Mobile Tech & Gadgets

Spain gave Huawei the storage of judicial telephone listeners. Now the United States and the EU have questions

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The Interior Ministry He awarded Huawei A contract of 12.3 million euros to store judicial telephone interceptions. How could it be otherwise, this agreement has jumped the alarms in Washington and has asked to review the intelligence exchange agreements with Spain. Brussels on the other hand also shows his concern for the decision. What happened. Spain has renewed a contract with Huawei worth 12.3 million euros so that its Ocenostor servers 6800V store the telephone listeners of the Sitel System, used by the State Security Forces. These are interceptions with judicial authorization, not espionage operations. The government defends that it is a stagnant system, without exterior connection, where Chinese technology represents only a minor part of the set. Why alarm to the United States. The presidents of the American Congress and Senate Intelligence Committees, Tom Cotton and Rick Crawford, have sent a letter to the National Intelligence Director asking to review the agreements Information exchange with Spain. They fear that any data shared with Spanish services can end up in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party, since Huawei is subject to Beijing National Security Laws. His argument is that this could allow China to monitor Spanish research on Chinese spies and other intelligence activities of an NATO ally. Europe shows concern. The European Commission also shows misgivings for the Spanish decision. Several sources recognize that They do not understand the contract And they remember that the EU has evaluated Huawei as a “high risk” supplier. From Brussels insist in that “the cheapest offer is not always the best” and stress that security should be evaluated in any public procurement, even if it is not the most economical option. The Chinese answer. Beijing has entered the rag to Defend Huawei. The spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Spain has described American criticisms as “a typical bullying act” and ensures that it is another example of how Washington “generalizes the concept of national security, politicizes commercial issues and imposes a perverse blockade against Chinese companies.” China defends that Huawei complies with European legislation and asks the United States not to entrust in commercial agreements between its government and Spain. A case with contradictions. Curiously, Spain has already banned Huawei Participate in the deployment of 5G following the guidelines of Brussels and Washington when the whole issue broke out a few years ago, but it seems that it still maintains contracts with the Chinese company as in this case. The European Commission itself, which warned about the “high -risk suppliers”, never extended its veto to this type of applications. Huawei argues that its hardware is simply common flash storage that meets national security regulations and does not have access to customer data. What can happen now. The Spanish government has activated diplomatic channels to reassure Washington about system safety. Several experts have interpreted the American reaction as a “overacting.” Enrique Dans, Professor of Innovation at IE Business School, emphasize that “the question to be asked here is who points out with the finger. The United States themselves that today cross out Spain of irresponsible, accusing it of disloyalty, are those that threaten tariffs of more than 20%.” It remains to be seen if this episode will affect the relationship between the two countries in terms of intelligence. Cover image | Spanish Advocacy and Raw Pixel In Xataka | Huawei states that he is staying behind the chips. It is just what we want us to create

EU’s new agricultural strategy begins in an unexpected place: in the school dining room

