declared

Graphing calculators are very expensive, so a 15-year-old boy from Almería has declared war on them with open source

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It was 2003 when I started college with great enthusiasm and an old Casio calculator from high school that I ended up replacing shortly after with a Texas Instruments TI-86 graphing calculator. At that time it cost me 150 euros, but I spent it because there was no other option and it was going to make my life easier with graphs and matrices. My old TI-86 is already a relic, but those who start engineering this 2026 will spend at least those 150 euros on a more current model like this either this other one from HP. They have a slightly more modern aesthetic and a color screen, but the essence and prices have barely changed. So to a young developer from Almería an idea has occurred to him: build a professional level scientific and graphing calculator for about 20 euros using open source software. And as its creator, Juan Ramón (alias El-EnderJ), explains, at 15 years old he still doesn’t need it: “I did it simply because of that great injustice.” A DIY calculator with open source. The project is barely a couple of months old and its premise could not be more ambitious: NumOS (its operating system) runs on the ESP32-S3 microcontroller and aims to break the monopoly of commercial models that cost around 150 euros. It is not a mobile app or a website: it is a piece of physical hardware that the user assembles and programs from scratch. Knowing how difficult it is for the education system to accept a DIY calculator for exams, El-EnderJ has in mind a “factory-sealed version that is completely legal.” Disclaimer: the final product will use ESP32 S3 N16R8 and a 3.2″ IPS screen. Grapher app. Via: GitHub Why is it important. The educational calculator market is controlled by an oligopoly: Texas Instruments, Casio and HP, with devices whose hardware has not been significantly renewed for decades and a price range that has neither changed much over the years nor differs too much from each other. But the underlying problem is also one of access: this is the case of fantastic free and quality tools such as GeoGebra and Desmos. As El-EnderJ explains: “To use them you must use a mobile phone, a tablet or a laptop, which is completely prohibited in most classrooms. The educational system requires dedicated devices that do not have an internet connection to avoid cheating.” On the other hand, on a technical level it is notable that NeoCalculator integrates a complete CAS engine within such a low budget as manufacturers such as Casio, HP and TI reserve only their high-end models. And be careful, this engine shows the intermediate steps of derivatives, integrals and solving equations. The eternal? calculator oligopoly. Juan Ramón says that, encouraged by what he saw people doing with graphing calculators (like programming), he looked up the price and was surprised: “I was shocked when I saw that a calculator from more than 30 years ago cost more than 150 euros. So I looked a little more and realized that the cost of producing them is below 20 euros, so you are paying a 130-euro premium.” Free software has been democratizing tools that were previously either expensive or exclusive for decades, but in hardware everything has been slower. The clearest precedent is NumWorksthe French calculator founded in 2015 that was the first to completely open its source code and allow anyone to modify its operating system. NeoCalculator goes one step further: not only is the software free, but so is the hardware design. From Shanghai to Almería: the ESP32-S3-BOX-3 chip from Espressif How it works. The base is the microcontroller ESP32-S3which according to its official documentation incorporates a dual-core Xtensa LX7 processor capable of running at 240 MHz, with 512 KB of internal SRAM, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5 connectivity, as well as support for vector instructions aimed at accelerating neural networks and signal processing. It is a chip designed for IoT converted into the brain of a high-performance calculator. El-EnderJ is critical of what it replaces: “The ESP32-S3 is from 2020; the Zilog Z80 of the TI-84 Plus is from 1976. There is a clear difference.” The mathematical core of the project is not development from scratch, but sophisticated integration. “The biggest challenge has been putting the Giac engine, which is the same one used by the HP Prime, in a chip that has thousands of times less memory than a computer.” In fact, Giac is an open source symbolic calculation engine originally developed at the University of Grenoble and indeed, it is the engine that equips the HP Prime G2. For the graphical interface, the project uses LVGL, an open source embedded graphics library widely used in the industry. Combining hardware SPI with LVGL, NeoCalculator maintains a smooth interface at 60 FPS, which is a demanding performance target for a microcontroller in this price range. Yes, but. The incipient project of the Almeria developer has important technical and regulatory limitations. The most important is precisely the connectivity of the ESP32-S3, something strictly prohibited in exam contexts. This implies that in its current state NeoCalculator could not be used in official university exams (not the EBAU, which generally restricts graphic models). On the other hand, this fantastic project is still very green: it lacks an integrated physical keyboard and is still pending receipt. OSHWA certificationessential to ensure transparency, the ability to customize or repair each component of the device. In Xataka | Someone has passed 12,000 laws and reforms to source code and now searching the BOE is no longer an ordeal In Xataka | The “ChatGPT for lawyers” exists, it was born in Spain and has just reached a milestone: becoming a unicorn Cover | Anoushka Puri and El-EnderJ

