Limit

wants to eliminate the limit of eight-hour days a day

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The working day in much of Europe has been established for more than a century with a maximum limit of eight hours a day. This limit represents the maximum number of hours an employee can work per day. However, Germany is about to change that scale to make it more flexible and eliminate the daily work day as a metric in the work organization to establish the weekly schedule. As and as I advanced the german newspaper Weltthe bill will reach the Bundestag in June 2026. The idea is not that the Germans work more hours in total, but rather making the working day more flexible so that those hours can be distributed differently throughout the week. Count hours by weeks, not days. What the government proposes is seemingly simple: that the legal reference ceases to be the eight hours a day and becomes the 48 hours per week established by its legislation. With this change, it would no longer matter how many hours are worked each day, but rather that the total number of hours worked throughout the week does not exceed the legal maximum allowed. In this way, an employee could work more hours one day in exchange for working less on another, or concentrate all the load on the first days of the week and spare the rest. The government presents it as a measure to make the working day more flexible and facilitate family conciliation, especially for employees with children. Furthermore, this change would give carte blanche to companies to reinforce the hours on those days with more demand, and reduce (or close) their activity when the workload decreases. What German law says about it. In its article 3, the Arbeitszeitgesetz (Working Day Law) establishes that no employee can work more than eight hours a day as a general rule, with an exception of up to ten hours on specific days, as long as the average of the last six months does not exceed eight hours a day. The maximum limit for the weekly working day, including overtime, is 48 hours. However, the law also sets other limits that indirectly condition the daily work day. For example, you establish that between two work days, there must be at least 11 hours of rest and, if more than nine hours are worked in a row, the worker has the right to an additional minimum break of 45 minutes. These rules are not negotiable by collective agreement and apply without exception to all sectors. They are, precisely, the ones that the government wants to touch with the reform. why now. The definitive impetus for this reform came with the sentence of the Court of Justice of the EU of 2019 and is supported by the European Working Time Directive (2003/88/EC) imposed by the EU, which imposes the maximum weekly limit at 48 hours, and obliges all European employers to record the daily working hours of their employees. Germany, which until now did not require such registration in general, has to adapt to this obligation. The Minister of Labor, Bärbel Bas (SPD), has included electronic time registration in your project precisely as a safeguard. Without this control, Bas warns, flexibility can become a mechanism of exploitation in sectors with little union representation, such as last-mile delivery and parcel delivery. It is an implicit recognition that the standard, on its own, is not enough to protect those who work in more vulnerable environments. What unions and experts say. According what was published by the German media Handelsblatt, The German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) has been the first union platform to oppose the reform. Its president, Yasmin Fahimi, declared that “We are seeing attempts to question the eight-hour work day or to undermine social security systems. Don’t touch the eight-hour work day.” The unions assure that, without a daily limit, workers without a strong collective agreement are exposed to increasingly longer hours without any legal barrier to prevent it. For unions, real protection is not in the weekly total but in control of what happens each day. That is where the limitation of eight hours a day had its strength. The labor law experts of the Hans Böckler Foundation have calculated how much could be worked in the most extreme scenario allowed by European regulations: 73.5 hours per week. A theoretical figure, but possible if there is no daily limit to stop it. Several studies on occupational health document that long hours sustained over time are associated with a greater risk of errors, accumulated fatigue and decreased productivity, effects that the reform does not contemplate. In Xataka | Germany tried working four days a week: seven out of 10 companies no longer want to work five days a week Image | Unsplash (Maheshkumar Painam, Spencer Davis)

How much coffee can you drink a day? Science has a very clear limit to avoid its harmful effects

