Latest news with #Slush
RTÉ News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
RTÉ AND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION IRELAND ANNOUNCE RTÉ TOY SHOW APPEAL GRANT AWARDS 2025
To date the Toy Show Appeal has raised over €26 million since its inception in 2020 169 grants to benefit over one million children in every county in Ireland Full list of grants available here Today RTÉ and Community Foundation Ireland are announcing the 169 recipients of the RTÉ Toy Show Appeal grant awards in 2025, with the lives of Irish children right across the country set to be changed for good in a variety of ways. All of this is possible due to the remarkable generosity of RTÉ viewers of last December's Late Late Toy Show. The kindhearted response from The Late Late Toy Show viewers to the appeal will help transform the lives of over one million children, young people and their families in Ireland, with every county on the island benefitting from grants totalling 5 million euro. To date, the Toy Show Appeal has raised over 26 million euro for Irish charities since its inception five years ago. The RTÉ Toy Show Appeal began in 2020 and was inspired by the story of Saoirse Ruane from Kiltullagh, Co. Galway, who – along with her beloved teddy Slush – captivated viewers with her appearance on The Late Late Toy Show. Saoirse sadly died aged 12 in March 2024. Announcing the grants, RTÉ Director General, Kevin Bakhurst said: 'The RTÉ Toy Show Appeal is one of RTÉ's most important initiatives – we are humbled by and grateful for the generosity of our Late Late Toy Show audience. Your continued support has ensured that the RTÉ Toy Show Appeal will continue to make a positive difference to the lives of thousands of children and their families, across the island, north and south. The memory of Saoirse Ruane lives on with every annual RTÉ Toy Show Appeal, as thousands of young lives are transformed year after year.' The RTÉ Toy Show Appeal, in partnership with Community Foundation Ireland, also announced today that the following four charities are to receive transformative grants of between €95,000 and €140,000 each. EXCHANGE HOUSE Thriving Together is a community-led mental health initiative designed to improve mental health outcomes for Traveller children, young people and families by fostering resilience through peer-led support and crisis intervention. This programme directly supports Traveller children and young people, who face significant discrimination, mental health challenges and barriers to accessing services. The programme aims to increase access to culturally appropriate mental health support through peer-led services and improve resilience among Traveller youth. There is a focus on crisis response, peer mentoring and capacity building, reflecting a proactive, early intervention approach. The peer-led model and inclusion of community voices in programme design demonstrates the emphasis on including beneficiary feedback and creating strong community impact. Amount awarded: €140,000 THE CRANN CENTRE CLG The Crann Centre CLG transforms the lives of children and families living with neurophysical disabilities through a unique programme of accessible play and recreation supported by a world class multi-disciplinary team and facilities. Crann has identified that a lack of accessible, purpose designed, inclusive spaces for play and recreation means that their clients do not have opportunities to engage in play, nature and social activities which are key to their development, health and wellbeing. Crann has developed a unique Social Capital Programme of activities in their accessible spaces to provide these opportunities to children and families with neuro-physical disabilities in Munster. Crann offers a unique programme of events and activities delivering year-round play, creativity, social connection and participation in Crann's purpose-built indoor and outdoor accessible facilities for children and families living with neuro-physical disabilities. Their Social Capital Programme activities include regular access to Crann's unique accessible playground and conservation area, fully inclusive summer camps, Ireland's first accessible theatre group, conservation events, nature hunts, picnics, family barbecues, music performances as well as an accessible Christmas Winter Wonderland. Amount awarded: €140,000 THE JACK AND JILL CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION Jack and Jill currently provide home nursing care to children up to the age of 6, by providing vital in-home nursing and respite support, that is bespoke for every family. In 2025, they propose to extend the age criteria to 7 years. Jack and Jill is a nationwide charity that funds and provides in-home nursing care and respite support to families caring for children up to the age of 6 currently, who have severe to profound cognitive delays, associated with complex medical needs. This includes children with brain injury, genetic diagnoses and undiagnosed conditions. A critical part of their service is end-of-life care for all children up to the age of 6, irrespective of diagnosis. In 2024, Jack and Jill supported 539 families across Ireland with in-home nursing care and delivering over 129,000 respite support. Currently, they are caring for 436 families