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Should You Donate Your Points and Miles to Charity?Say cheese: Vancouver cheese shop increasing security over rise in theft
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If you’re sitting on a pile of travel or credit card rewards with no immediate travel plans, donating them to a charity is an easy way to have a positive impact. And it's a popular way to give: In 2021, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan members donated around 94 million miles to charities at an approximate cash value of $2.6 million, according to the airline. Beyond the social benefits, miles donations also qualify as activity on your loyalty account and can prevent the rest of your rewards from expiring . But if you’re in the habit of maximizing points and miles, you might also want to stretch the value of your charitable donations as far as possible. And by that measure, some methods of donating points and miles fall short. Here’s what to consider before donating your miles and points . Many loyalty programs make it easy to redeem your points and miles for a donation directly through their rewards portals. But some portals — especially those from airline and hotel programs — don’t publish the cash value a charity will receive for your miles or points. That means the charity may receive less value for your donation than you’d think, while also making it hard to compare the value of a donation with the value of other options for redeeming your points. Best Western Rewards is one of the few loyalty programs that publishes a cash value for charitable points donations. The charity will receive $2 for every 500 points you donate, for a point a value of 0.4 cent each. NerdWallet values Best Western points at 0.6 cent apiece, so you would receive 33% less value for your donation relative to using them for a hotel stay. Generally, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) doesn’t count points and miles as a source of income, so if you donate them, you can't deduct the cash value of your gift. This lack of favorable tax treatment for the consumer combined with the uncertain value you’ll often receive for miles and points donations should have you at least consider other avenues for your philanthropic endeavors. Keep in mind that this drawback only matters for taxpayers who itemize deductions on their income tax returns. If you're like most people and take the standard deduction instead of itemizing, you wouldn't be able to get a charitable tax deduction from any donation. Some rewards programs have a minimum donation amount for select charities. For example, you’d have to donate at least 2,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points for a donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. That minimum amount makes it tougher to donate points that may be collecting dust in your loyalty account. To maximize the value of your donation, consider a charity that books travel directly with your miles or points rather than donating directly through your loyalty program's portal. For example, Miles4Migrants uses donated airline miles and credit card points to directly book award travel for refugees and asylum seekers. “Instead of maximizing points and miles to book a dream trip, we do it to help refugees reach safe new beginnings,” said Patrick Stouffer, partnerships manager at Miles4Migrants, in an email. Miles4Migrants has redeemed over 775 million donated miles in pursuit of their mission, with a cash value of over $17 million. That expertise allows them to get more value out of every donation. “Our team has the specialized knowledge necessary to stretch the value of every point or mile, ensuring donations go as far as possible,” Stouffer said. “Even if you aren’t able to reap any tax advantages of donating your points, at least you’ll know they made the largest possible impact.” Direct cash donations help avoid the downsides of donating miles and points. If you have a credit card that earns cash back , or if you earn cash rewards through a shopping portal like TopCashBack or Rakuten , consider cashing out and donating those rewards instead of your miles and points. With a cash donation, you’ll know the exact value a charity will receive from your donation and likely qualify for a potential itemized deduction on your taxes. Some rewards programs make this process simple and transparent. Travel rewards programs sometimes incentivize charitable giving by offering bonus points for your cash donations. For example, American Airlines offers 10 AAdvantage miles for every dollar members contribute to the charity Stand Up To Cancer. That extra incentive can be an individual boon for your charitable donation. Just be aware that any points or miles you receive from such promotions will reduce the tax deductibility of your contribution. American Airlines values those bonus miles you receive through donations at 3 cents each. So if you donate $100 and receive 1,000 AAdvantage miles, American values those miles at $30. You’ll receive a tax form declaring those rewards as $30 in income, giving you a qualifying tax deduction of $70. When you donate cash and receive bonus points, the charity still receives your full donation and you get a slug of points. While you'll have to pay taxes on those points, it can still be a big win for your future travel plans. More From NerdWallet Craig Joseph writes for NerdWallet. Email: cjoseph@nerdwallet.com . The article Should You Donate Your Points and Miles to Charity? originally appeared on NerdWallet.The U.S. Army's Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office, in collaboration with the U.S. Navy Strategic Systems Programs, recently completed a successful end-to-end flight test of a conventional hypersonic missile