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For many of us, the starter motor in the morning It has a dark color and a roasted aroma that characterize coffee so much. A drink that is one of the most consumed in the world, but with a popularity that has been accompanied by alarmist headlines about how bad it is to ingest it and the effects it can have directly on the organs. But the truth is that there are lights and shadows. There is good news. For those who love coffee, it will undoubtedly be a relief to know that the literature indicates that consumption is not as catastrophic as they want to sell. But, as in everything, excesses of something can always lead to problems, even if it may seem like something super healthy, such as water. And coffee, obviously, is not exempt. The limit. When it comes to establishing a red line for safe consumption, the clinical reference is not in the WHO, but in the FDA and the EFSAwhich are the food safety regulatory agencies in the United States and Europe, respectively. Here both point to the same figure in coffee consumption: 400 milligrams of caffeine per day. A very relevant figure, since for the vast majority of healthy adults, consuming up to 400 mg daily is not associated with harmful health effectshighlighting that this amount can be part of a perfectly healthy diet and lifestyle. How many coffees is this equivalent to? This is where things get complicated since talking about “cups” is an analytical error, because not all coffees are the same. That is why for the FDA a 355 ml cup, which is a standard size, can contain between 113 and 247 mg of caffeine. But all this depends on the type of preparation, the extraction time or the coffee used, because Robusta coffee has more caffeine than Arabica, for example. But generally speaking, that 400 mg is equivalent to about 3 or 4 cups of standard filter coffee per day. Organic damage. It is easy to see different alarming messages warning that coffee can damage our entire interior if a specific dose is exceeded. But the reality is that the WHO does not send this message to society, since it is too alarming and does not correspond at all to reality. What is true is that excessive daily coffee consumption has important effects on our body, but it will not ‘rot’ our internal organs. Among these stand out insomnia, nervousness, irritability, palpitations, muscle tremors, intestinal irritation, headache… This means that, although we talk about coffee not being contradictory for the population, logically, if there is an underlying problem, it may be better not to drink it, and even less so if it is taken in great excess throughout the day. It has benefits. On other occasions we have talked about coffee and its benefits, because it has more than just keeping us awake in the morning. Here different studies have already pointed out to us the cardiovascular benefits it can have or even improves sports performance. But the metabolism of each person is quite involved here, since there is no single metabolism. In this case, there are people who process caffeine very quickly and its effect disappears quickly, but there are other cases where they metabolize it slowly, so its effects remain in the body and they may, for example, have more problems with insomnia, nervousness or palpitations because they are more “sensitive” to caffeine. This is the explanation, for example, that a person can boast of having a coffee at night and being able to sleep perfectly. There are exceptions. Although we talk about a limit of 400 mg of caffeine, there are people who logically cannot reach this limit, such as pregnant women, where a maximum of 200 mg per day is recommended, since excess caffeine can cross the placenta and affect fetal development. But it also influences, for example, the cholesterol level, since here the Mayo Clinic points out that the consumption of unfiltered coffee, such as Turkish coffee, can raise cholesterol levels due to compounds such as cafestol. Images | Dragana_Gordic in Magnific In Xataka | If the question is “how much caffeine is in each cup of coffee or tea,” this graph offers insightful answers.

There is a physical limit to what a cell phone camera can do. OPPO is pushing that limit further than anyone else

