history

The war in Ukraine is the most Looney Tunes in history

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In Ukraine, camouflage has ceased to be a tactical detail and has become an issue immediate survival. The front is no longer just a line of trenches but a space permanently illuminated by sensors, reconnaissance drones and attack FPV that appear in seconds and punish any routine. In that scenario the difference between ingenuity and desperation is a blurred line for hiding. The new battlefield. The consequence is simple and brutal: what previously served to hide from a soldier with binoculars now it is insufficient in front of an electronic eye that does not get tired, does not blink and can observe from above, repeating passes until it finds the smallest error. At that point, Russia is forced to improvise new forms of concealment for his troops, not because it is an aesthetic eccentricity, but because the alternative is being exposed in an environment where detection is almost automatic and punishment comes with surgical precision. “Realistic” camouflage. One of the most striking adaptations has been the use of camouflage covers that are no longer limited to breaking silhouettes with spots of color, but incorporate materials and shapes designed to mimic terrain elementsas if it were a hand-built scenario: fake rocksrough surfaces, textures that imitate rubble and irregularities that deceive the view from above. The idea is simple and quite logical in a front saturated with drones: if the enemy watches from the air, it is not enough to “look green”, there is that “seem terrain”integrate into the visual noise of the landscape and reduce the clues that give away a position. It is an attempt to gain those minutes of invisibility that separate a possible advance from a failed ambush, and it fits with an evolution in which Russia tries to rely more in small and mobile attackswith small groups, assuming that massive concentrations and obvious deployments have become a gift for Ukrainian surveillance. Urban debris like skin. The same logic is transferred to devastated urban areas, where the terrain is not a forest or an open field but a broken brick, fallen walls and dust, and where the most useful camouflage is not so much the traditional “military” one but the one that makes you in part of the destruction. There appear nets and covers designed to look like rubble, construction remains and fragments of buildings, as if the soldier was not hiding behind the ruin but rather merging with it. It is also the response to constant pressure: the impact of drones on the Russian infantry has become so frequent that the front is transformed in a crusher of small movements, and each exposed position can become a scene repeated thousands of times. It is still another paradox in a landscape of rubble, one where effective camouflage is what turns you… in rubble. Debris camouflage “tarps” Field booths. Then there is the image that seems to be taken from a parody, although possibly born of real tactical desperation: soldiers taking refuge in individual vertical structureslike capsules or covers that cover them almost completely and only leave a small gap to observe. They are not typical tents, nor shelters to live in, but rather packaging designed to reduce visual signature and, above all, thermal, against drones that search for targets and finish them off with precision. The logic is simple: if the drone finds you, you are dead, so the first thing is to prevent it from finding you. That said, the price to pay can be enormous because hiding like this means give up all mobilityreaction and situational awareness, just what a soldier needs when danger comes quickly and from any angle. Thermal camouflage The great invisible enemy. It we have counted these days. The most decisive turn, however, is not only in what is seen, but in what is felt: the heat. In winter, thermal cameras become even more lethal because the contrast increases and everything that emits a constant temperature (human bodies, engines, electronics, heaters) stands out like a light signal on a frozen background, even at night. Ukrainian bomber drones, nicknamed “Baba Yaga”they have exploited that advantage effectively: they search for formations or positions, identify thermal anomalies, and release ammunition with an ease that turns concealment into an almost mathematical problem. In these conditions, visual camouflage is of little use if the position “glows” in infrared, and even what seems insignificant (recent footprints in the snow, repeated activity at a fixed point) can become a clue. That’s why it appears thermal camouflagewhich does not eliminate heat because that is impossible, but tries to break the silhouette and blend it with the environment, even if it is degrading the signal instead of erasing it. The great Russian dilemma. The situation forces Russia to move in an impossible balance: If you try to advance towards death zones under drones, the exposure multiplies, and if you decide to stay in fixed positions, persistent observation ends up discovering patterns, entrances and exits, moments of activity, small routines that a drone can record until the attack arrives. The result is that each defensive measure brings with it a new limitation: hiding better usually means seeing less and reacting worse, moving more usually means being detected sooner. And while Ukraine reserves thermal cameras for reusable drones because they make the system more expensive and cannot be used in everything, also play with smart combinations, using a drone with good optics to detect and cheaper ones to execute. Looney Tunes, but with real casualties. If you also want, all this leads us to an idea that sounds like a joke that is not: the war in Ukraine is resembling an episode from Looney Tuneswith soldiers hiding in vertical capsuless, networks that imitate bricks and camouflages that look like movie props. There is no doubt, the background is terribly serious, because this absurd aesthetic is born from a real technological pressure, from an environment where air It is full of sensors and camouflage no longer competes against human eyes, but against machines … Read more