from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. "This test builds on several flight tests in which the Common Hypersonic Glide Body achieved hypersonic speed at target distances and demonstrates that we can put this capability in the hands of the warfighter," said Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth. This is the second successful end-to-end flight test of the All Up Round (AUR) this year and was the first live-fire event for the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon system using a Battery Operations Center and a Transporter Erector Launcher. "This test marks an important milestone in the development of one of our most advanced weapons systems. As we approach the first delivery of this capability to our Army partners, we will continue to press forward to integrate Conventional Prompt Strike into our Navy surface and subsurface ships to help ensure we remain the world's preeminent fighting force," said Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro. Information gathered from this test will support the first Army Operational Deployment of the common hypersonic AUR, as well as a Navy sea-based fielding. "This test is a demonstration of the successful Navy and Army partnership that has allowed us to develop a transformational hypersonic weapon system that will deliver unmatched capability to meet joint warfighting needs," said Vice Adm. Johnny R. Wolfe Jr, Director, Navy's Strategic Systems Programs, which is the lead designer of the common hypersonic missile. The Services common hypersonic AUR supports the National Defense Strategy and will provide combatant commanders with diverse capabilities to sustain and strengthen integrated deterrence and to build enduring advantages for the Joint Force. Hypersonic systems – capable of flying at speeds greater than five times the speed of sound (Mach 5) –provide a combination of speed, range, maneuverability, and altitude that enables highly survivable and rapid defeat of time-critical and heavily-defended targets. "The responsiveness, maneuverability and survivability of hypersonic weapons is unmatched by traditional strike capabilities for precision targeting, especially in anti-access/area denial environments," said Lt. Gen. Robert A. Rasch, Director of Hypersonics, Directed Energy, Space and Rapid Acquisitions for RCCTO. The U.S. Army RCCTO and U.S. Navy SSP programs are partnered to rapidly field land and sea variants of a hypersonic weapon system that will meet critical joint warfighting needs. The use of a common hypersonic missile and joint test opportunities allow the Services to pursue a more aggressive timeline for delivery and realize cost savings. The collaboration between RCCTO and SSP enables the Services to stay ahead of emerging threats and maintain a decisive advantage on the battlefield.Anna Samson is about to achieve household name status in the UK after making her debut as DI Mackenzie Clarke in the new Death in Paradise spin-off, Return to Paradise . The Australian-set series sees the detective move back home Down Under after being accused of tampering with evidence while working for London's Met Police. Upon her return to Dolphin Cove, where she joins the local police, she's met with a frosty reception having left her fiancée Glenn at the altar six years before. As we prepare to get stuck into the new drama, find out all you need to know about leading lady Anna, 34, including her romance with her Home and Away co-star and her upbringing in Africa... Anna's upbringing and close-knit family While Anna was born in the UK, she spent her early years in Nigeria, where she attended pre-school, before later relocating to Sydney. Speaking about her childhood in West Africa, Anna told You magazine: "To have a concept of the scale of our world and how differently humans live in it while essentially being the same – at such a young age, it's a real gift ." The actress shares a close relationship with her parents, who she praised as "extraordinarily kind" in a touching tribute to celebrate their birthdays back in 2022. Alongside a throwback photo of her mum and dad from 1987, Anna penned: "Over the next two days these two people have their birthdays. They are extraordinarily kind and wildly brave. Their love for each other is something that never ceases to bolster me. They have given me the most brilliant life. "Lucky lucky me," she added. Anna's breakout role and acting career Anna's passion for drama began at a young age, having expressed her hopes of becoming an acting at just four years old. "I was about four years old when I confronted my parents with my plans to be on the stage," she previously told Toasting Aussie Theatre : "Like many children, play and performance had a wonderfully natural relationship for me. Looking back I can see there was a frustrated actress burning in my Nan. She was a great comedienne and she could command your attention and change the energy of a room remarkably." Anna began her acting career on the stage and after graduating from the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) in 2010, appeared in productions at the Red Stitch Actors Theatre and with the Melbourne Theatre Company, including Ruben Guthrie and The Heretic. She made her TV debut in the 2012 Australian miniseries Conspiracy 365, which was followed by a string of supporting roles in drama shows, including Winners & Losers, and Hunters. Anna's big break came in 2017 when she landed the role of Mich Jaffries in the miniseries, Wake in Fright , before going on to play Anna Jamison in Dead Lucky. Her most notable part, however, is playing Mia Anderson in the long-running soap, Home and Away – a role she held for two years. Earlier this year, Anna was announced as the leading lady of Death in Paradise's spin-off, Return to Paradise . Sharing