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Someone has paid 2.4 million for a check for 500. It bears the signatures of Steve Jobs and Wozniak

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Turning $500 into $2.4 million could be anyone’s wet dream cryptobro, but the story at hand It has nothing to do with investment. The protagonist is a small piece of paper, and not just any one, but one that was key in the creation of one of the most important technology companies of our era: Apple. lto auction. It occurred a few days ago via RR Auction. The object auctioned was the $500 check that Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak signed in March 1976 and its final price was $2,409,886, 4,800 times its original value. The check is encapsulated in a plastic casing and its authenticity and quality is certified with a “MINT 9” note, which indicates that it is in a perfect state of conservation. The first check. Throughout their time together, the Apple founders signed many checks, but this one is special because it is the first of all. Furthermore, getting the money was not easy. At that time neither of the two steves He was rich, so Jobs had to sell his van and Wozniak his HP 65 calculator. At the time of his signature, there were still 16 days left before the official birth of the company, so we can affirm that he was a key player in the birth of Apple. The assignment. We already know who the senders were, but who was the receiver? The check is made out to Howard Cantin, who at the time was designing printed circuit boards at Atari. The commission for which he received this amount was to create the plaque that would carry the Apple Ithe company’s first computer that went on sale a few months later. When it was time to get paid, Steve Jobs offered Cantin shares in Apple, but Cantin preferred money. Little did he know that the company would be worth $4 billion. It was not the only thing that was auctioned. The check was the star object of the Apple 50th anniversary auctionbut there were many others such as the opening document for Apple’s first bank account, which sold for $828,569. The Apple poster that Jobs had hanging in his living room was also sold for $659,900 and the most expensive: the prototype of the Apple I board, which reached $2,750,000. In total, the auction has raised more than $8 million. In Xataka | Einstein’s first violin had passed unnoticed. Until an auction house put it up for sale. Image | Wikipedia

the footprint of a turtle stampede from 80 million years ago

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Sometimes the older ones paleontological discoveries They do not occur in planned excavations and with large studies behind them, but by pure chance in places where no one should be. This is precisely what happened in 2019 on Mount Còrneo in Italy where two climbers entered in a restricted area of ​​the natural park and they came across something that did not fit into the rock: hundreds of strange brands on a vertical wall. We already know what it is. Now, a study published in Cretaceous Research has revealed what those marks really are: the fossil trace of a stampede of sea turtles fleeing in terror from an earthquake that occurred 80 million years ago. The forbidden zone. The discovery is attributed to Luca Natali and Paolo Sandroni, who were climbing a limestone wall in the Scaglia Rossa formation. And what they found was neither more nor less than a canvas of more than 1,000 fingerprints distributed in an area of ​​about 200 square meters. The location where they were found is no less, since it is key and at the same time problematic. As it is a vertical wall, which in the Cretaceous It was a flat seabed, access for scientists was almost impossible. That is why they had to resort to drones to be able to photogrammetrically map the site and study the furrows without risking the life of any researcher. CSI Cretaceous. In order to clarify this discovery, the researchers used the magnetostratigraphythe analysis of magnetic polarity of the rocks, to date the event to the Campanian, about 80 million years ago. The scene. To locate ourselves, 80 million years ago this vertical wall was a deep seabed that It was about 300 meters deepcompletely calm and muddy. But an earthquake shook the area, causing an immediate reaction: a group of sea turtles panicked. And as anyone would do, the reaction was to start swimming frantically towards deeper waters, hitting the bottom with their alerts and leaving those semi-lunar marks. Minutes or hours after the turtles passed, an avalanche of sediment caused by the same earthquake, known as turbiditecovered the footprints instantly, sealing them as if it were an “underwater Pompeii.” Why turtles? The identification of these traces has not been an easy task for the researchers who have had to discard among the possibilities in front of them. At first, other inhabitants of the Cretaceous were considered fish, plesiosaurs or mosasaurs. However, analysis of the furrows told a different story. The first thing to keep in mind is that they couldn’t be fish because the marks had bilateral symmetry. They also could not be plesiosaurs since the pattern of the markings did not fit with the four-fin movement of these reptiles. In this way, for the researchers, the semilunar marks, consistent with turtle fins, left no doubt that it was this marine animal of the time. Healthy skepticism. As is often the case in paleontology, not everyone is 100% convinced. Thus, there are different well-known experts who point out that, although the seismic theory is solid, attributing the marks definitively to the turtles requires more comparative evidencemaking it a rare fossil record in deep pelagic environments. Although what is truly interesting in this case is not the species, but the paradigm shift. Right now, most fossils told us about the death of an animal or its anatomy. But now we have seen how these footprints tell us about their behavior in a moment of terror experienced millions of years ago. Images | Cretaceous Research In Xataka | The skull that changes everything: a million-year-old fossil suggests that ‘Homo sapiens’ did not come from Africa

