Day: December 21, 2024

‘The Substance,’ ‘The Deliverance’ and ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Lead Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Nominations  Variety
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The cryptocurrency market sees renewed optimism as Bitcoin price rebounds to $98K. Bitcoin recovered from $92K, boosting confidence in the market. Leading altcoins, including Ethereum and XRP, also reported notable gains, signalling a potential upward trend.
While slight corrections persist, This anticipates a revisit to Bitcoin’s all-time high. The broader market recovery highlights significant growth among top cryptocurrencies, driving investor optimism as the market continues to gain momentum.
Bitcoin price surged to $98,010, reflecting a 2% increase in the past 24 hours, as the global crypto market gained momentum. The market capitalization reached $3.38 trillion, marking a 1% rise, with trading volume climbing 10% to $301 billion. Bitcoin traded within a 24-hour range of $95,380 to $99,507, maintaining a market cap of $1.93 trillion and a dominance of 56%.
Major altcoins such as Ethereum, BNB, XRP, and Solana (SOL) also recorded significant gains, boosting market confidence. Meme coins, including Dogecoin and PEPE, showed signs of recovery after recent downturns, adding to the broader market’s positive trend.
Bitcoin remains 10% below its all-time high of $108,268.45, achieved on December 17, 2024. With increased trading activity and altcoin recovery driving market enthusiasm, attention centres on whether Bitcoin will soon surpass its previous record.
During a recent Nashville event, crypto analysts drew attention to former President Donald Trump’s bold statement on Bitcoin. Trump confidently declared that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies would “skyrocket like never before,” predicting unprecedented growth in the next four years. 
His remarks at the Bitcoin 2024 conference have fueled excitement among crypto enthusiasts and investors.
🇺🇸 President Trump says, “#Bitcoin and crypto will skyrocket like never before, even beyond your expectations.” 🚀

NEXT 4 YEARS ARE GOING TO BE EPIC! pic.twitter.com/P0BedYXuLK
Bitcoin dominance has reached a critical milestone, indicating the onset the biggest altseason. According to market experts, Bitcoin’s dominance recently experienced a breakout, followed by a pullback, and is now heading towards a potential hard dump.
The chart shows Bitcoin dominance at 58%, reflecting a strong upward trajectory over recent months. Analysts attribute this rise to increased investor confidence in Bitcoin amidst macroeconomic uncertainties. However, the pullback and resistance levels could signify a shift in momentum favouring altcoins. Market watchers believe this transition could lead to a surge in altcoin trading activity. 
$BTC Dominance

Breakout ✅
Pull back ✅
Hard dump ⏳

The biggest #ALTSEASON EVER HAS STARTED pic.twitter.com/zU0EQtuuJk
The latest Bitcoin “In/Out of the Money” data highlights wallet activity, showing most addresses profitable at $97,324.87. The visualization emphasizes significant buying at various price ranges, including $42,145–$57,400. These metrics underline investor confidence, with a majority holding positions well in profit.
 Source: IntoTheBlock
The BTC price remains consolidated, hovering below the critical $100,000 resistance level. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) on the 4-hour timeframe stands at 42, suggesting weaker momentum.
The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator, while slightly bullish, is showing reduced momentum. 
Key support levels for BTC are positioned near $97,000, with stronger support around $95,000. Further declines toward $92,000 could occur if the price breaches these levels. On the upside, Bitcoin faces a formidable resistance at $100,000, followed by a psychological barrier at $108,000.
Bitcoin’s upward momentum and altcoin recovery signal strong market optimism. However, breaking key resistance levels will determine if BTC revisits its all-time high
Since launching in 2012, Bankless Times is dedicated to bringing you the latest news and informational content within the alternative finance industry. Our news coverage spans the whole crypto-sphere so you’ll always stay up to date — be it on cryptocurrencies, NFTs, ICOs, Fintech, or Blockchain.

