BBC One. There’s no liveblog but we’ve opened the comments below so you can discuss the Yuletide routines, raise your tinsel-adorned scoring paddle and spread some sparkly cheer.
Continue reading...A judge has found that NSO Group, maker of the Pegasus spyware, has violated the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by hacking WhatsApp in order to spy on people using it.
Jon Penney and I wrote a legal paper on the case.
The internal EU document may strip European foreign ministers of “plausible deniability” in Israeli war crimes in Gaza, experts said.
The post EU Officials Will Claim Ignorance of Israel’s War Crimes. This Leaked Document Shows What They Knew. appeared first on The Intercept.
Indiana wanted to kill Joseph Corcoran under the cover of darkness, but one journalist slipped in to witness.
The post Indiana’s Midnight Executions Are a Relic of Another Age appeared first on The Intercept.
Share a tip on a peerless architectural or sculptural creation, ancient or modern – the best tip wins £200 towards a Coolstays break
The Seven Wonders of the World was a list of peerless architectural and sculptural creations from the ancient Mediterranean and Middle East drawn up in the 2nd century BC by Greek travellers following Alexander the Great’s conquests. Only one is still standing – the Great Pyramid of Giza. In 2001, the Swiss-based New7Wonders Foundation came up with an updated list, which included Machu Picchu, Petra and the Taj Mahal. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so we would like you to tell us about your personal wonder of the world. It could be an ancient stone circle, a statue, a stately home, a temple or even a modern-day skyscraper.
If you have a relevant photo, do send it in – but it’s your words that will be judged for the competition.
Continue reading...The U.S. political system is owned by corporations despised by the American people. Luigi Mangione is the result.
The post Health Insurance Execs Should Live in Fear of Prison, Not Murder appeared first on The Intercept.
The Arizona senator’s prodigious campaign spending in global wine hot spots can’t possibly be related to the campaign she’s not running, says an ethics complaint.
The post In Waning Senate Days, Kyrsten Sinema Screwed Workers and Spent Campaign Cash on Stay at French Castle appeared first on The Intercept.
“The funds to CJA are critical for building community resilience against climate change threats.”
The post EPA Staffers Demand Biden Release Climate Funds Withheld Over Gaza appeared first on The Intercept.
Biden appears ready to sign the NDAA, despite objections from advocates and some Democrats about an insidious anti-trans rider.
The post Senate Approves Defense Bill Blocking Health Care for Thousands of Trans Youth appeared first on The Intercept.
The big news outlets used to say settlements would encourage more lawsuits. Trump is already targeting smaller newspapers.
The post The Real Danger of ABC News Settling Its Lawsuit With Donald Trump appeared first on The Intercept.
The jurors that sent Hall to death row never heard critical evidence that could have convinced them to spare his life. Some of them now support his bid for clemency.
The post Charles Hall Insisted He Wanted the Death Penalty. Now He’s Asking Biden for Mercy. appeared first on The Intercept.
Everyone from janitors to the Geek Squad could be forced to help the NSA spy — and Democrats barely put up a fight.
The post Top Senator Warns Sweeping New Surveillance Powers Will “Inevitably Be Misused” by Trump appeared first on The Intercept.
Trump wants a bloodbath for the federal employees, but government workers aren’t the only ones who will suffer.
The post Federal Labor Unions Steel Themselves for Trump and DOGE’s Mass Firings appeared first on The Intercept.
“When you imagine what the FTC is willing and able to do in the service of an authoritarian Trump administration, that takes you to some really terrifying places.”
The post Republicans Said the FTC Was Too Politicized. Now Trump’s FTC Pick Says It Should be Politicized — by Trump. appeared first on The Intercept.
For more than two decades, the U.S. has flown drones over the heads of millions of people — watching, recording, and even killing some of them.
The post America Gets a Taste of Its Own Medicine: Drone Terror appeared first on The Intercept.
Hours before Assad fell, Congress moved to extend sanctions. Despite presidential waivers, Syria won’t open up until they’re off the books.
The post Keeping Sanctions in Force Would “Pull the Rug Out From Under Syria” appeared first on The Intercept.
Before he has taken a single executive decision, countries around the world are positioning themselves for his impact
“A revisionist state has arrived on the scene to contest the liberal international order, and it is not Russia or China, it is the United States. It is Trump in the Oval Office, the beating heart of the free world. The incoming administration contests every element of the liberal international order – trade, alliances, migration, multilateralism, democratic solidarity and human rights.
“The narrative now at home and abroad is that the US is not what we thought it was. Trump was not an aberration, not a bug, but a feature of American politics and of America’s story.”
Continue reading...UK-born wife of ousted Syrian leader is a divisive figure around world and, like her husband, is under sanctions
The Kremlin has denied Turkish media reports suggesting that Asma al-Assad, the British-born wife of the ousted Syrian leader, Bashar al-Assad, is seeking a divorce and hoping to return to London.
Bashar al-Assad fled to Moscow earlier this month, the transponder of his aircraft switched off as he left to avoid detection, after a lightning rebel advance brought an end to his family’s 50-year rule.
Continue reading...Despite ‘spy’ scandal, Philip Hammond says Britain should now adopt a ‘pragmatic approach to Beijing’
China should be encouraged to build electric cars and renewable energy technology in the UK as part of a new pragmatic trading relationship that would benefit both countries, a former Tory chancellor has said ahead of a landmark visit by Rachel Reeves to Beijing early in the new year.
Philip Hammond, who was chancellor from 2016 to 2019, and the last UK minister to take part in formal economic discussions with China before the process was abruptly ended, told the Observer that while Reeves should never “compromise security for trade”, there were vital economic sectors where deals could be struck.
Continue reading...Treasury minister denies claims by Bangladesh that she helped broker corrupt deal with Russia to build nuclear plant
The Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq has been questioned by the Cabinet Office’s propriety and ethics team after Bangladesh’s anti-corruption commission accused her and family members of embezzling billions for a nuclear power plant.
The Labour MP, who denies allegations that she helped broker a deal with Russia to build the energy project, reportedly told a government official that she was the victim of a “political hit job”.
Continue reading...Labour party divided on whether incoming US ambassador should lean on Reform leader’s ties with Donald Trump
Nigel Farage has said he would be willing to help Peter Mandelson negotiate with the Trump administration, after the Labour grandee was confirmed as Westminster’s new ambassador to the US.
Lord Mandelson has indicated he believes the Reform UK leader, a friend of Donald Trump, could serve as a link between the UK and the Republican president-elect.
Continue reading...A mysterious group linked to Patagonia has been accused of making what appear to be illegal “straw donor” contributions.
The post Patagonia’s Ties to a Dark-Money Operation Bankrolling Democratic Candidates appeared first on The Intercept.
Claims underline risks posed to North’s untested armed forces amid reports regime could send reinforcements
More than 1,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded since they were sent to fight alongside Russian troops in Ukraine, according to South Korean military officials.
In a statement released on Monday, the South’s joint chiefs of staff (JCS) said: “We assess that North Korean troops, who have recently engaged in combat with Ukrainian forces, have suffered around 1,100 casualties.”
Continue reading...Ukrainian president says ‘what could be more inhuman’ after missiles and drones hit Ukraine’s energy system on Christmas Day
Ukraine’s air force said it downed 59 Russia-launched missiles and 54 drones, Reuters reports.
The Russian defence ministry has said that Russian forces have taken control of the settlement of Vidrodzhennia in eastern Ukraine.
Continue reading...The Finnish electricity grid’s head of operations says sabotage can’t be ruled out
An undersea power cable linking Finland and Estonia broke down on Wednesday, Finland’s prime minister said, the latest in a series of incidents involving cables and energy pipelines in the Baltic Sea.
The Finnish electricity grid’s head of operations, Arto Pahkin, told the public broadcaster Yle that sabotage could not be ruled out.
Continue reading...Pontiff calls for peace in Ukraine and Sudan, and expresses concern over ‘extremely grave’ situation in Gaza
Pope Francis has urged the world “to silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions” in his traditional Christmas message, using his address to call for peace in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan, and express concern over the “extremely grave” humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Francis addressed the conflict in Ukraine directly in his Urbi et Orbi message, calling for “gestures of dialogue and encounter, in order to achieve a just and lasting peace”. His message came hours after Russia launched a major aerial attack, using cruise missiles to target energy infrastructure across Ukraine.
Continue reading...Zelenskyy describes cruise and ballistic missile strikes, which caused blackouts in several regions, as ‘inhuman’
Christmas morning in Ukraine was overshadowed by a massive Russian aerial attack using cruise missiles to target energy infrastructure across the country, which Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned as “inhuman”.
“Today, Putin deliberately chose Christmas to attack. What could be more inhuman? More than 70 missiles, including ballistic missiles, and more than a hundred attack drones,” the Ukrainian president said on Telegram.
Continue reading...Donations, not restricted by campaign finance laws, come as industries seek favor with incoming administration
US business leaders are spending big on Donald Trump’s second inaugural fund, which is predicted to exceed even the record-setting $107m raised in 2017.
The donations, which are not restricted by campaign finance laws, come as industries and business leaders seek to curry favor with the incoming administration after the president-elect decisively won a second, non-consecutive term in November.
Continue reading...Democrat Kris Mayes is ‘not afraid’ of Trump administration and vows to push back against key immigration policies
Kris Mayes, the attorney general of Arizona, has vowed to fight the incoming Trump administration over key aspects of its immigration policy, including any attempt to set up deportation camps on Arizonan soil or remove thousands of migrant “dreamers” who came to the US as children.
In an interview with the Guardian, Mayes said that any move by Donald Trump in his second presidential term to unpick the rights of dreamers to remain and work in the US would be a “bright red line for me. I will not stand for an attempt to deport them, or undermine them.”
Continue reading...Once the apex of conspiracy theories, the influential group signals a shift by naming ex-Nato chief as new co-chair
The former head of Nato, Jens Stoltenberg, has been named the new co-chair of the influential Bilderberg Group, which convenes a yearly transatlantic policy conference and has long been the subject of conspiracy theories around the extent of its power to shape global events.
After a turbulent decade at the helm of the alliance’s military, Stoltenberg now takes over at its pre-eminent discussion forum: a fiercely private four-day event frequented by prime minsters, EU commissioners, bank bosses, corporate CEOs and intelligence chiefs.
Continue reading...The 76-year-old is part of a trend of ‘silver influencers’ whose success in the face of adversity resonates strongly. Could she be Elon’s secret weapon in China?
Maye Musk is a busy woman. As well as being the mother of the world’s richest man, she has been jetting between various glamorous events – many of them in China. In December alone, she attended a gala dinner in Hangzhou, walked the red carpet for a cosmetics company in Wuhan and signed copies of the Chinese edition of her book, A Woman Makes a Plan, which she described as “a bestseller” in China.
In fact, the only Musk-related book on the Chinese bestseller lists in October was a biography of her son Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson. Elon Musk is popular in China, and is thought to have the potential to wield pro-Beijing influence in the otherwise hawkish incoming administration of Donald Trump. But he has also faced scrutiny for his links to the US Department of Defense via his aerospace company, SpaceX.
Continue reading...Biden’s commutations for 37 of 40 people on death row brought relief for the men and their loved ones that the president made good on his word.
The post “And I Was Surprised”: On Federal Death Row, They Feared Biden Would Set Up Another Trump Killing Spree appeared first on The Intercept.
In Middletown there’s little indication that a local luminary will become second in line to the presidency
Ordinarily, the home town of an incoming vice-president of the United States ought to be awash with pride, vigor and celebration one month out from their big day.
But across Middletown, JD Vance’s home town in south-west Ohio, you would hardly know.
Continue reading...It was a year that saw multiple elections across the world, the war in Ukraine grind on and the conflict in Gaza spill over into Lebanon. Katharine Viner explains what it looked like from the editor’s chair
It was the year that brought back Donald Trump to political power. The year that saw the Tory’s lose power after 14 years. The year that saw war spread across the Middle East from Gaza to Lebanon. And that brought joy in the shape of the Olympics, a Brat summer and the announcement of an Oasis reunion. Katharine Viner, the Guardian’s editor-in-chief, tells Helen Pidd about what these huge changes looked like from the editor’s chair.
She explains how it felt to watch Labour win the UK elections: “The Guardian has shown through its reporting just how desperate life is on the ground. It was a real moment.” And how the Guardian will strive to cover a second Trump presidency given that “Trump has spelled out in black and white, what he thinks about the free press, what he thinks about journalism.”
Continue reading...Core of the Liberals have abandoned Canada’s prime minister after last week’s resignation of his deputy
Dozens of MPs in Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party have now agreed that Canada’s embattled prime minister must abandon his post after last week’s catastrophic resignation of his deputy – a sign he has completely lost support from what were crucial loyalists.
Several Canadian media outlets, including the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Toronto Star, reported over the weekend that 51 of Ontario’s Liberal MPs met virtually and agreed collectively that Trudeau’s time in office has expired.
Continue reading...Trump also warns he would not let a ‘vital national asset’ for the US fall into the ‘wrong hands’
Donald Trump has demanded that the Panama Canal be given back to the US if Panama does not manage the waterway in a fashion acceptable to him – and he accused the Central American country of charging excessive rates for use of the ocean-connecting ship passage.
“The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the US,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform late on Saturday, a little more than a month before the start of his second US presidency. “This complete ‘rip-off’ of our Country will immediately stop….”
Continue reading...Indiana wanted to kill Joseph Corcoran under the cover of darkness, but one journalist slipped in to witness.
The post Indiana’s Midnight Executions Are a Relic of Another Age appeared first on The Intercept.
Aircraft carrying 62 passengers and five crew was en route from Baku to Grozny in Chechnya
Twenty-nine people have survived after a passenger plane operated by Azerbaijan Airlines burst into flames as it crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after veering hundreds of miles off its planned route.