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The market share of fruit and vegetables imported has grown up in a sustained way In the last years of countries outside the EU. Meanwhile, local producers see how their margins narrow before a competition with other rules. Faced with this reality, the European Commission It raises a turn in one of its most daily policies: That schools prioritize foods of community origin in their menus. A discreet measure in appearance, but that points directly to the heart of the European agricultural model. A proposal of Brussels. All the fruit, vegetables and milk that reaches school canteens from EU countries will have to be local products. The proposal, presented last week, directly affects the European school program in force since 2017which seeks to promote healthy eating habits from nursery to high school. According to the draft to which Financial Times has had accessthe new text includes an explicit clause to favor “Made in Europe” products, not only for nutritional reasons, but as part of a broader strategy of impulse to community production. More than health. On the one hand, the initiative is part of a protectionist tendency that has already reached other key sectors such as defense, energy or critical raw materials. On the other, it is part of the debate on the future of common agricultural policy (PAC), one of the key pieces of the European budget. According to El Confidencial reportthe reform of the multiannual financial framework (2028–2034), endowed with two billion euros, cuts the PAC in favor of items such as defense, which has caused strong criticisms of the agricultural sector. Associations of Spanish farmers have already protested in Brussels against cuts that consider “a conviction” for the field. Concern is not only economical, but also structural. The Commission recognizes, in the document itself, that there is a growing imbalance in the food chain that especially affects primary producers. In the words of the text: “The unfair distribution of income, risks and cost burden disproportionately affect the agricultural sector.” Adaptation of the new standard. The new approach seeks to adapt the current school program of the PAC to the current demands. According to the draft filtered by Financial Times and confirmed by the official website of the Commissionproducts of community origin will be prioritized, with low climatic footprint, certified as ecological, sustainably packaged or from small local farms. In addition, those products rich in added sugars and saturated fats will be excluded from the plan. A community official cited by FT Thus summed up the philosophy of the measure: “It is good that the children know that this apple comes from a tree five kilometers from their home.” Currently, 17 Member States already apply criteria for local or regional preference in their school programs, according to the commission itself. The intention is to harmonize this practice at European level and reinforce it. The structural problem. The school reform arrives at an especially sensitive moment. Morocco has established itself as one of the main suppliers of EU fruits and vegetables, displacing in some cases the European product. According to An article by El Economistathe community import of Moroccan fruits and vegetables grew by 14% in the first quarter of 2025. A commitment to food sovereignty. Although the school proposal may seem secondary in economic terms, it is part of a broader paradigm change. As Financial Times remembersBrussels has begun to introduce “Made in Europe” clauses in strategic areas such as defense, state aid to the green sector and now also in the agri -food system. The objective is not to close borders, but to establish fairer reciprocity conditions and reinforce sectors considered strategic for the stability of the continent. Among them, food. According to the commissionguaranteeing access to safe, affordable and quality foods is one of the pillars of the European project, together with the defense of the rural economy. A difficult bet. Beyond the food debate, what is at stake is a definition of economic, commercial and social model for the future of Europe. In an era of growing global protectionism, the European Commission gives clear signals: from defense to school breakfast, the “made in Europe” wants to impose as a norm. But in the attempt to protect the European farmer, Brussels site delicate land, where commercial tensions and market realities are not always so easy to digest. Image | Pexels Xataka | ASML, Airbus and Mistral are planted before Brussels. They ask that the application of the law of AI and notify the risks delay

These three Sihoo chairs are perfect for those looking for a comfortable and lasting option

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Those who spend many hours in front of a computer, we know how really important it is to choose the chair we use well. There are options of many different types: From office models to others more versatile for home. As we say, you have to know how to choose well, although perhaps it is not as simple as it should due to the huge number of manufacturers and models that we have available. A very interesting option is the Sihoo brand, which has three very lowered chairs right now and that can fit us great. We tell you more about them. Three chairs, three very interesting options The first of the chairs we bring is the Doro C300 model, a model that stands out for several different key models. The most striking is perhaps Your body tracking system for the lumbar zone. Thanks to the same, regardless of how we feel or whether we move, the chair will adapt to us all the time. In this way, we will always have this critical area supported. In addition to this, it is also important to note that both support and seat They are manufactured with a mesh fabric. This is perfect for moments of the year as hot as this, since it does not give as much heat as other materials. Obviously, this is not the only positive thing about this type of tissues, since they also resist the passage of time and intensive use. The price of Doro C300 is 649.99 euros most of the year, but right now we have a Sihoo promotion that leaves it much cheaper. Specifically, its price has fallen to 259.99 eurosa more tempting price. In addition, if we use the Sihoola6 code we will obtain An additional discount of 6%. If we prefer, we have its variant with rest 299.99 euros. SIHOO DORO C300 ERGONOMIC CHAIR * Some price may have changed from the last review The second of the chairs we bring to you is Doro S100, a model whose main difference we will find in the back of the chair. This is because it has A double lumbar supportvery adjustable and that is independent of the rest of the support. In this way, we have it very easy to configure your provision at will. It is also made of mesh fabric, has a 5 -wheel base and its support can be reclined to 135 degrees. The support, in addition, is quite adjustable in height and their 4D armrests allow us to configure them in the four directions with the possibility of uploading them or lowering them as we want. We cannot ignore that your seat It can also be configured independently of the backupthus making the whole set of the chair very customizable. The price of this normal chair is a bit higher than the previous one (649.99 euros), but this promotion of Sihoo leaves it exactly at the same price, that is, 259.99 euros. In the same way as the previous one, if we use the Sihoola6 code we will obtain An additional discount of 6%. * Some price may have changed from the last review We close this selection of Sihoo chairs with the last of the models, Doro S300. It is an improved version of the previous model, which also has a double lumbar support so that we can adjust it as we want. Its main novelty is what the brand calls ‘antigravity mechanism’, thanks to which we can enjoy A flexible and very adaptable experienceEa our body, even if we recline your support. In this case, we also have Some 6D armrest Improved that allow us to adjust them more according to our needs. It is also very interesting that we can control everything from the right side with a simple and comfortable control to use. Everything to facilitate that the experience is not only flexible and adaptable to us, but we can also adapt it at any time to our position. This model has a PVP of 899.99 euros, but now we are at the best time to buy it thanks to its reduced price. The black version of the chair is currently by 699.99 eurosthat is to say, A 200 euros discount. In addition, if we use the code we commented above, we will obtain an additional 6%discount. * Some price may have changed from the last review Some of the links of this article are affiliated and can report a benefit to Xataka. In case of non -availability, offers may vary. Images | Sihoo In Xataka Selection | What a chair to work and play buy: recommendations for ergonomics, comfort and 13 gaming and office chairs from 80 euros In Xataka | How to set up your home office: Guide for the purchase of supports, monitors and other peripherals, cables, headphones and more