Greece wants to prevent its beaches from being suffocated by mass tourism. So you’ve declared war on sun loungers

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Greece faces a dilemma. One well known in other countries that, like Italy, France, Holland, Japan either Spainhave become dream destinations for travelers from all over the world: their tourist attraction threatens to make them die of successsuffocated by overcrowding. To avoid this, the Greek Government has decided to shield around 250 beaches to maintain them as “virgin” sandbanks. In practice, this means that things as basic as renting umbrellas or sun loungers cannot be done there. “Virgin beaches”. If Greece is one of the most visited countries in the world and becomes the summer resort of millions of tourists It is basically because of four things: its Mediterranean climate, its historical heritage, its gastronomy and (above all) its landscapes and beaches. The Government knows this and that is why some time ago it prepared a list of “Virgin Beaches” either “unauthorized”coastal areas in which the authorities apply more restrictive control. Goodbye umbrellas, sun loungers and motorcycles. Among other thingsin these protected spaces it is not permitted to rent umbrellas and sun loungers, set up new bars or install music equipment and speakers. Nor organize events in which they participate more than ten people or use jet skis. In short: they are beaches open to the public and where you can lie down and sunbathe, but unlike the busiest areas you will hardly find commercial services or of course large tourist infrastructures. The idea is to preserve them in their natural state. The key figure: 251. Nothing new so far. What is striking is that the Greek Ministries of Economy and Environment have decided to expand the list of beaches to which this level of protection applies. Specifically, they have added 13 new sandy beaches, according to the local presswith which the ‘armored’ coves and beaches go from 238 to 251. The data is interesting in itself, but above all because the trend that draws: In recent years Athens has been expanding its protected coastal strip. From the 198 beaches in 2024 it went to 238 in 2025 and to 251 that will be monitored this summer. What is the objective? Don’t kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. Greece is full of idyllic beaches, but the mix of overtourism and uncontrolled commercial exploitation, with sandy areas covered by beach bars, umbrellas, sun loungers and rental jet skis, can make it less attractive. The Government also appeals to the need to protect the formations and ecosystems of the Greek coast. “The amendment seeks to effectively protect beaches that have a particular aesthetic, geomorphological or ecological value, as well as preserve the types of habitats and species of flora and fauna found there,” they argue. Earrings from the Natura Network. “Specifically, the coastal zones and beaches located in areas included in the National Catalog of Areas of the European Ecological Network Natura 2000 are expanded, in which use concessions are already prohibited, as well as any other action that could endanger their morphology and integrate with regard to their ecological functions,” duck the Government. To clear up doubts, the Greek authorities have published a list in which you can consult the beaches where businesses dedicated to renting umbrellas, sun loungers or motorcycles have been banished. These include sandy areas of Koufonisia, Chania or Lefkada. Some of the beaches added to the list have been in the center of controversy in recent years precisely because of tourism development plans that included new structures. The other data: 38 million. It is no coincidence that Greece decides to reinforce the care of its beaches right now. With the international tourism boom As a backdrop, in 2025 the country received about 37.98 million of foreign visitors (not including cruises), 5.6% more than the previous year. That rebound came accompanied by something else: an intense flow of billions of euros. Specifically, it is estimated that last year the income generated by the sector skyrocketed by 9.4% to reach 22.6 billion of euros, a figure that increases noticeably if you add the cruise passengers. These are important data due to their weight… and to understand the zeal with which Greece wants to take care of its sandy beaches, preventing part of its coastline from becoming overcrowded. If the tourism sector has learned anything in recent years, it is how easy it is to die of success. Without going any further, there are already travel guides that advise against visiting Mallorca, Barcelona or the Canary Islands because they consider them points hyper-crowded. Images | Nikos Zacharoulis (Unsplash) and Jorn Idzerda (Unsplash) In Xataka | The Balearic Islands are so desperate with tourism that they are already considering a measure that until now was taboo: a limit on flights

The Supreme Court has declared the rule illegal, but the money is not going to return