the exciting news on social media at the time, Anna penned: "I couldn’t be more thrilled to be following in the footsteps of the maverick detectives of Saint Marie @deathinparadiseofficial. "We loved making this Aussie whodunnit, we hope you love mystery in the bloody sunshine as much as us," she added. Anna's love life Anna likes to keep her life love out of the spotlight and so her current relationship status is unknown. However, she was previously linked to her Home and Away co-star Lee Jones, who has appeared in several photos on her Instagram page over the years. Back in 2017, Anna shared a snap of the pair during a red carpet outing and penned in the caption: "Getting around town with my on-screen brother and off-screen partner in crime @actsofjones. " Anna and Lee played on-screen siblings Mick and Joe Jaffries in Wake in Fright, before both appearing in Home and Away . While Anna portrayed Mia Anderson from 2021 to 2022, Lee landed the role of Ambulance Officer Luke in an episode that aired in 2021.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Ethics Committee on Monday accused Matt Gaetz of “regularly” paying for sex, including with a 17-year-old girl, and purchasing and using illicit drugs as a member of Congress, as lawmakers released the conclusions of a nearly four-year investigation that helped sink his nomination for attorney general. The 37-page report by the bipartisan panel includes explicit details of sex-filled parties and vacations that Gaetz, now 42, took part in from 2017 to 2020 while representing Florida's western panhandle. Congressional investigators concluded that Gaetz violated multiple state laws related to sexual misconduct while in office, though not federal sex trafficking laws. They also found that Gaetz “knowingly and willfully sought to impede and obstruct” the committee's work. “The Committee determined there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress,” the report states. Ahead of the report’s release Gaetz denied any wrongdoing and criticized the committee's process. “Giving funds to someone you are dating — that they didn’t ask for — and that isn’t ‘charged’ for sex is now prostitution?!?” he posted on X, the website formerly known as Twitter. “There is a reason they did this to me in a Christmas Eve-Eve report and not in a courtroom of any kind where I could present evidence and challenge witnesses.” Gaetz, a Republican first elected in 2017, spent the majority of his time in Washington enmeshed in scandals that ultimately derailed his nomination by President-elect Donald Trump as attorney general. His political future is uncertain, although Gaetz has indicated he would be interested in running for the open Senate seat in Florida. Lawmakers paint a damning portrait of Gaetz's conduct, using dozens of pages of exhibits, including text messages and financial records, travel receipts, checks and online payments, to document a party- and drug-fueled lifestyle. The committee said it compiled the evidence after issuing 29 subpoenas for documents and testimony and contacting more than two dozen witnesses. In addition to soliciting prostitution, the Ethics Committee report states that Gaetz “accepted gifts, including transportation and lodging in connection with a 2018 trip to the Bahamas, in excess of permissible amounts.” That same year, investigators say Gaetz arranged for his chief of staff to obtain a passport for a woman he was sexually involved with, falsely telling the State Department that she was his constituent. In some of the text exchanges, Gaetz appears to be inviting various women to events, getaways or parties, and arranging airplane travel and lodging. At one point he asks one woman if she has a “cute black dress” to wear. There are also discussions of shipping goods. One of the exhibits is a text exchange that appears to be between two of the women concerned about their cash flow and payments. In another, a person asks Gaetz for help to pay an educational expense. Regarding the 17-year-old girl, the report states there’s no evidence that Gaetz knew she was a minor when he had sex with her, the committee said. The woman told the committee she didn’t tell Gaetz she was under 18 at the time and that he didn’t know how old she was. Rather, the committee said Gaetz learned she was a minor more than a month after the party. But he stayed in touch with her after that and met up with her for “commercial sex” again less than six months after she turned 18, according to the committee. But Florida law, which states it is a felony for a person 24 or older to have sex with a minor, does not allow a claim of ignorance or misrepresentation of a minor's age as a defense. Joel Leppard, who represents two women who told the committee that Gaetz paid them for sex, said the findings “vindicate” the accounts of his clients and “demonstrate their credibility.” “We appreciate the Committee’s commitment to transparency in releasing this comprehensive report so the truth can be known,” Leppard said in a statement. At least one Republican joined all five Democrats on the Ethics Committee earlier this month in voting to release the report about their former colleague despite initial opposition from GOP lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, to publishing findings about a former member of Congress. While ethics reports have previously been released after a member’s resignation, it is extremely rare. On behalf of the Republicans who voted against releasing the report, Rep. Michael Guest of Mississippi, Ethics chairman, wrote that while the members do not challenge the report's findings, “we take great exception that the majority deviated from the Committee’s well-established standards,” to drop any investigation when a person is not longer a member of the chamber. “We