What do we really know about the Start & Stop system and its use in summer

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It is not mandatory but manufacturers have made it an essential in recent years and it is usual to find it in any new car that is sold in the market to the point that it is activated every time we enter the vehicle. We talk about the Start & Stop, a system designed to save fuel that manufacturers carry by flag but that does not stop raising controversies. Is it really interesting to use it or is it better to deactivate it to avoid breakdowns? Start & Stop, a controversial system Although the origin of Start & Stop system dates back to the 80sIt was in the 2000s when manufacturers began to popularize. Before increasingly hard emission regulations that have brought us the microhbrid cars, the sailing circulation or the disconnection of cylinders, the marks opted for a drastic solution: turn off the engine. He Start & Stop System directly turn off the engine when we are standing. The theory is simple, if the engine does not work at the idle, the car does not produce polluting emissions and the approved means are lower than usual. Keep in mind that WLTP cycles, for example, contemplate stops in all the scenarios that simulate, from urban circulation to high speed on highway. Savings, according to some experts, is evident. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), it ensures that fuel savings is between 4 and 5% compared to that of a car that keeps the engine at the idle. This is especially useful in cars that constantly move by city. In fact, some studies They raise savings to 26.4% When the traffic jams are prolonged. As we said, the system is not really mandatory by any regulations but according to AxiosThe system is mounted by 65% of the cars sold in the United States. In Europe we have not found concrete data but the new car that is sold without said system is rare. The problem is that the system, by default, comes on every time we open the car. To comply with the expected broadcasts, the manufacturer is obliged to make it so. Therefore, it has become a controversial system. In fact, the EPA itself, now led by Trump administration personnel, ensures that it is studying the elimination of the system “that everyone hates”, In the words of Lee Zeldin, its director. Click on the tweet to go to the original image As in the case of the speed alert system, it is something that could be completely deactivated forever from our cars but is not recommended since In the ITV they will soon check that we have made this modification and will suspend us. Until then, it only remains to turn it out manually if we decide. But is it really interesting? The start & stop and the breakdowns As we say, this option to save fuel is something that we have living together a few decades, so the system has been refined. At first it was slow and abrupt but especially since the arrival of microhill with 48 volt batteries has been refined and is now much faster. Despite this, there are still doubts about whether it can affect the reliability of the car. It is what holds one of the Ebenezer workshops mechanics. One of its mechanics explains on its social networks (more than 300,000 followers in Tiktok) that it is advisable to deactivate the system in summer traffic jams since it generates too much stress in mechanics and can cause expensive breakdowns. Click on the image to go to the original publication First, the mechanic offers a purely practical motive. When the car stops the engine, we will continue to receive air because the car fan remains active but we will lose cold air. But, in addition, we play some breakdowns according to their experience. They point out that stopping and starting constantly generates stress in the starter and battery engine. A battery that, as the companions of Motorpasionit is not especially cheap in these systems since the agm or EFB is used that are differentiated “from those of a lifetime” in which “they have a more advanced technology, endure more cycles and have good performance in adverse conditions.” But the matter goes beyond substitutions within minimal maintenance. According to the mechanic, with the active system the temperature increases because if the car is in the idle, the water pump moves, helping the cooling of the car at a time when it does not reach a clean air in motion and the air conditioning system is increasing the temperature. The Start & Stop helps to raise the temperature in these conditions. However, electric water pumps They have mitigated this problem and some others that are mentioned in the mechanic’s video. Over the years, systems are more and more complex to reduce the risk of breakdowns And, now, they can keep the water pump active to guarantee the engine refrigerated but also a concrete position of the cylinders in the off so that when the march is resumed they are already in their ideal position. In spite of everything, there are still reluctance. In Motor.esfor example, they gave the reasons why they recommended to stop the off and ignition system with each stop. The reasons were more or less the same: greater stress, premature substitutions, loss of effectiveness in the air conditioning or greater risk of mechanical breakdowns. But they gave a fact that can help you decide for the shutdown. Although manufacturers use reinforced alternators and starter motors with these systems, some studies suggest that engine lit during the life of the car can pass from 50,000 to 500,000 occasions. To all of the above you have to add a greater concern for the turbo, since this system suffers especially with abrupt stops. That’s why, explain in the same mediumthat Start & Stop systems take into account the motor temperature Before activating and if this is not high enough they do not go … Read more

