The Killers play at The Viv, the Chili Affair returns, and RSL looks to win one at Rio Tinto Stadium.
(Courtesy of Rob Loud) Brandon Flowers, right, and guitarist Ted Sablay of The Killers — seen here in a 2018 performance at Vivint Smart Home Arena — are scheduled to return to The Viv on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022.
| Aug. 28, 2022, 1:00 p.m.
August 30
The Killers, back in Utah
The alt-rock band The Killers started in Las Vegas, but Utah has always claimed them as their own because of lead vocalist Brandon Flowers’ upbringing in Nephi, Utah. That Utah childhood was the inspiration for the songs on the band’s folk-tinged 2021 album “Pressure Machine.” The Killers return to Utah, for a show Tuesday, August 30, at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City. Johnny Marr, legendary guitarist for The Smiths, is the opening act. Show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets available at vivintarena.com.
August 31
Serving chili, for a good cause
After going virtual for the last couple years because of COVID-19, the Great Salt Lake Chili Affair is back and in person this year, on Wednesday, Aug. 31, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Salt Palace Convention Center, 100 S. West Temple, Salt Lake City. The Road Home has hosted the event since 1986, to support the organization’s programs and services to help people step out of homelessness. For more information, and to buy tickets or sponsorships, go to theroadhome.org.
August 31
How strong is ‘The Fortress’?
Real Salt Lake fans like to call their home pitch, Rio Tinto Stadium, as “The Fortress,” an intimidating place for other teams to visit. But the RioT hasn’t been that mighty of late. RSL hasn’t won there since July 17, and since then has tallied two losses and two draws. The team hopes to turn those fortunes around with a rare Wednesday night game on Aug. 31, facing Minnesota United. The game starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets available at rsl.com.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO — Students in the Marshalltown Community School District are heading back to school on Tuesday, and parents and students will have the opportunity to meet teachers and familiarize themselves with each school during Back to School night this evening from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Students in the Marshalltown Community School District are heading back to class on Tuesday, and Director of Instruction Shauna Smith and Superintendent Theron Schutte took a look ahead at what to expect during the new school year.
Schutte is looking forward to a semester less permeated by pandemic concerns, and he is hoping for a school year that feels more normal than the last few. It’s already off to a more routine start, as Back to School Night is being held in person for the first time since fall 2019.
Back to School Night is an event that will be held at every school building in the district on Monday evening from 4:30 to 6:30, and it provides an opportunity to meet teachers, see school buildings and get pumped for the new school year prior to the first day of school on Tuesday.
“That’s really something that’s really been, I think missing in terms of our ability to maintain the same kind of connectedness that we had with families prior to the pandemic,” Schutte said.
For the most part, Schutte felt that school would look very similar to how it did pre-COVID, and in-person engagement is going to be a priority for the new school year since that has been relatively lacking in the last two years.
That engagement starts with Back to School Night, and Smith hoped the event would put any lingering jitters to rest as families will be able to familiarize themselves with teachers and each building’s layout. Smith also said that backpacks for students who have a need for one will also be available at the event.
“(The backpacks) are plain and simple, but it is something for those students who really have that need and we have a lot of them to give away, so we’re really excited to get them into the hands of our students,” Smith said.
Smith and Schutte described the event as an open house for the different buildings, and parents and families are welcome to filter in and out between 4:30 and 6:30, as there is no need to remain for the entire duration of the event.
Back to School Night is just the beginning of the school year, and Smith said maintaining engagement throughout the year begins with a student’s classroom attendance, which is a crucial part of their learning.
“We know that the more students attend, the more engaged they are in their learning and the more they are able to reach their fullest potential, so we ask that parents really partner with us in making sure students come to school on time,” Smith said.
Smith also stressed that there are resources within the MCSD that are there to help parents find “the right recipe” to get students to class if there are any barriers. Parents need only reach out to their child’s school.
The pandemic resulted in many changes throughout the district, and now that things are, in a sense, returning to normal, Schutte is eager to see how the more routine school year shapes up.
“I think we’re in a great position to turn the focus away from the safety concerns and issues that we’ve had in the recent past with the pandemic and really kind of focus in on, you know, how do we get better as students and employees at doing what we do on a daily basis,” Schutte said.
Schutte wants to really help teachers hone in on finding ways to enhance teaching methods so they can go from good to great, and he is looking forward to being able to find the best ways to address achievement gaps and learning loss.