The flight was carrying 62 passengers and five crew members with 38 killed in the crash, according to Kazakhstan’s deputy prime minister, Kanat Bozumbayev.
Continue reading...Three explosions caused Ursa Major to sink off Spanish coast, says company linked to Russian defence ministry
A Russian cargo ship that sank on Tuesday in the Mediterranean Sea was the target of an “act of terrorism”, according to the vessel’s owner.
The Ursa Major sank while it was sailing through international waters between Spain and Algeria, leaving two crew members missing,
Continue reading...I would elbow my mum when she spoke Italian in England, until I realised each part of my identity is more than just a ‘half’
Since I was small, I have liked sitting on stairs to read. In my childhood home, in Nuneaton, I favoured the square of carpet between the two flights, positioned directly opposite the wall-mounted clock, so I could keep an eye on how many pages I could squeeze in before bed. My favourite place to read, though, has always been the red tiled steps that lead to the front door of my nonna’s house in Puglia. There are photos of me and my cousins on those steps at every age. If I close my eyes, I can feel the terracotta under my hands, somehow always warm, even in deepest winter.
Throughout my childhood, I grappled with the question: “Ti senti più inglese o più italiana?” – do you feel more English or more Italian? I’m British-Italian, and most of my family live in the heel of Italy’s boot, in a very small town of – at the last census – 6,200 inhabitants. My mum is one of five siblings, and the only one who moved any real distance from San Donaci, relocating to the Midlands for love, before having me, her only child.
Silvia Saunders is an author. Her debut novel, Homesick, is published in January 2025
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
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For Anna Possi, serving customers at her bar in northern Italy and being in the company of others is key
Anna Possi answers the phone in the cafe but immediately asks to call her back. “I have a customer,” she says.
It’s mid-afternoon and Possi, who owns Bar Centrale in Nebbiuno, a small town overlooking Lake Maggiore in northern Italy, has been serving coffee since 7am. She usually finishes at 7pm.
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Two crew members from Ursa Major are missing and 14 have been rescued, Russian foreign ministry says
An engine room explosion sank a Russian cargo ship called Ursa Major in the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Algeria and two of its crew are missing, the Russian foreign ministry has said.
The vessel, built in 2009, was controlled by Oboronlogistika, a company that is part of the Russian defence ministry’s military construction operations, which had previously said it was en route to the Russian far-eastern port of Vladivostok with two giant port cranes lashed to its deck.
Continue reading...Our 20 favourite pieces of in-depth reporting, essays and profiles from the year
Nicholas Saunders was a counterculture pioneer with an endless stream of quixotic schemes and a yearning to spread knowledge – but his true legacy is a total remaking of the way Britain eats
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Continue reading...At a moment of the year associated with renewal and new birth, reflection on inspiring acts of solidarity and courage can point the way to a better future
In the introduction to a new, seasonal compilation of his speeches on hope, Pope Francis reflects on the legacy of the great German theologian Johann Baptist Metz. Shaped by the early experience of living through the horrors of the Nazi era, Metz’s political theology was a passionate warning against the danger of a self-absorbed Christian piety. Instead he urged a hopeful “mysticism with open eyes” – one that clear-sightedly bears witness to, and seeks to alleviate, the suffering of others.
At a time of the year associated with renewal and new birth, it is not necessary to share Metz’s religious convictions to feel the power of that message. This year has been filled with heart-rending images from the ongoing wars in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and elsewhere. The weekend brought reports of yet more innocent casualties of Israel’s relentless bombing campaign, including children sheltering in a school. Meanwhile, more than 12,000 civilians have been killed since the start of Vladimir Putin’s assault on Ukraine, along with more than 43,000 soldiers, according to Kyiv’s estimates.
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Continue reading...The internal EU document may strip European foreign ministers of “plausible deniability” in Israeli war crimes in Gaza, experts said.
The post EU Officials Will Claim Ignorance of Israel’s War Crimes. This Leaked Document Shows What They Knew. appeared first on The Intercept.
Ras Desta Damtew’s solid gold Imperial Order of the Star of Ethopia failed to sell on auction site this month
The descendants of a hero of Ethiopia’s resistance against European imperialism are seeking to retrieve a gold medal taken from him by Italian troops, after the artefact’s current holder failed to sell it at an online auction earlier this month.
The solid gold Imperial Order of the Star of Ethiopia used to be in the possession of Ras Desta Damtew, a son-in-law of Emperor Haile Selassie and a guerrilla army commander whose capture and execution in 1937 spelled the end of Ethiopia’s resistance to fascist Italy’s occupation.
Continue reading...“The funds to CJA are critical for building community resilience against climate change threats.”
The post EPA Staffers Demand Biden Release Climate Funds Withheld Over Gaza appeared first on The Intercept.
Rory Carroll and Helen Pidd meet the Kabin Crew and the Lisdoonvarna Crew – creators of a song that has notched up more than a billion plays on TikTok – as they perform at the Electric Picnic music festival
This week we are revisiting some of our favourite episodes from 2024. This episode was first broadcast on 13 September.
“Think you can stop what we do? I doubt it. We got the energy, we’ll tell you all about it. I searched for my spark and I found it. Everybody in the crowd, start bouncing.”
Continue reading...DJ whose anything-goes spirit had a huge influence on British club culture had suffered a stroke in 2021
DJ Alfredo, who had a significant influence on Ibiza becoming a global centre for dance music culture, has died aged 71.
Amnesia, the club where he held a residency during the 1980s, announced the news, writing on Instagram: “Thank you for the nights and beats we shared together. Your music and vision shaped the sound of Balearic Beat and the soul of Amnesia. So many memories were made through your energy, your legacy will live on our dancefloor forever. You will never be forgotten.”
Continue reading...Activists alarmed at emirati companies’ poor record on labour rights and fear projects may fail to address environmental concerns
The United Arab Emirates has become the largest backer of new business projects in Africa, raising hopes of a rush of much-needed money for green energy, but also concerns that the investments could compromise the rights of workers and environmental protections.
Between 2019 and 2023, Emirati companies announced $110bn (£88bn) of projects, $72bn of them in renewable energy, according to FT Locations, a data company owned by the Financial Times.
Continue reading...Biden is running out of time to stop another Trump execution spree.
The post Power of the Pardon appeared first on The Intercept.
For the first group of ESA’s Astronaut Reserve, two intensive months of Astronaut Reserve Training (ART) have come to a close. During this initial training phase, members of the ESA Astronaut Reserve Sara García Alonso from Spain, Andrea Patassa from Italy, Arnaud Prost from France, Amelie Schoenenwald from Germany, and Aleš Svoboda from Czechia were introduced to essential skills required for future space exploration and scientific research.
The Arizona senator’s prodigious campaign spending in global wine hot spots can’t possibly be related to the campaign she’s not running, says an ethics complaint.
The post In Waning Senate Days, Kyrsten Sinema Screwed Workers and Spent Campaign Cash on Stay at French Castle appeared first on The Intercept.
“When you imagine what the FTC is willing and able to do in the service of an authoritarian Trump administration, that takes you to some really terrifying places.”
The post Republicans Said the FTC Was Too Politicized. Now Trump’s FTC Pick Says It Should be Politicized — by Trump. appeared first on The Intercept.
The U.S. political system is owned by corporations despised by the American people. Luigi Mangione is the result.
The post Health Insurance Execs Should Live in Fear of Prison, Not Murder appeared first on The Intercept.
Everyone from janitors to the Geek Squad could be forced to help the NSA spy — and Democrats barely put up a fight.
The post Top Senator Warns Sweeping New Surveillance Powers Will “Inevitably Be Misused” by Trump appeared first on The Intercept.
Trump wants a bloodbath for the federal employees, but government workers aren’t the only ones who will suffer.
The post Federal Labor Unions Steel Themselves for Trump and DOGE’s Mass Firings appeared first on The Intercept.
For more than two decades, the U.S. has flown drones over the heads of millions of people — watching, recording, and even killing some of them.
The post America Gets a Taste of Its Own Medicine: Drone Terror appeared first on The Intercept.
Hours before Assad fell, Congress moved to extend sanctions. Despite presidential waivers, Syria won’t open up until they’re off the books.
The post Keeping Sanctions in Force Would “Pull the Rug Out From Under Syria” appeared first on The Intercept.
The big news outlets used to say settlements would encourage more lawsuits. Trump is already targeting smaller newspapers.
The post The Real Danger of ABC News Settling Its Lawsuit With Donald Trump appeared first on The Intercept.
The jurors that sent Hall to death row never heard critical evidence that could have convinced them to spare his life. Some of them now support his bid for clemency.
The post Charles Hall Insisted He Wanted the Death Penalty. Now He’s Asking Biden for Mercy. appeared first on The Intercept.
On The Intercept Briefing, Syrian journalist Rami Jarrah discusses the fall of the Assad family’s decadeslong brutal regime.
The post Syria: What Comes Next? appeared first on The Intercept.
Now the Guardian’s Top 50 countdowns, as voted for by the whole film team, have announced their No 1s, here are our chief critic’s personal choices, in no particular order
• The 50 best films of 2024 in the UK
• The 50 best movies of 2024 in the US
• More on the best culture of 2024
The time has come once more for me to present my “Braddies”, a strictly personal awards list for films getting a UK release in the calendar year just gone – quite distinct from the Guardian’s collegiate best-of-year critics’ poll.
It’s been 12 months in which the big-worry issue refuses to go away, two little letters that until recently, didn’t mean anything much at all and now reduce us to a quiver of anxiety: AI. The conclusion of the writers’ strike was supposed to have provided for the primacy of creative humanity, and for keeping AI in its place as a tool. But studios are keen to find efficient and profitable ways to exploit their intellectual property and Lionsgate has actually signed a deal with artificial intelligence firm Runway to engage with their back catalogue. An uneasy thought. I was one of those who winced at the film Alien: Romulus which used AI to revive a very distinguished British actor for a major role and seemed very pleased with itself about how clever this was. What happened to originality?
Continue reading...From edge-of-seat chases to sexy role-playing, Guardian writers pick their most memorable scenes from films released in the US this year
Spoilers ahead
Amy Adams’s canine transformation in Marielle Heller’s Nightbitch should be nothing we haven’t seen before. There is a fine history of moonlit metamorphoses in werewolf movies: moans that deepen into growls, the stretching and twisting of muscle, fur sprouting at lightning speed. In fact, some people criticised this film for shying away from the body horror at the heart of Mother’s animalistic breakdown. But there is a powerful whiff of catharsis in this low-key transformation scene: watching Adams sniff the midnight air, dig with bare hands into her own tidy suburban lawn, down on her paws, fully dog in body and mind, before the hair begins to bristle on her forearms. Adams’s eerily calm voiceover (“I have one thought: I am an animal”), follows the rippling fur as her character is reborn as a galloping red husky, with a cloud of strawberry-blond hair on a muscular frame. A hunting dog with a one-track mind: “Blood! Blood, blood, blood!” And it’s curtains for the neighbourhood cats. Pamela Hutchinson
Continue reading...Who is a god of TV? Who has magical chemistry? And who deserves to be lightning-bolted for bad behaviour? Here are Guardian readers’ best shows of the year
(Netflix) My favourite show of 2024. It seems to be a rarity in TV that a singular vision survives the creation by committee process. But in Ripley, Steven Zaillian gives us stylish black-and-white cinematography that’s usually reserved for the artiest of arthouse cinema. We get a meticulous mise-en-scene that makes every crime scene a puzzle for the viewer to dissect. And, most importantly, we get incredible central performances from Andrew Scott, Dakota Fanning and Johnny Flynn. This truly felt like a labour of love and for me surpasses both the source material and the previous film adaptation. For those eight hours, I was utterly transfixed. It also helps that for the first two episodes I didn’t realise I had subtitles turned off, so thought it was an intentional decision to avoid translating the Italian. It’s a testament to the quality of the show that I didn’t question that, and went with it. Harry Schofield, 30, London
Continue reading...Research firm Omdia says dip to £931m due to Hollywood strikes but wave of blockbusters likely to renew recovery
The UK box office is forecast to surpass £1bn next year for the first time in six years, but cinema bosses still say moviegoing will not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2026.
The pace of the hoped-for recovery at the box office was disrupted by the Hollywood actors’ and writers’ strikes last summer, which delayed the release of a number of blockbusters.
Continue reading...The jurors that sent Hall to death row never heard critical evidence that could have convinced them to spare his life. Some of them now support his bid for clemency.
The post Charles Hall Insisted He Wanted the Death Penalty. Now He’s Asking Biden for Mercy. appeared first on The Intercept.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are the most popular digital assets today, capturing the attention of cryptocurrency investors, whales and people from around the world. People find it amazing that some users spend thousands or millions of dollars on a single NFT-based image of a monkey or other token, but you can simply take a screenshot for free. So here we share some freuently asked question about NFTs.
NFT stands for non-fungible token, which is a cryptographic token on a blockchain with unique identification codes that distinguish it from other tokens. NFTs are unique and not interchangeable, which means no two NFTs are the same. NFTs can be a unique artwork, GIF, Images, videos, Audio album. in-game items, collectibles etc.
A blockchain is a distributed digital ledger that allows for the secure storage of data. By recording any kind of information—such as bank account transactions, the ownership of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), or Decentralized Finance (DeFi) smart contracts—in one place, and distributing it to many different computers, blockchains ensure that data can’t be manipulated without everyone in the system being aware.
The value of an NFT comes from its ability to be traded freely and securely on the blockchain, which is not possible with other current digital ownership solutionsThe NFT points to its location on the blockchain, but doesn’t necessarily contain the digital property. For example, if you replace one bitcoin with another, you will still have the same thing. If you buy a non-fungible item, such as a movie ticket, it is impossible to replace it with any other movie ticket because each ticket is unique to a specific time and place.
One of the unique characteristics of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) is that they can be tokenised to create a digital certificate of ownership that can be bought, sold and traded on the blockchain.
