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1 Hot Growth Stock to Buy Hand Over Fist Before It Soars 241 … – The Motley Fool

Snowflake (SNOW -0.55%) has turned out to be a terrible investment in the past few years with shares of the cloud data platform provider down 42% since it went public in September 2020.

However, it has been delivering terrific revenue growth thanks to the healthy demand for its cloud-based data platform that serves fast-growing niches such as data warehousing, machine learning, data engineering, and cybersecurity. As it turns out, the company's total addressable market has tripled since its initial public offeringto a whopping $248 billion.

So could this be an opportunity for investors? Here's why I think Snowflake stock has massive upside ahead.

According to a consensus estimateof 39 analysts covering Snowflake, the stock carries a median price target of $180. That points toward a 23% jump from Snowflake's current stock price. However, the Street-high price target of $500 indicates that this cloud stock could soar a massive 241% from current levels.

But can Snowflake put its past underperformance behind it and clock such terrific gains? Well, the company's slowing pace of growth suggests otherwise. The company is anticipating 40% revenue growth in fiscal 2024 to $2.7 billion. Though that's nothing to sneeze at, it is worth noting that Snowflake grew at a much faster pace of 70% last fiscal year.

CEO Frank Slootman pointed out on last month's earnings conference call that Snowflake "saw a measure of bookings reticence with certain customer segments in Q4, reflecting a lack of visibility in the business and preferring a cautious short-term stance versus larger, longer-term contract expansions."

This is an industry-wide problem as cloud spending growth has hit a speed bump of late. Microsoft's Azure cloud service recorded31% growth in the fourth quarter of 2022, down from 35% in the previous quarter. Amazon's Amazon Web Services growth also dropped to 20% in Q4 2022 from 28% in the prior quarter. Headwinds such as strong inflation, a possible recession, and high interest rates have led customers to pull back on their cloud spending of late.

However, it would be prudent to focus on the big picture as the slowdown is likely to be temporary. IDC estimates that the public cloud market could clock annual growthof 26% through 2026, which won't be surprising as enterprises increasepublic cloud storage. Meanwhile, the niches that Snowflake serves are also built for terrific growth as its massive addressable market indicates.

For instance, the data warehouse-as-a-service market is expected to clock annual growth of 23% through 2030, according to Polaris Market Research. The data science platform space, on the other hand, could clock 16% annual growth through 2030 and generate close to $380 billion in annual revenue thanks to the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.

The good part is that Snowflake is among the leading players in these markets. The company controls a 29% share of the data warehousing market, comfortably ahead of second-place SAP, which has a 23% share. Not surprisingly, Snowflake is rapidly building a solid customer base. The company had7,828 customers at the end of the last quarter, an increase of 31% over the prior year.

But more importantly, the number of customers spending at least $1 million on Snowflake's offerings increased at a much greater pace of 79% year over year last quarter. This explains why the company has a solid revenue pipeline with $3.7 billion in remaining performance obligations (RPO) at the end of the previous quarter. That's much bigger than the company's fiscal 2024 revenue forecast. Also, Snowflake is expected to maintain solid top-line growth momentum in the next fiscal year.

SNOW Revenue Estimates for Current Fiscal Year data by YCharts

Though Snowflake stock has underperformed since it went public, investors looking for a growth stock may want to consider it given that it is trading at a much cheaper valuation today as compared to when it went public. Snowflake now has a price-to-sales ratio of about 23. While that's expensive, it's much lower than in 2020 when it was trading at a whopping 163 times sales. The following chart shows why growth-oriented investors may want to start accumulating Snowflake.

SNOW PS Ratio data by YCharts

However, Snowflake's rich valuation also makes it susceptible to volatility, especially if there are signs of weakness in its growth story. But a pullback will open an opportunity for investors with a lower appetite for risk to buy this cloud stock at a relatively cheaper valuation, and they may not want to miss such a chance given the upside Wall Street sees and the lucrative growth opportunity.

John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Harsh Chauhan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon.com, Microsoft, and Snowflake. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Google Nearby Share Beta for Windows really gives AirDrop a run … – Android Police

Since the advent of Nearby Share in 2020, Android users have been enjoying the convenience of wireless file transfers between their phones and tablets. However, moving files from an Android device to a Windows computer has always been a little more clunky, making us envious of Apples AirDrop. Times are changing and Google finally has a workable Nearby Share implementation for Windows, currently in beta. We took the utility for a spin to get a look at everything it has to offer.