believe that operating outside the jurisdictional bounds set forth by House Rules and Committee standards, especially when making public disclosures, is a dangerous departure with potentially catastrophic consequences,” Guest wrote. Mounting a last-ditch effort to halt the publication of the report, Gaetz filed a lawsuit Monday asking a court to intervene, citing what he called “untruthful and defamatory information” that would “significantly damage” his “standing and reputation in the community.” Gaetz’s complaint argues he’s no longer under the committee’s jurisdiction since he resigned from Congress. “The Committee’s position that it may nonetheless publish potentially defamatory findings about a private citizen over whom it claims no jurisdiction represents an unprecedented expansion of Congressional power that threatens fundamental constitutional rights and established procedural protections,” Gaetz’s lawyers wrote in their request for a temporary restraining order. The often secretive, bipartisan panel has investigated claims against Gaetz since 2021. But its work became more urgent last month when Trump picked him shortly after Election Day as his first choice to be the nation's top law enforcement officer. Gaetz resigned from Congress that same day, putting him outside the purview of the Ethics Committee's jurisdiction. But Democrats had pressed to make the report public even after Gaetz was no longer a member and had withdrawn as Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department. A vote on the House floor this month to force the report’s release failed; all but one Republican voted against it. The committee detailed its start-and-stop investigation over the past several years, which was halted for a time as the Justice Department conducted its own probe of Gaetz. Federal prosecutors never brought a case against him. Lawmakers said they asked the Justice Department for information about its probe, but the agency refused to hand over information, saying it doesn’t disclose information about investigations that don’t result in charges. The committee then subpoenaed the Justice Department for records, but after a back-and-forth between Justice Department officials and the committee, the department only handed over “publicly reported information about the testimony of a deceased individual,” according to the report. “To date, DOJ has provided no meaningful evidence or information to the Committee or cited any lawful basis for its responses,” the committee said. In releasing the report, the panel added that Gaetz was also “uncooperative" throughout the probe. He provided “minimal documentation” in response to the committee’s requests, it said. “He also did not agree to a voluntary interview.” ___ Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.WASHINGTON , Nov. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- National Sleep Foundation (NSF) today announced the selection of Susan Redline , MD, MPH, as the next Editor-in-Chief for its award-winning journal Sleep Health. Dr. Redline is Peter C. Farrell Professor of Sleep Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Redline will succeed Orfeu M. Buxton, PhD, Elizabeth Fenton Susman Professor of Biobehavioral Health and Director of the Sleep, Health & Society Collaboratory at Pennsylvania State University . Dr. Redline's contributions to the field of population sleep health are numerous and closely align to NSF's public focus and mission. Dr. Redline's research focuses on the role of genetics, early life developmental factors, and environmental exposures on sleep health. Additionally, Redline studies how social and environmental factors shape sleep health disparities, which, in turn, drive chronic health disparities; and the role of sleep interventions in improving health, including cardiovascular, metabolic, and cognitive disorders. "I am honored to be named the next Editor-in-Chief of Sleep Health ," said Redline. "I look forward to continuing the Journal's track record of publishing and promoting multi-disciplinary research to improve the public's sleep health." "NSF is deeply grateful to Dr. Buxton for his commitment and thanks him for his dedication to the Journal and its editorial community these past five years. Under his stewardship, the Journal has published landmark articles that have grown the body of evidence to advance sleep health," said John Lopos , NSF CEO. "NSF welcomes Dr. Redline to the helm of Sleep Health . As a distinguished leader in the sleep health research community with a passion for understanding and eradicating sleep health disparities, Dr. Redline will be an excellent Editor-in-Chief for our Journal," added Lopos. Current and second Editor-in-Chief, Orfeu Buxton added, " Sleep Health has enjoyed steady growth in submissions and quality for a decade. I have every confidence in Dr. Redline's leadership, judgement, and expertise as Sleep Health continues to grow in impact." A recipient of the Best New Journal/SMT Award from the Association of American Publishers, Sleep Health has a 2023 5-Year Impact Factor of 4.4 and is ranked in the 76 th percentile of behavioral neuroscience journals. Sleep Health is published by Elsevier, the leader in medical and scientific scholarly publishing. For more information about Sleep Health , visit sleephealthjournal.org . About the National Sleep Foundation The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health and well-being through sleep education and advocacy. Founded in 1990, the NSF is committed to advancing excellence in sleep health theory, research and practice. theNSF.org │ SleepHealthJournal.org View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/susan-redline-md-mph-selected-as-editor-in-chief-of-sleep-health-journal-of-the-national-sleep-foundation-302314516.html SOURCE National Sleep FoundationAP Business SummaryBrief at 1:26 p.m. EST
