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Thank you Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor – how my 1990s teenage self found somebody to love
Sun, 23 Mar 2025 08:00:15 GMT
In her new book, music writer Kate Mossman looks back at her favourite type of encounter – interviews with charismatic, ageing, male rockers. Here she remembers the band – and specifically drummer – who electrified her as a girl growing up in Norfolk
I am of a generation that had no name: we slipped down the crack between the spotty cheek of gen X and the well-moisturised buttock of the millennials. We are the last generation that will wow our grandchildren by explaining that we came of age completely without the internet. We wrote letters through secondary school; we replaced these with email when we got to university and wrote 15,000-word screeds to one another, which we still keep in files in our Hotmail accounts. Some of us ended up internet dating, but I have far more friends who settled down with their first or second love. We are neurotic, and depressive, but we didn’t know it until recently.
The thing we do share with those who came after is that when it comes to music, we and our parents have no generation gap. The great songwriters of the 1960s soundtracked our childhoods in their best-ofs and their unfashionable 80s incarnations. In my house, the “frog song” was given as much time as Sgt Pepper. Pop stars rose up like venerated family elders. Music was a communal activity; we were the cassette generation, and many families couldn’t afford to fly. We took long car ferry trips to France for our holidays, listening to Joni Mitchell’s Blue in the Volvo.
Continue reading...Thirty years after the film, the musical version makes no excuses for being a nostalgia-fest
Who needs to learn to park? “Everywhere you go has valet!” Cher Horowitz, teen heroine of 1995 cult movie Clueless, is one of the most spoilt and entitled characters ever to have appeared on screen. She is also, with her irrepressible urge to solve other people’s problems and her coltish steps towards self-knowledge, one of the most endearing. Millennial women like me, who grew up watching the movie again at every sleepover, will defend her against all comers.
Now, Clueless is the latest millennial coming-of-age movie to hit the West End as a stage musical, opening to critics last week at Trafalgar Theatre. It follows Mean Girls and The Devil Wears Prada, both of which opened in London last year, each built to replicate the success of the repeatedly revived Legally Blonde: The Musical. (Sadly, Jennifer Coolidge has yet to cameo.)
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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
Beans, herbs and peppers add a tasty twist to the classic combination our parents cooked for us
• Read Yotam on ditching fad diets
Cooked slowly in the chicken juices, the butter beans are creamy and rich on the bottom and satisfyingly crispy on top. You can easily swap them with chickpeas or other legumes. Look online for a quick guide on how to spatchcock a chicken. It really is very simple and it makes the chicken cook evenly. All you need is a pair of heavy-duty scissors or standard garden secateurs.
Continue reading...TikTok, Instagram and YouTube have transformed the hospitality industry. We talk to the restaurants riding the wave of viral-video success
Will Murray isn’t sure about the toad in the hole. In the soft gleam of a prep kitchen, deep below St James’s in London, the chef-patron and co-founder of Fallow frowns at a pan of puffy bronzed batter and extruded sausages. “Do you think we need to do it again?” asks one of his chefs, Emma Taiwo, approaching the pass. “I think we need to do it again,” says Murray, striking an apologetic tone amid the waft of simmering gravy.
On the face of it, this level of perfectionism is not surprising – Murray and his fellow chef and co-founder Jack Croft both emerged from the fastidious, Michelin-starred environment of Heston Blumenthal’s Dinner. What is unexpected is that the people this dish is being made for will never actually taste it. Next to the worktop where Murray and Croft stand, a three-person production crew fiddles with iPhones, audio equipment and propped-up wearable cameras.