The Government applauded Repsol’s discounts in the midst of the gasoline crisis. Competition the fine now with 20.5 million for them

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February 2022. Spain is still suffering the economic consequences of the coronavirus crisis. After two years with workers suffering ERTES, Russia invades Ukraine and a war breaks out that we continue to suffer four years later. Immediately, the economy of the entire continent is reeling. Basic products skyrocket in price and, among them, fuel enters a runaway inflationary race. One that, in turn, once again raises the prices of basic products. February 3, 2022 we counted on Xataka that gasoline was more expensive than ever. We paid 1,538 euros per liter. 24% more than the previous year. In summer we were close to two euros per liter. By then the Government had launched its action plan. After a transport strike and with France applying state aid to the purchase of gasoline, the State began to subsidize with 20 cents/liter the purchase of fuel for all drivers. The measure only proved to be a plug through which water leaked. In summer the most pessimistic voices already pointed to a price of up to three euros per liter in gasoline. The pump price, fortunately, did not reach that point. In fact, that same summer another war began. This time at the service stations. And although the price of gasoline continued to rise to the point that at the till We were paying 1.80 euros for each liter again, The big oil companies brought out all their weapons: points cards, temporary discounts, loyalty plans… Movements that hid something that the CNMC already warned about that same summer: the big oil companies were getting rich. Now, it is the same CNMC that has made a decision: to fine Repsol 20.5 million euros. Abuse of power against competitors The CNMC has confirmed a sanction of 20.5 million euros to several Repsol Group companies and punishes them with disqualification from participating in public contracts for six months on the understanding that they abused their position of power to narrow profit margins with the intention of driving competitors out of the market. Competition defends that the discounts applied during the year 2022, which at the time were applauded by the Governmentthey narrowed the profit margins in the sale of fuel to the point of preventing companies selling low-cost fuel from competing on equal terms. The CNMC alleges that “competition law requires that companies in dominance position are especially responsible for not restricting competition. They assure that after various complaints they went to the Repsol Group service stations at the end of 2022 and that at the end of 2023 They initiated the disciplinary proceedings with the information collected. In the investigation. The behavior of Moeve, then Cepsa, and BP was also analyzed. However, only Repsol has been sanctioned. From the company, they point out in Five Daysassure that they will appeal the fine while arguing that “it is the first time in the history of national and community competition law that the CNMC sanctions a company for applying discounts.” Those days of 2022 were marked by the role of the oil companies. In April, when the State began to apply the discount of 20 cents per liter of fuel, low-cost operators They threatened to strike because they understood that the money they had to put out of their own pocket (of the 20 cents/liter, five were borne by the operator) destroyed their profit margins. Later, the CNMC confirmed that the companies in charge of supplying fuel were obtaining a juicy profit with the increase in fuel prices, to the point that their profit margins had widened despite having to put money in to subsidize fuel, with record gross margins. Now, the entity in charge of ensuring competition points out that Repsol also took the opportunity to try to sweep away the competition. It will have to be Repsol that manages to demonstrate that it did not act in this way and as the CNMC defends. Photo | Repsol In Xataka | For the first time, electrified cars are outselling gasoline cars. It is the beginning of the inevitable