1 2 3 Sambalpur: Forests are the backbone of Odisha's economy and play a vital role in maintaining ecological balance, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said at the Odisha Non-Gazetted Forest Service Association's conference. He added, "Odisha is second in the country when it comes to forest coverage and Sambalpur is one of the districts with the largest forest cover. Between 2025 and 2070, there is an aim to increase the forest cover. Four out 19 sanctuaries in the state are in Sambalpur. Hence, there should be efforts made for sustainable development of all the jungle products, livelihoods, wildlife and economy in coordination." He urged for the development of ponds, forest land rights and PESA law's right to implementation. "There should be a continuous effort from the govt to reduce the human-animal conflict , besides the use of advanced technology for the development and conservation of forests," he added. "We took an oath to bring carbon emissions to net zero by 2070 as per the direction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Following Mission LiFE, PM's ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' movement was launched," he said. Regarding the inclusion of forests in school curriculum, the minister said, "State govt has decided to implement the National Education Policy. There will be a new syllabus as per the policy, which will include forest-centric culture and history of forest conservation movements." "Development does mean developing just the capital city, development should reach every region in the state," Pradhan said. Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India . Don't miss daily games like Crossword , Sudoku , and Mini Crossword .
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Seattle-based has launched a Customer Data Cloud – an AI-powered setup designed to help users transform raw customer data in a data warehouse into actionable business assets through its Lakehouse architecture. It enables them to standardize data, resolve identities, build profiles, and provide access to save time and build more accurate data models. It features: AI-Powered Identity Resolution – Easy-to-configure, ML-powered identity resolution that quickly finds hidden connections in online and offline customer data; Industry-Specific Data Modeling – Turnkey data models and lifecycle management predictions that accelerate the creation of a 360-degree customer view; Self-Service Data Access – Business-friendly reverse ETL tools and GenAI capabilities that enable non-technical users to explore and segment data independently, reducing ongoing data requests; Intelligent Change Management – End-to-end workflow testing in a full production sandbox that has GenAI built-in to help users resolve errors using natural language. There are real-time tables, a bridge for Snowflake in real time through Snowflake Secure Data Sharing, eliminating the need for ETL maintenance and complex integrations. A zero-copy data access capability allows AWS users to leverage their existing storage infrastructure to house their customer profiles and data assets. .... re:Invent news roundup part 2 Amazon Nova – a new generation of foundation models (FMs) that have state-of-the-art intelligence across a wide range of tasks, and industry-leading price performance. Amazon Nova will be available on Amazon Bedrock. Trainium 2 instances – AWS announced GA of Trainium2-powered EC2 instances, introduced new Trn2 UltraServers, enabling customers to train and deploy today’s latest AI models as well as future large language models (LLM) and foundation models (FM) with exceptional levels of performance and cost efficiency, and unveiled next-generation Trainium3 chips. S3 managed Apache Iceberg tables – See story . DynamoDB and Aurora DSQL – AWS announced new capabilities for Aurora and DynamoDB to support customers’ most demanding workloads that need to operate across multiple Regions with strong consistency, low latency, and the highest availability whether they want SQL or NoSQL. SageMaker – AWS announced the next generation of SageMaker, unifying the capabilities customers need for fast SQL analytics, petabyte-scale big data processing, data exploration and integration, model development and training, and GenAI into one integrated platform. Bedrock – AI Safeguard, agent orchestration, and customization options, Bedrock is a fully managed service for building and scaling generative artificial intelligence applications with high-performing foundation models. Q Developer – AWS announced enhancements to Amazon Q Developer, including agents that automate unit testing, documentation, and code reviews to help developers build faster across the entire software development process, and a capability to help users address operational issues in a fraction of the time. Enhancements to Q Business as well. GuardDuty – AWS introduced advanced AI/ML threat detection capabilities in Amazon GuardDuty. This new feature uses the extensive cloud visibility and scale of AWS to provide improved threat detection for your applications, workloads, and data. GuardDuty Extended Threat Detection employs sophisticated AI/ML to identify both known and previously unknown attack sequences, offering a more comprehensive and proactive approach to cloud security. OpenSearch Service zero-ETL integration with Amazon Security Lake – This integration enables organizations to efficiently search, analyze, and gain actionable insights from their security data, streamlining complex data engineering requirements and unlocking the full potential of security data. ... is accelerating file reads with a storage caching server. A shows how users can create an Amazon EC2-based cache that provides 