For the first time in history the possibility of a Mediterranean without wine is beginning to appear on the horizon

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The same week we found out that Nabimia is flooding Europe of grapes grown in the middle of the desert, a map goes viral that says that the continent’s wine-growing areas have been moving north for decades. What’s the point of all this? Is it even possible? Let’s see it. Let’s start with the map. In recent days, the map is by Sebastian Gräff for The European Correspondent and shows how, in Europe, the “wine-growing areas” have been shifting for 60 years due to the effect of climate change. Not only has it gone viral, it has also become very controversial. Just look at the map to see that historical areas full of vineyards (such as the Jerez countryside) do not appear on it. And it is not a specific failure: there are ‘gaps’ of this type in practically all of the countries that come out. And yet, this isn’t exactly a problem. How is that not a problem? Because what the map represents is the Huglin index: one of the many indices that tries to determine the areas with optimal conditions for growing vines. It is based on a viticultural principle: that each grape variety needs a certain amount of heat to be grown successfully. The Huglin index tries to make an estimate, but (due to the nature of meteorological data) it is not useful for concrete detail. The best-known example is the slopes: having one orientation or another can change the average daily temperature of the area by more than two degrees. It is rather a tool to classify areas, predict ripening and plan the cultivation of certain varieties. But a tool that only makes sense in its context. And the map is not its context. I mean, it’s not what it’s intended for, but that doesn’t mean it’s not interesting. At the end of the day, climate change is one of the most important “game changers” in the world of vines: we must not forget that, in 2024, the harvest took place earliest of the Marco de Jerez since there are records and experts fear that, if the trend continues like this, there will come a time when it will not be viable to grow grapes. In the same way, there are huge regions of the world that they are about to be able grow vines: UK wine production has doubled in a very short time and indeed the area planted with vines has increased 75% in the last five years. They are not yet large amounts, but the harvests are getting better and the sector is moving more and more money. And the expectation is that it will go further, of course. Bad omens. All this outlines something that researchers are beginning to take very seriously: the first time, in historical times, the Mediterranean run out of useful vines for wine production. In this sense, the Jumilla disaster of 2024 serves as a warning to navigators. Wine is entering unknown territory and we are going to bear the worst part. Image | Sebastian Graff In Xataka | The oldest wine in the world is “Andalusian” and has been resting for 2,000 years. If it’s good or not, no one wants to know.

There is a reason why Germany allows driving at 300 km/h and it is not history or politics: it is the asphalt

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If you like to step on the accelerator, you will have already seen firsthand that cornering at 100 km/h is better than at 130 km/h. I don’t need to remind you that the maximum speed allowed on state roads is 120 km/h. Although there are quite a few countries within the European Union with higher limits, Germany is the only state where there are sections without speed limit. 300 km/h without breaking a sweat. Obviously, this poses a danger to driving as cars such as a Porsche at 322 km/h. At these speeds, the risk of the car jumping or losing control is notable. But the “recipe” for manufacturing the German Autobahn has its particularities that allow it to offer enviable flatness and a road surface with high load capacity. And it can be found in the regulations and standards of the FGSV (Research Society for Highways and Transportation) and the BASt (German Federal Authority for Road Safety and Traffic). Blessed sandwich. While in Spain Flexible or semi-rigid pavement predominates with thicknesses of 40 to 60 centimeters. In Germany they use a standardized layer system called RStO 12 (Guidelines for the Standardization of Pavement Structures). That is, with a total thickness of between 70 and 90 centimeters with an antifreeze base composed of highly permeable gravel and sand so that water does not remain trapped (in case of freezing, it would generate large cracks as a result of expansion). About this, layers of gravel mixed with concrete or asphalt to provide sufficient rigidity to prevent collapse under the passage of heavy trucks. cwhen concrete and when asphalt. In the intermediate section the Germans use two materials, highlighting the concrete for those stretches of free speed and high truck traffic thanks to its rigidity and durability. In more detail: The 25 to 30 centimeter high-resistance concrete pavements longitudinally integrate plastic-coated steel bars. Thus, they allow some thermal expansion but do not allow them to move independently, causing steps. The transition between the concrete slabs is barely noticeable. Asphalt with stone matrix (S.M.A.), a combination with crushed stone and cellulose to offer extreme resistance to deformation and maximize the tire’s grip. The “superstructure” of German roads. Von Susan from Bielefeld, Deutschland – Straße, CC BY 2.0 Extreme plain for safety and by law. If you hit a speed bump at a certain speed, your car will go away. If you go 300 km/h in a sports car, the loss of aerodynamic load is such that it could be fatal. So Germany takes the plain very seriously by regulations: the maximum allowable deviation three millimeters in four meters. They achieve it with controlled pavers by global navigation and laser sensor systems. Auf wiedersehen, aquaplaning. Once the risk of steps, cracks and unevenness has been minimized, there remains another staunch enemy for speed: water on the asphalt. And they fight it in two ways. For starters, autobahns have a slope of at least 2.5% on the sides to evacuate the water as soon as possible. For concrete pavements, it is used waschbeton or washed concrete, a technique that brushes the surface to expose the aggregates, thus creating a rough, non-slip area that breaks up any water film that may form. In Xataka | Germany, Austria and Switzerland have plenty of roads. So they have started covering them with solar panels In Xataka | The Autobahn are the only roads in Europe without a speed limit. More and more Germans want to end them Cover | Wes Tindel and Nick Fewings

