decided

90 years ago a Basque company decided to manufacture the “Rolls-Royce of staplers”. It hasn’t gone particularly well

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What do they have in common the MoMA, Vladimir Putinthe former Colombian president Andres Pastrana and the veteran reporter Gillian de Bonowho for decades dedicated himself to advising wealthy readers of Financial Times How to spend your money in style? The answer is only two characters long: M5the Basque brand stapler The Helmet. His name may not ring a bell, but it sure does. your imageneat, efficient, sophisticated. So much so that it has elevated the stapler to the category of art worthy of the desks of leaders and museums. Despite all that and its centuries-old history, El Casco has not managed to avoid bankruptcy. After declare bankruptcynow his legacy is sold to the highest bidder. The art of putting together pages. Life offers us many kinds of pleasures, but there is one that we did not know about until the Basque company El Casco got to work: collecting papers. This was recognized a few years ago, Gillian de Bonothe veteran reporter of the How I spend it (‘How I spend it’) from the diary Financial Times. In 2017, after testing the M5 stapler from the Guipuzcoan company, recognized to his readers that he had never enjoyed stapling papers so much. It hasn’t been the only one. The design, efficiency and above all the elegance of El Casco staplers (the M5 is perhaps the most famous and exclusive, but in the catalog of the company there are many more models) has led them to such unexpected places such as the collection of the MoMA museum in New York or the desks of Vladimir Putin and Andrés Pastrana, as well as the offices of executives from around the world. After all, stapling report sheets may be a mundane task, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done glamorously. “The Roll-Royce of staplers”. Perhaps the best definition of the M5 was given years ago by designer Juli Capella. For him, remember The Countrythe Basque creation is something like “the Rolls-Royce of staplers.” It may sound like an exaggeration, but the phrase is better understood if several factors are taken into account. First, the design of the article, which has allowed it to be passed from parents to children in many cases and continue to fulfill its function. just like decades ago. Second, its history: the company behind it traces its origins to before the Civil War. Third, its exclusivity (and prices): in its online catalog You can find different models ranging from 150 to almost 400 euros. And yet… All of the above guarantees El Casco staplers a privileged place in the history of national design, but that does not mean that at a business level they have to do well. On the contrary. The passing of the decades, the change of habits, digitalization and competition of articles low cost Asia is over taking its toll to the company, unable to balance its accounts. At the beginning of the year, Tuncalya, the Eibar-based company behind the El Casco brand, declared bankruptcy and months later, in May, was auctioned most of the machinery and facilities that allowed it to manufacture its staplers. Brands, domains and know-how. Now comes the second (and final) chapter of its corporate epilogue. As I remembered a few days ago The Mailthis week the other part of his business legacy is auctioned: around twenty trademark registrations in different countries, the know-how accumulated after decades of activity, its commercial fund and a series of web domains that will remain valid at least until October 2026 or 2030. The bid is organized by Pacelma Auctions, it comes out in a single Lope with a starting price of 50,000 euros and is part of the bankruptcy procedure supervised by a court in San Sebastián. More than just design. Although what probably made Putin, Pastrana and Bono fall in love with it is the design of the staplers, El Casco stands out for another reason: its history. The roots of the company must be found in the Basque Country of the 20when Juan Olave and Juan Solozabal (former Orbea employees) founded a business in Éibar that was initially dedicated to weapons. After a few years marked by the Great Depression and the Civil War, the company decided to focus on office supplies. What didn’t change was his mentality. “A staple should move through the stapler with the same precision as a bullet through the barrel of a revolver,” explains Joan Solozábal, grandson of the founder. Against all odds. Throughout its extensive history, the firm has encountered the occasional crisis. In 1937, just a few years after it began manufacturing stationery, the business suffered the blow of the Civil War: the town suffered bombings that left the company damaged. Over time, it was able to resume its activity, it was equipped with a larger factory and, already in the 60s, it gathered around 200 employees. The crises of the following decades, digitalization and competition from low cost However, they undermined his business. In 2014 the company was forced to bankruptcya delicate situation that was saved thanks to the Turkish investor (and former client of the firm) Bayrak Vedak. Their disembarkation gave a boost of oxygen to the Gipuzkoan company, but it has not allowed them to fully weather the storm. Twelve years after that critical episode and despite attempts to refocus the business, the firm declared bankruptcy at the beginning of 2026. Now its future remains in the air. Images | The Helmet and Wikipedia In Xataka | What happened to Barreiros, the Spanish automotive company that manufactured Dodges “made in Spain” in the second half of the 20th century