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The Low Emission Zones of Madrid operated for years with regulations that the courts ended up declaring it illegal. During all that time, many fines were imposed and processed that thousands of drivers paid, and the City Council is clear about one thing: that there will be no refunds. What exactly happened. The Supreme Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) annulled part of the ordinance that regulated ZBEs in Madrid in December 2024, following an appeal presented by the Vox municipal group. The court considered that the economic impact report was insufficient, since it had not been correctly assessed how much it would cost citizens and small businesses to adapt to the movement restrictions, nor had less restrictive measures with equivalent effects been explored. As the ruling was not final at the time, the City Council continued to apply sanctions while appealing to the Supreme Court. However, the TSJM rejected the appeal on April 15with a sentence of 2,000 euros to the City Council for the expenses of the judicial process. Why there will be no refund. Vice Mayor Inma Sanz counted that current jurisprudence prevents giving retroactive effects to sentences when the sanctioned rule was in force at the time the fines were imposed. Along the same lines, the delegate of Urban Planning, Mobility and Environment, Borja Carabante, defended that the sanctions were placed under a regulatory framework that was valid at the time. The point that remains in the air. The City Council’s position is not completely uniform. Municipal legal services are still studying what to do with the fines imposed in the ZBEs of Plaza Elíptica and Centro (the two special protection zones) during the period between the TSJM ruling (December 2024) and the entry into force of the new ordinance (March 2026). It has been more than two years in which fines have continued to be imposed with a regulation that a court had already declared null. Carabante acknowledges that “whether or not” these specific sanctions are being assessed. The new ordinance as a shield. The Town Hall approved last month a new Sustainable Mobility Ordinance, correcting the previous one based on the indications indicated by the TSJM and keeps all ZBEs operational. The Consistory argues that this new ordinance leaves the sentence without practical effect, since it provides a solution to everything that the TSJM had requested. Among its novelties is that the vehicles of registered residents without an environmental label can circulate in Madrid as long as European pollution limits are respected. Opinion division. The Associated European Motorists (AEA) organization has publicly demanded to Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida the annulment of all sanctions imposed until the publication of the new ordinance in the official gazette, on April 6. According to data from the AEA itselfbetween September 2021 and November 2025, the City Council imposed more than 3.3 million fines related to ZBEs for a value of more than 650 million euros. Its president, Mario Arnaldo, consider that “hundreds of thousands of drivers” have been sanctioned with fines of “dubious legality” through a strategy designed to continue collecting while the judicial process lasted. What those affected can do. The Supreme Court’s decision does not automatically annul any fine, but it reinforces the options of those who want to appeal them. According to the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU), the situation varies according to each file. And those who appealed at the time and still have the procedure open have a better chance of recovering the money. However, the organization says that those who paid without appeal face a more complicated path, having to go through requesting full nullity. The OCU ask to the City Council to cancel the non-firm sanctions ex officio and return the amounts already collected in files still open, without transferring to the citizen “the burden of legal uncertainty created by an annulled ordinance.” Cover image | Madrid City Council In Xataka | 400 cameras and an ambitious goal: the first metro driven 100% autonomously in the Community of Madrid

YouTube invests a million in AI content for children just as it has just declared war on AI content for children