has 31.5 million reasons to do it

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Public television has renewed David Broncano’s contract until the end of 2028 with an investment of 31,555,572 euros for two new seasons of ‘La Revuelta’, as confirmed The Confidential and The World. The RTVE Purchasing Committee approved the renewal in December 2025, eight months before the current contract expires. The figures. The new agreement increases the budget per season by 1,701,651 euros (from 14,076,135 to 15,777,786 euros per course) and sets the average cost per program at 98,611 euros, compared to 87,975 in the initial contract. The operation ensures the permanence of the presenter on La 1 during the next electoral period and guarantees its continuity even if there is a change of Government after the general elections. Each program will cost 10,646 euros more than in the current season. Early renewal. The deal was closed with unusual speed. RTVE sources explain that they have dispensed with waiting for the end of the season, which is usual in this type of negotiations, and the renewal has been processed when there are still eight months left on the contract, since the presenter has signed his current agreement until September 2026. The operation includes about 160 episodes per season, from Monday to Thursday, with a duration of between 70 and 80 minutes each. The contract establishes a guaranteed minimum of 155 deliveries per course, with the possibility of expanding through addendums if RTVE requires it. In the first season, 159 of the 160 planned were broadcast. Who is behind. The production companies El Terrat (from Mediapro Studios) and Encofrados Encofrasa (the company of Broncano, Ricardo Castella and Jorge Ponce) will continue to lead executive production. The agreement maintains the technical conditions: false live broadcast, with the option of broadcasting live due to the needs of the network and prior agreement with El Terrat. The presence of David Broncano as driver and Jorge Ponce and Ricardo Castella as directors is mandatory unless expressly agreed otherwise. Why has it been advanced? The decision to bring forward the renewal responds to a strategy that avoids risks. Sector sources point out that RTVE feared the appearance of offers from private channels, especially after the unexpected signing of Marc Giró for Atresmedia. The calendar is key: the agreement guarantees the presence of ‘La Revuelta’ on La 1 during the pre-electoral period and the first two years of the next legislature, regardless of the political color of the government. This protects RTVE, which ensures that it maintains its main asset in prime time access, and the presenter and his team, who obtain job stability in the event of a possible government replacement. The controversial beginning. Unlike the first contract (which caused a institutional earthquake which culminated in the departure of President Elena Sánchez and Content Director José Pablo López), this renewal has been processed without media noise or conflictive votes. The Government responded to that crisis with a Royal Decree that transformed the governance of RTVE: among other things, it transferred powers from the Council to the executive presidency, which began to directly control some 400 million euros per year in external hiring without the need for approval. José Manuel Martín Medem, advisor proposed by Unidas Podemos, said in The Spanish that Elena Sánchez received pressure from those around the President of the Government, including former President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. The controversy grew with accusations from conservative sectors about alleged political interference to counteract the influence of ‘El Hormiguero’ on Antena 3. economic analysis denied part of the criticism: The cost per episode of ‘La Revuelta’ (87,975 euros) was lower than that of ‘4 Estrellas’, the series that occupied the same slot, with a budget of 110,000 euros per episode. The hearings. The data on screen shows a downward trajectory for ‘La Revuelta’ since its notable start. Between September and December 2024, the program closed with an average quota of 15.7% compared to the 15.6% of ‘El Hormiguero’. In the strict time period, Broncano’s advantage was clearer: 16.3% against 15%. But in 2025 ‘La Revuelta’ experienced a progressive erosion: it started in September 2024 with 17% share average and decreased to 11.3% in May 2025. The balance of daily victories is eloquent: the Antena 3 program won 166 days of direct competition, compared to 44 victories for the La 1 space. The last time Broncano led the slot consistently was in January 2025. The RTVE program has, however, had exceptional audience peaks, such as Rosalía’s visit on November 10, 2025. For now, ‘El Hormiguero’ maintains its position as leader of access prime time for eleven consecutive years. In Xataka | The exception of ‘El Hormiguero’: no ​​successful program in the history of Spanish TV has lasted so long

Moeve has a turnover of 1.8 billion euros. The Prosecutor’s Office asks to dissolve the company because, they claim, they did not pay 7.7 million in taxes