Google announced plans to launch Nearby Share for Windows at CES 2022. Nearly a year later, like many of you, I was still emailing files to myself, using cloud storage as an intermediary, or messaging myself on WhatsApp. But hope for change arrived earlier this week, when Google announced the Nearby Share beta for Windows. Although still in testing for now, this release gives us a solid look at what to expect from the stable feature.

Pros:

Cons:

Googles beta is available in the US and many other countries, with the notable exceptions mostly in Europe. Youll need a device running Android 6 Marshmallow or newer (which is hopefully not a problem for pretty much anyone), and a computer running the 64-bit version of Windows 10 or 11. Unfortunately, ARM-based computers arent supported.

All the devices involved in the transfer need Bluetooth, and must be connected to the same Wi-Fi network. Google recommends a separation of 16 feet (5 meters) or less between your phone/tablet and computer.

To use Googles Nearby Share utility, you'll need to download and install the software. Click Get started with Beta on the Nearby Share app webpage, download the installer file (named BetterTogetherSetup.exe), and run it. During the installation, it may ask you to sign in to your Google account, name your computer for the Nearby Share transfers, choose who can share with you, and opt in to sending diagnostic data. Dont worry about incorrectly configuring these during installation, because we can change all these settings later. Close the installer after the setup is complete.

Google Nearby Share Windows Beta installation process

Disappointingly, the installation doesn't create a desktop shortcut, but you will find Nearby Share Beta from Google now living in your Start menu. You can pin it to the Start menu, or set it to auto-run after boot like I did. Switch on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth from the taskbar on your Windows computer and open the program. I was pleased to see a rather Android-y interface, even though that means a stark contrast to the Windows 10 or 11 UI. In the program, click the gear icon in the upper right corner to change a few settings (the ones you configured during installation) before your first file transfer using Nearby Share.

The Device name setting defines how your computer will appear to other devices. Below that, you can configure the directory to save received files. The application defaults to using the Downloads folder, which is okay, but remember that you cannot define the save location separately for each transfer. The Device visibility setting has four options, just like on Android:

We advise against using Everyone mode on public Wi-Fi like at airports and coffee shops, for security reasons. The mode is useful if youre on secure Wi-Fi, though. I found it convenient to switch device visibility from the drop-down menu on the programs home page.

It's also really nice how the program is minimized to the taskbar corner overflow menu even when you close it. Remember that you can use Everyone mode even without signing in during the setup process, but other modes require a Google sign-in.

On your phone, make sure Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are turned on. An option to turn on Nearby Share should be available under Settings > Connected Devices > Connection Preferences > Nearby Share. Here, switch on the toggles for Use Nearby Share and Device visibility, so your phone is visible to your computer.

You can tap the Device Visibility option to switch from Everyone mode to any other setting. For this demonstration, we will use Everyone mode on both the PC and the Android device, but if you sign in to the same Google account on both devices, you can stick to the Your devices mode for enhanced security. Note that Device visibility must be switched on for transfers, even if youre sharing files between your own devices.

Once configured correctly and connected to the same Wi-Fi network, you can start your first transfer.

Receiving files on your PC is just as straightforward, as long as you connect the devices to the same Wi-Fi network.

In our usage over the last couple of days, Googles Nearby Share beta has worked reliably, and we didnt encounter any failed transfers or random disconnects as long as the Android device was close to the PC. Transfer speeds are respectable, too, with multiple images and documents taking just a few seconds when transferred to and from the Windows computer.

Googles Nearby Share for Windows has the potential to become the AirDrop equivalent we've always wanted, but the companys choice of an Android-inspired design for the Windows client serves as a constant reminder this is not Microsoft's native solution. Googles solution is functional, but for a truly homogenous experience, we may have to wait for Microsoft to upgrade its own nearby sharing for Windows to support Android phones.

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Nampa Man Sentenced to 25 Years in Federal Prison for Producing … – Department of Justice

BOISE Troy Groene, 48, of Nampa, Idaho, was sentenced to 300 months in federal prison for sexual exploitation of a child, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. Senior U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill described Groene as a sexual predator. Many of Groenes victims appeared in court. Judge Winmill praised them as heroes and brave young women for their courage in coming forward and holding Groene accountable for his crimes.