and since their founding in 1997, they have supported 3,147 families. Based on immediate results from their pilot extension to 7 years, they plan for this to become the standard age offered by Jack and Jill going forward. This means when a child in their care turns 6, parents will have the option to continue receiving up to 20 hours of home care per month for an additional year. Amount awarded: €140,000 WOMEN'S AID Women's Aid plan to expand the impact of the unique Too Into You project for youth at risk of or subjected to intimate partner abuse by educating those working with children/youth and creating awareness and advocacy among young people from diverse communities. Women's Aid has been working to prevent and address the impact of domestic violence and abuse, including coercive control against women and children since 1974. Their work has been based on a multi-faceted approach that combines direct services with research, training, education and advocacy. Their vision is an equal Ireland with zero tolerance of domestic abuse, and all forms of violence against women. Amount awarded: €95,000 The remainder of the donations will be split amongst 165 charities across the island of Ireland by charity partner Community Foundation Ireland who manage the grant process on behalf of RTÉ and its viewers. Among the recipient charities are organisations like Pieta House, The Saoirse Foundation (Bumbleance), Oscar's Kids Ireland, Nasc the Migrant and Refugee Rights Centre and Irish Aerial Creation Centre. Denise Charlton, Chief Executive of Community Foundation Ireland said: 'Turning the huge generosity of The Late Late Show viewers into actions which support children and families in every county is a huge honour and one which all of us at Community Foundation Ireland are immensely proud. Once again, we have used both our expertise as a grant-making philanthropic hub of 25 years as well as insights from communities, advocates and researchers to deliver grants which deliver positive impacts and results. Those insights allow us to respond to both long-standing and emerging challenges. Congratulations to all who have been successful. Your work with families will ensure that the magic of the Toy Show will continue to happen every day in our communities.' Local projects and organisations in every county of Ireland will receive grants to help with a diverse range of needs including meeting basic needs like food and essentials, disability supports, creativity and play and bereavement support. Over £325,000 has been awarded to 20 charities and organisations in Northern Ireland including Rainbow Child and Family Centre, The Cedar Foundation, In Your Space Circus, Lightyear Foundation and Sticky Fingers. ENDS For further information and images please contact: Caoilinn Putti, RTÉ Communications Lead, Rayna Connery, RTÉ Senior Communications Lead, Note to Editors: Images are available here. The photos include The Late Late Show presenter Patrick Kielty meeting children, parents and carers at the Laura Lynn Hospice. Grants are being provided under three main areas of support: Addressing Essential Needs to assist those children in every county who face the greatest challenges. Projects include family support for children across Ireland at risk of food poverty, therapy and counselling for children and young people facing homelessnes, and specialist legal support for children in the care system. Health and Wellbeing focuses on supporting children living with disabilities and life limiting conditions. In total, over €1.5M is being awarded this year to provide health, disability supports, mental wellbeing and therapy services. Creativity and Play will ensure the lives of marginalised and disadvantaged children are full of colour, creativity and fun. RTÉ Toy Show Appeal Founded in 2020, the RTÉ Toy Show Appeal has raised over €26 million for children's charities to date. Each year it is estimated that the Appeal helps more than 1 million children and family members. The RTÉ Toy Show Appeal exists as a Donor Advised Fund with registered charity The Community Foundation for Ireland (Registered Charity Number: 20044886). Grant applications from the 2024 RTÉ Toy Show Appeal were independently assessed following an open application process which opened in early 2025. Community Foundation Ireland Community Foundation Ireland, its donors and supporters are on a mission to ensure Equality for All in Thriving Communities. Since the year 2000, the Foundation has been a philanthropic hub working with 5000 voluntary, community and charitable partners. It has been the charity partner of the Toy Show appeal since its establishment in 2020.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
SUI Is ‘On the Edge of a New Run Towards Highs,' Says Crypto Analyst Michaël Van De Poppe
