A video posted by IBookStarsEnt.Bookings LLCπ⭐️π« (@ibookstarsent.bookings) on
Bitcoin's price fell quite sharply over the weekend, following the publication of Mr Hearn's blog.
One bitcoin is now worth $380 (£265), down from about $430 on Thursday.
However, the price of Bitcoin is notoriously volatile.
It has been classed as the best performing currency in the world in 2015.
But authors of that analysis, The Money Project, also noted it was the worst performing currency the previous year.
Besides price, Bitcoin has also suffered from a litany of cases in which bitcoins have been stolen from online exchanges in which they were stored, in some cases due to negligence or poor security.
Such incidents generally result in a complete loss of funds for the victims, since it is very difficult to trace where stolen bitcoins have been transferred.
Meanwhile, the currency continues to grow - a sign of good things to come, say many.
A video posted by IBookStarsEnt.Bookings LLCπ⭐️π« (@ibookstarsent.bookings) on
Bitcoin's price fell quite sharply over the weekend, following the publication of Mr Hearn's blog.
One bitcoin is now worth $380 (£265), down from about $430 on Thursday.
However, the price of Bitcoin is notoriously volatile.
It has been classed as the best performing currency in the world in 2015.
But authors of that analysis, The Money Project, also noted it was the worst performing currency the previous year.
Besides price, Bitcoin has also suffered from a litany of cases in which bitcoins have been stolen from online exchanges in which they were stored, in some cases due to negligence or poor security.
Such incidents generally result in a complete loss of funds for the victims, since it is very difficult to trace where stolen bitcoins have been transferred.
Meanwhile, the currency continues to grow - a sign of good things to come, say many.
Bitcoin's price fell quite sharply over the weekend, following the publication of Mr Hearn's blog.
One bitcoin is now worth $380 (£265), down from about $430 on Thursday.
However, the price of Bitcoin is notoriously volatile.
It has been classed as the best performing currency in the world in 2015.
But authors of that analysis, The Money Project, also noted it was the worst performing currency the previous year.
Besides price, Bitcoin has also suffered from a litany of cases in which bitcoins have been stolen from online exchanges in which they were stored, in some cases due to negligence or poor security.
Such incidents generally result in a complete loss of funds for the victims, since it is very difficult to trace where stolen bitcoins have been transferred.
Meanwhile, the currency continues to grow - a sign of good things to come, say many.
A video posted by IBookStarsEnt.Bookings LLCπ⭐️π« (@ibookstarsent.bookings) on
Bitcoin's price fell quite sharply over the weekend, following the publication of Mr Hearn's blog.
One bitcoin is now worth $380 (£265), down from about $430 on Thursday.
However, the price of Bitcoin is notoriously volatile.
It has been classed as the best performing currency in the world in 2015.
But authors of that analysis, The Money Project, also noted it was the worst performing currency the previous year.
Besides price, Bitcoin has also suffered from a litany of cases in which bitcoins have been stolen from online exchanges in which they were stored, in some cases due to negligence or poor security.
Such incidents generally result in a complete loss of funds for the victims, since it is very difficult to trace where stolen bitcoins have been transferred.
Meanwhile, the currency continues to grow - a sign of good things to come, say many.
A video posted by IBookStarsEnt.Bookings LLCπ⭐️π« (@ibookstarsent.bookings) on
Bitcoin's price fell quite sharply over the weekend, following the publication of Mr Hearn's blog.
One bitcoin is now worth $380 (£265), down from about $430 on Thursday.
However, the price of Bitcoin is notoriously volatile.
It has been classed as the best performing currency in the world in 2015.
But authors of that analysis, The Money Project, also noted it was the worst performing currency the previous year.
Besides price, Bitcoin has also suffered from a litany of cases in which bitcoins have been stolen from online exchanges in which they were stored, in some cases due to negligence or poor security.
