grace

It is the coup de grace to traditional charcuterie and fishmongers.

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If you are a regular at Mercadona, you will have noticed that the stores are constantly evolving. Every so often new sections are opened, new services are offered, certain products disappear and bet increasingly by white labels. The company closed 2025 with a new purchase that had nothing to do with food: that of the company that has been supplying it with boxes and pallets for decades. Now we know one of the reasons. The new Mercadona T9. Mercadona pilot. It is not just an aesthetic renovation, but also a functional and conceptual one. As the media commented a few days ago FRSMercadona is testing a new type of store in Xirivella, Valencia. Known as “T9 format”, it is a prototype that seeks to optimize processes. What does this translate into? In a store more similar to those automated that we have been seeing for a few yearswith the products available and visible, well organized so that the customer puts them in the cart and their only interaction with a human is at the checkout. This format relies on a reorganization of space that, in theory, optimizes staff productivity when replenishing products while reducing both consumer waiting times and unnecessary movements. take care of yourself. As FRS points out, the shelves will now have more products directly on the pallets, with wider aisles to avoid crowding. There is also a reorganization of the categories into something called “purchase missions.” For example, the popular prepared meals are located next to the bakery, unifying sections that make sense and were previously separate. And that search for a more open space is taken to its ultimate consequences. According to the media, in the Xirivella pilot store there are almost no communicative visual elements. This translates into a lack of traditional signage and signage to identify the sections. Fishmongers. Yes. Again. Within this store format, there are two sections that are clearly affected: fishmonger and butcher. If you are one of those who are going to order sliced ​​ham or a filleted hake, if the t9 format prospers and is exported to the rest of the company’s stores, you will have to look for another fishmonger. Directo al Paladar already told us that these sections they were adapting to new needs in which current generations do not have the ease or knowledge to order a fish from the cut, prioritizing packaged products. The new format dispense of those traditional models and opts for more packaging and less assisted purchasing. Take the product and leave. No waiting, no talking to anyone, no choosing the freshest. What happens to the workers. Nothing. At least, according to Mercadona. Questioned about this in networks, the company has left to confirm that “the entire fishmonger’s team continues to be part of Mercadona.” But, if they are not attending, where are they? To other things, adapting, according to the company, “to other needs within the store and the section itself.” Click to go to X Controversy. But of course, this lack of workers in a section does not only imply knowing where they are located, but also what directly affects the customer: who is there to ask for advice about a piece, quantities or whether a product is fresh or not. There has been some complaint about it, also about the bagging of products or the queues at the checkout. Because if one of the objectives is the flow of customers, and in a Mercadona with the usual format there are already moments in which queues form at the checkout, in one in which the flow is improved in the rest of the trade, the bottleneck may be at the time of paying. It will surely be one of the aspects that Mercadona will evaluate to see if this model can be exported. Future takeaway. In any case, the different movements of Mercadona and the monopolize almost 30% of the supermarket quota, they agree, more or less like it, with the owner of the chain. Juan Roig has been evangelizing for years about the benefits of ready-to-go and ready-to-eat food, and the data proves him right. There are the potato omelettes as an example, but also ready-to-eat dishes. According to a study, the chain has a dominance of 51.2% in prepared dishes. Whether the Mercadona t9 model works or not, we will see. At the moment, it is a pilot program and, as they point out in Digital EconomyXirivella is a strategic laboratory. Images | Mercadona In Xataka | Mercadona has grown so much in Spain that for the US it is no longer just a supermarket chain: it is a “cultural phenomenon”