Thermal relief is already here but with a hand warning

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The heat, undisputed protagonist of the first half of summer, seems to give us A truce. This time it is not a two or three day truce in which storms lower the temperature for a couple of days before the return of temperatures even more extreme than the previous ones. More fresh. Meteorological models foresee a week closer to normal as far as temperatures are concerned. Moreover: during the next few days We can see negative thermal anomalies In much of the Iberian Peninsula, that is, cooler temperatures than would correspond to these dates. Looking at the polar jet. How have we gone from a record heat to this “normality”? The answer to this question seems to be, mainly, in the Polar jet. More specifically, in the undulations that this current draws over its course. The polar jet is a barrier that separates cold air masses from the warmer air pole from subrtical latitudes. When winding can make polar air masses reach lower latitudes, bringing instability to these areas, which is what is expected to occur this week. We continue in summer. Of course from the State Meteorology Agency (Aemet) Remember that we continue in summer, and near the cannula, so fresh temperatures do not imply that heat will be completely. The forecasts Aemet talk about temperatures that could continue to exceed 34º in areas of the south during much of the week. In fact the Keep several notices For high temperatures for the next few days, in some areas of Andalusia, Murcia and Alicante. These notices will live on Wednesday with storms and rain warnings in some areas of the Pyrenees. Thermal relief will not imply a somewhat revolt situation. A new trough. And it is that thermal relief will not imply a less revolt situation. A trough driven by the polar jet will bring storms that can be intense in areas of the north and west. It is expected that the worst of this episode will begin to be noticed on Wednesday north of the Mediterranean aspect, extending during the following days to Levante and Balearic Islands. According to Describe Geographer Samuel Biener In Meteored, “it is not an episode of generalized rains, but of torments of a very irregular nature and capable of generating adverse phenomena, something that is common at this time.” On Friday the trough will lose its influence on our territory. Back to heat? By the weekend the situation could change again, which seems to indicate the return of heat for next week. Although There is still uncertaintysome models indicate the return of the heat at altitude, which would advance the arrival of new warm episodes such as those we saw the month of June. It may be more if we take into account its proximity to the days of cannula. In Xataka | The hydrological bonanza could not be eternal: drought is a real threat after an extremely warm, and also dry June Image | ECMWF