Such incidents generally result in a complete loss of funds for the victims, since it is very difficult to trace where stolen bitcoins have been transferred.
Meanwhile, the currency continues to grow - a sign of good things to come, say many.
Mr Hearn, who had until recently been working on new software for the currency, says he has now sold all of his own bitcoins and will no longer take part in the crypto-currency's development.
So, is Bitcoin doomed?
What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is a crypto-currency - a system of digitally created and traded tokens to which value is assigned.
Computers have to solve cryptographic problems in order to add blocks to the blockchain - a ledger that records every transaction that has ever occurred with Bitcoin.
In return, those computers receive bitcoins in a process known as bitcoin "mining".
Users have a "bitcoin address", to which bitcoins may be sent or from which they may be used.
Addresses are stored online in wallets that function like bank accounts.
Although most people refer to Bitcoin as a currency, it is worth noting that for regulatory reasons many countries - including the United States - have decided to define it as a commodity instead.
What are the problems?
The biggest issue most bitcoin users acknowledge is how quickly new transactions can be processed.
As a result, the rate at which transactions can be processed has been slowing.
Indeed, some transactions face significant delays, hampering payments.
Some fear the network will eventually become oversaturated and cease to be usable.
Who is Mike Hearn?
Mike Hearn is a software developer who has worked on Bitcoin technologies for over five years.
In 2014, he left his job at Google to focus on Bitcoin full time.
He has worked closely with Bitcoin chief scientist Gavin Andresen on alternative software for Bitcoin called Bitcoin XT, which aims to address capacity issues facing the network.
Mr Andresen is generally thought of as next in the chain of influence over the currency's development after Bitcoin's mysterious founder, Satoshi Nakamoto.
How might the capacity of the network be increased?
Currently, each block can be no more than 1MB.
But in May last year, Mr Andresen said bigger ones should be adopted.
He later wrote, "It is more likely people [will] just stop using Bitcoin because transaction confirmation becomes increasingly unreliable."
The Bitcoin XT version developed by Mr Hearn, Mr Andresen and others offers to increase the block size limit to 8MB
There are alternatives, however.
Nic Cary, co-founder of Bitcoin start-up Blockchain, points to BitcoinClassic, which would increase the block size limit to 2MB.
Why is there a dispute over this?
Bitcoin's history as a "decentralised" currency has led to much hesitation over decisions that might change its fundamental nature.
Any proposal relating to Bitcoin is likely to encourage fierce debate and, in some cases, stagnation.
Some have argued vehemently against Bitcoin XT, causing a deep divide in the community. The New York Times has reported that death threats had even been made against some Bitcoin developers.
Mr Cary says the need to update the block size limit is not as urgent as some say.
"This is a matter of perspective," he told the BBC.
"The Bitcoin network has been updated safely dozens of times and will continue to be the most reliable, affordable, and efficient way to send value around the world."
However, there are some who feel that Bitcoin's potential as a currency has already been exhausted.
"I'm sure there are smart people right now working out what the next generation [of Bitcoin] should look like but I have to say I'm not convinced that money or payments is the optimum [use] of the technology," Dave Birch, a director at consultancy firm Consult Hyperion, told the BBC.
Part of the problem was the lack of consensus over what Bitcoin was and how it should be used, he added.
How 'healthy' is Bitcoin?
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage captionIn the past, Bitcoins stored in online exchanges have been lost or stolen - leaving their owners out of pocket
Bitcoin's price fell quite sharply over the weekend, following the publication of Mr Hearn's blog.
One bitcoin is now worth $380 (£265), down from about $430 on Thursday.
However, the price of Bitcoin is notoriously volatile.
It has been classed as the best performing currency in the world in 2015.
But authors of that analysis, The Money Project, also noted it was the worst performing currency the previous year.
Besides price, Bitcoin has also suffered from a litany of cases in which bitcoins have been stolen from online exchanges in which they were stored, in some cases due to negligence or poor security.