ByteDance has decided that Intel and AMD are too expensive. So you’re going to make your own CPUs

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ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, has been purchasing the processors it needs for its data centers from Intel and AMD for many years. He’s going to stop doing it. And this Chinese company has decided that this model has just come to an end. According to Reutersis already developing its own processors with the purpose of supporting its infrastructure. artificial intelligence (IA) in response to a combination of supply shortages and price increases that have made dependence on external suppliers unsustainable. The increases are not marginal: Intel and AMD have raised their rates between 10% and 35% quarter by quarter in recent months, a pressure that is difficult to bear for a company that plans to invest around $22.8 billion in AI infrastructure during 2026. However, the underlying trigger is not only the price. The industry is experiencing a structural change in the way AI is used because it has left behind the phase of mass training of models dominated by Nvidia GPUs to enter into the age of inference. That type of workload demands much more from the CPUs, which work in tandem with the GPUs and have become the new bottleneck of AI. The most immediate consequence of this scenario is a shortage of processors that Intel and AMD are not able to meet. In fact, the company led by Lip-Bu Tan has warned its Chinese customers, again according to Reutersthat their delivery times are going to be extended up to six months. And Lisa Su, the CEO of AMD, has declared that the global CPU market is stressed and the situation is not going to improve in the short term. ByteDance has two weapons: Arm and RISC-V The strategy that ByteDance has developed involves developing two architectures in parallel: one based on Arm and another on RISC-V, the open source standard that China has embraced with great interest precisely because of its independence from Western licenses. Designing two variants simultaneously is not at all a symptom of indecision: it responds to the usual coverage of large technology companies before committing to large-scale production of a specific proposal. In 2024 ByteDance partnered with Broadcom to design a custom AI accelerator and manufacture it with TSMC’s 5nm lithography ByteDance has been hiring talent specialized in chips since 2022. In 2024 it partnered with Broadcom to design a custom AI accelerator and manufacture it using TSMC’s 5nm lithography, known as the SeedChip. Its mass production is planned for this year. However, the CPU it is developing is a different piece of the puzzle: a general-purpose processor for servers and not a specialized accelerator. Even so, both initiatives point in the same direction: they pursue reduce dependence on external suppliers in a context in which US export restrictions and market volatility make this dependence increasingly costly. This moment is also relevant because of what is happening at the other end of the market. Nvidia has built its dominance on GPUs, but is now entering the CPU market with your Vera processors with the intention of capturing an additional $200 billion market. In March it also presented an inference system developed with Groq technology in a clear attempt to consolidate its positions before the fragmentation of the AI ​​chip market reduces its share. Be that as it may, ByteDance for the moment continues to depend on Nvidia for its GPUs, although it is already playing on that same board with its own cards. Image | Intel More information | Reuters In Xataka | The condemnation that afflicts China: after decades of manufacturing a competitive desktop processor, it is six years behind

In the 16th century someone decided that Da Vinci’s notebooks had to be dismembered. It took us 400 years to solve their mistake.

