Month: November 2025

A conflictive aesthetic is conquering the feet of thousands of Spaniards: “barefoot” footwear

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At seven in the morning, Fernando puts on his shoes barefoot before leaving for the school where he works. They are thin, soft, almost like a second skin. “Before I ended up with sores on my little fingers; now I can stand all day,” he tells us in an interview for Xataka. A few years ago you would have been looked at strangely for wearing sneakers with minimal soles and separated toes. Today, however, it does not go unnoticed as modern: the barefoot It has become a trend. From an alternative corner of the wellness world it has jumped to the feet of thousands of people. Influencers they recommend itshoe stores are multiplying and even Queen Letizia He wears them at public events. The phenomenon mixes fashion and physiology, and promises something as simple as it is powerful: walking again as we were born, barefoot. From niche to phenomenon. The rise of barefoot It has been meteoric. In just a couple of years, the concept has gone from health and natural parenting forums to digital catwalks. “At first they were ugly and almost no one used them,” remembers Fernando, 39, one of the first to try them in his circle. “But I saw people on Instagram talking about them, they said they were good for the feet and I decided to try them. From the first moment I felt very comfortable.” Like him, thousands of consumers discovered this type of footwear on social networks, recommended by social media accounts. physiotherapy either chiropody. Mar Oncina, owner from the shoe store DePeus in Alicante, confirms the change to Xataka: “When I opened, 80% of my clients were children. Now almost half are adults.” In just a year and a half, he says, interest has grown “hugely.” Schools ask for discounts for AMPAs and large chains, from Inditex to Mustang, have begun to launch their own minimalist lines. “People have understood that this is not just fashion, it is health,” he says. Walking ‘natural’. He barefoot proposes an idea as simple as it is radical: walking again without artifice. The difference with conventional footwear is in the structure. These shoes eliminate the heel (the so-called drop), cushioning and rigid insoles; Instead, they offer a thin, flexible sole that allows the foot to move and feel the ground. As explained in Podoactivathe main purpose of minimalist footwear is to promote a more natural gait and posture, strengthen the intrinsic muscles of the foot and promote proprioception. The foot, with its 28 bones and more than 100 tendons, is prepared to cushion naturally; What happens is that we have spent our entire lives enclosing it in rigid structures that atrophy it. a study published in Nature reinforces that idea: walking barefoot modifies the way the feet interact with the ground and how forces are distributed when walking. The researchers, led by evolutionary biologist Daniel Lieberman, discovered that people who walk without shoes develop thick calluses, but without losing tactile sensitivity. In other words, leather soles protect, but do not disconnect from the ground, while cushioned soles alter the natural way of walking and increase the impact on the joints. From children’s footwear to the adult boom. Paradoxically, the revolution of barefoot It started with the little ones. Mar tells us clearly: “It all started when my sister, an occupational therapist, decided that her daughter would only wear respectful shoes. She explained to us that children who go barefoot better develop gross motor skills, balance and foot strength.” From that family conviction, their store was born, and with it, a new market. Iraia, 36 years old, explains to Xataka that she discovered the barefoot looking for the best footwear for her daughter Alazne, who was unstable when taking her first steps. “I was convinced by the idea that the feet should move freely and without being deformed. Soon I started using them too and my posture changed. The lower back pain has disappeared, and my toes have literally separated.” Stories like yours are repeated in shoe stores and online forums. And although most started looking for health, many stay for comfort. “I no longer feel like coming home and taking off my shoes,” says Iraia. “It’s like going barefoot all day.” The view of the experts. Almost everyone agrees on the same idea: barefoot It’s not for everyone. “Whether it eliminates back or hip pain is questionable,” clarifies podiatrist Carles Espinosa interviewed by RAC1. “Yes, there are benefits if it is done with adaptation, but you cannot go from a shoe with a heel to a flat one overnight.” From the podiatry portal insist on the need of a progressive transition: gradually reduce the height of the heel to avoid injuries to the Achilles tendon or muscle overload. They also warn that hard surfaces, such as asphalt, are not the best to start with. Dr. Alberto Martínez Oller, from the MO podiatry clinic It’s even more concrete: “It is not recommended for people with flat feet, bunions, injuries or neuropathies. Nor for impact sports or uneven surfaces.” Their recommendation is clear: consult a podiatrist before making the change. Still, he recognizes the potential benefits: improved balance, muscle strengthening, increased mobility and prevention of deformities. In fact, some specialists fear, precisely, that viralization will turn a medical recommendation into a fast-moving fashion. “Walking naturally does not mean walking without control,” warn. The fever for well-being can lead to confusing minimalism with miracle, and each foot tells a different story. Digital fever and the power of the algorithm. If anything has driven the expansion of barefoothas been digital word of mouth. “The role of networks has been fundamental,” says Mar, from DePeus. “There are people who have known how to communicate it very well, such as podiatrists or physiotherapists who have reached thousands of people. The problem is that along with good information, many hoaxes also circulate.” “Transformation” videos abound on TikTok and Instagram: feet before and after months using barefoot, posture comparisons or 30-day barefoot challenges. … Read more

