legendary

The legendary Renault plant in Valladolid is “reinvented” with an old acquaintance: the combustion engine

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The historical map of car factories in Spain is blurring with the evolution of the industry and the transition towards electrification, which has brought an unequal destiny for all of them: uncertain future of Ford in Almussafes to the Cupra bastion in Martorell. In the middle of the peninsula and emulating the village of Asterix and Obelix, an irreducible combustion engine factory that still resists: the Renault of Valladolid. But staying with the combustion engine does not mean staying stuck in the past: the historic Valladolid plant, which has such iconic models behind it as the Renault 4 CVpromises to continue writing history with Tilting Gravity Die Casting, the technique that changes how the heart of hybrid engines is manufactured. And Valladolid is the first factory in Spain to use it. New technology and more production. Horse Powertrain has invested 45 million euros at the Valladolid plant to install a head gasket manufacturing line using the Tilting Gravity Die Casting process, the first with this technology in the state. The new facility, which will occupy 3,500 square meters, will increase cylinder head manufacturing by 20% (from 300,000 to 360,000 units) and will require 150 new permanent jobs. Context. We are talking about the old Renault from Valladolid, but it has little of that 1953 Renault: today it is powered by Horse Powertrain, a joint venture formed by Renault 45%, Geely 45% and Aramco 10%. The formation is not coincidental: Geely provides the Chinese technological muscle, Renault its experience in the sector and the Saudi oil company is more than just financial muscle: it is interested in the combustion engine having the longest possible run. In Valladolid, Horse does not manufacture cars: it manufactures the hybrid E-Tech engines of the Captur, Symbioz, Clio, Austral and Rafale, the “heart” of a good part of the Renault range in Europe. And not only from Renault, but also from the group’s brands, which makes it strategic in that a single engine can end up in several different models. Why is it important. The bet is not minor: Valladolid is one of Horse Powertrain’s most strategic plants, which confirms that this is not a local experiment but a first-class industrial decision. The new technology allows engines to be manufactured with a more precise design and greater durability, something essential for hybrids, whose constant start-stop cycle subjects the components to greater thermal stress than a conventional engine. And the context justifies it: although almost one in five cars sold in Europe is already electric96% of those circulating they still have a non-plug-in motor. An inertia of more than 250 million vehicles that will not disappear in a decade. At a business level, the support is unquestionable. Its CEO highlighted that this investment “further demonstrates Valladolid’s leadership as a world-class automotive plant.” On the other hand, it is the first plant of this type in Spain and has been considered as a Priority Industrial Project by the Government of Castilla y León. What is Tilting Gravity Die Casting. Head gaskets are traditionally made of aluminum through a molding process, which leads to the possibility of air bubbles forming inside. And if there are bubbles, there will be microporosities and the structure will therefore be weaker. The TGDC solves this in a seemingly simple way: the aluminum no longer falls into the mold, but rather the mold is tilted so that it flows slowly and uniformly, thus minimizing turbulence and the risk of air. Bridging the distances, like when you pour beer into a glass. The result is a more homogeneous and structurally more integral piece that better withstands use and deterioration. In addition, this method requires less machinery and shortens production cycles. The push of Spain in the European industry. At the 2024 Paris motor show, then-Renault CEO recognized that the French unions were demanding the hybrid vehicle projects in Valladolid and Palencia due to the lack of demand for their electric models in the Douai and Maubege factories, however this latest movement is a complete “non, merci”: Spain not only does not give up production but also expands and modernizes it. Spain is the second state that manufactures the most vehicles in the old continent and this operation reinforces that position in the segment that endures the most: the hybrid. The question that remains in the air is whether De Meo’s successor will maintain the same commitment to Spanish plants in the face of French union pressure. Renault’s roadmap, which the brand plans to update soon, will give clues. In Xataka | Renault is a firm defender of the hybrid car and has its key factory in Valladolid. We have been there to know your future In Xataka | Given the tariffs on China, the CEO of Renault is clear who the European electric car should imitate: China Cover | Xataka

