blockchain

Changes to a major rival of Bitcoin have reduced energy use by 99 percent. The drop in computer processing for Ethereum has been likened to the amount of electricity used by a "mid-size country." The change has come after the Ethereum blockchain ... switched from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake, a sentence that makes little sense to most normal people. To break it down, a blockchain is a digital list of transactions. The key is that it doesn't exist as a single copy but rather multiple copies across all the computers of all users. In theory at least, this means it can't be edited or falsified ... (view more)

The Indian government plans to outlaw cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. The measure is expected to become law, though it's unclear if it will be enforceable in practice. Politicians in the country have long been hostile to cryptocurrencies, which ... use blockchain technology. That's where all transactions are recorded on a digital "ledger" which exists as multiple copies across the Internet, removing any central control. India's government previously banned "real world" financial institutions from providing any services to cryptocurrency operators, for example in exchanging the virtual ... (view more)

Firefox is getting a series of updates to boost performance, privacy and usability. Unwanted tracking tools and browser hijackers are among the targets of security updates. Two of the biggest measures deal with websites that track user activity ... online, potentially to make site content more relevant, but more commonly to deliver targeted advertising. Version 63 of Firefox, due in September, will by default block ad trackers if they take a particularly long time to load, in turn making pages slow to appear. This setting is purely to do with the load time of the tracker rather than what it ... (view more)