In 1792, before the telephone, a Frenchman invented the first telecommunications system in history: the optical telegraph.

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We live in full Digital Ageand sometimes we make the mistake of thinking that until the end of the 20th century anything similar to the Internet was pure science fiction. But it is not true, because already in the 19th century the telegraph began to allow us to disseminate information in real time, which has earned Morse’s invention the nickname of the Victorian Internet. optical telegraph. But before Morse invented the telegraph in 1832, there were other attempts to make information travel long distances almost in real time. One of them saw the light in 1792 at the hands of the French inventor Claude Chappe. It is about the optical telegrapha tower with two mobile arms that changed position depending on what was wanted to be communicated, and which today is considered the first practical telecommunications system. The origins. This type of communication medium was first devised in 1684 by the British scholar Robert Hooke, although he never put his theory into practice. In 1767 Sir Richard Lovell Edgeworth proposed a first design optical telegraph to transmit the results of a race, but it was not until Chappe developed his that they began to become popular. Claude Chappe and his brothers developed their communication system in 1792, and it was so successful in France that the country created a network of 556 stations that communicated an area of ​​4,800 kilometers. The system was promoted for commercial use, but Napoleon Bonaparte liked the idea and decided to use it to coordinate his troops over long distances. How it worked. The system was made up of a mast from which two mobile arms came out. At two meters long each, the arms were so large that they could be seen from great distances, and only two levers were needed to make them move. As we see in the image, the position of the arms would determine the number or letter that was wanted to be transmitted. The milestone. The first message with the French optical telegraph network was transmitted from Lille to Paris in 1794, and 22 towers were used to carry it across 230 kilometers. It was used for national communications until the 1850s, and the model was modified and used in other countries such as Sweden, Hungary, the United Kingdom, Germany and the Spain of Charles IV. became famous. In France it enjoyed great popularity, and reached be described in works as important as “The Count of Monte Cristo” by Alexandre Dumas in 1844. But the same desire to quickly and effectively develop communications that drove and led Chappe’s invention to success also ended up being his undoing. In 1846 and after several failed attempts, Samuel Morse finally managed to convince France to replace it with his new electric telegraph, which could be used at night and in poor visibility. And it ended up prevailing despite the fact that many experts of the time predicted its failure due to the ease with which its lines could be cut, although that is another story. Images | Wikimedia (1, 2, 3 and 4)