Continue reading...Choose carefully and you can find some low-price gems at Aldi
Unearthed Gemischter Satz, Niederösterreich, Austria 2024 (£8.99, Aldi) With changes in duty adding an extra uncomfortable squeeze to the inflationary pressures that have affected all grocery products, wine retailers are finding it ever more difficult to source good wine at affordable prices. Rare is the wine of character and taste at less than £8, or even £10, these days, and I can count the number of genuinely appealing £5 bottles I’ve tasted in the past year on one hand. Retailers are trying to get around this issue by trawling away from classic, established areas and presenting whatever random assortment of cheaper offbeat wines they have found on the bulk market as “hidden gems”: hence the proliferation of own-labels with names on a theme of Found (Waitrose) Loved & Found (M&S) and Discovery Collection (Sainsbury’s). Despite the “virtue of necessity” feel, the wines are frequently among the more interesting supermarket bottles, none more so than Aldi’s latest find in its “Unearthed” line: a racy, tangy, springtime-floral aromatic Austrian white that punches some way above its £8.99 price tag.
Buenas Vides Argentinian Organic Malbec, Uco Valley, Argentina 2024 (£7.99, Aldi) Austria was also the source for one of my favourite new Aldi red wines, a satisfyingly spicy, blackberry-juicy, refreshing and chillable red Specially Selected Austrian Zweigelt, Niederösterreich 2024 (£8.99). It was all the more appealing for being properly dry – as is so often the case when I taste supermarket wine ranges these days, far too many reds at Aldi’s recent tasting came with an unwelcome dose of sugar. Red wines that avoided the sweetness trap and that offer the same kind of bargain hunter’s buzz I feel when I buy a jar of Aldi’s palm oil-free peanut butter included what I think is Aldi’s best-value wine: the authentically savoury, supple Chassaux et Fils Côtes du Rhône 2023 (£5.29); and a pair of malbecs from Argentina’s Uco Valley: both the Buenas Vides Uco Valley Malbec 2024 (£6.29) and Buenes Vides Organic are worth the price of admission, although the extra violet-aromatic lift and succulent plum and cherry of the Organic really stand out when you taste them back to back.
Continue reading...The presenter and comedian (and her gang of weary woodcutters) enjoy a perfect Sunday lunch at a local inn…
The Crown, Arford Road, Headley, Bordon GU35 8BT (01428 288090; thecrownarford.com). Small plates from £4.50; large plates £18-£29; desserts £9; and wines from £36
I feel I shouldn’t be writing at all because I am so full and so happy. I have just had the meal of meals – a Sunday lunch of such perfection that really my next move should have been to lie down. I live in an ancient part of Britain, where once upon a time if you wanted to pick sides, it was between Wessex and Mercia. Of course, in the ninth century the pesky Vikings turned up and imposed Danelaw. Being Danish myself I now realise that the locals missed a trick in defending themselves. Instead of battling or giving in they should simply have served the naughty Norsemen a perfect plate of roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, carrots, parsnips, buttered greens and gravy and the invading hordes would have been putty in their hands.
Continue reading...The Jamaican-born author on exploring nature and black identity in his nonfiction debut, his chaotic writing habits, and how the TS Eliot prize changed his life
Jason Allen-Paisant, born in Jamaica in 1980, is a poet, writer and academic. Currently a professor of critical theory and creative writing at Manchester University, he released his debut poetry collection, Thinking With Trees, in 2021. His second collection, Self-Portrait as Othello, (2023) won the TS Eliot and the Forward prize. Through time spent in the north of England and Jamaica’s rural Coffee Grove district, his debut in nonfiction, The Possibility of Tenderness (Penguin), intimately explores ideas around class, leisure, economics and self-discovery, looking closely at the life of his farmer grandmother, as well as the plants and people that shaped who he is today. Allen-Paisant lives in Leeds with his wife and two children.
The Possibility of Tenderness is a departure from your work in poetry. How did you go about writing it?
I started with a mix of poetry and prose. Then I thought to write a series of essays [and] hammer out some of these big questions around leisure and class within nature but I remember thinking: “All of the ideas that I’m talking about in a theoretical way, I can bring them all out if I just tell a story.” My grandma, “Mama”, she’s the protagonist outside myself. I can use the story of her life to talk about planting, food independence, food sovereignty, living with plants, plants as medicine, globalisation and its effects and kinship with the land.