According to court records, the investigation began when the Nampa Police Department (Nampa PD) received information that Groene had committed a sexual assault. During the course of that investigation, Nampa PD learned that Groene also had sexual contact with a 16-year-old female. Nampa PD obtained a state search warrant for Groenes cellphone and cloud storage account and located explicit videos that Groene had produced of the 16-year-old victim. During a search of Groenes cloud storage account, Nampa PD also located explicit videos that Groene had produced of a 17-yearold female. During the investigation, two additional 17-year-old females disclosed that Groene had engaged them in sexual contact and produced explicit videos of them.

Judge Winmill also sentenced Groene to a lifetime of supervised release. As part of the plea agreement entered earlier in the case, Groene was ordered to forfeit a truck he used to meet with some of the victims and $660,787.84 in proceeds from the sale of his house where he had met with some of the victims. Groene alo was ordered to pay $200,000 in restitution to the victims and will be required to register as a sex offender as a result of the conviction

I agree with the Court that the victims in this case are heroes, said U.S. Attorney Hurwit. As we observe Sexual Assault Awareness Month this month, we should recognize the importance of creating spaces where victimslike the brave young women in this casefeel safe to report any form of sexual abuse or sexual exploitation. And we must rededicate ourselves to supporting the victims of these reprehensible crimes.

U.S. Attorney Hurwit commended the cooperative efforts of the Nampa Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which led to the charges in this case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. As part of Project Safe Childhood, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Idaho and the Idaho Attorney Generals Office partner to marshal federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc.

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How to maximize mobile data usage and minimize data loss: Here are 10 valauble tips – The Economic Times

In today's digital age, data is one of the most important assets a business or individual can possess. Whether it's customer data, sales figures, or other sensitive information, it's critical to ensure that your data is not only utilized to its fullest potential but also protected against loss or theft. With that said, here are some tips on how to maximize your data usage and minimize your data loss.Invest in reliable cloud storage solutionsOne of the most basic steps you can take to protect your data is to invest in reliable storage solutions. This includes everything from external hard drives and USB drives to cloud-based storage services like Dropbox, Google Drive, or Microsoft OneDrive. Cloud-based storage services offer the added benefit of automatic backups, which ensures that your data is always up to date and accessible from any device with an internet connection.Practice good data management habitsAnother important factor in maximizing your data usage and minimizing data loss is to practice good data management habits. This includes regularly backing up your data, organizing your files in a logical and easy-to-navigate manner, and securing your data with strong passwords and encryption.Use data recovery softwareIn the unfortunate event that you do experience data loss, there are a variety of data recovery software options available that can help you recover lost or corrupted data. While some data loss scenarios may be beyond the point of recovery, data recovery software can often help you retrieve important files that would otherwise be lost forever.Use Wi-Fi Whenever Possible: Using Wi-Fi can save a lot of your mobile data.

Monitor your data usageMonitoring your data usage is critical in both maximizing your data usage and minimizing data loss. This includes regularly reviewing your data storage and usage patterns to identify areas where you may be using more data than necessary or where data may be at risk of loss or theft. Additionally, monitoring your data usage can help you identify potential security breaches and other threats to your data.

Disable Auto-Update: Most mobile devices have an automatic update feature that updates your apps in the background. This can consume a lot of data. To stop this, disable the automatic update feature, and update your apps manually only when you have a Wi-Fi connection.

Disable Auto-Play Videos: Most social media apps have an auto-play video feature that automatically plays videos as you scroll through your feed. To prevent this, disable the auto-play video feature in your social media apps.

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Extrapolations (Season 1) Episode 6: Recap & Ending Explained Does Ezra retrieve his memory assets? – High On Films

Extrapolations (Season 1) Episode 6: The last two episodes of Extrapolations explored the cause and the effects of a geoengineering experiment. While many believed that it would be helpful for the planet, it was also considered an eco-terrorism activity.

Now the narrative shifts to seven years later, in 2066, where humans struggle with deteriorating memories due to climate change. They start storing their memories on online cloud storage and end up in another endless cycle of repayments. As a result, we encounter a human narrative that explores how ones identity constitutes ones past.