As with crypto-currency, records of who owns what are stored on a ledger that is maintained by thousands of computers around the world. These records can’t be forged because the whole system operates on an open-source network.
NFTs also contain smart contracts—small computer programs that run on the blockchain—that give the artist, for example, a cut of any future sale of the token.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) aren't cryptocurrencies, but they do use blockchain technology. Many NFTs are based on Ethereum, where the blockchain serves as a ledger for all the transactions related to said NFT and the properties it represents.5) How to make an NFT?
Anyone can create an NFT. All you need is a digital wallet, some ethereum tokens and a connection to an NFT marketplace where you’ll be able to upload and sell your creations
When you purchase a stock in NFT, that purchase is recorded on the blockchain—the bitcoin ledger of transactions—and that entry acts as your proof of ownership.
The value of an NFT varies a lot based on the digital asset up for grabs. People use NFTs to trade and sell digital art, so when creating an NFT, you should consider the popularity of your digital artwork along with historical statistics.
In the year 2021, a digital artist called Pak created an artwork called The Merge. It was sold on the Nifty Gateway NFT market for $91.8 million.
Non-fungible tokens can be used in investment opportunities. One can purchase an NFT and resell it at a profit. Certain NFT marketplaces let sellers of NFTs keep a percentage of the profits from sales of the assets they create.
Many people want to buy NFTs because it lets them support the arts and own something cool from their favorite musicians, brands, and celebrities. NFTs also give artists an opportunity to program in continual royalties if someone buys their work. Galleries see this as a way to reach new buyers interested in art.
There are many places to buy digital assets, like opensea and their policies vary. On top shot, for instance, you sign up for a waitlist that can be thousands of people long. When a digital asset goes on sale, you are occasionally chosen to purchase it.
To mint an NFT token, you must pay some amount of gas fee to process the transaction on the Etherum blockchain, but you can mint your NFT on a different blockchain called Polygon to avoid paying gas fees. This option is available on OpenSea and this simply denotes that your NFT will only be able to trade using Polygon's blockchain and not Etherum's blockchain. Mintable allows you to mint NFTs for free without paying any gas fees.
The answer is no. Non-Fungible Tokens are minted on the blockchain using cryptocurrencies such as Etherum, Solana, Polygon, and so on. Once a Non-Fungible Token is minted, the transaction is recorded on the blockchain and the contract or license is awarded to whoever has that Non-Fungible Token in their wallet.
You can sell your work and creations by attaching a license to it on the blockchain, where its ownership can be transferred. This lets you get exposure without losing full ownership of your work. Some of the most successful projects include Cryptopunks, Bored Ape Yatch Club NFTs, SandBox, World of Women and so on. These NFT projects have gained popularity globally and are owned by celebrities and other successful entrepreneurs. Owning one of these NFTs gives you an automatic ticket to exclusive business meetings and life-changing connections.
That’s a wrap. Hope you guys found this article enlightening. I just answer some question with my limited knowledge about NFTs. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to drop them in the comment section below. Also I have a question for you, Is bitcoin an NFTs? let me know in The comment section below
Joe and Evanna Giardina treasure memories of the affectionate 16-year-old they dubbed the ‘love machine’, who died in the 2004 disaster
At first, there seemed nothing to be afraid of. Joe Giardina, his wife, Evanna, and their 16-year-old son, Paul, were taking in the picture-perfect waters of Patong bay as they ate breakfast in their Phuket beachfront hotel on Boxing Day morning in 2004.
“We were admiring the view and all of a sudden the water disappeared,” says Giardina, 67, speaking from his home in Rosanna, Victoria. The water level had dropped so quickly that fish were floundering on the exposed seabed. But rather than sensing any threat, curious onlookers made their way to the beach. “The locals thought, ‘This is fantastic.’ They were running around picking the fish up.”
Continue reading...Hasina fled to India after student-led protests that ended her 15 years in power
Bangladesh has submitted a formal request to India to extradite its former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to New Delhi in August amid student-led protests that ended her 15 years in power, according to the country’s foreign affairs adviser.
Ties between the south Asian neighbours, who have strong trade and cultural links, have become fraught since Hasina was ousted after violent protests against her rule, and she took refuge across the border.
Continue reading...The Finnish electricity grid’s head of operations says sabotage can’t be ruled out
An undersea power cable linking Finland and Estonia broke down on Wednesday, Finland’s prime minister said, the latest in a series of incidents involving cables and energy pipelines in the Baltic Sea.
The Finnish electricity grid’s head of operations, Arto Pahkin, told the public broadcaster Yle that sabotage could not be ruled out.
Continue reading...Before he has taken a single executive decision, countries around the world are positioning themselves for his impact
“A revisionist state has arrived on the scene to contest the liberal international order, and it is not Russia or China, it is the United States. It is Trump in the Oval Office, the beating heart of the free world. The incoming administration contests every element of the liberal international order – trade, alliances, migration, multilateralism, democratic solidarity and human rights.
“The narrative now at home and abroad is that the US is not what we thought it was. Trump was not an aberration, not a bug, but a feature of American politics and of America’s story.”
Continue reading...The 76-year-old is part of a trend of ‘silver influencers’ whose success in the face of adversity resonates strongly. Could she be Elon’s secret weapon in China?
Maye Musk is a busy woman. As well as being the mother of the world’s richest man, she has been jetting between various glamorous events – many of them in China. In December alone, she attended a gala dinner in Hangzhou, walked the red carpet for a cosmetics company in Wuhan and signed copies of the Chinese edition of her book, A Woman Makes a Plan, which she described as “a bestseller” in China.
In fact, the only Musk-related book on the Chinese bestseller lists in October was a biography of her son Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson. Elon Musk is popular in China, and is thought to have the potential to wield pro-Beijing influence in the otherwise hawkish incoming administration of Donald Trump. But he has also faced scrutiny for his links to the US Department of Defense via his aerospace company, SpaceX.
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While some residents take to building houses in trees, officials recognise need for national response to climate disasters
Every summer, Dongting Hu, China’s second-largest freshwater lake, swells in size as flood water from the Yangtze River flows into its borders. Dams and dikes are erected around the lake’s edges to protect against flooding. But this year, not for the first time, they were overwhelmed.
For three days in early July, more than 800 rescue workers in Hunan province scrambled to block the breaches. One rupture alone took 100,000 cubic metres of rock to seal, according to Zhang Yingchun, a Hunan official. At least 7,000 people had to be evacuated. It was one of a series of disasters to hit China as the country grappled with a summer of extreme weather. By August, there had been 25 large floods, the biggest number since records began in 1998, reported state media.
Continue reading...HK$1m rewards target people accused of national security crimes who fled after pro-democracy protests
Hong Kong police have announced bounties of HK$1m (about £105,000) for information leading to the arrest of six democracy advocates based overseas and accused of national security crimes.
Authorities also said they would cancel the passports of seven others for whom bounties had already been issued, including the former lawmakers Ted Hui and Dennis Kwok, local media said.
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The buzzword – which went viral after a student was filmed working on his laptop while riding his bicycle – reflects a mix of competitiveness and hopelessness amid China’s slowing economy
On the Chinese internet, the country’s current predicament – slowing economic growth, a falling birthrate, a meagre social safety net, increasing isolation on the world stage – is often expressed through buzzwords. There is tangping, or “lying flat”, a term used to describe the young generation of Chinese who are choosing to chill out rather than hustle in China’s high-pressure economy. There is runxue, or “run philosophy”, which refers to the determination of large numbers of people to emigrate. Recently, “revenge against society” attacks – random incidents of violence that have claimed dozens of lives – have sparked particular concern. And there is also neijuan, or “involution”, a term used to describe the feeling of diminishing returns in China’s social contract.
Continue reading...Family ‘devastated’ as attorney general confirms Australian pilot will be surrendered to face potential 60-year prison term if convicted
An Australian pilot will be surrendered to the United States as early as next week after the federal government approved the extradition of the former US Marine pilot to face charges over allegedly training Chinese fighter pilots.
Daniel Duggan, who has been in maximum security prison in Australia for more than two years fighting his extradition, will be handed over to American authorities in the early part of 2025. In a statement, his family said they were “devastated” at the decision after the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, on Monday confirmed he had approved Duggan’s extradition to the US.
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Continue reading...Bar some glitches, I think a tipping point has been reached – except when it comes to virtual gigs
I’m writing this from a room that’s slowly orbiting the Earth. Behind the floating screen in front of me, through a giant opening where a wall should be, the planet slowly spins, so close that it takes up most of my field of vision. It’s morning in Australia to my right; India and the first hints of Europe are dotted with lights up and to my left. The soft drone of the air circulation system hums quietly behind me.
I spent a week doing everything that I could – working, exercising, composing – on my virtual reality headset. This was the year virtual reality threatened to go mainstream, with prices becoming more attainable and Apple entering the market, and so I wanted to see how far VR has come since I first tried it in the mid-2010s, when the main experiences on offer were nausea-inducing rollercoaster simulators. I used a recent model from Meta, called the Quest 3, and the conclusion was clear: this thing now works. It feels a little unfinished, but we’ve reached the point where VR could at last become genuinely useful.
Continue reading...Biden’s commutations for 37 of 40 people on death row brought relief for the men and their loved ones that the president made good on his word.
The post “And I Was Surprised”: On Federal Death Row, They Feared Biden Would Set Up Another Trump Killing Spree appeared first on The Intercept.
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The film-maker challenged mainstream Bollywood and pioneered a new wave cinema movement in the 1970s that tackled social issues
Shyam Benegal, a renowned Indian film-maker known for pioneering a new wave cinema movement that tackled social issues in the 1970s, has died aged 90 after suffering from chronic kidney disease.
Benegal passed away on Monday at Mumbai’s Wockhardt hospital and his cremation took place on Tuesday, the Press Trust of India news agency reported, quoting his daughter Piya. “Benegal had been suffering from chronic kidney disease for several years but it had gotten very bad. That’s the reason for his death,” Piya said.
Many paid tribute to the film-maker on social media platform X. “Deeply saddened by the passing of Shyam Benegal, whose storytelling had a profound impact on Indian cinema. His works will continue to be admired by people from different walks of life,” India’s prime minister Narendra Modi tweeted.
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Our 20 favourite pieces of in-depth reporting, essays and profiles from the year
Nicholas Saunders was a counterculture pioneer with an endless stream of quixotic schemes and a yearning to spread knowledge – but his true legacy is a total remaking of the way Britain eats
Sign up to the long read weekly email here, and find our podcasts here
Show your support for the Guardian’s open, independent journalism in 2024 and beyond, including the long read
Continue reading...Despite ‘spy’ scandal, Philip Hammond says Britain should now adopt a ‘pragmatic approach to Beijing’
China should be encouraged to build electric cars and renewable energy technology in the UK as part of a new pragmatic trading relationship that would benefit both countries, a former Tory chancellor has said ahead of a landmark visit by Rachel Reeves to Beijing early in the new year.
Philip Hammond, who was chancellor from 2016 to 2019, and the last UK minister to take part in formal economic discussions with China before the process was abruptly ended, told the Observer that while Reeves should never “compromise security for trade”, there were vital economic sectors where deals could be struck.
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Claims underline risks posed to North’s untested armed forces amid reports regime could send reinforcements
More than 1,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded since they were sent to fight alongside Russian troops in Ukraine, according to South Korean military officials.
In a statement released on Monday, the South’s joint chiefs of staff (JCS) said: “We assess that North Korean troops, who have recently engaged in combat with Ukrainian forces, have suffered around 1,100 casualties.”
Continue reading...Indiana wanted to kill Joseph Corcoran under the cover of darkness, but one journalist slipped in to witness.
The post Indiana’s Midnight Executions Are a Relic of Another Age appeared first on The Intercept.
A little crate-digging can yield buried treasure – as our music writers found this year when they discovered everything from Taiwanese pop star to Cher’s disco era
This year I completed Duolingo in French, but found myself no closer to being able to carry out what I would call a conversation. (Exchanging likes and dislikes doesn’t count.) I decided to go Paris to practise on some unsuspecting locals, procured via Hinge. One man proved surprisingly game: he not only spoke excellent English but was a self-described anglophile, more up to date than I am on UK politics and truly passionate about Marks & Spencer.
Continue reading...Biden is running out of time to stop another Trump execution spree.
The post Power of the Pardon appeared first on The Intercept.
Trump wants a bloodbath for the federal employees, but government workers aren’t the only ones who will suffer.
The post Federal Labor Unions Steel Themselves for Trump and DOGE’s Mass Firings appeared first on The Intercept.
From an exuberant mountaineering woman to a boy representing unheard refugees, here are some of the brave individuals that gave us hope
Nine years ago, Cecilia Llusco was one of 11 Indigenous women who made it to the summit of the 6,088 metre-high Huayna Potosí in Bolivia. They called themselves the cholitas escaladoras (the climbing cholitas) and went on to scale many more peaks in Bolivia and across South America. Their name comes from chola, once a pejorative term for Indigenous Aymara women.
Continue reading...Treasury minister denies claims by Bangladesh that she helped broker corrupt deal with Russia to build nuclear plant
The Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq has been questioned by the Cabinet Office’s propriety and ethics team after Bangladesh’s anti-corruption commission accused her and family members of embezzling billions for a nuclear power plant.
The Labour MP, who denies allegations that she helped broker a deal with Russia to build the energy project, reportedly told a government official that she was the victim of a “political hit job”.
Continue reading...The regional command at Ann would be the second regional military command to fall to ethnic rebels in five months, and a huge blow to the military
A rebel army in Myanmar said it had captured a major military headquarters in the country’s west, marking the fall of the junta’s second regional command as it faces mounting setbacks against a nationwide armed resistance movement.
The Arakan Army (AA) said the western military command in Rakhine state, which borders Bangladesh, fell on Friday after two weeks of intense fighting, according to a statement posted on Telegram late on Friday.