25GB/sec of read throughput for under $4/hour, which can be scaled to almost unlimited throughput. The workload “should have a working data set small enough to fit into the RAM of a single EC2 instance. It’s primarily read-only (read/write caching might be possible, but we’re not covering it here), and it needs to be a filesystem with Linux support, in this example we use NFS. This caching “relies on the Linux OS file cache, which uses spare system RAM to cache file access. Mounting a filesystem via an Amazon EC2 instance will cache any file accessed. No additional software is needed.” Read the blog to find out more. ... Cloud backup and storage provider has a “game-changing media production acceleration case study” with the Philadelphia Eagles. With the team and system integrator CHESA, Backblaze: Game-planned a fast, cloud-based media workflow, including Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage, Mimir asset management software, and a Quantum shared file system to support accelerated content production for increased fan engagement. Traded slow access, failure-prone LTO tape for immediate access to decades of rich content stored in the cloud – no more waiting days or weeks, or missing out completely, when historical footage of a player or play is needed. Scored early team wins, including enabling its media professionals to access and make more footage in the critical 48 hours after each game so they can then shift attention to the next game, and saving time and hassle by making content sharing with outside vendors and other organizations far more efficient. ... DNA storage startup has raised $18 million in Series A funding, led by Crédit Mutuel Innovation, with participation from various French investment organizations. Biomemory has demonstrated the viability and potential of its molecular storage technology. The funding will enable the biz to complete the development of the first generation of its data storage appliance, accelerate the development of partnerships with industry players and cloud providers, recruit top talent in molecular biology and engineering to accelerate the development of the product and its commercialization, and advance research into broader molecular-based solutions. ... Live data replicator has launched Data Migrator 3.0, with production-ready support for Apache Iceberg, expanded capabilities for Databricks Delta Lake, significant enterprise security enhancements, and comprehensive extensibility. CTO Paul Scott-Murphy claimed: “Our production-ready, direct support for open table formats like Apache Iceberg and Delta Lake eliminates the constraints of closed data architectures, even if you have petabytes of data held in formats or locations that previously required lengthy, complex and risky efforts to modernize. Data Migrator 3.0 is a significant advancement for organizations that want to future-proof their data management, analytics and AI strategies.” ... has announced its “Interoperability Ecosystem” with founding members AWS and Snowflake. The ecosystem makes it easier for customers to connect their workloads with Snowflake, Cloudera and now unique AWS services – such as S3, EKS, RDS. EC2 and Athena. Some of the features the collaboration enables include: Seamless Data Sharing and Interoperability – AWS customers can leverage Cloudera’s data lakehouse alongside Snowflake’s AI Data Cloud, facilitating unified data access and sharing across platforms while ensuring compliance and scalability for customers handling sensitive data. Enhanced AI/ML Performance – The partnership optimizes data workflows for AI/ML applications by enabling Cloudera’s on-premises or hybrid data sets running AWS to integrate with Snowflake’s analytics capabilities, reducing latency and improving insights. Maximized Cloud Investments and Support for Multi-Cloud Strategies – Customers can leverage Snowflake for targeted analytics while managing broader data operations with Cloudera, maximizing AWS investments by combining their strengths. This collaboration simplifies connecting AWS data with Snowflake, supports multi-cloud strategies, and enhances data mobility without vendor lock-in. Check out a to find out more. ... Michelle Scardino ( on X/Twitter) joined as VP of Demand Generation in September, reporting to CMO Jyothi Swaroop. ... announced general availability of Elasticsearch logsdb index mode, which reduces the storage footprint of log data by up to 65 percent compared to recent versions of Elasticsearch. Logsdb index mode optimizes data ordering, eliminates duplication by reconstructing non-stored field values with synthetic _source, and improves compression with advanced algorithms and codecs. Benefits include reduced costs, preservation of valuable data, expanded visibility and streamlined access to data. Logsdb index mode is generally available for Cloud Hosted and Self-Managed customers starting in version 8.17 and is enabled by default for logs in Elastic Cloud Serverless. ... Data mover announced 40 percent year-on-year growth in the AWS Marketplace, attributed to rising enterprise demand for AI and analytics. It says its Managed Data Lake Service automates structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data into Delta Lake or Apache Iceberg formats as it moves into Amazon S3 data lakes. By automating table maintenance, natively integrating with catalogs including AWS Glue, and covering compute costs associated with ingestion, Fivetran reduces the resources needed to keep data continuously query-ready, enabling teams to prioritize AI and ML projects over manual data preparation. ... announced that its Storage Performance Development Kit (SPDK) project will be transitioning to the Linux Foundation in 2025. It declared “this move aims to ensure the long-term sustainability and growth of