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Now Cepsa is Moeve. And now it is Moeve who has to fight against an accusation from the Public Prosecutor’s Office for fraud in the payment of taxes. The court case has been dragging on since 2022 but has its origins almost a decade ago. Now, the Prosecutor’s Office is asking for 28 years in prison for its board, targeting three senior officials of the Canary Islands Tax Agency and, in addition, the dissolution of the company. What has happened? In short, the Prosecutor’s Office accuses Moeve of tax fraud in the Canary Islands. According to their investigations, the company would have stopped paying 7.7 million euros to the Treasury by passing off diesel fuel as fuel oil when paying taxes between 2016 and 2021. The change is substantial because the tax rate on fuel oil (€0.56/tonne) is much lower than that on diesel (€222/1,000 liters). They stand out in Motorpassion that diesel has a tax 400 times higher than the change of units and, from there, would come the 7.7 million euros that the company would have omitted when presenting its taxes. What does the Prosecutor’s Office ask for? The Prosecutor’s request is harsh: That criminal proceedings be opened against the company The dissolution of the company Fine of 13 million euros for the company 28 years in prison and more than 25 million euros in fines for the board Two-year disqualification for three senior officials of the Canary Islands Tax Agency How did the events happen? As described in Fuerteventura Diarythe Prosecutor’s Office maintains that between January 2016 and October 2021, the then Cepsa, through its subsidiary Petróleo de Canarias (Petrocan), settled the taxes by passing off diesel fuel as fuel oil with “a clear intention of defrauding” the regional Public Treasury. According to their calculations, the company would have stopped paying the following amounts: 2016: 781,295 euros 2017: 404,134 euros 2018: 1.4 million euros 2019: 2.3 million euros 2020: 1.6 million euros 2021: 1.2 million euros In all that time, the Prosecutor’s Office accuses the Canary Islands Tax Agency of ignoring the complaints that came to it from the oil company. And the company IR Maxoinversiones, which manages various local gas stations, already reported the events in 2019, repeated it, expanding the complaint in 2020, and some time later filed a third complaint. The officials indicated by the Prosecutor’s Office, however, did not file any measures to investigate the events. What does Moeve say? Company sources point to Xataka that “the case is appealed. We reject the accusation and we hope that the actions of justice confirm the correct application of the taxation carried out by Moeve to the product called Diesel Oil, for industrial use and not linked to the activity of service stations.” They explain that Diesel Oil is a much heavier product than the diesel that we can consume for the car, so its use can only be industrial to start a machine or power a heater. That is, the usual use given to fuel oil. Thus, they point out that their taxation has always adjusted to what the Treasury has demanded at all times and that they are not trying to pass the product off as what it is not in their accounts. Disproportionate? Although the Prosecutor’s accusations are on the table and they say they can support them with data, it remains to be seen what the resolution of the case is. The claims refer to an alleged evasion of 7.7 million euros over six years, a very small figure for a company that only in the first nine months of the year 2025 (latest data published) earned 472 million euros in net profits and invoiced more than 1.8 billion euros in 2024. Therefore, beyond proving that Moeve did not pay the taxes due, it will have to be demonstrated that this omission was made with the intention of enriching himself and not because of a mistake when filing taxes, an element that seems essential for a judge to order the dissolution of the company. a company with more than 11,000 employees. Photo | moeve In Xataka | There is a hidden war to sell us the cheapest possible gasoline. One that Ballenoil and Plenergy already dominate

The DGT ends the extension and anticipates mandatory insurance for 4 million vehicles