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Upon his death, in 1519, Leonardo da Vinci He left more than just paintings and frescoes that crown him as one of the great references of Renaissance painting. Just as (or even more) important to understanding the depth of his genius are his personal notebooks, full of notesillustrations, graphics… come from his own handwriting and sprinkled with his characteristic mirror writing. By chance of history, in the 16th century this bibliographical treasure suffered a ‘act of editorial vandalism’ that has conditioned the way we understand Leonardo. Until now. An unfortunate legacy. The name of Francesco Melzi Maybe it doesn’t tell you much. And it’s normal. Melzi was an Italian painter of the 16th century whose memory has been eclipsed for posterity by geniuses of the stature of Michelangelo, Raphael Sanzio and Leonardo Da Vinci, of whom he was a disciple. However, Melzi does stand out for something, a role that has conditioned our way of understanding the author of ‘La Mona Lisa’: upon Leonardo’s death, Melzi became his executor, responsible for looking after his manuscripts. That enormous legacy made up of hundreds and hundreds of manuscript sheets ended up in the hands of Pompeo Leoni (1533-1608), a sculptor from Arezzo, in Tuscany, who one day decided to dismember Leonardo’s notebooks. The result was disastrous, although to be honest Leoni’s objective was not to destroy the notebooks, but to ‘reorganize’ them following an arbitrary criterion. And what was the result? Basically Leoni dedicated himself to separating, classifying and putting together sheets of Leonardo’s notebooks and loose pages in a whimsical way. Based on what he considered best. The result was that many of the annotations that Da Vinci had recorded in the same set of manuscripts between the mid-1470s and his death in 1519 were divided into two different codices. In one, the largest, Leoni included all material (drawings and writings) of a technical or scientific nature. The second, smaller codex was reserved for material that in his opinion had an artistic and figurative character. From Italy to England. Leoni’s ‘attack’ did not end there. At the beginning of the 17th century his son-in-law, Polidoro Calchi, decided to get rid of the material he had inherited from the sculptor, which caused Da Vinci’s old notebooks to end up scattered around the world, separated by hundreds of kilometers. The first codex, that of technical annotations, today known as Codex Atlanticusended up in the hands of Count Galeazzo Arconati, who in turn donated it in 1637 to the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana. The second codex traveled even further. Around 1620 he ended up in England and half a century later was integrated in the Royal Collection at Windsor. Righted the wrong. More than four centuries later that capricious dismemberment of Da Vinci’s annotations has been amended at last. At least in part. A few days ago the Italian embassy in the United Kingdom, the Ministry of Culture and representatives of the Galileo Museum, the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana and the Royal Collection Trust presented in London a new tool named ‘Leonardotheka 2.0’. The name gives a clue to its approach: it is nothing more nor less than an immense ‘library’ digital of Da Vinci’s legacy, a resource that allows many of the manuscripts of the Renaissance genius to be consulted in an accessible and agile way. The Galileo Museum slide that from now on, whoever wishes will be able to explore the material by accessing the archives independently or with cross searches, in addition to “the results of more than 200 years of research” on Da Vinci’s career and work. 3,500 pages. Beyond that advantage, what is really important about Leonardotheka 2.0. is that, as remember The authorities of Florence have gathered around 3,500 manuscript pages by Leonardo that in some cases had been separated since the end of the 16th century. It is a virtual union, not a physical one, but it is still a milestone and helps to right the mistake made centuries ago by Pompeo Leoni. In total, the digital library brings together the 1,119 folios of the Codex Atlanticus and 550 pages from the Royal Collection of Windsor. Some sources specify that it is about one third of Da Vinci’s entire surviving legacy, which also includes the codices preserved in Madrid. Is it that important? Regardless of what it may mean for researchers, Leonardotheka 2.0 is important for several reasons. The main one is that it has allowed us, in words of the Galileo Museum, “reconstruct the original state of Leonardo’s manuscript legacy before Leoni’s disastrous intervention” in the 16th century. And that is not a minor detail. Although the separation between art and science might make sense to Leoni, the truth is that goes against of the Renaissance mentality that Leonardo embodied. “It offers a new perspective on his thinking, vision and working methods,” they underline from Florence. “The platform highlights the connection between scientific studies and the figurative drawings of the Tuscan genius.” Beyond Leonardo. “This project not only helps to recover the complexity of Leonardo’s work in its original form, but also contributes to the new interpretation, in development for several years, of this crucial period in European history. Using digital tools designed to analyze the original texts, Leonardotheka 2.0 will make this challenge possible,” highlights Michele Ciliberto, from the National Institute of Renaissance Studies. Filling gaps. The second reason why the project is so important is that it has allowed us to recover pieces that had been damaged when the notebooks were dismembered in the 16th century. To be more precise, those responsible for the Leonardotheka they assure who have been able to “reconstruct” 50 manuscripts “thanks to the insertion of fragments preserved in Windsor within the pages of Codex Atlanticus, restoring their original context.” One of the reconstructions carried out by the experts has made it possible to “reconcile” the drawing of a horse preserved in the British collection with a note on an equestrian monument preserved in the Codex Atlanticus. “The restored folio probably … Read more

Spain had been using the cutter in pharmacies for half a century. Until you decided to digitize it