China needs garbage to burn and it needs it so badly that people are digging it up to sell it to incinerators.

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Until a few years, China was the dumping ground of the world. Voluntarily. Since the 1980s, garbage imports have helped China supply raw materials for its industry. Today, the situation has changed and China continues to have a very intense relationship with waste management. But a very different one. What they have left over now is not garbage, but incinerators to burn it. And that has caused old landfills to begin to be unearthed. Many plants of the country They are burning garbage from 20 years ago today. The great Chinese love affair with garbage. In 2016, China imported 7,350,000 tons of plastic and Hong Kong another 2,850,000. In total, they imported almost 70% of all the plastic waste moved around the world that year. That’s not counting paper, scrap or textiles. China was, for more than two decades, the world’s dumping ground. And it wasn’t an accident. In the 1980s, faced with the shortage of certain raw materials, the Chinese Government decided to start importing certain especially useful waste (plastic, paper, mineral slag or textile waste). “The most notorious case was probably the importation of electronic waste that was dismantled and reprocessed in terrible environmental conditions,” Erik Baark explained to us. Everything has an end. However, by the late 2010s, the Chinese situation had changed. In those years alone, the total volume of urban solid waste generated in the Asian giant increased from 158 million tons to more than 249 million. Suddenly, the Government understood that it was running out of space. So he took several measures. And what did he do? On the one hand, got serious about environmental regulations. In the summer of 2017, more than 800 companies were prosecuted for not complying with recycling standards. And, a few months later, authorities arrested more than 259 people for the illegal importation of 303,000 tons of garbage. But it wasn’t enough. And they prohibited imports. That was what affected us the most: the 2017-2018 decision plunged to the international garbage market (and especially to Western recycling systems) in a crisis from which we have not yet emerged. However, it was not the only thing they did. As Baark explains“the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) explicitly supported the incineration of municipal solid waste, with the aim of increasing the proportion of waste treated by incineration from 20% to 35% at the national level.” However, China does not know how to do anything by halves. In less than five years, incineration power plants experienced a real boom (from 428 in 2019 to 1010 in 2023). The goal for 2025 — a daily incineration capacity of 800,000 tons — had already been exceeded in 2022. And shortly after, this energy production system came to “process” 80% of the country’s waste. Today they have literally run out of trash. As I said, in recent months, Chinese and international media have reported on waste incinerators for energy recovery in large cities that operate at low capacity due to a lack of raw materials. It is the story of how the impressive operational capacity of the Beijing government goes too far, yes. But the consequences are very curious: because the plants continue looking for waste to burn. In fact, to the extent that plants compete with each other: the price of garbage is rising. And that seems to be causing in many areas of the country “old” garbage is being dug up. A present that is ending. But no one is aware that this is something temporary. If Chinese waste continues to grow so little by little (10% in recent years), the incineration model is going to enter a crisis. First, for the most obvious thing, of course: it is not sustainable. but also because It is still an emergency resource and not a rational waste management policy. The most interesting thing for us is that this more than predictable crisis It will also change our world. Image | 烧不酥在上海 老的 In Xataka | The European waste industry has been lying to us for years: in 2018 everything blew up and we still haven’t recovered

Cities are becoming theme parks. The “ship” that has landed in Madrid is the latest example