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Standing out in the mobile showcase is a war that is fought on many fronts at the same time and mobile photography is the most decisive, especially when we enter the super high range with mobile phones that easily exceed 1,000 euros. Until recently, the fight was between the iPhone, the Pixel and the current Galaxy, but things have changed a lot and Chinese companies have advanced to the right. One of those companies is OPPO with its OPPO Find X9 Ultraone of those who is undoubtedly a candidate for the throne of mobile photography. We were in China for the launch of its new flagship, where we were able to visit its new campus in Shenzhen and speak with Jie Liu, Senior Imaging Product Manager at OPPO, who told us more details about the camera. Taking good photos is no longer enough, we want versatility We are at a point where any mobile phone in this price range takes excellent photos. Quality is presupposed, that’s why the battle has shifted to versatility: offer from an ultra wide angle to a superzoom, maintaining uniform quality throughout the range. The OPPO Find X9 Ultra has a 200 megapixel main sensor that allows us, through cropping, to simulate a 2x zoom. It is accompanied by a telephoto lens of another 200 megapixels that is equivalent to a 3x zoom and, again, by cropping it allows us to simulate a 6x. And the big news: a third 50 megapixel sensor equivalent to a 10x optical zoom or 230 millimeters. Of course you can’t miss the ultra wide angle (0.6x), which also in this generation increases the size of the sensor to improve quality. Left: 1x main sensor. Right: 10x telephoto One of the things that caught our attention is how they have integrated a telephoto with that focal length into the body of a mobile phone since, although the camera module protrudes quite a bit from the chassis, it is still not enough for such a long zoom. Jie told us that “to make the module small enough we used a telescope structure, with a new technology called quintuple reflection. This configuration reduces the physical length of the system while maintaining the focal length.” This is the structure of the 10x telephoto. Image: OPPO It is a structure of different prisms that reflects light five times until it reaches the sensor. The problem with this is that the light must travel a longer distance, which results in images with more noise and lower luminosity (the aperture is equivalent to f/3.5). “We have used technologies to reduce the noise caused by these multiple reflections, such as a layer of air between the prisms that reduces noise and loss.” The Teleconverter Claim OPPO has already started the path of teleconverters with the OPPO Find X9 Pro and raise the bar with the Ultra model. This is a photography kit that is sold separately and includes a 300 millimeter objective which attaches to the mobile phone thanks to a special case that also has a handle. It is a strategy copied from the one that Vivo has followed, first with the Vivo X300 Pro and then with him Vivo X300 Ultra (both companies belong to the same parent company, BBK Electronics). When we attach the teleconverter, we can take spectacular photos from very far away, with stunning bokeh that we can only achieve with a lens of these characteristics. This lens is attached to the 200 megapixel telephoto lens, so we can do the cropping “trick” again to achieve a 30x zoom, equivalent to 690 millimeters. The results speak for themselves: Photo with the teleconverter at 690mm or 30x At the moment, OPPO has launched two teleconverters, 200 millimeters in the Pro model and 300 millimeters in the Ultra, two fixed focals. The problem is that they only work with the model with which they were launched, meaning that we cannot use the 200 millimeter teleconverter of the Pro in the Ultra. During the meeting, we asked Jie Liu if the brand has considered launching more lenses in order to expand the range of available focal lengths, and even if there is the possibility of launching a lens with a variable focal length, for example a 200-400 millimeters: “It is a good suggestion and it is our direction of evolution, but this entails many technical obstacles. The solution we have now is temporary to ensure image quality, adding new focal lengths is a consideration for the future.” Teleconverter 300 mm or 13x OPPO wants to replicate in a mobile phone the focal versatility that any camera user takes for granted. The problem is that, although they have managed to integrate a 10x telephoto, the chassis of a phone has physical limits and there comes a point where no more optics can fit inside; andThe natural step is to complement with accessories. While its competition continues to depend exclusively on the integrated sensor, OPPO is already building that ecosystem, although still quite timidly. The photographic kit works more as an attraction, a “look what we know how to do”, and not so much as an accessory for the general public. The OPPO Find look what we know how to doand not so much as an accessory for the general public. The soul of photography Until recently, many Chinese phones suffered from overly aggressive and artificial image processing, but that is changing. One of the things I liked most about the OPPO Find X9 Ultra camera is the image processing, quite natural and realistic in general. Of course, there is AI processing, but Jie told us that it is applied in a controlled manner “always seeking coherent aesthetic results. It is applied to correct unfavorable lighting conditions, reducing artifacts and noise, improving exposure and dynamic range in complex situations.” AI is also used to improve the results of the 10x zoom “to optimize detail and stability.” Portraits are incredible, even at night (taken with 200MP telephoto, 6x). … Read more

Where is really the limit of the human being?