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Google’s AI Futures Fund just injected a million dollars at Animaj, a Parisian studio that produces children’s animation generated with artificial intelligence for YouTube. The decision comes seven weeks after the platform’s CEO publicly stated that combating AI sloplow-quality content generated with AI, was the priority of the year. Down the slop. On January 21, 2026, Neal Mohan, CEO of YouTube, published his annual message about resolutions for the new year, including an unambiguous directive: combat AI slop It was the priority of the year for the platform. Seven weeks later, Google’s AI Futures Fund injected $1 million into Animaj, a Parisian animation studio that produces AI-generated children’s videos for YouTube. The problem. A analysis of more than 15,000 channels identified 278 dedicated exclusively to produce AI slop: Together they accumulated 63,000 million visits, 221 million subscribers and advertising revenues estimated at 117 million dollars annually. A user who opens Shorts finds that one in five recommended videos belongs to that category. He children’s segment concentrates the worst: YouTubers with more than a million followers explain in tutorials how to generate “simple and repetitive” children’s songs with ChatGPT, run them through a video generator and obtain content that could bring in “hundreds of dollars a day.” The channel JoJo Funlandfor example, published more than 10,000 videos in its first seven months (50 per day on average), a figure that took Sesame Street twenty years to reach on its YouTube channel. The volume would be worrying in itself, but what makes it a problematic issue is that many of these videos pass as educational, and in reality, There are psychologists who describe them as “AI disinformation for babies on an industrial scale”: they promise to teach vowels and show consonants or recite made-up country names. The solution. In July 2025, YouTube renamed its “Repetitive Content” policy as “Inauthentic Content”, which expanded the scope of moderation teams, who could now take action against channels that published videos that were technically different from each other but manufactured without human intervention. In January 2026, the first wave of large-scale application arrived. The platform removed 16 channels with a total of 35 million subscribers and 4.7 billion accumulated visits, which represents a sum of 10 million dollars in annual income. What is Animaj? Animaj was founded in 2022 by Gregory Dray (veteran director of YouTube Kids in Europe) and Sixte de Vauplane, convinced that low-quality children’s content on digital platforms was a problem before generative AI, and well-applied AI could be part of the solution. The company has acquired brands with proven prestige, such as Pocoyo and Maya the Bee. Its channels have 22 billion annual views and 242 million unique monthly viewers, making it the fifth largest children’s digital audience in the world. according to the company itself. The million from the AI ​​Futures Fund is also strategic: Animaj is the first children’s content studio to receive direct support from Alphabet’s technology accelerator. The deal includes early access to unreleased versions of Veo, Gemini, and Imagen, plus direct support from the Google DeepMind and Google Labs teams. With those tools, Animaj says it can go from concept to published episode in less than five weeks (four times faster than traditional animation) and aims to reduce the production cycle of a feature film from six years to eighteen months. In Xataka | The future of the Internet is to be flooded with AI. And there are those who have already seen a business niche: content made by humans Header | edward stojakovic

They are declared null and void and he returns to work with 25,000 euros

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There are work stories that seem taken from from the script of a series of Netflix lawyers, but they really happen. The story of a saleswoman at an Asturian paint store is one of them: in less than a year she went through two dismissals, two trials and ended up in the same position, but with the company sentenced to pay her more than 25,000 euros. as compensation. The most curious thing is that the whole mess started with something as simple as a change of schedule which she refused. Almost two years later, it has become clear to the company that it was not a good idea. The first dismissal: an excuse without evidence. As detailed in the sentence of the casethe employee had been working in the company since September 2023 with a permanent contract, combining administrative tasks with those of a salesperson in a paint store. In April 2024, the company fired her, alleging a “voluntary and continued decrease in normal work performance” as an argument for taking a disciplinary dismissal. However, the Social Court No. 6 of Oviedo did not believe it. The ruling stated that “the content of the dismissal letter is a standard format that is given to everyone the company wants to fire; and in fact it is stated that the plaintiff was working well but that she needs someone with more time availability.” That is, the court recognized that the company had fired her because she did not want to change her schedule, and they did so just eight days after she rejected it. As a result, the judge declared the void dismissalordered that she be reinstated under the same conditions and in the same position, and ordered the company to pay her 5,000 euros for violation of her rights, plus all the salaries she had stopped receiving since her dismissal. Back to work, and back in the spotlight. The employee returned to her position on September 25, 2024. Just ten days later, the company temporarily sent her to cover a replacement in one of its stores in another nearby town. At the end of October, when checking her email, she found a message from her sales manager in which she was accused of having made several drums and cans of paint disappear during the days she had been assigned to that store. The company gave him five days to explain the disappearance of the products. That same day, the employee succumbed to the pressure and a doctor estimated that he should undergo a medical leave due to generalized anxiety. Days later, the employee reported the pressure to the Labor Inspection, and in November the company reopened a disciplinary file against her. On December 19, 2024, the second disciplinary dismissal came, this time with three accusations: having stolen merchandise from the company, seriously insulting the manager and making an insulting phone call to the sales manager. The second trial: there was no evidence either. None of these accusations could be proven during the judicial process. The company did not present inventories or any objective evidence about the whereabouts of the missing drums. Regarding the alleged insults, the judge showed that the witness who corroborated them was not reliable, among other reasons because he had had a direct role at the first dismissal. Therefore, the court again declared the dismissal void, and once again ordered the company to reinstate the worker and pay her the wages not collected since the dismissal. Furthermore, for having relapsed in its conduct, the court sentenced the company to pay compensation Additional 11,249.50 euros for violating the employee’s rights. Protecting rights cannot have retaliation. The company appealed the ruling, but the Superior Court of Justice of Asturias confirmed it on January 27, 2026. The underlying reason for all this judicial farce is a basic principle: when a worker claims his rights before the court or denounces his company, the company should not take retaliation against the worker. If it does so, as the judges have correctly detected, the courts can declare the dismissal null and void and add extra compensation for the damage caused to the employee’s labor rights. In this case, the court assessed that everything occurred in a very specific context: the employee had already won a lawsuit for the first dismissal, she had only been back at the company for a few weeks and had just reported it to the Labor Inspection. With that history, and without the company could prove none of the accusations against him, the judges concluded that the second dismissal was retaliation. The final result accumulates a sum greater than 25,000 euros between compensation and unpaid salaries, and the unpaid salaries from the second dismissal are still pending. And all for one schedule change. In Xataka | If you resign, you need to give advance notice of voluntary resignation: how and when to give it Image | Illustrious Bar Association of OviedoUnsplash (Center for Aging Better)

