great

And suddenly, a great battery and the Sun of Murcia saved me from the great blackout

by

After a crisis, a couple of disturbing war conflicts, Trump’s second mandate And a worldwide pandemic, The biggest blackout in Spain I shouldn’t have caused me so much concern. But at home, at three o’clock at the beginning and with the children newcomers of the school, his nervousness was very evident. And ours. No electricity grid for almost 12 hours And disconnected from the world almost the same hours except for the blessed radio to batteries, at home the tranquility for the tense and indefinite wait came to us in the most unexpected way: the radiant sun of Murcia and some test batteries in Xataka. This is the story of how some Solar panels connected to a large battery The great blackout of Spain mitigated at home. The reality that everything works with electricity The entrance/exit door of the work center, which we usually opened through an application installed on the mobile, only paid attention to our need to exit urgently when the concierge, analog key in hand, opened it and threw from it under the almost 30 degrees of two in the afternoon in Murcia. At the end of April. “Googlear” if the suppliers of the service stations need food to work, something that would have taken me 10 seconds at another time, was the beginning of many hours of energy uncertainty whose solution did not remember that I had at home On the way by car home, with the deposit near the reserve and without knowing for sure if the suppliers need food to function – or possibility of Googlear the answer to my doubt – the radio was the only point of connection with the real situation. Because the theories about what was happening did not take 10 seconds to run from Boca by ear and another ear … Suddenly, everyone had spoken with a family member abroad who confirmed without any doubt that it was a European issue. What European, world. An “makeshift” installation of solar panels on the home terrace With the few news that I could hear about what was happening I got home. The atmosphere was very similar to that of pandemic, with uncertainty dominating everything. And the feeling of living too many things for the first time. The noon food had to improvise according to very clear criteria: use the perishable of a refrigerator that we did not know when it would be operational and resort to gas barbecue. Yes, the induction cuisine does not get along with the lack of electricity. Already with the serenity that gives the stomach well attended, as a game to calm the kids, we analyze the situation at home and draw a plan for the afternoon. We are looking for lanterns, laptops, “powerbanks” and any device that could be charged. The smartphones and tablets between them. To do so we had an immense, literally, allied at home: some ecoflow batteries tested in Xataka. Time to recharge everything rechargeable. And cook the “cooking” With the internal load of the batteries, a main of 4,000 mAh and an assistant of the same capacity, almost 80%, the four plugs and four USB ports (two of type C and two of type a) they began to recharge everything that we found at home. Including the batteries that we already know that they must be in every emergency kit that boasts. Without the possibility of loading of any kind, the solar batteries of the house offered a recharge point to family and friends who requested it The objective was that, if the situation was extended until night, we could have operational devices And of course Lights ready so that, at least at home, the situation was the most similar normality. Batteries, camping and reading/leisure lights for the long wait Since it was still the beginning of the afternoon in Murcia, the batteries continued to recharge to the usual rhythm in their “rush hour”, about 1,000-1.200 W per hour. One of the great advantages of these Ecoflow batteries for recharge is that they can be feed both from the electricity and connected directly to solar panels. The radio we were about to “recycle” last summer We take advantage of this situation of energy surplus for both less important issues and relax with a fresh coffee and to use certain thermomix type appliances, the microwave or a small electric oven. Everything we could take advantage of that solar energy seemed to us a good idea at that time. Things of situations that are first lived. Mobile of friends and family who lived near them were recharged with our house battery We also rejoice at home of having stored an old analog radio because, without data or functional telephone, it was our only source of reliable information. The great blackout was not this time through streets. No neighborhoods. Not even in cities. But the most alarming was that the duration of it was a great unknown. So the very few moments of connectivity allowed us Offer our batteries to family and friends They lived close to recharge their mobile phones. And without sun, the batteries take control of the house With the different official information about everything that happened arriving via radio but on droppers, the sunset reached us at home with the unknown about what would take the electricity grid of our Murcia area to be operational. So without a sun, it was time to start squeezing the Energy stored throughout the day until it exhausts her. At night, the solar battery was ready to use the stored energy and feed the refrigerator for hours and thereby save food for a very valuable time The system that we have ecoflow proof does not allow energy injection to the home network itself if it is not connected to the general. But his poOutput tenance of up to 4000 W gives us the possibility to use powerful appliances in a timely manner, as we did with the water tank or microwave. At night, in … Read more