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April 26, 2026 will go down in history: Sabastian Sawe won the London marathon and became the first human being to go under two hours in an approved race. What’s more, in that same race Yomif Kejelcha and Jacob Kiplimo They also had better times than the previous world record (although only Sawe and Kejelcha went under two hours). Therefore, the key question is no longer When will we be able to get under two hours in the marathon? and it will start to be “where is the physiological limit of the human body really?” The question is essential, yes; but we cannot approach it naively. There are two factors without which Sawe would not have been able to achieve the record: the sneakers (which, although they are from Adidas, are part of the revolution that promoted Nike a few years ago) and nutrition (worked with Swedish nutrition specialists Maurten for 12 months to design a specific provisioning protocol). If the contemporary quest to break the two-hour mark has shown anything, it is that running goes far beyond a physiological issue. What variables rule in the physiological section? Since 1991, the physiology of the marathon is usually understood following a simple model that said Michael Joyner of the Mayo Clinic.. According to Joyner, sustained marathon pace depends on three variables: The maximum amount of oxygen that the body can absorb per minute. The maximum amount you can sustain for hours without accumulating lactate faster than it is eliminated. The energy cost of maintaining a given speed. Joyner, who lived in a world where the record was 2:06:50, theorized that the limit It should have been around 1:57:58. That’s not enough. Years later, Andy Jones from the University of Exeter added one more factor: physiological resilience. That is, the ability for these three variables to deteriorate as little as possible during two hours of racing. For this reason, shoes and supplies are essential: They are two tools that improve efficiency and resilience. In fact, many experts maintain that the 2016 revolution is a break in the series and the records are “technological, not physiological“. This is important because, using models of the Joyner variables, we can make conjectures of the physiological limit “as long as the same technological conditions are maintained.” And what is the limit right now? Following the real values ​​of the Breaking2 projectsubtracting resilience and considering technological and nutritional improvements, the realistic limit would be between 1:55 and 1:57. Below 1:55 we would need an athlete with physiological capabilities that we have not seen yet. It’s not impossible, but it’s very unlikely. Image | Miguel Amutio In Xataka | More and more people participate in popular marathons. Science knows that being overly optimistic has its risks