Windows XP’s “FCKGW-RHQQ2-YXRKT-8TG6W-2B7Q8” was legendary. Windows 95 was even worse

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Recently we knew the origin of the legendary Windows XP activation key. That famous set of digits (“FCKGW-RHQQ2-YXRKT-8TG6W-2B7Q8“) that many of us end up memorizing became a singular demonstration that attempts to protect software do not always go well. Microsoft knows a lot about this, because its first systems to protect its operating systems and applications were even worse. The rule of “Let it be divisible by 7”. Microsoft tried to protect illegal copies of Windows 95 with a system that varied depending on the type of license. That system, however, was really weak. One of the most common licenses was the “CD Key”, which asked us for a code made up of 10 characters and two segments: XXX: could be anything from 000 to 998, but with one curious exception: the three numbers could not be the same (111, 222, …). XXXXXXX: The second segment is where a simple algorithm came into action. For the number to be valid, it was enough that it was divisible by seven. Not only that: you could enter 0. Microsoft ended up prohibiting entering all zeros, but it didn’t matter: the rule of being divisible by 7 was still fulfilled. That made coming up with compliant combinations very easy. One of the most used CD Keys was 000-000007, but 111-1111111 was also widely used Office 97 used one more digit. Instead of 10 digits, Office used 11 in two segments. XXXX: could be anything from 0001 to 9991. There were no prohibited numbers but the fourth digit had to be the third + 1 or 2. If the result was greater than 9, it became 0 or 1. XXXXXX: the same requirement as the previous one, although at least in Office 97 it did not seem to be necessary for it to comply with being divisible by 7. Thus, two keys that could work were 0001-0000007 and 1112-1111111. Things got complicated (a little) with the OEM keys. If our computer arrived with Windows 95 preinstalled, it could be that instead of a CD Key what we had to enter was an OEM Key. These keys consisted of four segments: XXXXX: represented the date the key was printed. The first three digits could be anything between 001 and 366, and the last two were the year, which could range from 95 to 03. For example, a key with 19296 as the first segment means that it would have been printed on July 10, 1996. If you wanted maximum compatibility with Windows XP, it was ideal to use 02 as the last two digits. OEM: The second segment simply had those immutable letters. XXXXXXX: the third segment had to be divisible by 7, but with another small condition: the first digit had to always be zero. XXXXX: The last segment was completely random, and could be any number of the appropriate length. Thus, to comply with validity we had keys such as 00100-OEM-0000007-00000, but it was possible to use any other such as 06900-OEM-0694207-80085. How was all this revealed? You could figure out how Windows 95’s key system worked if you’d seen enough of them. However, what really allowed us to understand this entire algorithm was the leak of the Windows NT 4.0 code, which is in fact available at Archive.org. This allowed some users to reveal both on video as in detailed articles How was it possible to discover the “check_retail_key) function of Windows NT 4.0, which was part of the system’s setupx.dll file. In Xataka | Nostalgia does not disappear. So much so that there are people developing a new web browser for Windows XP

The most pacifist city in Germany lived off its legendary train factory. Now they will make it from a gigantic tank factory