China wanted to turn a village into a great tourist resort. Did not have the numantine resistance of a neighbor

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For a while to this part, the Guizhou area, in downtown China, has become the stage of impossible architectures. In fact, there is a imposing mountain chainbut a bridge so high has been raised that they fit Two Eiffel towers Under him. Not far from there, one person is raising another titanic work: a kind of street castle. A challenge to demolition. I told the weekend The New York Times. In a high grass plain in the Chinese province of Guizhou, a structure that Challenge the laws of physicsurbanism and the very bureaucracy. Composed of eleven floors of reddish wooden rooms embedded by each other, supported by pulleys, water cubes and recycled columns, Chen Tianming’s house seems taken from an enlightened novel by Dr. Seuss or delighted world From El Castillo Ambulante of Ghibli. At first glance, it may seem like a fragile and improvised extravagance, but for its creator and inhabitant, 43, it represents a tenacious affirmation of freedomidentity and resistance to state power. From the ninth floor, to which I access homeless stairs without any railing, Chen observes the uniform apartment buildings where his old neighbors They were relocated. He chose another way: a vertical, personal and challenging. Architecture against forced uprooting. It all started In 2018when the Xingyi government announced the demolition of Chen’s hometown to build A resort. The compensation offer was considered ridiculous by his family, who refused to leave. When the excavators began to destroy, Chen left his messenger work in Hangzhou and returned to defend his parents’ house. Initially motivated by an economic logic (compensation depended on the built area), began adding floors with his brother using recycled materials. But what began as a pragmatic measure became a personal obsession. Apartment on floor, his house grew with him, as a physical extension of his determination to stay, resist, and transform a rural home into a work of inhabited art. And architecture as a manifesto. While officials They insisted in outlaw The structure and sent eviction notifications, Chen responded With nails, ropes and books. The man had studied mathematics before leaving the university, and worked as a calligraphy seller, insurance agent and delivery man, but found in the construction a form of expression that transcended the utility. Each floor had A function or a symbol: A reading corner in the fifth, an outdoor tea house in the sixth, hanging plants and suspended objects in the eighth, a bedroom always higher. Your tools: stairs, pulleys, old woods and their own body. The house became newspaper, shelter and trench. Chen, what He claims to feel “Guardian of the village,” he dedicated his mornings to inspect every corner and repair damage with such ingenious solutions as strategic buckets and columns elevated by the windows. A family history. Despite the skepticism of their neighbors, who accuse them of selfishness or foolishness, the Chen family He has joined Around this unlikely structure. Their parents, accustomed to receiving curious visitors on weekends, with stoic patience the decision of their child. Even his brother has suggested decorating the house With lanterns at night. Together they have chosen isolation against the contempt of the former neighbors who moved. Meanwhile, demolition threat seems have deflated: The resort project was frozen due to lack of funds, in a province marked by Pharaonic developments unfinished. Chen, however, continues to build, not by necessity or ambition, but because it says that each new floor is a personal challenge, an intimate conquest against time and entropy. Uncertain legacy. Obviously, Chen Tianming’s house is not intended to last, and he knows it. He acknowledges that, without its constant maintenance, he would collapse in a couple of years. But he also states that while he is standing, his house will be. He has invested little More than $ 20,000 in materials and about 4,000 in lawyers. His expenses, no doubt, are not those of a professional builder, but rather those of a stubborn artist. Although the government has placed a sign warning of Structural Dangersmany neighbors express admiration against originality and will embodied in the structure. Its construction violates known urban codes, but embodies a form of resistance that many feel their own. “If they demolished it, it would be a shame,” some counted to the Times. In a constant China Forced modernizationthe Chen tower is more than a nail: it is a declaration of intentions. Image | Azylber, YouTube In Xataka | This bridge built by China is so high that two Eiffel tower fit under it. And they have built it in just four years In Xataka | China has an imposing sacred mountain of 2,500 meters high with a surprise at its top: two temples