Vandals accuse Dusty Knuckle of gentrification in Haringey despite its work with at-risk young people
An east London bakery – as famous for its long-fermented breads as the work it does with at-risk young people – has been targeted by vandals accusing it of destroying their local community.
Ashley Walters, Jamie Oliver and Yotam Ottolenghi are among fans of the Dusty Knuckle’s menu, from its £11.50, two-hander, pilpelchuma celeriac sandwich to its £7.60 egg, pickled green chilli and cheese focaccia.
Continue reading...Which brand makes the cheesiest cheddar alternative? And whose tastes like grout? Meera Sodha samples popular plant-based blocks
• ‘Hands down my favourite bit of kit’: 13 kitchen gadgets top chefs can’t live without
When I was asked to review plant-based cheeses, I thought twice about doing so. Although there are some companies, usually smaller operations, that make non-dairy cheese out of fermented nuts or soya beans, more often than not it’s manufactured by big companies who are adept at recreating flavours, but who use ultra-processed ingredients such as emulsifiers, stabilisers and additives to get there.
I’ve used vegan cheese only a handful of times in the eight years I’ve been writing my vegan column for the Guardian, partly because I like to know what’s going into my body (and, on reading the ingredients, I am often bamboozled), and also because it varies so wildly in terms of how it behaves: does it melt, split, grate and, most importantly, how does it taste? For a food writer, that makes it tricky to use and make sure there’s consistency in the journey between my kitchen and yours.
Continue reading...Unesco report highlights ‘unprecedented’ glacier loss driven by climate crisis, threatening ecosystems, agriculture and water sources
Retreating glaciers threaten the food and water supply of 2 billion people around the world, the UN has warned, as current “unprecedented” rates of melting will have unpredictable consequences.
Two-thirds of all irrigated agriculture in the world is likely to be affected in some way by receding glaciers and dwindling snowfall in mountain regions, driven by the climate crisis, according to a Unesco report.
Continue reading...Thousands of acres of rainforest is being cleared to produce palm oil, used in popular Nestlé and Mondelēz brands
West Papua’s Indigenous people have called for a boycott of KitKat, Smarties and Aero chocolate, Oreo biscuits and Ritz crackers, and the cosmetics brands Pantene and Herbal Essences, over alleged ecocide in their territory.
All are products that contain palm oil and are made, say the campaigners, by companies that source the ingredient directly from West Papua, which has been under Indonesian control since 1963 and where thousands of acres of rainforest are being cleared for agriculture.
Continue reading...From a reading light to a gardening knife, a meditation cushion to a birthstone ring, these fun, and often useful, gifts tick every box
• The best flower delivery: seven favourites, freshly picked
Whether you’re 16 or 60, shopping for your own mum or someone else’s, Mother’s Day gifts needn’t be formulaic. In fact, we’d argue that they should be thoughtful, fun or useful (but possibly not too useful), or provide a moment of escape. There’s no worse gift than one bought out of obligation, unconsidered and, therefore, underused.
We hope this carefully curated guide of 68 presents will spark some ideas for the mothers in your life. Whether she’s in the first frazzle of parenthood, sitting on an empty nest, or anything in between, we’ve got Mother’s Day covered.
Continue reading...Long before this week’s deadly strikes, Israel failed to abide by the terms of its ceasefire deal with Hamas.
The post Israel Violated the Gaza Ceasefire From the Start. Why Won’t the Media Tell You That? 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.
Sign up below to start receiving the best of our culinary journalism in one mouth-watering weekly email.
Continue reading...Plastics are everywhere, but their smallest fragments – nanoplastics – are making their way into the deepest parts of our bodies, including our brains and breast milk.
Scientists have now captured the first visual evidence of these particles inside human cells, raising urgent questions about their impact on our health. From the food we eat to the air we breathe, how are nanoplastics infiltrating our systems?
Neelam Tailor looks into the invisible invasion happening inside us all
Continue reading...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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