four years later it is experiencing the biggest audience crisis in its history

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Telecinco has lost its way. Since the disappearance of Sálvame from his grill and the definitive closure of the Vasile era, the chain seems to have been left in no man’s land. The initial idea in summer 2023 was clear: Ana Rosa would take over the afternoons of that audience that was orphaned without Jorge Javier’s farmhouse. On the other hand, that was the first setback and what led to the fact that, faced with more than discreet audiencesthe presenter returned to her comfort zone, recovering the morning space. From then on, the situation did not rather than getting worse. With Joaquín Prat becoming the currency of the chain, the commitment to new contests and a weekend that, despite a rebranding constant (‘Viva la Vida’, ‘Ya es Verano’, ‘Fiesta’…) belongs for life to Emma García, the data remains unrecorded; In fact, the new stage of its news programs led by someone very established in that space within TVE has not even worked, as is Carlos Franganillo. The numbers show how little benefit the change of direction and this replacement of the Mediaset leadership is. And it is not only the new CEOs who have been unable to turn it around to the situation, but, paradoxically, the only thing that holds the chain is the Vasile inheritance. The audiences are clear: Telecinco finds it difficult to exceed 10% of the daily share and has been in decline for four years, with a historical monthly low 8% in August 2025. What is happening? Vasile continues to keep Mediaset afloat If we review what Mediaset has defined through its flagships, we can get an idea of ​​the type of programming that the audience wants and expects from the network, in addition to its editorial approach. During Valerio Lazarov’s era the ‘Mama Chicho’ led; Maurizio Carlotti will be remembered for promoting series such as ‘Family Doctor’ or iconic formats such as ‘Martian Chronicles’; and in the Vasile stage we remember that essence ‘Save me’. However, what stood out in its content management was the firm commitment to reality television and circular content, a move that was undoubtedly key to the chain’s success. The contestants of the latest edition of GH. ‘Big Brother’, ‘Hotel Glam’, ‘The Farm’, ‘Survivors’… The choice of this type of format may have seemed at the time a risky maneuver to boost the audience, but the truth is that the active participation of the public, its involvement in the personal plots of the contestants and the enormous amount of associated content that did nothing more than regurgitate the realities (debates, gatherings, 24-hour connections…) managed to keep an audience tremendously dedicated to reality television hooked and in suspense. Maybe the concept reality It was moving away from the classic contest format, but its essence remained intact and it was consolidated for years as the driving force of the network. ‘Women and Men and Vice Versa’ or ‘Sálvame’ were still, deep down, a 2.0 version of reality television. To understand and stay up to date with the cameos, the cross accusations and the melodramatic plots, it was essential to follow the different spaces spread throughout the grid, where the contestants, journalists and collaborators were part of the same network, which ended up building an extraordinarily loyal audience. Now we are in the middle of 2025 and after the debacle in hearings and the futile attempts to overcome the sharewhile the new management intends to more than shelve the Vasile stage, the only thing that it seems to still work as a claim to the public it is ‘Temptation Island’. A format that is still the natural evolution of Telecinco’s original reality television, more current and oriented towards young audiences, although keeping intact the philosophy of entertainment and controversy that defined the Vasile era. And this is not an isolated case: the other space that maintains acceptable figures in the chain is ‘Friday’a show that wants to appear whiter and more moderate in tone but is still another variant of the heartfelt programs that historically always triumphed on Telecinco during the reign of Paolo Vasile, such as Salsa Rosa or Sálvame Deluxe. Was this the revolution? Therefore, everything seems to indicate that the more they want to clean the slate, the more they need to resort to the ghosts of the past. As a way forward they wanted to rely on a format like ‘Big Brother‘ but this only highlighted the key deficiency: we have a Mediaset without a soul. There is no longer a synergy of programs with the same zeitgeist which in its day provided, for example, ‘Sálvame’. Without that transversal ecosystem that was nourished by that reality television, it is very difficult for a format like Big Brother to once again have the success of yesteryear. The contents appear too dispersed, without a clear common thread and, thus, the grid lacks cohesion. It seems that the solution and innovation proposed by the new management is based on decisions that go from bad to worse. When the debate on ‘Temptation Island’ (remember: its star program with three (!) weekly broadcasts), is relegated to the ‘Mediaset Infinity’ platform and on the contrary, they insist on broadcasting the debate of a program that gave his last blows like ‘Big Brother’ mean that the viewer was not surprised by that “sudden” cancellation of the format with an express final. The combination of a worn-out program, increasingly stronger competition, changes in consumer habits, the questionable selection of anonymous contestants and a fragmented programming has sentenced an edition of Big Brother with data that do not reach 10% of shareand confirming that the reality emblematic no longer connects with the audience like before; also entering into direct contrast with the wonderful data of ‘Temptation Island’; a fresher, viral and intense format that challenges the viewer. Only ‘Temptation Island’ saves the furniture. Mediaset only has to analyze how it is possible that a format like ‘The House of Twins’ has eaten the toast of his GH edition; … Read more

He is the most important programmer in all of history. And he has also ended up using AI to program