The precedent closest to the great blackout of Spain was lived in 2003. And it also began in the interconnected network

by

Few events show our electricity dependence as a mass blackout. And few blackouts have been as extensive as the one that has affected all of Spain today. But there is a precedent of similar characteristics that still remember in neighboring Italy: the great blackout of 2003. The day Italy was dark. On September 28, 2003, practically all the Italians (57 million people) were left without light. The ruling began in the Swiss Alps, demonstrating, as has happened today, the fragility of interconnected networks. It all started at 3:01 in the morning in a high voltage line that crosses the passage of Lukmanier, between Switzerland and Italy. A storm whipped the area. According to subsequent investigations, the branch of a tree hit the wiring, causing a short circuit and its automatic disconnection. It all started with a tree. The fall of a tree should not have been catastrophic. Electrical networks are designed with redundancies to avoid it. However, the demand for energy in Italy at that time was high, and the country depended significantly on the imports of electricity in Switzerland and France. The loss of the Lukmanier line increased the load on the other interconnections. In less than half an hour, a second crucial line, that of the Paso de San Bernardino, also failed. The exact reasons were subject to dispute (Switzerland said there were overloads not communicated by Italy, Italy blamed Swiss management), but the result was overwhelming: Italy lost suddenly a huge capacity to import energy and went out. The domino effect. At 3:27 am, the country remained dark. The almost simultaneous loss of these two great energy arteries had been too much for the Italian network. The frequency of the network began to fall dangerously below 50 Hz, and automatic protection systems, designed to avoid higher damage to generators and equipment, began acting in cascade. Electric centrals throughout Italy began to automatically disconnect from the network to protect themselves. This self -defense mechanism, however, aggravated the problem: the more centrals they disconnected, the greater the imbalance between the remaining little generation and demand, accelerating the collapse. In a matter of minutes, the Italian electricity grid was completely fragmented and collapsed. The blackout affected the entire Italian Peninsula, from the Alps to Sicily. The exception? The Island of Sardinia, which has an independent power grid and not connected to the continental system (as the Canary Islands here), as well as some small border areas that received a direct supply of neighboring countries. The biggest blackout in the history of Italy. The blackout surprised Italy in the early morning of Sunday. Although this mitigated the initial chaos compared to the blackout of Spain (fewer people in public transport, in factories, locked in elevators), the impact was deep and durable throughout the day. Thousands of passengers were also trapped in trains in the middle of nowhere. Hospitals and emergency services activated their diesel generators, but the situation tested their abilities. The meters of cities like Rome and Milan stopped working. The traffic lights went out, complicating traffic. Although many mobile phone antennas had batteries, overload affected communications in some areas. In Rome, the blackout coincided with the “Notte Bianca”, the annual night in which museums open, there are concerts and night activities. Everything was interrupted, plunging thousands of citizens in unexpected darkness. The lack of electricity lasted for hours. A delicate recovery. Restore the electricity supply after a total collapse (the now famous start From energy zero) It is not as simple as pressing a switch. Italy showed that it is a slow, complex and gradual process. Many of the large thermal plants needed external energy to start their own auxiliary systems. As the centrals generate energy again, they have to synchronize perfectly in frequency and voltage with the incipient network. An error can cause new disconnections. Demand must gradually reintroduce as the generation increases. Connect too fast load can overload the newly restored network and cause another collapse. It is a delicate dance between supply and demand. Between four and 18 hours. For these reasons, the recovery was unequal. The regions of northern Italy, closer to European interconnections and with greater capacity for their own generation, began to recover electricity in about 3-4 hours. However, the center and south, especially Sicily, took much more. Some areas remained without electricity for 18 hours or more. Finally, electricity was restored block to block, city to city, in a process that extended during almost all of Sunday. The Italian blackout of 2003 remains a case study on the complexity and fragility of our energy infrastructure. A reminder that small events like a fallen tree can turn off a whole country. Image | Victor Romero (Flickr, CC BY-C-SA 2.0) In Xataka | What is the “energy zero” and why the supply can go suddenly but it takes hours to recover