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They wanted to launch it on January 2, 2026 but at the end of December last year They confirmed that it would not be possible. Now, the DGT returns to the fray to try to organize everything related to light personal vehicles. That is, the scooters and derivatives that circulate on our streets. This time yes, this time there will be registration. Start-up. The DGT has confirmed that users of personal mobility vehicles (VMP) will have to register in the electronic traffic headquarters their electric scooters if they want to circulate in accordance with the law. Traffic wanted to have this measure ready with the start of the new year but it was today that the Council of Ministers gave the green light to the measure. In its last meeting, the Government approved the royal decree that regulates the operation of the Registry of Light Personal Vehicles to “comply with the first additional provision of Law 5/2025 of July 24, which modified the law on civil liability and insurance in the circulation of motor vehicles to introduce the obligation to insure all personal mobility vehicles, which came into force on January 2 pending the launch of the registry.” What does this mean? In short, if you have an electric scooter you will have to register it with Traffic. The measure is taken to have control of, according to the DGT, the four million personal mobility vehicles that circulate on our streets. The procedure is slightly different, as we will see later, depending on the age of the electric scooter but it is key because it is the first step to force the user to have insurance for your vehicle. The DGT already warns that not having it will be grounds for a fine “According to the provisions of the law on civil liability and insurance, lacking it will be penalized with between 202 and 610 euros and driving with a VMP without insurance with between 250 and 800 euros depending on whether it is considered a light personal vehicle or motor vehicle (more than 25 kilograms in weight and more than 14 kilometers/hour) by the aforementioned Insurance Law. They already have a certificate. In addition to registration and insurance, electric scooters must have a certificate in which all the technical characteristics of the electric scooter are collected. This allows an agent check if a scooter is complying with regulations or, on the contrary, it has been tricked to circulate above the maximum authorized speed of 25 km/h. This certification is collected with a plate on the chassis of the vehicle and is present on all electric scooters sold in Spain since January 22, 2024. The DGT itself, as happens with the V-16 beaconshas on its website a list with all approved scooters to be sold in our country. In this case, if the electric scooter already has this certificate, in the electronic office it will be enough to fill in the certificate number and the serial number. Then a digital registration certificate is issued so that our vehicle is registered as registered. Does not have certificate. In this case, you have a problem. First because the DGT requires that these scooters also be registered although at the time of purchase it was not mandatory to have the certificate. To do this, it is mandatory to have an invoice or technical sheet from the VMP and a photograph. If you do not have an invoice, the only possible procedure is to homologate the vehicle by going through a laboratory certified by the DGT to obtain the technical sheet. Once the certificate is obtained, the DGT issues an identification sticker that must be affixed in a visible place, as is the case with environmental badges on cars. And keep in mind that if you want to keep your scooter it is worth it. Without a certificate registration is not possible and without registration it is not possible to insure the electric scooter. The DGT opens an extension to certify all these scooters until January 22, 2027. From then on it will not be possible to circulate with a VMP without a certificate. How do I do it? As we said, the DGT will enable a space in its electronic headquarters where the entire process can be carried out. At the moment, this space is not open but Traffic assures us that it will be available “in the coming days.” In addition, the DGT assures that they will enable a channel to register the electric scooter when contracting the insurance and that they are working to be able to register it at the time the scooter is purchased at the establishment. Will they fine me? According to the press release, yes. As we said above, with fines of between 200 and 800 euros. However, Traffic does not specify in its press release from what date it will be mandatory to have a registered vehicle and insurance to avoid receiving the fine. Right now, we only know that scooters without a certificate have until January 22, 2027 to obtain it. When asked about this, the DGT has not given us exact dates or deadlines either. Traffic limits itself to stating that it will be informed about this and that the platform will be available “in the coming days” but there is no date indicated on the calendar. Photo | Marek Rucinski In Xataka | $25,000 fine for driving a souped-up electric scooter: Toronto has decided to apply a heavy hand to them

They kicked him out of the factory in 2020. Today, this tiktoker sells his company and an AI that replaces him for 900 million

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Khaby Lame, the tiktoker with the most followers in the world (160 million), has sold his company Step Distinctive Limited to Rich Sparkle Holdings for between $900 and $975 million. The operation was closed in January with shares, without cash, and represents one of the largest transactions in the new creator economy. Who is it. He Italian of Senegalese origin25, rose to fame after being laid off from his job as a machinery operator in the pandemic. He began to publish silent videos, favored for their comical expressiveness, where he dismantled one of the fashions then in vogue on the Internet: life hacks that he knew how to detect as ridiculously complicatedand whose artificiality he exposed with a gthis distinctive that became his trademarkand that helped him propose obvious solutions to problems that, in reality, did not exist. On June 22, 2022, she surpassed Charli D’Amelio as the most followed person on the platform. What does the deal include? Dubai-based Step Distinctive Limited handled licensing, partnerships and sales. Lame becomes a shareholder of Rich Sparkle Holdings but loses operational control. A key fact: according to Celebrity Net WorthLame only had 49% of his company. 51% belonged to partners such as the Chinese Anhui Xiaoheiyang Network Technology, of the Three Sheep conglomerate. Lame’s case is not isolated. Mergers and acquisitions in the creator economy grew by 73% in 2025, reaching 52 operations. The sector, valued at more than 200 billion in 2024could exceed one billion before 2033. Other notable cases: MrBeast’s Beast Industries was valued at 5 billion and earned 473 million in 2024. Logan Paul earned 1.2 billion with Prime in 2023, valued between 2,000 and 3,000 million. The formula pursued is obvious: convert your followers into buyers. Digital twins. The most striking thing about the agreement is the transfer of the digital twin made by Lame’s AI. This technology creates digital replicas capable of speaking different languages ​​without recording new content. In China, platforms like Douyin employ AI-generated streamers who sell 24 hours a day, reducing costs by 80%. This technology allows a person to “work” simultaneously in multiple markets without a break. Who buys? Prior to the deal, Rich Sparkle was a financial printing company with no history in social media or AI, and the deal raises questions about the financial effectiveness of these types of deals. Now, for three years, Rich Sparkle has exclusivity over Lame’s business operations but despite his fame, is it a good move? Creators build value with their identity, but when they are controlled by outside corporations they risk losing what made them unique. The creator economy is no longer marginal: it has become a sector that operates with the same amounts as traditional industries. What started in March 2020 with an unemployed worker posting videos has ended five years later in a nearly billion transaction involving AI and Chinese conglomerates. But… is such a purchase capable of maintaining the spontaneity and freshness that characterized Lame? In Xataka | TikTok has dodged the bullet of the US veto. Although it has not been free