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Entering the pharmacy in 2026 and that the method to mark the traceability of the medicine was to cut a small tape with a cutter did not seem like the most technological method in a European country. Finally, it is something that will change forever. what has happened. The Council of Ministers yesterday approved the modification of Royal Decree 1345/2007which updates the regulation of the Spanish Medicines Verification System. Until now, upon arriving at the pharmacy the pharmacist would peel off or cut the seal from the box, paste it on a sheet of paper and this documentation would demonstrate to the administration that a prescription medication had been dispensed and that it would be reimbursed. This is about to end. The new. The Minister of Health, Mónica García, has celebrated the modernization of the new identification system. This relies on the national drug repositoryin operation since 2019 and which allows each medication to be identified using a unique code. “We’re talking about the sealed coupon. That’s what pharmacists did when you came to the pharmacy to pick up a drug and they had to cut out a piece of cardboard and paste it on a sheet of paper. Well, we’re going to eliminate all of that.” Monica Garcia. The difficulty of the process is that it is not enough to make the first identification: it is necessary to justify that this container cannot be re-introduced onto the market. To solve this problem, as advanced by the pilot test that was carried out in the Valencian Communitythe medication will be linked to the prescription, the buyer’s data and registered in the system. Nothing prevents the medication from circulating again through unofficial channels, but it is impossible for it to go through official channels again as new. Now each box will have a unique identity. The batch, expiration date and route of the medication are known. If a problem appears with a batch, you can know: which patients received it, in which pharmacy, how many containers were dispensed. not so fast. Palace things are going slowlyand more in Spain. The full transition has not been marked, and what we know to date is that the new system will coexist with the old. Once the integration of the systems in all the autonomous communities is completed, the traditional sealed coupon will disappear forever, in favor of a 100% digitalized model. In Xataka | After years of debate and 1,000 “medicines” withdrawn, Spain finally has a verdict on homeopathy: it is useless

China can’t buy the best Nvidia chips. So Alibaba has decided to connect theirs and sell them as if they were one

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Alibaba does not want its infrastructure artificial intelligence (AI) continues to depend on Nvidia technologies. Little by little, the largest technology companies in China are assuming the request that Xi Jinping’s government made them at the beginning of October 2024: as far as possible They had to use chips produced in China. Ten months later this recommendation became a requirement. And the data centers that belong to the State throughout the country had to use at least 50% Chinese integrated circuits on their servers. This scenario especially favors Huawei, Moore Threads and Cambricon Technologies because they are Top AI GPU Manufacturers from China, but it also works great for Alibaba. In fact, Alibaba Cloud, its cloud computing subsidiary, has taken a very important step forward. A few days ago it presented a new chip for AI, the Zhenwu M890, and made official a very ambitious itinerary that describes what solutions it will develop over the next three years. This GPU has been designed by T-Head, the semiconductor division that Alibaba founded in 2018. It incorporates 144 GB of HBM3 memory and achieves an interconnection transfer speed between chips of up to 800 GB/s. As we are about to discover, this last feature is essential in the strategy that Alibaba has developed to compete in the AI ​​hardware market. Alibaba is going to spend $53 billion on its infrastructure According to Alibaba, the performance of its Zhenwu M890 chip is triple that of its predecessor. Additionally, it has been designed to perform well both during training of cutting-edge AI models and during inference. An important note: inference is broadly the computational process carried out by language models with the purpose of generating responses that correspond to the requests they receive. Alibaba wants to compete face to face with Nvidia in the deployment of infrastructure for data centers However, there is another relevant fact that is worth not overlooking: in medium precision operations (FP16) the Zhenwu M890 chip reaches 0.6 petaflops, a performance comparable to that of Nvidia’s A100 GPU and three times higher than that of the H20 chip. On the other hand, the ICN Switch interconnection chip allows link up to 128 GPUs M890 so that they work in unison. Alibaba assures that this architecture makes these GPUs work as a single chip, which, on paper, will allow it to compete head-to-head with Nvidia in the deployment of infrastructure for data centers. Regarding the itinerary that will follow until 2028, this Chinese company has anticipated that it plans to launch the Zhenwu V900 during the third quarter of 2027. According to Alibaba, it will implement its own significantly improved parallel computing architecture, will have three times the performance of the M890 chip, will be supported by 216 GB of memory and will reach an interconnection transfer speed of 1,200 GB/s. The Zhenwu J900 will arrive during the third quarter of 2028 with another major architectural leap. This roadmap It reflects that Alibaba goes all out. In fact, it has also announced that it will support this plan with an investment in 380 billion yuan (about $53 billion) over the next three years. Is the largest engagement of its kind in history of the company. Additionally, T-Head is planning its IPO to fund a more aggressive infrastructure investment program, which would put it in direct competition with Cambricon Technologies and Huawei’s Ascend line in the domestic AI chip market. Image | Alibaba More information | Alibaba | ChinaDaily In Xataka | Nvidia has to deal with the absolute distrust of several US legislators. Your plan in China is in danger In Xataka | The US wants to end Chinese AI chips sold abroad. And China knows how to defend itself