Spain does not know if it has too many or too few rabbits. But this town of Toledo has declared war on them at their own risk and expense.

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In Villa de Don Fadrique, province of Toledo, the town hall you have just activated an extraordinary authorization to shoot down rabbits daily. In fact, it is inviting volunteers to reduce its population to a minimum. It is a total war against these rodents that are becoming a real headache for farmers across the country. And it is curious because, if we look at the data, the truth is that the European rabbit entered the red list of threatened species from the IUCN in 2019. Can you be endangered and an indiscriminate pest at the same time? And the answer is yes, of course yes. A few days ago, it was the Union of Farmers and Ranchers of Castilla la Mancha the one that warned that “the proliferation of rabbits is a problem that has been going on for ten years, they speak of a ‘pest’ that is threatening olive groves and pistachio and almond trees, and they demand that the populations of these animals be controlled.” It is not an anecdotal impression, in a sectoral report points out that rabbits account for 64% of agricultural insurance payments for wildlife damage and averages of tens of thousands of hectares damaged per year are cited. And yet, the decline of the rabbit at a general level it’s clear. And that not only impacts the “bug” itself: whether we like it or not, there is the base of the food chain of more than 30 species (from the Iberian lynx to the imperial eagle) and its disaster alters the functioning of the Mediterranean forest. He’s been altering it for decades. Because what is clear is that this is not something recent. The decline of the European rabbit is associated with myxomatosisfirst (mid-20th century); then continue with the rabbit hemorrhagic disease in the 80s; and is complicated by the arrival in 2012 of a new variant (RHDV2) that affects populations just when they were beginning to recover. To this we must add the changes in the landscape and the disappearance of boundaries, fallow lands and traditional shelters. However, when God closes a door he opens a window. And, despite the general decline, rabbits have known how to use the gaps in human infrastructure to create authentic breeding sites. The slopes and shoulders of the roads have become tremendously favorable habitats (and even in motion vectors) and areas with constant food (irrigation/crops) are natural attractors of these reduced populations. That is to say, the explanation is simple: the populations are smaller, but they have been rearranged in areas that cause more damage to farmers. And thus, the conflict is served. While conservationists and scientists ask to recover the rabbit in the mountains, farmers ask to expel it from its areas of influence. But the curious thing is that both sides are partly right and we do not have stories that allow us to understand what is happening. Something that is also happening with all the bugs on the mountain. Image | Sönke Biehl In Xataka | In 1940 Japan removed this island from the maps to keep its activities secret. Now your creatures are dying