*spoilers ahead*

In the first two episodes of Extrapolations, we meet a young couple Omar (played by Tahar Rahim) and Rebecca (played by Sienna Miller), who are trying to save the world in their ways. Omar loses his life, and Rebecca gets left with taking care of their son, Ezra. Now, we meet about 30-year-old Ezra (also played by Tahar Rahim), who works as a hired, artificial companion for people that struggle with the loss of their loved ones.

Natasha (played by Gemma Chan), a single mother from London, hires Ezra to play the part of her daughters father. Ezra forms a strong connection with the daughter Harlyn (played by Scarlett Sher). He also agrees to partake in parent-teacher conferences and fills that hole in their lives. But it irks her that he is replicating her ex-husbands behavior. She does not want Ezra to replace him. She rather wants him to just be Harlyns father. At the time, Ezra also reveals how he gets access to his clients memory vaults to better serve them. So, it paints a picture of how data is going to be one of the biggest currencies in the future.

While providing his clients with this emotional aid, Ezra struggles with his deteriorating memories and, thus, seeks help from cloud storage called Cache Cloud. He still misses his late partner, Lola (Devika Bhise), and repeatedly plays their fond memories on the cloud. After one of his weekly visits to Natasha, he learns about the increasing monthly fees for cloud storage due to the increasing temperatures.

Ezra meets his Cache Cloud representative, Janice (played by Marilee Talkington), to inquire about it. Since he has a condition called Summer Heart, he needs the Minds Eye service that can help him with visual stimuli. Without it, he is as good as a newborn with no past. Janice shares the reasons for the price change and also blames the geoengineering experiment for the rise of the temperature. Still, she offers a discount to Ezra since he revisits the cloud on a daily basis. (It feels like how our apps keep feeding onto how often we use them and provide a feeling of a special treatment)

Unfortunately, Ezra cannot afford to keep his memories. So, he decides to delete some of the storage, including the stories his grandmother used to tell him. On his way back home, a new service called Crispr advertises how it can solve the stress and anxiety issues caused by heat waves. Later, his neighbor, X (played by David Hywel Baynes), offers an alternative service that can help him store his memories. Ezra refuses to buy into this offer and rather relies on Cloud Cache.

The next day, Ezra picks up a few assignments for the day and heads out. He goes on to play the son of an aging woman and an old partner of a man. He makes up disguises, mimics certain parts of their mannerisms, and then speaks in the language that his clients expect him to speak. However, on the personal front, he senses that he is slowly losing his memories, especially the ones with Lola. It turns out to be because of vascular dementia accelerated by his summer heart condition. His doctor suggests a solution which he does not accept just then.

Soon after, Ezra attends Harlyns parent-teacher meeting with Natasha. Then they go out to have a drink together. Natasha holds Ezras hand and regrets immediately that she forgot the boundaries she hired him not for her but for her daughter. She also acknowledges that she hires other people to play the part since they offer sensory experience, but Ezra does not. Ezra notes how he also puts in a part of himself while playing the role of Harlyns father. Natasha reveals she does not want Ezra to play David because he abandoned her and Harlyn.

Later, when Ezra goes on his appointment with the aging woman, he learns that she has passed away. It means that he does not get paid, which means that he cannot earn enough to preserve his memories on the cloud. Back at home, he speaks with Janice to initiate memory sync. She reminds him that he needs to upgrade the storage service since he is beyond the capacity in his current plan. She suggests deleting some of his memories, and he refuses to do so.

However, he starts noticing the early signs of dementia to the point he cannot even recall what Lola looked like. To somehow relive how he felt with her, he hires a woman to play Lolas part. This person meets him in a bar and then joins him back to his place to have sex with him. However, Ezra cannot shake off the fact that he is slowly forgetting Lolas face. He stops the sex midway and tells the woman to leave. Nevertheless, he still needs to pay her 3000 units, and he does not have enough in his account.

Once again, Janice advises him to delete his memory assets. So, in that dire situation, he deletes everything besides his memories about Lola. The next day, when he gets on the train to work, he notices a consistent glitch. His co-passengers tell him that it is not going to work because of an earthquake. A cumulative result was that the blockchain was wiped clean. So, Ezra goes to the Cache Cloud office to complain about it. Janice says that he is among a sea of people who are also seeking help.