The director of the DGT proposes a grace period with the V16 beacons

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On January 1, 2026, it becomes mandatory to carry the V16 beacon connected in the car. Pere Navarro, general director of Traffic, has shed some light regarding the DGT’s decision on the device. And a few days ago confirmed that the agents will act flexibly during the first months, prioritizing information about the sanction. The statements come just after the DGT itself has recognized communication failures of this measure. The date does not move, but the fines will wait. Navarro reiterated that the regulations comes into effect as plannedand that is something that had been announced for five years. But he also clarified that the agents “will be flexible, for a time, informing” the drivers before starting to sanction. The objective, according to the director of the DGT, is to “consolidate this system” without generating a barrage of fines from day one. Mea culpa from Traffic. Montserrat Estaca, head of the Telematics Area of ​​the DGT, publicly acknowledged in statements to 20Minutos that “we have not done the job well” in terms of disseminating the measure. He admitted that many citizens are unaware of the mandatory nature of the connected V16 beacon and that communication has been insufficient. Until now, the DGT has only reported through the media, without sending direct communications to drivers as it did with environmental labeling. Why this change now?. The replacement of the triangles with the V16 beacon seeks to prevent drivers from having to get out of the vehicle and walk along the road to signal a breakdown. Navarrese provides data: Between 20 and 25 people die every year after being run over after abandoning their car, although it recognizes that not all cases are directly related to the placement of triangles. The new device is placed on the roof of the vehicle without leaving the passenger compartment and emits a light signal visible up to a kilometer. Not all beacons are valid. Here is one of the big problems: many drivers bought V16 beacons a long time ago, but not all are approved. Only connected V16 beacons are valid, those that incorporate a GPS chip and SIM card to connect to the platform. DGT 3.0 and transmit the position of the vehicle in real time. Connectivity must be guaranteed for a minimum of 12 years without additional fees. Offline beacons, mostly sold before 2022, do not comply with the regulations. How to know if your beacon is legitimate. The key is in the certificate number. Before buying, you must verify on the DGT website that the product has valid approval. The official list includes all devices certified by the IDIADA or LCOE laboratories. Simply enter the certificate number in the search engine to confirm that the beacon meets the technical requirements. Without this step, it is easy to fall for misleading offers, especially on platforms like AliExpress or Temuwhere we can find both approved products and others that are not. Price is not everything. Although the OCU places the usual price around 40-50 eurosthere are specific offers that reduce the cost up to 10 euros for new users on certain platforms. Stake defend that the expense is acceptable, commenting that divided by 12 years of guaranteed connectivity, “it amounts to just three or four euros per year.” In addition, he also highlights that if you change vehicles, “you can take the beacon from one vehicle to another as you could do with triangles.” The beacon does not solve everything. Navarro too warns that “there are those who think that by installing the V16 everything is over. No. This is simply to notify that a kilometer and a half away there is a vehicle stopped on the road due to an incident. It is not for anything else. You still have to call your insurance company to have the tow truck come and remove the car or fix the damage. One thing does not replace the other, let’s make no mistake” Its limitations in broad daylight. The DGT itself recognize that the beacon works worse with natural light. Estaca admitted that “the worst they work is in daylight,” when their visibility is reduced to about 50 meters, the same distance as a traditional triangle. In adverse conditions (fog, rain, night), the flashing light gains effectiveness. Traffic’s commitment also involves trusting in digital connectivity, allowing other drivers to receive the warning through their browsers before arriving at the area of ​​the incident. Spain, world laboratory. The country will be the first in the world to mandatory implement a system of connected beacons. The European Commission follow the experience closely in Spain with a view to there being changes in the rest of the countries. Navarrese presume of the system as “a Spanish invention” and asks for patience to evaluate its real effectiveness once it comes into operation. What vehicles are required. The norm It affects passenger cars, buses, vans, goods transport vehicles and non-special sets registered in Spain. Motorcycles, special vehicles such as agricultural machinery, bicycles, scooters and cars with foreign license plates are exempt, which may continue to use triangles. Fine if we don’t have it. Although there will be initial flexibility, as claimed Navarro, the fine for not carrying the beacon will be 80 euros, the same as is currently applied for not having triangles. In addition, using triangles will also be punishable from January 1, since Traffic considers that they pose a risk of being run over. The DGT has not confirmed how long exactly the grace period will last before starting to sanction systematically. It would also not be advisable to tempt fate. Cover image | DGT In Xataka | More and more Spaniards receive a letter in their mailbox: they have a fine and an AI has given it to them

