Day: December 27, 2024

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Rosie McCall
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The world’s fastest bird of prey, mid-dive. 
Image Credit: Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock.com
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Cheetahs may hold the reputation for being the world’s fastest animal – and with a running speed of up to 120 kilometers per hour (75 miles per hour), the feline is indeed the quickest animal on land. But that pales in comparison to the impressive diving speeds of the peregrine falcon, which, according to the National Audubon Society, has been known to reach speeds of 300 kilometers (186 miles) per hour. This is the fastest they have been detected on record. Yet scientists believe they can travel even faster and reach speeds on par with a bullet train (200 miles per hour). 
While this impressive feat makes it the fastest animal in the world when diving, the Peregrine falcon is quickly outpaced when flying by the Brazilian free-tailed bat, which is considered to be the fastest flying animal. This particular species of bat can achieve speeds of almost 160 km/h (100 mph). Indeed, the peregrine falcon does not even win the title of fastest flying bird – that is an honor that currently goes to the common swift.
The peregrine falcon’s record-breaking dive is an essential part of its hunting strategy. These raptors are birds of prey that “stoop” or dive in order to strike their kill mid-air. According to the National Audubon Society, peregrine falcons mostly feed on other birds. More urbanite falcons living close to cities are frequently found devouring pigeons, whereas ducks and shorebirds are often favored by those living nearer to the coast. 
According to the National Park Service, the name stems from the Latin word for “foreigner” or “traveler” (peregrinator) and, living up to its name, the peregrine falcon is a global bird, inhabiting all continents except for Antarctica. There are three subspecies that can be found in North America, including the American or continental peregrine falcon, the tundra or arctic peregrine falcon, and the Peale’s peregrine falcon. The birds are typically found in mountain ranges, such as the Appalachians and Rocky Mountains.