Since he cannot access his assets, he asks X to get them secured. X asks for a lofty price, and Ezra decides to work on multiple assignments within the same day to get the job done. He also picks up Natashas request and goes on to play Harlyns father. Like before, Harlyn wants him to tell his whale story. Ezra keeps trying to recall the memory of seeing the humpback whale with Rebecca. But he struggles to form a cohesive story. He cannot even remember that the woman he was with (Rebecca) was his mother.

Natasha gets worried about these symptoms and wants to help him. Ezra reveals that his summer heart condition is causing memory loss. Lola also had the same condition and died three years ago. He benefitted from a new recovery solution while Lola couldnt. In that vulnerable moment, he holds Natashas hand. It escalates to the point he decides to spend the night with her. In the morning, X informs him that he has found Ezras lost memory assets. However, he points out the struggle he faced and, thus, wants to get paid more.

To retrieve his memory assets from X, Ezra decides to pick up some more assignments. He decides to help with Isabel Wicks request despite knowing that her husband is a rager. She offers to pay the exact amount that X asked him in addition. So, Ezra goes there and plays the part of the person that Isabel had an affair with. Unfortunately, the situation gets out of control, and her husband punches him in the face.

Ezra walks back with blood dripping down his face. He goes back to Natashas place who was angry at him for breaking the boundaries and having sex with her. He accepts that he made a mistake but says that he needed the money urgently for his memory assets about Lola. She says that he should live in the present instead of latching onto the past. If he cannot lose Lola, why did he sleep with her as himself? He gets emotional and says that all he can do is pretend, be it his professional life or personal. Seeing him in pain, Natasha suggests he let go of Lolas memories and consider what they have with one another.

Ezra goes back home and refuses to answer X, who keeps pounding on his door, asking for the units as per their deal. Then about three months later, we see Ezra with Harlyn and Natasha. Only this time, Harlyn calls him Ezra instead of considering him David. Ezra sees the ad about the revival of humpback whales by Menagerie1000. However, cannot recall his relation to these animals. Besides, he sees an ad for technology that provides a safe environment for a fetus to grow in. The ad uses a private moment between Ezra and Lola from his memory asset. But by then, he has no recollection of it.

The ending denotes how privacy will remain to be a myth in the near future. When we depend on big corporations to help with these intimate human needs, they will keep using our emotions as assets for their personal benefits without caring about anything but individual capital gain.

Besides that, the bond between Natasha and Ezra beautifully shows how they both manage to get over the past with their previous partners. While David abandoned Natasha & Harlyn, Lola lost her life, leaving Ezra to grapple with loneliness. Still, letting go of that past is how Ezra & Natasha manage to connect with each other. It also conveys how such stories will keep being in our lives, albeit with AI interference. In the end, Ezras pursuit of reviving memories also gives a deja vu to Eternal Sunshine of Spotless Mind.

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Extrapolations (Season 1) Episode 6: Recap & Ending Explained Does Ezra retrieve his memory assets? - High On Films

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Celo Foundation and Google Cloud partner to support sustainable Web3 startups – Cointelegraph

The Celo Foundation has partnered with Google Cloud to support mission-aligned projects in Celos blockchain ecosystem and advance the early adoption of Google Cloud services. The collaboration is set to allow founders building on Celo to access credits for Google Cloud and Firebase usage, thereby enhancing Celos mobile-first infrastructure and decentralized applications (DApps).

Firebase is a mobile and web application development platform developed by Google that provides developers with various tools and services for building apps, including authentication, real-time databases, cloud storage and messaging.

According to the announcement, the Google Cloud team will also provide mentorship and guidance to the Celo Foundations Founders in Residence program and participate in the virtual Celo Camp accelerator program, which supports entrepreneurs in developing sustainability-focused startups.Additionally, the two organizations aim to co-host targeted workshops and events focused on Web3 sustainability and innovation.

Xochitl Cazador, the Celo Foundations head of ecosystem growth, told Cointelegraph that this new, expanded partnership between Google and the Celo Foundation enhances the ability to collaboratively create broader awareness for blockchain technology and its ability to scale real-world use cases on Celo.

Cazador further explained thatGoogle Clouds core team will also support the Celo Foundation through joint hackathons, workshops, and events centered on the intersection of Web3 and sustainability. The partnership aims to further amplify both teams belief that blockchain technology is well suited to address environmental matters.