How to create images from photos with artificial intelligence

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Let’s tell you How to create images from photos wearing artificial intelligence. This goes beyond Create dolls with your photos Or similar things, because you can directly make complete images from your photos, change your appearance, and even add things. Let’s start by giving you a series of prior tips to take into accountwith several things you will need to know. Blabla Before starting, some tips Before you start, the first thing you have to do is know exactly what you want. By this I mean that you should know if you simply create a totally different image from a photo, or if you want to transform this photo into a different one. Some of the things you are going to do are the following: Convert the photo into a drawing with various types of styles available. Create an image using the photo as a gestural reference, but changing all the content. Alter the photo to change your format or remove the background. Maybe even eliminate elements This may seem nonsense, but depending on what you want there are tools that will be more useful than others. Another thing to keep in mind is that you should try Use good quality images As a reference, with good resolution and good lighting, trying that there are no blurred objects. I also recommend you experiment In the event that you want to reimagine the image to create a drawing from it. In this article We give you many styles ideas to edit your photos. It is also important take into account the limits of use of each tool. There are some that are free but that only allow you to use them once or twice before paying, and there are more flexible ones, but with less functions. In general, working with photos is usually a payment function. The best free tools Now let’s tell you The best free services and tools To create images from photos using artificial intelligence. Chatgpt: Chatgpt being the AI that carries the front in terms of making images from photos, and is the one that offers the best results. However, in the free version the process can take a long time. Link: chatgpt.com Microsoft Copilot: COPILOT It is also able to offer very good results, since it is using the same technology as Chatgpt, but slightly modified. They are somewhat different results, but equally good. Link: Copilot.microsoft.com Fotor: It has several artificial intelligence tools with which you can eliminate funds, change sizes or make modifications. Quite versatile. Link: fotor.com/photo-editor-app Grok: X’s AI can do something similar, but the results are quite bad. It is good to generate images from nothing, but bad to create them from photos. Link: Grok.com Google Gemini: We mention a Gemini for being another of the great generative, but for the moment It does not allow images based on photosthat is not to serve you. Link: Gemini.google.com IdeOGram: IdeOGram It also offers interesting results. Unfortunately you can only do it if you are a payment user, with the modality of 16 euros per month. Link: ideogram.ai Freepik: This model is a specialist in making compositions based on faces. However, it is also necessary to use your payment plan to create images using a photo as a reference. Link: Freepik.com Picart: You can add effects to a photo and make editions, such as deleting its background or changing colors. Link: picart.com Vondy: It specifically serves to create a cartoon from the photo you upload, modifying factions of the face to make it fun. Link: Vondy.com Create images from photos with chatgpt Chatgpt is the most capable tool To create images from artificial intelligence. You have many possibilities, and the way to use it is using a Prompt written next to the photo you upload. Every time you repeat the prompt with the same photo you will have a different result. To create an image from a photo you must attach the photo next to a prompt To say something like “reimagine this photo with the style of ..”. If in the end you add an image or cartoon style, it will turn that photo into a cartoon of what you have asked. You can also use it to make cartoons from photos. You can also create images using photos as a reference For the position you want to give. For example, I have uploaded a photo of my cat and asked to draw a lion with the same position, and Chatgpt will do it. You can also specify that the background changes. Another curiosity you can do is take the face of a photo and put it in a drawing that you have created by artificial intelligence. This can be used for jokes above all, because the difference will be noticed. Of course, you can also ask that Use the face as a reference To create the character. Finally, you can also Remove the background to an image To maintain what appears in the foreground. Thus, you will create a PNG with a transparent background that you can use on other occasions. Of course, specify well what you want to keep in the foreground, for example, to say that it is a person or an animal, to take it into account. And the other alternatives? Currently, the AIs that best work with your photos to create images from them are Chatgpt and Co -ilotboth based on the same Openai technology. The rest of the alternatives are simply far from the results that these two offer. Even some big names of AI, such as Google Gemini, cannot even edit images from photos. You can try to use the alternatives from the list, some of them are very useful for specific editions. However, when creating images from a photo they are quite bad and lower. Of course, remember that the evolution of AI is being dizzy, so All this could change in a few months. Therefore, pay attention to how tools evolve over time. In … Read more