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Winning Lotto numbers tonight: Full National Lottery results with Thunderball on Saturday, December 21, 2024  Gloucestershire Live
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SHUTDOWN NEWS: Biden signs bill that averts a government shutdown and brings a close to days of Washington upheaval
The Associated Press
December 21, 2024, 2:35 PM
Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26.
Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before quitting in August. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI’s strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products.
“We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our hearts go out to Suchir’s loved ones during this difficult time,” said a statement from OpenAI.
Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on Nov. 26 in what police said “appeared to be a suicide. No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation.” The city’s chief medical examiner’s office confirmed the manner of death to be suicide.
His parents Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy said they are still seeking answers, describing their son as a “happy, smart and brave young man” who loved to hike and recently returned from a trip with friends.
Balaji grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first arrived at the fledgling AI research lab for a 2018 summer internship while studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned a few years later to work at OpenAI, where one of his first projects, called WebGPT, helped pave the way for ChatGPT.
“Suchir’s contributions to this project were essential, and it wouldn’t have succeeded without him,” said OpenAI co-founder John Schulman in a social media post memorializing Balaji. Schulman, who recruited Balaji to his team, said what made him such an exceptional engineer and scientist was his attention to detail and ability to notice subtle bugs or logical errors.
“He had a knack for finding simple solutions and writing elegant code that worked,” Schulman wrote. “He’d think through the details of things carefully and rigorously.”
Balaji later shifted to organizing the huge datasets of online writings and other media used to train GPT-4, the fourth generation of OpenAI’s flagship large language model and a basis for the company’s famous chatbot. It was that work that eventually caused Balaji to question the technology he helped build, especially after newspapers, novelists and others began suing OpenAI and other AI companies for copyright infringement.
He first raised his concerns with The New York Times, which reported them in an October profile of Balaji.
He later told The Associated Press he would “try to testify” in the strongest copyright infringement cases and considered a lawsuit brought by The New York Times last year to be the “most serious.” Times lawyers named him in a Nov. 18 court filing as someone who might have “unique and relevant documents” supporting allegations of OpenAI’s willful copyright infringement.
His records were also sought by lawyers in a separate case brought by book authors including the comedian Sarah Silverman, according to a court filing.
“It doesn’t feel right to be training on people’s data and then competing with them in the marketplace,” Balaji told the AP in late October. “I don’t think you should be able to do that. I don’t think you are able to do that legally.”
He told the AP that he gradually grew more disillusioned with OpenAI, especially after the internal turmoil that led its board of directors to fire and then rehire CEO Sam Altman last year. Balaji said he was broadly concerned about how its commercial products were rolling out, including their propensity for spouting false information known as hallucinations.
But of the “bag of issues” he was concerned about, he said he was focusing on copyright as the one it was “actually possible to do something about.”
He acknowledged that it was an unpopular opinion within the AI research community, which is accustomed to pulling data from the internet, but said “they will have to change and it’s a matter of time.”
He had not been deposed and it’s unclear to what extent his revelations will be admitted as evidence in any legal cases after his death. He also published a personal blog post with his opinions about the topic.
Schulman, who resigned from OpenAI in August, said he and Balaji coincidentally left on the same day and celebrated with fellow colleagues that night with dinner and drinks at a San Francisco bar. Another of Balaji’s mentors, co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, had left OpenAI several months earlier, which Balaji saw as another impetus to leave.
Schulman said Balaji had told him earlier this year of his plans to leave OpenAI and that Balaji didn’t think that better-than-human AI known as artificial general intelligence “was right around the corner, like the rest of the company seemed to believe.” The younger engineer expressed interest in getting a doctorate and exploring “some more off-the-beaten path ideas about how to build intelligence,” Schulman said.
Balaji’s family said a memorial is being planned for later this month at the India Community Center in Milpitas, California, not far from his hometown of Cupertino.
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.
—————–
The Associated Press and OpenAI have a licensing and technology agreement allowing OpenAI access to part of the AP’s text archives.
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
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WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – The community has until December 24 to give supplies for the Pender County Humane Society.
Splish Splash Dog Wash, LG Eatz and The Furry Fund are asking the local community to help pitch in to provide the shelter with needed goods.
These local groups are teaming up to help the no-kill shelter that works to “improve the lives of homeless and unwanted animals by providing shelter and medical care while finding loving and responsible permanent homes”.
They’re gathering the items at the Slish Spash Dog Wash in Leland and the christmas tree is filled with goodies for both dogs and cats.
The organizers say the geneorisity is coming from new and familiar faces.
“We are getting supplies from customers and a lot of people who aren’t our customers have been filling stuff under the Christmas tree,” says Paige Hudgins, Splish Splash Dog Wash employee.
Hudgins says this time of year many animals at shelters can be forgotten about, which is why it’s important to help any way you can.
“We appreciate everything that you are looking to donate. It goes to a really good cause and it will really help a ton of animals in need,” says Hudgins.
These are the items they are asking to be donated:
And that can be dropped off at Splish Splash Dog Wash, 2013 Olde Regent Way #180.
Copyright 2024 WECT. All rights reserved.