how “existential tired” has become the great industry of the West

by

In season 9, the twelfth doctor and clear They arrive at a space station In orbit around Neptune. It is the 38th century, on Tuesday. The ship is deserted and only encounter a small rescue mission, but none of that interests us today. We are interested in ‘Morpheus‘, strange machines that allow rest in record time without sleep. A magnificent way of not losing hours with closed eyes, of using our time in little useful things. And “with all the chemical advantages of rest.” “Congratulations, professor. He has revolutionized the labor market, has conquered nature, has created an aberration,” Capaldi says When they explain how the machine works. An “aberration” is true. But one with which many have often fantasized. One that many have ever used. Because, after all, what are the energy drinkshe Recreational methylphenidate or the techniques for Learn to sleep just four hours but small ‘morpheus’ machines? What are they but Symptoms of an increasingly tired society? When the body asks to stop V2osk The problem is that the tiredness we are talking about is much more than not sleeping. Chronic stress, lack of sleep, the increasingly accelerated and hyperactive life rhythms, digital overload, anxiety, burnout … the idea that we live in an increasingly exhausting society has become not only A common place of contemporary discourse, but in An identity feature of our time. That is why there is no lack of theories that try to find the key that allows us to explain what is happening. Some are well documented and add up To chronic lack of lack of sleep: This is the case of nutrition. Some specialists They have proposed The hypothesis that part of the generalized fatigue that affects us is due to minor vitamin or mineral deficits. The best known example is vitamin B12. A deficit of this vitamin can cause anemiaweakness and persistent fatigue. In severe cases, It can cause problems To breathe, dizziness or neurological problems. And, although marked nutritional deficiencies are not very common in healthy young adults, they do increase with age and, in an increasingly worse food contextthey can go unnoticed for months. In this sense, a B12 supplement can help us be less tired and, on a certain level, it can be an explanation, yes. But When we talk about exhaustion We talk about something that “You cannot easily explain in physical terms“, something that” resides on the border between the mind and the body. “ Hyperproductivity, multitasking and digital overload It is enough to review the data to coincide in that fatigue has become an ubiquitous phenomenon, an epidemic, a conviction: from the worker Burnout to the student saturated with information, through those who live in permanent anxiety … everyone has in common that rare feeling of fatigue, tiredness and exhaustion. According to eThe report State of the Global Workplace from Gallup to 44% of the professionals surveyed said they felt high levels of stress daily. And it is something that can be seen in other similar work reports, like this from Adecco in which he pointed out that 40% of workers Spanish and global They had suffered Burnout during the last year. The data has dropped slightly from the posterior peak to the pandemic, but They are still very high. Too high. Being direct: everything seems to indicate that, to purely organic causes, we must add the constant impact of a lifestyle focused on hyperproductivity (Toxic productivity), multitasking and permanent overload. As explained Harvard’s psychologist Natalie Dattilo, “feeling the pressure of being productive at every moment of the day – always a list of slopes and guilt for not fulfilling it – is a sign of this phenomenon that leads to anxiety, insomnia and extreme exhaustion.” In the 90, David Lewis coined The expression of “informative fatigue” to talk about mental exhaustion due to excess information. Today, with smartphones constitiously claiming our attention, That phenomenon has been globalized: Constant notifications, dozens of open eyelashes, a permanent stream of emails, chats and social networks. Is the story of A very expensive way of life at the cognitive level, of loss of efficiency and generalized fatigue. Interior fatigue Gabriel Benois Because, as Schaffner pointed very wellwhen we talk about exhaustion we talk about something that “cannot be easily explained in physical terms”, something that “resides on the border between the mind and the body.” To the malfunction of psychophysiological machinery and excesses of the social environment, something else must be added: the deep emotional, cultural and even philosophical roots of contemporary fatigue. That is, the idea that exhaustion is still a ‘cultural symptom’ of our time. In “The Society of Tiredness“, To look for one of the introductions most accessible to these ideas, the philosopher Byung-Chul have stated that we have ceased to be a” disciplinary society “(as Foucault defined us) and we have become a bizarre evolution of it: incommunicado masses of ‘businessmen’s businessmen’. It is what Almost a decade has denounced Jose César Peralesprofessor at the University of Granada, that “positive thought” is problematic “because it responds to An ideology and concrete economic motivationsbecause it makes the unique people who are good for feeling good, under the threat of being tildos de Toxicbecause hides the true causes of psychological well -being or discomfort, and because it interferes with serious interventions aimed at promoting mental and physical health. “ The self -exploitation that Han complaint either The ideological frames that Jonathan Crary examines They would be the mechanisms that promote a “society of exhausted, depressed and isolated individuals,” a world where “emblematic diseases of our century are no longer viral infections, but neural disorders such as depression, burnout syndrome or attention deficit disorder.” Are we more stressed than ever? With all this on the table it is difficult not to repeat that “We are more stressed than ever“. And yet, something does not fit. Little after we fell, we realize that the history of fatigue is somewhat more complicated. “Many ages tend to present … Read more