Continue reading...The jurors that sent Hall to death row never heard critical evidence that could have convinced them to spare his life. Some of them now support his bid for clemency.
The post Charles Hall Insisted He Wanted the Death Penalty. Now He’s Asking Biden for Mercy. appeared first on The Intercept.
Evaluation could lead to limits or bans on substances commonly used in the production of plastic and rubber
The Environmental Protection Agency is launching a formal review of five highly toxic plastic chemicals, including vinyl chloride, the notorious compound at the center of the East Palestine, Ohio, train wreck fire.
The move could lead to strong limits or bans on the substances.
Continue reading...A candid look at the toxic force of envy that drove his musical career but turned a talented musician into a deeply unhappy man. But why the CGI?
Robbie Williams – only he is a chimp! This is a pretty trad music biopic, coming with the accepted U-shaped narrative arc of humble beginnings, big break, superstardom, drugs, drink, shallow sex, dark-night-of-the-soul slump and redemptive comeback, here topped off with an unendurably protracted performance of My Way at the Royal Albert Hall in London. But the whole thing is given a cheeky high-concept twist by portraying the singer as an ape – a shrieking, scowling, capering CGI chimp – while all around are humans. Actor Jonno Davies plays the part in motion capture and Williams himself supplies the voiceover.
The idea supposedly comes from Williams’s fear that he is immature and unevolved, stranded emotionally for ever at the age he became famous: 15. And this chimp figure runs counter to his 2001 song Better Man, with its poignant, maybe Darwinian yearning for improvement: “As my soul heals the shame/I will grow through this pain/Lord, I’m doing all I can/To be a better man.”
Continue reading...Mark Gatiss’s seventh festive horror tale is an adaptation of a short story by the children’s author – with added sisterhood and righteous vengeance
I have never understood the association of ghost stories with Christmas. Is it because it is still a part-pagan festival? Is it because we don’t like to let ourselves be too happy? Or is it because the whole family is likely to be home and you need to remind yourself that there could be more malevolent forces out there than in here, whatever the toxic dynamics? Perhaps it’s just because it gets dark so early.
Whatever the reason, here is another half-hour shiver from Mark Gatiss, adapted this time not from the output of his beloved MR James, but from a more unexpected source. A Ghost Story for Christmas: Woman of Stone is based on a short story called Man-size in Marble by E Nesbit. Yes, that E Nesbit! The Railway Children E Nesbit! She was a prolific writer of novels and short stories, for adults as well as children; Man-size in Marble was published as part of her Grim Tales collection (for grownups) in 1893.
Continue reading...While some residents take to building houses in trees, officials recognise need for national response to climate disasters
Every summer, Dongting Hu, China’s second-largest freshwater lake, swells in size as flood water from the Yangtze River flows into its borders. Dams and dikes are erected around the lake’s edges to protect against flooding. But this year, not for the first time, they were overwhelmed.
For three days in early July, more than 800 rescue workers in Hunan province scrambled to block the breaches. One rupture alone took 100,000 cubic metres of rock to seal, according to Zhang Yingchun, a Hunan official. At least 7,000 people had to be evacuated. It was one of a series of disasters to hit China as the country grappled with a summer of extreme weather. By August, there had been 25 large floods, the biggest number since records began in 1998, reported state media.
Continue reading...A newly obtained document sheds light on how the disavowed “excited delirium” diagnosis infiltrated the Rochester Police Department before Prude’s death.
The post What Killed Daniel Prude? The Cops and New York AG Said a Diagnosis That’s Since Been Debunked. appeared first on The Intercept.
“The funds to CJA are critical for building community resilience against climate change threats.”
The post EPA Staffers Demand Biden Release Climate Funds Withheld Over Gaza appeared first on The Intercept.
From soft, buttery cheddar to crumbly caerphilly, here’s our pick of cheeses that will benefit you, the animal and the environment
The fruity tang of a strong cheddar; the creamy ooze of a brie; the honk of a blue so ripe it threatens to walk off the board. To cheese lovers, these are as much a part of this season’s sensory joys as mince pies and a Christmas tree glowing with lights.
Yet they can come at an environmental price. Sustainability is frustratingly complicated for those of us who want to lay on a cheeseboard without guilt this Christmas. Most of us now know about livestock emissions, global deforestation in the name of producing feed, and the pollution – via agricultural runoff – of local waterways. A few years ago, we were told being sustainable meant avoiding dairy completely; then we learned about the benefits ruminants can bring to the soil when farmed regeneratively.
The cheddar:
Hafod
From £7.75 at the Courtyard Dairy
The wensleydale:
Stonebeck
From £17 at Paxton & Whitfield
The ‘camembert’:
Corscombe
£15.15 at Neal’s Yard Dairy
The goat’s:
Sinodun Hill and Polmarkyn Dairy
£14.95 at Paxton & Whitfield
£6.20 at Hanson Fine Foods
The ‘manchego’:
Corra Linn
From £10.65 at the Courtyard Dairy
The blue:
Lanark blue
£9.95 at Pong Cheese
The caerphilly:
Duckett’s caerphilly
£5.25 at the Newt
The reblochon:
Rollright
£10.95 at the Newt
The jurors that sent Hall to death row never heard critical evidence that could have convinced them to spare his life. Some of them now support his bid for clemency.
The post Charles Hall Insisted He Wanted the Death Penalty. Now He’s Asking Biden for Mercy. appeared first on The Intercept.
SEMrush and Ahrefs are among
the most popular tools in the SEO industry. Both companies have been in
business for years and have thousands of customers per month.
If you're a professional SEO or trying to do digital
marketing on your own, at some point you'll likely consider using a tool to
help with your efforts. Ahrefs and SEMrush are two names that will likely
appear on your shortlist.
In this guide, I'm going to help you learn more about these SEO tools and how to choose the one that's best for your purposes.
What is SEMrush?
SEMrush is a popular SEO tool with a wide range of
features—it's the leading competitor research service for online marketers.
SEMrush's SEO Keyword Magic tool offers over 20 billion Google-approved
keywords, which are constantly updated and it's the largest keyword database.
The program was developed in 2007 as SeoQuake is a
small Firefox extension
Features
Ahrefs is a leading SEO platform that offers a set of
tools to grow your search traffic, research your competitors, and monitor your
niche. The company was founded in 2010, and it has become a popular choice
among SEO tools. Ahrefs has a keyword index of over 10.3 billion keywords and
offers accurate and extensive backlink data updated every 15-30 minutes and it
is the world's most extensive backlink index database.
Features
Direct Comparisons: Ahrefs vs SEMrush
Now that you know a little more about each tool, let's
take a look at how they compare. I'll analyze each tool to see how they differ
in interfaces, keyword research resources, rank tracking, and competitor
analysis.
User Interface
Ahrefs and SEMrush both offer comprehensive information
and quick metrics regarding your website's SEO performance. However, Ahrefs
takes a bit more of a hands-on approach to getting your account fully set up,
whereas SEMrush's simpler dashboard can give you access to the data you need
quickly.
In this section, we provide a brief overview of the elements
found on each dashboard and highlight the ease with which you can complete
tasks.
AHREFS
The Ahrefs dashboard is less cluttered than that of
SEMrush, and its primary menu is at the very top of the page, with a search bar
designed only for entering URLs.
Additional features of the Ahrefs platform include:
SEMRUSH
When you log into the SEMrush Tool, you will find four
main modules. These include information about your domains, organic keyword
analysis, ad keyword, and site traffic.
You'll also find some other options like
Both Ahrefs and SEMrush have user-friendly dashboards,
but Ahrefs is less cluttered and easier to navigate. On the other hand, SEMrush
offers dozens of extra tools, including access to customer support resources.
When deciding on which dashboard to use, consider what
you value in the user interface, and test out both.
If you're looking to track your website's search engine
ranking, rank tracking features can help. You can also use them to monitor your
competitors.
Let's take a look at Ahrefs vs. SEMrush to see which
tool does a better job.
The Ahrefs Rank Tracker is simpler to use. Just type in
the domain name and keywords you want to analyze, and it spits out a report
showing you the search engine results page (SERP) ranking for each keyword you
enter.
Rank Tracker looks at the ranking performance of
keywords and compares them with the top rankings for those keywords. Ahrefs
also offers:
You'll see metrics that help you understand your
visibility, traffic, average position, and keyword difficulty.
It gives you an idea of whether a keyword would be
profitable to target or not.
SEMRush offers a tool called Position Tracking. This
tool is a project tool—you must set it up as a new project. Below are a few of
the most popular features of the SEMrush Position Tracking tool:
All subscribers are given regular data updates and
mobile search rankings upon subscribing
The platform provides opportunities to track several
SERP features, including Local tracking.
Intuitive reports allow you to track statistics for the
pages on your website, as well as the keywords used in those pages.
Identify pages that may be competing with each other
using the Cannibalization report.
Ahrefs is a more user-friendly option. It takes seconds
to enter a domain name and keywords. From there, you can quickly decide whether
to proceed with that keyword or figure out how to rank better for other
keywords.
SEMrush allows you to check your mobile rankings and
ranking updates daily, which is something Ahrefs does not offer. SEMrush also
offers social media rankings, a tool you won't find within the Ahrefs platform.
Both are good which one do you like let me know in the comment.
Keyword research is closely related to rank tracking,
but it's used for deciding which keywords you plan on using for future content
rather than those you use now.
When it comes to SEO, keyword research is the most
important thing to consider when comparing the two platforms.
The Ahrefs Keyword Explorer provides you with thousands
of keyword ideas and filters search results based on the chosen search engine.
Ahrefs supports several features, including:
SEMrush's Keyword Magic Tool has over 20 billion
keywords for Google. You can type in any keyword you want, and a list of
suggested keywords will appear.
The Keyword Magic Tool also lets you to:
Both of these tools offer keyword research features and
allow users to break down complicated tasks into something that can be
understood by beginners and advanced users alike.
If you're interested in keyword suggestions, SEMrush
appears to have more keyword suggestions than Ahrefs does. It also continues to
add new features, like the Keyword Gap tool and SERP Questions recommendations.
Both platforms offer competitor analysis tools,
eliminating the need to come up with keywords off the top of your head. Each
tool is useful for finding keywords that will be useful for your competition so
you know they will be valuable to you.
Ahrefs' domain comparison tool lets you compare up to five websites (your website and four competitors) side-by-side.it also shows you how your site is ranked against others with metrics such as backlinks, domain ratings, and more.
Use the Competing Domains section to see a list of your
most direct competitors, and explore how many keywords matches your competitors
have.
To find more information about your competitor, you can
look at the Site Explorer and Content Explorer tools and type in their URL
instead of yours.
SEMrush provides a variety of insights into your
competitors' marketing tactics. The platform enables you to research your
competitors effectively. It also offers several resources for competitor
analysis including:
Traffic Analytics helps you identify where your
audience comes from, how they engage with your site, what devices visitors use
to view your site, and how your audiences overlap with other websites.
SEMrush's Organic Research examines your website's
major competitors and shows their organic search rankings, keywords they are
ranking for, and even if they are ranking for any (SERP) features and more.
The Market Explorer search field allows you to type in
a domain and lists websites or articles similar to what you entered. Market
Explorer also allows users to perform in-depth data analytics on These
companies and markets.
SEMrush wins here because it has more tools dedicated to
competitor analysis than Ahrefs. However, Ahrefs offers a lot of functionality
in this area, too. It takes a combination of both tools to gain an advantage
over your competition.
When it comes to keyword data research, you will become
confused about which one to choose.
Consider choosing Ahrefs if you
Consider SEMrush if you:
Both tools are great. Choose the one which meets your
requirements and if you have any experience using either Ahrefs or SEMrush let
me know in the comment section which works well for you.
A mysterious group linked to Patagonia has been accused of making what appear to be illegal “straw donor” contributions.
The post Patagonia’s Ties to a Dark-Money Operation Bankrolling Democratic Candidates appeared first on The Intercept.
Biden’s commutations for 37 of 40 people on death row brought relief for the men and their loved ones that the president made good on his word.
The post “And I Was Surprised”: On Federal Death Row, They Feared Biden Would Set Up Another Trump Killing Spree appeared first on The Intercept.
Over the holidays, this column will explore next year’s urgent issues. Today, why it is easier to be a constitutional reformer in opposition than in office
Next year, the remaining hereditary members of the House of Lords will finally lose their right to sit in the upper house. When that happens, a democratic milestone in British parliamentary history will unquestionably have been reached. But a milestone along a road to what eventual constitutional destination? We do not know the answer to that, because the government will not say. The government itself may not be sure. As on many other issues, Labour’s true direction of travel on House of Lords reform remains obscure.
One thing, however, can already be said. Last week, Downing Street published a list of 38 new life peers. It was one of the longest such lists of the modern era. It contained 30 new Labour peers, six Conservatives and two Liberal Democrats. Many were former MPs. The overall aim, as the nominations made extremely clear, was to boost Labour’s numbers in the Lords at the expense of the Conservatives.
Continue reading...Democrat Kris Mayes is ‘not afraid’ of Trump administration and vows to push back against key immigration policies
Kris Mayes, the attorney general of Arizona, has vowed to fight the incoming Trump administration over key aspects of its immigration policy, including any attempt to set up deportation camps on Arizonan soil or remove thousands of migrant “dreamers” who came to the US as children.
In an interview with the Guardian, Mayes said that any move by Donald Trump in his second presidential term to unpick the rights of dreamers to remain and work in the US would be a “bright red line for me. I will not stand for an attempt to deport them, or undermine them.”
Continue reading...Before he has taken a single executive decision, countries around the world are positioning themselves for his impact
“A revisionist state has arrived on the scene to contest the liberal international order, and it is not Russia or China, it is the United States. It is Trump in the Oval Office, the beating heart of the free world. The incoming administration contests every element of the liberal international order – trade, alliances, migration, multilateralism, democratic solidarity and human rights.