25 million dollars and a commitment to Greenland

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Ironies of history, it is more likely that Donald Trump’s wish incorporating Greenland into the United States will be more surprising to us, the citizens of 2026, than to those of a century ago. The reason: by then Americans and Danes were more than used to reading news about the sale of overseas territory from the European kingdom to Washington. Of course, more than a century ago the focus was not on Greenland, but on much warmer waters and with a strategic value that the Arctic island completely lacked at that time. The land in dispute was Virgin Islands. Nothing new under the sun. The protagonists, the context, even the tone change, but not the background. Although the Europeans of 2026 will be shocked expansionist plans of Trump and his desire to seize Greenland from Denmark (well through a “purchase”pulling a checkbook, or asserting its military power) the truth is that it is not the first time that both countries have been involved in a dispute for Danish territory to remain under American control. It actually happened not so long agobetween the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, although the focus at that time was on the warm waters of the Caribbean. The Danish Western Islands. To understand it you have to travel to the other end of the Atlantic and go back to late 17th centurywhen Denmark took control of a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. Over time its domain extended to the insulas of Saint John, Saint Thomas, Saint Croix and dozens of islets and cays that formed what was called Danish Western Islands. Although the archipelago in question was thousands of kilometers from Copenhagen, for a time its domain represented a lucrative business based on two big legs: slaves and sugar plantations. From good business to heavy burden. That changed over time. In 1848 the territory lived a revolt which ended up leading to the abolition of slavery in the colony, which added to other economic factors (such as the fall in the price of sugar) made the archipelago less attractive. At least in the eyes of the metropolis, which continued to face the costs of its administration. That was the situation when in 1867 the US Secretary of State, William H. Sewardknocked on the door of Denmark interested in the ownership of the islands. A long tug of war. “After the Civil War it was time to consider strategic conditions in the Caribbean and Seward focused on both the annexation of Mexico and possible expansion into the Caribbean,” explains to BBC the historian Hans Christian Berg. In principle, the winds were favorable for Washington: Denmark’s power was declining and the US faced a new stage, convinced that it had to reaffirm its regional power and erase European influence. For a time the pact to acquire the Danish Western Islands seemed to go ahead, crystallizing in a treaty that contemplated the sale in exchange for 7.5 million of dollars in gold. However, both parties were left wanting. The agreement ended up foundering in the US Senate. The reason actually had little (or nothing) to do with the Virgin Islands. The controversy over the recent purchase of Alaska and Seward’s support for the president Andrew Johnson took their toll on the operation with Denmark, which did not achieve the necessary political support. It wouldn’t be the first time. In 1900 both countries signed a new treaty which also went to waste when it did not obtain the endorsement of the Danish Upper House. It took a global conflagration for that to change. The fateful RMS Lusitania. Things changed at the beginning of the 20th century, during the First World War. To be more precise (and as you recognize the US State Department itself) the turning point was the wreck of the RMS Lusitaniaa British ship that was torpedoed by a German U-Boat submarine while traveling from New York to Liverpool. That episode not only influenced American public opinion regarding the First World War, it also made it understand how much was at stake in controlling the Caribbean Sea. “The purchase of the Danish West Indies once again became an important issue in US foreign policy. The president W.Wilson and Secretary of State Lansing feared that the German Government might annex Denmark, in which case the Germans could secure the West Indies as a naval or submarine base from which to launch attacks against shipping in the Caribbean and Atlantic,” explains the US Department of State Archive. By hook or by crook. No sooner said than done. In 1915 Lansing sounded out Denmark to facilitate (once again) the purchase of the Caribbean archipelago. The new attempt did not go down well in the European metropolis, leading Washington to adopt a tone reminiscent of that assumed by Donald Trump today: “Concerned by recent events and Danish reluctance, Lansing suggested that if Denmark was not willing to sell, the US could occupy the islands to avoid their confiscation by Germany,” remember the file. It was enough for Copenhagen to agree to the sale, which crystallized in a treaty signed in New York in August 1916. The agreement received the blessing of the Lower Houses of both countries and months later it was submitted to a Danish plebiscite (note, not in the Danish Virgin Islands, affected by the decision). Once all the procedures were closed and with the approval of Cristian X, the archipelago was under the control of Washington in March 1917. To this day the renowned US Virgin Islands remain a “unincorporated territory” from the USA. 25 million dollars… and something more. In exchange, the US paid Denmark 25 million dollars in gold coins, which would be equivalent, according to Bloomberg estimatesto 630 million today. In the last days there are who has remembered However, another point of the pact signed by Copenhagen and Washington. As remember the BBCthe US promised not to interfere with Denmark extending “its political and economic interests” … Read more