The duel over the new glass air fryers is decided on size and power

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Until recently, air fryers were dark, noisy drawers that were simply used to reheat chips frozen. Today, smart cooking requires versatility, speed and, above all, the ability to adapt. In this field, Ninja It has become a fetish brand for technological cooking enthusiasts. Ninja CRISPi Portable Air Fryer, 3.8 l, 4 in 1 The price could vary. We earn commission from these links XL Ninja CRISPi PRO Glass Air Fryer, 7 Functions – Blue (2 Containers) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links With the launch of its latest range, the firm has put on the table two heavyweights that share DNA but aim for different profiles: the Ninja Crispi Pro and the standard Ninja Crispi. At first glance, both promise to retire your traditional oven and reduce oil use by 75%. However, when we fully enter into your specificationswe see that the battle is decided in the technical details and what you are willing to pay. We put two of the best air fryers of the moment to discover which is the smart purchase. Technical data sheet for both Ninja air fryers feature Ninja Crispi (Standard) Ninja Crispi Pro power 1,700W 2,050W larger container capacity 3.8 liters 5.7 liters (XL size) small container capacity 1.4 liters 2.3 liters cooking modes 4 (Air Fry, Roast, Reheat, Dehydrate) 7 (Add: Bake, Grill and Ferment) temperature range Up to 185°C Up to 240°C price from 123 euros 249.99 euros Design and capacity: from individual format to family feast Both models share the same revolutionary idea that is changing kitchens: the CleanCrisp. Instead of the typical plastic and Teflon basket that gets scratched just by looking at it, Ninja opts for borosilicate glass containers in which you can prepare ingredients, cook them with the hot air head, serve them directly on the table (since they have a very aesthetic design) and put an airtight lid on them to store them in the refrigerator. However, size does matter here. The standard Crispi model includes a 3.8 liter main bowl and a 1.4 liter secondary bowl. It’s a very portable and compact formatideal for singles, couples or to take the airfryer even to a second home. On the other hand, the Crispi Pro makes the leap to family format. Its XL container reaches 5.7 liters of capacity, enough space to roast a whole chicken with vegetables for up to six people, and its small bowl goes up to 2.3 liters to make generous side dishes. Power and temperature: the Pro breaks the 185ºC barrier This is where the Pro version gains muscle and where the price difference is justified as well. The standard Ninja Crispi is somewhat limited in power (1,700 W) and has a thermal limit of 185ºC. This makes it a perfect ally for reheating leftovers and leaving them crispy (thanks to the function Recrisp) or make everyday dishes, but it may fall short or take longer if you are looking for extreme browning on thick meats. For its part, the Crispi Pro goes up to 2,050 W and set the thermostat to 240ºC. That extra heat allows the airflow to seal the food much faster. Additionally, the Pro expands the menu from four to seven functions, adding key modes for cooking lovers such as Bake (bake), Gratinate (Grill) and Ferment masses, something impossible to do in the base model. So…Which model to choose Seeing the differences between both models of Ninja Crispi air fryers, you may be wondering which one to choose. If you don’t know which one to choose, this is what we advise you: Buy the standard Ninja Crispi if: You are looking for an ultra-portable system, you cook small portions for one or two, and your main objective is to use it for side dishes, quick dinners or reheat food giving it a crunchy touch without using the microwave. Ninja CRISPi Portable Air Fryer, 3.8 l, 4 in 1 The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Buy the Ninja Crispi Pro if: You want to completely replace your home oven, you need the capacity to feed a family (5.7 liters) and you don’t want to give up baking recipes, powerful gratins at 240ºC or homemade dough thanks to its advanced functions. XL Ninja CRISPi PRO Glass Air Fryer, 7 Functions – Blue (2 Containers) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Ninja In Xataka | Two years ago I bought my first air fryer. I wish someone had told me I needed these plugins too. In Xataka | Cosori vs Cecotec air fryer: differences and which one to buy

Europe has been a spectator of robotaxis for years. Madrid has just decided that it is okay