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Görlitz was known for its neat historic center, its post-war memory and a practical inclination towards pacifism. For decades, the city on the eastern border fit on the German map as a haven of caution and resigned industrial melancholy, a place where work and tradition maneuvered away from military power. But that calm is beginning to show cracks that force its inhabitants to rethink what it means to maintain peace when the world seems to want just the opposite. From the steel of peace to that of war. For more than a century and a half, the town of Görlitz, on Germany’s eastern border, lived off the rhythmic sound of trains. The wagon and locomotive factories They provided work for entire generations and defined the identity of this working-class region of the former East. But that era is coming to an end. After 176 years of railway production, the historic Alstom industrial complex is being converted by the arms consortium KNDS to manufacture components Leopard II tanks and Puma armored vehicles. What was once a symbol of civil mobility and reconstruction, today is transformed in gear of the German military machine. This metamorphosis does not arise from nowhere, of course: it responds to the country’s strategic shift towards rearmamentmotivated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, fear of a withdrawal of American security guarantees and a economy in decline desperately looking for new sources of employment. Between pacifism and necessity. I was counting last week the new york times that, in Görlitz, industrial reconversion divide feelings. The population, aging and punished by decades of deindustrialization since reunification, sees the production of tanks as a lesser evil. In this area where the far-right AfD party (openly pro-Russian and opposed to helping Ukraine) concentrates almost half the voteseven its local leaders have accepted the change with resignation. “It is not a cause for celebration, but we cannot oppose having work either,” recognizeaware that the loss of employment would be even more devastating than the moral dilemma of manufacturing weapons. Reconversion. The factory, which once had more than 2,000 employeesbarely kept 700 before the sale, and KNDS agrees to keep half of them and plans to multiply it in the future. In fact, the unions, led by IG Metall, were the ones who promoted the idea of ​​reorienting the plant towards the defense sector to avoid its definitive closure. In a territory marked by youth exodus and economic frustration, the arms industry has ended up offering something similar to a second chance. German military reindustrialization. The Görlitz case reflects a broader phenomenon: German rearmament as a driver of a new industrial reconversion. Since 2020, Berlin’s defense spending has increased about 80%exceeding 90,000 million euros, and the demand for specialized labor has skyrocketed. Companies such as Rheinmetall, Diehl Defense, Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems or MBDA have added more than 16,000 workers since the start of the war of Ukraine and plan to hire 12,000 more before 2026. The sector’s profits are so high that its managers increase dividends while exploring the purchase of automobile plants in decline, as that of Volkswagen in Osnabrück. The “logic”. The message from its CEO, Armin Papperger, summarize the logic of the new defense economy: if taxpayers’ money finances national security, jobs must stay in Germany. In this context, the factory conversion like Görlitz, it is perceived as an industrial policy with a dual purpose: to sustain the productive fabric and strengthen the country’s strategic autonomy. The moral dilemma. Despite the economic relief that the renaissance of the arms sector represents, it persists in German society a deep tension between the pacifism inherited from the post-war and the need to guarantee European defense. For many East Germans, who already experienced a first deindustrialization after the fall of the Wall and now suffer the loss of energy and manufacturing jobs, manufacturing tanks is a bitter way of survival. Some fear that the weapons produced will end up on the Ukrainian front, others that the rise of the business depends on the continuity of the war. “Will it be sustainable to manufacture tanks? I hope not. I hope the wars end soon,” admitted to the Financial Times a union representative. However, the reality of the market and geopolitics point in another direction: defense has become the new industrial hub European, and Germany (due to history, technological capacity and allied pressure) leads that transition. Goodbye train, hello tank. Thus, the old Görlitz factory, with its warehouses blackened by decades of metallurgical work, symbolizes the change of era that crosses Europe. Where wagons were previously welded to transport passengers, steel shells will be assembled for combat vehicles. What began as a strategy to save jobs threatens to redefine the industrial soul of the country: from civil ingenuity to military power, from the steel that united continents to that which now armors them. And a profound paradox: in a fractured political landscape, where the fear of war coexists with the need to prosper, the workers of Eastern Germany are once again the involuntary protagonists of history. Its destiny, between nostalgia for trains and the pragmatic acceptance of tanks or battle tanks, summarizes the dilemma of a nation that tries to reconcile its pacifist past with a present that pushes it, once again, to manufacture weapons to ensure its future. Image | Norwegian Armed Forces, State Ministry for Economic Affairs, Labor, Energy and Climate Protection In Xataka | The US no longer has to worry about Spain or the rearmament bill in Europe. Germany had a plan B In Xataka | The “rearmament” of Europe has begun at a Volkswagen factory in Germany: instead of cars they will produce tanks