“I’m really, really excited to see what we can do within the context of the regular school day for all students to help with some of that missed and or lost learning. And then also, continuing to provide supplemental opportunities through both interventions that we do during the school day, for the students most in need, but then the after school programming, the summer school programming, the high dosage tutoring, those types of things that we’ve been doing to, first and foremost, help kids rebound from COVID, but in reality, I think all of these things are critically important just to have our best shot at helping kids remove any learning gaps,” Schutte said.
Schutte said the district is in a good position to fully implement all of the information and techniques they have been learning regarding Social Emotional Learning this year as well, and 51 new teachers are also being welcomed to Marshalltown this fall.
The first week of school has officially arrived, and MCSD staff and teachers can’t wait to meet this year’s students.
“We want our students to be ready to be a bobcat and, you know, show pride, and continue to build each other up with positivity. Our teachers are ready to welcome them with open arms, and we couldn’t be more excited to get the 22-23 school year launched,” Smith said.
——
Contact Susanna Meyer at 641-753-6611 or smeyer@timesrepublican.com.
Ethereum is the world’s second-biggest cryptocurrency, and it’s giving bitcoin a run for its money.
Getty
Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, just ran a final dress rehearsal ahead of a years-awaited upgrade that’s been billed as one of the most important events in the history of crypto.
Since its creation almost a decade ago, ethereum has been mined through a so-called proof-of-work model. It involves complex math equations that massive numbers of machines race to solve,and itrequires an abundance of energy. Bitcoin mining follows a similar process.
Ethereum has been working to shift to a new model for securing the network called proof of stake. Rather than relying on energy-intensive mining, the new method requires users to leverage their existing cache of ether as a means to verify transactions and mint tokens. It uses far less power and is expected to translate into faster transactions.
The final test took place Wednesday at around 9:45 p.m. ET.
Ansgar Dietrichs, a researcher with the Ethereum Foundation, said in a tweet that the most relevant metric for success when it comes to a dry run like this is looking at time to finalization. He called it “another successful test.”
A research associate from Galaxy Digital pointed out that the participation rate after the test merge dropped, and it looked like there may have been an issue with one of the clients — but overall, it worked.
“A success Merge = chain finalizes,” Christine Kim wrote in a tweet, adding that we are likely to see similar types of issues with the upgrade on mainnet, “but the point is, the Merge worked.”
The timing of theupgrade will be discussed at a meeting of ethereum core developers on Thursday. Previous guidance indicated that the mergeshould go into effect in mid-September.
Ethereum’s transition has been repeatedly pushed back for the last several years. Core developers tell CNBC that the merge has been slow to progress, in order to allow sufficient time for research, development and implementation.
The price of ether, the token native to the ethereum blockchain, has been on an upswing the last month, rising nearly 80%, including a gain of 10% in the last 24 hours to around $1,875. However, it’s still down by about half this year.
Here’s what happened
One of ethereum’s test networks, or testnets, called Goerli (named for a train station in Berlin) simulated a process identical to what the main network, or mainnet, will execute in September.
Testnets allow developers to try out new things and make necessary tweaks before the updates roll out across the main blockchain. Wednesday night’s exercise showed that the proof-of-stake validation process substantially reduces the energy necessary for verifying a block of transactions, and also proved that the merger process works.
Read more about tech and crypto from CNBC Pro
“Goerli has this badge of a bottom-up testnet,”said Josef Je, a developer who worked with the Ethereum Foundation and now runs a permissionless peer-to-peer lending platform called PWN.
Je added that it was the most used testnet at this point, and proof of stake on Goerli will be almost identical to how things will run on the mainnet.
The Ethereum Foundation’s blog echoed that assessment, saying that Goerli is “the closest to mainnet, which can be useful for testing smart contract interactions.”
Spotting the bugs
Tim Beiko, the coordinator for ethereum’s protocol developers, told CNBC that they typically know “within minutes” whether a test was successful. But they’ll still be looking out for many potential configuration issues in the hours and days ahead so they can quickly fix them.
“We want to see the network finalizing and having a high participation rate amongst validators and also make sure we don’t hit any unexpected bugs or issues,” said Beiko.
The easiest metric to track is participation rate, meaning how many validators are online and doing their duties, Beiko said. If the numbers go down, developers will have to figure out why.
Another key issue relates to transactions. Ethereum processes transactions in groups known as blocks. Beiko said one clear indicator the test went well will be if the blocks have actual transactions in them, and aren’t empty.
The last major check is whether the network is finalizing, meaning that more than two-thirds of validators are online and agree to the same view of the chain history. Beiko says it takes 15 minutes in normal network conditions.
“If those three things look good, then there’s a long list of secondary stuff to check, but at that point, things are going well,” said Beiko.