SUI SUI traded at $3.1110 on Monday, rising 3.85% over the past 24 hours following a multi-hour uptrend that pushed the token through key resistance levels. The asset hit a session high of $3.1554 before settling just above $3.11, with strong volume supporting the breakout attempt. Michaël van de Poppe called SUI 'super interesting as an ecosystem' in a post on X earlier Monday, pointing to several major on-chain milestones. The stablecoin supply on the Sui network has grown from $400 million in January to nearly $1.2 billion. Meanwhile, total value locked (TVL) has reached $1.8 billion — ranking third among non-EVM chains. Wallet adoption is also accelerating, helped by the integration of Phantom and the launch of Slush, the rebranded SUI wallet. SuiLend, the protocol's lending platform, has seen its TVL surge 90% over the past month to more than $600 million. Van de Poppe noted that this growth, coupled with previous bullish chart behavior, may set the stage for a strong breakout if SUI can close above $3.30. He described that level as a key liquidity zone that could spark a move to new highs. The analysis period also showed strong buyer engagement, particularly around $3.12. Price briefly consolidated after the peak but continued to form higher intraday lows — suggesting continued momentum despite a modest cooldown from session highs. Technical Analysis Highlights During the analysis period, SUI traded between $2.9742 and $3.1554, marking a 6.09% intraday move. Price formed a consistent uptrend, breaking above $3.08 resistance with support establishing at $2.96–$2.97. Volume exceeded 12 million units between 01:00 and 07:00 GMT, confirming broad accumulation interest. At 13:56 GMT, SUI surged through the $3.12 level on a volume spike over 1 million units, initiating a breakout. Between 13:56 and 14:03 GMT, price action remained strong and formed a new support band around $3.12. Toward the end of the analysis window, SUI advanced from $3.09 to $3.13 in a 1.29% move, closing with bullish continuation patterns intact. Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy. Sign in to access your portfolio
FF News
09-06-2025
- Business
- FF News
We're Helping Founders in Financial Services Accelerate Their Potential
One of our initiatives as a firm is to work with founders and business leaders in financial services to accelerate their ability to have an impact. That is why this month, we were pleased to announce that the Fintech Forward Programme – in collaboration with EY – is open for applications. This accelerator programme is designed to empower exceptional start-up founders and business leaders who are developing solutions that have the potential to redefine financial services. For more information or to apply, visit here . Applications are now open for the 12-week in-person and virtual programme for individuals who meet the following criteria: Applying technology to create scalable solutions within financial services. Have a live product demonstrating market traction, with annual revenues not exceeding £1 million. Show a commitment to making a positive impact on individuals and/or businesses in the UK. Are dedicated to active participation in the programme. Successful applicants will gain access to expert mentorship from bank executives, tailored workshops with industry specialists, such as a two-day offsite at J.P. Morgan's technology centre in Glasgow, and opportunities to showcase their business to potential investors and commercial partners. Participants will also have the opportunity to take part in a sponsored trip to Slush in Helsinki, one of the world's most founder-focused events. To help ensure there are no barriers to participation, the Programme includes travel, accommodation and other related expenses for participants. The Fintech Forward Programme is part of JPMorganChase's broader efforts to unlock the potential of the innovation economy, recognizing the challenges facing underserved individuals and entrepreneurs who can be overlooked for investment or have unequal access to essential resources. Veronique Steiner , Head of EMEA Innovation Economy & Head of EMEA E-Commerce, Technology, Media and Telecom at J.P. Morgan Payments, says, 'At J.P. Morgan Payments, our north star is to improve the payments ecosystem and transform the movement of information, money, and assets. We're actively encouraging applications from founders or business leaders who are overcoming obstacles to growing a business, including a lack of proximity to funding and networks, and are addressing the needs of underserved consumers, businesses or communities.' Alumni of the programme will benefit from a unique network of peers and an ongoing connection with JPMorganChase, fostering continued growth, innovation and new commercial opportunity. Companies In This Post JP Morgan Chase
Business Wire
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Wire
Taste the Lore of the Unicorn! SONIC Unveils Whimsical New Unicorn Dreams Slush and Collectable Unicorn Horn Straws
ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SONIC® Drive-In is ready to transport fans to a world of whimsical wonder with its newest, most wonderful creation yet – the Unicorn Dreams Slush. Prepare to be enchanted as the limited-time Slush arrives at SONIC locations nationwide on May 5, but those eager for a little extra sparkle can unlock early access through the SONIC App starting today, April 28. The vibrant pink cotton candy Slush is swirled with blue raspberry flavor bubbles, topped with a fluffy cloud of whipped topping and a sprinkle of shimmering pink cotton candy sugar crystals. With every sip, a little more enchantment fills the air. To celebrate this one-of-a-kind Slush, SONIC is introducing the Legendary Wish-Awakening Unicorn Horn Straws, free with every Unicorn Dreams Slush purchase starting May 5, while supplies last. Shaped just like a unicorn horn and designed to bring even more fun and fantasy to every sip, this must-have straw comes in four enchanting shades to collect: White-to-Pink Color-Changing Green-to-Blue Color-Changing Neon Green Glow-in-the-Dark Frost Blue Glitter Fans are invited to share their own wishes and whimsical moments inspired by the Legendary Wish-Awakening Unicorn Horn Straw by using #WishSipBelieve on social media. 'We developed the Unicorn Dreams Slush to be more than just a drink - it's an entire culinary experience that's bursting with fantastical fun and flavor in each sip,' said Mackenzie Gibson, Vice President of Culinary & Menu Innovation at SONIC. 'With its playful pink colors, blue raspberry flavor bubbles and the accompanying Unicorn Horn Straw, it is a treat for the senses and the imagination – and guaranteed to make every moment sparkle.' Available nationwide starting May 5, fans will receive one Legendary Wish-Awakening Unicorn Horn Straw FREE with the purchase of a Unicorn Dreams Slush at participating locations while supplies last. The Unicorn Dreams Slush starts at just $3.99 for a 20 oz. *Tax not included; the Unicorn Dreams Slush and Legendary Wish-Awakening Unicorn Horn Straw are not eligible for Happy Hour Anytime in the App, Happy Hour at drive-ins, Morning Drink Stop®, or other discounts.
Business Mayor
25-04-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
SLICE: Making PPLNS Work for Demand Response
Bitcoin mining has come a long way since the days of GPUs and basement set ups. In that time, miners have advanced in countless ways. For example, ASICs are now the standard, not GPUs. Furthermore, enterprise grade players have entered the field, opening new frontiers and bringing with them the size and institutional recognition that opens the doors to otherwise unreachable places for smaller miners. Nowadays, the mining landscape is one where grid services, curtailment strategies, and energy market participation are no longer edge cases but core strategies. As the world around it has moved forward, there's one question we keep hearing from miners: can PPLNS adapt? Many miners, particularly those working closely with energy providers or integrating Demand Response mechanisms, have come to view PPLNS with suspicion. They worry that it penalizes downtime and rewards only uninterrupted hashrate—a bad deal for those who routinely curtail machines to support the grid or provide other services. This fear isn't baseless. It traces back to a pivotal moment in the mining industry's recent past, one that apparently sealed the deal for many on PPLNS style payouts: the fallout between RIOT and Braiins Pool. At the time, Braiins was using the Score payout system. Designed in 2011 by Slush himself, Score was engineered to solve the problem of pool hopping—when miners would jump between pools to exploit reward systems. There's also been a misconception that Score is a PPLNS style payment system, but as Rosenfeld's bible on pool payout systems describes, Score and PPLNS are distinctly different payout methods. The main difference is how they account for shares, specifically, Score implemented a rolling window with exponential decay function, this effectively made the lookback window very short. On the other hand, PPLNS is a family of payout systems with various types of fixed length lookback windows. As shown on this archived website of how Score worked, you can see that after 90 minutes your hashrate had no more presence on the pool. This means that the moment a miner starts mining, their share of rewards fairly quickly reaches the fair value of the hashrate. On the other hand, when a miner stops mining, it drops equally fast, as shown on the gif below. This might have worked well in the era of cowboys and hackers, but it was never designed with today's complex mining environments in mind. Certainly not with Demand Response, where miners intentionally and profitably take machines offline to stabilize energy grids or bid into ancillary markets. To Score, that kind of behavior looks no different than a pool hopper—someone attempting to cheat the system. So when RIOT left Braiins, citing concerns about payout mechanics, it sent a shockwave through the mining world. Due to the aforementioned misconception, Score system's flaws got unfairly projected onto a broader category of payouts, PPLNS got caught in the fray, catching a stray bullet in the process, and the industry collectively threw the baby out with the bathwater. But the mining world has changed, and it's time for the phoenix to rise from his ashes. Enter SLICE, a modern, open-source Stratum-V2-ready payout system created by the DMND team. It's an improvement and evolution of PPLNS, that rethinks how miners get paid, rewards are calculated, and —most importantly— how downtime is treated respect to Score. All while preserving miner's right to build their own block templates with SV2. At its core, SLICE is about fairness and transparency. It preserves the foundational idea of PPLNS—paying miners in proportion to their actual contribution to solving blocks—while modernizing it for today's decentralized mining landscape. The key innovation lies in how SLICE structures reward