rise and fall from grace of the favorite plane of celebrities and millionaires

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Two decades ago, a plane that broke new ground and was capable of transporting passengers from one continent to another at supersonic speeds stopped flying. An iconic aerial vehicle whose aerodynamic design, characterized by its tilting nose, slim profile and wings in the shape of ogival deltanever went unnoticed at the airports where it operated. We are talking about Concorde, the result of a Franco-British project that aspired to substantially change commercial flights. The future seemed to be supersonic, so powers like the United States and the Soviet Union rushed to launch their own alternatives to this, the Boeing 2707 and Tu-144respectively, although they never managed to match it. Concorde, an unforgettable plane The Concorde was not a perfect aircraft. In fact, everything that distinguished him from others was precisely what ended up mortgaging his future. I could fly from London to New York In approximately three and a half hours, it flew so high that passengers could see the curvature of the Earth while They enjoyed gourmet meals on fine china and drank champagne. Unlike the Soviet proposal, which had an extremely noisy cabin, the Concorde moved at speeds of Mach 2 (2,469.6 kilometers per hour) with surprising serenity. The idea was not only to get from one point to another quickly, but to do so with the greatest amount of comfort and luxury. Traveling on the Concorde was synonymous with status and glamour. It was the favorite plane of businessmen and celebrities. What some called the unofficial Match 2 club had even been formed, by virtue of its distinctive speed. And it included well-known figures such as Elton John, Paul McCartney, Phil Collins, Rupert Murdoch, Robert Maxwell, Henry Kravis, John Gutfreund and George Soros, among many others. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip of Edinburgh in a Concorde To move through the air, this technological prodigy of titanium and aluminum It was supported by four Olympus 593 engines, two in each of the wings. This 2-shaft turbojet-type propulsion system with superheating had a peculiar intake system with air intake at the front and a variable geometry exhaust nozzle at the rear. Throughout its life cycle, Concorde was operated by only two companies. We are talking about British Airways and Air Francetwo actors that began offering regular flights starting in 1976. However, the manufacturer received dozens of orders from other airline companies, which for various reasons never operated one of these aircraft as owners. Redesigned Concorde interior As we say, the Concorde’s differential qualities were also its condemnation. The price of the tickets was extremely expensive. Take a round trip transatlantic flight It cost about $7,500. (14,000 dollars today). Despite its popularity, this reality often meant that airlines were unable to fill the plane’s capacity. a burning machine Furthermore, the aircraft’s propulsion system consumed an average of more than 20,000 liters of fuel per hourwhich translated into a huge economic and environmental impact. For comparison, a typical flight of a much larger and heavier airplane like the Boeing 747, which did not reach supersonic speeds, It could consume about 13,000 liters of fuel per hour. Exterior view of Concorde in flight Another challenge that the Aérospatiale and BAC project suffered was the sonic boom. Due to the noise pollution of this “boom”, airlines had to redesign their routes and reach sonic speeds only over the ocean. The United States, for example, prohibited supersonic aircraft from passing through populated areas, something that could change with NASA’s X-59. Concorde cabin An accident that occurred in July 2000 also damaged the continuity of the Concorde. One of these planes crashed at Charles de Gaulle airport in France. shortly after takeoff. As a result of the aforementioned episode, all passengers and crew members died and British Airways and Air France grounded their planes during the investigation. Interest in supersonic flights faded as the operation and maintenance costs of this type of aircraft grew and, in a way, became a heavy economic obstacle for companies. The end for Concorde came on October 24, 2003, when he made his last flight. Since then there has not been another commercial supersonic aircraft. Images| British Airways | Eduard Marmet | Dmitry Avdeev | Christian Kate | Jerry Wilson In Xataka | Airbus is preparing a wing capable of transforming in the air: the first flight will be in 2026 and aims for its next great plane

The cheap mobile was seriously injured in Europe. The energy label can advise the coup de grace