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A spaceship has parked in the center of Madrid. No, you don’t have to you start running like you were Naruto because it will be there for a few days. This is not a real ship, but the Sol station. And the reason why the design of the subway entrance has been changed to that of this ship is because it is a PlayStation advertising action. And more than something special, it is part of a phenomenon. That of converting part of large cities into theme parks. what has happened. Last Tuesday, November 4, one of the entrances to the Sol station in Madrid appeared “tuned.” Representing a “crashed” ship, PlayStation itself gave some details about the action on your blog. Streamer The Grefg is involved in a campaign that will be resolved on November 19 and in which four PlayStation 5 Pro. It is not a celebration of the launch of any game, but rather a big raffle for which PlayStation has decorated an emblematic point in the city. Experiential Marketing. These types of interventions are not new, although in Spain it is one of the largest marketing movements seen in recent years. It is a strategy designed to create links with users beyond those that can be traced with traditional advertising. A giant LED screen or a billboard is something that we have so internalized that we even ignore it in many cases, but when the station you pass by every day becomes something else, it inevitably draws attention. It is something that reconfigures the perception of the urban environment and can manifest itself in multiple ways. Transportation stations are some of the favorite centers of companies because they are points where many, many people pass through. Sol, without going any further, was “Vodafone Sol” for many years and, although it is a different example, it serves to identify a place and a brand. Advertising outside the advertising space. It has come to be called “visual pollution of a commercial nature” by generating advertising exposure that the citizen cannot avoid. You are going to see it, whether you want to or not, but beyond the subway users themselves, it is an advertisement that generates a conversation on social networks. Public landscape = advertising canvas. As we said, Madrid is becoming an example of how public settings are converted to support a commercial narrative. Next to the PlayStation ship, and literally at kilometer zero of Madrid, the watch brand TAG Heuer placed a few weeks ago a giant clock with a countdown indicating the 365 days left until the Formula 1 returns to Madrid (something with which the neighbors also have their pluses and minuses). It is not very different from what happens with the Olympic Games, but there are other bloodier examples. Without leaving the metro, in 2016 the Chueca station was transformed with the colors of the rainbow. It was not something promoted by political movements in favor of the LGTBI+ collective, but rather an advertising action by Netflix under the slogan “Rainbow is the new black“The campaign was temporary, but the collective managed to keep the colors after Netflix withdrew its brand. And Puerta de España has also been personalized in the past. Pragmatism. This, obviously, does not come for free. Madrid, under Mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardón, approved an ordinance that regulates outdoor advertising in Madrid by which advertising banners in Puerta del Sol and other central environments would be placed exclusively in buildings with certain characteristics. That is why Puerta del Sol is wallpapered with advertisements from big brands, series or movies, for which companies they have to pay a large fee to the city. In the end, looking at it from the most pragmatic point of view, these public-private activities finance infrastructure and furniture that municipal administrations could not afford. That is to say: cities obtain income through these advertising permits and companies gain a scenario that hundreds of thousands of people see every day. In a context in which many cities are attracting tourism and investment, it is a win-win if we think with a cooler head. The mentioned contract of Vodafone Sol was three million euros for changing the name of the station between 2013 and 2016, as well as the name change in the red line public address system. And, when the contract was not renewed, it was Vodafone that bore the management costs. Reactions. Now, while cities like Madrid, Barcelona or New York allow these activities, others restrict them. An example is Lyon, which has decided reduce outdoor advertising in public spaces by up to 75%, eliminating above all digital screens. Outside of the previous pragmatism, it is something that exerts a tension between municipal revenue, commercial freedom and the protection of the urban landscape. In the case of the PlayStation ship, varied reactions have been seen, from enthusiastic voices to those who criticize this conversion of the city into an amusement park. The truth is that PlayStation is a company that carries out very imaginative advertising campaigns in several cities and in Spain nothing this big has ever been seen. Another recent action also had much angrier reactions in the subway, when the company Uber Eats changed the name of the emblematic Goya station to… yes, you’re guessing: Gyoza. Or the former name change of the Blue Line to Stonewashed Blue. and the future Santiago Bernabéu station customized by Real Madrid. Images | PlayStation Spain In Xataka | Japan has an amusement park dedicated to Spain. And it’s as wonderful as it looks

James Bond is literally dead. And apparently that’s a problem for his next movie.