Addressing the challenges that sustainability-focused startups in the Celo Network face, Cazador shared that highly technical onboarding processes, complex interfaces, and unfamiliar transaction fee currencies present major barriers to entry for such startups in the Web3 space. However, Cazador shared that Celos partnership with Google Cloud is set to alleviate the strain on emerging and established projects, thereby allowing ecosystem builders to tackle today and tomorrows largest sustainability challenges.

Related:Celo ecosystem projects raise $77.3M in support of interoperability, ReFi

Celo is a blockchain platform that has achieved carbon negativity through proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus. Within the Web3 community, it has gained recognition as a leader in regenerative finance (ReFi), a broad concept that prioritizes sustainability within finance. The platform has a diverse range of over 1,000 projects in more than 150 countries.

In episode 10 of Cointelegraphs Hashing It Out podcast, Rene Reinsberg, the president of Celo Foundation and the co-founder of the Celo blockchain, discussed the ReFi movement and Celo's plans to stay relevant in the multichain world.Reinsberg shared that he sees the increase in layer-1 blockchains and layer-2 networks as an opportunity to bring more people into crypto.

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5 Tools To Convert JPG To PDF On Any Device – SlashGear

Adobe Acrobat is everyone's go-to PDF viewer, and among its many features is its JPG-to-PDF converter. You can convert your JPG image to a PDF with either the online tool or the mobile or desktop apps. However, all three platforms have different ways of converting an image to a PDF.

The easy online tool is available on all devices, and you can access this from any old web browser. The online tool is also very user-friendly. Simply log in to your Acrobat account, upload the image of your choice, and download the PDF file. It's that easy.

The Acrobat desktop version also has a straightforward way of converting a picture to a PDF. Once you've launched the app, select the "See all tools" button. Then, under Convert to PDF, click on "Select a file" to import the JPG of your choice. Acrobat will automatically convert it to a PDF, and you just need to save it to your local drive.

The Acrobat mobile version, on the other hand, is not as intuitive as the other two. Here's how to convert JPG to PDF on your Android or iOS device:

A little disclaimer, though: Acrobat's JPG-to-PDF tool isn't free. You'd need to upgrade to the Pro version.

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Is This the End of Twitter? – Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence

Twitter isnt in such great shape at the moment. In fact, rumors of bankruptcy loom over the company as financial woes continue to mount, and solutions seem few and far between. Dave Karpf is a professor of internet politics at George Washington University and wrote an article describing Twitters current predicament. He writes,

A few weeks ago, Elon Musk said thatad revenues had fallen 50%. The site has experiencedmajor outagesat ahigher ratethan usual. During one such outage, Elon was laser-focused on the important stuff:reply-guying Jordan Peterson. The Twitter Blue rollout was such a disaster that hefired almost the entire team. Yesterday, he appeared tobacktrack on his big planto revoke legacy checkmarks. Twitterhasnt been paying rentonits office space. It recently tried to create a new income stream byselling office plants to employees.

Apart from that, accounts are still being suspended for violating Twitters policies. One reason Musk endeavored to buy Twitter was to remedy its flagrant complicity in censorship and shadow banning, particularly for accounts of conservative persuasions. Now, its clear that he has failed to sufficiently deal with the issue. Sean Davis is CEO and co-founder of the conservative outlet The Federalist and explained how his account was disabled after he tweeted about the tragic shooting last week at a small Christian elementary school in Nashville, TN. He writes,

Twitter is toast, and the sad truth of the matter is that Musk either cant, or wont, fix it. Musk may never get his $44 billion back, but until Twitter repents and stops producing rotten fruit, conservatives should keep their $8 in their pockets. At some point, instead of hoping the poison vine will produce fine wine, you just have to acknowledge reality and let it die.

Americans all along the political spectrum now have their qualms with the big blue bird, and its future appears shaky at best.

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Corecore is the internets new Dadaist anti-trend: Desperate men in search of solace – EL PAS USA

There may be more sophisticated ways to let oneself fall into despair than spending an entire afternoon watching Corecore on your cell phone, but few of them are more specific to our times. Segments of Generation Z (those born after 1995) construct their identity on TikTok. This social media platform employs thousands of tags with which users define both online content and themselves. Corecore, which has already racked up two billion views, is one of them, though it does not often resemble any of them. Loneliness and existential angst are the words that best describe this internet-based community. Most strikingly, these creations which for some are an artistic genre unto themselves are riddled with anti-capitalist messages that decry the alienating and dehumanizing aspects of social media. TikToks algorithm has emerged from a trend, in which young people have found an unexpected ally.