After decades of success, the restaurant day menu faces its great crisis and a dilemma: reinvent or die

by

A few weeks ago the veteran articulist David Sharrock published in The Times A wide report about Madrid gastronomy. So far not surprising. That in Spain we enjoy a good kitchen, with large dishes, chefs, restaurants and ingredients is no surprise. The funny thing is that in his analysis Sharrock does not talk about that. The focus focused on another symbol of homeland cuisine, one that passes through low hours and faces the complex challenge of adapting to the 21st century: THE DAY MENU. Sharrock warns that the lifelong menu is “threatened by modern life.” And he is not the only one who thinks like that. A figure: four million. The menu of the day is an institution in the bars of Spain. And for several reasons. The first, its long tradition, which can be traced at least 60 years agowhen in the time of Fraga Iribarne as Minister of Information the Francoist Government established that a good part of the food stores offered a menu at a fixed price. The goal: to enhance tourism. The second key that demonstrates to what extent the formula of the daily menu has penetrated in Spanish gastronomy is its level of implementation. The Spain hospitality association estimates that some are dispatched every day four million throughout the country, which leads to its general secretary, Emilio Gallego, to claim your acceptance. “The menu of the day remains a spectacular success formula,” he says. A price: € 14. Hospitality in Spain has not only calculated how many menus are served daily in the country’s restaurants. At the end of last year he published A report in which goes beyond and analyzes its prices, profitability and the differences between regions. Your main conclusion? That at least in 2024 the average cost of the menu of the day in Spain was around 14 euros, although there are cities in which this figure is quite higher. In Bilbao, for example, the average was 15.5 and Barcelona in 15.1, although there are those who clarify that it results today “Almost impossible” Find a menu in the center of Barcelona for less than 16 euros. Are all strengths? No. The menu perhaps enjoy a long tradition and is rooted in the hospitality of Spain, but on its horizon they appear clouds. And one of them (and the most important) is found in its price. Although its rates increased by 19.5% between 2016 and 2024 (which in practice translates into 11.7 to 14 euros), hospitality in Spain remember that this accumulated increase remains below the general CPI (23.4%) and is much lower than that of food and beverages or the one that In your day They reached certain key products in kitchens, such as olive oil. Between 2023 and 2024 the menus did rise above the general price index, but despite that rebound, of 80 cents on average, the collective recalls that there are many hoteliers to which it is difficult for their businesses to give benefits. To be more precise, They cite a study which reveals that 42.3% of entrepreneurs claim to have experienced a “loss of profitability” during the last year, especially due to the increase in salary costs, food and supplies. At the end of 2024 almost a third of the restaurants (32.5%) admitted that their menus had not increased that year. “Totally in danger”. The hospitality data of Spain give a track of the first great challenge facing the menus for their survival: profitability. To succeed, a menu of the day must offer a range of attractive dishes and a certain variety, but it must also convince in another crucial aspect: the price. The key is how to fit that list (high quality, variety and low price) and at the same time the business gets more than cover costs. A few months ago a hotelman from Vigo I recognized to The country That, despite the fact that his bar was small and that he takes care of almost everything, so that his offer is “viable” needs to sell at least 40 daily menus at a price of 15 euros. “Below that figure, it will only serve to cover costs.” “It is totally in danger, and fortunately, because it is not a sustainable model for the hotelier,” Point to the same newspaper Paco Cruz, The Food Manager, speaking precisely about the state of health of the menus. In his opinion, the formula is profitable basically in certain businesses, with a good flow of clients and experience. The AI, to the rescue. “The customer of the menu of the day wants first five, five seconds and variety every day. But what do you do with what is left over? If everyone asks for the same, what about the dishes that are not requested? The losses are brutal and that is unsustainable from any point of view: economic, ethical and environmental,” Add Cruz. The challenge is so complex that there are those who have already sought help in AI, as Fusion was checked in Madridwhere chef Eneko Atxa and physicist Eneko Axpe presented a tool designed to design attractive menus … and above all profitable. Objective: efficiency. “Inflation is almost 40%. The diner says they are charging me more, 19.5, but the hotelier has a hard time doing 39.2 more,” recalled During the ATXA presentation before adding to that price increase the increase in rentals and energy. The objective of the delight tool is precisely to look for “an orderly efficiency” in the menu, maximize the benefit and seek maximum efficiency in the number of chefs, customers and purchase. “The menu is an immaterial good in our culture and one of the challenges and problems facing hoteliers and diners,” Axpe points out. Cost of costs (and something else). Although inflation and imbalance between the rise in prices and salaries is one of the great challenges of the menu of the day, it is not the only one. As Sharrock points out in Your chronicle of The Times The format … Read more