Like many animals, the peregrine falcon has been negatively impacted by humans. The species was listed as endangered during the 20th century after pesticides including DDT triggered declines in population. Fortunately, the peregrine falcon was able to shed its endangered status thanks to efforts to reduce the use of these chemicals and a subsequent rise in bird numbers. 
But this does not mean they are in the all-clear. Recent reports suggest that peregrine falcon numbers in the US are falling for the first time since the 1970s. In some areas, as many as half of nesting peregrines went missing last year. Researchers have put forward a number of theories for this trend, from pesticides to a drop in prey to the spread of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). However, the true cause remains unknown.
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My Mother’s Death Left Me Grieving for My Grandmother All Over Again  Next Avenue
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Next year is set to be a bumper year for the crypto-currency industry, with the industry poised for even greater advancements.
So says Yande Nomvete, operations manager for Binance Africa, detailing some expectations for crypto-currencies in 2025.
This comes as the local crypto-currency industry experienced a profitable 2024 prompted by the US elections and the granting of licences by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority to various Crypto Asset Service Providers.
The industry also celebrated when Bitcoin, the world’s most popular digital currency, in November reached $100 000 (R1.7 million) per single coin.
In an email interview with ITWeb, Nomvete says in November, the crypto-currency market reached unprecedented heights, with total market capitalisation surging to a record $3.47 trillion.
This growth, he highlights, was fuelled by Bitcoin's rally to over $100 000 and significant institutional participation, evidenced by seven consecutive weeks of positive spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows totalling over $6.5 billion for the month.
Bitcoin ETFs have gained approval in markets such as the United States, Brazil, Hong Kong, and Australia, signalling broader acceptance of digital assets, Nomvete explains.
“The industry has emerged stronger, advancing in legitimacy, adoption, and utility. From regulatory breakthroughs to institutional milestones, this year marked the dawn of a new era.
“Looking ahead, the crypto industry is undoubtedly poised for even greater advancements. The momentum we’ve built over the past year, coupled with favourable tailwinds, positions us for an even stronger 2025. Institutions are increasingly eager to explore crypto’s potential, with many taking their first steps into the space.”
Binance is the world’s biggest blockchain and crypto-currency infrastructure provider. According to the crypto exchange, it started the year at just under 200-million users, and now has more than 240 million.
In 2024, US president-elect Donald Trump made crypto an important element of his campaign strategy, pledging to create a “strategic Bitcoin reserve” and to position the US as the “crypto capital of the planet”.
Commenting on expectations on Bitcoin when the US president-elect assumes office in January, Nomvete notes it “certainly helps” that Trump is a pro-crypto elect president, as this is likely to bring new developments in crypto legislation in 2025.
“This may help inform crypto legislation for other countries across the world. It’s not all related to Trump’s election, in general it is also about crypto cycles that last for about four years. Retail investors come in at the market’s peak and then get shaken out.
“There was a lot of regulatory scrutiny at the end of 2022 that contributed to the super negative sentiment then and you only had hardcore believers holding onto their tokens throughout that period. The sentiment started improving earlier this year. The prices started to rally, and the retail market reignited, which coincided with the Trump elections.”
Turning to the biggest trends witnessed this year, Nomvete comments that they’ve witnessed an increase in consumers using crypto-currency as a daily payment method locally.
“As much as people use crypto as an investment class, we are also really seeing it emerge as a payment method. No more so than in Africa. It makes perfect sense: if your home currency is the Zimbabwe dollar, say, and you’re working abroad, you’d have previously sent back hard currency via money movers like Western Union. But that’s expensive and you’re still at the mercy of fluctuating exchange rates.
“Now, people are making use of products like Binance Pay, which charge nothing to shift stablecoins – crypto tokens that are pegged to hard currencies like the dollar or euro – to family or friends back home.
“Access to finance is not as easy for a lot of people across the globe but particularly on the continent, for countries where local currencies are ‘volatile and mercurial’, using crypto is a way to hedge against inflation.
“Dollar shortages in the traditional banking system impact people in those countries, so being able to access the dollar by being on the platform is something that we’re seeing significant adoption of the utility of crypto is a powerful argument for continued demand,” she concludes.
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China’s GenAI market continues to heat up as Beijing records more LLM filings  South China Morning Post
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GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) – Ahead of the new year, WCJB TV20 News reflects on all the stores we aired in 2024.
This year, we had some big breaking news stories happen. Below are some of the biggest breaking news stories that we covered this year.
In Lawtey, Johnnie Brown, 46, shot and killed his girlfriend and her two adult daughters at a home.
Qaunique Robinson, 49, Danesha Sims, 27, and Wynshay Roddey, 25, were killed during argument between them and Brown.
His next court appearance is set for February.
STORY: Mother, 2 daughters killed in Bradford County, suspect behind bars
Eight migrant workers die after a drunk driver crashed into their bus in May.
53 workers were on board when Bryan Howard, 41, crashed into the bus traveling on State Road 40 between Ocala and Dunnellon.
Howard is charged with eight counts of DUI manslaughter and is awaiting trial in the Marion County Jail.
STORY: 8 dead, dozens injured in Marion County farm worker bus crash, truck driver arrested
Two men are dead after two separate shootings at Ginnie Springs during Memorial Day weekend.
Koty Stewart, 34, was killed by Fisher Watts, 18, after a confrontation about parking.
The next night, a fight broke out between two groups of people where Marco Mandujano, 26, was shot in the head and later died in the hospital.
“Every moment every minute every second of her day she consistently and only thinks of him. It’s not justified that something this awful would happen to a person such as him” said Marco’s mother Sara Mandujano.
Fisher Watts and his brother Dallas are charged for the death of Stewart and Mandujano’s shooter is still unknown.
STORY: ‘It’s out of control’: Residents concerned about Ginnie Springs reopening after 2 shootings
An early morning fire destroyed multiple businesses on Dock Street in Cedar Key.
Cedar key Fire Rescue was joined by Bronson, Williston, Fanning Springs and Citrus County Fire Rescue.
The fire damaged Duncan’s on the Gulf Restaurant, Steamer’s Restaurant and the Island Trading Post lost more than a million dollars worth of stock.
Steamers is now back open.
STORY: ‘Economic catastrophe’: Fire sweeps through Dock Street in Cedar Key destroying businesses
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Copyright 2024 WCJB. All rights reserved.