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James Bond has not been an easy franchise for years, decades perhaps. The latest incarnation of 007, played by Daniel Craig, took a turn from the classic incarnation of the character, ending in 2021 in ‘No time to die‘ and tragically. Now that Amazon owns the rightsis encountering a considerable obstacle to launching a new installment. He died. The death of James Bond in ‘No Time to Die’, the last incarnation to date of the character, has generated an enormous creative challenge for Amazon MGM Studios, current owners of the rights. For the first time in sixty years, 007 died on screen after a missile attack and poisoning by nanobots. Now Steven Knight, creator of ‘Peaky Blinders’must find a way to continue the franchise while respecting that final death. What seemed like a bold ending has become the biggest obstacle to Bond’s future. Dead end. According to sources close to the production, the franchise’s producers are “pulling out hair“because Bond did not disappear or fake his death, as he has done in other installments. He was literally torn to pieces before the viewer. To Anthony Horowitz, author of three recent Bond novels, It is not difficult to believe in these difficulties: “The last time we saw Bond he was poisoned and torn to pieces. It was a mistake, because Bond is a legend.” Why is it a problem? There are authors who talk about the fact that a death scene as explicit as the one seen in the latest Bond film undermines the legendary nature of the character, who has lived an impossibly long arc of time (he fought in the Second World War, but remains fit today) and has changed his face as his performers rotated. This gives 007 a halo of a mythological hero, in the style of the classics, which clashes head-on with the idea of ​​him dying. Furthermore, it is a decision with an economic ingredient: a reboot It would open the door to continuous and unconnected versions, which would devalue the brand. We must bear this death. Where is the franchise? There is still little known information about this new installment: Denis Villeneuve, director of ‘Dune’, will direct this twenty-sixth Bond adventure, with Knight as screenwriter. In March 2025, Amazon MGM obtained complete creative control of the franchise after an agreement with Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, ending decades of control by the Broccoli family, and the studio aims for a premiere in 2028. Casting is paralyzed until the problem of Bond’s death is resolved, but names like Tom Holland (finally discarded), Jacob Elordi and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (also discarded). Possible solutions. With the franchise in danger, many fans and experts have provided possible solutions. The first is an idea that has always been floating around since it became clear that the character’s longevity was meaningless: “007” and “James Bond” are code names given to the best agent, and when one dies or retires the next one receives the title. Of course, there is the possibility of a complete reset. You can also propose a prequel and set the film, for example, in the sixties, showing Bond’s rise in MI6. EITHER use the already canonical character of Mathildethe daughter that Bond has with Madeleine Swann in ‘No Time to Die’, and changing the character’s gender. In Xataka | These researchers have watched all the James Bond movies to see how exposed to infectious agents a 007 is and the result is nonsense

There is nothing more French than a baguette. And even the French have gotten tired of them

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That in France the baguette is a symbol, an icon, an institution (almost), is beyond any doubt. Just three years ago UNESCO included it on its list of intangible cultural heritage and together with the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame and a handful of other symbols (not many) it is part of the iconic heritage of Paris. Despite all this, the French seem less and less interested in taking baguettes home, which coincides with a general drop in bread consumption. There are those who already warn that the popular bar is presented with a “uncertain future” or even, going further, he wonders: Can French baguette die? France, less and less panera. France may have turned baguettes into a national symbol, but even that has not prevented bread from facing a complex crisis there. The demand data shows this clearly, as CNN recalled this week in an analysis on the topic. If after the Second World War the French consumed an average of 25 ounces of bread per person per day (about 700 grams), in 2015 that figure had already dropped to four ounces (113 g). The trend does not seem to have reversed in the last decade and today this average consumption indicator is even lower, standing at 3.5 ounces (almost 100 g). In practice, that amounts to less than half a baguette. Is there more data? Yes. And most of them are not what they say are encouraging for the sector. In 2023 the Confederation of French Bakeries and Pastry Shops published a survey which reveals that, of the thousand consumers interviewed, more than a third (36%) acknowledged having reduced their bread consumption during the previous five years. The decline was also especially pronounced among middle-aged people (35 to 49 years old). In his case the ‘puncture’ reached 43%. In the lower cohort, young people between 25 and 34 years old, one in four interviewed (26%) declared that they had increased their consumption of bread, although this trend has some important nuances. Young people are beginning to see bread as part of the meals they eat outside the home and are banishing it from their breakfasts, a time of day when it was previously common to consume baguette bread with butter, jam or chocolate and hazelnut cream. Among those under 24 years of age, 57% maintain this habit. It is a considerable percentage, but it is far from the 83% that reaches among the population group of 55 to 65 years. “Coucou, tu as pris le pain?” The decline of bread in France is nothing new. In 2013 the trend was already clear enough for French bakers to launch a campaign to encourage its consumption. His slogan was “Coucou, tu as pris le pain?” (“Hey, did you pick up the bread?”) and was plastered on billboards, bus shelters and shop windows across the country with a clear purpose: to get French families to buy baguettes on the way home. They didn’t have it easy. The change of scenario facing the sector responds to a cocktail in which both internal factors and changes at a social and cultural level are combined. And what factors are those? To begin with, the offer has changed (a lot). It is not the same bread that the French found in the 50s or 60s as those of 2025. CNN remember how there are new professionals (“neo-bakers”) who are choosing to remove baguettes from their shelves and opt for other products, aromatic sourdough and whole-grain breads, made with cereals, organic flour and sold by weight. The reason, beyond their flavor: they stay fresh longer, an important factor for a generation that has lost the habit (or simply does not have time) of going to the bakery every day. Added to this is the popularity of other competitors, such as processed sliced ​​bread from the US. The data is once again incontestable. A study by the Federation of Bakery Entrepreneurs reveals that nine out of ten French (86%) admit to consuming industrial white plan bought in supermarkets. In May the Sirhafood medium I remembered that the market for packaged industrial sliced ​​bread moves more than 500 million euros annually, which has meant that the format (soft bread) has even aroused the interest of artisan workshops. Beyond the industry. The drop in bread consumption is also linked to something more complex: changes at a social, cultural and demand level. Simply the young they cook less and they eat more outside the home, where they also find a greater gastronomic offer, with alternatives in which bread is not a central piece. It’s not a coincidence. Yes in 2005 88% of French people Respondents saw bread as the basis of a balanced diet, in 2023 that percentage was already 66%. In its day, the baguette also offered a series of advantages (an easy-to-store format, availability, price and flavor) that may be less appreciated in the market today. The bar must be consumed the same day it is purchased, which requires going to the bakery daily. In a society in which time is scarce, this is a handicap and explains the implementation that supermarket bread has achieved. Beyond France. The phenomenon is not in any case exclusive to France. In Spain it happens something similar. Data from the Ministry of Food show that per capita consumption has plummeted in recent decades: from 56.4 kilos per year in 1990 we have gone to 27.4. The most curious thing is that the fall is once again focused on fresh bread, which (although it remains the most popular) is the one that has suffered the greatest ‘puncture’. The consumption of industrial bread has grown, although not enough to compensate for the collapse of traditional loaves. Images | Sergio Arze (Unsplash), Mohamed Jamil Latrach (Unsplash) and Shalev Cohen (Unsplash) In Xataka | We knew that freezing bread was convenient, cheap and fashionable. What we are not clear about is that it is “so good” for health