Not everything is Kindle. Five great alternatives to devour digital books in an ereader

by

The Kindle have been the most popular ereader for years, but there is life beyond them. Although in general all models are very good, other brands also offer a very complete experience. Therefore, already the eve of Book Day, we wanted to review Five alternatives to Kindle to enjoy the passion of devouring books. Kobo Clara Colora standard format ereader whose most differential point is its color screen. Pocketbook see pro coloranother ereader with color screen, but also comes with buttons to pass the pages. Woxter Scriba 195 San ideal ereader if what we are looking for is a very compact and very cheap model. Kobo Libra Colora seven -inch ereader with color screen and physical buttons. Pocketbook inkpad 4an ereader with almost eight -inch screen that comes with 32 GB of storage. Kobo Clara Color If we are looking for a compact ereader, with a good price and color screen, the Kobo Clara Color It is an interesting option – it is also available With black and white screen-. Mount one Six -inch screen with Fastglr and dark mode offered by 300 PPP in black and white and 150 ppp in color. It has 16 GB to store books, includes its own store to buy and download digital books and comes both with adjustable lighting and with light control and letter customization (format, font, size …). Also You can play audiobooks, it is water resistant and its autonomy is weeks. You can play digital books with the following formats: EPUB, EPUB3, FLEPUB, PDF, MOBI, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, TXT, HTML, RTF, CBZ and CBR) * Some price may have changed from the last review Pocketbook see pro color With a similar format, a great alternative to the Kindle is the Pocketbook see pro color. It comes with one Six -inch color screen and offers 300 PPP. It is also compatible with audiobooks, front lighting can be adjusted and has Darkmode to select a dark reading mode. It also has IPX8 certificationcomes with an app to select digital books as a loan and allows you to pass the pages – and navigate the menu— by the touch screen or through the physical buttons that we can find in the lower part of the ereader. You can play digital books with the following formats: ACSM, AZW, AZW3, CBR, CBZ, CHM, DJVU, DOC, DOCX, EPUB, FB2, FB2.ZIP, HTM, HTML, MOBI, PDF, PRC, RTF, TXT, JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF. In the case of audiobooks: M4B, OGG, OGG.ZIP, MP3, MP3.ZIP, WAV. Pocketbook see pro color * Some price may have changed from the last review Woxter Scriba 195 S On the other hand, if what we are looking for is a very cheap, very small ereader, but with the ability to give us hours and hours of reading, the Woxter Scriba 195 S It is an interesting purchase option –The same model, but larger, also has an adjusted price-. Without a doubt, the most remarkable thing is that it rides a 4.7 -inch screen and? Weigh only 100 grams. Its screen is not tactile, so to pass the pages and navigate the menu we must do it through the physical buttons. Includes 4 GB of storage to save books, Allows you to read horizontally and vertically and has adjustable frontal light. You can reproduce digital libors with the following formats: EPUB, PDF, FB2, HTM, DOC, TXT, RTF, TAR, TCR, JPEG, BMP, GIF, PNG. * Some price may have changed from the last review Kobo Libra Color From the hand of Rakuten, we can also find other ereader with somewhat larger screens. He Kobo Libra Color It is ideal for those looking for a more generous screen, since in this case it is seven inches. It comes with Fastglr and dark mode, offers 300 PPP in black and white content and 150 ppp in color content and has 32 GB of storage. Its battery offers a Autonomy of up to 40 daysit is water resistant, includes automatic brightness and color adjustment, reproduces audiobooks and the pages can be passed by the touch screen OA through the buttons we find on the right side. On the other hand, the Kobo Libra Color can reproduce the following formats: EPUB, EPUB3, FLEPUB, PDF, MOBI, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, TXT, HTML, RTF, CBZ and CBR. * Some price may have changed from the last review Pocketbook inkpad 4 And if we want to make a leap more about the size of the screen, the Pocketbook inkpad 4 It is a very good purchase option. Mount a generous 7.8 -inch screen which offers 300 PPP, is water resistant (IPX8 certification) and has 32 GB of storage to save a large number of digital books. Besides, The screen has scratch protectionIt comes with an integrated speaker, it also includes a public loan library of books and you can pass the pages with the touch screen or through the physical buttons that are located at the bottom. The Pocketbook inkpad 4 is capable of reproducing the following formats: ACSM, CBR, CBZ, CHM, DJVU, DOC, DOCX, EPUB, FB2, FB2.ZIP, HTM, HTML, MOBI, PDF, PRC, RTF, TXT, JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF, M4 OGG.ZIP, MP3, MP3.ZIP. * Some price may have changed from the last review Some of the links of this article are affiliated and can report a benefit to Xataka. In case of non -availability, offers may vary. Image | Amanz in UnspashRakuten, pocketbook, woxter In Xataka | Best electronic books. Which to buy and nine recommended models In Xataka | What Kindle Buy: Purchase guide with recommendations to succeed with Amazon electronic book readers