The urban legend about a mythical video game that continues to circulate 35 years later

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A legendary game, ‘Wing Commander’ contained a programming bulk error at a time when correcting a video game was more complex than now, in the same way as the testing processes They were less detailed and prolonged than the current ones. An error message that the ingenuity of a programmer made a brief congratulation to the player. That is what they have been telling us so far … but it wasn’t entirely true. Problems in the galaxy. The year is 1990. ‘Wing Commander’, the legendary saga of space flight simulators starts with a Initial Delivery on PC (MS-DOS), whose success would give rise to a franchise that would reach the most powerful microororders and consoles of the time, as a friend CD32, Sega Mega-CD and SNES. In the saga, the Terrestrial Confederation faces a militarized feline breed called Killrathi in the Vega sector. However, shortly before launch in September, Origin Systems developers realized that A fateful mistake hung the game In his final bars. Capital error. What happened was that they found An error message Produced by the memory manager Emm386, which frozen the game. As they needed to send the game to production, one of the programmers, Ken Demarest, directly edited the error message to show the message “Thank you for playing Wing Commander” instead instead of the technical description of the error. A real required required just in time … and that, in reality, never happened. Urban legends. The truth is that this ingenious solution for the error was not published in the final edition: the team managed to correct the error in time, according to Demarest On the Wing Commander Commer Information Centerin its section dedicated to denying urban legends around the franchise. As they say, Demarest was also head of programming in ‘Last VII’, and this game contained a similar closing message (“Thank you for playing ultima VII”). Therefore, the anecdote could have been incorrectly confused or attributed between both titles, further feeding the myth. Functional fudge. Over the years, the false anecdote (of which even There are captures) It became popular so much that this solution was used as an example of a “functional fudge”: a quick but little orthodox solution for the problem. By extension, some critics of Chris Roberts, creator of ‘Wing Commander’ and currently in the ambitious’Star Citizen‘, they have used urban legend to argue that the technical quality of their products has always been questionable. Finally, everything was one of the many urban legends that circulate in the industry. It is counted, it is rumored. The absence of a serious and established press in the first decades of the industry made the video games of the eighties, ninety and even beyond (such as ‘Wing Cmmander’) into hotbeds of rumors and half lies. Since the time of legendary ‘Polybius‘, a mental control device through recreational machines, to the suicide melody of Lavander town in’ Pokémon Red/Blue ‘, authentic Material for nightmares Creepypastathrough the non-existence of A game that erased itself‘Kill Switch’, video games have always had urban legends commented on dark Internet forums and in the cartridge and discs exchange corrillos. The ‘Wing Commander’, as we have seen, has already been officially denied, but it is clear that no one ever kills a good story. In Xataka | The 39 best games of the time to play now and free in the browser

Luxury holidays were unattainable for most in Spain. Now luxury are simply a holiday