SPDK, fostering a vibrant community and driving innovation in storage performance. While Intel will be divesting from the project, we remain committed to supporting the community during this transition.” ... NAND fabber and DRAM producer announced the development of OCTRAM (Oxide-Semiconductor Channel Transistor DRAM) – a new type of 4F DRAM comprised of an oxide-semiconductor transistor that has a high ON current, and an ultra-low OFF current, simultaneously. This technology is expected to realize a low-power DRAM by bringing out the ultra-low leakage property of the InGaZnO*1 transistor. The OCTRAM utilizes a cylinder-shaped InGaZnO vertical transistor as a cell transistor. This was first announced at the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) held in San Francisco, CA on December 9, 2024. InGaZnO is a compound of In(indium), Ga(gallium), Zn(zinc), and O(oxygen). Each memory cell occupies an area of 4F , where F is the minimum feature size achievable with the fabrication process. The design enables the adaptation of a 4F DRAM, which offers significant advantages in memory density compared to the conventional silicon-based 6F DRAM. ... announced that the cryptographic module used in its CM7 Series PCIe 5.0 NVMe Enterprise SSDs has been validated to meet Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-3, Level 2 for cryptographic modules. ... announced its Universal Flash Storage (UFS) Ver. 4.0 embedded flash memory devices designed for automotive applications have received Automotive SPICE(ASPICE) Capacity Level 2 (CL2) certification. Kioxia is the first manufacturer to be awarded this distinction for automotive grade UFS 4.0. ... According to the , was valued at $18 billion when the Bain-led consortium bought it in 2018. Its IPO on the Tokyo Stock Exchange is expected to reflect a $5.1 billion valuation and raise $800 million. When Kioxia previously planned an IPO in 2020 – which did not come to pass – its valuation was $16 million. The valuation fall is ascribed to its net debt following the Bain buyout: $4.9 billion, “equal to around 1.2 times its shareholders’ equity. Western Digital’s ratio is less than 0.5 times and SK hynix’s is under 0.3 times.” The WSJ observes: “The company has been losing market share in particular to SK hynix. Kioxia’s market share in the NAND flash memory market dropped from 17.8 percent in the first quarter in 2023 to 15.1 percent last quarter, according to industry tracker TrendForce.” Kioxia could become an acquisition target, with the NAND industry potentially consolidating. ... , a cloud data storage supplier that developed NVMe over TCP, has joined the Mirantis partner program. Mirantis is a provider of open source-based infrastructure services and systems. The two collaborators aim to move customers from VMware to a Lightbits cloud infrastructure, using OpenStack for Kubernetes, with “dramatically improved performance and cost-efficiency at scale.” Find out more . ... DRAM, NAND and SSD producer has been $6.1 billion in a federal funding agreement through the CHIPS and Science Act – $4.6 billion for New York and $1.5 billion for Idaho. Reuters reports the funding will support Micron’s long-term plan to invest around $100 billion in a 1,400-acre DRAM campus in New York and $25 billion in Idaho, and is one of the largest government awards to chip companies under the $52.7 billion 2022 CHIPS and Science Act. According to Micron the $100 billion New York plant will create 9,000 jobs over 20 years and 36,000 support positions at related suppliers and service companies. Separately, the US Commerce Department has reached a preliminary agreement to award Micron up to $275 million to expand and modernize its facility in Manassas, Virginia to help update its wafer production. ... and Futurum have produced a report titled Cloud, Complexity, AI: The Triple Threat Demanding New Cyber Resilience Strategies. The four main findings are: Cloud Security Risks – Misconfigurations and vulnerabilities in hybrid multi-cloud environments are now among the top threats, outpacing traditional attacks like ransomware. Tool Sprawl Challenges – Seventy percent of respondents use more than 40 cyber security tools, with 84 percent citing operational complexity as a major inhibitor to cyber resiliency, underscoring the need for tool consolidation and integrated solutions to streamline operations. AI in Cybersecurity – Forty percent of organizations are leveraging AI for threat detection, with plans to expand its use for automating response and recovery. Increased Investment – Over 90 pe4rcent of respondents plan to increase cyber security budgets in the next 12 to 18 months, focusing on integrated and proactive solutions. Get a copy of the report . ... HPC storage systems engineer Jake Wynne at Oak Ridge National Labs ( ) has developed a transfer tool to simplify the process of transferring vast amounts of data at speed and ORNL is making it available for public use. It was created to help transfer large quantities of data from the facility’s tape library-based High Performance Storage System, or , to the newly deployed nearline storage system, . Kronos is a 134PB, multi-programmatic nearline storage system that also provides back-end tape-based backups for all data as a disaster-recovery measure. The hsi_xfer transfer tool is named after the hsi command-line interface for the HPSS. The goal was to prevent overloading the tape library’s robotic tape-retrieval mechanisms and provide users with a simpler, more efficient way to access their data. “By batching all requested files from a single tape and streaming them together, the script minimizes robotic movement, reduces tape loading and seek times, and helps extend the lifespan of both the tapes and the hardware,” Wynne explained. The script has demonstrated