The United States has tired of the monopolies of great technological ones. And wants to start “chop them” with goal

by

The United States turned a blind eye with its great technological for years. He did not pay too much attention to whether they abused their privilege position or had monopolistic and anti -competitive behaviors, Something that was pursued by the European Union. That has changed, and we are seeing how one after another the Big Tech are being scrutinized in the American judicial courts. Not only that: the threat to those giants is to finish chopped. FTC against goal. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) trial of the United States began yesterday, and for two months it will try to decide whether the company created by Mark Zuckerberg is a monopoly in the “personal social media services market” market. The consequences can be huge for the goal, which could be forced to divide into several companies. Zuckerberg on the stage. As they point out In The New York TimesMark Zuckerberg came yesterday as a witness to defend “his social media empire.” The FTC lawyers showed several emails in which they raised their argument: what a target “illegally cemented a social networks monopoly by acquiring Instagram and goal when they were small startups.” Zuckerberg made it clear in this Email of April 2012. Better buy than to compete. Source: Big Tech on Trial. If it is a threat to your domain, buy it. The Tactics of the FTC lawyers is to demonstrate that goal used their privilege position to buy companies that could represent a threat in the future. It is the strategy that Some call (rightly) “Better buy than to compete.” To those accusations Zuckerberg replied saying that they ended up investing a lot of money in them after buying them, but doing so they managed not only to reinforce their dominant position, but to eliminate those threats that Instagram or WhatsApp raised. The FTC proposes to chop target. If the government wins the trial, they point out on the Times, the FTC probably asks for the goal to divide into several parts. Thus, Instagram and WhatsApp could be independent companies that would compete with each other with Facebook, or at least that would be the intention of the government. Too much power. Thus, the government must demonstrate that goal would not have had the same success without those acquisitions. It is something really complicated, but this is part of the effort of recent years to try to mitigate the enormous power that technological giants have. These privilege positions allow these companies to clearly influence the exchange of ideas, entertainment and of course political debate. A peculiar judge. The case is chaired by Judge James Boasberg, 62, who already faced a Trump decision in a previous case but that above all attracts attention by a choice: he affirms that he has never used the goal applications, although he is familiar with Facebook Live, which has been used in some criminal cases. Google is in the same. Last summer, federal judge Amit Mehta pronounced a few words that were not evident were less important: “Google is a monopoly“. And threat of “chopstick”Fines do not seem to function as punishment for these types of companies, and for years another option than politicians has been considered Like Senator Warren They defend to act against the Big Tech: chop them. In the case of Google, the sentence could force Alphabet, the matrix, to get rid of Chrome and even Android. Apple, another of the objectives. In March 2024 the Department of Defense (DOJ) accused Apple of being a monopoly and to close the iPhone and iOS to the competitors. The United States followed the steps of Europe, although in this case, which has not yet concluded, a company’s split was not raised. Amazon is a monopoly. Years before the US Congress has already concluded that Amazon was a monopoly in the field of electronic commerce. The long investigation ended with A document of almost 500 pages, but had no specific consequences beyond an attempt to reform legislation in this regard. The US follows the EU wake. For years the European Union has been the nemesis of the large technological companies of the US, which it has stopped with fines and sentences that punished anti -competitive practices. We saw it a few months ago when Meta received A fine of almost 800 million euros for one of this type of cases. The new roof of the Big Tech. Microsoft was a clear objective of the European Commission at the beginning of the century, and since then the antitrust cases They have happened constantly, as companies such as Google either Apple. In the US, such issues seemed to be in the background, but from a time to this part of the US justice It has become very serious With these companies, as we have been able to check with Amazon, Apple, Google and now Meta. Image | Goal In Xataka | A 1.3 million rolex and a brilliant suit: the new Mark Zuckerberg has celebrated his wife’s birthday