Such incidents generally result in a complete loss of funds for the victims, since it is very difficult to trace where stolen bitcoins have been transferred.
Meanwhile, the currency continues to grow - a sign of good things to come, say many.
Fujitsu has (once again) announced an avalanche of new hardware aimed at businesses, including a new hybrid, laptops and desktop PCs.
The 2-in-1 machine is the Fujitsu Arrows Tab R726/M, a 12.5-inch Windows tablet with a detachable magnetic keyboard (pictured above).
With the keyboard attached, it's 14.7mm thick and weighs 1.25kg, and the hybrid's display has a full HD resolution.
The tablet has a kickstand so you can prop it up for showing off your presentations, and it boasts an encrypted SSD for storage and a built-in security chip that manages encryption keyS.
There's also an optional dock and the Tab R726/M can be specified with LTE on board.
Fujitsu has also produced a second tablet with a 13.3-inch display which is dust, water and chemical resistant, and can be configured with a number of different elements including a palm vein sensor for security, and a Clearsure remote data wipe solution.
Multiple LifeBooks
As for the new Windows laptops, both the LifeBook S936/M and LifeBook U745/M have palm vein sensors – these allow you to login to the OS just by holding your palm above the machine. They also have the Clearsure remote data deletion solution
There are five further LifeBook notebooks coming out – the E756/M, E746/M, E736/M, E556/M, E546/M – which boast what Fujitsu calls a "Family Concept" chassis. The idea here is that employees can share accessories such as docking stations or power adapters amongst each other regardless of their exact model.
Finally, the new desktop PC is the Esprimo K556/M, a Windows 10 machine powered by the latest Intel Xeon CPU – the company has also added a new model to its long-life PC range designed to last a decade, namely the Esprimo J529/FA which also has a Xeon processor.
The LifeBook laptops will start to roll out from this month onwards, with the Esprimo desktops due next month, and the Arrows tablet and hybrid coming in March.
The Arrows Tab R726/M hybrid is pitched at 147,300 Japanese Yen, which is around £880 (about $1,250, AU$1,830), with the LifeBook laptops starting from 231,000 Japanese Yen – that's £1,380 (about $1,970, AU$2,860).
Update: The LG G5 release date is being teased for February 21 at MWC and new rumors suggest it may have a removable battery as well as a unibody design.
The LG G4 got a lot right, but with a couple of significant missteps and a few other minor niggles it didn't quite reach the heights of greatness we'd hoped for. But 2016 is another year, and the LG G5 is another chance for LG to deliver the handset we all know it's capable of.
As we saw with the G4, LG won't be drawn into following the norm of metal and glass bodies, happily slapping plastic and leather on its latest flagship handset – but something is going to have to give in the design department, as LG is getting left behind somewhat by Apple, Samsung, HTC and Sony.
Our design allows LG to still stand out from the crowd, while bringing it into the premium tier of design. The South Korean firm isn't afraid to throw in some curve balls here and there, so while the concept is ambitious there's always a chance for LG to surprise.
We've starting to hear more LG G5 rumors, and they're all pretty promising. For one thing we might finally see LG deliver a truly premium flagship, as Naver.comreports that it will sport a full metal body, which would be a nice change from the plastic the company usually uses and the less said about the leather-backed LG G4 the better.
Another rumor suggests that LG will keep the removable battery as well as a metal unibody design with an innovative new design. According to CNET Korea and a source who has seen a prototype device, the LG G5 will have a battery tray much like your SIM does in some flagship phones.
In other news a source with a solid track record has claimed that it will have a Snapdragon 820 processor, which should be a big upgrade on the Snapdragon 808 chip found in the LG G4.
The same source also claims it will have a 20MP camera with a custom Sony 1/2-inch sensor, which should also be an upgrade on the 16MP snapper that the LG G4 has.
Though another rumor suggests it will have a 21MP snapper on the back and a 5MP one on the front, as well as a 5.6-inch 2K screen.