If they do not use it as usual residence, it must be declared

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The situation of the Housing in Spain It has become the subject of maximum concern both for citizens and politicians. For this reason, the Tax Agency is taking special attention to the taxation of those homes that do not have a habitual residence use. Although having more than one property can mean advantages, such as obtaining extra income through rent or enjoying them during holidays, it also implies tax obligations that should not be ignored. No fulfill these obligationsmainly the Declaration in the IRPF, can lead to sanctions for its owners, As they published The taxation experts of TaxDown. What is a habitual home. As much as you visit it every weekend, for a house to be considered habitual housing, a series of requirements must meet and, as expected, a person cannot have two usual homes, although the owner can change the habitual housing provided that his change is justified for work, conjugal reasons or for greater cause (disability, natural disaster, etc.). According to what the Tax Agency explains, the main residence must comply with: That constitutes the taxpayer’s residence during a continued period of at least three years. That the taxpayer inhabits it effectively and permanently, within a period not exceeding twelve months from the date of acquisition or termination of the works. Such and as they highlight In the portal Iachorro, Any house not dedicated to the use of habitual residence of its owner, is likely to become a second home for fiscal purposes, it will not apply the tax exceptions that the owner can apply in his habitual residence. If it is not habitual housing, it is heritage. According to article 85 of the Spanish fiscal legislationthese properties must be included in the income statement, regardless of whether they are rented, they are inhabited for short periods of time (holidays or weekends) or are empty. According The published by The independentif the second residence is rented, the yields obtained by this lease must be declared as real estate capital yields and the corresponding deductions or taxation will be applied. In the event that the house is empty and used only a few days a year, it must also be declared as “properties not involved in economic activities” indicating its use as a empty. In that case, the Treasury then imputes a value of 2% of the cadastral value, or 1.1% if the value has been reviewed in the last ten years. If it is not declared correctly, there is sanction. As in any other casenot correctly declare the second residence can be considered tax evasion and, therefore, implies a sanction. According to the Income Tax Law of natural persons, sanctions may vary depending on the severity of the infraction. According to explained The director of the Studies Cabinet of the Spanish Association of Fiscal Advisors, Arturo Jiménez, explains to Verifartve, if the amount not declared does not exceed 3,000 euros, the fine will be 50% of the amount, with a maximum of 1,500 euros. On the other hand, if the unpleasant amount exceeds that amount and there is concealment, the fine can ascend between 50% and 100%. In very serious cases, where fraudulent media and corporate infrastructure have been used to hide That heritagefines can reach up to 100% and 150% of the unstalled amount. These sanctions seek to ensure that tax obligations are fulfilled and avoid tax evasion. In addition, to all these sanctions interests of delay can be applied. In Xataka | They have not yet returned the 2024 rent: this is what they can be reviewing in your statement of this 2025 Image | Unspash (Niels Baars)

Mexico has declared war on a smuggling that is breaking the Chinese market: the “Cocaine del Mar”

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A little over a year ago, in June 2024a Mexican National Guard team was watching the Tlaquepaque bus station in Jalisco, when something curious happened. Suddenly one of the dogs trained to detect drugs began to sniff two cardboard boxes located in the officia of a messaging company. As they approached, the agents found that it smelled strange, as a “decomposition product”, so they decided to open the packages. Inside there was no coca, nor hashish, nor weapons, but 80 vexigas Fish dehydrated. The fact is that these buches belonged to a very specific species, the Totoaba Macdonaldiand were not any pieces either. As much as they had bad appearance and poured those 80 veils, which together weighed around 18 kilos, they could have sold for 360,000 dollars In the Chinese black market. For something they are known as “Cocaine of the sea”. Totoaqué? Totoaba Macdonaldi. His name may not be familiar to us in this part of the world, but he is well known in his place of origin, in The coasts of Mexico. To be more precise the species is endemic to the Alto Gulf of California and attracts attention for its size. A totoaba can reach the two meters100 kg of weight and 30 years of life. If for something it is (sadly) famous however it is for its swim bladderor buche, the organ that facilitates flotability. Why’s that? Because in certain regions of China it is considered a treasure, a Delicatesen coveted by their alleged Medicinal properties and that quotes stratospheric values in the black market. Among other uses and despite the fact that there are no solid investigations that demonstrate their goodnessin the Asian giant Totoaba buches are used to make soups that supposedly improve articular pains and relieve the discomfort of pregnant. It is so popular in the country that they are even used as an investment, luxury gift or even dowry. And how much does it cost? Quite. It is not easy to specify it because the price of Totoaba’s bladder is closely linked to the Chinese black market, but a quick search arrives on Google to confirm that it is a luxury merchandise. In 2017 the BBC I calculated that the kilo of Buche could easily exceed 8,500 dollars. The same figure contributed recently the Nikkei agency in An article On the vexigas introduced to smuggling in the Asian market. Others go further and talk about $ 20,000 per kilo, 2,200 euros for just 100 grams or even 40,000 euros for the vexigas of the most desired and most desired specimens. There are those who even slide figures still higher. Is it a problem? Yes. The high demand has submitted to the species at such a pressure that the Mexican government has had to take action on the matter. In the 70s prohibited its fishing, in 1991 It was officially declared in danger of extinction and its name has passed, among other documents, to the list of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES). It also appears in the “Red List” of the Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), whose last evaluation is 2020. There is a vulnerable species. And how is it now? In A statement Published at the end of June, the Mexican government recalls that in the twentieth century Totoaba fishing grew “without control to reduce its population and take it to the edge of extinction” and recognizes that the species is still stalked by smuggling. However, there are some signs that invite moderate optimism. Protection measures and especially repopulation work are helping “little by little” to recover the species. A month ago, in fact, the authorities released 40,000 young in Baja California Sur. In total, in that region about 270,000 have already been released. Are there more measures? Yes. Mexican authorities also carry out controls such as the one that allowed to requisition 80 bucho Last year at the Jalisco Bus Station. Not long after the National Guard and the Customs Agency intercepted another 75 pieces In the Customs of Sonoyta, Sonora. Last March the authorities presumed A new ‘blow’ When removing hundreds of meters from Enmalle networks and dozens of copies of Totoaba on the coasts of the Alto Gulf of California. And at the political level? The species is also part of the Mexican political debate. Over the last years the authorities They have been profiling The legal framework that protects the species and in spring a government commission approved A reform package For that same purpose. Your goal? Regulate the tariff codes that would apply to an export, maintaining, ensures digital road map, the veto to the commercialization of buchors. A few weeks ago the Nikkei agency revealed That Mexico has decided to partially raise the veto to the export of the species, although it speaks exclusively of the meat of specimens of fish farm. The measure is accompanied by a stricter monitoring of the merchandise to prevent its smuggling. Cocaine of the sea? Maybe it sounds excessive, but in recent years the totoaba has earned the nickname of “Cocaine of the sea”. And it makes enough sense. Not only for his high pricealso for the consequences of demand in China. The lucrative business of the Totaba fish illegally and its price in Asia has caught the attention of organizations dedicated to drug smuggling. “The posters realized that these Chinese merchants won a lot with the jellyfish, the Totoaba buche, the sea cucumbers, the abult … and these economies began to penetrate to dominate them,” Explain to The country Felbab-Brown, from the Brookings Institute and an organized crime expert. At the beginning of the year the CBC chain revealed A report of the agency and border services of sample how the networks of Chinese organized crime and the Mexican cartels are resorting to the Canadian ports to exchange buffers and precursors of the fentanyl. Are there more factors at stake? The answer is affirming again. There is another involuntary protagonist who … Read more