After matching his space bet, Jeff Bezos has invested in the other great Elon Musk project: electric cars

by

Jeff Bezos is financing under a startup of electric vehicles called Slate Auto, which works since 2022 in a Pickup Compact and affordable with an expected price of $ 25,000, as it has revealed Techcrunch. Why is it important. This investment is a very different approach to the one followed by the majority of electric startups, which have opted for luxury models with high margins. Slate Auto changes the usual strategy when directing directly to the mass market, that of the general public. And just at a time when the growth of some brands has slowed down. In the case of Tesla, has collapsed. Between bambalins. The company was born as part of Re Manufacturing, another company supported by Bezos and co -founded by Jeff Wilke, former CEO of Amazon Consumer. Since then, he has attracted several executives from Ford, GM, Stellantis and Harley-Davidson, in addition to several former Amazon ex-employed. The figures. Slate raised at least 111 million dollars in a series A round in 2023, and according to documents from the state of Delaware mentioned by Motorpasionhas authorized about 500 million preferential shares for a series B $ 2.37 per share. That is, almost 1.2 billion dollars. In addition to Bezos, the company has the investment of Mark Walter, majority owner of the Dodgers, a baseball team, and Thomas Tull, main re manufacturing investor. The strategy. The Pickup of two Slate places follow a minimalist philosophy inspired by the Ford Model T and the Volkswagen Beetle. The company’s plan is to compensate for the low margins of the vehicle with an accessories line for customization, similar to the Harley-Davidson business model or division Mopar of Stellantis. And now what. Slate plans to start production at the end of 2026 in an installation in Indiana. During these days a prototype of the car in Los Angeles has been sighted and photographed, showing a simple and functional design, published in Reddit and collected by Carscoops. Far away from the futuristic lines of a possible rival like the Cybertruck of Tesla. Expected that, after the exclusive Techcrunch And the first photo of the prototype, the company is encouraged to share some more information than until now, where it has been cryptic in its communications. Outstanding image | Reddit In Xataka | The problem of US cars in Europe is not tariffs: they are not interested in the least

Tariffs are already being charged to their first great victim of the global economy: the price of oil

by

In this tariff war, China He has decided to get back to the United States with tariffs of 84% to all imports. A blunt response of the Asian giant, which has charged its first victim by crossfire: oil. Price drop. The price of barrels is below Los 60 dollars and going down. As He explained Energy expert Javier Blas, the oil market is going through a perfect storm: on the one hand, the fall in global demand as a direct consequence of the tariff war, and on the other hand, The answer a few days ago of the OPEC+ to continue producing more, which causes the offer to continue increasing. If this situation extends, it could evolve towards a real supply shock affecting two giants. The matter is more complex. OPEC+ decided to increase its oil production despite the fall in prices due to tariffs and concerns of a global economic slowdown. The organization I was looking to recover the market share I had lost due to the previous cuts. In addition, the growing production of non -member countries and Failurers of the rules to raise the offer. It will be very expensive. In all this situation, Saudi Arabia is one of the affected giants because in its recent projects it is diversifying its economy with the initiative, Vision 2030. It is betting on an economic model that is disconnected from oil, but It is still your currency To continue financing their mega -structures, such as Neom. As have indicated from Reutersthe fall in prices threatens to cut tens of billions of state dollars, as is already being seen in the stock market of the state oil company, Saudi Aramco. The impact is capital, since Riad can be forced to increase his indebtedness or postpone large infrastructure projects. In fact, according to the same news agency, the International Monetary Fund has estimated that Saudi Arabia needs prices greater than $ 90 per barrel to square its accounts. The other giant. The fall in prices takes with him another great economy ahead: Russia. As He has warned for Reutersthe governor of the Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, that the escalation of tariff wars represents a clear risk for Russia due to the fall in crude oil prices. In his words, the continuity of the commercial conflict reduces global trade, slows down the world economy and, consequently, decreases the demand for Russian energy resources. In fact, with the current situation of war, the dependence of Moscow of oil and gas is key, but the data is showing how in March 17% fell and it is expected that in April it will continue to descend. From Moscow. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov has acknowledged that the oil market is going through an “extremely turbulent” situation, derived from commercial tension caused by the United States. Meanwhile, the price of raw Urals, the Russian referent barrel, is dangerously approaching to the threshold of 50 dollars By barrel, the lowest level in almost two years. As Oilprice has had accessRussian authorities have indicated that a technical fiscal rule will help mitigate the effects on the budget, but oil prices are in free fall. Forecasts. The price of oil can continue down with all the situation that is being experienced: wars, sanctions and territorial instability. All this affects perception Investor risk and without a clear OPEC+ response the price falls without brakes. Image | Javier Colmenero Xataka | For great technological tariffs are an existential threat: their empires depend on the “world system”