The alleged PcComponentes hack affects 16 million customers. It’s another nightmare for phishing attacks

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In Hackmanac Cybersecurity alerts reporting alleged hacks and massive data thefts around the world are frequent. One of the last notices, posted yesterdayaffects a Spanish company on the rise: PcComponentes. If confirmed, the alleged data theft would have affected a huge number of users. 16 million affected. According to these data, a cyber attacker using the alias ‘daghetiaw’ claimed to have managed to infiltrate PcComponentes. By doing so, it has obtained the data of 16.3 million customers, specifically: DNI/NIF Orders and invoices Address Contact details (phone) Credit card metadata (type, expiration date) IP address A sample that seems to confirm the hack. The author of the cyberattack wanted to demonstrate that the database he managed to obtain is legitimate, and to do so he has published a free extract of 500,000 users. That is already a very bad sign and seems to confirm that this hack and massive data theft has indeed been successful. There were already problems a year ago. An This failure exposed a database with access credentials. And everything fits. In The Computer Chapuzas They have contacted 0xBogart and obtained more information about that incident. This user actually talks about the fact that a database from August 2023 was already stolen and that then “it had 11,951,125 users, it makes sense that in 2026 they will have 16 million.” This expert had access to PcComponentes’ servers for five years, and only lost it “when they abandoned their data center for Amazon Web Services,” he indicates in the El Chapuzas Informático text. Pc Componentes has not confirmed the hack. At the moment those responsible for Pc Componentes have neither confirmed nor denied the massive data theft. At Xataka we are trying to contact the company to clarify the details. Meanwhile, those responsible have 72 hours from when the hack was discovered to notify the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD). Up next: phishing attacks. This new massive data theft represents a potential nightmare for PcComponentes customers. If the hack is confirmed, all that data could be used for much more convincing phishing attacks: the more information cyber attackers have about us, the more they can “convince” us with messages that appear to be authentic and that manage to confuse us. Or phishing. There is also the danger of identity theft: the stolen data allows the creation of a “user profile” with which a cybercriminal can impersonate one person to deceive another with social engineering techniques. If the database has been leaked there is little that PcComponentes clients can do because their information will already be exposed. It has not been clear if there are passwords included for access to the company website in the massive data theft, but our recommendation is to change that access password as soon as possible. In Xataka | The leak of 16 billion passwords would be the largest in history. If it weren’t for the fact that it’s a gigantic rehash

