How People Actually Make Money From Cryptocurrencies | WIRED

March 14, 2022March 13, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

YOU SAW THE many cryptocurrency-related Super Bowl ads, and maybe you found them weird, or deeply dystopian, or just disturbingly familiar. Nevertheless, perhaps you believe the blockchain has financial rewards left to reap and want to jump in, or you’ve already got some of your money tied up in cryptocurrencies via companies like Coinbase and FTX that were advertising during the big game.

What now? Keeping track of the ups and downs of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other crypto coins and actively trading on those fluctuations can be a full-time job. Day-trading, basically. And jumping into NFTs, the digital baubles you can mint, buy, or sell, is still daunting for many.

Everything Apple Announced (March 2022): iPhone SE, Mac Studio, iPad Air | WIRED

March 9, 2022March 8, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

ON TUESDAY, APPLE unveiled an array of new devices, including a new iPhone SE with 5G, a new version of the iPad Air, and Mac Studio, a whole new desktop PC with a powerful new processor. Apple made all these announcements in a prerecorded presentation that oddly did not reference the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, even though the company changed its policies last week in response to the conflict. Apple’s product shows are like Waffle House—no matter how many crises befall the world around them, they’ll keep on going.

Here’s everything that was announced.

A Russian cyberwar may not boost security stocks much further | CNN

March 8, 2022March 7, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Tech stocks, like the rest of the broader market, have seen their fair share of ups and downs since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the end of February. But for one part of the technology sector — cybersecurity -— it’s been a roaring bull market for the past few weeks.

The ETFMG Prime Cyber Security (HACK) and First Trust NASDAQ Cybersecurity (CIBR) exchange-traded funds, which both own shares of top cybersecurity companies such as Zscaler (ZS), CrowdStrike (CRWD), Cloudflare (NET), Fortinet (FTNT) and Splunk (SPLK), have each surged about 10% since Russia attacked Ukraine.

The rally makes sense. After all, there are growing concerns about cyber warfare from Russia against the West in response to sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s regime.

Windows 11 adoption is slowing, but it’s not a failure yet | Digital Trends

March 2, 2022March 1, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Windows 11 released last fall and promised to be a new and refreshing update that tries to rid itself of the past. Unfortunately, it seems that Windows 11 adoption has been slowing in lieu of Windows 10 updates. That’s not always a bad thing and doesn’t necessarily mean Windows 11 is a failure, though.

AdDuplex, an ad network, released statistics on Windows 11 adoption based on their sampling of 60,000 computers running the software. The percentage of users who installed the Windows 10 21H2 update is at 21%. By contrast, almost 20% of Windows PCs have been updated to Windows 11 since its October release.

Millions in Bitcoin pouring into Ukraine from donors | BBC News

February 28, 2022February 27, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Cryptocurrency analysts say at least $13.7m (£10.2m) has so far been donated to the Ukrainian war effort through anonymous Bitcoin donations.

Researchers at Elliptic, a blockchain analysis company, say the Ukrainian government, NGOs and volunteer groups have raised the money by advertising their Bitcoin wallet addresses online.

More than 4,000 donations have been made so far, with one unknown donor gifting Bitcoin worth $3m to an NGO.

The median donation is $95.

A new main series Pokémon game is coming in late 2022 | TechCrunch

February 28, 2022February 27, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Step aside, whatever “Pokémon Café Remix” is — the ninth generation of Pokémon is coming. This morning, a Pokémon Presents broadcast announced “Pokémon Scarlet and Violet,” the latest installment in the main series Pokémon games after “Pokémon Sword and Shield” came out in late 2019. The Nintendo Switch games are expected to be released in late 2022.

From the trailer, the graphics look similar to the recently released (and very fun) “Pokémon Legends: Arceus,” but the footage may not show actual gameplay, so it’s still up in the air if we’ll encounter over-world Pokémon again (that implementation worked in “Arceus,” but let’s not pull a “Pokémon Let’s Go” again, please.) But, the YouTube description of the trailer declares, “Welcome to the open world of Pokémon,” so maybe this game will take a nod from “Arceus” (which isn’t technically an open world game, but it’s the closest thing the Pokémon franchise has to a “Breath of the Wild”-style adventure).

AI traffic lights could reduce waiting times at intersections | New Atlas

February 24, 2022February 22, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Ordinarily, traffic lights change color in response to predetermined rules and induction loop sensors embedded in the road. According to new research, however, making those lights artificially intelligent may keep traffic flowing faster and smoother.

The study is being conducted as part of Germany’s KI4LSA project – it’s funded by the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, and includes several partner organizations.

More Walmart ‘rollbacks’ are coming | CNN

February 23, 2022February 21, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Expect to see more bright-red “Rollback” signs at Walmart stores as inflation bites, the company said Thursday.

Rollbacks, or temporary price reductions on an item, are Walmart’s version of a sale. Walmart decides which products to drop prices on based on factors like discounts it receives from suppliers or excess inventory.

Walmart had more products on rollbacks last quarter compared to the previous one — and the company will continue adding them to highlight value prices for shoppers. Why every Costco product is called ‘Kirkland Signature’

“We use rollbacks to communicate not only the reality of prices are coming down at some places, but the emotion or perception we want customers to have about us,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said on a post-earnings conference call with analysts.

Putin’s sabre rattling is shaking the cryptocurrency market | Fast Company

February 21, 2022February 20, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Cryptocurrencies around the world are getting pummeled today. A quick glance at CoinDesk’s tracker will show you a wall of red. At the time of this writing, most major cryptocurrencies are down at least 5% or more, including Bitcoin, which is down nearly 7% to $40,443; Ether is down almost 6% to just over $2,900; and Dogecoin and Shiba Inc are down 4.5% and 6.5%, respectively.

So what’s causing this downturn? Unlike recent selloffs, which were largely driven by the threat of increased regulation by the likes of China or the United States, today’s selloff appears to be purely geopolitical. With the threat of Russia going to war over Ukraine, and Russian President Putin announcing he’ll oversee nuclear military drills this weekend, investors are ditching volatile stocks and digital assets in favor of more stable assets like gold.

Didn’t Get Your PPP Loan Fully Forgiven? There’s Still Hope. Let the SBA Know | Inc.com

February 16, 2022February 15, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

For business owners who received only partial forgiveness on their Paycheck Protection Program loans, consider this your stay of execution.

On January 27, 2022, the Small Business Administration, the agency in charge of administering the PPP, quietly issued a procedural notice outlining a new review policy for borrowers who got a partial loan forgiveness decision from their lender, or were instructed to apply for less forgiveness than they wanted.

As of January 27, if you want to appeal a partial forgiveness decision you will have 30 days–from receipt of a lender’s post-remittance notification–to tell the lender. The lender must then file for a loan review on behalf of the borrower within five days. The same process applies to borrowers whose lenders prevented them from applying for full forgiveness.