Balatro has been the last great breath of fresh air in the independent video game industry. This is its history

by

At the end of 2021 a developer with alias “LOCTHUNK“He dedicated his three weeks of vacation to create a multiplayer card game that was based on the poker but went further and created as a Roguelike video game. He called it Balatroand after a year and a half of development he published a first beta version in Steam. Its creation began to call the attention of some increasingly important youtubers, and the snowball was getting bigger and bigger. So much so that in its final launch, on February 20, 2024, Balatro sold 50,000 copies in two hours. At the end of the localshunk day he had sold 119,000 copies of his game in Steam, with total revenues of more than one million dollars. Balatro’s popularity is still exceptional, although its launch was not exempt from problems. The European ages rating system, Pegi, described it as a game not suitable for children under 18. LOCTHUNK He complained of the unfair of that qualification: your card game It does not include bets Or transactions with real money, and finally got the qualification to be Pegi 12, that is, suitable for children aged 12 years old. Since its definitive launch, Balatro has made history. He was nominated for Goty 2024 (Game of the Year), in addition to winning several awards in the independent video game category. By January 2025 I already exceeded the Five million units soldFor example. The game, which was initially available on PC and consoles, ended up appearing for iOS and Android in September 2024. And in all that time, something surprising: Locothunk has managed to maintain its anonymitysomething he confessed had been a success for him. Maybe one day we know its true identity, but what is clear is that Balatro has ended up being a phenomenon within an industry little accustomed to the success of small independent productions. In Xataka | The most addictive game of recent times is ‘Balatro’: construction of decks disguised as a poker and with millionaire sales

China probes revenge from the United States closing its doors to Hollywood. And Europe could be the great beneficiary

by

China is valuing to prohibit the distribution of American films In response to Donald Trump’s threat to impose additional 50% tariffs About Chinese products. Or that follows, since the original source is a Chinese journalist linked to the Communist Party. A Insider that releases the probe balloons. This measure is part of a retaliation package that would also include blockages to the importation of agricultural and poultry products in the United States. Why is it important. The Chinese government has described Trump’s strategy as “blackmail” and He said that “will fight until the end,” according to the Ministry of Commerce in an official statement. “The Chinese do not look for problems, but they don’t fear them,” added the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lin Jian. In figures. American films generated 585 million dollars in China for 2024approximately 3.5% of the 17,710 million dollars of total collection in the Chinese film market. If the veto materializes, next blockbusters like ‘Jurassic World: Rebirth‘,’The accountant 2‘And the next installment of’Impossible mission‘They could leave a lot of money at the box office. The threat. The confrontation has intensified after Trump’s announcement of an additional 50% tariff if China did not withdraw the 34% of US products. If this dynamic is maintained, total tariffs on Chinese products could reach 104%: Current tariffs: 20% (previous taxes). New tariffs: 34% (announced last week). Extra threat: 50% (if China does not withdraw its measures). Between bambalins. Dan Wang, a specialist in China in Eurasia Group, points out that when tariffs exceed 35%, Chinese exporters lose all profitability in the US market. “After that point, China should not export to the United States at all. Europe is and will be the most profitable market for China now,” Wang explains in statements collected by Daily Mail. To a scrambled river … Outstanding image | Jurassic World, Xataka with Mockuuuups Studio In Xataka | The highest blockbuster movie in history does not come from Hollywood, but from China, and now you can see it in Prime Video

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.