A millionaire has been fined 120,000 euros for exceeding the speed limit

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In Finland, breaking the speed limit can ruin your day. Above all, if you are a millionaire and they fine you for driving above the permitted limit. The latest example was experienced by Anders Wiklöf, one of the richest men in Finland, who was stopped by the police on March 22 after catching him driving at 59 km/h through an urban area of ​​Mariehamn, in the Åland archipelago, where the limit was 30 km/h. For exceeding 29 kilometers per hour, the police imposed a fine of 120,000 euros. ​The millionaire accepted it without question. Wiklöf is president and founder of Wiklöf Holding, a group of more than 20 companies with investments in logistics, aviation, real estate and tourism valued at more than 400 million dollars. When the police stopped him for speeding, he did not try to escape the problem. “The agents asked me if I wanted to take the case to court, but if I made a mistake, I accept it. They were polite and nice guys who were just doing their job,” declared to the local newspaper Nya Åland. Wiklöf will pay the fine for speeding without even appealing it, although he did take the opportunity to ask the Government that the money be used to cover the planned cuts in health, one of the hottest political debates of the moment in Finland. This unusual normality regarding the amount of the penalty is due to the fact that the Nordic country’s sanction system links the amount of the fines to the offender’s income. That is to say, for most mortals such a sanction implies ruin for life, for this millionaire it is little more than pocket change. Wiklöf has not learned his lesson. Despite the surprising amount of the fineit’s not the first time that police officers stop Wiklöf for speeding. The millionaire already accumulates four documented penalties for speeding: one of 95,000 euros in 2013, 63,680 euros in 2018, 121,000 euros in 2023 and this is 120,000 euros in 2026, which adds up to a total of 399,680 euros in those traffic fines alone. For these same violations, any driver in Spain would hardly have paid more than 600 euros in total, since the regulations in Spain establish a series of fixed penalties depending on the severity of the violation, but are not linked to the offender’s assets. Wiklöf himself already said it bluntly in 2013: “In Sweden they would have fined me about 450 euros. I don’t understand how I can be a bigger offender here than there, but the law is the law.” Nokia executives’ feet are heavy. The most famous case of this sanctions system Anssi Vanjoki starreda 44-year-old Nokia executive, who in January 2002 was traveling at 75 km/h on an urban road in Helsinki with a limit of 50 km/h. For exceeding 25 kilometers per hour, the authorities imposed a fine of 116,000 eurosfor years it was considered the highest traffic fine in history. Another Nokia executive, Pekka Ala-Pietilä, He also received a sanction of 35,000 euros for a similar violation at the same time. Vanjoki ended up appealing his fine, alleging a drop in income compared to the previous year, and got a reduction. In Finland, a fine can’t ruin you. No matter how high and disproportionate these fines may seem, in reality they will never cause the offender to go bankrupt. The key is in a calculation system in force since 1921. While in Spain everyone pays the same for the same offense depending on its severity, in Finland the police consult the offender’s previous year’s income database in real time and calculate the fine in days salary depending on the severity of the infraction. In this calculation, the monthly net salary is taken, the vital minimum of 255 euros is subtracted and divided by 60 to obtain the value of each “fine day” (Päiväsakko). The greater the speeding, the more days of fines are accumulated. For the majority of Finnish citizens, the result of this calculation translates into fines of between 30 and 80 euros for minor infractions such as those committed by Wiklöf. Astronomical figures only appear when the fined person is very rich. Despite the complaints of some affected (in 2015, millionaire Reima Kuisla threatened to leave the country after paying more than 50,000 euros for speeding), the model has great social support for consider it fair and proportional. A fine of 400 euros does not have the same deterrent character for someone with an income of 25,000 euros a year, than 25 million. In Xataka | 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 Image | Unsplash (toine G)

We’ve been believing oatmeal is the perfect breakfast for years, but science has a warning: there’s a limit

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Over the past few years, oatmeal has been crowned the undisputed queen of healthy breakfasts. And you just have to look at the internet a little to see the porridge from Instagram wave cardiologists recommendation to think that we are facing a perfect food without any type of failure. However, everything can have fine print and oatmeal is one of them. Investigating. Even if you eat healthy, there are people who experience abdominal bloating, gas, or general digestive discomfort with oats. And it’s not that oats are bad, but there are chances that we are eating them wrong. This is something you have already researched. to Monash Universitya world leader in digestive health, by putting an exact figure on the table: 52 grams. This is something that also the nutritionist has put on the table Óscar Hurtado who points out that oats are healthy, but they have a very strict “tolerance curve” for some intestines. The reason. The problem with oats is found in the FODMAPs (oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and fermentable polyols). These are nothing more than short chain carbohydrates that the small intestine cannot absorb well, and that is why They continue their ‘journey’ to the large intestine where the bacteria found here rapidly ferment them. producing gas. But not only this, it can drag water causing diarrhea. And this is where Monash University comes in, which has measured the effect that these compounds have on our body. One of its main conclusions It is in that 52 grams of oats (which is half a cup) is the safe amount of fructans for most humans. If we go too far. In the case of passing the barrier of 60-70 grams, the fructan content in the intestine it triggers and begins to cause problems. Something that is of great interest to those who suffer from a digestive problem such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)since it would be going from an ‘anti-inflammatory’ breakfast to a trigger for abdominal distension and pain. More studies. This is not a warning from now, but has great support in science. An example is the Halmos pivotal trial that showed that a low-FODMAP diet reduces gastrointestinal symptoms. between 22% and 45% more than usual diets. This was because they reduced the amount of fructans, very present in oats, in the diet they ate. But in addition, a 2022 study also confirmed that portion control of this type of fermentable carbohydrates significantly improved life in patients with IBS. And it wasn’t about eliminating oats from the diet, but about keeping them in a “safe zone.” There is no need to demonize. With these studies, logically we do not have to reach this point with oats, since it has many benefits behind it. The Spanish Heart Foundation and multiple nutritional studies remind us why it rose to the breakfast throne in the first place. And it has the ability to give satiety, which helps with weight control, and also delays the absorption of carbohydrates to prevent insulin spikes that are really harmful to the body. Although it doesn’t stop there, since for people with high cholesterol its high amount of beta-glucans can reduce the “bad” cholesterol known as ‘bad cholesterol’ or LDL. Based on tolerance. The conclusion we can reach is that if you have an iron stomach and a good oatmeal breakfast does not affect it at all, you can continue taking it normally. But in the event that symptoms such as bloating or diarrhea begin to appear, it is better to start lowering the dose to see if this “perfect breakfast” begins to feel good again. In this way, we are left with its beneficial properties without the digestive discomfort that we can hate so much. Images | Dor Farber In Xataka | We have been relying on the Nutri-Score in stores for years. Science believes that its real impact is zero