“The narrative now at home and abroad is that the US is not what we thought it was. Trump was not an aberration, not a bug, but a feature of American politics and of America’s story.”
Continue reading...The U.S. political system is owned by corporations despised by the American people. Luigi Mangione is the result.
The post Health Insurance Execs Should Live in Fear of Prison, Not Murder appeared first on The Intercept.
A newly obtained document sheds light on how the disavowed “excited delirium” diagnosis infiltrated the Rochester Police Department before Prude’s death.
The post What Killed Daniel Prude? The Cops and New York AG Said a Diagnosis That’s Since Been Debunked. appeared first on The Intercept.
Exclusive: Parliamentary committee set to endorse proposals to refer complaints about bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct by MPs to independent investigator
Political parties are on course to hand over responsibility for examining allegations of bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct by MPs to parliament’s independent investigator.
A parliamentary committee is preparing to endorse proposals to refer complaints about MPs’ misconduct to the Independent Complaints and Grievance System (ICGS), instead of letting political parties deal with them.
Continue reading...Labour party divided on whether incoming US ambassador should lean on Reform leader’s ties with Donald Trump
Nigel Farage has said he would be willing to help Peter Mandelson negotiate with the Trump administration, after the Labour grandee was confirmed as Westminster’s new ambassador to the US.
Lord Mandelson has indicated he believes the Reform UK leader, a friend of Donald Trump, could serve as a link between the UK and the Republican president-elect.
Continue reading...The Arizona senator’s prodigious campaign spending in global wine hot spots can’t possibly be related to the campaign she’s not running, says an ethics complaint.
The post In Waning Senate Days, Kyrsten Sinema Screwed Workers and Spent Campaign Cash on Stay at French Castle appeared first on The Intercept.
It was a year that saw multiple elections across the world, the war in Ukraine grind on and the conflict in Gaza spill over into Lebanon. Katharine Viner explains what it looked like from the editor’s chair
It was the year that brought back Donald Trump to political power. The year that saw the Tory’s lose power after 14 years. The year that saw war spread across the Middle East from Gaza to Lebanon. And that brought joy in the shape of the Olympics, a Brat summer and the announcement of an Oasis reunion. Katharine Viner, the Guardian’s editor-in-chief, tells Helen Pidd about what these huge changes looked like from the editor’s chair.
She explains how it felt to watch Labour win the UK elections: “The Guardian has shown through its reporting just how desperate life is on the ground. It was a real moment.” And how the Guardian will strive to cover a second Trump presidency given that “Trump has spelled out in black and white, what he thinks about the free press, what he thinks about journalism.”
Continue reading...Opposition claimed ruling Frelimo party rigged 9 October vote, leading to months of civil unrest
Mozambique’s top court has confirmed the ruling party’s victory in October’s presidential elections, potentially triggering more protests after more than two months of unrest over allegations that the results were rigged.
Daniel Chapo, of the ruling Frelimo party, won the 9 October presidential election with 65.2% of the vote, Lúcia Ribeiro, the chair of Mozambique’s constitutional council, told a press conference on Monday.
Continue reading...“When you imagine what the FTC is willing and able to do in the service of an authoritarian Trump administration, that takes you to some really terrifying places.”
The post Republicans Said the FTC Was Too Politicized. Now Trump’s FTC Pick Says It Should be Politicized — by Trump. appeared first on The Intercept.
Biden appears ready to sign the NDAA, despite objections from advocates and some Democrats about an insidious anti-trans rider.
The post Senate Approves Defense Bill Blocking Health Care for Thousands of Trans Youth appeared first on The Intercept.
Trump wants a bloodbath for the federal employees, but government workers aren’t the only ones who will suffer.
The post Federal Labor Unions Steel Themselves for Trump and DOGE’s Mass Firings appeared first on The Intercept.
Everyone from janitors to the Geek Squad could be forced to help the NSA spy — and Democrats barely put up a fight.
The post Top Senator Warns Sweeping New Surveillance Powers Will “Inevitably Be Misused” by Trump appeared first on The Intercept.
Donations, not restricted by campaign finance laws, come as industries seek favor with incoming administration
US business leaders are spending big on Donald Trump’s second inaugural fund, which is predicted to exceed even the record-setting $107m raised in 2017.
The donations, which are not restricted by campaign finance laws, come as industries and business leaders seek to curry favor with the incoming administration after the president-elect decisively won a second, non-consecutive term in November.
Continue reading...A little crate-digging can yield buried treasure – as our music writers found this year when they discovered everything from Taiwanese pop star to Cher’s disco era
This year I completed Duolingo in French, but found myself no closer to being able to carry out what I would call a conversation. (Exchanging likes and dislikes doesn’t count.) I decided to go Paris to practise on some unsuspecting locals, procured via Hinge. One man proved surprisingly game: he not only spoke excellent English but was a self-described anglophile, more up to date than I am on UK politics and truly passionate about Marks & Spencer.
Continue reading...When a terrifying Ebola-like pandemic struck the Roman empire, Christianity offered solutions that the old ways didn’t
In our Christmas imagery, ancient symbols such as fir trees, mistletoe, holly and ivy sit alongside the baby Jesus, Virgin Mary, angels and shepherds. This mixture of pagan and Christian traditions reminds us that Christmas was superimposed on to much older midwinter festivities. Yet had it not been for a devastating pandemic that swept through the Roman empire in the third century AD, the birth of Jesus would probably not feature at all in our winter solstice celebrations.
If the New Testament is to be believed, Jesus managed to fit a great deal into his short life. But despite all his wise words, good deeds and miracles – not to mention the promise of everlasting life – Christ was nothing more than the leader of an obscure sect of Judaism when the Romans crucified him in AD33.
Jonathan Kennedy teaches politics and global health at Queen Mary University of London and is the author of Pathogenesis: How Germs Made History
Continue reading...Exclusive: Reducing rate of misogynistic killings is key to halving violence against women and girls, says Jess Phillips
Tackling the “scourge of femicide” in the UK will be a central part of the government’s promise to drastically reduce violence against women and girls, the minister leading the policy has said.
Revealing details of one of Labour’s central missions in office for the first time, Jess Phillips said the success of the government’s target to halve violence against women and girls had to include reducing the rate at which women are killed by men.
Continue reading...In Middletown there’s little indication that a local luminary will become second in line to the presidency
Ordinarily, the home town of an incoming vice-president of the United States ought to be awash with pride, vigor and celebration one month out from their big day.
But across Middletown, JD Vance’s home town in south-west Ohio, you would hardly know.
Continue reading...The Press Association’s political photographer, Stefan Rousseau, picks his best shots from the past 12 months
Continue reading...The internal EU document may strip European foreign ministers of “plausible deniability” in Israeli war crimes in Gaza, experts said.
The post EU Officials Will Claim Ignorance of Israel’s War Crimes. This Leaked Document Shows What They Knew. appeared first on The Intercept.
Many readers back the government’s decision to cut payment, saying they didn’t need the money, but others say it has made life harder
When Colin Anderson moved home to Devon after 30 years in London, he was looking forward to a quiet retirement close to where he had grown up. A council tenant all his life, he privately rented a small bungalow near Newton Abbot, where he could just about afford to live comfortably alone after the death of his partner.
When his rent was raised sharply twice, however, it reached £1,100 a month – more than his entire state pension. He was left with £200 a month from his private pension to cover food, clothing and everything else. The removal this year of his winter fuel payment has tipped a challenging existence into a thoroughly dispiriting one.
Continue reading...Treasury minister denies claims by Bangladesh that she helped broker corrupt deal with Russia to build nuclear plant
The Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq has been questioned by the Cabinet Office’s propriety and ethics team after Bangladesh’s anti-corruption commission accused her and family members of embezzling billions for a nuclear power plant.
The Labour MP, who denies allegations that she helped broker a deal with Russia to build the energy project, reportedly told a government official that she was the victim of a “political hit job”.
Continue reading...Trump also warns he would not let a ‘vital national asset’ for the US fall into the ‘wrong hands’
Donald Trump has demanded that the Panama Canal be given back to the US if Panama does not manage the waterway in a fashion acceptable to him – and he accused the Central American country of charging excessive rates for use of the ocean-connecting ship passage.
“The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the US,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform late on Saturday, a little more than a month before the start of his second US presidency. “This complete ‘rip-off’ of our Country will immediately stop….”
Continue reading...Despite ‘spy’ scandal, Philip Hammond says Britain should now adopt a ‘pragmatic approach to Beijing’
China should be encouraged to build electric cars and renewable energy technology in the UK as part of a new pragmatic trading relationship that would benefit both countries, a former Tory chancellor has said ahead of a landmark visit by Rachel Reeves to Beijing early in the new year.
Philip Hammond, who was chancellor from 2016 to 2019, and the last UK minister to take part in formal economic discussions with China before the process was abruptly ended, told the Observer that while Reeves should never “compromise security for trade”, there were vital economic sectors where deals could be struck.
Continue reading...How much do you remember from the past year in sport? Test yourself with our selection of teasers
Continue reading...“The funds to CJA are critical for building community resilience against climate change threats.”
The post EPA Staffers Demand Biden Release Climate Funds Withheld Over Gaza appeared first on The Intercept.
Family ‘devastated’ as attorney general confirms Australian pilot will be surrendered to face potential 60-year prison term if convicted
An Australian pilot will be surrendered to the United States as early as next week after the federal government approved the extradition of the former US Marine pilot to face charges over allegedly training Chinese fighter pilots.
Daniel Duggan, who has been in maximum security prison in Australia for more than two years fighting his extradition, will be handed over to American authorities in the early part of 2025. In a statement, his family said they were “devastated” at the decision after the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, on Monday confirmed he had approved Duggan’s extradition to the US.
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Continue reading...Indiana wanted to kill Joseph Corcoran under the cover of darkness, but one journalist slipped in to witness.
The post Indiana’s Midnight Executions Are a Relic of Another Age appeared first on The Intercept.
Magnitude 6.1 quake shakes country’s main island as RAAF flights carrying 144 passengers land in Brisbane and Sydney
Vanuatu has been hit by another earthquake after hundreds of Australians landed on home soil from the islands and the federal government announced a new round of financial assistance.
The latest magnitude 6.1 quake shook buildings on the country’s main island at 2.30am on Sunday after it struck 30km west of the capital, Port Vila.
Continue reading...Biden is running out of time to stop another Trump execution spree.
The post Power of the Pardon appeared first on The Intercept.
Labour seems gripped by a form of denialism. The danger is real and incremental change won’t avert it
There is no need to overcomplicate things: a rise in global temperatures of 3.1C is not compatible with human survival. That is where we are heading, unless we act now. On our current path, the world will exceed 1.5C of warming, and could reach a rise of 2.6-3.1C by the end of the century.
For you, today, that might make the difference between wearing a jumper or a jacket. For humanity, it is the difference between survival and extinction. Paris and Berlin will bake under heatwaves. New York will be hit by frequent storm-surges. Coastal towns will be submerged; 800 million people are living on land that will be underwater.
Jeremy Corbyn is independent MP for Islington North and was leader of the Labour party from 2015 to 2020
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Continue reading...Rory Carroll and Helen Pidd meet the Kabin Crew and the Lisdoonvarna Crew – creators of a song that has notched up more than a billion plays on TikTok – as they perform at the Electric Picnic music festival
This week we are revisiting some of our favourite episodes from 2024. This episode was first broadcast on 13 September.
“Think you can stop what we do? I doubt it. We got the energy, we’ll tell you all about it. I searched for my spark and I found it. Everybody in the crowd, start bouncing.”
Continue reading...The French capital overcame issues including an opening ceremony deluge to deliver 17 days of joyous madness
Four months after Paris 2024’s spectacular finale, starring Tom Cruise abseiling off the top of the Stade de France and hurtling out of a plane above Los Angeles, the executive director of the Olympics is mulling over the lasting impact of the Games. Albeit with the help of a rather different cinematic icon.
“I was making a presentation to Deloitte executives recently,” says Christophe Dubi, the man responsible for planning and delivering the Olympics. “And I started by paraphrasing the Stranger in The Big Lebowski: ‘Sometimes, there is a man, he’s the man for his time and place, he was The Dude.’ Because Paris really was the right Games, at the right time and place.”
Continue reading...Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson and John Brewin for a special festive Q&A
Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.
On the podcast today, in what is now an annual tradition we’ve gathered some of your questions on topics ranging from the greatest goal you ever saw live through to favourite tv chefs.
Plus: festive messages from all your favourite panellists. Merry Christmas from all at Football Weekly!
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You can also find Football Weekly on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Continue reading...In this episode from September, Madeleine Finlay speaks to Dr Saul Newman, an interdisciplinary researcher at University College London and the University of Oxford, who has recently won an Ig Nobel prize – given to scientific research that ‘first makes people laugh, and then makes them think’ – for his work showing that many claims of people living extraordinarily long lives come from places with short lifespans, no birth certificates, and where clerical errors and pension fraud abound
For more on ageing, listen to Science Weekly’s miniseries Secrets of Ageing
Continue reading...Christmas has arrived at Comfort Eating HQ, so join Grace as she joyfully wallows in her annual Christmas baking session while musing on her favourite Comfort Eating yuletide memories. From multi-Grammy winner Gregory Porter on his mum’s festive cook-ups, to baking extraordinaire Nadiya Hussain on her childhood turkey midnight feasts, plus Craig David, Michael Ball and many more
New episodes of Comfort Eating with Grace Dent will be released every Tuesday
Continue reading...President Nayib Bukele pushed for the legislation that will grant government sole authority over mining activities
El Salvador’s legislature has overturned a seven-year-old ban on metals mining, a move that the country’s authoritarian president, Nayib Bukele, had pushed for to boost economic growth, but that environmental groups had opposed.
El Salvador became the first country in the world to ban all forms of metals mining in 2017. Bukele, who took office in 2019, has called the ban absurd.