Urban Dictionary defines Corecore as kind of a deconstructed art, basically invoking emotion out of a series of (visual) clips that you develop your own meaning [for]. Corecore content is introspective. No one knows for sure how this trend originated. Various publications cite a video collage by user @masonoelle from January 2021 as one of the first examples of Corecores impact on social media. John Rising, known on TikTok as @HighEnquiries, is considered one of the genres creators. In an interview with Vice, he explained, Ive never really felt a need to give it a name, I was just trying to make videos that evoked some sort of reaction in people.

Corecores videos last for about a minute, and they are addictive. They consist of visual montages created from scenes from around the Internet; anything goes movies, rehashed memes, viral videos, news clips and snippets of other TikTok posts. Nearly every one of them is accompanied by a melancholic soundtrack. Because Corecores intention is to represent societys emptiness and absurdity, some media have compared it to the Dadaist art of the early twentieth century. Corecore and dadaism also coincide in their chaotic, anti-aesthetic structure. However, the works of the Tristan Tzara-led movement were given to chance. In contrast, Corecore has an intelligible discourse and repeating patterns: loneliness, depression, consumerism, global warming, social media toxicity and the inability to establish human connection. In short, Corecore seeks to elevate feelings but through an overarching theme.

The precise origin of the term Corecore is unclear. According to the website Know Your Meme, the word was first used on Tumblr in 2020. The noun is a metalinguistic word play on the suffix -core, which internet culture uses to define an aesthetic. For example, theres cottagecore (aesthetics associated with the countryside, nature and tradition); witchcore (aesthetics based on a fondness for the world of magic); and normcore (aesthetics related to wearing basic, unpretentious attire). Users, brands and the social media website itself pay attention to identifying the latest aesthetic trends on TikTok. It is important to understand that the word aesthetics, which began as a discipline of philosophy that studies the nature of beauty, has acquired a new meaning in recent years. Saying that something is aesthetic came to mean that we like something aesthetically. The terms meaning continued to expand, and, as Moises Mendez explains in a Time magazine article, it has [now] become a catch-all term for Gen Z, encompassing moods, feelings, and subcultures around which people can find like-minded users online. The niche-ification of the platform has carved out small corners of the Internet for seemingly every special interest, mood, hobby, like, dislike, and, yes, aesthetic.

Generation Z uses TikTok to construct its identity, says Alvaro L. Pajares, a TikTokker and editor of the book Memeceno: La era del meme en internet (The Internets Meme Era). He sees that phenomenon at work in each community or aesthetic that has the -core suffix. Until now, no platform had managed to offer the user such a specific and personalized experience for their reality. It does this by creating microcells or micro-niches that reflect a specific aesthetic and identity, Pajares explains. The novelty of TikTok, as compared to other platforms, is that each user has a feed based on the content they consume, not the people they follow, he notes. Its the first social network that 100 percent understands that its no longer about networking The business is in keeping people watching and creating content, he observes.

Using labels to define ourselves isnt new. Having a self-described aesthetic has been an online trend since the days of early 2010s Tumblr blogs; however, the parameters of these new forms of stylistic appearances have become increasingly precise and intertwined with ones lifestyle, writer Madison Huizinga says in her essay On Feeling Pretty When You Cry: Cottagecore, That Girl & Self-Aestheticization. She argues that TikTok has led to a rise in niche internet aesthetics. Never before had I seen such enthusiasm for categorizing certain lifestyle choices to fit such detailed online definitions, she asserts. There is clear comfort in feeling as though ones interests, hobbies, and aspirations are shared by others. And the Internet provides excellent forums for individuals to reach people outside their physical communities that have similar passions.

Corecore is the anti-aesthetics of TikTok, says Pajares. They are Generation Zs black sheep who cant find their place [anywhere], he continues. For example, he compares the Corecore consumer to a kid who is sitting on a bench in the mall and doesnt want to go into any store to shop. Several authors have spoken of the mercantilist trap behind the rise of niche internet. As Joana Girona, a journalist who specializes in digital culture, states in an article published by the Center of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona: The increase of all these aesthetics directly implies a benefit for digital capitalism, which commercializes and exploits our online habits and tries to sell or create the need for us to have a certain product, as it has always done, but now [it is doing it] in a more massive and perverse way. Essayist Rayne Fisher-Quann says it even more forcefully: Everyone is jostling for attention in a crowded room, struggling to differentiate themselves within an algorithm that exists to turn their personhood into a commodity.