Satya Nadella knows that AI now has “social permission” to burn electricity. And also that everything has a limit

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From time to time, a number of billionaire people get together to discuss topics that are considered important. This time he played at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, has issued a warning clear about the use of artificial intelligence and its excessive energy consumption. And for the executive, this technology only makes sense if it generates a real and positive impact on society, otherwise, “social legitimacy” would be lost to allocate scarce resources, such as energy, to its development. Energy. It is no surprise that AI data centers consume massive amounts of electricity and water. They already did it before dedicating themselves purely to the operation of AI, but now that expense has more than multiplied. A while ago, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, gave some estimated figures about ChatGPT’s power consumption, stating that it used about 0.34 watt-hours for each response generated. On a larger scale, the combined electricity consumption of Microsoft and Google exceeded that of more than 100 countries in 2023, according to the analysis by Michael Thomas, founder of Cleanview. The demand is not only energy, since a disproportionate volume of production of critical components is being allocated towards the development of projects related to AI, such as is happening with RAM in the world. Nadella’s warning. During his intervention In Davos, the CEO of Microsoft said that “We will quickly lose even the social permission to take something like energy, which is a scarce resource, and use it to generate these tokens, if these tokens are not improving outcomes in health, education, public sector efficiency or private sector competitiveness.” The CEO of Microsoft assured that the ultimate goal must be “to use AI to change tangible results in people, communities, countries and industries.” Otherwise, “none of this makes sense.” Tokens as a new global currency. Nadella mentioned in the conversation the “tokens” as the new currency among big technology companies. In this area, tokens are the basic processing units that users of AI models purchase to execute tasks. According to the CEO, “GDP growth anywhere will be directly correlated” with the cost of energy used in AI. In this way, Nadella says between the lines that if a country can produce tokens more cheaply, it will have a competitive advantage. The medical example. Among the specific applications that Nadella sees as valuable is the use of AI in the healthcare sector. He mentioned doctors who can spend more time with their patients while AI transcribes consultations, enters data into medical records systems and assigns correct billing codes. The risk of bubble. Nadella also addressed growing warnings about a possible AI bubble. For him, it will only be a bubble if everything remains in partnerships between technology companies and infrastructure spending. “A telltale sign that it’s a bubble would be if all we talk about are tech companies,” pointed out in his conversation with Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock. The executive was confident that AI will “bend the productivity curve” and bring global economic growth, not just driven by capital expenditures. Mass adoption necessary. Microsoft’s CEO also insists that companies must start using AI on a large scale, describing it as a “cognitive amplifier” that grants “access to infinite minds.” It calls for workers to develop AI skills, similar to “how they master Excel to improve their employability.” Microsoft plans to invest 80 billion dollars in building AI data centers, with 50% of that spending outside the United States. Cover image | İsmail Enes Ayhan and World Economic Forum In Xataka | Europe is discovering right now that the US is not the partner it thought. And that is a problem in AI.