Continue reading...Core of the Liberals have abandoned Canada’s prime minister after last week’s resignation of his deputy
Dozens of MPs in Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party have now agreed that Canada’s embattled prime minister must abandon his post after last week’s catastrophic resignation of his deputy – a sign he has completely lost support from what were crucial loyalists.
Several Canadian media outlets, including the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Toronto Star, reported over the weekend that 51 of Ontario’s Liberal MPs met virtually and agreed collectively that Trudeau’s time in office has expired.
Continue reading...The big news outlets used to say settlements would encourage more lawsuits. Trump is already targeting smaller newspapers.
The post The Real Danger of ABC News Settling Its Lawsuit With Donald Trump appeared first on The Intercept.
For more than two decades, the U.S. has flown drones over the heads of millions of people — watching, recording, and even killing some of them.
The post America Gets a Taste of Its Own Medicine: Drone Terror appeared first on The Intercept.
“I have a fundamental right to be protected by my government, especially in times of war. My children and I deserve to return to the safety of the U.S.”
The post Americans Stuck in Gaza Sue the U.S. for Leaving Them “Trapped in a War Zone” appeared first on The Intercept.
Hours before Assad fell, Congress moved to extend sanctions. Despite presidential waivers, Syria won’t open up until they’re off the books.
The post Keeping Sanctions in Force Would “Pull the Rug Out From Under Syria” appeared first on The Intercept.
The jurors that sent Hall to death row never heard critical evidence that could have convinced them to spare his life. Some of them now support his bid for clemency.
The post Charles Hall Insisted He Wanted the Death Penalty. Now He’s Asking Biden for Mercy. appeared first on The Intercept.
In the rapidly advancing landscape of AI technology and innovation, LimeWire emerges as a unique platform in the realm of generative AI tools. This platform not only stands out from the multitude of existing AI tools but also brings a fresh approach to content generation. LimeWire not only empowers users to create AI content but also provides creators with creative ways to share and monetize their creations.
As we explore LimeWire, our aim is to uncover its features, benefits for creators, and the exciting possibilities it offers for AI content generation. This platform presents an opportunity for users to harness the power of AI in image creation, all while enjoying the advantages of a free and accessible service.
Let's unravel the distinctive features that set LimeWire apart in the dynamic landscape of AI-powered tools, understanding how creators can leverage its capabilities to craft unique and engaging AI-generated images.
This revamped LimeWire invites users to register and unleash their creativity by crafting original AI content, which can then be shared and showcased on the LimeWire Studio. Notably, even acclaimed artists and musicians, such as Deadmau5, Soulja Boy, and Sean Kingston, have embraced this platform to publish their content in the form of NFT music, videos, and images.
Beyond providing a space for content creation and sharing, LimeWire introduces monetization models to empower users to earn revenue from their creations. This includes avenues such as earning ad revenue and participating in the burgeoning market of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). As we delve further, we'll explore these monetization strategies in more detail to provide a comprehensive understanding of LimeWire's innovative approach to content creation and distribution.
LimeWire Studio welcomes content creators into its fold, providing a space to craft personalized AI-focused content for sharing with fans and followers. Within this creative hub, every piece of content generated becomes not just a creation but a unique asset—ownable and tradable. Fans have the opportunity to subscribe to creators' pages, immersing themselves in the creative journey and gaining ownership of digital collectibles that hold tradeable value within the LimeWire community. Notably, creators earn a 2.5% royalty each time their content is traded, adding a rewarding element to the creative process.
The platform's flexibility is evident in its content publication options. Creators can choose to share their work freely with the public or opt for a premium subscription model, granting exclusive access to specialized content for subscribers.
As of the present moment, LimeWire focuses on AI Image Generation, offering a spectrum of creative possibilities to its user base. The platform, however, has ambitious plans on the horizon, aiming to broaden its offerings by introducing AI music and video generation tools in the near future. This strategic expansion promises creators even more avenues for expression and engagement with their audience, positioning LimeWire Studio as a dynamic and evolving platform within the realm of AI-powered content creation.
The LimeWire AI image generation tool presents a versatile platform for both the creation and editing of images. Supporting advanced models such as Stable Diffusion 2.1, Stable Diffusion XL, and DALL-E 2, LimeWire offers a sophisticated toolkit for users to delve into the realm of generative AI art.
Much like other tools in the generative AI landscape, LimeWire provides a range of options catering to various levels of complexity in image creation. Users can initiate the creative process with prompts as simple as a few words or opt for more intricate instructions, tailoring the output to their artistic vision.
What sets LimeWire apart is its seamless integration of different AI models and design styles. Users have the flexibility to effortlessly switch between various AI models, exploring diverse design styles such as cinematic, digital art, pixel art, anime, analog film, and more. Each style imparts a distinctive visual identity to the generated AI art, enabling users to explore a broad spectrum of creative possibilities.
The platform also offers additional features, including samplers, allowing users to fine-tune the quality and detail levels of their creations. Customization options and prompt guidance further enhance the user experience, providing a user-friendly interface for both novice and experienced creators.
Excitingly, LimeWire is actively developing its proprietary AI model, signaling ongoing innovation and enhancements to its image generation capabilities. This upcoming addition holds the promise of further expanding the creative horizons for LimeWire users, making it an evolving and dynamic platform within the landscape of AI-driven art and image creation.
Sign Up Now To Get Free Credits
Upon completing your creative endeavor on LimeWire, the platform allows you the option to publish your content. An intriguing feature follows this step: LimeWire automates the process of minting your creation as a Non-Fungible Token (NFT), utilizing either the Polygon or Algorand blockchain. This transformative step imbues your artwork with a unique digital signature, securing its authenticity and ownership in the decentralized realm.
Creators on LimeWire hold the power to decide the accessibility of their NFT creations. By opting for a public release, the content becomes discoverable by anyone, fostering a space for engagement and interaction. Furthermore, this choice opens the avenue for enthusiasts to trade the NFTs, adding a layer of community involvement to the artistic journey.
Alternatively, LimeWire acknowledges the importance of exclusivity. Creators can choose to share their posts exclusively with their premium subscribers. In doing so, the content remains a special offering solely for dedicated fans, creating an intimate and personalized experience within the LimeWire community. This flexibility in sharing options emphasizes LimeWire's commitment to empowering creators with choices in how they connect with their audience and distribute their digital creations.
After creating your content, you can choose to publish the content. It will automatically mint your creation as an NFT on the Polygon or Algorand blockchain. You can also choose whether to make it public or subscriber-only.
If you make it public, anyone can discover your content and even trade the NFTs. If you choose to share the post only with your premium subscribers, it will be exclusive only to your fans.
Additionally, you can earn ad revenue from your content creations as well.
When you publish content on LimeWire, you will receive 70% of all ad revenue from other users who view your images, music, and videos on the platform.
This revenue model will be much more beneficial to designers. You can experiment with the AI image and content generation tools and share your creations while earning a small income on the side.
The revenue you earn from your creations will come in the form of LMWR tokens, LimeWire’s own cryptocurrency.
Your earnings will be paid every month in LMWR, which you can then trade on many popular crypto exchange platforms like Kraken, ByBit, and UniSwap.
You can also use your LMWR tokens to pay for prompts when using LimeWire generative AI tools.
You can sign up to LimeWire to use its AI tools for free. You will receive 10 credits to use and generate up to 20 AI images per day. You will also receive 50% of the ad revenue share. However, you will get more benefits with premium plans.
For $9.99 per month, you will get 1,000 credits per month, up to 2 ,000 image generations, early access to new AI models, and 50% ad revenue share
For $29 per month, you will get 3750 credits per month, up to 7500 image generations, early access to new AI models, and 60% ad revenue share
For $49 per month, you will get 5,000 credits per month, up to 10,000 image generations, early access to new AI models, and 70% ad revenue share
For $99 per month, you will get 11,250 credits per month, up to 2 2,500 image generations, early access to new AI models, and 70% ad revenue share
With all premium plans, you will receive a Pro profile badge, full creation history, faster image generation, and no ads.
Sign Up Now To Get Free Credits
In conclusion, LimeWire emerges as a democratizing force in the creative landscape, providing an inclusive platform where anyone can unleash their artistic potential and effortlessly share their work. With the integration of AI, LimeWire eliminates traditional barriers, empowering designers, musicians, and artists to publish their creations and earn revenue with just a few clicks.
The ongoing commitment of LimeWire to innovation is evident in its plans to enhance generative AI tools with new features and models. The upcoming expansion to include music and video generation tools holds the promise of unlocking even more possibilities for creators. It sparks anticipation about the diverse and innovative ways in which artists will leverage these tools to produce and publish their own unique creations.
For those eager to explore, LimeWire's AI tools are readily accessible for free, providing an opportunity to experiment and delve into the world of generative art. As LimeWire continues to evolve, creators are encouraged to stay tuned for the launch of its forthcoming AI music and video generation tools, promising a future brimming with creative potential and endless artistic exploration
Are you looking for a new graphic design tool? Would you like to read a detailed review of Canva? As it's one of the tools I love using. I am also writing my first ebook using canva and publish it soon on my site you can download it is free. Let's start the review.
Canva has a web version and also a mobile app
Canva is a free graphic design web application that allows you to create invitations, business cards, flyers, lesson plans, banners, and more using professionally designed templates. You can upload your own photos from your computer or from Google Drive, and add them to Canva's templates using a simple drag-and-drop interface. It's like having a basic version of Photoshop that doesn't require Graphic designing knowledge to use. It’s best for nongraphic designers.
Canva is a great tool for small business owners, online entrepreneurs, and marketers who don’t have the time and want to edit quickly.
To create sophisticated graphics, a tool such as Photoshop can is ideal. To use it, you’ll need to learn its hundreds of features, get familiar with the software, and it’s best to have a good background in design, too.
Also running the latest version of Photoshop you need a high-end computer.
So here Canva takes place, with Canva you can do all that with drag-and-drop feature. It’s also easier to use and free. Also an even-more-affordable paid version is available for $12.95 per month.
The product is available in three plans: Free, Pro ($12.99/month per user or $119.99/year for up to 5 people), and Enterprise ($30 per user per month, minimum 25 people).
To get started on Canva, you will need to create an account by providing your email address, Google, Facebook or Apple credentials. You will then choose your account type between student, teacher, small business, large company, non-profit, or personal. Based on your choice of account type, templates will be recommended to you.
You can sign up for a free trial of Canva Pro, or you can start with the free version to get a sense of whether it’s the right graphic design tool for your needs.
When you sign up for an account, Canva will suggest different post types to choose from. Based on the type of account you set up you'll be able to see templates categorized by the following categories: social media posts, documents, presentations, marketing, events, ads, launch your business, build your online brand, etc.
Start by choosing a template for your post or searching for something more specific. Search by social network name to see a list of post types on each network.
Next, you can choose a template. Choose from hundreds of templates that are ready to go, with customizable photos, text, and other elements.
You can start your design by choosing from a variety of ready-made templates, searching for a template matching your needs, or working with a blank template.
Inside the Canva designer, the Elements tab gives you access to lines and shapes, graphics, photos, videos, audio, charts, photo frames, and photo grids.The search box on the Elements tab lets you search everything on Canva.
To begin with, Canva has a large library of elements to choose from. To find them, be specific in your search query. You may also want to search in the following tabs to see various elements separately:
The Photos tab lets you search for and choose from millions of professional stock photos for your templates.
You can replace the photos in our templates to create a new look. This can also make the template more suited to your industry.
You can find photos on other stock photography sites like pexel, pixabay and many more or simply upload your own photos.
When you choose an image, Canva’s photo editing features let you adjust the photo’s settings (brightness, contrast, saturation, etc.), crop, or animate it.
When you subscribe to Canva Pro, you get access to a number of premium features, including the Background Remover. This feature allows you to remove the background from any stock photo in library or any image you upload.
The Text tab lets you add headings, normal text, and graphical text to your design.
When you click on text, you'll see options to adjust the font, font size, color, format, spacing, and text effects (like shadows).
Canva Pro subscribers can choose from a large library of fonts on the Brand Kit or the Styles tab. Enterprise-level controls ensure that visual content remains on-brand, no matter how many people are working on it.
Create an animated image or video by adding audio to capture user’s attention in social news feeds.
If you want to use audio from another stock site or your own audio tracks, you can upload them in the Uploads tab or from the more option.
Want to create your own videos? Choose from thousands of stock video clips. You’ll find videos that range upto 2 minutes
You can upload your own videos as well as videos from other stock sites in the Uploads tab.
Once you have chosen a video, you can use the editing features in Canva to trim the video, flip it, and adjust its transparency.
On the Background tab, you’ll find free stock photos to serve as backgrounds on your designs. Change out the background on a template to give it a more personal touch.
The Styles tab lets you quickly change the look and feel of your template with just a click. And if you have a Canva Pro subscription, you can upload your brand’s custom colors and fonts to ensure designs stay on brand.
If you have a Canva Pro subscription, you’ll have a Logos tab. Here, you can upload variations of your brand logo to use throughout your designs.
With Canva, you can also create your own logos. Note that you cannot trademark a logo with stock content in it.
With Canva, free users can download and share designs to multiple platforms including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Slack and Tumblr.
Canva Pro subscribers can create multiple post formats from one design. For example, you can start by designing an Instagram post, and Canva's Magic Resizer can resize it for other networks, Stories, Reels, and other formats.
Canva Pro subscribers can also use Canva’s Content Planner to post content on eight different accounts on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Slack, and Tumblr.
Canva Pro allows you to work with your team on visual content. Designs can be created inside Canva, and then sent to your team members for approval. Everyone can make comments, edits, revisions, and keep track via the version history.
When it comes to printing your designs, Canva has you covered. With an extensive selection of printing options, they can turn your designs into anything from banners and wall art to mugs and t-shirts.