‘More accessible’
Since December 2020, the ethereum community has been testing out the proof-of-stake workflow on a chain called beacon, which runs alongside the existing proof-of-work chain. Beacon has solved some key problems.
Beiko said the original proposal required validators to have 1,500 ether, a stake now worth around $2.7 million, in order to use the system. The new proof-of-stake proposal lowers the bar, requiring interested users to have only 32 ether, or about $57,600.
“It’s still not a trivial sum, but it’s a much more accessible system,” said Beiko.
There have been other key developments leading up to Wednesday’s test. In June, ethereum’s longest-running testnet, known as Ropsten, successfully merged its proof-of-work execution layer with the proof-of-stake beacon chain. It was the first major dry run of the process that the mainnet will undergo next month, should all go according to plan.
Beiko said that testing the merge has allowed developers to ensure that the software running the ethereum protocol was stable and “that everything built on top of the network was ready for the transition.”
Party City reports second-quarter earnings. In its previous quarter, the retailer reported a 1.4% rise in net sales to $433 million.
PubMatic will release second-quarter results today in a call with Wall Street analysts at 5 p.m. ET. PubMatic is among a handful of ad tech companies disclosing their quarterly results this week, following Criteo’s report last week, offering details about the state of internet advertising.
Also today, The Trade Desk gets its turn revealing its second-quarter finances. The Trade Desk had a busy quarter, marked by a deal with Disney, and its results could shine a light on the state of connected TV advertising and other aspects of the programmatic landscape. There is an analyst call at 5 p.m. ET. Magnite also releases results today and has an analyst call at 4:30 p.m. ET.
Ad Age hosts a conference honoring its Leading Women of 2022. The New York event will feature speakers including our 2022 Vanguard honoree Fiona Carter, chief marketing officer of Goldman Sachs.
With several major sporting events coming up, including the Commonwealth Games and the 2022 World Cup, Meta has launched an updated version of its safety guide for athletes, which provides a range of notes on how to manage your Facebook and Instagram experience to avoid spam, scams, abuse and more.
The 39-page guide is a handy reference guide to all of the various safety tools in both apps, which is not only relevant for athletes, but could also be of value to anyone looking to get a better understanding of their protection and moderation options in each.
“This guide is designed to help you prevent, protect, moderate, and escalate on both Facebook and Instagram. We will run through how to protect your password, set up two-factor authentication, understand Page access and take action when you’ve been hacked. We will also walk through how to moderate your Pages, and how to escalate when you experience bullying and harassment.”
The guide includes helpful overviews of each key element, including how to create a strong password:
How to set up two-factor authentication (a key step for account security):
There are also notes on the various moderation and safety tools available on Facebook:
And more specific explainers on things like how to report a profile for impersonation:
As noted, the focus is professional athletes, so some aspects will be of more relevance to those in the spotlight. But it’s a handy overview of the various options and controls on offer, while Meta also includes some pointers on how to maximize fan engagement on your Page:
Respond to comments on Facebook – When you engage in the comments section on your own posts (responding to comments or simply contributing to the conversation), the posts may be shown again in your followers’ Feeds, which increases reach and engagement. Responding to comments on your posts also elevates them to the top of your discussion thread.
Start with the “Most Relevant” view on Facebook – When looking at the comments section on your post or video, confirm you are looking at the “Most Relevant” view to ensure high quality comments from fans, and comments from other public figures, creators and verified accounts are at the top. This will make it easier and more efficient for you to engage.
Pin comments on Instagram – Consider pinning a few comments to the top of your post. By highlighting positive comments, you can better manage the tone of the conversation.
Nothing groundbreaking, as such, but some good reminders of the value of such engagement to help maximize post reach and engagement.
It’s a handy guide, which could be valuable for your process.
You can download Meta’s ‘Facebook and Instagram Safety Guide for Athletes’ here.
MONTREAL — A Montreal camping event that generated backlash from homeless advocates is going ahead after Parks Canada and its critics agreed to work together.
The urban camping event will take place tonight along the Lachine Canal in the heart of Montreal, with protesters’ tents pitched alongside those of paying customers.
The series of events, dubbed learn-to-camp, are described as an opportunity to learn basic camping skills for the price of over $100 per tent.
The events drew backlash from advocates who pointed out that homeless people who try to camp on public lands often see their tents dismantled by authorities.
MONTREAL — A Montreal camping event that generated backlash from homeless advocates is going ahead after Parks Canada and its critics agreed to work together.
The urban camping event will take place tonight along the Lachine Canal in the heart of Montreal, with protesters’ tents pitched alongside those of paying customers.