Lately, Corecore is the only thing that makes me feel real, user Jett comments on a video under the tag Corecore. I hear you, bro, replies king-manny, who is not alone sharing this sentiment. Corecore is a community of those who feel alone in an increasingly connected world. Thats why references to scroll down [scrolling up and down on the cell phone], addiction and seeing empty content are so recurrent, Pajares explains.

Loneliness and the mental health problems that stem from it is one of the great epidemics of our time. The coronavirus crisis led to a 25% increase in the number of people suffering from anxiety and depression. TikToks algorithm seems to have shaped this despair. In a Hyperallergic article, journalist Isabella Segalovich expressed concern that these viral videos can draw those of us (like myself) who struggle with anxiety and depression into deeper despair. Moreover, desperation has left increasing numbers of men susceptible to manipulation byright-wing opportunists.Joe Rogan,Jordan Peterson, andTheo Vonmake frequent appearances in corecore videos. The columnist notes that these characters are often paired with lonely, angry, and sometimes violent male protagonists from blockbusters likeAmerican Psycho, Blade Runner 2049, Fight Club,andThe Joker.

There are overlapping identities or labels, explains Pajares, who cites the concept of the sigma male to explain this dimension of Corecore. Its an alternative version of the alpha male within the manosphere [anti-feminist Internet forums], he says. According to the expert, sigma males have concluded that there are two types of men in gendered relationships: alpha males, who need to constantly reaffirm their position in the group; and beta males, who are unable to sustain that attention. After reading people like Jordan Peterson, the sigma male realizes that his power lies in not needing external validation, being emotionally autonomous, and being able to lead a solitary life.

Figures like Patrick Bateman, the protagonist of American Psycho (2000), and Ryan Goslings character in Blade Runner 2049 (2017) are frequently the models for this type of masculinity. This is a masculinity that might be considered toxic; although it has a conception of gender roles, it has had to deconstruct itself through Jordan Petersons discourse, Pajares argues. Corecore doesnt have to be negative, but the seed of it is there. Hatred of TikTok is also hatred of the lonely man, who asserts his own autonomy even though he would really like to get attention, just like everyone else.

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Bill protecting Bitcoin mining rights passes in Arkansas Senate and House – Cointelegraph

A bill seeking to regulate Bitcoin (BTC) mining activity in Arkansas has passed in the states House of Representatives and Senate. The bill will now move to the governors office for approval.

According to the bill, the Arkansas Data Centers Act of 2023 intends to regulate the Bitcoin mining industry in the American state, creating guidelines for miners and protecting them from discriminatory regulations and taxes.

Arkansas state legislators quickly passed the bill after it was proposed on March 30 by Senator Joshua Bryant. The document recognizes that data centers create jobs, pay taxes, and provide general economic value to local communities.

As per the approved bill, a digital asset miner is required to pay applicable taxes and government fees in acceptable forms of currency and operate in a manner that causes no stress on an electric public utilitys generation capabilities or transmission network.

Under the legislation, crypto miners will also have the same rights as data centers. The bill outlines that Arkansas government should not impose a different requirement for a digital asset mining business than is applicable to any requirement for a data center.

Related: Crypto mining in 2023 Is it still worth it? Watch Market Talks

Arkansas move follows a similar initiative in the state of Montana. In late March, the Montana Senate passed a bill to protect crypto miners operating within the state. The bill intends to protect miners against taxes on digital assets used for payments, and to eliminate energy rates discriminating against home crypto miners and digital assets businesses.

The state of Texas went in a different direction. Its Senate Committee on Business and Commerce passed legislation on April 4 that would essentiallyremove incentives for miners operating under the states crypto-friendly regulatory environment, Cointelegraph reported.

An even more decisive move came from New York in November 2022 when Governor Kathy Hochul signed the proof-of-work mining moratorium into law, banning crypto-mining activities in the state for two years. On a federal level, crypto miners in the United States could eventually be subject to a 30% tax on electricity costs under a budget proposalintroduced on March 9 by President Joe Biden aimed to reduce mining activity.

Magazine:US enforcement agencies are turning up the heat on crypto-related crime

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