superior transfer performance compared to other tools, while also offering data-integrity features typically found in tools such as Globus – features that are not available in the standard hsi. Like Globus, the script includes a checkpointing feature that allows users to recover quickly from interrupted transfers, resuming exactly where they left off with minimal overhead. Wynne is currently stewarding the script through ORNL’s open-sourcing process, and he hopes it will soon appear in the repository. ... Wedbush analyst Matt Bryson tells subscribers that, per the Korea Daily, won’t break into Nvidia’s supply chain this year and is hoping to penetrate the largest consumer of HBM next year. And today suggests that Samsung has reassigned 2K engineers to work on this initiative. Assuming DigiTimes is correct, we view this shift of more resource to HBM as confirming that Samsung still has work to do to fix its HBM – a result that should benefit Hynix (and Micron) on the HBM front, but could hurt general DRAM dynamics if Samsung is forced to reallocate HBM capacity to standard DRAM production. ... , which provides superfast software-defined cloud storage, has appointed Ronen Schwartz to its board of directors. “Schwartz, who currently serves as CEO of K2View, brings decades of experience in cloud storage, data management, and enterprise solutions to Silk’s board. Previously, he served as SVP and GM of Cloud Storage at NetApp, where he played a pivotal role in driving cloud adoption and innovation.” ... Sofia, Bulgaria-based primary data storage supplier has received all 4- and 5-Star reviews as part of the Gartner Peer Insights Customers’ Choice 2024 program based on criteria including product capabilities, evaluation and contracting, integration and deployment, and service and support. The 85 percent 5-Star ratings received by StorPool during the past 12 months is among the highest ratings overview achieved among competitive vendors in the Primary Storage Platforms category. One hundred percent of peers evaluating the StorPool Storage Platform as part of Gartner Peer Insights recommend the product. The supplier’s overall ranking was 4.8 out of 5 stars. ... , the Swedish SaaS startup (2017) that provides a central place to store and analyze market research data has appointed Mårten Strömberg VP of Strategy and Analytics to enhance Stravito’s strategic direction and data-driven growth. He previously worked as director of analytics at fintech Zettle by Paypal, and as a strategy consultant at The Boston Consulting Group. Stravito has also appointed Stefan Röse as head of client development. ... Object cloud storage supplier has added ‘s London datacenter to Wasabi’s storage regions. It says Wasabi’s ability to leverage IBM’s Multizone Region (MZR) addresses the need to help joint customers address their evolving regulatory requirements and leverage AI and other emerging technologies with a secured, enterprise cloud platform. IBM Cloud MZRs are composed of three or more datacenter zones, with each being an Availability Zone. Wasabi “aims to help new and existing UK customers utilizing Wasabi AiR, an intelligent media storage solution for the sports, media, and entertainment segment, address their data residency requirements. Wasabi AiR customers such as Liverpool Football Club (LFC) in the Premier League, will be able to access and leverage key sports data securely across a hybrid cloud infrastructure.” ...1 2 3 Pune: Churches in the city are all spruced up and ready to receive worshippers for midnight mass on Dec 24 and morning service on Christmas Day. Intricate decorations, twinkling lights, and vibrant nativity scenes adorn the interiors, creating a truly magical ambiance. To accommodate the anticipated overflow of visitors, churches have made arrangements for extra seating, ensuring that no one misses out on joyous celebrations. The air is filled with scent of fresh flowers and anticipation of faithful, eagerly awaiting the arrival of blessed occasion. Father Stanley from St. John Paul II Catholic Church in Wakad, said, "We are expecting higher footfalls for Christmas midnight mass and service on Christmas Day. Arrangements for extra seating have been made accordingly. It is a big church; we have over 450 families as parishioners." Father Roque Alphanso, from St Anne's Church, said, "This year, our decoration is done with green lighting that signifies peace. The message of the church this year is peace—and how to find peace in a world where there is too much noise. From social media to traffic, there is always something to keep your mind busy, but it is important to spend at least five minutes a day in silence to calm your mind. This year, we called a priest from outside for confession, an initiative that was received very well by the parishioners." Father Mariano from City Church said, "Many people moved away from the area to the outskirts to Pimpri-Chinchwad, Wakad, and so on, so our group of parishioners is decreasing. We have a lesser crowd than back in the day, but it will be a full house as we have many visitors who come to church for Christmas mass." Many ex-students of Ornellas and schools in Camp visit City Church for midnight mass to meet and catch up with school friends after the service. Adding to the festive spirit, Pune Heritage Walks launched a special "Church Hop" on Christmas Day, inviting participants to explore and celebrate the rich history and architectural marvels of the city's five oldest churches. This unique experience promises to be a delightful blend of spirituality, culture, and community. Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India . Don't miss daily games like Crossword , Sudoku , and Mini Crossword . Spread love this holiday season with these Christmas wishes , messages , and quotes.