We're bound to start seeing iris scanners in smartphones sooner or later and LG hasn't been afraid to innovate or be the first to do things in the past, so it's possible that the LG G5 will pack this tech, but we're a little sceptical, though that same rumor has popped up again, so you never know.
LG G5 release date
You won't have to wait very long for the LG G5 release date. The company's flagship Android phone is expected to launch two months earlier than its typical annual refresh cycle.
An invite went out to us and other members of the press asking us to "Save the Date" for February 21. The vague email teased the phrased "Play Begins" and the location of Barcelona.
It's not a final confirmation that the LG G5 is coming to MWC 2016, but the move would make sense. Samsung Galaxy S6 and HTC One M9 were announced there last year and got a two-month headstart on the LG G4.
It looks as if LG isn't allowing the Samsung Galaxy S7 and HTC One M10 to do the same all over again, so we may have our first look at the LG G5 one month from now.
One of the biggest manufacturers in China, Xiaomi has entered the notebook market with a model, which seems to be much better value for money than most other models from other market rivals.
Yet unnamed model started with pre-orders sales in the Chinese market through Banggood site, and it sells for about 720 dollars.
Physically, this model looks very similar to Apple's MacBook Air, and offers full aluminum body and screen size of 15.6 inches, but that enables full HD quality.
Other specifications of the new model of this laptop resemble the MacBook Pro, while its appearance is close to the MacBook Air. The processor of this model is the Intel Core i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM and NVIDIA GeForce 760M GPU.
The internal memory of this laptop is said to be up to 128GB SSD, and it will be based on Linux
Shares of US tech giant Intel plunged about 5% in extended trading after its data centre revenue in the fourth quarter failed to impress investors.
Revenue for the business was $4.3bn (£3bn) in the fourth quarter, missing forecasts of $4.4bn. Revenue grew just 4% from the pervious quarter, compared with 8% growth in the third quarter.
Intel is the world's biggest chipmaker.
It has been looking for growth in the data centre unit to offset the slump in demand for chips used in computers.
Revenue in its personal computer (PC) business fell by 1% to $8.7bn from a year ago.
Earlier this week, market research firm IDC had announced that global demand for PC shipments fell by a record amount in the fourth quarter of last year.
Meanwhile, Intel's strong profit growth of $3.6bn in the three months to 26 December, which beat expectations, did little to ease concerns about weakness in the PC market. The unit is still the company's main business.
Its shares were down 4.7% in New York in after-hours trading.
MUNFORD, Tenn. -- An eye-popping and unprecedented Powerball jackpotwhose rise to $1.6 billion became a national fascination will be split three ways.
The winners' identities remain a mystery, but they bought their tickets in Florida, Tennessee and a Los Angeles suburb where even lottery losers were celebrating Thursday that such heady riches were won in their modest city.
The winners of the world-record jackpot overcame odds of 1 in 292.2 million to land on the numbers drawn Wednesday night, 4-8-19-27-34 and Powerball 10. They can take the winnings in annual payments spread over decades or a smaller amount in a lump sum.
The California ticket was sold at a 7-Eleven in Chino Hills, California, lottery spokesman Alex Traverso said. The winning Florida ticket was sold at a Publix grocery store in Melbourne Beach. The winning ticket in Tennessee was sold in Munford, north of Memphis, according to a statement from lottery officials in that state.
Three Munford stores offer Powerball tickets, but it wasn't clear Thursday morning which retailer had sold the winning ticket and would get a $25,000 check. Tennessee lottery officials said they were headed to the winning store to make a presentation.
A significant media presence hit the small city - population just under 5,000 - as TV trucks from Memphis parked at the three stores. At a McDonald's, local residents chatted about the ticket over coffee and biscuits, theorizing where it was purchased and what they would have done with the money.