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Linus Torvalds, Linux kernel creatorhe found himself with some free time this Christmas, so he wanted to dedicate it to a personal project that he had on the shelf: an application capable of generating digital audio effects that he called AudioNoise. The curious thing is not that he started programming on his own, but rather what he ended up doing with part of that application. Linus tries Vibe coding. This project has a description on GitHub that holds a surprise. In the last paragraph of it he indicates that “Also keep in mind that the Python visualization tool was basically written using vibe-coding. I know more about analog filters (which isn’t saying much) than I do Python. I started with my typical “Google it and copy what I see” way of programming, but then I cut out the middleman (myself) and used Google Antigravity to create the audio sample viewer.” The best programmer programs like any other. The statement is surprisingly sincere and honest from the one who He is probably the most important programmer in all of history.. Admitting that your typical way of programming is “search on Google and copy what I see” is already curious, but part of programming precisely consists of looking for solutions from others and copying or adapting them into your own projects. AI can help. The other (big surprise) comes of course when he indicates that the visualization tool for his project was not programmed by him, but rather by the Google tool, Antigravity. This integrated development environment (IDE) allows you to work directly with Gemini 3 in different versions and even with Claude Sonnet and Opus 4.5, and despite having been released a few months ago, it is becoming one of the favorite tools of veteran developers but also of those who are beginning to make their ideas a reality without having too much knowledge. Let them tell it to me. This viewer has been programmed by Linus Torvalds. Or rather, Antigravity controlled by Linus Torvalds. testing. At Xataka we were curious to test what that viewer did, so we cloned the GitHub repositorywe asked Claude Code to explain how the project works and after a couple of quick changes we were able to test it with a small audio file. What the project does is implement digital audio effects (there are ‘phaser’, ‘echo’, ‘flanger’, ‘fm’ and ‘discont’) and then, if one wants, apply visualization. That visualization compares the original audio with the processed audio to see how the effect modifies the waveform. Subsurface Capture Linus’ other projects. Although Linus Torvalds is the person most responsible for the Linux kernel evolutionit is already common to see him develop some parallel and totally independent projects. Last Christmas he already created his own guitar pedal softwareand in 2011 began the development of Subsurfacean application to record and plan scuba dives, an activity to which he is very fond. The current GitHub repository is maintained by various developers among which stands out Dirk Hohndel, who was one of the first developers of the Linux kernel along with Linus Torvalds. AI is a tool. In a recent participation on the Linus Tech Tips YouTube channelLinus Torvalds talked about how he saw the world of AI. In your opinion: “AI will be a tool, and it will make people more productive. I think vibe coding is great for getting people to start programming. I think (the code it generates) is going to be horrible to maintain… so I don’t think programmers will go away. You’ll still want to have people who know how to maintain the output.” And it works for personal projects. That speech precisely aligns with this small “experiment” that he has used in that personal project: at the moment for projects of this type using tools like Antigravity can be a great idea, although it certainly does not seem so for larger projects in production. Thus, it does not seem likely that AI could be used to modify Linux code… at the moment. That, of course, may change in the future, but as Torvalds says, these types of developments will require notable (and probably human) oversight to validate that everything has been done correctly. Image | TED Conference In Xataka | Bill Gates and Linus Torvalds had been rivals for 30 years. The funny thing is that they just met and took a selfie

It was the second worst value on the IBEX 35 in 2025, but it achieved its best portability data in history

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Telefónica has closed its busy 2025 with two opposite faces: in bag plummeted 11% and ended up as the second worst value on the IBEX 35, only ahead of Puig. But on the street he won the battle: captured almost 200,000 mobile lines of the competition, its best historical record in portability. Why it is important. This contradiction explains well how the market no longer rewards only commercial success. Investors demand financial visibility, robust cash flow and a clear roadmap. Telefónica has achieved the first, but with the change of presidency a year is still in process of the rest. The turning point. Everything changed on November 4th. At his Capital Market Day, in which he took the opportunity to Publish your five-year strategic planthe operator announced a dividend cut in half (from 0.30 to 0.15 euros per share) and cash projections lower than expected. Investors immediately punished it: less dividend, less cash and little clarity about some operations. The backdrop. The stock market punishment contrasts with Telefónica’s best commercial year in a long time. The sum of Movistar and O2 portability quintupled in 2024 and consolidated the leadership of the leading telecom in the premium segment of the Spanish mobile market. Digi led the total market with 783,000 net lines, dominating the low cost. MásOrange lost 513,000 mobile customers, its worst result. Vodafone Spain gave up 435,000 lines, even with the sum of Finetwork. Telefónica’s commercial success is explained by a pincer strategy: Digi sweeps through increasingly cheaper rates, so Movistar and O2 have entrenched themselves in the highest value segments, where customers pay more and remain loyal. But that victory has not translated into stock market metrics. Only Puig has had a worse 2025 on the IBEX than the telecom company. Yes, but. The theory of “IBEX dogs” suggests that 2026 should be a better year for Telefónica. The most punished values ​​usually recover the following year and the analyst consensus sets a target price of 4.04 euros per share, 16% above current levels. Besides, The IBEX 35 has closed its best year since 1993. The index closed with a revaluation of 49%, driven mainly by banks and their record results. And now what. Telefónica faces 2026 with a more austere discourse on balance sheet and debt. The key is no longer in the strategic announcement, but in its execution. The market has discounted the dividend cut and what remains is to demonstrate that the new remuneration policy, linked to cash flow, is sustainable over time. For now, the year starts with an ERE that will cost 2,500 million euros and will save about 600 annually starting in 2028. Will that be enough to convince investors without sacrificing the commercial capacity that has allowed them to gain customers again? In Xataka | Telefónica has gone from 67,000 workers in 1997 to 25,000 today. And his plan is clear: go even lower Featured image | Telephone