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Jupiter Announces $580 Million Airdrop to Boost Ecosystem Engagement  Coinspeaker
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Cyberhaven, a leading provider of data loss prevention (DLP) solutions, disclosed a significant security breach involving its Chrome extension.
On December 24, 2024, a targeted cyberattack compromised an administrator account, allowing attackers to publish a malicious update (version 24.10.4) to the Chrome Web Store. The update was automatically deployed to users early on December 25, 2024.
The malicious extension enabled attackers to exfiltrate sensitive user data, including authenticated sessions and cookies, to a rogue domain (cyberhavenext[.]pro).
The exfiltration domain remained active from 1:32 AM UTC on December 25 until 2:50 AM UTC on December 26, posing a critical risk to users’ data security.
2024 MITRE ATT&CK Evaluation Results for SMEs & MSPs -> Download Free Guide
Cyberhaven’s internal security team detected the compromise at 11:54 PM UTC on December 25 and removed the malicious package within an hour.
A clean version (24.10.5) was released on December 26, removing the malicious code. Cyberhaven is also preparing an additional update (24.10.6) with telemetry features to help identify affected endpoints.
The compromised extension could have exposed sensitive information from browsers running version 24.10.4. In response, Cyberhaven has issued the following recommendations for impacted users:
Cyberhaven confirmed that versions of the extension hosted outside the Chrome Web Store, such as those for Firefox or Edge, were not affected.
Cyberhaven has engaged federal law enforcement and cybersecurity firm Mandiant to investigate the breach further. The company emphasized its commitment to transparency and customer trust, stating: “We are acting on our core values of maximum transparency to retain the trust we have earned from you.”
Secure Annex has shared technical details of the attack to aid in detection and mitigation:
Investigate Real-World Malicious Links, Malware & Phishing Attacks With ANY.RUN – Try for Free

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2024 seems set to go out with a sigh, rather than a bang.
After a hectic two months during which $BTC saw record-setting, all-time highs and the crypto market cap surged dramatically, investors have settled down considerably.
It was only September – barely four months ago – when investor confidence, as measured by the Crypto Fear & Greed Index, was at a yearly low of 26.
In November, it peaked at 85 – ‘Extreme Greed’, and extremely good for investors and markets alike.

The market now sits at a steady 54 – decidedly ‘Neutral’, not leaning one way or the other.
But behind the scenes, the market’s as frantic as ever. Here are the 5 best altcoins to buy as $BTC’s price bounces up from its monthly low.
The time is now, not long long ago, and the galaxy isn’t far away at all. It’s actually right next door, on the Solana blockchain.
That’s right, Solaxy aims to launch the first-ever Solana Layer-2 solution. No failed transactions, faster processing than ever, less congestion. It’s a Solana upgrade that can’t be missed.
The boosters are getting hot on the presale – the project has already blown past the $6M mark.
The project features a balanced tokenomics structure and promises enough utility to set it apart from typical meme coin offerings.

There’s no better time to go intergalactic. 
Having just launched its presale, the world’s ‘first decentralized meme coin index’ is starting to build some early momentum.
The idea is simple:
$MEMEX is part of a growing trend of meme coins that seek to combine cultural appeal with real-world utility. It aims to categorize meme coins into four indices, each offering a different volatility level.

As it currently stands, the $MEMEX presale has gathered nearly $600K in just a few days, fueled by multi-k token purchases, with the promise of far bigger things to come. This means now is the perfect time to jump into the project.
Up 42% in a single week, $PENGU continues to make massive gains in the crypto world.

Pudgy Penguins began in 2021 as an NFT collection and benefited from an avid collector’s community. After the successful launch of the $PNEGU token in 2024, there’s now a shop with real-world merchandise to build on the digital hype.

$PENGU adds a bird of a different feather to other noteworthy meme coins. The combo of NFTs, merchandise, and now a leading token with a $2B+ market cap makes Pudgy Penguins a noteworthy project to watch.
Wall Street Pepe continues to build on its ongoing and successful presale, with a whopping $36M raised.
Investors keep flooding in with big buys including a recent $42K purchase. 
$WEPE promises investor insights and a vibrant trading community, but its key appeal lies in its meme coin combo tagline, ‘Trade like PEPE, buy WEPE!’

 
It’s a golden opportunity for meme enthusiasts and investors, alike. $WEPE follows on the continued success of the original $PEPE and of newcomers like Pepe Unchained ($PEPU), which surpassed a $38M market cap. 
Could $WEPE be the next big green boss?
It’s not every day you see a meme coin hit the $1B mark, and it’s always big news when it happens.