Auto body shop worker Jerry Caudle said he was "freaking out" when he heard a winning ticket was sold in his town, but it turned out he matched only two numbers, for a prize of $14. He left the Munford Short Stop gas station and convenience store with a smile, but said the jackpot would have helped him - the auto body business wasn't good in 2015.
"It's been tough," he said. "The hardest winter for me here in 17 years."
The California store and its surrounding strip mall immediately became a popular gathering spot in the usually quiet suburb of 75,000 people. Hundreds of people, from news crews to gawkers, crowded the store and spilled into its parking lot.
They cheered and mugged for TV cameras as if it were New Year's Eve or a sporting event. Many chanted, "Chino Hills! Chino Hills!" in celebration of the city.
"It's history. We're all so excited for our city," Rita Talwar, 52, who has lived in Chino Hills for 30 years, told the local newspaper, the San Bernardino Sun.
Some took selfies with the store clerk on duty, who became an instant celebrity and may well have been the man who sold the ticket after being on duty for much of the run-up to Wednesday night's drawing.
"I'm very proud that the ticket was sold here," the clerk, M. Faroqui, told the Sun. "I'm very happy. This is very exciting."
7-Eleven store clerk M. Faroqui celebrates after learning a winning Powerball ticket was sold where he works in Chino Hills, California, on Jan. 13, 2016.
REUTERS
The store owner, Balbir Atwal, told CBS News correspondent Mireya Villarreal he couldn't believe that his store sold one of the winning tickets.
"I was watching TV, my store show up," Faroqui told Villarreal. "I said, 'Hey! That's my store.'"
Atwal was awarded $1 million by the California State Lottery on Thursday.
Atwal is an Indian man who came to the United States in 1981. He previously worked as a salesman for an electronics company and decided he wanted to start his own business. So at age 27, he bought his first 7-Eleven. He now owns four stores. The one in Chino Hills, where the winning ticket was sold, was the third franchise he purchased and he has owned it for 24 years.
The other winning jackpot tickets were sold in Florida and Tennessee.
Chino Hills has 78,000 residents and Mayor Art Bennett describes the city as a rural-style suburb where cows can be seen grazing on hillsides. He says it would be hard to find anything else that has generated this much public interest in the city.
No details were immediately available about the Florida winner.
The estimated jackpot amounts had risen steadily since Nov. 4, when it was reset at $40 million. Texas Lottery executive director Gary Grief has said this Powerball offered "absolutely" the world's biggest jackpot.
Not that there aren't large jackpots elsewhere. Spain's massively popular Christmas lottery, known as "El Gordo," is ranked as the world's richest, though it doles out a single jackpot among millions of prizes, instead of one large jackpot like the Powerball. El Gordo last month showered 2.2 billion euros ($2.4 billion) across the country.
Powerball tickets are sold in 44 states, as well as the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
But residents in the six states that don't participate found ways to get their hands on tickets. Some of the biggest Powerball sales have come from cities bordering states that don't sell the tickets, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association. The association oversees the Powerball Lottery, but management rotates annually among member states.
"The Revenant," about a frontiersman's bitter struggle to survive in the wilderness, leads this year's Academy Award race with 12 nominations, including Best Picture. The film also earned Oscar nominations for star Leonardo diCaprio as Best Actor, Tom Hardy as Best Supporting Actor, and Alejandro G. Inarritu as Best Director.
Other films nominated for Best Picture were "The Big Short," a comic take on the 2008 Wall Street crisis; "Bridge of Spies," the true-life story of the Cold War trade for captured U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers; "Brooklyn," a period romance about an Irish immigrant who finds love in the New World; and "Mad Max: Fury Road," a journey through the post-apocalyptic wastelands
Also: "The Martian," about the race to rescue an astronaut stranded on Mars; "Room," about a young woman and her child held captive in a backyard shed by a sexual predator; and "Spotlight," about a Boston newspaper's probe into the Catholic Church's coverup of priests who preyed on children.