More than 40 years later, many still believe that the best advertisement in history was made by Apple

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In a few days there will be an anniversary that may be celebrated in some way by those most veteran or sentimental Apple fans: that of the broadcast of an advertisement so mythical that it has its own name (and what a name): ‘1984’, the first Macintosh advertisement. But not because he gets older does he become forgotten, quite the opposite. To put ourselves a little in context, the kings of consumer computing They were IBM (even with MS-DOS as the operating system), so the launch of a computer designed for easy use and a friendlier graphical interface needed a good presentation. We had to try to break a trend and beat a rival that takes the form of Big Brother in the popular spot, which we will remember now before talking about the curiosities about it. Choosing the moment The Super Bowl is an American sporting event whose millionaire audience has caused the price of a 30-second ad during the broadcast to reach the 3.4 and 4 million euros. It is the grand final of the NFL (the national football league) and also the focus of attention of which brand is the one that has invested a good pinch in starring in those seconds. It is not surprising then that the eighteenth edition of this final (that is, the one in 1984) was the moment chosen by Apple to present an advertisement that broke quite a bit with the usual and that, as we will now see, had notable figures behind the cameras. In fact, as on NPR they remember was repeatedly voted the best ad of all time when it doesn’t even show the product. The cast and the figures In the advertisement we see that the protagonists are, on the one hand, a group of people with similar features and in some way uniformed (the proletarians), and on the other hand, the athlete who ends the broadcast to which they attend (played by Anya Major). And Fred Goldberg, an account executive at the Chiat/Day advertising agency who acted as a liaison between Steve Jobs and the creatives of the ad, spoke about the cast in a book about his experience in advertising. that they remembered on CNN. The executive comments that around 75% of these actors were skinhead and “pretty unpleasant beings,” in Goldberg’s own words. He adds that there were fights and altercations and that the security personnel went with police dogs to control them and that they even harassed the leading actress. There were a total of 200 (uncontrollable) extras. The filming lasted three days (which apparently caused a lot of trouble) and they charged a total of $10,000. The official issue and the previous VIP pass The advertisement was broadcast publicly on January 22, 1984 in the Los Angeles Raiders’ final against the Washington Redskins, in which the former won 38-9 at Tampa Stadium. Although it was not strictly the first time it was broadcast, since Goldberg also says that it was previously shown to evaluate it for the contests. At that time the leaks and leaks They were not as much the order of the day as is the case today with mobile phones, but a lot of care was taken regarding the prior pass condition in petit committee so that there weren’t any. This pass was made at midnight in Twin Falls (Idaho, USA), in the KMVT studios, and the only feedback What he had was that of a television station worker, who called the agency asking what that was. In fact, in Mental Floss They spoke with Tom Frank, the person in charge of making that first showing on December 31, 1983 (after 00:00) of a 60-second version of the spot. Frank explained that he understood the choice of that small station at that time due to the small audience and that he is unaware of the fact that an incorrect date for this screening was revealed to the press, in addition to curious facts such as that they also broadcast the spot “Lemmings” (lesser known) and that he is not personally a user of Apple products. The teachers behind the cameras The announcement had to be somewhat shocking because it was the presentation of the Macintosh, considered the first personal computer with a simple user interface interaction and aimed at a more general (non-specialized) audience. And to create it not only did it have to have a striking theme, it also had to get the best staff. Not in vain was it counted on Ridley Scott for direction, who had directed films like ‘Alien’ and ‘Blade Runner’ a few years before (in 1979 and 1982 respectively). And if you have seen the second one, the advertisement will probably have reminded you of it since it has a futuristic appearance (for the moment) like said production. According to Goldberg, Steve Jobs was very enthusiastic when he was presented with this idea for a spot based on the dystopian novel ‘1984’ by George Orwell. “He (Steve Jobs) was the kind of person who, when you show him something, has a visceral reaction. He was totally into it, he really liked it” Fred Goldberg, Chiat/Day For the executive, that futuristic appearance was very appropriate for the effect they wanted to cause with the advertisement. What we see in it is a group of proletarians with shaved heads who attend to the broadcast of a message by a kind of Big Brother, in which the anniversary of “the Information Purification Directives” is celebrated, until the protagonist enters and destroys everything. The message is the following (we put the original and the translation into Spanish): “Today, we celebrate the first glorious anniversary of the Information Purification Directives. We have created, for the first time in all history, a garden of pure ideology—where each worker may bloom, secure from the pests purveying contradictory truths. Our Unification of Thoughts is more powerful a weapon than any fleet or army on earth. We are one people, … Read more