It was a huge failure that now has another chance

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At the end of August, ‘Gran Turismo 7‘ received a update. The video game of PlayStation 5 He received five sports cars with the peculiarity that one of them was a minivan and, in addition, it was a huge commercial failure 20 years ago. It is about the Renault Avantimea very beloved model in some circles that took over a French company that manufactured sports cars and of which some 8,500 units were manufactured. Curiously, it is an ideal car for the United States, and now that it turns 25, it will finally reach that market due to a controversial import rule that was born due to… Mercedes. Minivan coupe. Let’s go with a little story about the Avantime which, as its name suggests, was a car that was born before its time. Presented as the CoupéSpace In 1999, Renault’s idea was to combine the spaciousness of a minivan with the sportiness of a three-door coupe. Manufactured by Matra (a company that was born in the 1940s as a sports car manufacturer), the Avantime began to be sold in 2001 with a single engine: a three-liter V6 with 207 HP. Then other engines came out, such as the 2.0 with 163 HP with turbo and the 2.2-liter, 150 HP diesel. The door The car was a boat: 4.64 meters long (a lot for its time, currently compact), 1.63 meters high and a great aerodynamic coefficient if we take into account its size. It weighed a lot, and much of the blame was on the two huge doors, 1.40 meters long and 50 kilos each. To open them without looking like the wings of an airplane, Renault and Matra engineered a double hinge that “folded” the door at another point. Your market? Europe, although it had all the earmarks of being an ideal car for the United States. Mercedes and the gray market. Renault never officially launched it in the North American country, but you might think that if someone liked it, they just had to buy it, homologate it and that’s it, right? That is, like this It has been made in Europe with some units of another recent commercial fiasco, the Cybertruck. Well no, and it all comes from Mercedes that began to be sold uncontrollably in the 70s. During that time, the United States experienced a boom in vehicle imports in the gray market. Americans discovered that they could buy European cars directly in Europe at prices significantly lower than those the Europeans themselves officially sold in the country. It is estimated that, in 1985 alone, 60,000 European gray market vehicles entered the US, and a fifth of registered Mercedes they were importing of Europe. The roof had to weigh a quintal The 25 year rule. The Germans, with an official presence in the country, were not amused because, furthermore, the cars being sold did not come directly from a European dealership. Mercedes herself did the test buying a model on the gray market, the 500SEL from 1985. It was a model with airbagsbut what they received was the ’84 model without airbags and with parts added later in a non-approved manner. Citing security reasons, and because the practice was harming the market, the company spent millions trying to push through Congress a law that would stop the private importation of vehicles that were not officially destined for the US market. They won: in 1988 approved the Imported Vehicle Safety Compliance Act that prohibited these imports. There was one exception: vehicles over 25 years old would be considered classics and would therefore be exempt from the restrictions. Come on, it was not so much an issue of road safety as of preventing gray market sales from taking away part of the pie. Logical reason, on the other hand. Ahead of its time. That those stipulated 25 years will be fulfilled in 2026 means that Americans, those who like wide carsyou will be able to enjoy some of the most unique European creations of recent years. And seeing how the market is, in which it seems that if you are not an SUV you are nothing, surely one of the most unique of the times to come. Furthermore, that original version with the V6 gasoline is the most interesting version for that market. We will have to keep an eye on whether they begin to import some units that, why not say it, are not too expensive considering how scarce the model is due to the morrocotudo failure it was for the French. Specifically8,557 units were produced (taking into account the three engines) of the 80,000 they wanted to manufacture because they had difficulties with the doors and the heavy roof (a lot of glass and no pillar), but it would not have mattered: they sold very little because, in addition, it was an expensive car. In the United Kingdom it cost 24,000 pounds in 2022 and only 450 units were sold in the three years that it was available. This slap impacted Renault, but it took out a Matra Automotive that depended directly on the production of this car. I have to admit that I never liked it, but my partner Alberto does have his eye on a model that, beyond taste, is unique. So much so that even Renault itself has put him in his place. Images | Renault, Zvonimir Jurcic, Patrick Charpiat In Xataka | Is the myth that “older” cars were safer true?