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Today, June 20, 2025, it is a before and after for those phones that are sold in Spain. From this date, every manufacturer who wants to distribute their new products in Europe will have to add The energy label in its box. It is an effort at European level to guarantee compliance with Regulation on Ecological Designaffecting mobile phones, wireless landlines and tablets. In addition to forcing manufacturers to introduce this label, changes relating to the support years arrive They will have to give to every new mobile. These changes in the design, software and product life of the product paint well. But the question is who is going to pay the duck. What changes. From now on, manufacturers have to introduce the new energy labeling in every mobile that they want to put on sale. In it, they are collected data related to the energy efficiency of the samereliability in free fall, autonomy measured per cycle, supported battery cycles, Water and dust resistance protocols and repair index. In addition to informing about ecological design, manufacturers will be obliged to make draft changes throughout the chain process: from how they manufacture the phone to What happens to him with the guarantee time. The updates. Smartphones manufacturers will have to guarantee five years of updates (dry updates, not mandatory version jump) for each and every one of their phones. It is something that great manufacturers such as Samsung, Google, Honor, Xiaomi and Motorola They were already doing with some of their most recent mobiles. The key is precisely in that “some.” Each system update, however small, entails: A team of active software engineers dedicated to the project Quality control processes (internal tests, Google certifications to meet the requirements of each update) Operator certifications in the event that the phone is distributed through a third party Keep the ota infrastructure alive Costs that, in the case of low and medium -end devices, disappeared after the two years that used to be updated. Duplication support will entail an additional expense to companies on devices that leave tight margins: a device of less than 100 euros updating for five years does not seem the best business. And this is just a part of the cake. The new manufacturing standard. The EU focuses on the manufacture of the device. Manufacturers will be obliged to be more resistant to falls, scratches, splashes resistance, and batteries that promise a minimum of the 80% of its total capacity after 800 load cycles. Similarly, spare parts must be guaranteed for at least seven years since the product stops selling. Each and every one of the necessary components to repair the phone must be available to surrender within five to ten days. In summary. Consumers are going to win in two pillars. We will have better phones in the market. We will be able to inform ourselves in a single view of the quality in the ecological design of each of them. The problem is precisely what. Manufacturers will have to support five years. Manufacture, distribute and guarantee spare parts for seven. Introduce better batteries. Create phones more resistant to falls and scratches. Ensure compliance with splash resistance protocols Who pays it. In Europe we are buying increasingly expensive mobiles. So much so that there are more users buying phones of more than 800 euros than users buying mobiles of less than 200 euros. In fact, one of the main reasons why shipments in Europe fell into the first quarter of 2025 has to do precisely The fall in the input range mobile demand. The lowest volume in this segment in the last decade. This segment is precisely one of the most affected will be seen by the normative change: mid -range devices (strip between 399 and 799 euros, according to consultants) and superiors already met a good part of the demands of the European Union. The big question is whether manufacturers will try to absorb these additional costs through the margin in more profitable ranges, or if economic ranges will face slight increases to continue fighting for positive yields. Image | Xataka In Xataka | Apple puts the longevity to repairs. And he has justified it with a 24 -page document

Steve Jobs presented an emulator in 1999 to turn any Mac into a playstation. Sony did not even grace

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January 1999. MacWorld Expo de San Francisco With Steve Jobs on stage. After a presentation loaded with video games and focused on how well those video games run in front of the PC versions, Jobs made Una of the most controversial presentations that have been seen in a scenario of a company of Apple’s reach: that of a PlayStation emulator. Steve’s goal was for each MAC to become a PlayStation I could run games like ‘Crash Bandicoot‘, something possible by the hand of a company called Connectix and of a software called Virtual Game Station. In an ecstatic Sony for the success of their console, they should not give credit to what was being affirmed in one of the most projection events worldwide. The punishment for the creators of the emulator? Be bought … by Sony. Turn each mac into a playstation In 1998, the field of video games for Mac was … Campo. In PC you could enjoy the Lucasarts great adventuresof ‘Warcraft‘, from’ Devil ‘, De’Age of Empires II‘And that same 1998 jewelry was born’Starcraft‘ either ‘Half life‘, But the situation in Mac was very different. There were some projects, yes, and companies like Bungie had interesting games such as ‘Marathon’, but the PC win was incontestable in the entertainment segment. A young programmer named Aaron Giles came up with one thing. Hey, if the MAC has a CD reader and the USA PlayStation CD, Why couldn’t a PlayStation game into a Mac? Giles worked for Connectix, a company founded in 1988 with a very curious story. They developed pioneer software for Mac, but with each new version of Mac OS, Apple ‘stole’ those functions that they had developed to include their own. What Apple did was buy Shareware versions of the same concept that Connectix developed, and so they did not have to make deals with the Connectix itself. Not only did they do hardware: they also took the mac from the sleeve Quickcamone of the First webcam in historythat They sold to Logitech in 1998. But the emulation was the strong point of this company and the focus of many of the developers of the same. Let’s go back to the history of Giles. The programmer began working on the project in 1998 and the truth is that, being able to read Sony’s games with a standard CD-ROM reader, the hardware part was solved. “Only” You had to focus on emulating the bios And the PlayStation environment, but by January 1999 I already had it ready. Thus, on stage, Jobs announced to the world the Game Station virtual emulator, or VGS. “Our goal is to have the best game platform in the world,” said Jobs, who showed below a photo of a playstation. “This is another video game console, the most popular at this time. Wouldn’t it be great if we could also play some of your games?” With that lapidary phrase, Jobs presented the Connectix product adding that it was an emulation software that would sell for $ 49 and that “turn your Mac into a Sony PlayStation.” Less than half of what cost a PlayStation. I imagine Sony’s executives spitting the sake when they learned that Jobs had said that. Hallucinatory “There are hundreds of games that can reproduce from the PlayStation,” said Jobs, who gave way to a Phil Schiller – world marketing director of Apple products – that did not reduce the enthusiasm or tone. Steve giving way to Phil before playing ‘Crash Bandicoot 3’ “This is very cool,” Phil began. The possibility of using a Mac, my MAC, to execute all the great playstation games quickly and economically only putting the game is a fantastic idea ” AND, Neither short nor lazy, he began to play ‘Crash Bandicoot 3’. “It is Sony’s most popular game at this time,” said Phil without cutting off a little (something that today is absolutely unthinkable) and … he began to play. That title had come out just a few months before and ran at 100% speed in a Mac (after a couple of pulls) simply by putting the CD and running VGS. The question was how. How they had been able to emulate perfectly in a IMAC G3 At 233 MHz an RISC processor at 33 MHX, being this of a completely different architecture. And the most impressive is not that, but Giles got it without using a Sony code line. Before continuing I will summarize How an emulator works. It is something that recreates the hardware and system of a console on another platform. In this case, a program that recreates a PlayStation in a MAC. The emulator makes “translator” In real time among the game instructions, which are designed for consoles hardware, to the instructions of the host device. It is something that consumes many resources because you must do a double job, but the really complicated thing is to emulate the BIOS. BIOS means Basic Input Output Sustm and is the essential software of the console that controls the start and interaction between the hardware and that console. For VGS to work, he had to emulate that bios. Giles contacted Sony to help them with the BIOS of PlayStation and, before the Japanese refusal (and an cessation and withdrawal letter by Sony), the programmer did something as absurd as great: thoroughly investigate the machine, study the original bios and rewrite it from scratchlike an own bios. It was absurd because it was a titanic task, but also great because Sony couldn’t do … nothing. Sony’s disbelief That same 1999, Connectix launched VGS for Mac and most games ran fantastically on Apple computers. There were characteristics, such as the vibration of the PlayStation command, which did not work, but it was something that impacted allowing, for 49 dollars, all the owners of a Mac have, in practice, a playstation. For sale of games it would not go wrong because a window of potential users opened, but as we said before, Sony should … Read more