Joining Inarritu among the Best Director nominees are Adam McKay, "The Big Short"; George Miller, "Mad Max: Fury Road"; Lenny Abrahamson, "Room"; and Tom McCarthy, "Spotlight." (Absent was DGA nominee Ridley Scott for "The Martian.")
Best Actor
In addition to DiCaprio (who'd previously received four acting nominations), the Best Actor nominees were Bryan Cranston as Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, blacklisted during the '50s Red Scare, in "Trumbo"; Matt Damon as an astronaut stranded on the Red Planet in "The Martian"; Michael Fassbender as the founder of Apple in "Steve Jobs"; and Eddie Redmayne (last year's winner for "The Theory of Everything") as an artist who undergoes gender reassignment surgery in "The Danish Girl."
Damon, who won a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for "Good Will Hunting," has received two acting nominations, while Fassbender was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for "12 Years a Slave." It's the first nomination for Cranston.
Best Actress
The nominees for Best Actress are Cate Blanchett as a married woman who begins a lesbian affair in "Carol"; Brie Larson as a kidnap victim raising her child in captivity in "Room"; Jennifer Lawrence as an entrepreneur in "Joy"; Charlotte Rampling as an elderly woman shaken by revelations from her husband's past in "45 Years"; and Saoirse Ronan as an immigrant who finds romance on both sides of the Atlantic in "Brooklyn."
Blanchett has won two Academy Awards (for "The Aviator" and "Blue Jasmine"), and been nominated four other times. Lawrence won Best Actress for "Silver Linings Playbook," and has two other nominations, while Ronan received a nomination for "Atonement."
It's a first nomination for Larson and Rampling.
The Best Actor Nominees (from top left): Bryan Cranston, "Trumbo"; Matt Damon, "The Martian"; Leonardo diCaprio, "The Revenant"; Michael Fassbender, "Steve Jobs"; and Eddie Redmayne, "The Danish Girl." Best Actress nominees (from bottom left): Cate Blanchett, "Carol"; Brie Larson, "Room"; Jennifer Lawrence, "Joy"; Charlotte Rampling, "45 Years"; and Saoirse Ronan, "Brooklyn."
CBS NEWS
Best Supporting Actor
Sylvester Stallone, who was first nominated for playing Rock Balboa in the original 1976 "Rocky," is nominated for his character again as Best Supporting Actor, training a new generation of fighter, in "Creed." Joining him are Christian Bale, as an investor who predicts the collapse of the housing market, in "The Big Short"; Tom Hardy as a trapper who leaves a fellow frontiersman to die in the wilderness in "The Revenant"; Mark Ruffalo as an investigative reporter in "Spotlight"; and Mark Rylance as a Soviet agent in "Bridge of Spies.
Bale won Best Supporting Actor for "The Fighter," and was nominated for "American Hustle." Ruffalo has two previous Best Supporting Actor nominations (for "The Kids Are All Right" and "Foxcatcher"). It's the first nomination for Hardy and Rylance.
Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Jason Leigh as a killer being transported to the hangman in "The Hateful Eight, received her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight," as did Alicia Vikander, as the wife of an artist who undergoes gender reassignment surgery, in "The Danish Girl, and Rachel McAdams as an investigative reporter in "Spotlight." Also nominated: Rooney Mara as a young girl who has an affair with an older, married woman in "Carol"; and Kate Winslet as a marketing executive in "Steve Jobs."
For Best Supporting Actor (from top left): Christian Bale, "The Big Short"; Tom Hardy, "The Revenant"; Mark Ruffalo, "Spotlight"; Mark Rylance, "Bridge of Spies"; and Sylvester Stallone, "Creed." Best Supporting Actress nominees (from bottom left): Jennifer Jason Leigh, "The Hateful Eight"; Rooney Mara, "Carol"; Rachel McAdams, "Spotlight"; Alicia Vikander, "The Danish Girl"; and Kate Winslet, "Steve Jobs." everthinkheree news