calculation, and on how the lookback window works. Rather than treating the entire pool as a monolith, SLICE breaks time into smaller, dynamic 'slices' of work to properly distribute the fee component. These slices represent batches of shares submitted over a specific period, where we control for the amount of fees in the mempool, and compare and score different job templates for the financial value they represent. When a block is found, SLICE distributes the block subsidy and transaction fees separately. The subsidy is allocated proportionally by hashrate, while the fees are distributed based on hashrate and financial value. This is particularly relevant in a world where miners can choose their own transaction sets. Some miners may prioritize high-fee MEV-style bundles; others may exclude certain types of transactions for ideological, political or technical reasons. SLICE ensures that, within each slice, miners are rewarded according to both the quantity and quality of their work—without punishing them for downtime or strategic energy decisions. For those curious to learn more, this article can prove helpful. What makes SLICE especially attractive for miners participating in Demand Response or curtailment programs is that it doesn't penalize you for being offline. That's because SLICE doesn't decay your payout just because you took a break. Your shares remain in the PPLNS window—the rolling window of recent work that is eligible for payouts—as long as they're recent enough. In this way, each share is treated independently, and is expected to get 8 payouts, since SLICE uses an 8-block rolling window, each valid share remains eligible for payout across the next 8 blocks on average. This means that regardless of how big or small the pool is, you will never have the abysmal luck of eating up bad luck days without a block, disconnecting, having the pool find a block, and not get paid. That means miners can power down during peak demand hours, support their regional grid, and still collect their fair cut from blocks found after they resume operations, most importantly, even while they're offline, if their shares are still in the window. In other words, if the pool has a streak of bad luck, and then the miner is called to perform demand response and shuts off, even if the pool finds a block during their down time, that miner will get paid their fair share for all the time they were online. That's because each share generated during that time will be active and getting paid for 8 blocks on average. This is not a workaround. This is the feature. It makes SLICE fully compatible with modern energy strategies that require flexibility, whether you're participating in frequency regulation markets, ramping down during grid emergencies, or simply optimizing for off-peak pricing. For example, let's say that a miner is mining at a pool, and the pool hasn't found that day's block yet. This means that the pool hasn't found the block yet, and thus the miners hasn't gotten paid for that day yet. Now, the miner shuts off to provide ancillary services during peak summer load for a few hours, during that time, the pool finds the block. In a Score based pool, the miner would not see a single Sat of that after 90 minutes, when the decay has had full effect. But even if the pool found a block 30 minutes later, due to the exponential decay, the miner would barely see anything. On the other hand, the miner would have all of the shares they mined over the day receive a payment, since each share receives on average 8 payments. Thus, the miner would benefit in the good times, and not be penalized in the bad times. Read More Stacks releases two whitepapers: STX price shoots up 31% Furthermore, SLICE doesn't just modernize payout fairness—it does so in a way that minimizes trust in the pool operator. Every slice is fully auditable. Each share is tracked, indexed, and publicly verifiable by any miner, so miners can independently verify their share of the block reward. There's no black box, no 'trust me bro.' And if the pool operator attempts to cheat—say, by injecting fake shares to dilute payouts—miners can challenge the integrity of the slice. The Job Declaration extension to Stratum V2, which SLICE relies on, includes mechanisms for publishing share data, verifying Merkle roots, and ensuring that each share corresponds to real computational work. For miners who care about decentralization, SLICE isn't just a payment scheme—it's an accountability tool. The shift from Score to SLICE represents more than a technical upgrade. It's a mental shift. Mining pools no longer need to defend against bad actors by penalizing everyone. Instead, they can structure payouts in a way that reflects reality: that miners are sophisticated participants working not only in the Bitcoin blockchain, but also the energy ecosystem. With SLICE, PPLNS stops being a liability and becomes a strategic advantage. It enables better revenue capture, more transparency and auditability, and smoother integration with grid services. And in a world where uptime is optional, but fairness is non-negotiable, that's exactly what enterprise-grade miners need, a strategic pool partner that pushes forward and innovates, bringing the future today and enabling miners to make more money with the same hardware.