In 2010, the owner of a Ferrari missed a radar in Switzerland at 137 km/h. He took home the most expensive fine in history

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The fine for speeding highest ever recorded did not come from a German road or a French motorway. It arose in Switzerland, and they gave it to the driver of a Ferrari Testarossa. The most curious thing is that they did not put it in for pushing the power of this 90’s classic to the limit since it was traveling at 137 km/h. The result was a fine of more than 247,000 euros, an amount that officially appears in the Guinness World Records as the biggest fine for speeding. A record fine. The highest speeding fine officially recorded was imposed in Switzerland in January 2010. A court in the canton of St. Gallen sentenced the driver of a Ferrari Testarossa to pay about $290,000 (more than 247,000 euros at the exchange rate) after being detected by radar traveling at 137 km/h in a section limited to 80 km/h. The amount of the fine was not arbitrary. In Switzerland, judges do not set fines based on rigid tables according to the infraction, but rather based on the real impact they must have on each driver’s pocket. A system designed so that everyone hurts equally. Swiss legislation contemplates a model of fines proportional to the driver’s income, instead of establishing a table of fixed amounts as happens in Spain. This applies an equivalence factor with respect to economic capacity, making the sanctions truly have a deterrent nature. A fine of 200 euros for a person who charges a salary of 16,000 euros It can be a compelling reason for you to take your foot off the accelerator when you don’t play. But that same figure is insignificant for someone with a net worth of several million euros. Sanctions in Switzerland are at another level. In the case of the driver of the Testarossa, the sanction was triggered because the driver declared assets that exceeded 22 million dollars and accumulated a record for similar violations. For the Swiss authorities, the fine should reflect not only the risk committed, but also the economic impact it should generate. The 2010 record is not an isolated case. According to collects the local newspaper 24hourslast August a billionaire resident in Lausanne was fined 90,000 Swiss francs (about 96,500 euros) after exceeding the 50 km/h limit on the road while traveling at 77 km/h. Although the violation was not extreme, the final calculation was, and was justified by evaluating income, assets, and family circumstances. 96,000 euros for exceeding the speed limit by 27 km/h. Switzerland is not the only country that applies it. Finland shares a sanctioning philosophy similar to that applied in Switzerland. There are also fines calculated according to income, with precedents that have exceeded 120,000 euros. One of the best known cases It is that of a businessman who was traveling at 82 km/h in an area limited to 50 km/h and ended up facing a fine of 120,000 euros due to his level of income. In Austria, for example, a millionaire They took away his driving license and the Bugatti Veyron was immediately seized for traveling at 123 km/h in an area limited to 60 km/h. Spain will never come close to these figures. The Spanish traffic legislation is located at the opposite extreme. The fines depend exclusively on the margin exceeded over the speed limit, not on the financial capacity of the offender. Thus, the case of the Finnish driver fined 120,000 euros, in Spain would be resolved with a fine of 400 euros and four points less on the driving license. In fact, you would even have a 50% discount on the fine if you pay it in the first few days. In Spain, the most serious sanctions are penalized with a maximum of 600 euros and the withdrawal of six points on the license, without there being a link between the sanctions and the level of income. This implies that someone with high purchasing powermay consider the cost of the infringement to be minimal, thus losing its deterrent nature. In Xataka | The DGT allows legal circulation at 150 km/h without being an emergency vehicle. The secret: a sign Image | Unsplash (Noah Boyer)