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The robotaxis They have already landed in some cities around the world, but their use is still testimonial. Even more so in Europealthough everything indicates that soon we will be talking more and more about this type of vehicles. In fact, just as they count In Expansión, in Madrid we are going to see the very first pilot test in December of autonomous taxis with the main VTC platforms on the market. It will be the first real-scale pilot test of the European Union. What has happened. In the last quarter of this year, the Community of Madrid will launch the first EU robotaxis pilot project with real passengers. Uber, Cabify and Bolt will participate in the initiative, although the call is open to more companies with which it is already negotiating. The test will start in Madrid capital and two other municipalities yet to be confirmed, with routes in previously defined and controlled areas. Just like share From the middle, the initial fleet will be between 50 and 100 vehicles with level 5 automation, that is, without the need for a human driver at the wheel. Why is it a milestone? Until now, no European city had launched a project of such magnitude. The only previous experience in the EU was a very limited test in Zagreb with just two vehicles. The rest of the world is years ahead, and the fact is that Waymo already operates about 3,000 autonomous cars in American cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles or Phoenix and has accumulated more than 20 million journeys. in Chinacompanies such as Apollo Go (Baidu), Pony.ai and WeRide have more than 5,500 vehicles in circulation. Europe, on the other hand, had not yet taken the step. How the pilot will work. According to share From Expansión, in a first phase, the vehicles will have a human supervisor on board whose function will be to monitor the automated driving system and inform users about the technology. After a few weeks, and depending on the data collected, we will move on to the driverless phase. To do this, the user will reserve the car from their mobile phone, access the vehicle with their phone and arrive at their destination without anyone in the driver’s seat. Among the vehicle manufacturers that could participate are Jaguar, the Stellantis group and the Chinese brand Arcfox (of the BAIC group). From the media they indicate that the technological operators will be already established companies such as WeRide, Baidu, Pony.ai or Waymo. Legislation. The General Directorate of Traffic has been working since 2015 in a legal framework for automated vehiclesand the Community of Madrid has promoted the creation of the Office for Vehicles and Automated Mobility (OFVA). The pilot has, in this sense, the mission of collecting real usage data to then lay the foundations for future legislation on autonomous transport in Spain. The protocols include specific training for police, firefighters and emergency services. Anabel Díaz, vice president of Uber for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, counted to Expansión that Madrid has “the opportunity to be at the forefront of Europe.” Deployment in Europe. A few months ago, Lyft announced an alliance with the Chinese Baidu to launch robotaxis in the United Kingdom and Germany throughout 2026. Uber, for its part, already has agreements with more than 18 autonomous driving companies globally. Europe is rapidly becoming the next battlefield for autonomous transportation, and the large platforms know that whoever arrives first with regulatory muscle will have an advantage. And now what. The success of the test will depend on whether the data collected is sufficient to build a solid regulation, that users show reasonable acceptance of the technology, and that the companies that intend to participate want to continue investing in the technology. Uber has already indicated that plans to make large investments in this field in Madrid. All eyes are now on the project, as Spain could become a reference laboratory for robotaxis, like the rest of the European capitals that are already on the eve of landing the technology. We’ll see how everything turns out. Cover image | Amy Dugiere In Xataka | China has been boasting about its driverless robotaxis for years. Until more than 100 have stood at once in Wuhan

His parents built the Chinese economic miracle by working 12 hours a day. Their children have decided not to work almost at all

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Working twelve hours a day, six days a week, was common in Chinese companies, especially in the technology sector. It is what is known as day 996 and fortunately, the government banned it in 2021. They did not expect that that same year a new concept called Tang Ping and it means just the opposite: doing the minimum to survive. Lay down on the couch. Its literal translation is ‘lie flat’, but we like the creative translation better. Tang Ping It is a social phenomenon that arises as a rejection of the culture of overwork and endless days that barely leave time to sleep. A person who follows a lifestyle Tang Ping He works the minimum necessary to survive and does not have great ambitions; He doesn’t want to buy a car or a house, he spends little on food and he doesn’t want to get married or have children. The latter has not been any fun in Beijing. National security concern. We have talked about the birth rate crisis that China is going through and how the government is doing literally everything for get young people married and have children, so this movement goes against everything they are promoting. The government’s discourse on this trend has taken on a more severe tone. Last April, They published an official warning in which they stated that it is an “ideological infiltration” financed by “hostile anti-China forces” with the aim of “eroding the minds of Chinese youth.” They have turned a lifestyle into a political act that must be repressed. The safety net. They count in Baiguan News that, to understand the rise of this trend, two social mechanisms must be understood. The first is that the parents of these young people were born in the 60s and 70s, so their professional career grew along with the economic development of the country and they are currently the richest demographic group in the country. This means that if their children have financial problems, they can provide support. The second factor is deflation, which is making everything cheaper. In China it is possible to eat for just 1 or 2 dollars in exchange, which makes it viable to live while spending very little money. If we add that youth unemployment is at 16.9% and job opportunities are shrinking, it is the perfect breeding ground for lying down. The generational contrast. The parents of these young people grew up in poverty and, if they worked 72 hours a week, it was not out of pleasure, but out of pure necessity and fear of continuing to be poor. That fear was the engine of Chinese economic growth and allowed the next generation to grow in the abundance that their parents built. The difference is that these young people do not feel that raising the country depends on them, nor do they feel the fear that drove their parents, and many have decided to put their well-being before their professional career. Image | HANVIN CHEONGUnsplash In Xataka | We have been talking about “day 996” in Chinese companies for years. The reality is more complex: “day 323”

Two tourists from the US decided to free the lobsters from a bar in Italy. Environmentalists think it was a bad decision.