$FARTCOIN currently trades at $1.04; up 180% in the past month, with little sign that the momentum is flagging. Circulating supply is also at the 1B mark, putting Fartcoin in an interesting position; it could go nowhere – or it could explode even further.
That potential makes Fartcoin one of the more intriguing meme coins in the current market.
$BTC’s price prediction for the next decade looks promising, and its continued success will only spell good things for the meme coin market.
Keep your eyes on these coins. Each project listed here has major potential for the new year and looks set to end the season on a positive note. But don’t take our word for it; visit their official pages and do your own research.
For updates and exclusive offers enter your email.
Aaron covers all things crypto, with an eye towards simple, easy-to-understand explanations for complicated topics. In his spare time, he writes fantasy stories for fun and enjoys working out and boxing.
Bitcoin news portal providing breaking news, guides, price analysis about decentralized digital money & blockchain technology.
© 2023 Bitcoinist. All Rights Reserved.

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Gift-giving is a fundamental and wonderful spiritual act of love and sacrifice and sharing.
Rabbi Marc Gellman
I hope this year’s rare confluence of Christmas and Hanukah brought you a spirit of joy and at least one present you will remember long past New Year’s Day.
Both Father Tom and I are/were big supporters of gift-giving. I understand the common gripe of many that the holiday season is over-commercialized, and there is good evidence of that. However, anti-gift-givers can be motivated not just by anti-materialism but also by simple selfishness. At its root, gift-giving is a fundamental and wonderful spiritual act of love and sacrifice and sharing. The truth is that we show love not just by words but by actions, and gift-giving is an act of love. It is not a coincidence that the Christmas story includes the gift-giving of the wise men as a central part of the story.
In general, the God Squad gift-giving guide includes the following guidelines:
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Father Tom had many strong ideas about gift-giving. One of his best was giving the gift of time. He gave me a Hanukkah gift one year of a day at the zoo. Tommy knew that my grandfather, Leo Gellman, was a zookeeper in Milwaukee, and so as my Hanukah present, he took me to the Bronx Zoo. I told him stories about Monkey Island in the Milwaukee Zoo, where my grandfather would stuff my pockets full of my Grandma Sara’s mandel bread cookies and then send me onto Monkey Island where the monkeys would swarm me and pick the cookies out of my pockets. I loved telling him the story and the chance to reconnect to my grandpa’s memory.
Giving a gift of time costs nothing and brings great joy. All the best gifts connect the giver to the getter through the gift. My favorite gift to Tommy was a gift-wrapped package of frankincense and myrrh that I sent him with a note, “Merry Christmas, Tommy. Like the wise men of old, here is a Christmas gift of frankincense and myrrh. Get your own gold!)
Q: My wife and I have been avid readers of the Sunday LI Newsday for years, and always look forward to reading your and dearly departed Father Tom's stories. I needed to voice my opinion on the continuous God winks. We find it interesting to read the many stories people have sent you about their loved ones who have passed and the earthly experiences they have received. That said, can you please start moving forward on the many other subjects you and your readers have spoken about that may relate to people in their lives? Don't mean to be passive-aggressive just needed to express our thoughts. Keep up the good Godly work! — From D&D
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A: I agree with you, and I do not believe that you were being passive-aggressive at all — just aggressive. Just kidding. This holiday season and the new year seem to me to be a good time to close the God winks file (for a bit) and return to the other interfaith questions that have always inspired and informed this column.
Tommy and I both felt that the big questions of life were not sectarian but universal. So, let us turn to the well of wisdom we inherit from our ancient religious traditions and explore together where we stand. So, please send to me, dear readers, your biggest questions about our life here on planet Earth, and I will share with you our inherited wisdom as I see it.
Thanks again for all the God winks, and we will certainly return to them at some time in the future after we have answered all the big questions about the meaning of life.
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Send all questions and comments to The God Squad via email at godsquadquestion@aol.com. Rabbi Gellman is the author of several books, including “Religion for Dummies,” co-written with Father Tom Hartman. Also, the new God Squad podcast is now available.
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35 people died in the attack in the city in the southern province of Guangdong last month
The driver behind the car attack in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai, which killed 35 people in November, has been sentenced to death, state media said on Friday.
More to follow…

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