Canva Print is perfect for any business seeking to make a lasting impression. Create inspiring designs people will want to wear, keep, and share. Hand out custom business cards that leave a lasting impression on customers' minds.
The Canva app is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play. The Canva app has earned a 4.9 out of five star rating from over 946.3K Apple users and a 4.5 out of five star rating from over 6,996,708 Google users.
In addition to mobile apps, you can use Canva’s integration with other Internet services to add images and text from sources like Google Maps, Emojis, photos from Google Drive and Dropbox, YouTube videos, Flickr photos, Bitmojis, and other popular visual content elements.
In general, Canva is an excellent tool for those who need simple images for projects. If you are a graphic designer with experience, you will find Canva’s platform lacking in customization and advanced features – particularly vectors. But if you have little design experience, you will find Canva easier to use than advanced graphic design tools like Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator for most projects. If you have any queries let me know in the comments section.
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Continue reading...With restrictions due next month, food vendors are still using such plastics and some traders have not heard of ban
Labake Ajiboye-Richard, the founder of a Lagos-based sustainability consultancy, was driving in Nigeria’s most populous city earlier this month when she saw someone throwing rubbish out of their car window.
“I was so shocked to see that in 2024,” she said. “If you’re throwing something on the road, what are you doing in your home? What are you doing in your community?”
Continue reading...Our 20 favourite pieces of in-depth reporting, essays and profiles from the year
Nicholas Saunders was a counterculture pioneer with an endless stream of quixotic schemes and a yearning to spread knowledge – but his true legacy is a total remaking of the way Britain eats
Sign up to the long read weekly email here, and find our podcasts here
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Continue reading...Christmas has arrived at Comfort Eating HQ, so join Grace as she joyfully wallows in her annual Christmas baking session while musing on her favourite Comfort Eating yuletide memories. From multi-Grammy winner Gregory Porter on his mum’s festive cook-ups, to baking extraordinaire Nadiya Hussain on her childhood turkey midnight feasts, plus Craig David, Michael Ball and many more
New episodes of Comfort Eating with Grace Dent will be released every Tuesday
Continue reading...Many readers back the government’s decision to cut payment, saying they didn’t need the money, but others say it has made life harder
When Colin Anderson moved home to Devon after 30 years in London, he was looking forward to a quiet retirement close to where he had grown up. A council tenant all his life, he privately rented a small bungalow near Newton Abbot, where he could just about afford to live comfortably alone after the death of his partner.
When his rent was raised sharply twice, however, it reached £1,100 a month – more than his entire state pension. He was left with £200 a month from his private pension to cover food, clothing and everything else. The removal this year of his winter fuel payment has tipped a challenging existence into a thoroughly dispiriting one.
Continue reading...Avoiding animal products – and alcohol – at the start of the year makes lasting changes more likely, say researchers
Meat-eaters who abstain to take part in Veganuary are more likely to think that meat is disgusting after giving it up for the month, researchers have found.
Studies by psychologists at the University of Exeter also found that some people identify less as meat-eaters after trying to avoid animal products during January.
Continue reading...Trump wants a bloodbath for the federal employees, but government workers aren’t the only ones who will suffer.
The post Federal Labor Unions Steel Themselves for Trump and DOGE’s Mass Firings appeared first on The Intercept.
A weekly email from Yotam Ottolenghi, Meera Sodha, Felicity Cloake and Rachel Roddy, featuring the latest recipes and seasonal eating ideas
Each week we’ll send you an exclusive newsletter from our star food writers. We’ll also send you the latest recipes from Yotam Ottolenghi, Nigel Slater, Meera Sodha and all our star cooks, stand-out food features and seasonal eating inspiration, plus restaurant reviews from Grace Dent and Jay Rayner.
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Continue reading...Not sure which whisky to sip by a roaring fire? No problem, we’ve tasted them straight up for you
Whether you’re stocking the bar trolley or hunting for a gift for a hard-to-buy-for relative, you’ll likely be one of the many picking up a bottle or two of whisky this Christmas.
After carefully testing every whisky on this list – and many more – we are full of festive spirit and ready to step in to Christmas. Some whiskies were stirred into manhattans, others were enjoyed as a highball, and all were tasted straight up; all in the name of fairness, you understand.
Continue reading...As the diplomatic row over the embargo escalates, the U.S. sent Israel millions of pounds of ammunition through Spanish territory.
The post U.S. Defied Spanish Embargo on Arms Bound for Israel by Making Enforcement More Difficult appeared first on The Intercept.
From soft, buttery cheddar to crumbly caerphilly, here’s our pick of cheeses that will benefit you, the animal and the environment
The fruity tang of a strong cheddar; the creamy ooze of a brie; the honk of a blue so ripe it threatens to walk off the board. To cheese lovers, these are as much a part of this season’s sensory joys as mince pies and a Christmas tree glowing with lights.
Yet they can come at an environmental price. Sustainability is frustratingly complicated for those of us who want to lay on a cheeseboard without guilt this Christmas. Most of us now know about livestock emissions, global deforestation in the name of producing feed, and the pollution – via agricultural runoff – of local waterways. A few years ago, we were told being sustainable meant avoiding dairy completely; then we learned about the benefits ruminants can bring to the soil when farmed regeneratively.
The cheddar:
Hafod
From £7.75 at the Courtyard Dairy
The wensleydale:
Stonebeck
From £17 at Paxton & Whitfield
The ‘camembert’:
Corscombe
£15.15 at Neal’s Yard Dairy
The goat’s:
Sinodun Hill and Polmarkyn Dairy
£14.95 at Paxton & Whitfield
£6.20 at Hanson Fine Foods
The ‘manchego’:
Corra Linn
From £10.65 at the Courtyard Dairy
The blue:
Lanark blue
£9.95 at Pong Cheese
The caerphilly:
Duckett’s caerphilly
£5.25 at the Newt
The reblochon:
Rollright
£10.95 at the Newt
Hours before Assad fell, Congress moved to extend sanctions. Despite presidential waivers, Syria won’t open up until they’re off the books.
The post Keeping Sanctions in Force Would “Pull the Rug Out From Under Syria” appeared first on The Intercept.
Style, with substance: what’s really trending this week, a roundup of the best fashion journalism and your wardrobe dilemmas solved, direct to your inbox every Thursday
Style, with substance: what’s really trending this week, a roundup of the best fashion journalism and your wardrobe dilemmas solved, delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday
Explore all our newsletters: whether you love film, football, fashion or food, we’ve got something for you
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Imagine a world in which you can do transactions and many other things without having to give your personal information. A world in which you don’t need to rely on banks or governments anymore. Sounds amazing, right? That’s exactly what blockchain technology allows us to do.
It’s like your computer’s hard drive. blockchain is a technology that lets you store data in digital blocks, which are connected together like links in a chain.
Blockchain technology was originally invented in 1991 by two mathematicians, Stuart Haber and W. Scot Stornetta. They first proposed the system to ensure that timestamps could not be tampered with.
A few years later, in 1998, software developer Nick Szabo proposed using a similar kind of technology to secure a digital payments system he called “Bit Gold.” However, this innovation was not adopted until Satoshi Nakamoto claimed to have invented the first Blockchain and Bitcoin.
A blockchain is a distributed database shared between the nodes of a computer network. It saves information in digital format. Many people first heard of blockchain technology when they started to look up information about bitcoin.
Blockchain is used in cryptocurrency systems to ensure secure, decentralized records of transactions.
Blockchain allowed people to guarantee the fidelity and security of a record of data without the need for a third party to ensure accuracy.
To understand how a blockchain works, Consider these basic steps:
Let’s get to know more about the blockchain.
Blockchain records digital information and distributes it across the network without changing it. The information is distributed among many users and stored in an immutable, permanent ledger that can't be changed or destroyed. That's why blockchain is also called "Distributed Ledger Technology" or DLT.
Here’s how it works:
And that’s the beauty of it! The process may seem complicated, but it’s done in minutes with modern technology. And because technology is advancing rapidly, I expect things to move even more quickly than ever.
Even though blockchain is integral to cryptocurrency, it has other applications. For example, blockchain can be used for storing reliable data about transactions. Many people confuse blockchain with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum.
Blockchain already being adopted by some big-name companies, such as Walmart, AIG, Siemens, Pfizer, and Unilever. For example, IBM's Food Trust uses blockchain to track food's journey before reaching its final destination.
Although some of you may consider this practice excessive, food suppliers and manufacturers adhere to the policy of tracing their products because bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella have been found in packaged foods. In addition, there have been isolated cases where dangerous allergens such as peanuts have accidentally been introduced into certain products.
Tracing and identifying the sources of an outbreak is a challenging task that can take months or years. Thanks to the Blockchain, however, companies now know exactly where their food has been—so they can trace its location and prevent future outbreaks.
Blockchain technology allows systems to react much faster in the event of a hazard. It also has many other uses in the modern world.
Blockchain technology is safe, even if it’s public. People can access the technology using an internet connection.
Have you ever been in a situation where you had all your data stored at one place and that one secure place got compromised? Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to prevent your data from leaking out even when the security of your storage systems is compromised?
Blockchain technology provides a way of avoiding this situation by using multiple computers at different locations to store information about transactions. If one computer experiences problems with a transaction, it will not affect the other nodes.
Instead, other nodes will use the correct information to cross-reference your incorrect node. This is called “Decentralization,” meaning all the information is stored in multiple places.
Blockchain guarantees your data's authenticity—not just its accuracy, but also its irreversibility. It can also be used to store data that are difficult to register, like legal contracts, state identifications, or a company's product inventory.
Blockchain has many advantages and disadvantages.
I’ll answer the most frequently asked questions about blockchain in this section.
Blockchain is not a cryptocurrency but a technology that makes cryptocurrencies possible. It's a digital ledger that records every transaction seamlessly.
Yes, blockchain can be theoretically hacked, but it is a complicated task to be achieved. A network of users constantly reviews it, which makes hacking the blockchain difficult.
Coinbase Global is currently the biggest blockchain company in the world. The company runs a commendable infrastructure, services, and technology for the digital currency economy.
Blockchain is a decentralized technology. It’s a chain of distributed ledgers connected with nodes. Each node can be any electronic device. Thus, one owns blockhain.
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, which is powered by Blockchain technology while Blockchain is a distributed ledger of cryptocurrency
Generally a database is a collection of data which can be stored and organized using a database management system. The people who have access to the database can view or edit the information stored there. The client-server network architecture is used to implement databases. whereas a blockchain is a growing list of records, called blocks, stored in a distributed system. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, timestamp and transaction information. Modification of data is not allowed due to the design of the blockchain. The technology allows decentralized control and eliminates risks of data modification by other parties.
Blockchain has a wide spectrum of applications and, over the next 5-10 years, we will likely see it being integrated into all sorts of industries. From finance to healthcare, blockchain could revolutionize the way we store and share data. Although there is some hesitation to adopt blockchain systems right now, that won't be the case in 2022-2023 (and even less so in 2026). Once people become more comfortable with the technology and understand how it can work for them, owners, CEOs and entrepreneurs alike will be quick to leverage blockchain technology for their own gain. Hope you like this article if you have any question let me know in the comments section
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The Justice Department has published the criminal complaint against Dmitry Khoroshev, for building and maintaining the LockBit ransomware.
The U.S. political system is owned by corporations despised by the American people. Luigi Mangione is the result.
The post Health Insurance Execs Should Live in Fear of Prison, Not Murder appeared first on The Intercept.
|
Imagine a world in which you can do transactions and many other things without having to give your personal information. A world in which you don’t need to rely on banks or governments anymore. Sounds amazing, right? That’s exactly what blockchain technology allows us to do.
It’s like your computer’s hard drive. blockchain is a technology that lets you store data in digital blocks, which are connected together like links in a chain.
Blockchain technology was originally invented in 1991 by two mathematicians, Stuart Haber and W. Scot Stornetta. They first proposed the system to ensure that timestamps could not be tampered with.
A few years later, in 1998, software developer Nick Szabo proposed using a similar kind of technology to secure a digital payments system he called “Bit Gold.” However, this innovation was not adopted until Satoshi Nakamoto claimed to have invented the first Blockchain and Bitcoin.
A blockchain is a distributed database shared between the nodes of a computer network. It saves information in digital format. Many people first heard of blockchain technology when they started to look up information about bitcoin.
Blockchain is used in cryptocurrency systems to ensure secure, decentralized records of transactions.
Blockchain allowed people to guarantee the fidelity and security of a record of data without the need for a third party to ensure accuracy.
To understand how a blockchain works, Consider these basic steps:
Let’s get to know more about the blockchain.
Blockchain records digital information and distributes it across the network without changing it. The information is distributed among many users and stored in an immutable, permanent ledger that can't be changed or destroyed. That's why blockchain is also called "Distributed Ledger Technology" or DLT.
Here’s how it works:
And that’s the beauty of it! The process may seem complicated, but it’s done in minutes with modern technology. And because technology is advancing rapidly, I expect things to move even more quickly than ever.
Even though blockchain is integral to cryptocurrency, it has other applications. For example, blockchain can be used for storing reliable data about transactions. Many people confuse blockchain with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum.
Blockchain already being adopted by some big-name companies, such as Walmart, AIG, Siemens, Pfizer, and Unilever. For example, IBM's Food Trust uses blockchain to track food's journey before reaching its final destination.
Although some of you may consider this practice excessive, food suppliers and manufacturers adhere to the policy of tracing their products because bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella have been found in packaged foods. In addition, there have been isolated cases where dangerous allergens such as peanuts have accidentally been introduced into certain products.
Tracing and identifying the sources of an outbreak is a challenging task that can take months or years. Thanks to the Blockchain, however, companies now know exactly where their food has been—so they can trace its location and prevent future outbreaks.
Blockchain technology allows systems to react much faster in the event of a hazard. It also has many other uses in the modern world.
Blockchain technology is safe, even if it’s public. People can access the technology using an internet connection.