The series of events, dubbed learn-to-camp, are described as an opportunity to learn basic camping skills for the price of over $100 per tent.
The events drew backlash from advocates who pointed out that homeless people who try to camp on public lands often see their tents dismantled by authorities.
Parks Canada spokesman Simon Saint-Germain said the federal agency wanted to work with community advocates to create dialogue and education around homelessness.
A representative of the homeless advocates says Parks Canada agreed to provide water and bathroom access to protesters, and to allow them to hold an event this evening to raise awareness about what the most vulnerable Montrealers are facing.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 23, 2022.
Pie ‘N’ Beer Day, a melodious pop singer and a country superstar.
(Christopher Smith | Associated Press file photo) Singer Josh Groban, seen here in 2018, is scheduled to perform July 27, 2022, at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City.
| July 23, 2022, 1:00 p.m.
July 24
The other Utah holiday
July 24 is celebrated in Utah as Pioneer Day, honoring the date in 1847 when the first Latter-day Saint settlers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. This year, July 24 is on a Sunday, and the usual festivities — namely as the Days of ‘47 Parade — were scheduled for Saturday. Thus, July 24 has been taken over by the alternative holiday, Pie ‘N’ Beer Day, which pairs dough-encased pastries with hops-based beverages. The biggest celebration will assemble two dozen pie makers with two dozen breweries, along with live music, at The Gateway, in downtown Salt Lake City, from noon to 6 p.m.
July 27
Josh Groban at The Viv
In his 20-plus years of performing, singer Josh Groban has developed a strong following by crossing from classical to pop styles. He’s on tour to support his ninth studio album, “Harmony,” which was released in November 2020. Groban will bring his tour to Salt Lake City, with a show Wednesday, July 27, starting at 7 p.m., at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Go to vivintarena.com for ticket information.
July 28
Kenny Chesney at Usana
Country superstar Kenny Chesney — known for such hits as “Summertime,” “Don’t Blink,” “Come Over,” “Somewhere With You,” and many others — is on his “Here and Now” tour, and lands at Usana Amphitheater in West Valley City on Thursday, July 28. Opening the show is Carly Pearce. Show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets available at LiveNation.com.
Amazon’s annual Prime Day summer sales event runs today through July 13. The e-commerce giant is offering a flurry of deals designed to entice consumers, who are growing ever more cost-conscious as prices rise—and competitors such as Target are counterprogramming with their own sales.
Speaking of Amazon, “Bezos,” an indie biopic about, yes, Jeff Bezos (Armando Gutierrez) and his early quest to launch “the world’s largest bookstore,” opens in select U.S. theaters.
The start of Salt Lake City’s Twilight series, a free movie and a fundraiser to help rescue pets.
(National Geographic Documentary Films) Volcano researcher Maurice Krafft, in an image captured by his wife, Katia, gets up close to their subject in the documentary “Fire of Love,” directed by Sara Dosa. Sundance Institute is presenting a free screening of the film, Thursday, July 14, 2022, at Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City.
| July 10, 2022, 1:00 p.m.
July 14
A Surprise to open Twilight
Salt Lake City’s Twilight Concert Series kicks off Thursday night at the Gallivan Center, 239 S. Main St. Headlining the series’ launch is Rainbow Kitten Surprise, a five-member indie alt-rock band originally from North Carolina. The opening acts are the alt-blues band Houndmouth and the Salt Lake City-based Dad Bod. The show is sold out, but tickets are available — at a steep markup from the original $10 — on the resale market. Go to saltlakearts.org/twilightconcertseries for information.
July 14
‘Fire of Love,’ for free
One of the best romantic dramas to come out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival is entirely true. The documentary “Fire of Love” tells of Maurice and Katia Krafft, whose love for each other was matched only by their shared love of exploring volcanoes — which they did by getting as close to them as possible with cameras, filming lava flows and ash explosions. The screening of director Sara Dosa’s film starts Thursday at 9:15 p.m. at Red Butte Garden, 300 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City. Admission is free, but registration is recommended; go to sundance.org/sundancelocals for information.
July 16
Helping out rescued pets
Nuzzles & Co., the nonprofit no-kill pet rescue and adoption organization in Summit County, is throwing its annual gala fundraiser on Saturday, starting at 5:30 p.m., at the DeJoria Center at High Star Ranch, on State Road 32 in Kamas. The event includes a silent auction, a curated menu, and a live auction with getaways and big-ticket items. There’s also a “Snuggle Lounge,” where guests can meet adoptable puppies. Advance tickets are $225 each; a table of 10 is $2,250; go to nuzzlesandco.org for details.