The only advantage Apple could have in AI was its private cloud. It has been copied by the person we least expected

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Google has presented Private AI Compute, its cloud infrastructure specially designed so that our conversations remain totally private and cannot be accessed by anyone else. Not even Google. Why is it important. The deployment that Google has announced will allow users of models like Gemini to use them without fear that their sensitive data – finances, health, private conversations – could end up being rescued and accessed by third parties. Idea copied from Apple. This type of infrastructure is an adaptation of the platform that Apple presented more than a year agoPrivate Cloud Compute, and that precisely focused on protecting those conversations by using the company’s future AI models. There are some differences, and for example Apple makes use of a concept of “verifiable transparency” that allows external researchers to audit security and privacy at any time cryptographically. At Google they use third-party verification, which is somewhat more limited as it is not open to the public to verify the running software. Tranquility as a sales argument. AI models are becoming more useful and also more personal and proactive, and that means that we also end up using them with data that may be more personal and sensitive to help us with a very specific question. Beyond ZDR. The problem is that when using the models everything we ask and they answer you can see —and even deduce—. There are ZDR (Zero Data Retention) modes in enterprise accounts from some AI providers, but having a cloud that “privatizes” those conversations is especially promising when it comes to being able to talk about everything with AI without restrictions. no fear of that data coming out of there. How this “privatization cloud” works. Those responsible for Google they explain that Private AI Compute is a “secure, fortified space for processing your data that keeps your data isolated and private to you.” The system uses several layers involving its TPUs and its Titanium Intelligence Enclaves (TIE) security chips. Our devices connect to that secure cloud environment through encryption and a cryptographic security mechanism called “remote attestation” that verifies the identity and integrity of that hardware environment to which we connect. Google also offers a detailed technical report on the operation of this infrastructure. Similar to running local models. The result is theoretically that for the user everything runs “locally” in terms of privacy. Features such as translation or audio summaries that Google offers in its services run directly on our devices: there is no data that travels to the cloud. The best of both worlds. The problem is that local AI models have limited performance, and Private AI Compute will allow you to have the best of both worlds: the power of the best AI models—which run in gigantic data centers—and the privacy guarantee of Google’s Private AI Compute. A surprising twist. This type of infrastructure means that these conversations are completely protected and that not even Google can access them. It’s a surprising turn of events, especially since for the last 25 years Google has made a living by collecting our data to apply it to its advertising model. This type of option goes in just the opposite direction, and it only remains to be seen how it will market such capability. Strategic approach. Curiously, this announcement comes days after we learned that the new version of Siri with AI It will be powered—at least, initially—by Gemini, Google’s AI model. Both companies have had a multimillion-dollar agreement for years to make Google the default search engine in Safari on iPhones and Macs, and now that alliance is apparently reinforced with the use of Google’s AI model to power the future version of Siri. In Xataka | The key to making the iPhone competitive in AI was right next door: imitating what Android had already done

