Taproot, the most significant improvement to Bitcoin’s protocol in years, now has enough mining support to lock in activation. According to the parameters set forward by “Speedy Trial,” if at least 90% of the blocks mined in any of the designated 2-week difficulty periods “signal” their support for the upgrade, then the activation process can begin. To be more precise: 1,815 out of 2,016 blocks mined within a period have to include a little piece of encoded information that… Source link

The big takeaway from the past week in business news is that A) secretly released documents show that billionaires aren’t paying their fair share in taxes. (Gee, you think?) And meanwhile, B) hotels and restaurants and other businesses can’t find enough people to work as maids and dishwashers, etc. If that doesn’t get your “hmmm” juices flowing, I don’t know what will. Let me explain by first going through the A and B elements and then speak to how they’re connected.  The billionaire… Source link

The coronavirus crisis saw extreme whipsawing in the market with the fear and chaotic climate of the spring of 2020 providing a challenge to long-term investors, daring them to stay the course. But according to this year’s edition of “How America Saves,” Vanguard’s insights show that many of the new retirement saving measures helped ward off rash – and potentially expensive – decisions. Vanguard said that over the last 15 years the increased adoption of target-date funds has led to a 75%… Source link

Yahoo’s front page is interesting. There is a sort of rinse, repeat and regurgitate theme to what they post about. I say post, because I cannot even bring myself to say the words “write” and “Yahoo” in the same sentence. For me it seems like an oxymoron.   They like to build up the celebrity, or reality TV celebrity…wait, is there even a difference anymore? After all we’ve democratized fame so much that a mere vote allows one to rise to star status; regardless of the… Source link

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Police have arrested one suspect and are searching for another after a mass shooting on a crowded downtown Austin street left 14 people wounded early Saturday, two of them critically. The Austin Police Department said in a news release that the U.S. Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force assisted in making the arrest, but it provided no other details other than to say it is continuing to follow up on leads for the suspect still at large. Interim Police Chief Joseph… Source link

The UK Competition and Markets Authority has announced it will take an active role in developing Google’s plans to prevent websites tracking Chrome users. Under the proposals, the CMA would accept legally binding commitments from Google not to use its proposed replacements for tracking cookies, a set of technologies the search engine calls its Privacy Sandbox, in a way that would harm competition. It is thought to be the first time a competition regulator has been involved at such an early… Source link

Bronny James made his return Friday night for Sierra Canyon in front of his father and Drake. (Krysten Peek/Yahoo Sports) CHATSWORTH, Calif. — Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James didn’t make the second round of the NBA playoffs for the first time in 14 seasons after the Phoenix Suns eliminated the defending champions in six games last week. The Los Angeles Clippers are still in the playoffs (and playing at home tomorrow night) but it was the CIF Southern Sectional Finals between Sierra… Source link

A week before Lorraine Twohill applied to engineering school in her native Ireland, she found herself reviewing a brochure about a new degree called international marketing. Its promise of a year studying abroad led the math whiz to swap engineering for marketing. The last-minute shift three decades ago broke the heart of her father, a math teacher, but changed her life. Her studies at Dublin City University and year abroad in Spain put her on a path to become the chief marketing officer at… Source link

Lamar Odom had little trouble with Aaron Carter. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images) Lamar Odom was once a professional basketball player and Aaron Carter was once a pop star. The pair spent Friday taking part in the most present of trends, a celebrity boxing match. To the surprise of few, the bout ended with the 6-foot-10 man beating up the man who is not 6-foot-10, with Odom defeating Carter via second-round TKO.  The footage of the fight is, um, bleak: Odom’s strategy for the fight… Source link

The note left by First Officer Chris Dennis in a Delta plane parked at the Victorville Airport. Delta Air Lines A Delta first officer discovered an early-pandemic letter left by a fellow pilot on a parked aircraft. The note, which was written in March 2020, predicted there would be “light … at the end of the tunnel.” “Amazing how fast it changed,” First Officer Chris D. wrote more than 400 days ago. Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories. As the world starts to creep back to normality after… Source link