Author: Vidya Saras

Getty ImagesFollowing the announcement that the Village People would be performing at several upcoming inauguration events, what is it about their songs that appeals to the President-elect?Village People’s YMCA is a high-energy disco hit that encourages young working-class men to meet like-minded individuals at Young Men’s Christian Association hostels. It’s been interpreted as an ode to the delights of picking up sexual partners at them – it appears on an album entitled Cruisin’ – and it was first performed by a group of chiselled dancers sporting moustaches and figure-hugging fancy dress costumes. It’s hardly surprising, then, that the song has…

Les nouvelles crypto-monnaies misent beaucoup sur l’innovation. Avec la concurrence qui fait rage, les nouveaux projets doivent chercher à impressionner la cryptosphère afin d’attirer l’attention. Quelques innovations crypto sortent du lot. Dédouvrez les tendances à suivre de près pour cette année 2025. Flockerz et son Vote-to-Earn : prises de décisions décentralisées Le mécanisme Vote-to-Earn de Flockerz est une innovation clé. Elle place la communauté au cœur des décisions tout en récompensant les membres actifs. Ce concept s’aligne sur les principes fondamentaux du Web3. En effet, il favorise une gouvernance décentralisée et participative. La plateforme Flockerz permet à ses utilisateurs de…

My mother is hypercritical of my brother’s wife, to the point that she blames my sister-in-law for my brother’s “failings” (not getting a better job, not taking better care of his health, etc.). It has gotten worse now that there are grandchildren. My mother constantly criticizes how my sister-in-law is raising the kids, who are lovely and adore their grandparents.Although my mother will occasionally raise criticisms with my sister-in-law and brother, I am mostly her audience.I have a great relationship with my sister-in-law, and when my mother goes off on one of her rants, I defend her. I tell my…

In this tutorial, we will create a generative artwork inspired by the incredible Brazilian artist Lygia Clarke. Some of her paintings, based on minimalism and geometric figures, are perfect to be reinterpreted using a grid and generative system: Original painting by Lygia Clark. The possibilities of a grid system It is well known, that grids are an indispensable element of design; from designing typefaces to interior design. But grids, are also essential elements in other fields like architecture, math, science, technology, and painting, to name a few. All grids share that more repetition means more possibilities, adding detail and rhythm…

COCOA BEACH, Florida  —  Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket just earned its wings.New Glenn launched for the first time ever this morning (Jan. 16), rising off a pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station here on Florida’s Space Coast at 2:03 a.m. EST (0703 GMT). About 12.5 minutes later, the rocket’s upper stage reached orbit — the main goal of today’s test flight, which the company called NG-1.”We got to orbit safely,” Ariane Cornell, vice president of in-space systems at Blue Origin, said in the company’s launch webcast. “Congratulations, everybody. What a day!”Blue Origin launches its first New Glenn rocket…

PLUS: The ex-England skipper who is on the verge of a special moment abroad Join Mail+ to get ahead of the game with Rugby Confidential every Wednesday and Chris Foy’s World of Rugby every Monday By NIK SIMON Published: 21:00 EST, 15 January 2025 | Updated: 21:09 EST, 15 January 2025 Good news for England’s Six Nations campaign: Ollie Chessum is set to make his first appearance since October in Leicester’s Champions Cup game against Toulouse.The giant forward missed the entire autumn campaign after suffering a knee injury during the team’s training camp in Girona.Chessum’s No 6 jersey was filled by Chandler…

ReutersAlmost all Gaza’s population has been displaced by the warIsrael and Hamas have agreed a deal which would halt the war in Gaza and see the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, the US and mediators Qatar have said.It is the most significant breakthrough in 15 months of war, which began when the armed Palestinian group Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023.What is in the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas?Details of the deal reportedly approved by both sides have not yet been officially announced.As it stands, a completed deal would see the war in Gaza stop, an exchange…

A Verkle tree is a commitment scheme that works similar to a Merkle tree, but has much smaller witnesses. It works by replacing the hashes in a Merkle tree with a vector commitment, which makes wider branching factors more efficient. Thanks to Kevaundray Wedderburn for feedback on the post. Overview For details on how verkle trees work, see: The aim of this post is to explain the concrete layout of the draft verkle tree EIP. It is aimed at client developers who want to implement verkle trees and are looking for an introduction before delving deeper into the EIP. Verkle…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday accused Hamas of reneging on parts of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, as he faced pushback against the US-brokered agreement from his far-right allies.Israel said it had delayed a cabinet meeting intended to endorse the deal, but Hamas maintained it was committed to the agreement announced by mediators on Wednesday.US President Joe Biden, president-elect Donald Trump and the prime minister of Qatar, whose countries have been mediating the talks, announced on Wednesday night…

The NFT market endured a challenging 2024, with trading volumes and sales activity falling to their lowest levels in three years. A report by blockchain analytics firm DappRadar revealed a 19% decline in annual trading volumes and an 18% drop in the number of sales compared to 2023.The downturn comes despite broader growth in the cryptocurrency space, including record highs for Bitcoin and increased DeFi activity. Experts point to inflated valuations and reduced buyer participation as key factors driving the decline.Whilst certain high-value transactions and platforms showed resilience, the overall market faced significant challenges in maintaining momentum. Source: DappRadarConsistent Declines…