the graph that reviews the history of civilizations from 4,000 years ago

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that the world is divided into blocks or powers It’s nothing new. What we live today is the foundation of what we will live in a few centuries, just as our society has been shaped by the empires that preceded us. For example, the Greeks laid the foundations of Western civilization and The Romans laid the foundations of today’s roads. But… what was happening in other parts of the world while Socrates or Philip II did his things? That’s where this graph comes into play, which is great for simplifying the life of empires and their influence throughout history. Simplifying empires. At Xataka we have already seen some graphics that seek to put visual order in the history of humanity. There is some tremendously elaborate and others that, being similar to the one you have on these lines, They are still somewhat complex because of the amount of information they show. The one we show you is a work of the Michigan Geographic Alliance created as a tool on which to work. It’s called the World GeoHistogram and it combines geography and time into a unified visual framework that clearly shows the rise and fall of empires. History is not a zero-sum game in which, when one falls, another immediately arises. It is somewhat more complicated, but precisely this graph allows us to appreciate in a very visual way not only the empires that follow one another, but also those that occur in parallel and with which they may come into conflict. It is organized in a very simple way, with lines that are “roads” that represent each of the world’s territories, and one of the first conflicts we see is with Greece, Persia and Alexander the Great. Fleeting expansion. It is a perfect example of how two great empires develop in unison. The Greeks and Persians had expansionist desires, but there came a point, with Alexander the Great, when these ambitions clashed with those of the neighboring empire. We can see how the blue spot of Greece grows rapidly through North Africa, the Middle East and Asia, encountering the Persians. It was a fleeting expansion that lasted only a few years and we can see that, after its influence, Greece did not return to what it was, giving way to other empires such as the Roman. But speaking of expansions, a notable one is that of the Mongols, who made the same movement as Alexander, but from East Asia to the Middle East and even part of Europe. In its expansion, it collided with other civilizations, but there came a point where they simply vanished and the Middle Ages began. Parallel powers. The caliphates, the Sassanids or the Byzantines also expanded their power for centuries, while in Europe the Celts or Vikings conquered territory, but were not an empire as such. Now, in the Late Middle Ages, things began to move in Europe. After years of empires like the Holy Roman Empire, France, Holland, Portugal, England and Spain They began to flourish as powers, and all with the same objective: to obtain land. This European imperialism is shown perfectly in the graph, where we can see that they moved throughout all the territories. In some they had more or less influence, but they were there for a long period of time until it was cut short with the world wars. However, this “European empire” developed in parallel to another also of colossal size: the Ottoman Empire. It also perfectly reflects how America had empires that were succeeding one anotherlike the Olmecs, Mayans or Aztecs… until they were nipped in the bud with colonization. Long lasting. We haven’t talked about China and Japan because the ambition was… different. Japan, until the arrival of the Meiji, developed on its island. He had contact with the Mongols and the Mingbut it was not until the aforementioned Meiji and the first Sino-Japanese war when they began to be interested in other territories. Before the Second World Warthat ambition was consolidated in China, but also in territories of Oceania and, like the European empires, it was nipped in the bud after the Second World War. In China things were different. By population and organization, China is the only empire (oversimplifying) that has existed for more than 2,500 years. They have gone through different eras (Qin, Han, Tang, Ming or Qing), but almost always focused on their territory, without those expansionist desires of the Mongols or the overseas conquest of the Europeans, Ottomans and Romans. After World War II, the world was divided into two large blocks, led by the United States and the Soviet Union. But the end of the Cold war and the fall of the USSR marked the United States as a hegemonic power. And, in recent decades, China has emerged as another great pole of power It’s not perfect. Like the graph, I have excessively compressed the information, since, as I said, history is not a zero sum, but a set of elements that take time and are highly complex. In fact, the graph itself, although very visual, has some limitations. For example, societies that do not fit the “big empire” model are left out. Those without centralized states, written records or expansive territorial control, such as indigenous American or sub-Saharan cultures, are not represented. But, despite that, it is a great graph that allows you to follow a narrative with empires from before 3,000 BC to the present day. Images | Visual Capitalist, Michigan Geographic Alliance In Xataka | The Allies took the beaches of Normandy by force. Before them, a Spanish spy paved the way

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