we are creating a 250 million ton mountain of garbage

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The energy transition is happening at an unprecedented speed. According to the latest report from the IEA-PVPSIn 2024 alone, 601 GW of solar power was installed in the world, reaching a cumulative total of 2.2 TW. However, this success hides an environmental paradox. As researcher Rabia Charef warns At The Conversation, we are installing the future on a mountain of potential garbage that, by design, is an “industrial strength sandwich” almost impossible to separate. The “sandwich” design: a durability trap. For a panel to withstand hail, snow and wind for 30 years, it is built by stacking layers of glass, silicon and polymers sealed with adhesives so powerful that they become a single unit. As Charef explainsthis virtue is also its condemnation, since at the end of its useful life the separation of materials is so expensive that most end up in the landfill. It is not a minor problem. Already in 2016, IRENA reports They warned that by 2050 solar waste could total 250 million tons, which would represent 10% of all electronic waste on the planet. China and the “poison” of overproduction. The clock on this crisis has sped up due to geopolitics. China dominates 90% of global capacity of solar cells and in this desire to lead the sector, the Asian giant manufactured 588 GW last year, doubling global demand. This flood of cheap panels has sunk prices and caused million-dollar losses, but also has created a perverse incentive: It is so cheap to buy a new panel that repairing an old one does not seem profitable. Analyst Bo Zhengyuan explains that that “animal spirit” that made the Chinese industry triumph is now suffocating it, filling the world with equipment that will die in two decades without an exit plan. The laboratory of saturation. For its part, another problem that is committed is forgetting the fundamentals, as happens in Spain. The country broke records last summer by generating more than 10,500 GWh per month of sun and wind, but the system cannot hold up. Spain already waste 7% of its clean energy due to lack of networks and storage. “The mistake was not putting up panels, but forgetting about the networks,” quotes an executive in the Financial Times. This lack of investment has plunged the value of solar parks by 30% in just one year, forcing “liquidation sales” (fire sales). If the companies that run these plants go bankrupt or lose profitability, who will take care of the millions of panels when they stop working? The limit of current recycling: shredding is not recovering. Today, recycling is disappointing. As The Conversation denouncesmost plants simply shred the panels to recover low-value aluminum and glass. In the process, the true treasure is lost: high-purity silver, copper and silicon. Silver, although it only represents 0.14% of the weight of the panel, represents 40% of its material value. When crushed, this metal is pulverized and mixed with impurities, making it unrecoverable. According to sourceswe are throwing away an estimated economic value of $15 billion by 2050. Although there are sprouts of hope. Despite the panorama, technology is trying to catch up with the problem: Silver Recovery: Researchers from the University of Camerino (Italy) have developed a hydrometallurgy technique that recovers 99% of pure silver without using harsh chemicals. The milestone of the 100% recycled panel: The Chinese giant Trina Solar has achieved create the first fully recycled crystalline silicon panel. Although its efficiency (20.7%) is somewhat lower than that of a new one (25%), it demonstrates that circularity is possible and that the performance of recycled material is already fully competitive compared to current industry standards. Cutting-edge plants in Spain and the US: While in the United States the company SolarCycle seeks to recover 99% of photovoltaic materials; in Spain, the CERFO project in Teruel positions itself as a European pioneer in the recovery of silicon, a component historically difficult to recycle. Repair before recycling: “Revamping”. Before the panel reaches the recycling plant, there is a more sustainable option: the revamping. A study by the University of Castilla-La Mancha shows that renewing Specific components of a solar plant can maximize production and profitability without the need for total dismantling. In Japan, the startup Girasol Energy has achieved restore the oldest solar system in the country (from 1994), aiming for it to operate for 50 years by using Big Data to identify faults piece by piece without replacing the entire equipment. Digital passports and modular design. The definitive solution could come from regulation. The European Union will implement the Digital Product Passport (DPP) starting in 2027. As the EU source explainsthis document will allow you to know the origin, materials and disassembly instructions for each panel. This passport, along with the “digital twins” mentioned in The Conversationwill allow technicians to monitor performance in real time and know exactly how to separate the “sandwich” of materials without destroying them. Faced with the solar paradox. Solar energy is essential to stop global warming, but it cannot be “clean” if its end is dirty. The industry now faces its biggest test: redesigning the panels not only so that they catch the sun, but so that, when their last sunset comes, they don’t leave behind a legacy of glass and plastic that future generations cannot manage. Image | freepik Xataka | All the solar panel technologies that exist and which ones are most efficient, in a graph that goes from 1975 to today

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