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In February they met The results of the living conditions survey (ECV) published by the National Institute of Statistics in Spain (INE). Then a trend was shown: the percentage of population at risk of poverty or social exclusion was placed In 25%. However, from those data now another situation is reflected with the arrival of the “summer”: one in three Spaniards cannot simply be considered a vacation. Spain without rest. I told the weekend The country. In a Spain in which holiday tourism is part of the collective imaginary and GDPmillions of workers live a parallel reality: that of unattainable rest. In the piece they spoke hospitality workers who They had not left on vacation for almost a decade, and not because they do not have days off, but because They cannot afford use them. Background, An endemic evil: With a salary just for above the minimum and a tight domestic economy between rentservices and a shopping basket More and more expensive, travel is simply unthinkable. This group is part 33.4% of Spaniards who, according to The INE surveycannot afford a single week of vacation a year, one of the basic indicators of social welfare according to European standards. The great paradox. The fact reveals that having a job is no longer synonym for well -being: even with the minimum interprofessional salary having Increased 54% from 2018many people still do not reach the month, trapped between scarce income and a cost of life. The rental and housing gap. One of the main factors that determine this holiday deprivation is the regime of possession of The house. While 28.4% of those who have a property cannot go on vacation, among the tenants the figure It rises to 43.4%and reaches 48.7% in social rentals. Housing, more and more expensiveIt consumes a disproportionate part of family income, forcing people to choose between roof or rest. According to Carlos Dirtíaspresident of the European Network for the Fight against Poverty and Social Exclusion (EAPN), this constant financial pressure leads many to also renounce other forms of leisure and recreation, with Psychological and social consequences long range: isolation, loss of roots and growing emotional disconnection with the environment. The impossibility of taking a respite is not just a budgetary problem; It is also a structural threat to collective well -being. The price of non -rest. The testimonies of waiters in The report of El País They illustrate how the lack of effective rest also has emotional effects: anxiety, exhaustion, feeling of stagnation. In others Other casesas in home employees, another angle of the problem arises: those who work while others vacation. Guilt, according to The psychologist Adrián Navalónit is common among those who cannot afford vacations and feel that they lose a basic right. The absence of rest becomes, then, a silent form of emotional wear, which can lead to labor demotivation, chronic stress and low productivity. Inequality symptom. Spain is not alone in this problem, but occupies a position above the European average. Until 2023, 18% of Spanish workers could not afford holidays, in front 15% in the EU team. Among the most vulnerable groups Young people from 16 to 29 years (36.7%) and single -parent families (47.8%), both with additional difficulties to accumulate savings or free time. According to the data of the European Trade Union Institute, more than five and a half million of working people in Spain will spend the summer between employment and the couch, without the possibility of planning a single leisure day away from home. Solutions? As explained in the middlepossibly not only goes to improve wages, but to change the paradigm: assume that vacations are not a luxury or a whim, but a fundamental right that revitalizes the person, family and social fabric as a whole. Image | Jesús Pérez In Xataka | Spain already knows what is the consequence of being a tourist power: that traveling to Mallorca costs as much as traveling to Bali In Xataka | “If you earn 30,000 euros a year, spend between 1,500 and 3,000 is reasonable”: what do financial experts think about holidays

Sending to you WhatsApp messages yourself is an idea that works. But it has a great “but”

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A few years ago we began to detect that many people had a WhatsApp group of a single participant (themselves) and used it as a personal notes. The practice was extended so much that in 2022 WhatsApp allowed Send yourself to oneselfwithout the need for false groups. That has increased this practice, that of convert WhatsApp into a personal homework and manager. Comfort is undeniable: in countries like Spain, WhatsApp is religionand in a touch we can park a fleeting idea, that important link or that photo of the restaurant menu. The friction threshold is minimal, access is immediate. And that is why it works well as an emergency solution, as a content warehouse to consult in a short time and have very very hand. But We confuse convenience with productivity. This began as an informal solution, but for many people it has become an improvised personal management system. There are those who even have several groups with themselves, organized thematically: “ideas”, “purchases”, “work” (!!) … a productive architecture built on sand. WhatsApp is a good messaging tool, but it is not a management tool. It is a patch that gives us the illusion of control, not a real solution. How to try to get a career just used post-ps. The problem starts WhatsApp turns everything into flow. Information that passes, accumulates and is lost in the Scroll infinite. There is no structure, nor hierarchies or states. A “pending task” looks identical to a completed one already discarded. Or an urgent reminder. You can’t export anything – or yes you can, but not decently-, there are no limit dates, there are no Checklists. It is the triumph of immediacy over the organization, of the impulse on the method. Seduction is that We eliminate friction of the moment at the expense of multiplying it exponentially after. That note that you sent you a month ago between memes and irrelevant links. That brilliant idea that sounded important now is only a line of text without context in a sea of fragmented information. Using it as a sporadic notes of notes does make sense. Living in it and believing that it is a system is to cheat, and it is happening. We apply messaging logic to problems that require management. No surgeon operates in hammers. Systems exist For something. It can work to some extent, and in fact it works as quickly to accumulate post-psbut the consequences will be paid later, when we need to locate or structure that information. Comfort, when it becomes independence, ceases to be an advantage to become a limitation. In Xataka | Every time someone tells me that his mobile is slow, I know where to look: the “paper” of WhatsApp Outstanding image | Xataka with Mockuuuups Studio

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