Benalmádena wants to shoot sales in their stores. So he has declared war on colored awnings

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Benalmádena has tired of colored potpourri on the terraces of the local restaurants and shops, so he has decided to cut for the healthy: an area, a tone. In the middle of summer and with restaurants, deploying umbrellas and awnings to protect its clients from the Mediterranean sun, the City Council It has moved token To give commercial neighborhoods a more “homogeneous” aspect. The objective: more attractive, more purchases. Goodbye, colored tide. Benalmádena, one of the most popular tourist destinations on the Costa del Sol, has decided to put order in a small detail that marks its visual personality: the awnings. Recently the City Council celebrated A special commission Centered on terraces, watchmen, facades and shops in which it approved a series of measures to “homogenize” the image of some neighborhoods. To be more precise, he has focused the focus on the area of Benalmádena Pueblo. Gray I love you gray. The most interesting measure focuses on the awnings and separating screens from its central almond. Benalmádena Pueblo will say goodbye to the potpourri of shades for the sake of a much more “attractive” image. “The awnings will be gray with white aluminum profiles, not allowing any commercial brand, only the name of the black establishment.” Are there more news? Yes. For the lateral separations of the terraces, the use of screens will be allowed, but as long as they fit certain patterns: They must be forged at the bottom and glass in the upper. The separators can also wear the name of the establishment as long as they do it in vinyl or with screen printing. The City Council also wants those stores that occupy public space with fruit, vegetables or vegetable positions do so with structures that “harmonize” with the facade. “Enjoy and Buy”. At this point the question is obvious: for what? What is the purpose of change? Raúl CamposCouncilor in the area of Commerce and Consumption, explains it clearly: the objective is to “improve aesthetics and order the area”, a change with which the session wants to go beyond the strictly visual and favor the local economy. “We are working to create an attractive and orderly commercial environment that invites you to enjoy the municipality and buy.” And from now on? The City Council wants to go beyond Benalmádena Pueblo and extend the initiative to other nuclei. The newspaper South keep it up That the change will arrive in Arroyo de la Honey and Benalmádena Costa, although the aesthetic details that will be applied in each area must still be agreed. The idea, the City Council insists, is to “respect the idiosyncrasy and personality of each urban nucleus” also adjusting to “the precepts of urban discipline” of the general plan. The Consistory emphasizes that decisions are made “with the consensus” of the Association of Merchants and Entrepreneurs (Aceb) and the open shopping center. The municipality already has a ordinance that regulates the terraces of the watchmen and the facades of the establishments and marks some guidelines on elements such as umbrellas or awnings. For example, it establishes that they must “harmonize” with the facade and its color has to authorize the community of owners. Beyond Benalmádena. Benalmádena is not the only town that has proposed to homogenize the exterior furniture of its terraces and shops. Throughout the last years similar initiatives have emerged (not always with equal success) in Salou, Malaga, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Algeciras, Mieres, Estepona either Marínto name just a handful of examples. The objective: that the most visible areas have some harmony and end colored pastiches. Images | Benalmádena City Council 1 and 2 In Xataka | Aragon’s ski stations are sentenced to death. One of them has had an idea: the biggest tobogan in Europe