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(NEW YORK) — The Mega Millions jackpot surged to $944 million on Saturday after no ticket matched the numbers drawn on Friday, the lottery said.
The winning numbers on Friday were 2, 20, 51, 56, 57 and gold Mega Ball 19.
The next drawing will be on Tuesday, Dec. 24.
The jackpot prize has a cash value of $429 million, which can be offered as a one-time lump sum payment, or an immediate payment followed by annual payments.
The jackpot has been rolling since it was last won at $810 million in Texas on Sept. 10.
The total of $862 million is the seventh-largest prize in Mega Millions history. The largest Mega Millions prize ever won was $1.6 billion on August 2023.
The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350, according to Mega Millions.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Tickets are $2 for one play.

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Review | The long entangled history of Christianity and politics  The Washington Post
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The Internet Archive Returns Just in the Nick of Time  Gizmodo
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Action News Jax Now

CLAY COUNTY, Fla. — Clay County Animal Services is still looking for people to foster shelter animals this holiday weekend.
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Fostering cats and dogs is open to everyone.
Kittens and puppies under two months have to be fostered in Clay County.
You can stop by animal services until 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Click here for more information.
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Co-showrunner Sally Bradford McKenna tells The Hollywood Reporter about the decision to include Knox, who was acquitted of her roommate’s 2007 murder.
By Ryan Gajewski
Senior Entertainment Reporter
The team behind Laid couldn’t be happier to have included Amanda Knox in the Peacock comedy series.
Adapted from the Australian project of the same name, the show centers on Ruby (Stephanie Hsu), who realizes that her previous lovers are dying and sets out to understand why this is happening. Zosia Mamet co-stars as Ruby’s best friend AJ, while other castmembers include Michael Angarano and Tommy Martinez.
One surprising member of the cast is Knox, who makes an appearance in the final episode of the first season that is currently streaming. Knox became a public figure after she was convicted and then ultimately acquitted of the 2007 murder of her roommate in Italy. Co-showrunner Sally Bradford McKenna describes herself to The Hollywood Reporter as a big true-crime fan who saw Knox as the right fit for a role, given the series’ story.

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“I’m obsessed with her,” Bradford McKenna says of Knox. “Like the character of AJ, I am obsessed with true crime. It really did fit in this show to have AJ be playing detective and trying to solve the mystery and get on the case.”
The Goldbergs alum continues, “We knew that we were going towards a moment where we needed a grand gesture. We thought she was perfect because, first of all, we were set in Seattle. We didn’t even realize that she lives in Seattle. We were trying to think of someone who is true crime but was acquitted of the crime. She was so game and so into it. She also is into comedy, and she was so excited to do this, and she was amazing. She was a really good actress, too.”
Bradford McKenna, who serves as co-showrunner of Laid alongside Nahnatchka Khan, also saw a connection between Knox’s path and the themes informing Hsu’s character. She says of Knox, “Her story is such a fucked-up story, and thematically of a girl in her 20s in college going off to study abroad and the juxtaposition of the darkest possible stakes against this backdrop of a woman just looking for love and dating. It tied in very nicely with Ruby’s story.”
Knox and then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were convicted in 2009 of the murder of Meredith Kercher, who was Knox’s roommate in Italy and found dead in their apartment two years prior. The convictions were overturned in 2011, and then after they were again found guilty in a retrial, the pair were exonerated by Italy’s Supreme Court of Cassation in 2015. Margaret Qualley is set to play Knox in a Hulu series about her life.

On Laid, when AJ tells Knox that she wants to hear about being in jail for a crime she didn’t commit, Knox quips about her situation, “Yeah, I don’t recommend it.”
Additionally, Bradford McKenna praises Hsu for helping audiences connect with a “genuinely unlikable” character like Ruby.
“We knew for the casting of Ruby, she needed to be someone you instantly like, who you instantly are rooting for,” she says. “We tried to write towards that, but really so much of that was just the casting of Stephanie. She’s so appealing and so likable.”
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