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In theory it was going to be a nice gesture, a kind of performance improvised idea with which to give an emotional touch to a holiday in the Mediterranean, but it has ended up becoming a blunder. A few days ago, while eating at a restaurant in Campania (Italy), two American tourists decided to rescue the dozen lobsters that were swimming in the local aquarium. They paid for them. They put them in a basin. They got into a taxi. And they traveled to a Tyrrhenian beach, where they released the crustaceans. Everything was fantastic if it weren’t for one small detail: what they did could be an environmental crime. Now they risk paying a considerable fine. The saying goes that hell is paved with good intentions. In the waters of the Tyrrhenian, Italy, good intentions have caused something else: a illegal release of lobsters. The event occurred a few days ago, when two tourists from Texas (mother and daughter) decided to crown their vacation in Naples with something that at first seemed an altruistic gesture: Pay for a dozen crustaceans condemned to die in a kitchen and then release them into the sea. Altruistic gesture or environmental crime? To understand the story you have to travel to the Mercato Pompeiano restaurant, in Campania, where a few days ago two Americans decided to try the local cuisine. So far nothing strange. The surprise came when they asked the waiter to sell them the dozen lobsters that were swimming in the aquarium, the typical display where customers can choose the seafood they want to be cooked for them. Their intention was not to feast on crustaceans, but to put the animals in a basin to release them into the sea. It was the daughter herself who was in charge of ‘fishing’ them out of the pond with a small net. Then, to the astonishment of the restaurant owners, the two tourists got into a taxi and traveled to the nearby beach of Castellammare di Stabia. Once there, the daughter rolled up her sleeves, approached the coastline where the waves were breaking, and went releasing one by one the lobsters that until recently looked at the diners of the Mercato Pompeiano with tongs held with ribbons. You don’t have to imagine it. The scene can be seen because the tourists themselves were in charge of recording everything in a video that has ended up going viral. In it you can see the daughter with the water up to her ankles, releasing the lobsters, while the mother immortalizes the scene with her cell phone. Some Italian media they need who were accompanied by a guide. “We want to take this memory to the United States. It has been beautiful, we are happy,” explains the mother, proud. The couple even sent a message to the restaurant owner. “Even if they only live a few more days, it was worth it. My mother has always wanted to do this when we saw lobsters in restaurants, but until now it has never been possible.” The video of the release soon spread like wildfire on social networks, where it provoked opposing reactions. There are those who applaud the gesture for its altruism. And there are those who consider it a nonsense with serious environmental consequences. @la.repubblica Have bought all the things that were in the restaurant’s aquarium. Salvandololi from the death and from the destiny indicated by the end of the meals in the menu. Due to Texan tourists arriving at Pompei from Texas, they are very happy to join the spiaggia of Castellammare di Stabia and have not been liberated in the sea. Terminata la missione salvezza hanno sent a message in English to the owner of the ristorante: “Grazie per avercelo permesso, se anche vivranno qualche giorno in più ne è valsa la pena. Mia mamma avrebbe semper voluto farlo quando abbiamo viewed le aragoste nei ristoranti, ma non è stato mai possibile.” Il fuoriprogramma nato quasi percaso, quanto le due Americane touriste hanno gli glistici nuotare nell’acquario accanto al tavolo dove era sedute a mangiare. This is the time to turn on one at a time with the light used in the chambers of the premises, fishing from the aquarium with per insertion in safety. Tutto ripreso con il cellulare dalla mamma: “Vogliamo porre a casa negli Usa il ricordo di questo avvenimento. È stato bello, siamo felici. Abbiamo regalato loro una ultima possibilità.” by Mariella Parmendola ♬ original audio – la.repubblica The reason? To the untrained eye, perhaps all lobsters look the same, but that is not the case. In the recording it can be seen that the lobsters that the tourists released into the waters of the Tyrrhenian are of the species Homarus americanus (American or Canadian), native to the northwest Atlantic and characterized by the brown tones of its shell, very different from the bluish color that usually identifies the European lobster. It is no surprise because the American variety is usually the one used by restaurants in the region. That small detail is important because in practice the Homarus americanus is considered an invasive species in the Mediterranean. Not only that. Animal releases, even if only a dozen specimens, as occurred in Castellammare di Stabia, require studies and careful prior planning. First because introducing species can alter the balance of ecosystems. Second, because it is not unusual for loose specimens to carry parasites or diseases that are lethal to the native fauna. As if the above were not enough, there are experts who warn that the lobsters released by the American tourists probably did not live much longer than they would have lasted in the restaurant’s aquarium. The reason? The water in the pond was probably kept at a lower temperature than that found on the beach of Castellammare di Stabia, so it is not unreasonable that they suffered. a lethal thermal shock. The worst of all is not that both tourists have found themselves involved in a bitter … Read more