The great AI companies have declared a underground war to a pillar of education: human teachers

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We would all like to have a Keating Professor In our lives. One that made us get on the desks to see things from a different perspective and that he would teach us that the most important lesson he has for us is summarized in the words “Carpe Diem”. There are very few who approach that image, but all of them, bad or good, threatens them the same future as Other professions: Be replaced by an AI. Professor 24/7. The narrative of several AI companies is clear: the human teacher is a bottleneck. Each of them serves many students, their knowledge is limited and their finite availability. The AI, they assure those companies, proposes a remarkable alternative. Personalized professors 24/7 with infinite patience and access to all the knowledge of the world. There is a clear problem: that message devalues ​​the teacher’s function as a guide, mentor and catalyst for curiosity and reduces it to a mere transmitter of information. Continuous evaluations. Another of the pillars of the educational system – and one of the tasks that most consumes the teaching staff – is Student evaluation. The AI ​​promises to correct efficiently, massively and immediately, releasing the teacher for other tasks. But again in human evaluation there is much more than a mere correction of errors. The effort, the reasoning process, creativity, originality or even the personal context of the student are evaluated. Biases also pose a clear threat to these evaluations, in addition to promoting a model Based on the correct answer and not in the reflexive process. My school is OpenAi. So far schools, universities and other academic institutions are the guarantors of a theoretically coherent and quality curriculum. The approach of the companies of AI would be that of Become them In “Guardians of knowledge” deciding what is important to learn and how. The risk: lead to a fragmented education and dictated by the interests of the market, eroding the role of education as a pillar of society. Threat to humanities. The AI ​​also raises the irrelevance of memorization – it can already respond to all known knowledge – and bet on skills such as “Prompt Engineering“(know how to ask things to AI) or Technical subjects (Stem). That suggests a clear impact to matters of humanities and critical thinking that we do not apply directly. Fields such as philosophy, art or social skills, hardly quantifiable, would go to the background. The objective would not be as much to train and prepare workers for the technology industry. Goodbye to social investment. Companies that bet on that model have a clear objective: climb and be profitable. AI technology applied to education promises a lot of savings (less physical infrastructure, less teachers) and a highly scalable business. But also imposes a worrying revolution to one of the pillars of society. Bill Gates believes in the future of the teachers of AI. Among the experts who outline that idea is the figure of Bill Gates, co -founder of Microsoft. His commitment to the teachers of AI It was early: Chatgpt had been in the market for just five months when he said that “AIs will reach that capacity, to be as good tutors as any human being.” For him, this technology should also be a “leveling” for society. According to Gates “having access to a tutor is too expensive for most students, especially if that tutor adapts and remembers everything you have done and review your work.” Openai and Khan Academy have the same vision. A year ago the presentation of GPT-4O surprised among other things for that capacity offered by this AI model to talk directly to him. One of the OpenAI demos, carried out in collaboration with Khan Academyhe showed Sal Khan, his founder, contemplating how his son used the model to receive a geometry lesson. The interaction was impeccable and pointed to a future full of teachers of ia locked in our tablet, our mobile or our computer. Khan is of course interested, but it doesn’t hurt see your ted talk on “how AI could save (not destroy) education.” Schools converted into nurseries. Luis von ahn, Founder of Duolingothe poular application to learn languages, it also takes time turning towards the AI. A few days ago he participated in the podcast No priorsand there he commented how although there are very good teachers, “there are not many.” For him, education will change radically because “it is much more scalable to teach with which with teachers.” Even so pointed out That does not mean that teachers disappear: “You will continue to need people who take care of students”, but focused on a new role: “I don’t think schools disappear, because you need nurseries.” Image | Buena Vista Pictures In Xataka | Towards the end of duties: how chatgpt has been inserted in the center of the great debate on education

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