In his obsession to end the noisy motorcycles, the EU has just knew the coup of grace

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The sound of motorcycles has no midpoint: either it puts your nerves or your hair bristles every time you hear it. The second group is quite a niche and, in general, noisy motorcycles are a problem within the urban environment, so the European Union has decided to end them forever. Changes. EC 92.03 regulations legalizes a historical change that will affect, and much, both to the motorcycle industry As to the auxiliary industry of its star complement, the exhaust pipes. From now on, any motorcycle manufactured with the new anti -antaminant regulations will not be able to extract the DB Killer. What is the DB Killer. The most changed accessory on motorcycles is the exhaust pipe. In some cases to earn an extra CV, and mostly to improve the sound of the motorcycle. As its name indicates, the DB Killer is the internal silencer of the exhaust tube, normally screwed. This causes escape gases to pass through a narrower and more perforated channel, reducing the volume. In most cases, the escapes of the auxiliary industry have a removable dB, allowing to increase the sound of the motorcycle in a very simple way in minutes. What the EU says about him. The new EC 92.03 regulation says goodbye completely to the DB Killer. Exhaust systems manufacturers must comply with this new legislation, and may not manufacture approved escapes that allow the silencer to be extracted. These measures apply to street motorcycles, so manufacturers who want to sell escapes that comply with Euro regulations will have to stick to restriction. The only sale scenario for the DB Killer will be the circuit use, with escapes that will continue for sale, but will not be approved for circulation in street. An obsession that comes from afar. Especially noisy motorcycles have been focusing on the European Union for a long time. The Euro 4 regulations, approved in 2016, limited the noise to 80 dB. Euro 5 began including moving tests and with the new Euro5+ and Futura EURO6 The controls are expected to remain increasingly restrictive. Beyond limitations in homologation, there are already European countries devising systems to avoid noise in its cities. The Noise radars They work in countries like France, capable of photographing every vehicle that overcomes the allowed noise in decibels. Precedents. In countries such as Austria it is not possible to circulate with motorcycles that They exceed 95db in stopa regulation that does not apply to cars. Others, such as Germany, restrict the circulation of motorcycles on weekends by certain routes, and have been enabling noise sensors that warn about whether the motorcycle is noisy. Image | BMW In Xataka | Barcelona is the city of Spain with more motorcycles. Now the Generalitat considers limiting its circulation

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