Millions of users used the legendary Windows XP key “FCKGW-RHQQ2-YXRKT-8TG6W-2B7Q8”. Now we know its origin

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Many users – and I included myself – almost knew by heart the activation key for Windows XP“FCKGW-RHQQ2-YXRKT-8TG6W-2B7Q8”. With it it was possible to install a valid and official copy of the operating system that Microsoft launched in October 2001, but until now it was not known where that key had come from. Now we know. what has happened. Dave W. Pullmer is a famous engineer and developer who worked his entire career at Microsoft and who, in addition to being in charge of the task manager or ZIP folders, had another task: working on the first version of the Windows Product Activation (WPA) system. Precisely that allowed him to know from the inside what happened with that activation key, and He told that story on Twitter. It was not stolen, but leaked. As Plummer explains, no one hacked Microsoft or its systems to obtain it, nor did they manage to steal it. There was actually a mistake on the part of the development team, and a “disastrous leak” occurred. There were no social networks, but it didn’t matter. That leak ended up going viral and millions of users found out about the trick almost immediately, something surprising considering that conventional social networks did not yet exist. There was no need: a warez (pirated software) group called “devilsOwn” released the key five weeks before the launch of Windows XP, and the key was published on IRC, online forums, Usenet groups, warez websites and especially P2P applications such as eDonkey or KaZaA. How activation keys were calculated. The WPA system generated a key that was based on each user’s hardware: “the identifiers of the CPU, RAM and other components” were taken into account, and were sent to Microsoft along with that activation key to be validated. If errors or suspicious keys were detected, that installation was labeled as pirated. Master key. But FCKGW-RHQQ2-YXRKT-8TG6W-2B7Q8 was a valid volume license key that became part of the “white list” that the key validation system had. If that key was used, the servers assumed that it was an enterprise volume license, and that “there is no need to call home.” Thus, when installing Windows XP, users simply had to answer “Yes” when asked if they had an activation key, they entered the famous key and thus avoided checking it. It was like having a master key. You could even update XP. When using this activation key, the operating system started fully functional and without activating small user warning mechanisms such as watermarks or a 30-day countdown. It was even possible to overcome the controls that were applied to receive updates. Although Microsoft detected and banned activation key, new illegitimate patches and “cracks” appeared who managed to make this activation mechanism persist for years. Now you couldn’t use it. As Plummer explains, you could technically still use it on old Windows XP installation disks if you could find one, but Microsoft’s own servers that handled the validation process were disabled years ago. And even if it wasn’t, the key ended up being part of the blacklist of prohibited activation keys, meaning you couldn’t use it to validate a legitimate copy of Windows XP. Image | Internet Archive In Xataka | Nostalgia does not disappear. So much so that there are people developing a new web browser for Windows XP

The most legendary magician in history was not the most skilled, but a masked recklessness that revealed the secrets