Spanish pigs are at their limit

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On November 25, a wild boar appeared dead very close to the campus of the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Three days later, the Central Veterinary Laboratory of Algete (Madrid) confirmed the worst: African swine fever was back. Today there are more than 60 positives, a state of permanent psychosis and a drop in pork prices (and margins) like no one remembered. And no farm has tested positive. But we already knew it wasn’t necessary. It was only enough for one region to suffer an outbreak for numerous export contracts to be blocked. That is what has brought down prices: the Union of Farmers and Ranchers Unions estimates losses of 153 million euros and there is already talk of a 40% drop in the margin. These are figures from the producers, of course. However, it fits with the public ones: Mercolleida, the live pig has reached a price of around €1/kg. a month ago, after the worst price drop in 30 years, the price was 1.20. The worst thing, however, is that (at the consumer level) the price of meat it has barely gone down. What do we do now? Because let’s not fool ourselves, the pressure does not come only from the “health risk” (a very small one); It comes from the systemic problem: restricted zones, logistical costs, certificates and exports suspended in limbo. Going down from one euro to the kilo is (above all) something symbolic: the symptom that we have not managed to weather the storm and the imbalances in one of our star sectors are accumulating. The moment of truth of the Spanish pig. In recent months, we have seen how the agricultural sector is experiencing one crisis after another: when they are not the problems linked to the confinement of birds due to bird flu, are the problems in the pasture either lack of water. Today, Spain is the undisputed leader in European pork, the third largest producer worldwide. A giant who, as we usually repeathas feet of clay. We can see it by focusing only on one of its main problems: generational change. Thousands of farms are on the brink of disappearance simply because no one wants to take charge of them every time the owner retires. This crisis comes at its worst moment. Image | Benjamin Lehman In Xataka | In a country with almost as many pigs as people, the worst that can happen is that investment funds take over

How to do it and what time limit do you have?

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Let’s tell you how you can check the operation of your new V16 beacon without alerting the DGT. As you know, these beacons have an internal SIM card that connects with the DGT, so that when you activate them because you have an accident or breakdown, they can geolocate you. But what happens when you just want to check that everything works well on a beacon you just bought? Well, we are going to tell you the amount of time you have before this connection is established. Because in the end, when you have spent money on one, what you want is to see that it works to see if you should return it or keep it. 100 seconds margin As specified by the DGT in one of his postsV16 beacons and their SIM cards They have a margin of 100 seconds during which no information is sent. This is the time the device has to establish the connection with the mobile network, check its GPS and prepare to send data. This serves to provide a secure testing window, as well as to prevent false alerts or messages from being sent in error. This means that you can turn on the beacon and test that it works, since will not alert the DGT until 100 seconds have passed. This way, you can see that your light is working and everything is fine. Remember that you must activate these beacons on the roof of the car if you have an incident. And when they send your position to the DGT after those 100 seconds, it will be able to use the road information panels to warn other drivers, send notices to compatible navigation applications such as Google Maps, and make it easier to locate you. They are mandatory from January 1, 2026. In Xataka Basics | What to look for in a V16 beacon: requirements and how to check if the one you have or want to buy works for you

A Japanese city has had enough of its neighbors spending the day on their cell phones. So he has set a limit: two hours