In 2004 Madrid decided to build its own Guggenheim. Now it has a monster that not even Richard Gere wants as a Buddhist center

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Many cities have pursued the idea that a single building could change everything, attract tourism and redefine their identity almost overnight. The obsession has a very specific origin: the impact it had the Guggenheim Museum in the economy and image of Bilbao, converted into a global case study. In 1997, its inauguration marked a before and after and fueled an urban fever that led to replicate that model in places where the context did not always accompany. A Guggenheim in the suburbs. At the beginning of the 2000s, in the midst of a real estate boom and with the Bilbao effect still resonating, Alcorcón decided to aspire to his own cultural icona complex that was to place the city on the international art map. The idea was ambitious to the point of excess: a macrocenter cwith nine interconnected buildings which included an auditorium, conservatory, conference center and even a permanent circus, all conceived as a kind of Madrid Guggenheim. The problem here was not a lack of imagination, of course, but the scale of a project designed for an economic reality that was about to disappear. A half giant. The works They started in 2007 with budgets that were already high, but soon they began to chain modifications, cost overruns and difficult decisions to justify, such as the demolition of a practically new library or the incorporation of such peculiar facilities as, attention, stables for animals. When the 2008 crisis hit squarely, the project was stopped with around 70% executed and more than 100 million of euros invested, leaving behind a huge structure, partially completed and without a clear function. What should have been a cultural emblem became an empty mass, one too big to abandon completely and too expensive to finish. The hidden cost of an impossible project. Beyond the initial investment, CREAA had profound economic consequences for the municipality. The reason? It had been financed through a public company that ended up accumulating a gigantic debt. The estimates spoke of tens of millions additional costs to complete it and several million annually just to keep it running, which turned it into a structural problem rather than an opportunity. In fact, even its design played against: a complex so integrated that turning on a single zone meant activating practically the entire system, skyrocketing costs and making any reasonable partial use unfeasible. Nobody wants the “Guggenheim” of Alcorcón. Over the years, the building became a kind of failed promise that was passed from hand to hand without finding real lace. Projects of all types and colors were considered, from an NBA campus to a sports university, passing through a large Buddhist center promoted by Richard Gerebut none came to fruition and most of those interested declined the opportunity. Even more recent initiatives, such as the creation of a great audiovisual hubhave ended up running aground when faced with the real costs of adapting facilities designed for a completely different context. The idea that that complex could become an international benchmark has been diluted with each failed attempt. From cultural icon to symbol of excess. Over time, CREAA has gone from being an emblematic project to becoming another example of that appellant excessive planning in Spain, a construction that aspired to change the identity of a city, but ended up conditioning its public narrative. The image of that large iron and concrete structure, partially finished and unused for years, has weighed more than any original intention, fueling the debate about the limits of public spending on large-scale cultural projects. A partial ending to an unfinished story. However, in recent years, some spaces have begun to find usefulnesssuch as the installation of a state victim care center or the partial reopening of certain areas, but the whole is still far from fulfilling the vision with which it was conceived. More than a decade later, the complex begins to reactivate in a fragmented way, adapting to much more pragmatic needs than those from which it was born. The result, as in other phantom “moles” of the Peninsula, is a persistent reminder of a time when it was thought that it was enough to build big to transform a city, without foreseeing that the real challenge would really come later. Image | Juan Lupión, Zarateman In Xataka | The biggest disaster in sports history dates back to the Roman Empire: the tragedy of the Fidenae “VIP boxes” In Xataka | In 1995, South Korea suffered one of the great architectural disasters of the century. The culprit: the air conditioning

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