How to create a character in ChatGPT and Gemini to use it in all the images you make with artificial intelligence

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Let’s explain to you how to create a character in ChatGPT and Gemini., and tell the AI ​​to remember it so you can then use it in all the images you generate in that conversation. Thus, if you want there to be cohesion between all the images, and for them to be starring the same digital person, you have a way to do it. We are going to briefly explain three different ways in which you can do it, telling you step by step the process you must follow. Remember that it is best to do everything in the same chat to maintain context. Create a character from a description The first method is to tell it that you want to create a character and add a skin description that you want to use. Start the prompt by telling them that you want to create a character called “name”, and then tell them in detail about their physical appearance and clothing. This method usually works best in ChatGPT. The AI ​​may then ask you questions to clarify, such as the style to use, and you must answer as you prefer. In my case, I have asked him to make me a comic-style one. An image will then appear, and you can ask it to make changes if you want to the design. Now, you can add a prompt with which set the character’s appearance. For that, you can use a prompt like “I want you to set this appearance to the “name” character, so that if I ask you for more drawings of him, you will always use the same design. Okay?”. With this, ChatGPT or Gemini should save this aspect. Now you can start ask you to draw this character in different ways. To do this, literally ask them to draw (name of character) and describe the scene and what they are doing. You should make the image keeping the same style of the drawing and exactly the same appearance. Create the character from a photo You can do exactly the same, but creating your character from a photo rather than from a description. Simply ask them to reimagine the photo and add a description if you want to change something or add more things, such as the outfit. Then ask him again to make it a character to use from now on. And then, just ask him to create the same character in different scenes. This method does not always work well in ChatGPT, and it usually works worse in Gemini, but it is something worth exploring. Use an already created image And the third option is use a character that you have created on another website or AIor in short any external design. To do this, upload the drawing of this character and add a prompt like “I want all the images I ask you for in this specific chat from now on to use this character as the protagonist”. This alone will be enough. And from now on, simply go asking me to create an image with a person doing what you want in the environment you describe. The image will be generated, but using the character you created before as a reference. Here, this usually works best with Gemini. In Xataka Basics | The best prompts to save hours of work and do your tasks with ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot or other artificial intelligence

There are people cheating on an AI. Oh really

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Infidelities are the order of the day, and if not, let them know to that CEO who was caught at the ColdPlay concert. We even have television shows who make horns their main entertainment. What is not so common, or so we believed, is that infidelities are not with another person, but with an AI. what’s happening. AI is breaking up marriages. A few months ago we talked about a growing trend: There are people in relationships with AI chatbots, in love to the hilt. If humans are connecting emotionally with AIs, the next step was logical: that infidelities also occur. A lawyer specialized in divorces account in this Wired report that there are more and more cases in which AI is the reason for the breakup, especially in marriages that were already going through difficulties. The results of the survey conducted by Divorce-online in the United Kingdom agree: the number of divorce petitions that mentioned the use of chatbots is increasing. TOl same level. Is it just as serious to be unfaithful with an AI as with a person? The debate is open, but the majority thinks yes. According to this survey, 64% consider that it is a form of infidelity and 22% describe it as “emotional betrayal.” In this other survey60% responded that it was an infidelity just as serious, not just a little. The truth is that, even if there is no physical contact, often the emotional connection that develops can be as intense as in a real relationship. Infidelities. On Reddit we found quite a few cases, such as this woman who broke up her 14 year marriage after discovering the “sexy Latina baby girl” her husband was chatting with. It was an AI, one that he had spent thousands of dollars on by the way. Or this user who He confessed to feeling bad for cheating on his girlfriend with an AI chatbot. and there are many more examples. Legal framework. In Spain, The reason for the divorce does not matter at a legal level, Therefore, infidelity should not affect the result in aspects such as child custody. However, as reported in the Wired report, in the US there are 16 states in which infidelity is considered a minor crime. Of course, for that to happen, AI would have to be considered a person and there is no clear legal framework; the first laws related to relations with AI They classify her as a “third party”, not a person. What can work against the unfaithful person is if, as in the case we mentioned above, there is a common expense of money associated with that infidelity with the AI. In love with AI. We humans are using AI as if he were our psychologistwe talk to him as if she were our friend and we are also developing romantic bonds. There are many ‘AI companion’ apps that enhance that emotional connection such as Replika either Character.AIbut there are also cases of people connecting with “normal” chatbots like ChatGPT. In fact, we saw it when they launched GPT-5, Many users were angry because they wanted to continue chatting with GPT-40. The reason is that the model was warmer and more playful; many users had developed emotional attachments and missed it Image | Vitaly Gariev in Unsplash In Xataka | “I can’t stop”: the addiction to talking to AI is already here and there are even support groups to quit it