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“When you get on a train in Japan, most passengers are looking at their phones. They don’t do anything else.” Speaks Masafumi Kouiki, mayor Toyoake (Japan) and probably the country’s most recognizable face in the fight against addiction to smartphonesthe sleep hygiene and life away from the screens. The reason is very simple: despite the suspicion on the part of his neighbors, Kouiki has promoted an ordinance that limits the use of cell phones and tablets to two hours a day. The measure was launched October 1 and for now it has served one of the objectives that Kouiki pursued: to move consciences and generate debate. What has happened? That October has arrived with a curious legislative novelty in Toyoakea city of almost 70,000 inhabitants in Aichi Prefecture that in practice functions as a dormitory city for Nagoya. On Wednesday the 1st, a new rule came into force that restricts the time that your neighbors can spend in front of a screen for recreational reasons: maximum two hours. 120 minutes. Not one more. The measure was announced months ago, in Augustwhen it was still a proposal, and despite the huge stir that it generated has managed to move forward: in September it received the endorsement of the municipal assembly with 12 votes in favor and seven against. What does the standard say exactly? Roughly speaking, the ordinance, 2,400 charactersestablishes a limit on the recreational use of smartphones, tablets, consoles and computers. The rule applies to Toyoake residents and sets that limit at two hours a day, not counting time spent studying or working. There is an important nuance, of course: although it is an ordinance endorsed by the municipal assembly, in reality what it offers is a guidelinenot a mandatory rule. No one will check whether the residents of Toyoake conform to that standard or not. No sanctions are foreseen either. This is just a recommendation. Is it wet paper then? At all. To begin with, because Japanese culture exerts strong social pressure to follow official guidelines. Beyond its real impact, the rule has also served to open the debate on the excessive use of screens and its influence on aspects such as sleep. In fact, the same ordinance advises that younger children stop using their devices at 9:00 p.m. and those in secondary school and those under 18 should not drive them after 10:00 p.m. The objective: guarantee your correct rest. That’s all? No. On October 1, coinciding with the entry into force of the rule, the Toyoake Government sent emails to young people and parents in the city to insist on the same message. Primary and secondary school students were in fact urged to “take care of their rest and health hours” and agree with their families how much time they would dedicate to their devices. “The main objective of the ordinance is to guarantee sufficient hours of sleep,” underlines the organism. The City Council has also carried out a survey among 250 residents registered in its monitoring system and wants to find out the real scope of the guideline: whether the use of smartphones during free time, the duration of sleep or the hours of family conversation changes. TO beginning of next yearIn fact, the authorities want to do a new survey among their students. Why have they done it? To change habits. “It’s very sad to end the day looking at your phone all the time at home,” explained a few days ago Kouki a The New York Times. “I hope citizens change their behavior.” Rather than strictly limiting the recreational use of screens to 120 minutes a day, its purpose is to invite “reflection and debate” and make people think about how much time they spend on screens and until what time they do it. In 2024, a state study revealed that, on average, younger Japanese (those in primary or secondary school) invest about five hours up to date on their mobile phones. And not only that. More than 80% of Japanese people between 15 and 24 years old consider themselves “dependent” on smartphones and 14% already show symptoms of addiction. How have people responded? Depends. Not everyone has reacted equally well to Kouki’s attempts to restrict screen use. Although it is not a mandatory rule nor are there fines for breaking it, there are those who believe that the mere existence of the ordinance means an intrusion in the lives of the people of Toyoake.”In one sentence: it’s none of your business”, claims Mariko Fujie, one of the local politicians who voted against. In his opinion, there is no “scientific evidence” to support a norm that, he warns, also does not take into account the perspective of young people. “Many of my supporters find it condescending. This ordinance is complete nonsense.” Is Toyoake a unique case? Yes. And no. The Town Hall assures that theirs is the first standard of its kind in Japan. This is also presented by media such as The Japan Times either The Mainichiwhich have highlighted its pioneering nature. Whether or not this is the case, the truth is that it is not the first attempt by a Japanese public institution to put limits on the use of screens among the population. Especially among young people. A few years ago Kagawa promoted another ordinance that aimed to restrict young people’s access to video games. Their objective: that minors do not dedicate themselves to them more than one hour daily during the week, a margin that the authorities were willing to extend to 90 minutes on holidays. In Yamato, another town, they also prohibited use mobile to pedestrians while they walk. Images | Yifei Wong (Unsplash) and Launde Morel (Unsplash) In Xataka | In Europe we have a problem: we are becoming the Japan of the 21st century

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