Have you ever been in a situation where you had all your data stored at one place and that one secure place got compromised? Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to prevent your data from leaking out even when the security of your storage systems is compromised?
Blockchain technology provides a way of avoiding this situation by using multiple computers at different locations to store information about transactions. If one computer experiences problems with a transaction, it will not affect the other nodes.
Instead, other nodes will use the correct information to cross-reference your incorrect node. This is called “Decentralization,” meaning all the information is stored in multiple places.
Blockchain guarantees your data's authenticity—not just its accuracy, but also its irreversibility. It can also be used to store data that are difficult to register, like legal contracts, state identifications, or a company's product inventory.
Blockchain has many advantages and disadvantages.
I’ll answer the most frequently asked questions about blockchain in this section.
Blockchain is not a cryptocurrency but a technology that makes cryptocurrencies possible. It's a digital ledger that records every transaction seamlessly.
Yes, blockchain can be theoretically hacked, but it is a complicated task to be achieved. A network of users constantly reviews it, which makes hacking the blockchain difficult.
Coinbase Global is currently the biggest blockchain company in the world. The company runs a commendable infrastructure, services, and technology for the digital currency economy.
Blockchain is a decentralized technology. It’s a chain of distributed ledgers connected with nodes. Each node can be any electronic device. Thus, one owns blockhain.
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, which is powered by Blockchain technology while Blockchain is a distributed ledger of cryptocurrency
Generally a database is a collection of data which can be stored and organized using a database management system. The people who have access to the database can view or edit the information stored there. The client-server network architecture is used to implement databases. whereas a blockchain is a growing list of records, called blocks, stored in a distributed system. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, timestamp and transaction information. Modification of data is not allowed due to the design of the blockchain. The technology allows decentralized control and eliminates risks of data modification by other parties.
Blockchain has a wide spectrum of applications and, over the next 5-10 years, we will likely see it being integrated into all sorts of industries. From finance to healthcare, blockchain could revolutionize the way we store and share data. Although there is some hesitation to adopt blockchain systems right now, that won't be the case in 2022-2023 (and even less so in 2026). Once people become more comfortable with the technology and understand how it can work for them, owners, CEOs and entrepreneurs alike will be quick to leverage blockchain technology for their own gain. Hope you like this article if you have any question let me know in the comments section
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Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are the most popular digital assets today, capturing the attention of cryptocurrency investors, whales and people from around the world. People find it amazing that some users spend thousands or millions of dollars on a single NFT-based image of a monkey or other token, but you can simply take a screenshot for free. So here we share some freuently asked question about NFTs.
NFT stands for non-fungible token, which is a cryptographic token on a blockchain with unique identification codes that distinguish it from other tokens. NFTs are unique and not interchangeable, which means no two NFTs are the same. NFTs can be a unique artwork, GIF, Images, videos, Audio album. in-game items, collectibles etc.
A blockchain is a distributed digital ledger that allows for the secure storage of data. By recording any kind of information—such as bank account transactions, the ownership of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), or Decentralized Finance (DeFi) smart contracts—in one place, and distributing it to many different computers, blockchains ensure that data can’t be manipulated without everyone in the system being aware.
The value of an NFT comes from its ability to be traded freely and securely on the blockchain, which is not possible with other current digital ownership solutionsThe NFT points to its location on the blockchain, but doesn’t necessarily contain the digital property. For example, if you replace one bitcoin with another, you will still have the same thing. If you buy a non-fungible item, such as a movie ticket, it is impossible to replace it with any other movie ticket because each ticket is unique to a specific time and place.
One of the unique characteristics of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) is that they can be tokenised to create a digital certificate of ownership that can be bought, sold and traded on the blockchain.
As with crypto-currency, records of who owns what are stored on a ledger that is maintained by thousands of computers around the world. These records can’t be forged because the whole system operates on an open-source network.
NFTs also contain smart contracts—small computer programs that run on the blockchain—that give the artist, for example, a cut of any future sale of the token.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) aren't cryptocurrencies, but they do use blockchain technology. Many NFTs are based on Ethereum, where the blockchain serves as a ledger for all the transactions related to said NFT and the properties it represents.5) How to make an NFT?
Anyone can create an NFT. All you need is a digital wallet, some ethereum tokens and a connection to an NFT marketplace where you’ll be able to upload and sell your creations
When you purchase a stock in NFT, that purchase is recorded on the blockchain—the bitcoin ledger of transactions—and that entry acts as your proof of ownership.
The value of an NFT varies a lot based on the digital asset up for grabs. People use NFTs to trade and sell digital art, so when creating an NFT, you should consider the popularity of your digital artwork along with historical statistics.
In the year 2021, a digital artist called Pak created an artwork called The Merge. It was sold on the Nifty Gateway NFT market for $91.8 million.
Non-fungible tokens can be used in investment opportunities. One can purchase an NFT and resell it at a profit. Certain NFT marketplaces let sellers of NFTs keep a percentage of the profits from sales of the assets they create.
Many people want to buy NFTs because it lets them support the arts and own something cool from their favorite musicians, brands, and celebrities. NFTs also give artists an opportunity to program in continual royalties if someone buys their work. Galleries see this as a way to reach new buyers interested in art.
There are many places to buy digital assets, like opensea and their policies vary. On top shot, for instance, you sign up for a waitlist that can be thousands of people long. When a digital asset goes on sale, you are occasionally chosen to purchase it.
To mint an NFT token, you must pay some amount of gas fee to process the transaction on the Etherum blockchain, but you can mint your NFT on a different blockchain called Polygon to avoid paying gas fees. This option is available on OpenSea and this simply denotes that your NFT will only be able to trade using Polygon's blockchain and not Etherum's blockchain. Mintable allows you to mint NFTs for free without paying any gas fees.
The answer is no. Non-Fungible Tokens are minted on the blockchain using cryptocurrencies such as Etherum, Solana, Polygon, and so on. Once a Non-Fungible Token is minted, the transaction is recorded on the blockchain and the contract or license is awarded to whoever has that Non-Fungible Token in their wallet.
You can sell your work and creations by attaching a license to it on the blockchain, where its ownership can be transferred. This lets you get exposure without losing full ownership of your work. Some of the most successful projects include Cryptopunks, Bored Ape Yatch Club NFTs, SandBox, World of Women and so on. These NFT projects have gained popularity globally and are owned by celebrities and other successful entrepreneurs. Owning one of these NFTs gives you an automatic ticket to exclusive business meetings and life-changing connections.
That’s a wrap. Hope you guys found this article enlightening. I just answer some question with my limited knowledge about NFTs. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to drop them in the comment section below. Also I have a question for you, Is bitcoin an NFTs? let me know in The comment section below
In the rapidly advancing landscape of AI technology and innovation, LimeWire emerges as a unique platform in the realm of generative AI tools. This platform not only stands out from the multitude of existing AI tools but also brings a fresh approach to content generation. LimeWire not only empowers users to create AI content but also provides creators with creative ways to share and monetize their creations.
As we explore LimeWire, our aim is to uncover its features, benefits for creators, and the exciting possibilities it offers for AI content generation. This platform presents an opportunity for users to harness the power of AI in image creation, all while enjoying the advantages of a free and accessible service.
Let's unravel the distinctive features that set LimeWire apart in the dynamic landscape of AI-powered tools, understanding how creators can leverage its capabilities to craft unique and engaging AI-generated images.
This revamped LimeWire invites users to register and unleash their creativity by crafting original AI content, which can then be shared and showcased on the LimeWire Studio. Notably, even acclaimed artists and musicians, such as Deadmau5, Soulja Boy, and Sean Kingston, have embraced this platform to publish their content in the form of NFT music, videos, and images.
Beyond providing a space for content creation and sharing, LimeWire introduces monetization models to empower users to earn revenue from their creations. This includes avenues such as earning ad revenue and participating in the burgeoning market of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). As we delve further, we'll explore these monetization strategies in more detail to provide a comprehensive understanding of LimeWire's innovative approach to content creation and distribution.
LimeWire Studio welcomes content creators into its fold, providing a space to craft personalized AI-focused content for sharing with fans and followers. Within this creative hub, every piece of content generated becomes not just a creation but a unique asset—ownable and tradable. Fans have the opportunity to subscribe to creators' pages, immersing themselves in the creative journey and gaining ownership of digital collectibles that hold tradeable value within the LimeWire community. Notably, creators earn a 2.5% royalty each time their content is traded, adding a rewarding element to the creative process.
The platform's flexibility is evident in its content publication options. Creators can choose to share their work freely with the public or opt for a premium subscription model, granting exclusive access to specialized content for subscribers.
As of the present moment, LimeWire focuses on AI Image Generation, offering a spectrum of creative possibilities to its user base. The platform, however, has ambitious plans on the horizon, aiming to broaden its offerings by introducing AI music and video generation tools in the near future. This strategic expansion promises creators even more avenues for expression and engagement with their audience, positioning LimeWire Studio as a dynamic and evolving platform within the realm of AI-powered content creation.
The LimeWire AI image generation tool presents a versatile platform for both the creation and editing of images. Supporting advanced models such as Stable Diffusion 2.1, Stable Diffusion XL, and DALL-E 2, LimeWire offers a sophisticated toolkit for users to delve into the realm of generative AI art.
Much like other tools in the generative AI landscape, LimeWire provides a range of options catering to various levels of complexity in image creation. Users can initiate the creative process with prompts as simple as a few words or opt for more intricate instructions, tailoring the output to their artistic vision.
What sets LimeWire apart is its seamless integration of different AI models and design styles. Users have the flexibility to effortlessly switch between various AI models, exploring diverse design styles such as cinematic, digital art, pixel art, anime, analog film, and more. Each style imparts a distinctive visual identity to the generated AI art, enabling users to explore a broad spectrum of creative possibilities.
The platform also offers additional features, including samplers, allowing users to fine-tune the quality and detail levels of their creations. Customization options and prompt guidance further enhance the user experience, providing a user-friendly interface for both novice and experienced creators.
Excitingly, LimeWire is actively developing its proprietary AI model, signaling ongoing innovation and enhancements to its image generation capabilities. This upcoming addition holds the promise of further expanding the creative horizons for LimeWire users, making it an evolving and dynamic platform within the landscape of AI-driven art and image creation.
Sign Up Now To Get Free Credits
Upon completing your creative endeavor on LimeWire, the platform allows you the option to publish your content. An intriguing feature follows this step: LimeWire automates the process of minting your creation as a Non-Fungible Token (NFT), utilizing either the Polygon or Algorand blockchain. This transformative step imbues your artwork with a unique digital signature, securing its authenticity and ownership in the decentralized realm.
Creators on LimeWire hold the power to decide the accessibility of their NFT creations. By opting for a public release, the content becomes discoverable by anyone, fostering a space for engagement and interaction. Furthermore, this choice opens the avenue for enthusiasts to trade the NFTs, adding a layer of community involvement to the artistic journey.
Alternatively, LimeWire acknowledges the importance of exclusivity. Creators can choose to share their posts exclusively with their premium subscribers. In doing so, the content remains a special offering solely for dedicated fans, creating an intimate and personalized experience within the LimeWire community. This flexibility in sharing options emphasizes LimeWire's commitment to empowering creators with choices in how they connect with their audience and distribute their digital creations.
After creating your content, you can choose to publish the content. It will automatically mint your creation as an NFT on the Polygon or Algorand blockchain. You can also choose whether to make it public or subscriber-only.
If you make it public, anyone can discover your content and even trade the NFTs. If you choose to share the post only with your premium subscribers, it will be exclusive only to your fans.
Additionally, you can earn ad revenue from your content creations as well.
When you publish content on LimeWire, you will receive 70% of all ad revenue from other users who view your images, music, and videos on the platform.
This revenue model will be much more beneficial to designers. You can experiment with the AI image and content generation tools and share your creations while earning a small income on the side.
The revenue you earn from your creations will come in the form of LMWR tokens, LimeWire’s own cryptocurrency.
Your earnings will be paid every month in LMWR, which you can then trade on many popular crypto exchange platforms like Kraken, ByBit, and UniSwap.
You can also use your LMWR tokens to pay for prompts when using LimeWire generative AI tools.
You can sign up to LimeWire to use its AI tools for free. You will receive 10 credits to use and generate up to 20 AI images per day. You will also receive 50% of the ad revenue share. However, you will get more benefits with premium plans.
For $9.99 per month, you will get 1,000 credits per month, up to 2 ,000 image generations, early access to new AI models, and 50% ad revenue share
For $29 per month, you will get 3750 credits per month, up to 7500 image generations, early access to new AI models, and 60% ad revenue share
For $49 per month, you will get 5,000 credits per month, up to 10,000 image generations, early access to new AI models, and 70% ad revenue share
For $99 per month, you will get 11,250 credits per month, up to 2 2,500 image generations, early access to new AI models, and 70% ad revenue share
With all premium plans, you will receive a Pro profile badge, full creation history, faster image generation, and no ads.
Sign Up Now To Get Free Credits
In conclusion, LimeWire emerges as a democratizing force in the creative landscape, providing an inclusive platform where anyone can unleash their artistic potential and effortlessly share their work. With the integration of AI, LimeWire eliminates traditional barriers, empowering designers, musicians, and artists to publish their creations and earn revenue with just a few clicks.
The ongoing commitment of LimeWire to innovation is evident in its plans to enhance generative AI tools with new features and models. The upcoming expansion to include music and video generation tools holds the promise of unlocking even more possibilities for creators. It sparks anticipation about the diverse and innovative ways in which artists will leverage these tools to produce and publish their own unique creations.
For those eager to explore, LimeWire's AI tools are readily accessible for free, providing an opportunity to experiment and delve into the world of generative art. As LimeWire continues to evolve, creators are encouraged to stay tuned for the launch of its forthcoming AI music and video generation tools, promising a future brimming with creative potential and endless artistic exploration
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