A study analyzed the power of LED car headlights. The conclusion is what all drivers already know

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I hate traveling at night, almost as much as drive in rain. It had been a while since I went to a national one, but a few days ago I had to do it and what had to happen happened: I was dazzled on more than one occasion. Car headlights have evolved tremendously in a short time and LEDs have prevailed in new vehicles. The problem is that every time there are more signs that we have gone too far with its evolution. And a new report puts a percentage on how dangerous they can be if they are not properly calibrated… or if the car that uses them is an SUV. In short. Whether because you have a new car or because you update the headlights of a car with a few years behind it, they are one of the elements that are most appreciated on the journeys. They see you better, you see better and it is one of the most important points in terms of safety behind the wheel. If the height is correct and they are well calibrated, they are a pleasure, but it can also happen that this is not the case and they dazzle or dazzle you. There, security goes to hell for a few seconds. The British Department for Transport has published the results of a study about glare caused by LED lights. Your conclusion? They represent a road safety problem, altering the habits of drivers in the United Kingdom. We could extrapolate it perfectly. Basically, between October 2024 and early 2025, they combined objective measurements in real conditions with surveys of 1,850 drivers. The results They are devastating: 97% of them affirm that they are frequently distracted, and 96% that glare from headlights is a road safety problem. Analysis. On the one hand, we have those statements from drivers, who were asked about the frequency with which they felt distracted due to glare from the headlights of vehicles traveling in the opposite direction. On the other hand, the objective analysis. To do this, the DfT used luminance cameras and mixed the data using a machine learning algorithm to identify the variables that come into play at high glare levels. They discovered that there was a strong correlation between higher luminance levels and reports of glare in some test vehicles (logical, on the other hand). Also that road factors influence, such as circular upwards or curves to the righttimes when drivers’ eyes are most exposed to the beam of light from the headlights. In the end, these are things that a study does not have to confirm if you have ever driven at night, but what is interesting about the study is the consequences and the “culprits.” Impact. For example, more than half of the respondents have affirmed that this discomfort due to glare has generated anxiety when driving at certain hours, which is why they have reduced night driving or have abandoned it altogether. And more than 20% point out that they would like to take the car less at night because of this, but they have no other option. According to statistics and beyond the indirect impact, they estimate that glare has bound about 290 accidents annually. and the effects They depend on age: a 50-year-old person takes nine seconds to recover from glare, while a 16-year-old takes just one second, which applies another risk factor on the road to older drivers. SUV. Beyond this, they have also found that larger vehicles, such as SUVs, are the most associated with glare in surveys. This is logical: they are taller, their headlights are more aligned with the eyes of drivers traveling in the opposite direction (especially in lower cars) and it seems that all new cars are SUVsso they are the ones with the most up-to-date lights. The problem of retrofit. This term in English refers to the modification of an existing component. In short: updating with new parts and superior technologies, such as changing the brakes for better ones, installing a new infotainment system or change the original halogen headlights for LED ones. You can buy new ‘bulbs’ even on Amazon and many are approved, but there are two problems: those that are not well regulated and those that are installed illegally. The British Administration has identified that illegal conversion is a problem, since changing halogen bulbs for LED means that those housings designed for halogen do not work the same with the new LED headlights, causing dangerous glare. British ITV has intensified its analysis of the sale of these kits, with heavy fines for violators. Not simple solutions. They estimate that around 800,000 vehicles fail their annual inspection due to headlight alignment problems, but although these are UK numbers, this is a global problem (in Spain22% of serious failures have to do with the lights) which implies that, perhaps, we have gone too far with the power of our cars’ headlights. The solution is not clear. The report recommends periodic glare checks and rethinking luminance measurements in modern headlights, but this will have to be studied. In the end, it is something that we all suffer at one time or another although, as they point Our colleagues at MotorPasión, for motorcyclists there is another added problem: reflections on the visor itself. Image | Alexander Jawfox In Xataka | The “made in China” business of the DGT’s V-16 beacons: homologating the same product 24 times and selling it under different brands

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