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If you lived the explosion of the private ones at the end of the 20th century, you lived the success of ‘Magic without secrets’, a program of Antena 3 in which A masked wizard executed classic illusionism on stage And then it meticulously revealed how he had done them. A broken taboo in front of the cameras that beat its responsible, Val Valentino, mortal enemies within the entertainment world. However, over time, the masked magician has found unexpected disciples: on the Internet, dozens of magicians They reveal without stopping The great secrets of magic. If illusionism has always interested, it has not stopped interesting that they tell us “how it is done.” And the masked wizard was the first to do it with a mass audience attached to the TV. Revealed magic In the 1990s, stage magic was … one thing. The scenario magicians were in the zenith of their success, with television specials that, from the eighties, They showed challenges to the laws of logic that fascinated the audiences. Were the times when David Copperfield The statue of freedom flew or disappeared, in which Siegfried & Roy -There are a tragic accident with a white tiger that would withdraw them from the stages in 2003- signed millionaire contracts in Las Vegas and in which even people like David BlaineAt the end of the decade, I was about to carry magic in an entirely new direction with its ‘Street Magic’. In that context, ‘magic without secrets’ came, a series of four specials of 1997 that in Spain issued Antena 3 and that did the unthinkable: explain how the apparently impossible classic tricks of illusionism were carried out. In them, a masked magician accompanied by the inevitable female assistants reviewed the entire repertoire of the magicians. As TV was what it was for those times, special attention was paid to the apparently more dangerous numbers: the magician was sawn in two, crossed with swords, swallowed fire, was shot and buried alive. Everything had a trick, of course, and explained. Double backgrounds, trucades, fire bullets, pussy sabers … The program did not leave triquiñuela without revealingbut the spectator had the feeling that he was accessing knowledge prohibited for a simple reason: the magician hid his features with a mask that remembered those of wrestling. The program was responsible for reminding us the code of the magicians to which the original title of the specials referred: ‘Breaking The Magician’s Code: Magic’s Biggest Secrets Finally Reveled’. Any wizard that broke it would immediately enter a black list of the guild, and would not work again. Black lists This detail is not necessarily true: much more prestigious magicians than this masking, such as the magnificent Penn & Teller, who in that decade were also overly unknown media figures, based on their numbers on revealing classic tricks … to take the enigma much further. They had also been controversial in the guild for playing the three balls and vessels With plastic containersallowing the secret to be seen, 0 revealing the Seven principles of magicand had unleashed a controversy that Even today it is between fans and professionals About whether to reveal the tricks power or fulminates magic. But although Total classics like Paul Daniels They had previously revealed tricks as part of their shows, no one had the media impact of the masked magician. Behind the program was Nash Entertainment, a producer of doccu-realities with titles such as ‘The World’s Deadliest Volcanoes’, ‘World’s Most Dary Dad Rescues’, ‘World’s Scariest Police Shootouts’, ‘When Good Pets Go Bad’ or ‘Prisoners out of control’. ‘Magic without secrets’ became one of his greatest successes: In 1997, the first program was the most watched special in Fox’s history. But … who was the masked wizard? His identity was revealed in the fourth and last special and as expected, it was not a first -class wizard but rather the opposite. Its history seems the secret origin of what ended up being: a comic supervillain between magicians. Val Valentino had been fond of magic since childhood and when he was a teenager he made a number in an exchange program with schools around the world that gave him a considerable audience among the kids of his age. There he played to reveal the tricks as a way to surprise and enhance the effects. And he discovered that no magic game could compete with revealing the secret. In the eighties and nineties he had a moderately successful career as a magician, appearing on television specials and acting, of course, in Las Vegas. When the opportunity arose to shoot the specials for Nash recalled the impact their children’s revelations had and decided to use it in their favor: success was considerable, and although Much of the controversy that the programs were awakened was prefabricated by Fox (There was no “threat of death by secret groups of magicians”), there was some demand for scenario magicians such as Andre Kole or Kevin Spencer. They claimed that the masked wizard had made them lose hundreds of thousands of dollars with their revelations. The courts gave the reason to Valentino, since the secrets of the tricks are not protected by the laws of intellectual property, much less those who had been part of the magical public domain. Although the new century has already entered the show tried to be relaunched with new secrets and new magicians, it did not enjoy the popularity of the four original specials. And in fact, magic, thanks to the Internet, enjoys better health than ever. So no, Val Valentino did not kill magic. In fact, in social networks like Tiktok there are accounts that are dedicated to revealing without rest Small magic gameswhich has given them an unprecedented scope. As Valentino predicted (and Penn & Teller already knew), knowing the secrets does not ruin anything, because what counts is the execution and ingenuity. The Supervillain at the end was a hero, even in that he looked like a comic character. Header | Nash … Read more

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